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suki_blueTitle: The Best Birthday Ever
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: Rodney/John
Genre: Comedy, fluff
Rating: R
Summary: It's John's birthday.
Beta'd by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kitty_poker1
There was something annoyingly perfect about Colonel John Sheppard, Rodney decided. Completely perfect - at least visually. And as long as you didn’t take the hair into account.
Everything about the Colonel was precise and perfect, from the way he held his gun to the way he slouched in a chair or leaned against a wall. He was clearly comfortable with himself and his body and oozed an oblivious sex appeal that was terribly distracting. He was the very picture of someone Rodney should despise.
And it seemed that Colonel John Sheppard could also dance. Well, how wonderful for him.
Rodney turned away and concentrated on the food. Three long tables had been placed side by side and were filled with plates of meat, fruit, nibbles and weird purple things that Rodney would only touch under the threat of imminent death or a sudden rush of senility.
His hand hovered somewhere over the middle of the first table. Something that looked like a sausage roll caught his eye and he quickly snagged it and sniffed. After many years of hives, headaches and the odd bout of anaphylactic shock, Rodney had developed a good sixth sense towards food that could potentially kill or, worse, humiliate. He liked to call it his third nostril.
Relatively confident that he wasn’t going to turn red and collapse into a twitching pile on the floor, he bit into the ‘sausage’ roll and chewed. “Mmm.”
Tastes like…
With an exaggerated gulp, Rodney swallowed his mouthful and scraped the rest from his teeth with his tongue.
Tastes like…
“Hey, McKay. Glad you could join us.” Colonel Sheppard bounced into Rodney’s line of sight and snatched the rest of the roll from his slightly greasy fingers. He popped it in his mouth and put on his thinking face. “Tastes like buffalo.”
Rodney put his index finger in his mouth and sucked. “It does have that sort of earthy taste, yes, but…there’s something else…something…” He popped the next finger in line into his mouth and concentrated. “Something…”
“Spicy,” John provided.
The finger came out and a quick hand gesture signalled John’s breakthrough. “Exactly.” The third and final finger went in for a suck and a clean and this time Rodney became aware that Colonel Sheppard was a might distracted; he also became aware that the Colonel had an extremely appetising mouth – especially when it glistened from a combination of crude lighting and a brief licking.
Colonel Sheppard seemed to shake himself from his mini-trance. He hooked a thumb back at the dance floor. “Gonna come strut your funky stuff with us, McKay?”
Rodney shook his head immediately. “Absolutely not.” He backed up a step, strangely comforted by the presence of so much food behind him. And he was not looking at Sheppard’s lips anymore.
“Auw, come on,” Sheppard drawled. “It is my birthday.”
“The deafening music and abundance of woman in tight clothing make that fact perfectly apparent, and if it was anyone else I wouldn’t even be here. So just be thankful.”
Sheppard came closer and Rodney was still not looking at his mouth. For a moment he considered shifting his attention to Colonel Sheppard’s hair but quickly decided it was too much of a distraction. He could never allow himself to think about the hair – not while there was still so much to learn about Atlantis. That hair was a complex scientific mystery and a whole thesis in itself. It would take years of research and experiments… Okay, now he’d thought about the hair and he hadn’t meant to and suddenly Sheppard was right in front of him, inches away, and Rodney now cursed the abundance of pie that sat behind him and blocked off his escape.
“You know, that is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Rodney wasn’t sure if there was a spot of sarcasm there or not. “Yes, well, very good. Happy birthday and wotnot. I should probably be going. I have a lot of work to do.”
Colonel Sheppard nodded slowly and Rodney tried and failed to read his expression.
“Okay,” Sheppard said in his normal infuriatingly casual tone that occasionally made Rodney want to bitch-slap him. Sometimes, some things, required a sense of urgency, and a slow, bored, ‘Oh , by the way, everybody run,’ just didn’t cut it in Rodney’s book.
“Oh, by the way,” Sheppard started, and Rodney got ready to slap, just in case. “Zelenka was looking for you earlier. Said something about replacing the crystals in the…”
“Jumper Three?!” Rodney interrupted, snapping like a suddenly enraged crocodile.
Colonel Sheppard looked up and pursed his lips like he was considering this. Finally, he nodded and smiled broadly. “That must have been it.”
