A/N: Okay, so this is just a tiny little ficlet/one-shot thing I wrote in honor of all my Lorelai fans.
Therefore, this piece is dedicated to:
Amiri, Kinetikat, puffally, BananaSplitsWithLove, Pharaonin, JACarter, Senrab Nomis, SALGIA-the seven deadly sins, Shadows-of-Realm, the brown cow, Laseine, EPetrelli, xxEm'n'JJevaxx, Aratay Ulcahymay, doopahdoo, dolphin12345, Midnight Lyra, loveless an the living fantasy, totaalt, Merenwen Telemnar, Extremist, Cdoctor, Renzei27, Aleja21, Alterran, and all the other people reading this.
You are all so awesome, I can't even find words to thank you for all your support.
And since I can't find words to thank you, I instead wrote this little scene, in which John teaches Lori how to play air hockey. :D
"Hey, Lori. Whatcha up to?"
She looked up to see Sheppard standing in her doorway, and held up her book. "Reading about…" she glanced at the title. "The history of rugby."
He raised an eyebrow "Rugby?"
She shrugged. "Carson gave it to me. Said it's a good game. Or sport. Or something."
He snorted. "Rugby isn't a good game. Air hockey, now that's a good game."
She stared at him blankly.
"You're telling me you don't know what air hockey is?"
She shook her head. "Never heard of it."
"Well," he said, "We're gonna have to fix that."
"Why are we here?" McKay whined a few minutes later. "I was working on refining the coding for a new hyper drive simulation and I really need to-"
"Later." John said, cutting him off. "We need to teach Lori something extremely important."
"And what's that?" Ronon asked.
"Air hockey." John said with the utmost seriousness.
Teyla sighed. "Isn't there something more productive to teach her?"
"There's nothing more productive on a Saturday afternoon than air hockey." John argued.
Ronon laughed; Sheppard had taught him how to play air hockey a few months after he'd come to Atlantis, as a sort of 'bonding exercise'.
Lorelai meanwhile just sat on a stool in the recreation room looking decidedly confused. "I have no idea what any of you are talking about."
"Come here," John waved at her. "And stand here." He positioned her at one end of the table. "Hold this."
She stared at the thing in her hand blankly. "What is this?"
"You use it to hit the puck." he told her, going over to stand at the other end of the table.
"Puck?" she echoed.
"This," he held up a flat plastic disc. "Is an air hockey puck." He tossed it onto table, and turned on the power.
She jumped. "It's a machine?"
"Well, sorta." John answered, at the same time McKay said "An extremely primitive one."
"I think I'm more confused than before." Lorelai told them.
"It needs power to blow air through little holes in the table's surface." McKay told her.
She peered at the tabletop. There were little holes. "Okay."
"It makes it so the puck glides across the table."
"Okay."
"Now," John said, "you hit the puck with these," he held up his…whatever it was, "and try to get the puck to go into the goal on the opposite side of the table." He pointed to the goals. "I aim for that one, you aim for this one."
"….Alright." She frowned. "Hit puck, make goal?"
He chuckled. "Pretty much, yeah. Wanna try?"
"Um….sure?"
She lost the first four games. "What am I doing wrong?" she demanded.
"I think you're not reacting fast enough." Ronon told her. "By the time you try to hit the puck, it's already gone in."
She puffed out her cheeks, looking strangely similar to a pouting child. "I've never lost at something before."
He snorted. "It's good for you."
She glared at him. "You play, then. I bet you're not any better than I am."
He laughed, and John promptly raised his hands.
"I'd rather not play Ronon, if it's all the same to you."
"Why?" she asked curiously.
"Because he'll lose." Ronon said matter-of-factly.
"But you taught him how to play!" she said, staring at Sheppard.
He shrugged. "Not my fault Chewie's an air hockey monster."
She blinked. "Chewie?"
"It's a nickname, after a character in a movie saga called Star Wars that-you know what, never mind." he added hastily, seeing Lorelai's expression growing more confused. "Hey, why don't you play Ronon?"
"What! I can't even play!" She gestured at the score. "I haven't blocked a single one of your goals!"
"Or made any of your own." Ronon added.
She growled.
"You game?" he asked, going over to stand where Sheppard had been.
"You're on."
Her competitiveness, it turned out, was rather helpful in motivating her to try harder at the game John called 'air hockey'. An hour later, she and Ronon were still playing, and the score was even tied somewhere in the hundreds.
This is fun, Lorelai thought as she blocked one of Ronon's shots and slammed it back across the table. I'm really glad I'm here, with these people.
The puck went in, scoring her another goal.
There's nowhere else I'd rather be than here.
A/N: So…how was it? It's just a little ficlet/one-shot thing, so it's probably not very good compared to the main story, but I wrote it with love. :D Reviews aren't necessary, but I'd like to hear from all of you anyway. And don't forget: this piece is dedicated to all of you. You. Are. All. Awesome. :D