Fic: Eternally (NC-17)
Title: Eternally
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, Kavanaugh, Weir
Relationships: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Beckett
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Smut, a touch of angst, schmoopy romance
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 54 of the Broken Series
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
They'd already transported before he could even react, but his mind was filling in the gaps. While Dutcher and Santos were still patients of his, he'd seen them often enough with the table full of Marines of a distinctly anti-gay persuasion to draw some rather panicked conclusions. He tried to pull away, but they only tightened their grip.
He had a sudden flash of memory, beaten and bloody, his jaw forced open and sleeping pills...
"Doc! Doc, are you there?" Dutcher was saying.
"Please... please, don't hurt me..."
"We ain't gonna hurt you," Santos answered.
"Hey, it's okay," Dutcher added. "We're not bad guys."
Carson looked at them doubtfully. At the look, Santos's easy grin slipped and his expression changed to one more closely associated with someone who'd just been punched in the gut.
"It's an old Czech tradition to kidnap the bride," Dutcher said, "or so Major Lorne tells us. There wasn't a bride, so we just made do with Dr. Z's new spouse."
"Ma- Major Lorne?" Carson asked.
"Yeah, we've kidnapped you under his orders, which I believe are part of Colonel Sheppard's orders. You didn't really think we were gonna..." Dutcher's voice died.
Santos said something under his breath that Carson thought might be Spanish. "We gotta go, man. Come on."
"You okay, doc?" Dutcher asked.
"I... Aye, I'm fine now. Where are we going?"
"Do you know where your dearly beloved keeps his still?"
Carson grinned. "Yes, but that would be telling."
"Well, we were just wanting to keep it convenient for him to pay off your ransom. Come on."
Dutcher hit the map and Carson felt the odd mental jar of being transported, then the two Marines were hustling him out of the transporter and down the hall. They were stopped in the halls by a patrol.
"Should I ask?" Sgt. Trogdon said.
"Just making it harder for Doc Z to get his husband back," Dutcher answered.
Beside Trogdon, Conwell's eyes got huge. "What do you think you're doing? You can't--"
"Major Lorne's orders," Santos cut in before the man said something unfortunate.
"Oh," Conwell said, still looking nervous.
Trogdon waved them on. "We didn't see you."
A couple minutes later, they arrived at another transporter and took it somewhere else, where they repeated the pattern. More transporters until Carson found himself walking into the cafeteria. He gave the two a surprised look.
"If he uses the life-signs detector, he'll likely ignore people in the cafeteria in favour of other areas," Dutcher explained. "Have a seat, doc."
Santos gave him another hurt look, then turned away.
"Hey, Hoo-boy, what's eating your shorts?" Dutcher asked.
Santos turned back, dark eyes flickering to Carson before looking at Dutcher. "He thought we was gonna hurt him, like we was criminals. I got out of L.A. for this?"
"What, you're accusing the Scotsman of being racist? He thought I was in on it, too."
Santos just glared.
"I'm sorry," Carson said. "I hadn't thought about your... experiences with racial prejudice. I was just panicking."
"Why?" Santos demanded.
Carson considered him for a moment and sighed. "I'm afraid it's your choice of friends, son. I was under the impression you joined them in their disapproval of my relationship with Radek."
The dark eyes flickered to Dutcher. "Told you it was a bad idea to hang with your cousin."
"Hey, don't bring Kelly into this!" Dutcher shot back.
"He's trouble. One of these days they gonna ship his ass back to Earth and we'll be with him, he keeps shooting his mouth off."
"He's got his reasons!"
"His reasons are shit!"
"It's a free country!"
Santos laughed. "It's another galaxy, Dutch."
"Lads," Carson interrupted, "I don't think this is the place."
Both Marines looked sheepish and sat down at the table with him. There was a long, uncomfortable silence, then Santos said, "So... uh... the kilt... is it true what they say?"
***
Rodney snorted when Radek produced a Swiss army knife from his tuxedo pocket and pried open the control panel of the transporter. A few minutes later, a location lit up on the map. Radek turned to them and raised an eyebrow. "So, who is coming?"
When they encountered Trogdon and Conwell claiming to have not seen anything, Radek simply gave them an evil grin and said something about power failures and cold showers. Conwell pointed. "They headed to the transporter down the hall."
It got a little more difficult after that, as Radek had to check rooms and the nearest transporters in all directions, but soon enough they arrived on the cafeteria level.
As he cautiously made his way down the hall, they heard laughter coming from the cafeteria, including Carson's distinctive chuckle.
"... So, then, my sister says, 'You go ask him!' and the next thing we know, Rita's kneeling down in front of him looking up his kilt!"
"Oh, lad, your sister sounds like a wild one."
"Yeah, I miss her. But she's almost through with her degree, so it's worth it."
Radek smiled at John, Rodney, Lorne and Cadman and stepped into the cafeteria. Carson looked up from where he was conversing with the two Marines and smiled. "Oh, there ye are, love. I was beginning to wonder."
