TEAM HOME: Through the grapevine, "Miscommunications"
Title: Miscommunications
Author: fiareynne & secondalto
Team: Home
Prompt: Through the grapevine
Pairing(s): McKay/Sheppard
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Rumors often start with a nugget of truth.
Once you've read the story, please take a moment to vote in the poll below. Ratings go from 1 (low) to 9 (high), so all you need to do is enter a single number in that range into each text entry box. You'll be able to see the Prompt and Team (Genre) information in the header above.
More details about the voting procedure can be found here.
**
It started, as many rumors do, with a nugget of truth.
Lieutenant Parker, while processing the changes to the city's living arrangements, noticed that the room currently allotted to Colonel Sheppard was due to be vacated in a few weeks. He told Captain Alvarez, who told Dr. Kingsmith, who told all the other anthropologists, who told... well, pretty much everyone else on the science team was talking about it before the day was over. It was of particular interest to them, because if Colonel Sheppard wasn't around to keep Dr. McKay in line, all their lives were about to get a lot more... interesting. In the Joss Whedon sense of the word.
Rodney wasn't sure who he heard it from but he was in the lab when he did. He was busy arguing with Zelenka over calculations for maximizing the ZPM output when he heard the words "Sheppard" and "retiring" in the same sentence. The sharpie jerked on the board and Zelenka said something under his breath that got Rodney's attention back to the formula in front of them. They argued some more, but Rodney's heart wasn't in it and he finally excused himself and headed straight for John's quarters
"Tell me it isn't true! You can't actually be thinking about doing it, not without telling me first!"
John slowly looked up from War and Peace to gaze at Rodney in all his indignant glory. Rodney had simply walked into his quarters, hands flailing, cheeks flushed and eyes wide. He was currently pacing at the end of John's bed.
"Rodney," he said calmly.
Rodney stopped long enough to look at John. "Yes?"
"I have no idea what you're going on about. Care to enlighten me?"
"You're leaving!" Rodney said, resuming his pacing. "You're retiring, going back to Earth. And without so much as a goodbye, Rodney, thanks for all the great sex."
"Well that's news to me."
"Huh?"
"I'm not going anywhere, idiot," John said. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Where'd you hear that I was leaving?"
Rodney stopped again and mumbled, "Around."
"You were listening to the people in the lab gossiping again, weren't you?"
"Maybe."
John patted the space beside him. Rodney sulkily sat, eyes downcast. John debated wrapping an arm around Rodney but settled for a hand on his knee.
"I'd never go anywhere without telling you first. You know that."
"Well they had to get it from somewhere," Rodney pointed out. "Why would the entire science team suddenly get the false impression that you were retiring, if you're not?"
John frowned and stared at his hand where it rested on Rodney's leg. There was only one reason he could think of, and he'd been waiting for a good time to feel Rodney out about it, rather than spring it on him. Rodney tended to not react well to surprises. Case in point. "I was going to say something eventually. I was waiting for the right time."
"Oh, god. You are retiring," Rodney said, pulling away with a hurt look on his face.
"I'm not retiring," John sighed, exasperated. "I'm just moving."
"To Earth!" Rodney accused.
"To a bigger room!" John countered. "And I was going to ask you to move in with me!"
"See, this is exactly what's wrong with you decisive, controlling military types. You never bother thinking about how the things you do will affect the people who--" Rodney began. He froze, staring at John with his mouth open in shock. "What?"
"I was going to ask you to move in with me," John repeated, softer, head hung low. "I even pulled a few strings and special-ordered a mattress, on the off-chance that you decided to be agreeable for once in your life."
"Oh," Rodney said. "Really? I, uh, that's..."
John laughed. "If I knew that's all it would take to make you speechless..."
Rodney scowled. "I am not speechless. It's just that there are times when... you want to say the right thing and not screw things up. And you may have noticed I have a nasty habit of talking myself out of opportunities for happiness."
John pulled Rodney back over to sit beside him and bumped their shoulders together. "Could you really have been happy with Katie?"
"Maybe," Rodney replied. Then, "Okay, probably not, but the point stands that I have a tendency to open my mouth and insert the proverbial foot, and it usually ends up with me, alone."
"If you don't want to move in with me, that's okay, Rodney," John said, even though his stomach was doing flips. "It's just living space. There's more to this... thing between us than who sleeps where."
