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sga_saturdayTitle: Stepping Through
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
esteefee
Pairing: John/Rodney
Rating: G
Categories: ER, DADT repeal
Words: 709
Warnings: none
Summary: John sleeps over.
Stepping Through
By esteefee
Rodney's mind was a highly trained tool of incalculable processing power; only, perhaps, not so much just upon waking, which was why it took him an inordinate amount of time to realize, blinking his eyes and yawning into his bedcovers, that something fundamental was different.
Specifically, the dark-haired, fuzzy lump beside him was John. John was still here.
Rodney blinked some more; the lack of coffee made data retrieval a little problematic, but after a moment the previous day's events came back to him, and he remembered the morning's data burst and the surprise announcement that wasn't very much of one, but still heralded a change in United States military regulations. A series of tedious, top level staff meetings ensued, and then the drafting of Atlantis-wide announcements, followed by more staff meetings—all banal but utterly necessary—under Woolsey's careful eye and Sheppard's controlled expression.
There had been zero time at all for Rodney to consider how the change would affect him personally. It was bureaucracy, paperwork, plain and simple, too long in coming, and anyway, he'd long since resigned himself to never having what other people had, hadn't he?
And yet here John was, lying beside him, dark brown tufts of hair peeking above Rodney's comforter. John had spent the night instead of giving Rodney a rueful kiss goodbye and using the life signs detector by the door, then taking the next available opportunity to skulk out like a criminal. A criminal he most assuredly was not.
A snuffling sound came from beneath the comforter, and then John's arms stretched out above his head and his face appeared, endearingly bleary-eyed before he rubbed the heels of his hands over them and gave Rodney a surprisingly sharp look, keen and a little bit wary.
"Hey," John said.
"Hey, um. Hi."
John nodded, as if satisfied with something, and then sat up and gave Rodney a quick, glancing kiss, somewhat abashed, one hand curving over Rodney's shoulder.
"Sorry," John said.
"What? Why are you—?"
John ducked his head and shrugged, then slid out the other side of the bed and padded off to the bathroom, leaving Rodney's question unanswered.
Evidence said whatever Sheppard felt guilty over, it was most likely either inconsequential, or world-shattering and entirely not his fault. On the rare occasions when Sheppard really did screw up badly, he usually didn't bother apologizing and tried to make amends in other ways.
So, Rodney was going with: something inconsequential. John had spent the night, which meant extricating himself without being seen would take trickier timing than usual—
Hang on just a second. There was no reason not to be seen. They could both just show themselves walking out together. Together. That, perhaps, was even John's intent.
Not so inconsequential after all.
Rodney got up and barged into the bathroom, where John had apparently finished his business and was occupied washing his face.
After taking a much-needed piss, Rodney joined him at the sink and nudged John aside to wash his hands.
"So." Rodney grabbed up his toothbrush, and his next words were a little garbled. "Are you certain about this?" He peered at John in the mirror.
John's shoulders relaxed, and he smiled a little. "Yeah. I mean we don't have to make a big deal or anything, but yeah. You?"
"I'm a little worried about your career—"
John let out a snort.
"—But if you don't mind, then I don't." Rodney spat and rinsed, then leaned a hip against the sink.
John swiped a thumb over Rodney's chin, that same smile on his face. Then he bent his head for a kiss. He tasted like Rodney's toothpaste and like morning. Rodney had never tasted John like this before.
"C'mon," John said. "Let's get some breakfast."
So they got dressed, pants and boots, and then paused at the door. Rodney looked over at the LSD and then at John's face. John wasn't looking at the LSD; he was staring at the doorway, head set back on his shoulders as if gearing up for a mission. On impulse, Rodney moved closer until they were elbow-to-elbow, hip-to-hip.
John cocked him a grin and swiped a hand over the crystal.
They stepped through the doors.
End.
Author:
esteefeePairing: John/Rodney
Rating: G
Categories: ER, DADT repeal
Words: 709
Warnings: none
Summary: John sleeps over.
Stepping Through
By esteefee
Rodney's mind was a highly trained tool of incalculable processing power; only, perhaps, not so much just upon waking, which was why it took him an inordinate amount of time to realize, blinking his eyes and yawning into his bedcovers, that something fundamental was different.
Specifically, the dark-haired, fuzzy lump beside him was John. John was still here.
Rodney blinked some more; the lack of coffee made data retrieval a little problematic, but after a moment the previous day's events came back to him, and he remembered the morning's data burst and the surprise announcement that wasn't very much of one, but still heralded a change in United States military regulations. A series of tedious, top level staff meetings ensued, and then the drafting of Atlantis-wide announcements, followed by more staff meetings—all banal but utterly necessary—under Woolsey's careful eye and Sheppard's controlled expression.
There had been zero time at all for Rodney to consider how the change would affect him personally. It was bureaucracy, paperwork, plain and simple, too long in coming, and anyway, he'd long since resigned himself to never having what other people had, hadn't he?
And yet here John was, lying beside him, dark brown tufts of hair peeking above Rodney's comforter. John had spent the night instead of giving Rodney a rueful kiss goodbye and using the life signs detector by the door, then taking the next available opportunity to skulk out like a criminal. A criminal he most assuredly was not.
A snuffling sound came from beneath the comforter, and then John's arms stretched out above his head and his face appeared, endearingly bleary-eyed before he rubbed the heels of his hands over them and gave Rodney a surprisingly sharp look, keen and a little bit wary.
