Challenge #74 fic: Instead of Gifts
Title: Instead of Gifts
Author: velocitygrass
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Content notes: ( skip) None that I'm aware of
Spoilers: Through season 5
Word count: 1333
Summary: John knew that Rodney had forgotten his birthday, but he didn't mind.
Instead of Gifts
John knew that Rodney had forgotten his birthday, but he didn't mind.
Ronon had given him something that was supposed to be a surfboard. It was a bit wider than a normal one, with some additional pieces to it, but Ronon assured him it would be a perfect ride on the fantastic waves in Terona, where he'd gotten it. John couldn't wait to try it.
Teyla had given him his own set of bantos rods. They had several engravings, and Teyla explained what each of them meant. He was hardly able to look at her after they'd moved from "friend" and "brave" to "hero". I was a very touching present, and John had already promised Teyla he'd put them to good use.
Woolsey had given him a box of the really good cigars with a bottle of even better red wine. John was saving them up for the right occasion.
Lorne had given him a whole stack of mission reports, neatly summarized and ready for signing.
All in all, it was probably the best birthday he'd had since he was a kid.
For dinner, John picked up a distracted Rodney from his lab. He probably wouldn't have come along if his stomach hadn't growled in response to John asking if he was hungry.
Teyla and Ronon kept giving Rodney pointed looks, but he just babbled about his latest project, which preoccupied his mind. John only smiled at him.
The thing was, he didn't need Rodney to do anything special for him today.
As John went back to his quarters-alone-he realized that he wasn't even a bit upset that Rodney was going to work through the night and maybe not even stumble into bed with John when he finally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.
The fact alone that there was the possibility of it happening was more than John could ever have hoped for. That Rodney was with him was the greatest gift he could imagine and he wouldn't need any others from him for birthdays, Christmas or any other occasions for the rest of his life.
So John decided to go to bed early and settled in with a book that his brother had sent him for his birthday.
He was beginning to feel sleepy when suddenly his door chimed and a moment later Rodney came in, slightly out of breath and looking nervous. John wondered who had given him a not so subtle hint.
Rodney didn't seem to know how to break the obvious news that he'd forgotten John's birthday, so John decided to let him off the hook. "It's okay," he said, smiling at Rodney.
Rodney made an unhappy face. "It's not that I have forgotten. I've started working on a little puddlejumper experiment, but then the whole thing on the west pier happened, and when we solved that, Zelenka pointed out that now might be the time to look into automated diagnostics, and after what had happened, I couldn't really say no."
"It really is okay," John said again. "But now that you're here, how about joining me in bed?" He'd love to end this day in Rodney's arms.
"Uhm," Rodney said, deer in headlight look on his face.
John sighed. "Go back and finish," he said, knowing that Rodney wanted to get this done as soon as possible. "Just don't overwork yourself," he added. Then, more hopefully, he asked, "Lunch tomorrow?"
Rodney blinked and stared at him. "What have I done to deserve you?"
John's breath caught, and a smile tugged on his lips. It wasn't just the words. It was the way Rodney looked at him. As if he couldn't believe how lucky he'd gotten. John was glad he wasn't alone in feeling that way. He grinned. "Whatever it was, it must have been good," he drawled.
Rodney just kept looking at him.
"Go," John said. "You've got this project to finish, so that you can come to bed early again at some point."
Rodney nodded. "Right," he said absent-mindedly, but he still didn't move. When he did, it wasn't towards the door. He was walking to the side of the bed and knelt down.
"Hey, no," John protested. "It's not that I don't appreciate a quick thank you blow job, but you don't have to get on your knees." John parted his legs invitingly. Rodney had gotten very good at sucking cock, but he wouldn't stop complaining about his knees so they'd quickly stopped doing it that way.
"What?" Rodney asked, confused. "No, it's not- Well, I can do that if you want, but that's not... This is not exactly a birthday present, I just..." he looked up at John, still from his kneeling position. "Will you marry me?"
Okay, that was really unexpected.
The shock must have shown on John's face because Rodney immediately started rambling. "I know we can't really do it right now, what with not even being out and the team and fraternization rules. I should probably meet your brother first, and you know Jeannie, but we should still officially- And we aren't even together all that long, so I could understand if you wanted to wait even if we didn't have to, but I wanted to-"
"Yes," John said. There wasn't even a question about it. He hadn't seriously thought about it, even after they'd gotten together, but there'd never been a doubt that the answer would be yes. Actually, it was still a bit hard to believe that they were... engaged now?