"So we're actually saying there's a thing?" Rodney asked. "I mean, I always knew there was a thing but I didn't know that you knew and I wasn't sure how to ask and well your government being what it is knew I couldn't ask in front of everyone."
"You could've asked in private. Whatever it is, it's ours, and last time I checked, that included you." John shook his head. "So, anyway, I got this ridiculous romantic notion that it might be nice to not have to rouse myself -- or worse, you -- from a post-coital coma to get dressed and go back to bed someplace else."
"Be careful," Rodney warned. "You're getting very close to admission of emotions."
"Because I'm lazy and even though I personally think nobody should have to deal with you when you first wake up, I'm willing to bite the bullet?"
"For the good of the expedition."
"For the good of the expedition. And you. And me."
"What size is the mattress?"
John snorted. "Big enough for the both of us and your ego. I measured yours, and it was a full, so I went for a queen. And don't even start with me about that."
Rodney blinked. "You measured my mattress?"
John looked mildly embarrassed. "I kind of thought that extra space to sprawl out might be something of an incentive."
Rodney tried not to twitch. This was serious. "How did you get the room? I mean, yeah making us roomies is a good idea but how did you get Sam to approve it?"
"Technically I was always entitled to bigger quarters," John shrugged. "I just never really had a reason to claim them. And when I did, well..."
"Well?"
"She didn't ask and I didn't tell."
"You know, I finally just got all my pictures and photos looking just right and I really really hate moving and..."
"Rodney, just say yes. We'll get Ronon to help us move."
"Fine, fine, yes," he huffed. "Just don't expect me to let you hog all the space at the head of the bed for Johnny what's his name in black."
"Johnny Cash." John smirked. "I kinda thought I'd put him in the en suite."
"Oh, yes, because he hasn't traumatized enough of my naked time already. Now he can expand his horizons to include my personal time."
John grinned in spite of himself. "We're okay then?"
"Yeah, just... don't keep secrets like that. I..." Rodney frowned and struggled to find the words. "I..."
"Dangerously close to emotions there, buddy."
"Well, we can't all be stoic and repressed," Rodney scowled. "I was-- scared. Atlantis is... but I don't want to be here if you're not."
"It's home," John replied. "And, you know, for what it's worth-- me too."
**
Poll Vote for this story
Author: fiareynne & secondalto
Team: Home
Prompt: Through the grapevine
Pairing(s): McKay/Sheppard
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Rumors often start with a nugget of truth.
Once you've read the story, please take a moment to vote in the poll below. Ratings go from 1 (low) to 9 (high), so all you need to do is enter a single number in that range into each text entry box. You'll be able to see the Prompt and Team (Genre) information in the header above.
More details about the voting procedure can be found here.
**
It started, as many rumors do, with a nugget of truth.
Lieutenant Parker, while processing the changes to the city's living arrangements, noticed that the room currently allotted to Colonel Sheppard was due to be vacated in a few weeks. He told Captain Alvarez, who told Dr. Kingsmith, who told all the other anthropologists, who told... well, pretty much everyone else on the science team was talking about it before the day was over. It was of particular interest to them, because if Colonel Sheppard wasn't around to keep Dr. McKay in line, all their lives were about to get a lot more... interesting. In the Joss Whedon sense of the word.
Rodney wasn't sure who he heard it from but he was in the lab when he did. He was busy arguing with Zelenka over calculations for maximizing the ZPM output when he heard the words "Sheppard" and "retiring" in the same sentence. The sharpie jerked on the board and Zelenka said something under his breath that got Rodney's attention back to the formula in front of them. They argued some more, but Rodney's heart wasn't in it and he finally excused himself and headed straight for John's quarters
"Tell me it isn't true! You can't actually be thinking about doing it, not without telling me first!"
John slowly looked up from War and Peace to gaze at Rodney in all his indignant glory. Rodney had simply walked into his quarters, hands flailing, cheeks flushed and eyes wide. He was currently pacing at the end of John's bed.
"Rodney," he said calmly.
Rodney stopped long enough to look at John. "Yes?"
"I have no idea what you're going on about. Care to enlighten me?"
"You're leaving!" Rodney said, resuming his pacing. "You're retiring, going back to Earth. And without so much as a goodbye, Rodney, thanks for all the great sex."
"Well that's news to me."
"Huh?"
"I'm not going anywhere, idiot," John said. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Where'd you hear that I was leaving?"
