NOTES
Written for the sga_flashfic Halloween challenge.
written October 31, 2006
John blinked at the sight of Elizabeth standing in his doorway, hands clasped in front of her and small, enigmatic smile on her lips.
This probably wasn't good.
"Hello, John," she said, head tilted to one side as she studied him.
"Elizabeth. This is a surprise."
She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Oh, sorry. Come in," he said, backing up and waving her in past him. "So, is this a social call, or...?"
"Honestly, I'm not certain," Elizabeth admitted. She gestured at the chair. "May I?"
"Yeah, of course, please." John settled on the edge of the bed, facing her.
"John -- " She shook her head. "John, a few minutes ago, Ronon came to my quarters."
John's eyes widened in horror.
"Oh, no! No, nothing like that," Elizabeth said, flushing. "No, he... he had what looked like a pocket protector fastened to his vest, and was carrying a pillowcase."
"A... what?"
"Pillowcase," Elizabeth said, a tiny smile playing around her lips. "He was trick-or-treating. I assume the pocket protector was his costume."
John blinked.
"He had quite a haul, too," she said, sounding more amused by the minute. "I think I was near the end of his route. At least, I hope I was. There can't be a piece of candy anywhere on Atlantis at this point. And I swear I saw Carson's tin of shortbread in there."
"Elizabeth," John said helplessly. "I am so sorry. I had no idea --"
Elizabeth shook her head, chuckling. "No, it's all right. I was startled, I admit. I'd completely forgotten it was Halloween back home. And somehow, when Ronon says 'trick or treat', you really believe him."
"Yeah, I bet," John agreed, looking at her warily. "So, how do you want to handle this? I'm not sure I can get everything back from him."
She grinned ruefully. "I'd be surprised if you could get *anything* back. I got the impression he considered this a 'to the victor go the spoils' situation."
John huffed out a soft laugh. "Probably," he admitted.
"I think we can manage to replace people's stashes out of petty cash on the Daedalus's next run, that should soothe any ruffled feathers."
"We have petty cash?" John asked, eyebrows climbing.
Elizabeth just looked at him.
"Sorry," he said, grinning unrepentantly. "So, why the hesitation when you came in, if there's no problem?
She folded her hands primly in front of her. "To be honest, I half expected to find him here divvying up the loot with the team as some sort of Satedan initiation rite. I'm glad to see I was wrong. I'm surprised he didn't hit you up, though."
"I was sparring with Teyla," John said, shaking his head. "I must've missed him."
"I wouldn't admit that publicly, if I were you," she said, eyes twinkling at him. "Do you think he came up with this on his own? Or should I be making a visit to Rodney next?"
"Nah, Rodney wasn't even there when we were talking about Halloween earlier."
"Aha! So it was you."
"Aw, c'mon, we didn't know he'd go and do something like this!"
"It's all right, John, I believe you," she said, leaning forward to pat his hand. "So who was the other person?"
John shook his head. "Sorry."
She glanced at him narrowly for a moment, then relaxed. "One of your people, then. All right, Colonel, good enough." She rose smoothly to her feet and started for the door, John following a beat behind. "I trust you'll have a word with Ronon?"
"Yes, ma'am," John promised. "This won't happen again."
"Good. Good night, John."
"Night, Elizabeth."
John shook his head after she'd gone, chuckling. Trust Ronon to turn someone else's childhood memories into a way to score some candy.
Ronon slipped into the darkened lab, nodding in approval when he didn't instantly see anyone. "McKay."
McKay popped up from behind a table, somehow managing to look greedy and annoyed at the same time. "It's about time," he snapped, then glanced around and lowered his voice ostentatiously. "I've been waiting here for ages! Did you get the stuff?"
Ronon hefted the pillowcase in his left hand. "You were right. Everyone passed over everything they had in their room. You sure this doesn't count as robbing them?"
McKay was around the table now and reaching for the pillowcase, sniffing hungrily. "Oooh, chocolate. And no, it's not robbery, I told you. This is a custom On this one night, you wear a costume, knock on people's doors -- well, ring the bell, usually, but knocking is fine if there's no bell, the point is to attract their attention so they open the door. Anyway, they open the door, you say 'trick or treat!' and they give you candy. Is that shortbread?"
"I guess. You were wrong about one thing, though."
"What? What do you mean, wrong? I wasn't wrong!"
"Zelenka told me I was a little old to be doing this."
McKay looked at him sharply. "He's braver than I thought," he said grudgingly. "That's why we only had one shot at this. By next year no one will believe you didn't realize it was a children's custom. Did Zelenka hand over the cookies?"
"Yep."
"Well, then, no harm done. C'mon, seventy-thirty split, and I have first dibs on anything with caramel in it."
"Fifty-fifty. I did all the work."
"Yes, but I thought of -- oh, fine, fifty-fifty, if you're going to loom about it."
Cracking his knuckles, McKay started dividing the spoils with the skill of a true master.
~ fin ~
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