fateandfortune | Just two vampires, traveling the galaxy... [For Todd the Wraith]

If he had been at a human's strength, Rogue would have had little trouble in taking Cody down. She knew how to pace herself, how to draw out a fight and let her opponent tire themselves out. That wasn't going to happen this time though, and she was the one getting tired. She could feel her movements slowing as the seconds passed, he was just too quick for her to keep up.

It was when she saw his arm flying toward her again that she turned, trying to avoid the strike, and started to make the call. "Sto-" She hadn't been fast enough, and they'd both changed directory at the same time and were unable to see the other's move until it was too late.

Cody's arm hit the back of her head with enough force to send her crashing to the slightly squishy floor, but it wasn't his full strength that she'd felt behind those other blows - he'd been trying to pull back. He hadn't intended to hurt, but her human body made that impossible to avoid.

Todd had seen the move too late to give his underling the queue to cease and his new mate crashed to the floor with a loud whump.

Cody stared down at her a moment before looking to the commander, who immediately came over and knelt beside Rogue to access the damage. The younger stepped back, inclining his head in shame for his poor performance. Todd would chastise him later about going for the face, right now, he wanted to make sure Rogue was okay. Head blows were serious, especially in humans.

Everything hurt, absolutely everything. Or perhaps it just seemed that way because her head was screaming. The people inside were too, which was in no way good.

It was instinct that made her try to get up, her arms shaking as she tried to get them under her, but it was like they were made of jelly. "I think I lost this round," she said quietly, trying to make a joke and failing miserably. She couldn't even manage to focus her gaze on him, her vision was so blurred.

"Don't move." Todd said, and gave those in the ring a mental note to leave. They didn't need to see her like this and she probably didn't want to be seen like such either.

Cody and the others left quietly as their commander told them.

"You were holding your own quite well against him." he grinned at her.

It was a nice gesture, and she would appreciate it when she finally noticed. She really would rather no one but Todd saw her in this sort of state.

Rogue could make out enough of him to see that grin, and she returned it with a small, pained smile. "That's nice to hear," she acknowledged. "I sure don't feel like it."

Todd wanted to get her back to his chambers so that she could lay down proper and not remain on the floor here, but he didn't know the extent of her injury and moving her might make things worse.

"Lie still a while" he said. If the pain faded and she was able to get back up on her feet in a moment or two, then no harm done. If it didn't go away or got worse...then perhaps he'd offer the Gift. He didn't like giving it out for anything less than near death, but he didn't know how bad Cody had struck her. Enough for some serious trauma or just sore in the morning feel?

"Okay," she agreed quietly, not even contemplating arguing because no way was she going anywhere for a while. The nausea was beginning to set in, that wonderful sign of a good old-fashioned head injury, and she was grateful for the dimmer lights of the ship. If she'd been anywhere made by humans, the bright lights would have been killing her eyes.

She took slow, shallow breaths to get through that first wave of nausea and lifted a shaking hand to press gently at her left temple. "It's getting so loud in here..."

Injured humans, to put it simply, confused wraith. Either you fed on them, left them to die, or used the Gift if they were worthy of it. Treating symptoms was difficult.

The only medicine they had on board was the basic first-aid kit Beckett insisted Todd take in the event their healing abilities didn't work as well now that they'd taken the gene therapy. But there was nothing in it that could cure a head injury.

So there was only one option left as it was clear now the blow had been worse than it looked. He said nothing, not wanting to hurt her senses, merely raising his right hand, feeding slit wide open, and tapping her sternum lightly to indicate what he wanted to do.

She didn't understand exactly what he was planning, her damaged thought process getting nothing more than he'd helped her before like this, and he must be wanting to do so again. Tears were in her eyes in seconds, her emotions stretched thin because of the pain, and an automatic attempt at nodding had them sliding down her cheeks moments later.

"Please," she whispered, trusting him implicitly to do whatever it was he thought best for her.

The pain must have been very great if it'd brought her to tears. And without his ability, she'd likely be dead or dying thanks to one bad move in a spar. The wraith nodded with a quiet grunt and tugged her shirt down until enough of her chest was exposed for him to place his palm on the skin.

Like before, slight pinch, and then the rush of the enzyme filling her bloodstream. First the pain started to melt away, followed by her internal injuries.

When he'd given what he deemed enough, he withdrew his hand. "Better?" he asked

To have the pain fade, and then the nausea and blurred vision, she couldn't even fully comprehend the relief that coursed through her. Some part of her was realizing just how badly she'd been hurt, how close she'd come to never getting back up again. Just as she was beginning to really enjoy and embrace her new life...

