Prompt 4.05

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss


Participation is open to all. If this is your own prompt, you’re free to write to it (please do!). Post your list as a comment to this post, additional comments if you exceed the character limit. It’s OK to post as Anonymous, then come out later or not as you choose. Responses will be screened until Monday October 30 to see what people come up with independently. You can still respond to the prompt after the unveiling, but 10/30 is the official due date.

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5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[narissala.livejournal.com]

1. The dust. It gets everywhere and in everything and in everywhere. It wasn’t until he stepped back through the gate and breathed in the heavily recycled air of the base under the mountain that he’d realized how he’d gotten used to it. The cleanliness of the stale air surprised him and he coughed during the first few days as he adjusted back to air that was not full of particulates. But some nights, he’d lie awake wishing for the feel of the layer of dust between him and Sha’re. She liked the small crystals and the abrasion they caused when they lay together.

2. The goats. Not that he has anything against goats, but he doesn’t have a lot to say for them either. Constantly underfoot, or leaving behind presents to be found by his bare feet in the dark, they were everywhere. The bleating was a constant sound throughout the day and the Abydonians had a saying that ‘when the goats grow quiet, the Gods come.’ Thank goodness the goats had not been quiet. Until the day came that they took Sha’re.

3. The lack of English. While he knows dozens of languages English is the language of his parents and home. Not speaking it on Abydos was hard. He would still mutter to himself in English and Kasuf would always shake his head in silent disapproval. His father-in-law loved him, and knew that Daniel missed Earth, but made it clear that he thought Daniel should think of Abydos as home and any reminder that Daniel missed his own planet was a hurt. Sha’re, on the other hand, smiled and let him teach it to her. She had promised that they would teach their son English.

4. The heat. He was never one for the great outdoors, preferring the scientific definition of room temperature at 20 deg C (68 deg F) to anything higher. Abydos, being a desert, rarely saw a day below 30 deg C (86 deg F). Sweat covered him, head to toe, for most of the day. It was better once he started wearing clothing made for him rather than the government issued BDUs. But he was never comfortable and one of the reasons he spent so much time looking at the StarGate and the ruins from Ra’s occupation was to be in the shaded buildings and away from the oppressive heat. Sha’re would seek him out there and then they would cover each other in sweat from love making.

5. His bed. It would be too much to lie in his marriage bed knowing that Sha’re was being held captive in her own body.

Re: 5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

But some nights, he’d lie awake wishing for the feel of the layer of dust between him and Sha’re. Very authentic, very nice!

Re: 5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[winters-end.livejournal.com]

I agree with the authenticity statement...I really love the way you make Abydos (and the SGC headquarters) come alive through sensation, and I think it's beautifully done that somehow, it all ties back to Sha're. #s 2 and 5 are my favorite, 2 because it almost looks like it won't be about her, but it is, and 5 because it really best describes why thoughts of abydos in general are painful.

Re: 5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[msbeata.livejournal.com]

That's a good list. :-)

Re: 5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[sid]

The goats were funny, until suddenly they weren't. These are all very evocative, and #5 is just unthinkable. It would be too much - for anybody. So sad. :-(

Re: 5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[whimsicalwhims.livejournal.com]

The lack of English

Oh, yes, and that would also explain why everywhere Daniel is for an extended period of time, he teaches people English.

These are all great.

Re: 5 Things Daniel doesn’t miss about Abydos

[paian]

A lovely list, very thoughtful and wistful. These descriptions of all the things he doesn't miss make it all the clearer and sadder how much he does miss. Thanks for writing to this prompt.

Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[teaphile.livejournal.com]

1. Despite what others may think, Daniel doesn’t really like the desert. While he may like the fact that arid heat is a great preservative, he doesn’t enjoy being mummified alive.

2. The gossip. Gossip is the lifeblood of any community, but it always seemed to be about him.

3. The way the other men (Kasuf excluded) used to clap him on the back so hard he’d fall over in the loose sand. It got old really quickly.

4. Having to tell the story of the destruction of Ra every festival day.

5. That lizard? Doesn’t really taste like chicken.

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[wishfulaces.livejournal.com]

Oh, these are all great. #2 especially, I think. Or maybe 3. Or maybe 5? Oh, hell.

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

These are great, but #2-way perfect. ;D

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[narissala.livejournal.com]

#2 is awesome. And 3 is just the sort of 'subtle' thing that locals would do with someone that is very different than them, though they don't want to really piss him off.

PS: Icon Love.

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[msbeata.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the chuckle. :)

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[sid]

Oh, of course they would all be gossiping about him! Hell, yeah!

