Chapter Text
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Steve Sommers. I'm just borrowing.
Notes: "I won't let anything eat ya." challenge issued by Peja, Re: Sept 7, 2003. This is not a fully developed story: there's no plot, there's not even a concrete setting, aside from Rick, Jon, and Ardeth being in some jungle on some unexplained journey. I'm not even sure that the progression of events is entirely believable (assuming there are events to progress). This is more in the nature of a warm-up fic, to get to know the characters better. Let me know if I kept them pretty much in character or not. Maybe if this works the way I want it to, I'll come back and add a point to the story.
Date started: July 3, 2004
Date completed: July 3, 2004
I Won't Let Anything Eat Ya
by Callisto Lyon
"I won't let anything eat ya....so relax!" Giving Jonathan's shoulder a squeeze, Rick moved forward, taking point position and disappearing into the jungle surrounding them.
Jonathan nodded. "You won't let anything eat me. Right. I'm relaxing, I'm relaxing. Yes. This is me relaxed. Breathe in, breathe out. Yes, Jonathan old boy, you are very relaxed."
"Jonathan?"
"Ahh!!!" An embarrassingly high pitched yelp escaped from Jonathan's lips as he leaped forward, stumbling over his own feet as he tried to turn and meet this new threat that had come up behind him, hands fumbling for a weapon - a pistol, a sword, a stick, anything!
Puzzled dark eyes stared him.
Clearing his throat, Jonathan straightened, trying not to flush. "Ardeth! Ardeth, old chap, we have GOT to work on this sneaking up on people business." Dramatically placing one hand over his breast, he told the Arab, "Stress like this is not good for my heart, you know."
"You seem disturbed, my friend," the Arab observed. "Is everything well?"
"Well? Well! Oh yes, everything is quite fine, just...you know...," he made vague gestures in the direction Rick had gone off in, "trying not to get eaten....Um, yes. And relaxing! Relaxing about getting eaten. I mean, NOT getting eaten. I mean, it's a jungle and all, so really, who knows what kind of animals are in there, right? Scorpions. Giant snakes. Tigers! Nasty creatures, tigers. Are there tigers in the desert? Tigers eat people, right?"
Jonathan thought he saw amusement dancing in the Med-jai's dark eyes but a moment later it was gone, and he couldn't be sure. Ardeth's voice was appropriately solemn as he reached out and gripped Jonathan's shoulder, "It is well, my friend. I will not allow you to be eaten, by tigers or any other creature. Now, come. O'Connell will be impatient with us if we delay any longer."
From the depths of the jungle, O'Connell's voice drifted back to them, tinged with annoyance. "Jonathan? Jonathan!"
"Yes, yes, coming!" Jonathan called back.
"NOW, Jonathan!" came the predictable demand.
Muttering under his breath, Jonathan prepared to follow Rick through the jungle. Taking a deep breath, he started to step forward, then hesitated.
"Salaam, my friend," came Ardeth's low voice in his ear, the heat of his body a reassuring presence at Jonathan's back. "I will be right behind you, hmm?"
Looking over his shoulder, Jonathan's eyes met Ardeth's. And this time, it was not amusement lingering in those mysterious depths. If Jonathan didn't know better, he would have said it was attraction. But then Ardeth blinked and pulled back and the spell was broken. Raising an eyebrow, the Med-jai gestured for Jonathan to precede him.
Frowning, Jonathan looked back in the direction he was facing. 'It couldn't have been,' he told himself, stepping forward into the jungle. 'I mean, what can a man like him ever see in someone like me? For crying out loud, Jonathan old boy, he is the Leader of the Med-jai! A great warrior! Strong, honourable, proud and all that. Everything you are most definitely NOT! So you were most certainly imagining any attraction you think he might have for you.' Nodding to himself in agreement and a little sad, although he didn't look at THAT emotion too closely, Jonathan was so distracted by his thoughts that he did not watch where he was going. Slamming bodily into something, an ALIVE something, a strangled shriek of terror emerged from his throat as he threw himself back as quickly as possible, landing on his behind and scrambling quickly backwards.
When he finally regathered enough wits to look up, two pairs of confused eyes - one clear blue, the other deep brown - were staring down at him. "Erm.hi?" offered Jonathan weakly.
Blue eyes slid closed for a moment with a weary sigh of forbearance from their owner. Then with a shake of his head, Rick turned away and returned to looking for the best path through this stretch of the jungle, as he had been attempting to do before Jonathan had plowed into him.
Breathing a sigh of relief at getting through THAT bit of unpleasantness without getting yelled at by Rick, Jonathan turned his attention to the other pair of eyes. And darn it all, there was that flicker of amusement again, at the very back of those dark brown eyes. Jonathan felt himself flushing again.
"Perhaps it is not be the tigers you should be worrying about," the Med-jai offered as he reached out with a hand to help pull Jonathan up.
Blinking at the Arab as he allowed himself to be hauled to his feet, Jonathan asked worriedly, "Is there a worse monster in this God forsaken jungle?"
Definitely amusement this time. "It seems to me that O'Connell would be worthy of at least TWO tigers." With that, the Med-jai turned and prepared to follow after Rick.
Staring after Ardeth, Jonathan's mind struggled to comprehend the Med-jai's words. "A joke?" he muttered incredulously to himself. "Stoic, somber Ardeth made a joke? What in Heaven's name is going on here? I didn't know that Med-jai even knew HOW to joke. Next, he'll be telling me that he IS attracted to me. Jonathan, old boy, you ARE losing it. You should just follow along now and get out of this jungle before whatever it is in the air here addles your brains."
Pausing for a moment, Jonathan reflected, "Not that it would be a bad thing if he was. Attractive fellow, that. A little too gloomy sometimes, what with all the end-of-the-world business, but devilishly good-looking."
"Jonathan!" came Rick's impatient shout.
"Coming!" hollered back Jonathan. "Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to see if it WAS attraction I saw," he mused, as he plunged back into the jungle after the other two. "After all, a good dose of lust never hurt anyone. In fact, lust is very good, relieves stress and dispels tension and all that."
END