And if wishes were horses we'd all be eatin' steak.

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

the
❝ I ☆ WISH ❞
meme

★ Post with your character. Do not have them wish!
★ Respond to other peoples' characters with your own.
At any point during the resulting conversation, they must make a wish pertaining to that character
For example; such as "I wish you would kiss me", or "I wish you would dance naked".
★ The magic words are 'I wish'. As soon as those words are spoken, it will happen, whether the person wishes it or not
★ SHENANIGANS AND FUN ENSUE

 

★ stolen from musebawks

Comments

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel had been focusing very hard on becoming one with the tree by not moving or breathing and wasn't doing a very good job of it. Other than getting his glasses imprinting into part of his skull and giving the tree the best partial bear hug of its life, he'd come to the conclusion that you couldn't, in fact, blend perfectly with a tree.

The locals, after what seemed like an eternity, finally moved on. Daniel watched as they began fanning out, separating in groups of threes. He didn't like that sign. It looked like they were still moving in a search pattern instead of giving up, which made him wonder just how long they intended to keep it up. They may be safe for now but these guys were tenacious.

The archaeologist let out a sigh of relief. Or he would have if he wasn't being hauled up like a sack suddenly. The Doctor had leaned over and grabbed at him, and if Daniel hadn't been holding onto the tree in a death grip, he might have fallen out in surprise. The man was stronger than he looked and worse, he didn't have the best hold on him. Daniel felt that he was both being grabbed by the nape of his neck and strangled at the same time. He scrabbled at the branch he was sitting on and the tree trunk and, trying to help, he pushed up, to climb up as the Doctor pulled. He ended up with a scraped palm and a bruised knee for his trouble.

Daniel managed to get both hands on the branch and pull himself up. It wasn't exactly graceful. He fell forward on it, his legs hanging off. The thing was surprisingly large, but then again, these trees were immense to begin with: there was plenty of space for them to rest on. Daniel took a moment to get his wind back. After a moment, he rolled over onto his back and pushing the hat off his head, stared upwards. Night was falling. The sky looked a dark shade of pink and green. That was weird in itself. Maybe it had something to do with the atmosphere or trees. Through the leaves, he could catch glimpses of stars. Any one of them could be Earth. Of course, they might be so far from it that it wasn't visible. Somewhere out there was home. Jack was probably at his place watching The Simpsons.

"So." Daniel said to the air finally. "That could have went better."

[makeherblue]

"Better?" The Doctor repeated, incredulous, "I was hoping more for something along 'excellent'. You're still not shot," he added, as if it needed pointing out.

Apparently it did. Daniel wasn't shot and they even had a rather comfortable tree for the night. Suffering through a Halgonic shelter didn't seem like too much of a sacrifice.

The Doctor eyed Daniel's ruffled and half-smooshed hat, which was actually looking a bit improved now that it had gotten personal with a tree, and then tore his eyes away as the human got his breath. Daniel seemed fixed on the sky, the Doctor following his gaze. Most of the tree branches are in the way but here and there the alien stars twinkle at them through wispy pink clouds, almost as if there was some light pollution on this planet. Not that there was. Same look, though. Come to think of it, he still didn't know what this planet was called or just where in the galaxy they were in the first place. This tree and the few glimpses of sky he could get from here weren't really helping to jog his memory.

The Doctor clasped his hands together, all business.

"Let's get that shelter going and see if they haven't given up in the morning," he said.

The Doctor set to work, trying to show Daniel how to make a Halgonic tree shelter. It pained him to have to pass this on, really, it did. There were worse things to come from Halgon, though, and he supposed he could make it up to Daniel once they got past the search parties and the guards. The moss was a bit...rank in smell, the sort of smell you probably couldn't get out of your clothes for at least the better part of a week, the Doctor holding his breath as he worked. Insert twig, twist it counter-clockwise, add more moss and voila!

Halgonic tree shelter in progress!

[hi_there_aliens]

He looked at him sharply, mouth opened to retort. Daniel had just about run his legs off for what felt like hours of evasion. He was bruised, he had splinters, he was generally sore everywhere and he'd managed to do something he'd always tried very hard not to do, and that was completely alienate a new culture and destroy a priceless piece of their ritual at the same time. He wasn't even sure anymore where the Stargate was. And there might be a Goa'uld coming here.

But the Doctor was right. They were alive. They had to be satisfied with that right now.

Daniel's face softened. "It could have been much worse."