I'm so with him on the heat aspect.

And, I did, I really, really did. LOL at #5, that is. :-D

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[whimsicalwhims.livejournal.com]

Number five made me giggle. And number two- they would all definitely be gossiping about Daniel. (But really, who could resist talking about Daniel?)

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[paian]

::grinning:: These are great. :-)

[sid]

Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

1. He really, really likes showers. He doesn't miss sponge baths. Infrequent sponge baths.

2. He lives for caffeine. He doesn't miss the herbal teas that Sha're made for him. But he does miss Sha're.

3. He doesn't miss the communal living. He likes his solitude, and he prefers not having to hike out into the desert in order to get it.

4. He doesn't miss the people dying too young, for lack of medical attention. He knows he was able to prolong some lives with the very basic knowledge that he possessed about hygiene and contamination and infection. But he saw too many women lost in childbirth, and too many dead infants and children. As a man, he was allowed nowhere near these events. He probably couldn't have saved them anyway.

5. He craved intellectual stimulation. He longed for someone to talk to who had a scholarly bent. The people of Abydos, through no fault of their own, were illiterate and ignorant. Sweet people, loving people, fun people. He doesn't miss the desperate, futile attempts at deep and meaningful conversation.

[wishfulaces.livejournal.com]

#5: Yeah. Just...yeah. Can really, really understand missing that.

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

#5 Really, for sure. #3 I wouldn't have thought about, but very much Daniel.

[narissala.livejournal.com]

4 Just breaks my heart. Especially because in 'Brief Candle' he only mentions experience in the Yucata so I love that you included why he wasn't doing anything on Abydos here.

[msbeata.livejournal.com]

That's Daniel alright. //nod//

[secretbutterfly.livejournal.com]

See, now, you should write for the show.

[whimsicalwhims.livejournal.com]

He doesn't miss the communal living. He likes his solitude>/i>

He craved intellectual stimulation

Yes, yes, yes. These are all parts of Daniel's personality that would making living on Abydos difficult.

Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[randomfreshink.livejournal.com]

1) He still doesn't know what drew the mastegs to him. Something in his sweat or pheromones maybe. They'd follow him if they could, butt up against him, wipe snotty noses on his robes, and rough tongues would scour any skin showing. It didn't help that they weren't herbivores--they ate small insects, and he sometimes wondered if they found him a little too tasty. They all stank, too, with a musty rank odor that no one else on Abydos seemed to notice. And Skarra thought it falling down funny to let them out so that Daniel had to be the one to charm them all back into their pens. Despite that, he could never bring himself to slaughter the old ones, or the ones who sickened and were of use only for their hides and the next meal. It was on one of those days--after a few weeks of too many sandstorms and not enough rain for the crops that grew in the far hills--when he'd seen the knives being sharpened that he'd decided to explore Ra's temple. He found the cartouche room with the Stargate symbols that day, and he'd really like to blame the mastegs for all that followed.

2) The sand got into everything. Mouth, nose, eyes, and parts of your body where you didn't want it rubbing. Fine grains of it got into the bread, and into the water. You ate sand--and you shit sand. It ground against your teeth, got into your intestines and he was sick the first three months from the change in diet and the damned sand. Sand wound up being the third party to any sex, so foreplay included brushing the sand off yourself and your partner, which was more fun than it sounded. The sandstorms hit pretty much every day, too. Some days they were a brief flurry--here and gone on a light breeze, just enough that he worried for how it scored his glasses. Other days the sand hit the city like a wall, and he didn't mind that because it gave him an excuse to stay inside with Sha're, and the moans of the wind mixed with hers.

3) You couldn't turn around on Abydos without hitting a superstition. Ra might be deposed as a god, but there were a hundred other deities who managed the rest of life, and superstitions for them all. Gods for food, gods for rain, gods who brought the sandstorms and took them away. And all the rules that went with. It was bad luck not to spit out the first sip of any water taken from the ground--an offering back to the gods of the well. He didn't mind that one since it was a sensible way to clear the sand out of your mouth. But there were superstitions about women that drove him insane--women weren't clean during their menstrual cycle, and that stole Sha're for five days every month. Then there were ones about shadows, and falling stars, and things he tried to explain. He knew it would be easier if he changed and adapted, but he couldn't bring himself to it. Superstition, he knew, was the enemy of science. And, damit, he wanted those five days.

4) Sam called the cartouche room on Abydos the discovery of the century, but Daniel still can't think of it without thinking how it costs him Sha're. He'd be happier if it had never existed. It's the one place on Abydos he has never forgotten and which he never misses.

