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lobelia321Title: What Else Went On
Author: Lobelia;![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lobelia321
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: Jocelyn Rutger / April Bingham
Note: These are not original characters! April Bingham features in SGA 1.17 ("Letter from Pegasus"), and Jocelyn Rutger features in SGA 4.04 ("Doppelganger").
Canon: Rodney McKay dated April and Jocelyn in high school, got mono, puked.
Spoilers: SGA 1.17 and 4.04 (see Note above). Alien, directed by Ridley Scott.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Two gals share notes on dates with Meredith.
What Else Went On
by Lobelia
"Jocelyn Rutger?"
I turned around so fast my coffee spilled. I knew that voice.
"Is that really you?"
"My god," I said.
"I haven't seen you in ages! Wow, this is so strange. I never see people from high school at these dos."
I wiped the droplets from my hand and straightened up. "April," I finally said.
"That's right! April Bingham!"
April Bingham. Short girl; blonde; pony tail at a time when everybody else was permed or punked. Was very into math. Could do the splits like a cheerleader.
She was still short. Of course. But she'd lost the pony tail and the blonde hair. She had a nose ring now and a wild mane, dyed black with a pink streak along the front. All of this but in a suit and high heels.
"Imperial College," announced the name tag on her blouse.
"This is so cool." She drew her arm through mine. I didn't resist.
"I would never in a million years have expected to see anyone from Yonge High at a quantum physics conference. I never see anyone from Yonge High anywhere, actually. I pretty much left Canada behind me when I started grad school."
"Oh?" I said. The coffee was cooling in my styrofoam cup. Delegates swarmed past us, towards the lifts and towards the plenary session. The carpet had an industrial orchid pattern on it, and April Bingham had a button nose.
"Except that one guy, I once bumped into him at an astrophysics bash in Colorado; the annual conference of astrophysics and stellar engineering -- do you ever go to those?" April Bingham wasn't swarming towards the plenary. She was meandering more towards the session rooms, and I allowed myself to be meandered along with her. "It was at Boulder, that's right, what a dump of a campus, by the way. But guess who was there?"
I couldn't guess. I'd never been to Colorado in my life. April Bingham. She'd sung alto in the school choir. She'd looked so squeaky but had sung the deepest parts.
"Rodney McKay!" April Bingham paused with a flourish. I nodded and coughed. I threw my coffee cup into a passing trash can. I had no idea who Rodney McKay was.
"You don't remember him?" April nudged my side. "You know, little guy, geeky hair, algebra club?"
"No," I said and pulled my face into various expressions. "I never went to algebra club."
"C'mon! He was quite the star in physics circles for a while, and then he disappeared into some job somewhere; industry I think. Or was it military? Don't you remember him from school?"
"Hang on," I said. April's arm was alive in mine. "I think..." I thought I did remember him now. "My god," I said.
"See?" When she laughed, crinkles appeared in the corners of her face. "You do remember!"
"I went out with him once!" It came out in a blurt.
"You did?" Her eyes widened. "You're kidding. I did, too!"
"Oh?" I said.
I pulled my arm out from hers. Didn't I need to be somewhere? I wanted to look at my watch but feared to seem rude.
"He was kind of cute, didn't you think? Completely useless on a date, of course. Too desperate for sex."
I spluttered inchoately.
"Mind you," she said, and an English inflection crept into her speech. I wanted to ask, 'How long have you lived in London? How long have you been at Imperial? How long have you had black hair, and did it hurt to get the nose ring, and can I touch?' "Mind you, so was I." She burst out laughing, then stopped and assumed a frown. "Weren't we all back then, eh?"
"April," I said. "It's such a..."
"What?"
"Name," I said. My feet felt warm inside their lace-ups. "Such a name."
She put her head to one side. "One thing, though. After this date we went on, Rodney McKay and me, he was off school for a month. And you know why?"
She giggled. I looked at her lipstick-less lips.
"He got mono." She giggled again. "Can you believe it? He got mono, and I gave it to him." She stopped and pursed her mouth. "I still feel bad about that. Of course." She didn't look contrite at all.
"Of course." I moved my conference bag from one shoulder to the other. Clapping could be heard from somewhere in the hotel: the plenary. We'd ended up in one of the empty session rooms. "Of course." A data projector had not been switched off and beamed blue light at the screen. Someone had forgotten their notepad on one of the chairs. "My date was much worse."
"Really?" Her eyes were light blue. A blonde's eyes.
"Yeah."
"What? You've got to tell me! What did you do to Rodney McKay?"
I hadn't thought about this for two decades.
"I didn't do anything," I said. "I just went to the movies with him."
"What did you see?" She sat down on a chair. She was settling in with an expectant slumber-party look in her eye.