“That idiot! I told him it’s not the crystals themselves, it’s the imbecile that placed them. Honestly, you’d think some of these people had never seen Ancient technology before – uh, well, they probably hadn’t, but that’s not the point. Why do people continue to think they know everything about something they clearly know nothing about? I mean, it’s a ship, not an Ancient sensory deprivation tank.”
Sheppard shrugged and pointed into the corner. “He’s over there. I guess you’d better stay and talk things over with him.”
Rodney got halfway through verbally ripping Radek a new asshole before he realised something. Or at least thought he realised something. “Clearly, I am right,” he growled to Zelenka. “And what you people continually fail to realise about Ancient technology is that…”
Had Colonel Sheppard wanted him to stay?
Well, probably not, but now Rodney wanted to stay. He’d berated, belittled and now felt much more comfortable and there was a tiny little part of Rodney that really wanted Sheppard to have known that bringing down a fellow scientist was the key to putting him at ease.
Colonel Sheppard was dancing again and Rodney wanted to turn away and not look. He didn’t want to look at those hips and those arms, that ass or that chest sitting snugly beneath a too small t-shirt. It was bad enough that he had to look at those things in a meeting or passing in a hallway, but having to look at them while they gyrated to music that could only be described as sexual was even worse than having to look at them on a mission – poised, firm, tight and ready.
Rodney needed to turn away. He had to or he would be doomed to another night of wet dreams and sticky sheets.
“Doctor McKay!”
Rodney’s eyes widened as fear settled in his gut.
“Doctor McKay!”
“Oh, please, no. Not now. Don’t let this be happening.” Some choices in life were hard, excruciating even, and this was one of those choices. He could turn around and talk to Kavanagh and face whatever complaint/theory/coup the annoying man had come up with now, or he could do the unspeakable.
He could dance.
It was a horrifying thought. Rodney hadn’t danced in ten years and even then it had been a waltz and his dancing partner had ended up in ER. Poor Grandma.
“Doctor McKay!”
Rodney made his choice. He bounded away, his finger coming up to point in the air as if someone else had caught his attention. Kavanagh trailed him to the edge of the dance floor and then, as predicted, came no further.
The dance floor wasn’t overly crowded, which was good for Rodney’s claustrophobia, and there were parts that were bare and deserted. He considered dancing there for a while on his own, but the shame of solo dancing was just too much to bear so he quickly slotted himself into a small space between Elizabeth and Teyla – least likely to laugh and humiliate; that was the logic.
But dancing, that wasn’t logical at all – at least not the way these people were doing it. Teyla was perhaps the exception. She swayed to the beat and rocked to the bass, her hips swirling and her belly moving like it belonged to a Polynesian princess.
Rodney caught himself staring and turned away, smiling uncomfortably but civilly at Elizabeth. “I, uh, should have those reports on your desk in the morning,” he said.
Elizabeth nodded. “No problem, Rodney. Don’t worry about it.” She danced away and Rodney came face to face with Sheppard.
“So, you made it,” Sheppard said amiably.
Rodney bobbed his head in time to the music instead of nodding. He was fully aware of how much of an idiot he must look. But at least the Colonel wasn’t laughing at him, so that was something.
Sheppard leaned towards him, his mouth – that mouth – just inches away, and shouted. The music was suddenly louder, which probably signalled the dance like a loon portion of the proceedings. “What made you change your mind?”
A guilty look crossed Rodney’s face. He tilted his head to indicate that Colonel Sheppard should look behind him and said, “I had to escape my terrible fate.”
Colonel Sheppard looked up, obviously spotted Kavanagh and laughed. “Now there is a fate worse than dancing.”
“Exactly my point.” Rodney was suddenly aware that dancing required doing something with one’s arms, but he couldn’t figure out what that was. He moved them, flopped them, gave them a shake, flailed them slightly and completely missed whatever Colonel Sheppard said next. “What?” he asked.
Sheppard rolled his eyes and grabbed Rodney’s arm, his finger’s twitching against Rodney’s bare skin as static sparked between then. He inclined his head and pulled, and Rodney gladly followed him off the dance floor and down one of five hallways that led from the newly appointed ‘Party Room’.