5) By the end of the first week he couldn't go anywhere without a following. He was the savior of Abydos, the man from another world--he was the someone everyone wanted to meet or touch. Kasfu wasn't any help. Daniel had explained that he was an ordinary person, that he didn't want the attention. He got lots of earnest nods, and his following didn't lessen by so much as one person. Sha're didn't help either. His efforts to blend in inevitably put an indulgent smile on her face, because he was taller than anyone, and the sun keep lightening his hair, would only burn his skin, and his glasses pretty much stamped him as unique. By the end of three months, he'd learned he could escape into the desert. Or to places the others feared. But, to this day, he hates crowds. And the idea of ever having that kind of recognition again is the one thing that keeps him committed to keeping the Stargate program secret--at least during his lifetime.

Re: Five things about Abydos Daniel doesn't miss

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

These were all wonderful, #1- just extra wonderful. :)

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

1. He didn’t miss the way that the slightly higher gravity on Abydos always made him feel. It was on the edge of his senses, the impression that he was being pulled down by an unseen force. His limbs would feel heavier as he walked, physical tasks were harder to accomplish, and he would often misjudge the effort he would put into compensating for these things, making him seem clumsy and awkward.

Gradually he learned to adopt the almost unconscious grace of the Abydonians, to slow his movements and consider the way his body moved.

At times though, it seemed almost suffocating, as if he were bound to Abydos by more than ties of love.

2. He had once complained to Dr. Jordan when he was ushered out of his small office at 3am, that there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to devote towards his obsessions. It was supremely ironic then, that the one period in his life where time had no real meaning, he would have it in such abundance.

It had taken a while for him to notice, in fact several days of cursing at his watch and tapping on its glass face in annoyance at its inability to keep time; that it occurred to him.

He was living on another planet.

It turned out Abydos didn’t have a 24 hour day. In fact it was 25 hours and 46 minutes – give or take, at least as far as he could tell.

It seemed time was relative after all.

3. Three moons would rise and fall on Abydos, traversing an unfamiliar night sky and casting an illuminating shimmer to the endless sands. He often wondered if they affected a tidal pull on the gritty expanse, sculpting the waves of the dunes to then cast them on a distant shore beyond the horizon.

The stars themselves were arranged in patterns he couldn’t decipher. Many times he had slowly traced the glyphs on the gate, murmuring their names to himself, and then searched for their brethren in the heavens, hoping to find some echo – however faint.

A small part of him always longed for the familiar beauty of his homeworld, where the key to unlocking the universe had dwelt above him, waiting for him to recognise the connection.

[wishfulaces.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, really like the first one. It's something a lot of people don't often think about.

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

4. Ra’s edict had been cruel. To outlaw all forms of reading and writing had kept the Abydonians at an agrarian level of society for nearly five thousand years. He had never thought about how much it would affect him, the lack of fresh reading material, when he had decided to remain.

The hieroglyphs covering the walls and pillars of the temple had long since been interpreted, noted down carefully in a cramped hand in his journal and pored over obsessively. He had devoted long hours to teaching Sha’re the rudiments of her heritage, but she had insisted that such a skill was ‘not a woman’s place my Daniel.’

Even Kasuf and Skaara had been dismissive, pointing out that their tradition of passing knowledge through the spoken word was still powerful. When he had finally convinced some of the Elders that a written record of their people was advantageous, the problem of finding a surface to write on nearly thwarted his plans.

All of his attempts at making a facsimile of papyrus through his knowledge of ancient techniques had failed. It had all crumbled away to nothing within a month. Even scratching marks onto slabs of stone with charcoal had limitations. Eventually he had conducted his classes by tracing into the sands beneath their feet with a rudimentary stylus.

Every day, all of their painstakingly crafted words were gradually erased by the shifting sands.

Scattered and lost.

5. He had worried.

Sha’re had not conceived during the year of their marriage, but he had lain awake at nights, both hoping for and dreading the possibility of a child born from their union.

On Earth, children were born in the sanitary confines of the hospital, surrounded by knowledgeable professionals and were coaxed into the world with all the benefits of western medical practise.

No such luxuries on Abydos.

Here women laboured surrounded by their kin, many hands soothed flushed skin and kneaded away the birthing pangs. The midwife chanting the song of creation as she helped the mother follow the rhythm of her body.

He worried for her though; here there were far fewer options for a birth that was difficult. He had tried to broach the subject with her, but she had been so uncomfortable that he had eventually dropped it.

In the worst of his nightmares, he dreamed Sha’re was dying and he was pacing in front of the gate trying to decide whether or not he could break his promise to O’Neill and dial home.

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

Just lovely, and very poetic.