"Hey," John said.
"Hey, um. Hi."
John nodded, as if satisfied with something, and then sat up and gave Rodney a quick, glancing kiss, somewhat abashed, one hand curving over Rodney's shoulder.
"Sorry," John said.
"What? Why are you—?"
John ducked his head and shrugged, then slid out the other side of the bed and padded off to the bathroom, leaving Rodney's question unanswered.
Evidence said whatever Sheppard felt guilty over, it was most likely either inconsequential, or world-shattering and entirely not his fault. On the rare occasions when Sheppard really did screw up badly, he usually didn't bother apologizing and tried to make amends in other ways.
So, Rodney was going with: something inconsequential. John had spent the night, which meant extricating himself without being seen would take trickier timing than usual—
Hang on just a second. There was no reason not to be seen. They could both just show themselves walking out together. Together. That, perhaps, was even John's intent.
Not so inconsequential after all.
Rodney got up and barged into the bathroom, where John had apparently finished his business and was occupied washing his face.
After taking a much-needed piss, Rodney joined him at the sink and nudged John aside to wash his hands.
"So." Rodney grabbed up his toothbrush, and his next words were a little garbled. "Are you certain about this?" He peered at John in the mirror.
John's shoulders relaxed, and he smiled a little. "Yeah. I mean we don't have to make a big deal or anything, but yeah. You?"
"I'm a little worried about your career—"
John let out a snort.
"—But if you don't mind, then I don't." Rodney spat and rinsed, then leaned a hip against the sink.
John swiped a thumb over Rodney's chin, that same smile on his face. Then he bent his head for a kiss. He tasted like Rodney's toothpaste and like morning. Rodney had never tasted John like this before.
"C'mon," John said. "Let's get some breakfast."
So they got dressed, pants and boots, and then paused at the door. Rodney looked over at the LSD and then at John's face. John wasn't looking at the LSD; he was staring at the doorway, head set back on his shoulders as if gearing up for a mission. On impulse, Rodney moved closer until they were elbow-to-elbow, hip-to-hip.
John cocked him a grin and swiped a hand over the crystal.
They stepped through the doors.
End.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 12:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 01:07 am (UTC)I also loved the observation that John was either worrying about something inconsequential or something earth-shattering that wasn't his fault. John Sheppard in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 01:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 03:05 am (UTC)I love that bit!
no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 05:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 03:01 am (UTC)Stepping Through fic
Date: 2013-12-02 02:42 pm (UTC)Re: Stepping Through fic
Date: 2013-12-02 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-03 09:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-03 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 09:17 am (UTC)I love how John doesn't bother with the LSD anymore but just braces himself for going through with this (and through the door ;-).
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 07:45 pm (UTC)and I'm not sure: this was John's career, so I imagine they had to be circumspect, regardless of what fanon wants to believe. :) DADT was not permission to be careless; any real evidence could have been used against him (and in fact was against countless people in service before the repeal.)
no subject
Date: 2013-12-06 07:19 am (UTC)Oh, I'm aware of that and hadn't the intent to make light of the situation of real people.
Given how much time canon indicates they spend together and also sometimes at odd times (playing chess, playing "ancient sims" for years before it turned out to be real, racing play cars at night, not to mention the fact that Rodney sometimes has a tendency to go to John, disregarding of what time it is, to talk with him when he runs into difficult situations - McKay and Mrs. Miller, when he thinks his sister likes Rod more, the whole The Shrine ep etc) - I actually think that somebody passing Rodney's door and seeing the two of them coming out of Rodney's quarters early in the morning, fully clothed and perhaps even talking, would probably react way less surprised than they fear.
The reaction would probably be way more surprised and suspicious if they had made it a point in the past to *not* be seen spending a fair amount of free time together. As it is, the two of them coming out of Rodney's quarters alone isn't all that suspicious (IMHO, of course), just the time is somewhat odd. But given the circumstances of living in Atlantis (and therefore having to deal with all kinds of weirdness happening at random times plus, it's always those two who are involved in trying to solve the problem) I think the reaction of a random person seeing them would be less "Oh, they probably had sex and that's why they come out of McKays quarters this early in the morning" and possibly more like "OMG, what weird sh... is about to happen *now* that requires the military commander and the head of science confering already this early in the morning. Must be bad if we haven't been informed publicly yet. Hopefully it's something we'll survive and preferably doesn't interfer with my plans for the afternoon."
I guess real suspicion would come if they would be observed multiple times without any public weird/dangerous/interesting situation happening afterwards. That would surely raise the question of what's up with Sheppard coming out of McKays quarters early in the morning for five times in the last two weeks when nothing is happening afterwards that would have required an early meeting.
And I just noticed that I actually have *not* told you how much I like the story. Bad me. *rolls eyes at herself* The mental picture of John bracing himself to go through that door *without* checking the LSD first packs a real punch. It's a big thing, a big change, that requires a lot of courage because it's not something he does once and then it's done and over but it's something that changes things in a lasting way. With that decision he starts something he (they) have to face and the consequences and happenings resulting from that will be a wild mix of positive and negative. It's risky but he apparently considers it worthy to risk it.
:-)
no subject
Date: 2013-12-06 08:39 am (UTC)I have slash goggles as much as the next fangirl, but I'm perfectly capable of taking them off and seeing clearly: there is nothing of their behavior in canon that could be misconstrued per regs. If there were, it would be a much different show. :)))