Fic - Wandering Souls (Firefly/Stargate Atlantis)
Wandering Souls
Author: Rhiannon
Fandoms: Firefly, Stargate Atlantis
Characters: River Tam, Radek Zelenka
Pairing: Radek/River
Summary: “Not cold. Not alone. Not anymore,” she whispered.
Word Count: 525
Genre: Vignette, het
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Timeline: SGA: Minor spoiler for “Critical Mass” (2.13); takes place in early season 2.
Series: Atlantis That Was, link to table
Disclaimer: In some alternate universe, I’m sure I own both Firefly and Stargate Atlantis. Sadly, this is not that universe.
Author's Notes: crossovers100 prompt #86 - Cold. For those of you not familiar with the Firefly fandom, anything not in English has mouseover translations, plus translations at the end. Xie-xie to lvs2read, my beta-reader. Crossposted, so apologies if I spam your f-list.
“Zatraceně!” Radek muttered as he looked over the readings on the console. He turned in his chair to check his laptop. “One set of results is wrong, so which one,” he mused, looking over the data.
“So cold,” a quiet voice came from the door of the lab.
Radek swiveled in his chair, startled at the sudden intrusion.
“River, I...I didn’t realize you were there,” he said with a nervous smile. “Is something wrong? Do you need me to get Simon or Doctor Beckett?”
River wandered among the workstations, her bare feet silent on the hard floor. Mesmerized, Radek watched her movements as she slowly circled the room, finally settling on a chair facing him, folding her legs under her with an impossible grace.
“So cold, so dark,” she whispered.
Radek had never been alone with her before and was unsure of what to do. He slowly raised his hand, ready to activate his earpiece.
“Don’t,” she said sharply, her eyes focusing intently on him. Radek dropped his hand, suppressing a shudder as she seemed to look through him.
“River,” he said calmly, not wanting to startle her. “Is there something wrong? Do you need something?”
“Fish swimming in a bathtub,” she smiled, half-singing the words. “Big fish in little water, swimming in circles. Little circles, big fish.”
“River, what are you talking about?” he asked as he rolled his chair closer to her, resisting a sudden urge to brush a stray wisp of hair away from her face.
“Four settings on the table for three. No more fish in the bathtub, fish swimming with vegetables. In the dark the candles were dim, the air was sweet. It was still on her coat, driving home. Cold, dark, singing. Tichá noc, přesvatá noc,” she trailed off. “Ice, screaming, then nothing but cold and dark.”
“Please, stop this,” Radek said softly.
River leaned forward and placed a single finger over his lips.
“All so loud. Sounds in ears, sounds in my mind, all the same,” she said as she withdrew her finger. “We both know what the other is doing. Telling. Listening. Sister could never have babies so son became nephew. Your heart froze.” She placed her hand on his chest. “You went to where everything was frozen then left Earth That Was.”
Radek gently took the hand resting on his chest and kissed the back of it before he cradled it in both of his hands. He smiled sadly, gently squeezing her hand.
“River, that was many years ago. It is not your burden.”
“Four-hundred and ninety-eight years before I will be born, with a margin of error of five point zero two e to the negative fourth power years,” River said, nodding, her tone deadly serious.
Radek chuckled, reluctantly releasing her hand.
“Two souls, alone, wandering far from home,” River said as she reached to stroke his cheek. “Don’t have to be alone.”
He closed his eyes as she tentatively pressed her lips to his. As Radek returned her gentle kiss, he felt a warmth fill him. Something he had nearly forgotten, something he had tried to forget.
“Not cold. Not alone. Not anymore,” she whispered.
~*~
Zatraceně! - Damn!
Tichá noc, přesvatá noc - Silent night, holy night
~*~
Czech Christmas Traditions
Czech Christmas Eve Dinner Traditions
More Czech Christmas Traditions - this page is a bit, uh, hard on the eyes, but is a concise source of the information I dug up
Silent Night, in Czech and German with MP3 - Sheet music, with option to listen to MP3 audio
Author: Rhiannon
Fandoms: Firefly, Stargate Atlantis
Characters: River Tam, Radek Zelenka
Pairing: Radek/River
Summary: “Not cold. Not alone. Not anymore,” she whispered.