“I thought you wanted me to dance,” Rodney pointed out.
“I did and I do. But Kavanagh was hovering around the outskirts; he’d have got to you eventually if we hadn’t made a break for it. And besides, you looked like you were in pain.”
Rodney gave Sheppard his most unamused expression. “And thank you for that.”
“Welcome.” Sheppard led them both to a door Rodney wasn’t familiar with. He touched the control panel and the door slid open to reveal one of Atlantis’ many balconies.
Ah, that was why he didn’t recognise it, Rodney thought. It was one of those pointless doors that didn’t actually go anywhere. Rodney had recently shifted quarters to one with a balcony and that was quite enough.
“Anyway,” Sheppard continued, “I needed a break; it’s hot in there.” And by the looks of things, he wasn’t lying.
Rodney couldn’t help but notice the beads of sweat on Colonel Sheppard’s forehead or the way his t-shirt clung to him even more than it normally did.
Sheppard smiled at him and turned to lean over the railings. Rodney dithered for just a moment before he moved to take up the same pose.
“I wonder what else we’ll find,” Sheppard said, and Rodney was struck by the wistfulness of his voice.
“Lots more stars and a stunning variety of more stars.” Rodney laced his tone with enough sarcasm to prompt the desired reaction of an eye-roll and a half-amused smile.
“Ha, ha. I actually meant here.”
“Oh, I see. Well then, I assume there are lots of fish and a stunning variety of…oh, let me see, more fish.”
“Here, in the city.” Sheppard turned around and leaned back, his elbows now resting on the railing just an inch away from Rodney’s forearms.
“I have no idea.” Well shit, now Sheppard’s elbows were distracting him. How did he keep them so smooth?! “I, uh…can’t wait to find out, though.” He forgot about the elbows for a moment as excitement filled him. They’d barely explored a quarter of the city so far; there was so much more to see; there was so much more to discover.
“I’ve gotta admit,” Sheppard grinned and caught Rodney’s gaze, “it is exciting.”
Rodney grinned back and turned, one hand left on the railing and the other now gesturing wildly as that familiar feeling of exhilaration and anticipation filled him further. “Can you even imagine what we might find?”
“Nope,” Sheppard said cheerfully. “That’s what makes it so exciting. We could find anything. We could find the cure for cancer or…or those stunners like they have in Star Trek!”
“Or Lightsabers,” Rodney added gleefully.
“There might be more people frozen in stasis, or a whole lab full of nearly completed Atlantean inventions.”
Rodney’s eyes lit up at that. “We really must organise another expedition, Colonel.”
John nodded. “Definitely. We’ve been spending a lot of time off-world, I guess.”
Rodney nodded with him; he was plainly aware of how often they went off-world and understood the reasons why. Gathering allies, support and intelligence was the top priority at the moment if they were to survive the Wraith.
It was easy to forget why they were really here – to learn, to discover, to find.
They were both quiet for the moment and Rodney was pleased to note that the heavy balcony doors and the wind breezing throughout the city effectively drowned out the irritating thump, thump, get down with your bad self, thump of the music.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Sheppard suddenly asked, his voice startling Rodney from his thoughts.
“Well, tomorrow is Sunday so…I’ll probably be doing the exact same thing I do everyday. Work, research and saving everybody’s collective asses. You?”
“Super Mario Brothers.”
“Ah, good luck with that, then.” He cast Sheppard a suspicious glance, suspecting he wasn’t entirely lying.
“Unless…” Colonel Sheppard paused there deliberately, Rodney guessed, and shifted his position against the rail so that he and Rodney were facing each other.
“Unless what?” Rodney asked.
“Unless you’re up for a hike out into the city. Not too far out, but maybe far enough to find something new. What do you think?”
Rodney’s heart was beating a little faster and butterflies were gently flapping around in his stomach. “Well, it is a little short notice to assemble a team, but I’m sure-”
“Just us,” Sheppard cut in. “No team. Call it down time. I’m pretty sure you deserve a break and I know I’m sick of Mario and his stupid plumbing, pardon the phrasing.”
“You and me?” Rodney asked - just to make sure that he’d not lost one of his ears to compensate for the third nostril. “Just the two of us?”
“Yep. You and me.”
