Marriage of Convenience, Part 02
Aug. 7th, 2009 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartMARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE
by Soledad
Disclaimer: The characters and the settings don't belong to me. Just the story idea and a few original characters.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PART 02
When everything the Athosians still possessed – not as if that had been much – and their tents stood on living soil again, they threw a party to celebrate their new home. Stackhouse and his entire team – including Dr. Corrigan and Drs B and Z – had been invited, of course, and they truly enjoyed their first taste of genuine Athosian cuisine… including the home-made ale that the first arrivals had begun brewing days before.
Stackhouse had been part of Colonel Sumner's team that had visited the original Athosian homeworld, right after their arrival. He could still remember the serene view the small village of colourful tents had offered, and was now surprised to see that the new village was looking almost exactly the same.
It was somewhat smaller, granted, as quite a number of tents had been destroyed by the Wraith attack, their inhabitants taken or killed, but the general impression was the same. Including the small herd of shaggy, goat-like beasts grazing peacefully on a fenced patch of fresh grass a little further away. Those not-quite-goats, called krumak, provided the Athosians with milk, meat and wool, and their horns served as raw material for small utility items. They were the most useful species Stackhouse had ever seen… and the most resilient one. They could live on very little food, they hid on their own during Wraith attacks, and they protected their youth from predators quite successfully with their vicious-looking horns. On the other hand, a small Athosian kid could herd them, as they were surprisingly meek towards their owners.
Just like the Athosians themselves, if one thought about it. Fiercely protective against any threat (especially against the Wraith, whom they fought with their primitive weapons with surprising efficiency) but soft-speaking and peaceful when among themselves. And while on the run all the time, they could re-build their lost home on any patch of earth they were offered.
“We have got good memories, Sergeant Stackhouse,” Halling said quietly, walking up to him and touching foreheads with him; a gesture Stackhouse had found uncomfortably intimate first but grown to accept and even to like it, as long as only Athosians did it to him. “As a semi-nomadic people, we all know where our tents have their place within the settlement. Those places have been the same for generations.”
“And what if someone new wants to join the tribe?” Stackhouse asked.
“They usually marry into one of the families,” Halling explained. “Or if they come with a large family already, which is a very rare occasion, we all discuss where their place would be. From that time on, that will then be their place; and the place of their children and the children of their children. But as I said, that is a rare thing. In truth, I cannot remember something like that happening during my lifetime; or that of my fathers and mothers.”
He remained silent for a while, watching the laughing and dancing of his people with the fondness of a born patriarch. Then he turned to Stackhouse again.
“Sergeant Stackhouse, there has been something I have wanted to talk to you about,” he said gravely. “And with Sergeant Markham, too; but I thought it better to ask you first.”
“Oh?” All of a sudden, Stackhouse felt incredibly nervous, hoping by God that Halling would not ask him about the exact nature of his relationship with Jamie. Sure, Halling was not part of the military – Hell, he was not even from Earth – but if he had noticed something, despite only having known them for a couple of months…
“I have noticed that the two of you are very close,” Halling continued, oblivious of Stackhouse’s frayed nerves. “You share considerably more than most of your fellow Marines do. Am I correct in that observation?”
“We… we grew up together,” Stackhouse replied, his mouth tasting of ashes. Oh, God, please don’t let this be one of those talks!
“So I thought you might be interested in what we can offer,” Halling finished, looking at him expectantly.
Stackhouse frowned. “I’m sorry, but you’re losing me here… What is this talk about again? I’m not sure I get your point.”
Halling discretely nodded in the direction of a young Athosian woman with short-cropped dark hair. Stackhouse knew her from seeing – she was said to be an excellent hunters and a skilled warrior. One of the few Teyla had chosen to train her personally, which alone was enough to raise everyone’s interest.
“That is Anais,” Halling said. “She was supposed to leave the tribe, right before the Wraith’s return, to marry into another tribe, back on the homeworld. Obviously, she could not do so. She needs bondmates; but she is too closely related to just about everyone within our tribe.”
“Which is why she wanted to leave, right?” Stackhouse guessed. “To prevent inbreeding and weakening the gene pool.”