"Better," she agreed quietly, carefully moving to sit up. She didn't try standing yet, even though she was feeling mostly fine now. Instead, she stayed where she was and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Everyone's making such a fuss in here, I can hardly think straight." It was like being in a room full of people with everyone talking all at once, and being quite loud about it too.

"Take your time." he said. "The enzyme's strength should help you get them under control again." Todd remained kneeling beside her, mentally telling any wraith that approached off until they were done here.

"He shouldn't have struck you in the head, I'll talk to him later." he said to her, letting her move at her own pace.

She looked up at him at the last bit and shook her head slightly. "It wasn't all his fault," she told him, expression earnest and a little concerned. "I honestly don't think that was his intention, but even if it was, he tried to stop. I could feel it, there was a difference in his strength. If I hadn't turned when I did, it wouldn't have been as bad."

Rogue knew Todd wouldn't let Cody off without some sort of reprimand, and she wasn't trying to convince him of that. She just wanted to be sure he had all the facts for when he did talk to the youngest member of his crew. "He does need to work on his control, though, I can't deny that."

Todd would take that into account. It'd been an accident, he knew Cody had not meant to strike her in such a way, able to sense it as much as she. Still, a wraith couldn't afford to have accidents.

"He's an ambitious sort" he chuffed. "Once we have a queen, I wouldn't be surprised if he should try to claim the position of commander."

Edited 2016-01-09 05:55 (UTC)

She looked at him for a moment, tilting her head slightly to the side, and finally sighed quietly. "There are some things about Wraith culture that I don't think I'll ever understand," she commented, not at all sure what she thought about his observation.

"I think I can get up now," she decided, not wanting him to be stuck there on the floor with her any longer. She was doing much better, the enzyme working as he'd said and helping to quiet things down in her mind, though she could feel that she'd have to do some heavy maintenance later to ensure it stayed that way.

They called it a day and headed back to his chambers. While she rested and sorted out her head, he went to deal with his youngest underling.

"May I have a moment, sir?" Kenny asked when he was done reprimanding Cody. Todd gave a nod and his second began pestering him about Rogue. He heard him out but it was nothing he hadn't listened to before.

Kenny felt that he was treating Rogue too well, and spending more time with her than with his crew. Todd agreed that his time among his crew had dwindled since Rogue came on board, but he pushed back, he'd been treating Rogue like any other wraith, for she was not a worshiper, nor a pet, and she sided with them, not Atlantis.

"What happens to her when we do get a Queen?" Kenny asked.

Todd answered simply. "I am unsure. It will be up to the Queen to decide to let her stay or not. And I'll stand by whatever that decision may be."

His second seemed skeptical but it was his job to question everything he did so he didn't pursue it. Todd returned to his chambers a little later thanks to his discussion, but also with news that they'd be finally dropping out of hyperspace soon as they'd closed in on the worshiper world.

Rogue had curled up on the bed when they'd returned from the arena, using the time Todd was gone to meditate and try to smooth out the cracks she could feel in the walls she'd erected in her mind. It was a struggle not to drift off to sleep while doing so, though. While the enzyme had healed her physically, mentally she was exhausted. The ordeal had taken a lot out of her, especially with the realization of how close she might have been to dying, and working on shoring up her mental shields didn't help matters any.

When Todd returned, she propped herself up against the mound of pillows and looked at him expectantly. There was some element of his expression, or maybe of his stance, that said something had happened while he'd been gone, that there was news or a new development of some sort.

"How are things?" she asked him carefully, hoping she wasn't misreading him. "You were gone longer than I thought you'd be."

"Spoke to Cody, then Kenny spoke to me, and then I spoke to our navigators. We should be arriving at our destination soon."

Being in hyperspace so often wasn't good for the ship and it seemed like they were constantly on the move. After this trip to the worshiper world and then back to Atlantis, they should find a planet to orbit awhile. Landing the hive would be better but taking off from a planet was very difficult and couldn't be done quickly, so they'd be a sitting duck to their enemies.

Todd sat down beside her. "Feeling back to normal?"

She reached over to set a hand on his arm as he sat beside her, giving it a light squeeze. "Pretty much, I'm just tired now," she answered truthfully, giving him a grateful smile. "Mentally worn out, I guess. The rest of me is good, though, thanks to you." He'd saved her life, there weren't words that could express just how grateful she was for that.

Thinking back over what he'd said, she frowned slightly. "What did Kenny have to say? Was it something about what happened with Cody?" Perhaps his second had disagreed with the ways things had been handled, it seemed like that sort of thing would be in his nature.

In the past he might have pulled away at the gesture, but he didn't now. They were mates, and he was accepting of such.

