A/N: Thanks to ladypredator, who made some major corrections in style, punctuation and grammar. She is a wonderful and patient beta! *hugs*
The hour of the philosophers
Midnight. The hour of the philosophers as Gloria had explained to him in a time that seemed ages ago.
He looked up to the two moons whose slightly green light was so utterly irritating.
"Scientists can work at anytime of the day," Gloria had said. "Philosophers love the middle of the night, the time when the world falls silent, when time seemed to stretch, when the mind strays in various directions and brilliant and silly thoughts appear. We are creatures of the night. And when the morning comes, reason takes over and makes us separate the silly thoughts from the brilliant ones. We teach in the daylight but our minds bloom in the moonlight."
He remembered her warm hands on his shoulders, when she stood behind him staring out of the large window of their living room into the darkness of the night. Her warm breath on the skin of his neck, when she talked, while she rested her chin on his shoulder. Her soft voice, explaining how she saw the world in those wonderful hours of the night that belonged only to the two of them. Her worldview, unique and difference from any ideas of his own, a way of seeing he'd never known before he met this wonderful woman.
Rush looked around and took stock of the situation he was stranded in. He had a gate, a disabled, stranded alien ship and parts of his equipment. And there was his brilliant mind, willing and ready to find a solution, to make the best of this situation and find a way back to Destiny. A thin smile curled his lips. It could have been worse. Much worse.
A brief thought of Young, who abandoned him on this planet, came to his mind and rage seethed in his chest like a wild animal stretching its claws and making it hard for him to breathe.
He pushed both away, the thought as well as the rage. Anger wouldn't help at all; he would keep it for situations where extra strength would be necessary.
Right now he needed to concentrate on what he had and a solution to his problem.
A gate. A ship. Some equipment. His mind.
'Think, Nicholas. Think.'
At least the night wasn't too hot. In fact it was a little cold but he didn't mind. As usual he didn't notice much of his surroundings, when his mind started to work on a problem he needed to solve.
Yet, tonight his thoughts had a fatal tendency to stroll away from the problem, but he didn't fight the musings. As long as they were memories of Gloria, they kept him warm and comfortable. The solitude of this planet and the silence of the night made him feel closer to her than he had ever felt on Destiny.
A gate. A ship. The accidental concurrence of components he needed to find his way back home.
He smiled at the word 'accidental," that he had subconsciously used.
Coming from the Latin word 'accidens,' as Gloria had explained to him a long time ago, it simply meant 'that, what is,' without any hint of drama or disaster. Just an unexpected appearance, a tiny bit of fate, neither good nor bad.
Midnight. The hour of the philosophers.
He blew his warm breath into his cold hands and started unpacking his backpack.
There was work to do and he better started sooner than later.
-end