Todd pilots his dart with the ease of practice that comes with his long years of experience. He flies into a stargate and lands nearby, exiting with grace and precision. The planet air is cool on his face and he sees the fog rolling in and enveloping the hills in the distance. It is the same as the last 6 times he has done this.
He sits in the grass and leans back against a tree, waiting for the appropriate time to once again dial Atlantis and go see what new entertainment Major Lorne will provide for this visit.
The first time was pleasant. The major showed him a movie and it was a good passing of time while waiting to meet with Sheppard. Evan was one of the few humans who had no reservations or fear about spending time in close quarters with him.
But the second time was where it got interesting. At first, Todd was concerned. He realized quickly that there was a temporal distortion occurring and it appeared that no one else was cognizant of it. However, while everyone acted the same, the wraith knew right away that Evan was different - that he was aware, by the way his words and actions changed from the first time. It intrigued Todd, and he wanted to see where this would go. Plus, the wraith found the major's company pleasant and relaxing.
From there, each individual recurrence only got more interesting. Watching the human furtively sneak around to steal gloves, laugh with exertion during their water balloon fight, and show the greatest care in brushing and drying his hair. That time, Todd couldn't help himself - he had leaned back into the human's touch and fully relaxed for probably the first time in his long, long life.
He had returned that relaxation to the human when Evan had fallen asleep from the mental exhaustion of reliving the same day over and over.
And then, the time he tried to run away from him. The time the major gave up control and let him fly an ancient gate ship and then, let him press his fragile human body into the soft grass and kiss him.
Todd had kissed humans before, of course. His status as Commander afforded him extra adoration from worshippers. But this was different somehow. Perhaps it had just been a long time. Todd had felt his usually firm resolve and patience begin to slip as the normally controlled major moaned beneath him.
Todd's pupils dilate at the memory of the last time loop, where the human let him feed. Todd could smell his desire, and he thought that it may lead to more, but then Evan withdrew from him. He was resolute that the major only come to him of his own accord, so he hadn't pressed the issue.
Either way, if it hadn't been this entertaining, Todd would have long ago set to work resolving the temporal loop. He's unsure why Lorne isn't working on it, and hasn't asked him anything about it. But in the mean time, he will enjoy the presence of his human companion.
Todd gets up, runs his fingers through his hair in an attempt to comb the messy mane, and heads towards the DHD.
The major is waiting for Todd as he crosses the event horizon. The wraith tries to give him a reassuring smile without looking too predatory, the human appears more nervous than usual.
He follows the major down the halls, but this time they do not approach his private quarters. They are heading to the jumper bays.
"Evan, where are we going?"
Todd's sensory pits flare as the major blushes. It is almost imperceptive to the eye, but the change is clearly discernible to wraith.
"Well I thought we would take a jumper to the mainland. I have a surprise for you."
"I sincerely hope that this involves letting me drive."
Lorne has no objections. Todd smirks a bit, clearly the human remembers all of the past occurrences. He feels them draw closer and closer every time they repeat the day together.
Once the major opens the back of the jumper for them, Todd strolls in. There is a bundle in the back which emits a low odor of some type of resin polymer and silicone. He disregards it for the moment and proceeds to the control panel to adjust the crystals. He's done this before so it only takes about 90 seconds. Lorne settles in next to him and calls control to get clearance for their takeoff.
They're off.
Todd gets a perverse satisfaction from flying the ancients machines. Maybe it's because he's not supposed to, because he doesn't have the correct blood, the right genes. Maybe it's the small signs that show how Evan fully trusts him, with no qualms or second thoughts about it.
Lorne shows Todd where to land once they reach the mainland. He walks around and collects some fruits while the wraith watches him with concealed interest. It is still unclear what activity they will have for today. What is clear, however, is that Evan is still not making any efforts to address the temporal issue. Todd barely conceals a pleased purr.
Evan likes spending time with him.
The human in question is now grabbing his odd smelling bundle from the jumper and unrolling it. The wraith strolls over to observe as several colorful bottles are extracted, followed by some plastic discs and sticks with animal hair on the ends.
Evan is clearly bristling with nervous excitement.
"I thought today, we could uhh… Paint together."
He smiles as he pulls out some stretched canvases and props them up against the trunk of a fallen tree. He sets up the paint and tools between the two canvases. Todd focuses to conceal his surprise - from one of the previous iterations of the day, it was clear that this is considered a private and intimate activity for the major.
The wraith humms his acceptance of the activity and settles himself in front of one of the blank canvases. He can hear the human's heart beating rapidly as he runs back to the jumper to grab a bottle of water, then returns to sit next to him.
"I've never taught painting before, but I thought we could start out with a nice still life of this fruit."
Evan has arranged what appears to be several oval objects of light green shades, as well as an assortment of yellow and one splash of purple mass on the grass in front of them. The late afternoon sun is bright on the arrangement without washing any one object out over the others, and they contrast with the dark grass well. Todd can appreciate the beauty in the composition.