"The usual, wondering why I devote so much time to you, though if you were a wraith he'd not be mentioning it. He also asked me what would happen to you if we should acquire a queen. Told him that's be up to the queen herself."

Rogue looked down at her lap, contemplating the situation. That Kenny was questioning the arrangement she and Todd had bothered her, but not because she felt he should blindly accept it. She was fairly certain that his opposition stemmed from concern for his commander and for his kin more than anything else.

"You do spend a lot of time with me," she acknowledged, smoothing her hand over his arm absently. "Does it bother any of the other crew? Should you be giving more of your time to them? They're more important to you than I am, and I don't want to cause any problems for you with them." She said it without any accusation or assumption of how things should be between them - she'd accepted that a wraith would always rank his kin above a human, and she didn't expect that to change just because they were mates.

"I'd be spending just as much time away from them as I would if we had a queen. It's his job to question everything I do. This isn't the first time he's told me this and thus far no other crew have come together to talk to me about it, so therefore my time with you is not as one-sided as Kenny believes. And if that's all he has to complain about, I find its been a good day." he stated with a chuckle.

"You're also thinking in terms of humans interacting with one another and not wraith. I'll elaborate, the average human does a lot with other humans. Everything from feeding together, to working out, to just sitting around doing nothing. And they do this fairly regularly. This is because they are not in one another's heads, because if they were and they did all those activities too, humans would exhaust themselves to death before the age of thirty. Wraith interaction is different, and as there are so few of us on such a large ship, all with daily duties, coming together to talk in person-or spar or eat-makes such that much more enjoyable. In the meantime, we're almost constantly in one another's minds, an almost consistently updating instant message board, to put it technically.."

He got up from the bed. "We're just as social as humans, but we do it differently." he went over to his desk and picked up The Count of Monte Cristo, returning to sit beside her. It'd be awhile yet before dinner was to be started, and Rogue looked as exhausted as she probably felt, so no more sparring.

If he was spending as much time with her as he would his queen, then things really would change when he got one in the future. Even if the queen let Rogue stay on the ship, she doubted that she would see much of Todd, and the thought made her heart ache. She'd grown incredibly attached to her commander, and with the way things were between them now, she could hardly stomach the idea of losing their time together. But it would happen eventually, she was certain of it, she just wasn't sure how she would cope with it.

"Thank you for always explaining things to me," she told him as he settled back beside her and she leaned into him. "I'm sure it's not always easy dealing with someone who's so completely clueless when it comes to most wraith things, but you're patient with me, and kind. That means so much to me."

Reaching up to run the tips of her fingers through his hair, she let them play over that prominent braid at the side, smiling at all it represented for her. "And thank you for saving my life in the arena. You didn't have to, but of course I'm glad you did."

A chuff of acknowledgement. She was one of them in all but species, he wasn't going to let her die if he could help it.

He read for a little while before they headed down to the kitchen for dinner. Today's group were to be the first to cook on their own without Rogue's supervision. While she sat at the table, they worked together like a well-oiled machine to get the meal prepared.

Todd mostly watched too as he'd had even more practice than any of them but still lent a hand when it came time to clean up while the savory pies baked. As they put things away, a mental broadcast was given out by the crew on the bridge. The hive gave its usual low shudder shortly after. They'd dropped out of hyperspace.

As the pies came out, another broadcast was sent out.

There was a distress signal at the commanders rendezvous point.

Todd looked to Rogue. She'd be fine with his crew. He had to check on this matter in person.

He gave her a quick explanation before heading to the bridge alone. The crew left behind with Rogue watched after him before resuming taking care of dinner.

It was strange for Rogue to be sitting at the table instead of helping in the kitchen, but with the day she'd had, she was grateful for the fortuitous timing. She relaxed in her chair and listened to the sounds coming from the other room, the chopping of knives and the like. It was comforting, soothing even, and something she could get used to. As the various groups got better with certain skills, she'd be happy to let them take over and just be on hand if they needed her.

The shudder from coming out of hyperspace was a familiar one by now, and she found herself looking forward to being able to see the stars through the skylight that night. But then Todd told her about distress signal. That had never happened before during her time on the hive ship and she couldn't help but be worried and a little frightened by it, though she tried to take a bit of comfort in that the crew there with her didn't seem bothered by it. Not that they were the easiest to read, of course.

Still. Wanting something to do other than just sit at the table, worrying and waiting, she joined the others in the kitchen proper and took a look at the pies they'd created, asking about the flavor combinations they'd tried and commenting on the perfectly baked crust. When it was earned, she was liberal with her praise of their newly acquired skills, and it always seemed to have a positive effect on their moods, which was good for everyone in the end.

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