Rodney stopped again and mumbled, "Around."
"You were listening to the people in the lab gossiping again, weren't you?"
"Maybe."
John patted the space beside him. Rodney sulkily sat, eyes downcast. John debated wrapping an arm around Rodney but settled for a hand on his knee.
"I'd never go anywhere without telling you first. You know that."
"Well they had to get it from somewhere," Rodney pointed out. "Why would the entire science team suddenly get the false impression that you were retiring, if you're not?"
John frowned and stared at his hand where it rested on Rodney's leg. There was only one reason he could think of, and he'd been waiting for a good time to feel Rodney out about it, rather than spring it on him. Rodney tended to not react well to surprises. Case in point. "I was going to say something eventually. I was waiting for the right time."
"Oh, god. You are retiring," Rodney said, pulling away with a hurt look on his face.
"I'm not retiring," John sighed, exasperated. "I'm just moving."
"To Earth!" Rodney accused.
"To a bigger room!" John countered. "And I was going to ask you to move in with me!"
"See, this is exactly what's wrong with you decisive, controlling military types. You never bother thinking about how the things you do will affect the people who--" Rodney began. He froze, staring at John with his mouth open in shock. "What?"
"I was going to ask you to move in with me," John repeated, softer, head hung low. "I even pulled a few strings and special-ordered a mattress, on the off-chance that you decided to be agreeable for once in your life."
"Oh," Rodney said. "Really? I, uh, that's..."
John laughed. "If I knew that's all it would take to make you speechless..."
Rodney scowled. "I am not speechless. It's just that there are times when... you want to say the right thing and not screw things up. And you may have noticed I have a nasty habit of talking myself out of opportunities for happiness."
John pulled Rodney back over to sit beside him and bumped their shoulders together. "Could you really have been happy with Katie?"
"Maybe," Rodney replied. Then, "Okay, probably not, but the point stands that I have a tendency to open my mouth and insert the proverbial foot, and it usually ends up with me, alone."
"If you don't want to move in with me, that's okay, Rodney," John said, even though his stomach was doing flips. "It's just living space. There's more to this... thing between us than who sleeps where."
"So we're actually saying there's a thing?" Rodney asked. "I mean, I always knew there was a thing but I didn't know that you knew and I wasn't sure how to ask and well your government being what it is knew I couldn't ask in front of everyone."
"You could've asked in private. Whatever it is, it's ours, and last time I checked, that included you." John shook his head. "So, anyway, I got this ridiculous romantic notion that it might be nice to not have to rouse myself -- or worse, you -- from a post-coital coma to get dressed and go back to bed someplace else."
"Be careful," Rodney warned. "You're getting very close to admission of emotions."
"Because I'm lazy and even though I personally think nobody should have to deal with you when you first wake up, I'm willing to bite the bullet?"
"For the good of the expedition."
"For the good of the expedition. And you. And me."
"What size is the mattress?"
John snorted. "Big enough for the both of us and your ego. I measured yours, and it was a full, so I went for a queen. And don't even start with me about that."
Rodney blinked. "You measured my mattress?"
John looked mildly embarrassed. "I kind of thought that extra space to sprawl out might be something of an incentive."
Rodney tried not to twitch. This was serious. "How did you get the room? I mean, yeah making us roomies is a good idea but how did you get Sam to approve it?"
"Technically I was always entitled to bigger quarters," John shrugged. "I just never really had a reason to claim them. And when I did, well..."
"Well?"
"She didn't ask and I didn't tell."
"You know, I finally just got all my pictures and photos looking just right and I really really hate moving and..."
"Rodney, just say yes. We'll get Ronon to help us move."
"Fine, fine, yes," he huffed. "Just don't expect me to let you hog all the space at the head of the bed for Johnny what's his name in black."
"Johnny Cash." John smirked. "I kinda thought I'd put him in the en suite."
"Oh, yes, because he hasn't traumatized enough of my naked time already. Now he can expand his horizons to include my personal time."
John grinned in spite of himself. "We're okay then?"
"Yeah, just... don't keep secrets like that. I..." Rodney frowned and struggled to find the words. "I..."
"Dangerously close to emotions there, buddy."
"Well, we can't all be stoic and repressed," Rodney scowled. "I was-- scared. Atlantis is... but I don't want to be here if you're not."
"It's home," John replied. "And, you know, for what it's worth-- me too."
**
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