Setting up the shelter was interesting enough. It got his mind off what lay below them for several minutes. The Doctor was a patient, if eccentric instructor, and between them, it wasn't long before they'd had the Halgonic tree shelter up. Daniel sat back and inspected it. The directions had been awfully specific, but when you took a moment to look at it, it looked like nothing but a shapeless mass that also smelled weird. It looked just as boring as the Doctor had claimed it would. He wasn't expecting a beautifully crafted palace, and he'd certainly slept in far worse places, but he could honestly say he'd never seen something so drab on Earth. It was actually a weird sensation looking at it. It was like staring into a black hole, only instead of eating all matter, this tree shelter would suck the creativity and will out of you if you concentrated on it too long. It was that boring.

Wow. He had to be tired if he'd actually just thought that and thought it seriously.

Daniel shook one of the supports and was pleased to find that it didn't even budge. What it lacked in looks, it certainly made up for it in stability. He carefully crawled inside, the Doctor at his heels. The interior looked... marginally better.

"One of us should probably keep watch."

[makeherblue]

Well, at least Daniel had the presence of mind to see the Halgonic shelter for what it was. The Doctor was slightly less ruffled than before, pleased to watch that dawning realization on the human's face at what sheer boringness looked like when it was right there staring you in the face, all in its physical glory. It was something in its nothingness. Impressive, he supposed, but even "impressive" would be giving anything Halgonic entirely too much credit.

The Doctor paused by the door of the shelter.

"Keeping watch, right," the Doctor said. He thought about it and then made a motion like he intended to crawl right back out, bottom first. "I'll do it, shouldn't be a problem because --by the way, don't forget, pull out that mat of moss for a blanket off the corner, that's what it's for, sorry about the smell, and -- "

He continued to back out, scooting expertly backward because that, like climbing in a hurry, was something you tended to pick up given enough traveling. He was truly sorry about having to stash Daniel in a Halgonic shelter. Boringness aside, he'd never been near one or used one that hadn't had smelly moss blankets. You could literally make one out of the honey-moss on Vej and it would still come out smelling like....well, like that. It was warm, though, and he didn't think Daniel would be in danger of falling out of this tree or coming down with hypothermia.

Keeping watch for the night shouldn't be a problem. He worked to button up his jacket, his legs swinging over the broad side of the branch they were on as he kept a lookout for any more of their pursuers.

[hi_there_aliens]

He'd been about to offer that he take first watch but the Doctor was already backing out of the shelter.

If he'd been Jack, he might have been suspicious at the fact he'd just jumped at the chance to stand guard. They'd only just met after after all, had had known each other maybe a good ten, twelve hours? Now he was volunteering to watch Daniel's back while he slept.

Daniel wasn't Jack though. He preferred not to jump to conclusions. Jack tended to assume the worst was going to happen, or if not yet, that the potential was in anyone he didn't know, which was just about everyone they met. Daniel couldn't believe that of everyone. There was a lot of good out there, and good people, and you were reducing all of them to potential threats if you looked at the world like that. You were missing out.

The Doctor seemed harmless enough, if a little out there. Daniel sincerely didn't believe he was a threat. Not that he had any proof. He really didn't. It was more of a gut feeling, but he didn't see any reason not to trust it. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more it just felt like the Doctor was looking for any excuse to spend as little time in the Halgonic shelter as possible.

"Right. Thanks," Daniel had been about to reach for the blanket when he caught the smell. He made a face. The Doctor was right. It was a musty, mildly unpleasant smell, like a gang of soggy cats had marinated themselves in the aroma of an old woman's house and a clove of old garlic, then tried to cover it up with air freshener. Daniel had slept in places that had smelled absolutely foul, but the difference here was that at least those places had been something you could have a firm opinion on. You also got used to it. This smell seemed to drift in and out, just hovering at the edges and was only borderline offensive.

Maybe he'd just go without the blanket...

The archaeologist lay down awkwardly and closed his eyes against the shelter. It made it easier to handle. There was something unsettlingly boring and nondescript about it that it made his eyes cross just looking at it. In all his years in the field, he'd never had this kind of reaction. Not everything was going to be aesthetically pleasing, and that right there was incredibly subjective, but nothing he'd ever seen on Earth had made him feel so uncomfortable. Daniel kept his eyes firmly closed.