Rodney tried to swallow as quietly as possible, but he was still reasonably sure he’d just made the sound of a sinking canoe. “Together?” And was Colonel Sheppard standing closer now?
It was definitely one of those surreal moments, Rodney decided, where one had to be very careful what one did next. It wasn’t unusual for Sheppard and himself to undertake a task or a mini-adventure by themselves, but there was something not-so-subtly different about this.
Perhaps it was the way Sheppard was looking down at him, his eyes wide, sparkling and honest. Or maybe it was the way Sheppard was easing closer still and breathing a little harder. Perhaps it was the way their legs were touching now or maybe it was the hand that was on his shoulder and slipping down his arm. It was even possible that it was Sheppard’s other arm sliding around his waist and pulling them flush together, making Rodney wish away the rest of the Atlantis expedition.
Or maybe it was the way Colonel Sheppard tasted or the way his lips felt as soft as they looked. Perhaps it was his tongue, which was as clever as Rodney had always thought it would be.
Rodney held on as everything threatened to tilt. He was kissing the Colonel and, wow, this was the best birthday ever. And it wasn’t even his birthday.
Sheppard’s hand reached up to cup his face and Rodney was pretty sure this was what it felt like to be an ice cream. He was melting yet, god, he wanted, needed more of that mouth, needed to be licked inside and out.
Sheppard began to pull back, but Rodney held on; he wasn’t ready to let go just yet. He was an explorer and, damn it, he intended to explore and investigate as much as possible. He felt Sheppard smile against him and then that mouth was gone. Rodney was confused for the whole second it took for it to reappear on his neck.
Sheppard whispered something, but Rodney wasn’t sure what it was. He hoped it was something along the lines of ‘I want you now’ or ‘Fuck me, Rodney. I want you to fuck me hard’. But knowing his luck, Rodney thought, it was probably more likely to be something along the lines of ‘Did you know the mess hall is gonna serve Athosian goat tomorrow?’
Rodney touched and stroked Sheppard’s arms, chest and shoulders. He lightly brushed a stubbled cheek and deftly avoided the hair. Sheppard’s lips were right there again and Rodney kissed them and smiled when they kissed him back.
They eventually parted, foreheads together and hands still on their own expedition. “We leave at six sharp. I’ll come and get you. Don’t oversleep,” Sheppard said.
Rodney was still grinning like a loon and Sheppard smiled back and kissed him one more time – slow and patient, light and careful.
“John,” Rodney breathed when they parted again.
John walked backwards until he struck the door, his arm automatically coming up to hit the control panel. He looked content. “Happy birthday to me.”
When the door had closed and John had gone, Rodney turned back to the sea and tried not to keel over.
Definitely the best birthday ever.
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: Rodney/John
Genre: Comedy, fluff
Rating: R
Summary: It's John's birthday.
Beta'd by
kitty_poker1There was something annoyingly perfect about Colonel John Sheppard, Rodney decided. Completely perfect - at least visually. And as long as you didn’t take the hair into account.
Everything about the Colonel was precise and perfect, from the way he held his gun to the way he slouched in a chair or leaned against a wall. He was clearly comfortable with himself and his body and oozed an oblivious sex appeal that was terribly distracting. He was the very picture of someone Rodney should despise.
And it seemed that Colonel John Sheppard could also dance. Well, how wonderful for him.
Rodney turned away and concentrated on the food. Three long tables had been placed side by side and were filled with plates of meat, fruit, nibbles and weird purple things that Rodney would only touch under the threat of imminent death or a sudden rush of senility.
His hand hovered somewhere over the middle of the first table. Something that looked like a sausage roll caught his eye and he quickly snagged it and sniffed. After many years of hives, headaches and the odd bout of anaphylactic shock, Rodney had developed a good sixth sense towards food that could potentially kill or, worse, humiliate. He liked to call it his third nostril.
Relatively confident that he wasn’t going to turn red and collapse into a twitching pile on the floor, he bit into the ‘sausage’ roll and chewed. “Mmm.”
Tastes like…
With an exaggerated gulp, Rodney swallowed his mouthful and scraped the rest from his teeth with his tongue.