"Alien," I said. "It was Alien."
"Oooh," she said. "Cool. That is a cool movie."
I looked at April Bingham, at April Bingham's black-and-pink hair, at April Bingham's silver nostril hoop, at the flesh between April Bingham's chin and her throat.
She had very pale skin.
"Rodney McKay," I said slowly but I felt a bit confused.
Translucent.
This hadn't happened to me in a very long time.
April Bingham sat on her chair, in her professor's blazer and her tight, tight skirt, and I stood in front of her, with my conference bag dangling off my shoulder and my contacts pressing into my eyeballs.
"What?" said a voice, and it was April Bingham's voice.
"Oh," I said.
"The date?" she prompted.
I looked around. I pulled up another chair and slid the bag to the floor, another orchid patterned floor. "We went to the movies. We saw Alien. And when the alien bursts out from..."
"Coolest scene ever!"
"Anyway. Rodney McKay puked all over me."
April Bingham stared. Then she opened her mouth very wide and screwed up her eyes. Was she having an epileptic fit?
No, she was speechless with laughter!
She laughed and laughed, and after a while, I laughed, too, because it was funny, yes it was. Although at the time it hadn't been. No, not at all.
Maybe that night at Alien had been the start of everything else for me. But who can tell these things? Hindsight is wise sight.
"The poor guy," she finally said and leaned forward and put her hand on my knee.
"Poor? Why? My god, is that the time?" The orchids fluttered.
"Two in a row. How unlucky is that?"
"I." I had no idea what she was talking about. Did I?
Her eyes were so very, very blue.
Or no, not really. Part blue, part grey.
Translucent.
And her lips.
"C'mon," she said.
She held out her hand. There was a ring on every single finger.
"I can't," I said. I licked my lips, they felt so dry, what with the hotel air.
Her eyes went dark. Her pupils filled up the circle of her irises. Behind us, the projector hummed.
"Yes, you can," she said, in a voice barely louder than the hum.
Her lips were very warm, like toast, or bricks in the sun, or ceramic straight out of the microwave.
"Jocelyn." She smiled but her voice was shaky. She lifted her hand, the rings glittered, and she traced a line down my cheek in front of my ear. "Jocelyn Rutger."
"Can I touch your nose ring?" I whispered.
---
The End.
Written 7 February 2008. Posted 10 Feb.
1,391 words.
My other stories with April Bingham are One Kiss Later and Ninety Percent.
Author: Lobelia;
lobelia321Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: Jocelyn Rutger / April Bingham
Note: These are not original characters! April Bingham features in SGA 1.17 ("Letter from Pegasus"), and Jocelyn Rutger features in SGA 4.04 ("Doppelganger").
Canon: Rodney McKay dated April and Jocelyn in high school, got mono, puked.
Spoilers: SGA 1.17 and 4.04 (see Note above). Alien, directed by Ridley Scott.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Two gals share notes on dates with Meredith.
What Else Went On
by Lobelia
"Jocelyn Rutger?"
I turned around so fast my coffee spilled. I knew that voice.
"Is that really you?"
"My god," I said.
"I haven't seen you in ages! Wow, this is so strange. I never see people from high school at these dos."
I wiped the droplets from my hand and straightened up. "April," I finally said.
"That's right! April Bingham!"
April Bingham. Short girl; blonde; pony tail at a time when everybody else was permed or punked. Was very into math. Could do the splits like a cheerleader.
She was still short. Of course. But she'd lost the pony tail and the blonde hair. She had a nose ring now and a wild mane, dyed black with a pink streak along the front. All of this but in a suit and high heels.
"Imperial College," announced the name tag on her blouse.
"This is so cool." She drew her arm through mine. I didn't resist.
"I would never in a million years have expected to see anyone from Yonge High at a quantum physics conference. I never see anyone from Yonge High anywhere, actually. I pretty much left Canada behind me when I started grad school."
"Oh?" I said. The coffee was cooling in my styrofoam cup. Delegates swarmed past us, towards the lifts and towards the plenary session. The carpet had an industrial orchid pattern on it, and April Bingham had a button nose.
"Except that one guy, I once bumped into him at an astrophysics bash in Colorado; the annual conference of astrophysics and stellar engineering -- do you ever go to those?" April Bingham wasn't swarming towards the plenary. She was meandering more towards the session rooms, and I allowed myself to be meandered along with her. "It was at Boulder, that's right, what a dump of a campus, by the way. But guess who was there?"
I couldn't guess. I'd never been to Colorado in my life. April Bingham. She'd sung alto in the school choir. She'd looked so squeaky but had sung the deepest parts.
"Rodney McKay!" April Bingham paused with a flourish. I nodded and coughed. I threw my coffee cup into a passing trash can. I had no idea who Rodney McKay was.