"Doctor," he called out softly after a moment. He had a slew of questions he wanted to ask. Most could wait until morning, but there was one he wanted to ask. He didn't know how long they were stuck on this planet but he had to know. "Would you at least tell me your real name?"

[makeherblue]

The Doctor was just a shadow outside. He turned toward Daniel, his legs still kicking like a boy over the branch's edge.

"Good night, Daniel," his voice was quiet but firm. "I'll see you in the morning."

<><><><><><>

It was difficult to say what time it was, exactly, on a planet when the only snatches of sun you could get were through the trees and your watch couldn't seem to make up its mind if it thought you were in 500AD, Earth reckoning, or maybe it was time to make some toast, provided you had some worth digging around in your pockets for.

The Doctor tapped his watch. Shook it. Sighed. Chewed on his toast that he most certainly did check his pockets for, and got up to stretch.

It had been easily hours since he'd heard even the distant sound of their pursuers crashing through the brush. Probably safe now, or as safe as it could be. They could wait another night if they had to, except he was sure that sooner rather than later, Daniel was going to need to drink and eat and get some proper sleep not in a Halgonic shelter, which was fine if you didn't want to fall out of trees, but not quite so fine if you wanted a peaceful night's rest. Or maybe that was just him. The few times he slept in a Halgonic tree shelter, he'd woke up grumpy and lethargic.

He got on his hands and knees, crawling into the shelter and knocking on the branch.

"Good morning!" he said, reaching out to shake Daniel's shoulder. That was what the human probably needed, a good shake.

Assuming he'd have the same reaction to the shelter as the Doctor did all those years ago. The Doctor sat back as he tried to rouse Daniel, running his other hand through his hair and somehow missing the twig that had planted itself in it. He wasn't sure on how long his toast stash could last if they were out here much longer -- especially given that it was probably just a little bit stale and he didn't have much in the way of bread and butter on him. Clearly another thing he'd have to stock up on after this.

[hi_there_aliens]

He wished whoever it was would stop shaking him. He only just lay down.

The archaeologist lazily batted the hand away and tried to roll over. He wanted nothing more than to enjoy the time off, bury back into the covers, and get some sleep, because the moment he got back to base, he was going to forget all about it. Daniel stubbornly did his best to ignore the voice. It was too upbeat and awake at this hour and actually, that made it kind of annoying. He was of the mind that no sane person could function this early in the morning. He was going to ignore the fact that they'd gotten into his house, go back to sleep, and hope they got the message.

It was the smell oddly enough that first clued him into the fact that this wasn't all some bad dream. Rolling over had put his nose right near that mat.

He rolled back over with a groan and opened his eyes. He regretted it instantly. Waking up and being confronted with the Halgonic shelter was not one of the better ways to start a morning. It also felt like his legs had gone missing, but after all that running, he wasn't surprised. He was certain that once he actually sat up, he'd be feeling it. Daniel frowned up at 'ceiling', then blearily at the Doctor. He was still here. They were still up a tree.

"Hello..." Daniel said slowly. He slowly sat up with a wince. Oh, his legs were definitely there. Ow. Wait, 'good morning'? It struck him belatedly what was wrong with the picture. Well, after the Halgonic tree shelter. And the smell. Daylight was streaming in and it wasn't just dawn.

He squinted outside, then checked his watch before remembering that the action was useless. It was set to Earth time, and while it might tell him how long they'd been gone from there, it didn't do much for this planet's time. They didn't even know how long a month or year was here. "You didn't wake me for my shift."

[makeherblue]

"Of course I didn't. You need sleep if we're going to have to run again."

The Doctor bustled around Daniel. Call it a one man bustle. Daniel wasn't exactly helping on that front, so the Doctor took it upon himself to bustle for the two of them.

The problem, though, with traveling light was there wasn't much to actually bustle with.

Not when everything was in his pockets and all he really could do was dismantle the smelly moss blanket and turn it into a poncho for Daniel, which...only took all of two seconds, really, leaving the Doctor to bustle about looking for something to do that didn't quite involve dismantling the Halgonic shelter around Daniel's head. The longer Daniel took to wake up, the more and more tempted the Doctor looked with doing just that anyway. After a moment, the Doctor reached into his pocket, searched around for a bit and then promptly went for his other pocket. He pulled out another piece of toast that may have seen better days and was about to offer it to Daniel when apparently he had second thoughts.

With a smile, the Doctor dusted off the toast's crust, flicked off a stray bit of lint, and held it out to Daniel.

