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“Okay, but,” said John, hopping up to sit on the corner of Rodney’s desk. “Do the Ancients work like ghosts, or are they more like Q?”
Rodney looked up, scowling, but his expression immediately shifted when he saw the brownie John was holding out. “What do you mean?” he asked, around a mouthful of chocolate.
“Usually, when the Ancients appear, they’re all wearing white. I thought that was just because they’d all Ascended into light, and color didn’t exist. But then we met the Asurans and there were those visions from the whale telepathy… They all wore white when they were alive, too.”
“Technically, they’re still alive after they Ascend,” Rodney pointed out. “Just noncorporeal.”
John waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. My question is – Are the Ancients like ghosts and they’re stuck wearing whatever they were wearing when they Ascended for all eternity. Or are they more like Q and they can wear whatever they want?”
“Hmm…” said Rodney, popping the last bite of brownie into his mouth. “Well, Ascended Ancients do have significant powers to affect reality, so I’ll have to lean more towards Q.”
“Hmm…” John repeated.
“Also, ghosts are not real.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“I also can’t disprove that. Or Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster,” scoffed Rodney. “Do you believe in them, too?”
“Maybe,” John said, just to be contrary.
Rodney frowned again. “Why do you care about what the Ancients were or were not wearing? I mean, I know we’ve said we’ll try to Ascent when the time comes but—” He stopped abruptly. “You’re afraid that if you Ascend, you’re going to be stuck wearing white forever.”
“I…”
“You are!” Rodney interrupted. “Colonel I’m-Only-Wearing-Black-Until-They-Make-Something-Darker, you’re scared that you’ll have to wear those pajamas for all eternity. With that hair, you’ll look like something out of a nineties boy band.”
“Hey,” John protested. Then, he sighed. “Okay, it sounds stupid when you put it like that. There’s no way of knowing if I’ll be able to Ascend in the first place, so it’s kind of silly worrying about what I’ll wear.”
“Right,” Rodney agreed. “There are always so many other things for us to worry about. Besides, even if a person does get stuck dressed in white, you’d be the one person to figure out a way around it.”
John smiled. “You just want me to figure it out and show you how.”
“I don’t like the idea of eternity in white pajamas, either!” said Rodney, and John was still laughing when he leaned in to kiss him.
THE END