Tastes like…
“Hey, McKay. Glad you could join us.” Colonel Sheppard bounced into Rodney’s line of sight and snatched the rest of the roll from his slightly greasy fingers. He popped it in his mouth and put on his thinking face. “Tastes like buffalo.”
Rodney put his index finger in his mouth and sucked. “It does have that sort of earthy taste, yes, but…there’s something else…something…” He popped the next finger in line into his mouth and concentrated. “Something…”
“Spicy,” John provided.
The finger came out and a quick hand gesture signalled John’s breakthrough. “Exactly.” The third and final finger went in for a suck and a clean and this time Rodney became aware that Colonel Sheppard was a might distracted; he also became aware that the Colonel had an extremely appetising mouth – especially when it glistened from a combination of crude lighting and a brief licking.
Colonel Sheppard seemed to shake himself from his mini-trance. He hooked a thumb back at the dance floor. “Gonna come strut your funky stuff with us, McKay?”
Rodney shook his head immediately. “Absolutely not.” He backed up a step, strangely comforted by the presence of so much food behind him. And he was not looking at Sheppard’s lips anymore.
“Auw, come on,” Sheppard drawled. “It is my birthday.”
“The deafening music and abundance of woman in tight clothing make that fact perfectly apparent, and if it was anyone else I wouldn’t even be here. So just be thankful.”
Sheppard came closer and Rodney was still not looking at his mouth. For a moment he considered shifting his attention to Colonel Sheppard’s hair but quickly decided it was too much of a distraction. He could never allow himself to think about the hair – not while there was still so much to learn about Atlantis. That hair was a complex scientific mystery and a whole thesis in itself. It would take years of research and experiments… Okay, now he’d thought about the hair and he hadn’t meant to and suddenly Sheppard was right in front of him, inches away, and Rodney now cursed the abundance of pie that sat behind him and blocked off his escape.
“You know, that is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Rodney wasn’t sure if there was a spot of sarcasm there or not. “Yes, well, very good. Happy birthday and wotnot. I should probably be going. I have a lot of work to do.”
Colonel Sheppard nodded slowly and Rodney tried and failed to read his expression.
“Okay,” Sheppard said in his normal infuriatingly casual tone that occasionally made Rodney want to bitch-slap him. Sometimes, some things, required a sense of urgency, and a slow, bored, ‘Oh , by the way, everybody run,’ just didn’t cut it in Rodney’s book.
“Oh, by the way,” Sheppard started, and Rodney got ready to slap, just in case. “Zelenka was looking for you earlier. Said something about replacing the crystals in the…”
“Jumper Three?!” Rodney interrupted, snapping like a suddenly enraged crocodile.
Colonel Sheppard looked up and pursed his lips like he was considering this. Finally, he nodded and smiled broadly. “That must have been it.”
“That idiot! I told him it’s not the crystals themselves, it’s the imbecile that placed them. Honestly, you’d think some of these people had never seen Ancient technology before – uh, well, they probably hadn’t, but that’s not the point. Why do people continue to think they know everything about something they clearly know nothing about? I mean, it’s a ship, not an Ancient sensory deprivation tank.”
Sheppard shrugged and pointed into the corner. “He’s over there. I guess you’d better stay and talk things over with him.”
Rodney got halfway through verbally ripping Radek a new asshole before he realised something. Or at least thought he realised something. “Clearly, I am right,” he growled to Zelenka. “And what you people continually fail to realise about Ancient technology is that…”
Had Colonel Sheppard wanted him to stay?
Well, probably not, but now Rodney wanted to stay. He’d berated, belittled and now felt much more comfortable and there was a tiny little part of Rodney that really wanted Sheppard to have known that bringing down a fellow scientist was the key to putting him at ease.
Colonel Sheppard was dancing again and Rodney wanted to turn away and not look. He didn’t want to look at those hips and those arms, that ass or that chest sitting snugly beneath a too small t-shirt. It was bad enough that he had to look at those things in a meeting or passing in a hallway, but having to look at them while they gyrated to music that could only be described as sexual was even worse than having to look at them on a mission – poised, firm, tight and ready.
Rodney needed to turn away. He had to or he would be doomed to another night of wet dreams and sticky sheets.
“Doctor McKay!”
Rodney’s eyes widened as fear settled in his gut.
“Doctor McKay!”