"Yes? Oh, thank God," Rodney said, standing back up and sighing in relief. "I wasn't sure there for a moment. I mean, I really hadn't planned this. I've never really given this much thought, but..." He gestured up and down John's body. "And I want us... I want there to be an us for a really long time, like say life. So..."
John nodded. He got it. He really did. "So you still wanna go finish that project?" he asked. Rodney had just proposed to him. That might actually have a shot at rating more important than automated diagnostics.
"Yeah, I... I'm close to finishing the main functionality. After that it's just polishing and testing. Zelenka will be able to do most of that, but..."
"I understand," John said, smiling softly. "But we'll celebrate once you're done?"
"I'm not sure if the diagnostics are something to- Oh, you meant the wedding-engagement thing?" Rodney said.
John laughed. "Yes, I meant the engagement."
Rodney swallowed. "Yeah, we can do that. Actually, I think I might deserve a day off after we're done with this."
"Oh?" John asked, getting a great idea. "Ronon found this awesome beach. He gave me a surfboard for my-"
"You want to celebrate our engagement surfing?" Rodney asked, clearly not on board with the idea. "Where would I be?"
John gave him a look. "Beaches are fun."
"Beaches are full of sand in unnatural places, sharp objects sticking in your feet, strange animals in the water and sun or possibly suns giving you cancer, all of which doesn't happen to be my idea of fun," Rodney said, crossing his arms.
John looked at him, the man he was planning to marry at some point in the future when it was possible. "Why don't you go finish your project first, and then we can argue like a married couple about where we're going to celebrate our engagement?"
Rodney's mouth opened and then closed again. "Fine," he said stubbornly. Then he leaned down to give John a quick kiss and turned around and left.
John picked up his book and put it on the nightstand.
An hour ago, he hadn't even thought that Rodney would remember to congratulate him. Now they were engaged. Not that it meant Rodney hadn't forgotten his birthday. But John really didn't mind. In fact he was already counting on the fact that Rodney was going to forget their wedding anniversaries too.
John was looking forward to it.
Author: velocitygrass
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Content notes: ( skip) None that I'm aware of
Spoilers: Through season 5
Word count: 1333
Summary: John knew that Rodney had forgotten his birthday, but he didn't mind.
Instead of Gifts
John knew that Rodney had forgotten his birthday, but he didn't mind.
Ronon had given him something that was supposed to be a surfboard. It was a bit wider than a normal one, with some additional pieces to it, but Ronon assured him it would be a perfect ride on the fantastic waves in Terona, where he'd gotten it. John couldn't wait to try it.
Teyla had given him his own set of bantos rods. They had several engravings, and Teyla explained what each of them meant. He was hardly able to look at her after they'd moved from "friend" and "brave" to "hero". I was a very touching present, and John had already promised Teyla he'd put them to good use.
Woolsey had given him a box of the really good cigars with a bottle of even better red wine. John was saving them up for the right occasion.
Lorne had given him a whole stack of mission reports, neatly summarized and ready for signing.
All in all, it was probably the best birthday he'd had since he was a kid.
For dinner, John picked up a distracted Rodney from his lab. He probably wouldn't have come along if his stomach hadn't growled in response to John asking if he was hungry.
Teyla and Ronon kept giving Rodney pointed looks, but he just babbled about his latest project, which preoccupied his mind. John only smiled at him.
The thing was, he didn't need Rodney to do anything special for him today.
As John went back to his quarters-alone-he realized that he wasn't even a bit upset that Rodney was going to work through the night and maybe not even stumble into bed with John when he finally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.
The fact alone that there was the possibility of it happening was more than John could ever have hoped for. That Rodney was with him was the greatest gift he could imagine and he wouldn't need any others from him for birthdays, Christmas or any other occasions for the rest of his life.
So John decided to go to bed early and settled in with a book that his brother had sent him for his birthday.
He was beginning to feel sleepy when suddenly his door chimed and a moment later Rodney came in, slightly out of breath and looking nervous. John wondered who had given him a not so subtle hint.
Rodney didn't seem to know how to break the obvious news that he'd forgotten John's birthday, so John decided to let him off the hook. "It's okay," he said, smiling at Rodney.
