A/N. My Muse/Beta Hawkeye is to blame for this idea…she shared the image of Connor with Woad, Pict or Druid body paint and it invaded my brain.
Nick didn't know why they had thought the anomalies would only go to prehistory, they'd seen them go to the future so they shouldn't have been so surprised when the next things to come through an anomaly weren't dinosaurs but druids.
The Home Office had started to search the country for strong magnetic fields, especially ones that had appeared suddenly, so when they had found one in a forest in Wales the team had been dispatched.
They moved cautiously through the forest, Connor tracking the magnetic field, it was harder terrain then they had expected and it was getting late in the day.
The soldiers were spread around the group but they still heard them before they saw them, beats and chanting, in the direction of the anomaly.
As Nick entered the clearing the first thing that entered his mind was 'Shit'. There was a group of twenty or thirty men wearing white robes and painted with intricate blue designs chanting, dancing and singing around the anomaly. The second thought that entered his mind was that they certainly weren't speaking English.
That was the moment when they were noticed, all of the dancers turned towards them and bowed their heads respectfully. The soldiers raised their weapons as they moved closer but Nick hissed sideways at them.
"Don't, we don't want to threaten them." They scowled but the guns were pointed back at the ground.
The man who appeared to be the leader walked towards Nick, recognizing him as being in charge. He stopped a short distance away and from his gestures appeared to welcome them. Nick smiled reassuringly.
"Hello." The man looked a little confused but motioned for another man behind him to join them.
The new man was shorter and blond and held a bowl with paint that looked the same as was used for the designs. He nodded his head respectfully before dipping a brush into the paint and beginning to draw designs on Nick's exposed skin. Connor and Stephen twitched beside him but he motioned for them to stay still.
The man smiled at him as he finished and then others came forward with their own bowls and started painting Stephen, Connor and the soldiers, who after a glance at Nick allowed it.
It was dark by the time they were all decorated and the moon and the stars were out and visible above the clearing as the chanting began again and the men started drawing them into the dance.
Nick watched Stephen twirl with his normal graceful skill and Connor stumble through the steps as he tried to follow the dance. The soldiers were stiff and on guard but Nick smiled as he watched his lovers dance under the stars.
But Connor picked up the steps and even the soldiers relaxed as the were drawn up in the rhythm of the voices and the dance and then everyone was smiling as the chants reached a crescendo and men all threw up their arms and then dropped to the ground.
They were all elated and breathing heavily as they men one by one picked themselves up off the ground and bowed to the group before walking through the anomaly, which closed down behind the last of them.
Connor smiled breathlessly, the designs on his face almost glowing in the moonlight.
"Well that was different."