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

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

[continued from here]

It was a pleasant surprise to glance over and see Todd asleep on the bed, relaxed and peaceful. He can't have gotten much quality rest the night before propped up in the chair as he had been, certainly not when he'd been woken by her nightmare. She hoped that didn't happen again tonight, he had important things to take care of tomorrow; she didn't know all of the details, but with a civil war going on between his people, he needed his wits about him.

To that end, Rogue forced herself to stay awake for hours into the night, eating the dinner he'd brought for her and looking through one of the books from the collection he'd shown her before their sparring session. She didn't recognize anything on the pages, but it gave her a topic for conversation with the voices in her head, providing ample entertainment to pass the time. Eventually she fell asleep herself, the book held carefully to her chest as she curled up in the armchair, her boots set on the floor beside it. It was a fairly deep sleep, and she didn't dream for one of the first times in many weeks, something she was eternally grateful for when she awoke.

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He was surprised by her following after him, figuring she was done with him, but made no move to shoo her away or tell her off, stopping all together to hear her out. And then realization dawned on him as he did.

She wasn't avoiding trust here on Atlantis, she was avoiding connections.

If she settled in here, and the unthinkable happened, she'd have to suffer not only the consequences, but also have to live with that person inside her head for the rest of her life. Sheppard. Ronon. McKay. Teyla...Torren. Another dead or comatose person in her mind.

He regretted his foolishness in rushing the gene therapy resulting in the death of his whole crew. But he had the fortune in that while they'd been inside his head, they didn't remain there in the same way that those she touched did.

"I understand. And, I apologize" he nodded to her.

Everything in her relaxed at his words. She hadn't expected an apology. All she'd wanted was for him to understand, to stop pushing so much for something she couldn't give. The war had taken everything from her, and she couldn't do it anymore. It was part of why living alone on a deserted planet had been at least slightly appealing - no one to betray her, and no one to lose and mourn while they stayed forever inside her.

"Thank you," she said very softly, not knowing what else to say. Anything else would feel... wrong. "Goodnight, Commander," she added before turning to go to her room, exhaustion permeating every aching inch of her. It had been a very long day.

He nodded with a chuff and they went their separate ways for the night.

The following morning, Todd was up early, focus back on his crew. Cody had pulled through with no difference in side effects which would mean the rest of the inoculations ought to go off without a hitch.

The shift change happened yet again, and Todd sat with his newly changed crew in the cafeteria for their first breakfast, French toast. By now, this was becoming a regular thing so those on Atlantis were a little more at ease, the marines guarding them didn't lighten up just yet.

Rogue slept in a bit the next day, the medication to help her sleep leaving her feeling groggy when she woke. Combined with the emotionally draining outbursts of the night before, it was quite like a hangover, and the best cure for a hangover was a strong cup of coffee.

After a quick wash up, she braided her hair and left her room, heading for the cafeteria. Word of the previous night's show in the gate room must have spread like wildfire, because she was certain that everyone she passed looked at her a bit more strangely than before. She wasn't just the new girl now, she was the stranger who had declared quite fiercely that she would never be able to trust any of them, and that she was terrified of everyone on Atlantis. She was regretting those words now, but there was no way to take them back, so she would just have to face it.

When she had her very full and steaming cup of coffee, she just sort of stood off to the side in the cafeteria, looking out over the tables, completely unsure of where to go.

Todd was pointing out the proper way to hold a fork to Cody when he saw Rogue. After a moment, he got up from the table and came over to her.

He said nothing to her, regarding her a long moment. He then lifted a hand and touched her covered shoulder, "Come sit with us" he invited.

Sheppard had just spotted her, he and his team sitting at their usual table and he waved her over. She now had to decide. The wraith, or the humans...

It was an easy decision.

Rogue gave a small smile and an acknowledging wave to Sheppard, but didn't go to join him and the others. Instead, her expression turned grateful as she looked at Todd and nodded, saying a quiet, "Thank you," before following him to the table full of wraith. She enjoyed the company of Sheppard's team, there was no doubt of that, but she also felt some awkwardness toward them knowing that they would have heard about her outburst. But beyond that, she wanted to start the process of getting to know these wraith, of having them be used to her being around, and now was as good an opportunity as any.