Rodney made an unhappy face. "It's not that I have forgotten. I've started working on a little puddlejumper experiment, but then the whole thing on the west pier happened, and when we solved that, Zelenka pointed out that now might be the time to look into automated diagnostics, and after what had happened, I couldn't really say no."
"It really is okay," John said again. "But now that you're here, how about joining me in bed?" He'd love to end this day in Rodney's arms.
"Uhm," Rodney said, deer in headlight look on his face.
John sighed. "Go back and finish," he said, knowing that Rodney wanted to get this done as soon as possible. "Just don't overwork yourself," he added. Then, more hopefully, he asked, "Lunch tomorrow?"
Rodney blinked and stared at him. "What have I done to deserve you?"
John's breath caught, and a smile tugged on his lips. It wasn't just the words. It was the way Rodney looked at him. As if he couldn't believe how lucky he'd gotten. John was glad he wasn't alone in feeling that way. He grinned. "Whatever it was, it must have been good," he drawled.
Rodney just kept looking at him.
"Go," John said. "You've got this project to finish, so that you can come to bed early again at some point."
Rodney nodded. "Right," he said absent-mindedly, but he still didn't move. When he did, it wasn't towards the door. He was walking to the side of the bed and knelt down.
"Hey, no," John protested. "It's not that I don't appreciate a quick thank you blow job, but you don't have to get on your knees." John parted his legs invitingly. Rodney had gotten very good at sucking cock, but he wouldn't stop complaining about his knees so they'd quickly stopped doing it that way.
"What?" Rodney asked, confused. "No, it's not- Well, I can do that if you want, but that's not... This is not exactly a birthday present, I just..." he looked up at John, still from his kneeling position. "Will you marry me?"
Okay, that was really unexpected.
The shock must have shown on John's face because Rodney immediately started rambling. "I know we can't really do it right now, what with not even being out and the team and fraternization rules. I should probably meet your brother first, and you know Jeannie, but we should still officially- And we aren't even together all that long, so I could understand if you wanted to wait even if we didn't have to, but I wanted to-"
"Yes," John said. There wasn't even a question about it. He hadn't seriously thought about it, even after they'd gotten together, but there'd never been a doubt that the answer would be yes. Actually, it was still a bit hard to believe that they were... engaged now?
"Yes? Oh, thank God," Rodney said, standing back up and sighing in relief. "I wasn't sure there for a moment. I mean, I really hadn't planned this. I've never really given this much thought, but..." He gestured up and down John's body. "And I want us... I want there to be an us for a really long time, like say life. So..."
John nodded. He got it. He really did. "So you still wanna go finish that project?" he asked. Rodney had just proposed to him. That might actually have a shot at rating more important than automated diagnostics.
"Yeah, I... I'm close to finishing the main functionality. After that it's just polishing and testing. Zelenka will be able to do most of that, but..."
"I understand," John said, smiling softly. "But we'll celebrate once you're done?"
"I'm not sure if the diagnostics are something to- Oh, you meant the wedding-engagement thing?" Rodney said.
John laughed. "Yes, I meant the engagement."
Rodney swallowed. "Yeah, we can do that. Actually, I think I might deserve a day off after we're done with this."
"Oh?" John asked, getting a great idea. "Ronon found this awesome beach. He gave me a surfboard for my-"
"You want to celebrate our engagement surfing?" Rodney asked, clearly not on board with the idea. "Where would I be?"
John gave him a look. "Beaches are fun."
"Beaches are full of sand in unnatural places, sharp objects sticking in your feet, strange animals in the water and sun or possibly suns giving you cancer, all of which doesn't happen to be my idea of fun," Rodney said, crossing his arms.
John looked at him, the man he was planning to marry at some point in the future when it was possible. "Why don't you go finish your project first, and then we can argue like a married couple about where we're going to celebrate our engagement?"
Rodney's mouth opened and then closed again. "Fine," he said stubbornly. Then he leaned down to give John a quick kiss and turned around and left.
John picked up his book and put it on the nightstand.
An hour ago, he hadn't even thought that Rodney would remember to congratulate him. Now they were engaged. Not that it meant Rodney hadn't forgotten his birthday. But John really didn't mind. In fact he was already counting on the fact that Rodney was going to forget their wedding anniversaries too.
John was looking forward to it.