“Oh, please, no. Not now. Don’t let this be happening.” Some choices in life were hard, excruciating even, and this was one of those choices. He could turn around and talk to Kavanagh and face whatever complaint/theory/coup the annoying man had come up with now, or he could do the unspeakable.
He could dance.
It was a horrifying thought. Rodney hadn’t danced in ten years and even then it had been a waltz and his dancing partner had ended up in ER. Poor Grandma.
“Doctor McKay!”
Rodney made his choice. He bounded away, his finger coming up to point in the air as if someone else had caught his attention. Kavanagh trailed him to the edge of the dance floor and then, as predicted, came no further.
The dance floor wasn’t overly crowded, which was good for Rodney’s claustrophobia, and there were parts that were bare and deserted. He considered dancing there for a while on his own, but the shame of solo dancing was just too much to bear so he quickly slotted himself into a small space between Elizabeth and Teyla – least likely to laugh and humiliate; that was the logic.
But dancing, that wasn’t logical at all – at least not the way these people were doing it. Teyla was perhaps the exception. She swayed to the beat and rocked to the bass, her hips swirling and her belly moving like it belonged to a Polynesian princess.
Rodney caught himself staring and turned away, smiling uncomfortably but civilly at Elizabeth. “I, uh, should have those reports on your desk in the morning,” he said.
Elizabeth nodded. “No problem, Rodney. Don’t worry about it.” She danced away and Rodney came face to face with Sheppard.
“So, you made it,” Sheppard said amiably.
Rodney bobbed his head in time to the music instead of nodding. He was fully aware of how much of an idiot he must look. But at least the Colonel wasn’t laughing at him, so that was something.
Sheppard leaned towards him, his mouth – that mouth – just inches away, and shouted. The music was suddenly louder, which probably signalled the dance like a loon portion of the proceedings. “What made you change your mind?”
A guilty look crossed Rodney’s face. He tilted his head to indicate that Colonel Sheppard should look behind him and said, “I had to escape my terrible fate.”
Colonel Sheppard looked up, obviously spotted Kavanagh and laughed. “Now there is a fate worse than dancing.”
“Exactly my point.” Rodney was suddenly aware that dancing required doing something with one’s arms, but he couldn’t figure out what that was. He moved them, flopped them, gave them a shake, flailed them slightly and completely missed whatever Colonel Sheppard said next. “What?” he asked.
Sheppard rolled his eyes and grabbed Rodney’s arm, his finger’s twitching against Rodney’s bare skin as static sparked between then. He inclined his head and pulled, and Rodney gladly followed him off the dance floor and down one of five hallways that led from the newly appointed ‘Party Room’.
“I thought you wanted me to dance,” Rodney pointed out.
“I did and I do. But Kavanagh was hovering around the outskirts; he’d have got to you eventually if we hadn’t made a break for it. And besides, you looked like you were in pain.”
Rodney gave Sheppard his most unamused expression. “And thank you for that.”
“Welcome.” Sheppard led them both to a door Rodney wasn’t familiar with. He touched the control panel and the door slid open to reveal one of Atlantis’ many balconies.
Ah, that was why he didn’t recognise it, Rodney thought. It was one of those pointless doors that didn’t actually go anywhere. Rodney had recently shifted quarters to one with a balcony and that was quite enough.
“Anyway,” Sheppard continued, “I needed a break; it’s hot in there.” And by the looks of things, he wasn’t lying.
Rodney couldn’t help but notice the beads of sweat on Colonel Sheppard’s forehead or the way his t-shirt clung to him even more than it normally did.
Sheppard smiled at him and turned to lean over the railings. Rodney dithered for just a moment before he moved to take up the same pose.
“I wonder what else we’ll find,” Sheppard said, and Rodney was struck by the wistfulness of his voice.
“Lots more stars and a stunning variety of more stars.” Rodney laced his tone with enough sarcasm to prompt the desired reaction of an eye-roll and a half-amused smile.
“Ha, ha. I actually meant here.”
“Oh, I see. Well then, I assume there are lots of fish and a stunning variety of…oh, let me see, more fish.”
“Here, in the city.” Sheppard turned around and leaned back, his elbows now resting on the railing just an inch away from Rodney’s forearms.