They all seemed a little uncertain about their first meal of real food in what had probably been quite a while. She took a seat at the table and cradled the coffee cup in her gloved hands, having decided to forego the sweet breakfast. Normally she loved French toast, and the smell of it now was certainly delicious, but the thought of actually eating it just didn't sit well with her stomach.

Their table was quiet, but not in awkwardness, most of their conversations were internally with one another. But Todd eventually spoke aloud.

"After you finish eating you're to be transferred back to the hive." he said.

"Already?" Cody asked "I thought that now that we're not feeding upon humans we can wander Atlantis to our content."

"No. It will probably be some time before our kin are allowed to roam the city freely." Todd answered.

"Why? Aren't we just like them now?" Cody asked

Todd looked to Rogue then to his youngest underling. "No. We are still Wraith."

"That's hardly fair, we've changed so much for them, why can't they do the same for us?"

"Because humans will fear us until the generations that endured our cullings die out, and even then it will take time. Trust isn't gained as easily as we hope it is. We've made good progress in the last two years alone. Have some patience." Todd said and a couple others chuffed in agreement.

Cody nodded after a moment of thought and went back to eating his French toast.

It nearly broke Rogue's heart to hear the conversation as it progressed. It reminded her so much of what had happened between humans and mutants in her dimension, of how hard mutants had tried only to have baseline humans still turn their backs on them. Fear was such a powerful thing and incredibly difficult to overcome.

She sipped at her coffee, struggling to find something to say that might mean something or even just lighten the mood.

"Well, this human isn't afraid of you," she finally declared, falling into her teacher's voice, calm, reassuring, and expecting to be listened to. "As such, I'll expect to see each of you in my kitchen before long to learn the basics of cooking. Besides, I'm going to need help lifting heavy things until my injury heals, and you all look more than strong enough for the job."

She wasn't sure how they would react to that, since these wraith weren't used to her, but there was no hissing in reaction to her words. In fact, she thought she saw a bit of amusement around the table, which was a very good sign. She liked the look of this bunch, Cody especially, and she was very much looking forward to returning to the ship once their business with Atlantis was finished.

Todd smiled a little as she prompted his crew to be an orderly bunch.

They looked at her curiously but they'd already spoken with those that had had their inoculations before this trip and said she was quite good at both cooking and teaching. Which meant she was already in their good books.

The marines were pacing about, anxious to get the party moving to the pier, so Todd hurried his crewmates along to finish eating-they'd been up and here long before Rogue so they were mostly done anyway. They left their trays, some clean, some not too keen on the extra sweet meal and only had half eaten their toast, to be led by the marines. Todd remained to enjoy his own breakfast and tea-coffee was too bitter for him-with Rogue.

The kitchen crew came around to pick up trays and wipe down tables. "What, too good for Wraith?" said one disgruntled worker, indicating the partially eaten toast.

"They just started eating normal food." Todd said patiently. "And its quite the rich meal after a day of throwing up nothing"

"Coulda taken less." he pointed out. "Wasteful and all."

"If you're worried about supplies you can start with Doctor McKay, who drinks and eats several times what we do, and he's been here longer." Todd said, sipping his tea.

The worker set the dirty plates in a square bucket. "Smartass." he mumbled before walking away.

Todd chuckled after he'd gone. "A sure sign you've won an argument is when they insult you."

Rogue laughed, a large smile stretched across her face. "I know that all too well," she confided. "Being surrounded by dozens of teenage boys meant I got to deal with that sort of thing pretty regularly. It was nice when I finally had the authority to teach them some manners." Not that it had stopped her before; she'd never been one to hold back when someone needed to be taught a good lesson.

She felt an instinctive need almost to apologize for her species being mainly a bunch of idiots, but Todd already knew that about humans. He'd been dealing with them for a long while now, and he'd seen the best and worst of them, just as she had. So she moved on to a different topic.

Nodding to his plate of breakfast, she said, "I've noticed it's fairly hit or miss as to whether your crew likes sweet things. Where do you stand on it?" After the baked apples, she'd tried a few other sweeter desserts to go along with a savory meal, to mixed results.

"I suppose I'm in the middle." he answered, leaving a bit of crust behind on his plate to spite the worker as he pushed the dish aside, working on some grapes and the rest of his tea.

"The cookies you created were too much for me, for instance. But the first sweet you made, the apples, were good." he said. He preferred the naturally sweet over the intentionally over-sweet.

