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

[theycalledmeacurse]

[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.

Comments

[commandshumor]

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."

[theycalledmeacurse]

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.

[commandshumor]

"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.

[theycalledmeacurse]

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.

[commandshumor]

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.

[theycalledmeacurse]

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.

[commandshumor]

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.

[theycalledmeacurse]

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.

[commandshumor]

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.

[theycalledmeacurse]

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."

[commandshumor]

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.

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ooc: continued over here]