Word Count: 525
Genre: Vignette, het
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Timeline: SGA: Minor spoiler for “Critical Mass” (2.13); takes place in early season 2.
Series: Atlantis That Was, link to table
Disclaimer: In some alternate universe, I’m sure I own both Firefly and Stargate Atlantis. Sadly, this is not that universe.
Author's Notes: crossovers100 prompt #86 - Cold. For those of you not familiar with the Firefly fandom, anything not in English has mouseover translations, plus translations at the end. Xie-xie to lvs2read, my beta-reader. Crossposted, so apologies if I spam your f-list.
“Zatraceně!” Radek muttered as he looked over the readings on the console. He turned in his chair to check his laptop. “One set of results is wrong, so which one,” he mused, looking over the data.
“So cold,” a quiet voice came from the door of the lab.
Radek swiveled in his chair, startled at the sudden intrusion.
“River, I...I didn’t realize you were there,” he said with a nervous smile. “Is something wrong? Do you need me to get Simon or Doctor Beckett?”
River wandered among the workstations, her bare feet silent on the hard floor. Mesmerized, Radek watched her movements as she slowly circled the room, finally settling on a chair facing him, folding her legs under her with an impossible grace.
“So cold, so dark,” she whispered.
Radek had never been alone with her before and was unsure of what to do. He slowly raised his hand, ready to activate his earpiece.
“Don’t,” she said sharply, her eyes focusing intently on him. Radek dropped his hand, suppressing a shudder as she seemed to look through him.
“River,” he said calmly, not wanting to startle her. “Is there something wrong? Do you need something?”
“Fish swimming in a bathtub,” she smiled, half-singing the words. “Big fish in little water, swimming in circles. Little circles, big fish.”
“River, what are you talking about?” he asked as he rolled his chair closer to her, resisting a sudden urge to brush a stray wisp of hair away from her face.
“Four settings on the table for three. No more fish in the bathtub, fish swimming with vegetables. In the dark the candles were dim, the air was sweet. It was still on her coat, driving home. Cold, dark, singing. Tichá noc, přesvatá noc,” she trailed off. “Ice, screaming, then nothing but cold and dark.”
“Please, stop this,” Radek said softly.
River leaned forward and placed a single finger over his lips.
“All so loud. Sounds in ears, sounds in my mind, all the same,” she said as she withdrew her finger. “We both know what the other is doing. Telling. Listening. Sister could never have babies so son became nephew. Your heart froze.” She placed her hand on his chest. “You went to where everything was frozen then left Earth That Was.”
Radek gently took the hand resting on his chest and kissed the back of it before he cradled it in both of his hands. He smiled sadly, gently squeezing her hand.
“River, that was many years ago. It is not your burden.”
“Four-hundred and ninety-eight years before I will be born, with a margin of error of five point zero two e to the negative fourth power years,” River said, nodding, her tone deadly serious.
Radek chuckled, reluctantly releasing her hand.
“Two souls, alone, wandering far from home,” River said as she reached to stroke his cheek. “Don’t have to be alone.”
He closed his eyes as she tentatively pressed her lips to his. As Radek returned her gentle kiss, he felt a warmth fill him. Something he had nearly forgotten, something he had tried to forget.
“Not cold. Not alone. Not anymore,” she whispered.
~*~
Zatraceně! - Damn!
Tichá noc, přesvatá noc - Silent night, holy night
~*~
Czech Christmas Traditions
Czech Christmas Eve Dinner Traditions
More Czech Christmas Traditions - this page is a bit, uh, hard on the eyes, but is a concise source of the information I dug up
Silent Night, in Czech and German with MP3 - Sheet music, with option to listen to MP3 audio