Rogue contemplated having a second cup of coffee as he pushed aside his plate, and nodded as he answered her question with his usual precision. It was good to have his perspective, she could use it as a basis while cooking for the others until she got to know their individual tastes better.

Sipping at her coffee, she admitted, "I love everything sweet. I blame it on being a southerner. We have this iced sweet tea that we make that the rest of the world doesn't seem to really understand - it's chock full of sugar and amazing on a hot summer day."

She grinned then, feeling more content in that moment than she had in a while. "Between that and an obsession with all things chocolate, I've got enough sugar in me that I really should have a much sweeter disposition than I do." It was a joke many people had made over the years, and she'd come to embrace it.

Another chuckle, she sure did enjoy her sweets.

He finished his tea and set that and the small empty bowl of grapes aside.

"Not eating anything this morning?" he observed, getting up. His crew would likely be switching with the new batch by now. While the anxiety over whether the serum would have any other effects was gone, he still intended to give each of his crew the same attention as the last. This was the second to last bunch...a sad reminder at how few of his crew there were, but they'd be on their way the day after tomorrow.

She shook her head, downing the last gulp of the bitter beverage before setting her mug beside his for collection.

Standing as well, she slid her hands into the pockets of her uniform. "I took something to help me sleep last night and I'm still a little out of it," she told him. "Doesn't make for much of an appetite. The coffee's helping though."

Nodding in the general, far-off direction of the hospital, she asked, "If you're heading to the hospital, I'll walk with you. Dr. Beckett will just track me down if I don't stop by." And she could use more painkillers anyway.

The wraith nodded and started to lead the way when Sheppard came over.

"Hey, um I'm sorry if anything I said yesterday upset you." he apologized, glancing to Todd but speaking to Rogue.

Todd looked to Rogue, wondering if she'd forgive the colonel and tell him what had upset her, or hold him accountable for bringing up something he couldn't have known about.

Well, she was going to have to face this sooner or later. She had just been secretly hoping for later.

"I'm the one who's sorry," she said with a small smile. "I wasn't having the best day to begin with, and I let things get to me when I shouldn't have. You couldn't have known, and it was stupid of me to react the way I did." Her smile grew and she tilted her head, a bit of flirting back in her voice as she told him, "I think Cody suits him. You did good, Colonel Sheppard."

Sheppard looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Yeah?" he asked with his own smile. "Hey, I still owe you a trip out in a Jumper, don't I? What do you say?"

Rogue glanced at Todd and then nodded. "Sounds good. I need to stop by and see Dr. Beckett, but can I meet you in half an hour?"

"It's a date," Sheppard agreed before leaving them.

Todd waited until Sheppard had gone and they were headed to the hospital when he asked Rogue, "What's a 'date'?"

The next group of wraith to be inoculated were arriving as they did and Todd led them to the room to be settled in while Keller prepared the serums.

"Morning love, was afraid I'd have to hunt you down" Beckett said to Rogue before having her lift her shirt to have a look at her ribs. "You're healing well, but I'd say you're still a long way off from sparring again." he said, going to the medicine cabinet.

Rogue had just laughed at Todd's question, promising to explain it to him later.

She rolled her eyes at Beckett's prognosis. "Rats," she muttered comically, and would have added a snap of her fingers if her hands hadn't been gloved. "Guess I'll have to find some other way to amuse myself."

Beckett gave her a smile as he handed her the regular dose of pain medication. "And how did you sleep last night?"

She gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Whatever you gave me did the trick, I got a full eight hours. Just feeling a little groggy from it."

"That's nothing unusual," the physician assured her. "But do let me know if it doesn't pass in a few hours."

Todd spent the majority of the day with his crew in the overflow room, leaving them only briefly to get a book from his room. A little after midday, as usual, the side effects died out but he remained with them as Rogue had left with Sheppard on her...date?

More human courtship rituals no doubt, now that he thought of it.

With all off-world activity suspended until the wraith had gone, many on Atlantis were either catching up on mission reports or taking the day to relax. It was still raining so outdoor activities were minimal but there was plenty to find to do regardless.

"Shame the weather couldn't hold" Sheppard frowned as he activated the jumper, prompting Rogue to sit shotgun.

[ooc: continued over here]

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

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