He listens carefully as Lorne explains the basics of these tools and the type of paint, how best to mix to achieve the nuances you desire, and general protocols. Once the time arrives to put brush to canvas, though, Todd stops. He watches curiously as Evan marks the pristine canvas with an explosion of green. The major mumbles something about setting the background up first, but his lips are parted and Todd can't look away - this is Evan in his most unguarded, experiencing the beauty of the world and letting it flow through his nimble fingers onto what used to be a blank white slate. It's strangely arousing. He watches as the greens develop into blades of grass and dark swatches of shadow, subconsciously mapping where the fruit will go in the next step of the painting.
Lorne looks at him expectantly. His eyes are shining with some type of pleasure, not too unlike the last time they were together on the grass. He smiles when he sees the wraith hesitating to put paint on his canvas.
"Don't be scared, Todd, you won't mess it up. The beauty of art is that there is no wrong move. Everything has its own right to exist. The first mark is the hardest though."
"I am accustomed to verbal art over visual," the wraith replies, but he doesn't back down and dips his brush in green, mixing with a bit of black on his plastic disk like he had watched the human do.
He places the blob of acrylic onto his canvas and hisses.
Evan laughs at him.
"This is much too dark"
"No, it's fine, trust me. The very first thing I learned was, it's never too dark. Just work that into your shadows. Plus you can always go back and add more light later."
Todd moves the dark green color around on his canvas. Maneuvering the brush is a bit difficult, but Evan is nodding along and his smile is encouraging. Soon the background is established and Todd adds in some brighter greens, looking more pleased.
The summer sun is keeping the temperature warm, so Lorne takes off his jacket. It has the added benefit of drying the paint quite quickly, so they proceed to blocking in some yellows and light greens for their fruit.
The wraith keeps getting distracted from his own work, however, by watching Lorne transform shapeless colorful blobs into copies of fruit. It is of course not an exact copy, but he finds ways to make the colors appear even more vibrant, the fruit more interesting. His hands move rapidly, a gentle stroke here, a thick stroke here, and it is fascinating. Todd attempts to replicate, but he finds himself caught up in the exactness of the rendering, spending too long on one oval, trying to get it just right, or attempting to color match to the purple blob and consistently getting conflicting and incorrect results. He briefly wonders if Lorne has some sort of inhuman color palette detector, or if all humans perceive colors in this way.
Not one to give up, he carries on with his portrayal. He finds himself hyperfocused on the task until he feels the major staring at him.
Lorne had finished his composition and it's beautiful. Todd briefly regrets that he did not agree to Lorne's artistic depiction of his form, back in the very first loop. If only he had known.
The painting Lorne had finished is in no way a full photographic rendering, but it is somehow so much more alive than such a representation would be. It fills Todd with warmth and fulfillment and he wildly thinks it is a crime that Lorne's paintings do not adorn every single hallway and common area in the entirety of Atlantis. Each stoke of paint is distinct and purposeful, lending a depth beyond what can be observed with wraith eyes.
"Wow Todd, you are really good at painting!" Evan is saying to him. Todd forces himself out of his musings to smile his toothy smile at the major.
"Nowhere near as good as you, Evan." He rolls the name in his mouth, savoring it. His eyes flicker and he can see a subconscious responding flicker in the major's eyes. The human is blushing and Todd can hear the speeding heart beat, sense the rise in temperature.
The major raises his arm and rubs the back of his neck. He is self conscious.
"Well I've been doing this a long time. You know, my mom was an art teacher. So she always used to practice her lessons on me. Whereas you, this is your first time. I mean it, really this is great for a beginner. You have a good eye."
"I have two good eyes," Todd deadpans. Wraith humor, he thinks to himself, smirking.
Evan's laugh cascades around the meadow. They have been at this for a while, and Todd had barely noticed the passage of time. It was easy to get lost in this temporal distortion with a companion such as this. Dangerous, even. Nothing at all like the times he had spent together with Sheppard, which are all nervous energy and anxiety and the patient waiting until he could escape his company. Evan had asked about his CO several times, desperate to attribute something more than what it was. Todd could sense the jealousy roll across the major's skin every time he asked, but yet, he never asked Todd about himself. Humans truly were curious.
The wraith put the finishing touches on his still life, fully cognizant of the way Evans eyes caressed his hand and followed his every motion.
"One last thing, and then we're done."
Todd looked at the major curiously, brow bone lifting. Evan smiled, revealing small indentations in the flesh of his cheeks. It was quite endearing.
"You have to sign it. So that people know it's your work."
To show the example, Evan dipped the thinnest brush into some yellow paint and marked the corner. Todd could just make out that the scribble stated "E. Lorne". He tilts his head and Evan eyes him with interest. A few silent moments pass, before the human's face falls a bit.
"You don't have to write 'Todd'… It can just be any mark, representative of you."
The wraith's eyes flicker to his in silent thanks for understanding, and he takes the thin brush from the major's hand, dips it in the same yellow, and draws his mark in the bottom corner of his canvas. It is a starburst shape, two peaks at the top and three at the bottom and the human visibly relaxes at the sight of it. It is clearly acceptable.
"I wish I could hang his up in my room," Evan is saying, looking over Todd's painting. The wraith humms noncommittally in response, knowing full well that in under an hour, the paintings both will have ceased to exist. There is a sense of longing hanging in the air. Lorne stands and begins to clean up the paints, and they are soon back in the jumper for their return journey to Atlantis.