Halling nodded. “Since she cannot do that, she had to weigh her other options. She has watched the two of you since our arrival to Atlantis, and she finds you – both of you – more than adequate. Also, the fact that there is already a bond between the two of you would make you ideal candidates for the foundation of a new household. However, she thought that a direct approach from her side would embarrass you… or violate one of your strange Earth taboos. You have so many of those, and most of them so illogical that we have learned to be careful.”
“And so she asked you to play matchmaker?” Stackhouse asked sarcastically.
As always, sarcasm had no affect on Halling whatsoever. “She did,” he answered simply. “That is one of my duties – to see that my people find the right bondmates and build up the tribe after our most recent losses.”
“I see,” Stackhouse said. “But I’m not sure I understand. Which one of us does she want to marry?”
“Both,” Halling replied matter-of-factly. “I am certain that Dr. Corrigan has already explained to you that we do not live in twosome bonds.”
“He has,” Stackhouse admitted. “I still didn’t think it would mean that a woman could marry two guys at the same time, though.”
“It is unusual,” Halling allowed, “but not entirely unheard of. Especially in times like these, when many have been killed or taken and we have to fill up our numbers quickly.”
“But how do you know whose kid it would be?” Stackhouse asked, more than a little bewildered. “You need to know these things, in order to prevent inbreeding, right?”
“Of course,” Halling said. “That is why we have to learn our family trees on both sides, up to the sixth generation.”
“But if you practice mass marriages…” Stackhouse trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to insult the gentle giant in any way but determined to clarify things.
“Ah, that!” Halling said, realization finally dawning on him. “No, we do not… not the way you seem to think. When a woman takes two spouses at the same time, she spends half her fertile cycle with one of them. If she does not catch from him, she can switch to any other spouse within the other half of the cycle.”
“Wait a moment,” Stackhouse was now utterly confused. “How can she know…?”
“We are different in that area,” Halling explained. “The changes – mostly inner ones – began immediately. An Athosian woman can realize her pregnancy after four days of the conception.”
“Wow!” Stackhouse said, impressed. “That is fast.”
Halling nodded. “It must be. Our women are only fertile during the late summer and autumn seasons. That ensures that babies would be born in springtime, when food is aplenty. If the woman does conceive within those six weeks, she will have to wait almost a year until her next fertile cycle. So, recognizing pregnancy within themselves is of utmost importance.”
“I see,” Stackhouse said. “And the other husband just sits and twirls his thumbs, waiting for his turn or whatnot?”
“Basically… yes,” Halling replied and paused, before adding with deliberate emphasis. “It is expected from the male spouses to turn to each other for comfort, while one of them is still waiting for his turn. It strengthens the family bond… and prevents the accidental mixing of different bloodlines.”
Unlike Jamie, Stackhouse was not one to blush easily. Yet by now, he was beet red – and really frightened.
“Are we so obvious?” he asked in defeat.
Halling shook his head. “Oh, no. Not for the casual eye, at least. But I used to look at a male bondmate with the same longing you look at each other. I can recognize that look more easily.”
“And what about Jinto’s mother?” Stackhouse asked, uncomfortable with his own prying but desperate for answers.
“I loved her very much,” Halling explained simply. “And she was glad that I had Usein; so that I would not be left behind alone, should she be taken before me.”
Stackhouse knew that Jinto’s mother had, indeed, been taken by the Wraith a few years ago. He just never thought about the practical advantages of clan marriages… well, not beyond the obvious.
“Did it help?” he asked. Halling nodded, his eyes darkening with sad memories.
“It would have… had Usein not died in a hunting accident, shortly after Lalia had been taken. We rarely die of natural causes, Sergeant.”
“Yes, I know,” Stackhouse felt absurdly guilty about that well-known fact. As if it had been his fault that the Wraith had terrorized this galaxy for millennia. As if he would owe these people, just because ha had led a relatively safe life so far, even for a professional soldier. “I’m sorry.”
Halling shrugged again. “It is not your fault, Sergeant. But consider this: you are part of our world – of our galaxy – now. If you wish to survive here beyond the current generation, you will have to adapt. All of you. Our ways may be strange in your eyes, but they have saved us from complete eradication.”
