Nocturnal
by Nel and Danvers

Email: nel_ani@yahoo.se or danvers@btopenworld.com
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Daniel/Jonas
Requested by: danvers
Summary: "Barney isn't meant to be scary?"
Author's Notes: Part of the LJ Writing Meme.

This ficlet breaks the rules in several ways. A) It's not 500 words, but 722, and B) it wasn't just written by me, it was written be the requestee, Danvers. I'm ignoring those rules because it was fun, and that's what this is really all about.

Didn't change that much, D, just fixed tenses and added a few paragraphs. :D

Thanks, as always, to the lovely lovely Suz.

He woke up when something hit his arm and he opened his eyes to the realization that he was in his bedroom, it was night time and Jonas was having a nightmare.

It didn’t take long to wake him, carefully mumbling soothing words while rubbing his arm.

Jonas stared at him, the terror still in his eyes.

“Want to talk about it?” Daniel said gently.

“It was a monster...purple." Jonas stammered.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "Are you afraid of Barney?"

Jonas swallowed. "He's scary."

"He's made out of felt," Daniel said flatly.

Jonas looked at him blankly.

"He’s purple!" Daniel laughs.

Jonas mumbled something.

"What?"

He sighed. "I said, as a child I was bitten by something that looked a whole lot like..." he shuddered "...Barney."

"You had purple dinosaurs on Kelowna?" Daniel asked sceptically.

"It's a type of lizard." Jonas sighed again. "You're not being very supportive about this, you know."

Daniel laughed, the hysterics in his eyes. "You're afraid of Barney!"

"Barney isn't meant to be scary?"

Daniel smiled because there was only one person who wouldn't know the answer to that question. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at Jonas' enquiring eyes. "Actually, come to think of it, he freaks me out a little too."

Jonas snorted. "You're just saying that."

"Seriously. The scientific implausibility is the stuff of nightmares. I mean, purple for crying out loud. Horrible stuff," Daniel said with a teasing smile.

Jonas nodded seriously. "I see what you mean. It would have been scarier is if he'd been pink, but this is a program for kids after all."

Daniel burst out laughing. "Wait until you see Big Bird."

Jonas looked alarmed for a moment, then relaxed. "I don't think I'll watch that anymore," he mused.

Daniel lay down on his side and stared at Jonas' profile. "So, what do you have for children's entertainment on your world? No purple dinosaurs or giant yellow birds?"

"No, nothing like that." Jonas’ face softened a bit. "Stories told from person to person are still a big deal on Kelowna, us not having anything quite as advanced as television, so at the week-ends my parents used to take us to this place, kind of like a theatre I guess, where there would be storytellers. They'd tell the most amazing stories, about places far away, places on other worlds..." He turned his head and smiled a bit at Daniel.

"There was this one story about a little bird. He had one wing smaller than the other. He had no friends and all the other birds made fun of him. He runs away to find a place someone will accept him and then he returns home where his family tell him they missed him and they love him. He realises he can't run away from his problems. He grows up to become a noble majestic eagle. That was my favorite story. My mother told me that story when I was a child."

"Where are your parents now?"

Jonas looked up at the dark ceiling. "They died when I was young."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said simply.

"Me too," Jonas said with a smile. "They were good people."

"My parents died when I was young too," Daniel said quietly, joining Jonas' inspection of the ceiling. "You ever get sick of all the sympathy when you tell people? You know, the way they look at you like you're dying of some incurable disease? I do."

"That never bothered me as much as how people would talk to me normally until they found out," Jonas admitted.

"Like you're still a kid. Like they died yesterday." Daniel was quiet for a moment. "I miss them," he said those words to another person for the first time.

Jonas didn't answer him. Instead he turned towards Daniel, pressing him back against the sheets, hands trapping Daniel's own loosely against the bed as he kissed him softly.

Daniel closed his eyes and moaned, a smile on his face. Jonas laughed against his mouth. "You know, I wish we could stay here forever," Jonas murmured.

"No reason we can't," Daniel murmured back. "I'll call Jack, tell him I'm taking a vacation for about five years and then we can go to Honolulu."

“I hear the weather’s nice there,” Jonas whispered mischievously.

Daniel smiled and shut him up with a kiss.

T
H
END

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