"You don't remember him?" April nudged my side. "You know, little guy, geeky hair, algebra club?"
"No," I said and pulled my face into various expressions. "I never went to algebra club."
"C'mon! He was quite the star in physics circles for a while, and then he disappeared into some job somewhere; industry I think. Or was it military? Don't you remember him from school?"
"Hang on," I said. April's arm was alive in mine. "I think..." I thought I did remember him now. "My god," I said.
"See?" When she laughed, crinkles appeared in the corners of her face. "You do remember!"
"I went out with him once!" It came out in a blurt.
"You did?" Her eyes widened. "You're kidding. I did, too!"
"Oh?" I said.
I pulled my arm out from hers. Didn't I need to be somewhere? I wanted to look at my watch but feared to seem rude.
"He was kind of cute, didn't you think? Completely useless on a date, of course. Too desperate for sex."
I spluttered inchoately.
"Mind you," she said, and an English inflection crept into her speech. I wanted to ask, 'How long have you lived in London? How long have you been at Imperial? How long have you had black hair, and did it hurt to get the nose ring, and can I touch?' "Mind you, so was I." She burst out laughing, then stopped and assumed a frown. "Weren't we all back then, eh?"
"April," I said. "It's such a..."
"What?"
"Name," I said. My feet felt warm inside their lace-ups. "Such a name."
She put her head to one side. "One thing, though. After this date we went on, Rodney McKay and me, he was off school for a month. And you know why?"
She giggled. I looked at her lipstick-less lips.
"He got mono." She giggled again. "Can you believe it? He got mono, and I gave it to him." She stopped and pursed her mouth. "I still feel bad about that. Of course." She didn't look contrite at all.
"Of course." I moved my conference bag from one shoulder to the other. Clapping could be heard from somewhere in the hotel: the plenary. We'd ended up in one of the empty session rooms. "Of course." A data projector had not been switched off and beamed blue light at the screen. Someone had forgotten their notepad on one of the chairs. "My date was much worse."
"Really?" Her eyes were light blue. A blonde's eyes.
"Yeah."
"What? You've got to tell me! What did you do to Rodney McKay?"
I hadn't thought about this for two decades.
"I didn't do anything," I said. "I just went to the movies with him."
"What did you see?" She sat down on a chair. She was settling in with an expectant slumber-party look in her eye.
"Alien," I said. "It was Alien."
"Oooh," she said. "Cool. That is a cool movie."
I looked at April Bingham, at April Bingham's black-and-pink hair, at April Bingham's silver nostril hoop, at the flesh between April Bingham's chin and her throat.
She had very pale skin.
"Rodney McKay," I said slowly but I felt a bit confused.
Translucent.
This hadn't happened to me in a very long time.
April Bingham sat on her chair, in her professor's blazer and her tight, tight skirt, and I stood in front of her, with my conference bag dangling off my shoulder and my contacts pressing into my eyeballs.
"What?" said a voice, and it was April Bingham's voice.
"Oh," I said.
"The date?" she prompted.
I looked around. I pulled up another chair and slid the bag to the floor, another orchid patterned floor. "We went to the movies. We saw Alien. And when the alien bursts out from..."
"Coolest scene ever!"
"Anyway. Rodney McKay puked all over me."
April Bingham stared. Then she opened her mouth very wide and screwed up her eyes. Was she having an epileptic fit?
No, she was speechless with laughter!
She laughed and laughed, and after a while, I laughed, too, because it was funny, yes it was. Although at the time it hadn't been. No, not at all.
Maybe that night at Alien had been the start of everything else for me. But who can tell these things? Hindsight is wise sight.
"The poor guy," she finally said and leaned forward and put her hand on my knee.
"Poor? Why? My god, is that the time?" The orchids fluttered.
"Two in a row. How unlucky is that?"
"I." I had no idea what she was talking about. Did I?
Her eyes were so very, very blue.
Or no, not really. Part blue, part grey.
Translucent.
And her lips.
"C'mon," she said.
She held out her hand. There was a ring on every single finger.
"I can't," I said. I licked my lips, they felt so dry, what with the hotel air.
Her eyes went dark. Her pupils filled up the circle of her irises. Behind us, the projector hummed.
"Yes, you can," she said, in a voice barely louder than the hum.
Her lips were very warm, like toast, or bricks in the sun, or ceramic straight out of the microwave.
"Jocelyn." She smiled but her voice was shaky. She lifted her hand, the rings glittered, and she traced a line down my cheek in front of my ear. "Jocelyn Rutger."
"Can I touch your nose ring?" I whispered.
---
The End.
Written 7 February 2008. Posted 10 Feb.
1,391 words.
My other stories with April Bingham are One Kiss Later and Ninety Percent.