“I have no idea.” Well shit, now Sheppard’s elbows were distracting him. How did he keep them so smooth?! “I, uh…can’t wait to find out, though.” He forgot about the elbows for a moment as excitement filled him. They’d barely explored a quarter of the city so far; there was so much more to see; there was so much more to discover.
“I’ve gotta admit,” Sheppard grinned and caught Rodney’s gaze, “it is exciting.”
Rodney grinned back and turned, one hand left on the railing and the other now gesturing wildly as that familiar feeling of exhilaration and anticipation filled him further. “Can you even imagine what we might find?”
“Nope,” Sheppard said cheerfully. “That’s what makes it so exciting. We could find anything. We could find the cure for cancer or…or those stunners like they have in Star Trek!”
“Or Lightsabers,” Rodney added gleefully.
“There might be more people frozen in stasis, or a whole lab full of nearly completed Atlantean inventions.”
Rodney’s eyes lit up at that. “We really must organise another expedition, Colonel.”
John nodded. “Definitely. We’ve been spending a lot of time off-world, I guess.”
Rodney nodded with him; he was plainly aware of how often they went off-world and understood the reasons why. Gathering allies, support and intelligence was the top priority at the moment if they were to survive the Wraith.
It was easy to forget why they were really here – to learn, to discover, to find.
They were both quiet for the moment and Rodney was pleased to note that the heavy balcony doors and the wind breezing throughout the city effectively drowned out the irritating thump, thump, get down with your bad self, thump of the music.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Sheppard suddenly asked, his voice startling Rodney from his thoughts.
“Well, tomorrow is Sunday so…I’ll probably be doing the exact same thing I do everyday. Work, research and saving everybody’s collective asses. You?”
“Super Mario Brothers.”
“Ah, good luck with that, then.” He cast Sheppard a suspicious glance, suspecting he wasn’t entirely lying.
“Unless…” Colonel Sheppard paused there deliberately, Rodney guessed, and shifted his position against the rail so that he and Rodney were facing each other.
“Unless what?” Rodney asked.
“Unless you’re up for a hike out into the city. Not too far out, but maybe far enough to find something new. What do you think?”
Rodney’s heart was beating a little faster and butterflies were gently flapping around in his stomach. “Well, it is a little short notice to assemble a team, but I’m sure-”
“Just us,” Sheppard cut in. “No team. Call it down time. I’m pretty sure you deserve a break and I know I’m sick of Mario and his stupid plumbing, pardon the phrasing.”
“You and me?” Rodney asked - just to make sure that he’d not lost one of his ears to compensate for the third nostril. “Just the two of us?”
“Yep. You and me.”
Rodney tried to swallow as quietly as possible, but he was still reasonably sure he’d just made the sound of a sinking canoe. “Together?” And was Colonel Sheppard standing closer now?
It was definitely one of those surreal moments, Rodney decided, where one had to be very careful what one did next. It wasn’t unusual for Sheppard and himself to undertake a task or a mini-adventure by themselves, but there was something not-so-subtly different about this.
Perhaps it was the way Sheppard was looking down at him, his eyes wide, sparkling and honest. Or maybe it was the way Sheppard was easing closer still and breathing a little harder. Perhaps it was the way their legs were touching now or maybe it was the hand that was on his shoulder and slipping down his arm. It was even possible that it was Sheppard’s other arm sliding around his waist and pulling them flush together, making Rodney wish away the rest of the Atlantis expedition.
Or maybe it was the way Colonel Sheppard tasted or the way his lips felt as soft as they looked. Perhaps it was his tongue, which was as clever as Rodney had always thought it would be.
Rodney held on as everything threatened to tilt. He was kissing the Colonel and, wow, this was the best birthday ever. And it wasn’t even his birthday.
Sheppard’s hand reached up to cup his face and Rodney was pretty sure this was what it felt like to be an ice cream. He was melting yet, god, he wanted, needed more of that mouth, needed to be licked inside and out.
Sheppard began to pull back, but Rodney held on; he wasn’t ready to let go just yet. He was an explorer and, damn it, he intended to explore and investigate as much as possible. He felt Sheppard smile against him and then that mouth was gone. Rodney was confused for the whole second it took for it to reappear on his neck.