"Here. Sorry, bit short on jam."

With enough sleep and some food in him, the Doctor was fairly certain Daniel could keep up. After all, he'd proven to be remarkable at running, ducking, dodging, weaving and climbing things yesterday, so with enough proper rest, he should be able to do the same. Just in case. Something hooted and then cackled a few trees down, sounding like a cross between a howler monkey and a hyena, the Doctor glancing over in interest and seeming not too threatened that it could be a big monster with a taste for refugee flesh.

He was probably too bony himself and Daniel -- Daniel was Daniel. Actually, he probably would make a much, much better meal, the Doctor reminding himself to keep Daniel away from any howler-monkey hyenas that might be sharing the forest with them.

[hi_there_aliens]

Wait, what. He stayed up all night so one of them would be fit to run? That didn't even make sense. It was too early for this. Daniel rubbed at his eyes and tried to smooth down hair that was sticking out every which way, and then tried, with hopefully more success, to get his brain into working order. Without coffee, he was finding that tougher than it sounded. He decided to give early morning logic another go as he squinted at the Doctor.

"Yes, fine, but if you're not rested, how are you going to manage any better? At least we could have both gotten sleep if we'd both taken shifts." Okay, that could have gotten out better. Daniel was pretty sure he'd come off as grumpy and just a little bit argumentative, but they were in this together. Sure his legs felt sore. The thought of more running and hiding didn't make him feel any better, but at least he knew he could do it. The uneasy sleep had done him some good. He didn't feel nearly as ragged as yesterday. But what about the Doctor? He'd be right there with him and if he'd stayed up who knew how long...

The archaeologist's stomach growled softly. The Doctor was a step ahead of him. Before he could even bring up searching for food, the man seemed to produce a slice of toast out of thin air with the grace of a magician. He even apologized for a lack of jam, which Daniel hadn't even considered asking for. The archaeologist stared. He decided then that it was definitely too early in the morning to handle this. Daniel took it without thinking, managed a muttered 'thanks', and it was only when it was halfway to his mouth that he paused. He glanced at it. It didn't look that fresh. Actually it looked pretty stale, as if it'd been made a week ago and then possibly used as a door stop. Where was this even sitting? And did the Doctor just pick lint off it? Daniel got the sudden sneaking suspicion he'd been carrying it in his jacket.

If wasn't moldy though so he had to be happy with that. Food was food. And he really wasn't in any position to get picky either. Stale bread was one of the nicer things he'd eaten in a place like this, because in his job, you did have to eat a lot worse than this sometimes. Daniel bit into it. Stale, but at least it wasn't completely rock hard.

Something sounded amongst the trees below, a loud, laughing shriek that split the air. Daniel nearly choked on the bread in surprise. He swallowed it roughly. Whatever it was, it sounded large and pretty close. "Guess that's our cue to get out of here, huh?"

Daniel rose and started to carefully back out of the shelter. He hoped he'd woken up enough by now, because if he wasn't, climbing out of this tree in one piece was going to get interesting.

[makeherblue]

“I don’t need much sleep,” the Doctor shrugged. He wasn’t trying to brag (okay, just a little. His advancing age so far hadn’t meant he needed to sleep days away like humans). “But you’re right. We should get going.”

The Doctor didn’t wait around for Daniel, climbing down the tree just as easily as he’d gotten up it. It still looked somehow awkward, like he was hugging the tree backward but soon enough he was on the ground and waiting for the human to catch up. The laughing shrieks were starting to sound across the canopy – more of the wildlife getting more active, he supposed. They hadn’t been doing that yesterday, which he took as a good sign. Must’ve been spooked by their pursuers, so they were probably quite far away now. It was just a matter of getting turned around and pointed in the right (general) direction of the Stargate. He said “general” because he fully intended they stick to Plan Decagon.

“We’ll go that way,” the Doctor pointed, once he was sure Daniel could make it safely down the tree without breaking any bones he might need. Despite the hat getting in the way, Daniel seemed like he was a capable enough climber, so the Doctor had plenty of faith in him. “I think the Stargate is this way.”

He licked his finger, jabbing it in the air like he was divining for water and waving it around. Satisfied -– or at least pretending to be satisfied so Daniel wouldn’t get any ideas about panicking (or doubting this early in the morning!) –- the Doctor headed through the brush. Despite his appearance, he could be rather stealthy when he bothered to put in the effort.