“I understand that,” Stackhouse sighed. “I just… I don’t make the rules, Halling. I can’t vote them down, either. It’s not within my power.”
“Perhaps,” Halling allowed. “But perhaps you can silently work around them, just a little. By helping Anais build her own household, you can help yourselves. No one of your own would know why you have accepted.”
“Your people would know,” Stackhouse pointed out. “And if someone babbles… not all my fellow soldiers are very open-minded, even though they have been selected from the more… enlightened stack. Cultural taboos can be damned redundant.”
Halling smiled. “Sergeant, you are missing the point. If the two of you build a household with Anais, you will become our people, too. And we protect our own.”
“Oh… I see,” Stackhouse had not considered that aspect, but if he thought about it, it made perfect sense. And the thought of moving in with Jamie without raising suspicions was a damn tempting one. “I… I’ll have to discuss this with Jamie… with Sergeant Markham,” he said.
Halling nodded. “Of course. But please do not consider too long. The fertile cycle of our women is beginning, soon, and Anais will have to move quickly. Otherwise, we would not have made this proposition right now.”
“How long?” Stackhouse asked.
Halling calculated in his head. The seasons on Lantea were different from those of the Athosian homeworld, and he needed to do some mental acrobatics to figure out the differences.
“Two more weeks as you count time,” he finally replied.
“Okay,” Stackhouse said. “I’ll talk with Jamie and give you an answer within the next week. We’re scheduled to patrol fights above the mainland in five days’ time anyway.”
Halling inclined his head in a dignified, almost real manner. One had to admit: the man had presence.
“That is acceptable,” he said. “Thank you, Sergeant Stackhouse.”
“Adam,” Stackhouse corrected.
Halling gave him a wide-eyed look. “I beg your pardon?”
“It’s my given name,” Stackhouse explained. “If I’m about to be adopted by the tribe, I think we can drop the formalities.”
The corners of Halling’s otherwise so serious eyes crinkled in good humour. “That is entirely up to you… Adam.”
by Soledad
Disclaimer: The characters and the settings don't belong to me. Just the story idea and a few original characters.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PART 02
When everything the Athosians still possessed – not as if that had been much – and their tents stood on living soil again, they threw a party to celebrate their new home. Stackhouse and his entire team – including Dr. Corrigan and Drs B and Z – had been invited, of course, and they truly enjoyed their first taste of genuine Athosian cuisine… including the home-made ale that the first arrivals had begun brewing days before.
Stackhouse had been part of Colonel Sumner's team that had visited the original Athosian homeworld, right after their arrival. He could still remember the serene view the small village of colourful tents had offered, and was now surprised to see that the new village was looking almost exactly the same.
It was somewhat smaller, granted, as quite a number of tents had been destroyed by the Wraith attack, their inhabitants taken or killed, but the general impression was the same. Including the small herd of shaggy, goat-like beasts grazing peacefully on a fenced patch of fresh grass a little further away. Those not-quite-goats, called krumak, provided the Athosians with milk, meat and wool, and their horns served as raw material for small utility items. They were the most useful species Stackhouse had ever seen… and the most resilient one. They could live on very little food, they hid on their own during Wraith attacks, and they protected their youth from predators quite successfully with their vicious-looking horns. On the other hand, a small Athosian kid could herd them, as they were surprisingly meek towards their owners.
Just like the Athosians themselves, if one thought about it. Fiercely protective against any threat (especially against the Wraith, whom they fought with their primitive weapons with surprising efficiency) but soft-speaking and peaceful when among themselves. And while on the run all the time, they could re-build their lost home on any patch of earth they were offered.
“We have got good memories, Sergeant Stackhouse,” Halling said quietly, walking up to him and touching foreheads with him; a gesture Stackhouse had found uncomfortably intimate first but grown to accept and even to like it, as long as only Athosians did it to him. “As a semi-nomadic people, we all know where our tents have their place within the settlement. Those places have been the same for generations.”
“And what if someone new wants to join the tribe?” Stackhouse asked.