Sheppard whispered something, but Rodney wasn’t sure what it was. He hoped it was something along the lines of ‘I want you now’ or ‘Fuck me, Rodney. I want you to fuck me hard’. But knowing his luck, Rodney thought, it was probably more likely to be something along the lines of ‘Did you know the mess hall is gonna serve Athosian goat tomorrow?’
Rodney touched and stroked Sheppard’s arms, chest and shoulders. He lightly brushed a stubbled cheek and deftly avoided the hair. Sheppard’s lips were right there again and Rodney kissed them and smiled when they kissed him back.
They eventually parted, foreheads together and hands still on their own expedition. “We leave at six sharp. I’ll come and get you. Don’t oversleep,” Sheppard said.
Rodney was still grinning like a loon and Sheppard smiled back and kissed him one more time – slow and patient, light and careful.
“John,” Rodney breathed when they parted again.
John walked backwards until he struck the door, his arm automatically coming up to hit the control panel. He looked content. “Happy birthday to me.”
When the door had closed and John had gone, Rodney turned back to the sea and tried not to keel over.
Definitely the best birthday ever.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 09:03 pm (UTC)..and I'll even forgive the Abba.
...and what an ice cream!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 09:08 pm (UTC)..and I'll even forgive the Abba.
~blush~ I just happened to be listening to it when I posted. It was an accident, honest ;o)
~licks the bois~
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 10:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 10:10 pm (UTC)(and I think the ABBA fit in just fine!)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 10:12 pm (UTC)(and not helped I was reading the kiss bit at the same type point in the lake house)
*schniff* be-u-tiful
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 10:34 pm (UTC)I absolutely adore it!
I laughed at loud at the third nostril and the rest was just so...well written, and sweet.
:)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 10:35 pm (UTC)I love this!! It fills me with glee. I could really hear them saying the words and picturing Rodney "dancing" is going to keep me giggling for sometime. Yay you!!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-16 11:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 01:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 03:14 am (UTC)John walked backwards until he struck the door, his arm automatically coming up to hit the control panel. He looked content. “Happy birthday to me.”
Seriously, this was awesome, and it's going in my memories!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 05:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 01:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:11 pm (UTC)I'll have to work on that excursion!fic ;o)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:12 pm (UTC)(and I think the ABBA fit in just fine!)
Hee! I was definitely in an Abba mood last night ~blush~
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:15 pm (UTC)Hee! Some people have a sixth sense; Rodney has a third nostril :oD
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:20 pm (UTC)Ah, lemme go look...unless you can remeber where they are. ~g~
Thanks so much! Poor Rodney - I always have trouble figuring out what to do with my arms, too. :oD
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:22 pm (UTC)Now I wanna lick icecream!Rodney.
Ohmygodmetoo. ~g~
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:25 pm (UTC)I do love sweet stories; I get a real kick out of them.
Thanks for commenting!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 04:27 pm (UTC)I love that John says "Happy birthday to me," on his way back out.
In my head, I couldn't decide at first if John said that because of the kiss or because Rodney called him John. In the end I settled with both ;o)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 05:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 06:42 pm (UTC)Very nice story. I wonder if John invited Kavenaugh just to force Rodney to dance? He is sneaky.
Very nice, I loved it.
Happy birthday, indeed!
By the by, know where I can get any good McShep icons?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-17 09:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-18 03:29 pm (UTC)I wonder if John invited Kavenaugh just to force Rodney to dance? He is sneaky.
Hee! It wouldn't surprise me. Sneaky indeed. ;o)
The best places for McShep icons are
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-18 03:30 pm (UTC)Happy birthday to all of us *g*
Yes indeed! Hee! :oD
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-18 03:52 pm (UTC)Thank you!
I've been searching with no luck. *sighs*
I heart sneaky John.
Gives me and idea...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-18 08:17 pm (UTC)Have a peak at this:
http://community.livejournal.com/newbieguide/9140.html
That's all SGA coms on LJ. some are a little out of date, but most are still current. Very hand. Check out the links down the side of my LJ, too; lots of SGA stuff ;o)
Gives me and idea...
Ooooh, sounds like someone has a plan!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-24 05:14 pm (UTC)That was a lovely, wonderful and sweet story that made me smile. Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-25 02:58 pm (UTC)