“They usually marry into one of the families,” Halling explained. “Or if they come with a large family already, which is a very rare occasion, we all discuss where their place would be. From that time on, that will then be their place; and the place of their children and the children of their children. But as I said, that is a rare thing. In truth, I cannot remember something like that happening during my lifetime; or that of my fathers and mothers.”
He remained silent for a while, watching the laughing and dancing of his people with the fondness of a born patriarch. Then he turned to Stackhouse again.
“Sergeant Stackhouse, there has been something I have wanted to talk to you about,” he said gravely. “And with Sergeant Markham, too; but I thought it better to ask you first.”
“Oh?” All of a sudden, Stackhouse felt incredibly nervous, hoping by God that Halling would not ask him about the exact nature of his relationship with Jamie. Sure, Halling was not part of the military – Hell, he was not even from Earth – but if he had noticed something, despite only having known them for a couple of months…
“I have noticed that the two of you are very close,” Halling continued, oblivious of Stackhouse’s frayed nerves. “You share considerably more than most of your fellow Marines do. Am I correct in that observation?”
“We… we grew up together,” Stackhouse replied, his mouth tasting of ashes. Oh, God, please don’t let this be one of those talks!
“So I thought you might be interested in what we can offer,” Halling finished, looking at him expectantly.
Stackhouse frowned. “I’m sorry, but you’re losing me here… What is this talk about again? I’m not sure I get your point.”
Halling discretely nodded in the direction of a young Athosian woman with short-cropped dark hair. Stackhouse knew her from seeing – she was said to be an excellent hunters and a skilled warrior. One of the few Teyla had chosen to train her personally, which alone was enough to raise everyone’s interest.
“That is Anais,” Halling said. “She was supposed to leave the tribe, right before the Wraith’s return, to marry into another tribe, back on the homeworld. Obviously, she could not do so. She needs bondmates; but she is too closely related to just about everyone within our tribe.”
“Which is why she wanted to leave, right?” Stackhouse guessed. “To prevent inbreeding and weakening the gene pool.”
Halling nodded. “Since she cannot do that, she had to weigh her other options. She has watched the two of you since our arrival to Atlantis, and she finds you – both of you – more than adequate. Also, the fact that there is already a bond between the two of you would make you ideal candidates for the foundation of a new household. However, she thought that a direct approach from her side would embarrass you… or violate one of your strange Earth taboos. You have so many of those, and most of them so illogical that we have learned to be careful.”
“And so she asked you to play matchmaker?” Stackhouse asked sarcastically.
As always, sarcasm had no affect on Halling whatsoever. “She did,” he answered simply. “That is one of my duties – to see that my people find the right bondmates and build up the tribe after our most recent losses.”
“I see,” Stackhouse said. “But I’m not sure I understand. Which one of us does she want to marry?”
“Both,” Halling replied matter-of-factly. “I am certain that Dr. Corrigan has already explained to you that we do not live in twosome bonds.”
“He has,” Stackhouse admitted. “I still didn’t think it would mean that a woman could marry two guys at the same time, though.”
“It is unusual,” Halling allowed, “but not entirely unheard of. Especially in times like these, when many have been killed or taken and we have to fill up our numbers quickly.”
“But how do you know whose kid it would be?” Stackhouse asked, more than a little bewildered. “You need to know these things, in order to prevent inbreeding, right?”
“Of course,” Halling said. “That is why we have to learn our family trees on both sides, up to the sixth generation.”
“But if you practice mass marriages…” Stackhouse trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to insult the gentle giant in any way but determined to clarify things.
“Ah, that!” Halling said, realization finally dawning on him. “No, we do not… not the way you seem to think. When a woman takes two spouses at the same time, she spends half her fertile cycle with one of them. If she does not catch from him, she can switch to any other spouse within the other half of the cycle.”
“Wait a moment,” Stackhouse was now utterly confused. “How can she know…?”
“We are different in that area,” Halling explained. “The changes – mostly inner ones – began immediately. An Athosian woman can realize her pregnancy after four days of the conception.”
“Wow!” Stackhouse said, impressed. “That is fast.”
Halling nodded. “It must be. Our women are only fertile during the late summer and autumn seasons. That ensures that babies would be born in springtime, when food is aplenty. If the woman does conceive within those six weeks, she will have to wait almost a year until her next fertile cycle. So, recognizing pregnancy within themselves is of utmost importance.”
“I see,” Stackhouse said. “And the other husband just sits and twirls his thumbs, waiting for his turn or whatnot?”
“Basically… yes,” Halling replied and paused, before adding with deliberate emphasis. “It is expected from the male spouses to turn to each other for comfort, while one of them is still waiting for his turn. It strengthens the family bond… and prevents the accidental mixing of different bloodlines.”
Unlike Jamie, Stackhouse was not one to blush easily. Yet by now, he was beet red – and really frightened.
“Are we so obvious?” he asked in defeat.
Halling shook his head. “Oh, no. Not for the casual eye, at least. But I used to look at a male bondmate with the same longing you look at each other. I can recognize that look more easily.”
“And what about Jinto’s mother?” Stackhouse asked, uncomfortable with his own prying but desperate for answers.
“I loved her very much,” Halling explained simply. “And she was glad that I had Usein; so that I would not be left behind alone, should she be taken before me.”
Stackhouse knew that Jinto’s mother had, indeed, been taken by the Wraith a few years ago. He just never thought about the practical advantages of clan marriages… well, not beyond the obvious.
“Did it help?” he asked. Halling nodded, his eyes darkening with sad memories.
“It would have… had Usein not died in a hunting accident, shortly after Lalia had been taken. We rarely die of natural causes, Sergeant.”
“Yes, I know,” Stackhouse felt absurdly guilty about that well-known fact. As if it had been his fault that the Wraith had terrorized this galaxy for millennia. As if he would owe these people, just because ha had led a relatively safe life so far, even for a professional soldier. “I’m sorry.”
Halling shrugged again. “It is not your fault, Sergeant. But consider this: you are part of our world – of our galaxy – now. If you wish to survive here beyond the current generation, you will have to adapt. All of you. Our ways may be strange in your eyes, but they have saved us from complete eradication.”
“I understand that,” Stackhouse sighed. “I just… I don’t make the rules, Halling. I can’t vote them down, either. It’s not within my power.”
“Perhaps,” Halling allowed. “But perhaps you can silently work around them, just a little. By helping Anais build her own household, you can help yourselves. No one of your own would know why you have accepted.”
“Your people would know,” Stackhouse pointed out. “And if someone babbles… not all my fellow soldiers are very open-minded, even though they have been selected from the more… enlightened stack. Cultural taboos can be damned redundant.”
Halling smiled. “Sergeant, you are missing the point. If the two of you build a household with Anais, you will become our people, too. And we protect our own.”
“Oh… I see,” Stackhouse had not considered that aspect, but if he thought about it, it made perfect sense. And the thought of moving in with Jamie without raising suspicions was a damn tempting one. “I… I’ll have to discuss this with Jamie… with Sergeant Markham,” he said.
Halling nodded. “Of course. But please do not consider too long. The fertile cycle of our women is beginning, soon, and Anais will have to move quickly. Otherwise, we would not have made this proposition right now.”
“How long?” Stackhouse asked.
Halling calculated in his head. The seasons on Lantea were different from those of the Athosian homeworld, and he needed to do some mental acrobatics to figure out the differences.
“Two more weeks as you count time,” he finally replied.
“Okay,” Stackhouse said. “I’ll talk with Jamie and give you an answer within the next week. We’re scheduled to patrol fights above the mainland in five days’ time anyway.”
Halling inclined his head in a dignified, almost real manner. One had to admit: the man had presence.
“That is acceptable,” he said. “Thank you, Sergeant Stackhouse.”
“Adam,” Stackhouse corrected.
Halling gave him a wide-eyed look. “I beg your pardon?”
“It’s my given name,” Stackhouse explained. “If I’m about to be adopted by the tribe, I think we can drop the formalities.”
The corners of Halling’s otherwise so serious eyes crinkled in good humour. “That is entirely up to you… Adam.”