Radek grinned. "It wasn't that long."
"Can't have him yet, Doc," the blond-headed Marine said. "You've got to pay up first."
"And what do I owe?" Radek asked.
"Well, since all the security patrols are missing out on the party, I was thinking a bottle of your best hooch... for each of us should do the trick. That's ten bottles."
Radek chuckled and turned to Carson. "Ah, milácku, you are expensive bride."
"It's all those worldly goods I'm thee endowing," Carson answered.
"All right, wait here," Radek instructed the Marines. "I'll return in a moment."
***
When the rest of the wedding party spilled out of the transport outside the gateroom, Radek hit a distant dot on the map and the two grooms disappeared once again.
"What are you doing, love?" Carson asked as Radek pressed him against the wall of the transporter.
"Taking the edge off," Radek answered, pushing Carson's sporran against him suggestively before taking his husband's mouth in a desperate kiss.
"We can't show up at the reception mussed," Carson said when they broke the kiss. Despite his misgivings, his hips had a mind of their own, pushing him against Radek's hand insistently.
"Can't show up hard, either," Radek answered him, then dropped to his knees.
Carson opened his mouth to protest but ended instead with a groan as Radek's hands swept the kilt upwards and his lips closed around Carson's erection. Whatever concerns he'd had about not mussing them fled as he fisted Radek's hair, trying not to pull to the point of pain.
It had been long enough that it didn't take much before Carson found himself spilling into his new husband's greedy mouth, and then he was scrabbling with the fly on Radek's tux pants.
Finally, finally, his hand slipped inside and found Radek hard and hot and just perfect. Radek's forehead thunked down on Carson's shoulder and his hands grasped their broad planes to steady himself, his hips rocking back and forth, fucking Carson's fist. "Bože..." he gasped, then descended into whispered, broken Czech, finally ended by a desperate, "Zlatíčko... teď..."
Carson quickly dropped to his knees and engulfed his husband's erection. "Ano," Radek gasped and throbbed down Carson's throat.
***
"Hey, here's the happy couple now!" Bates announced when they walked in fifteen minutes after the rest of the wedding party.
Carson was blushing slightly, but Radek smiled happily and pulled him forward.
McNab started in on some song as the two walked to the head table. Behind it, hung on the wall was a giant banner featuring the red, blue-clawed lion-rampant of Scotland's coat of arms turned to face the silver, crowned, double-tailed lion rampant from the Czech coat of arms. Images of thistles and linden tree leaves decorated the walls and tables.
The head table was draped with the same plaid as Carson's kilt. On it sat a multilayered cake with recognisable figures of Radek and Carson on it standing in front of a model of the central tower and surrounding spires, lights winking from multiple windows. They carefully set the layer aside. McNab held out his dirk. They took it together and together cut the first slice of cake. They carefully fed each other amidst catcalls, smiling and laughing.
Elizabeth stepped forward and took their cake plate when it was empty and to the startled gasps of the crowd, flung it at their feet, where it broke. Together, they cleaned up the pieces, pausing often for kisses.
Teyla then draped the two of them with a cloth embroidered by an Athosian craftswoman and presented them with a bowl of tuttleroot soup ("Do not worry, I did not prepare it," she whispered as she presented it to them). The two of them fed each other with the single spoon in the bowl.
They followed by sharing champagne and then the tables laden with food-- Scottish, Czech, Athosian, and others-- and drink were uncovered. Champagne, becherovka, whiskey, beer, Athosian ale, and Zelenka's infamous hooch flowed freely. Kolache, tarts, bridies, and knedliky mixed with Athosian sautéed sjewal and daskar biscuits.
Rodney stood, lifting his glass. "In keeping with honouring the happy couple in our own traditions, and being as McKay is Celtic... 'May you have Walls for the wind And a roof for the rain, And drinks bedside the fire, Laughter to cheer you And those you love near you, And all that your heart may desire.'"
People murmured assent and joined the toast.
John stood, then. "I guess it's my turn to offer a toast. At Rodney's and my wedding, Carson and Radek offered blessings from their own cultures. Well, I'm from all over the United States and my heritage is pretty much mutt." There was scattered chuckling. "So, instead, I'm going to borrow from the Apaches because I like the sentiment, even if I don't share in the heritage. 'Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth for the other. Now there is no more loneliness. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May your days together be good and long upon the earth.'"
Drinks were raised and drunk again. They spent an hour just eating and mingling, then a dance floor was cleared.
The first song was Athosian, sung by Teyla to accompaniment by several of her people that were attending. The words were in Ancient. Elizabeth teared up as she listened to Teyla's rich voice fill the room.
"What's she singing?" John whispered, earning an annoyed look from Rodney.
"May your love shine eternal as the stars," Elizabeth translated. "May it cross worlds and bring warmth and light, healing and freedom to many peoples. May it never falter in evil times or be... taken for granted-- not the best translation, but it's hard to convey-- in times of joy." Elizabeth smiled. "Well, that's the chorus, at least."
"'Shine' is the right word," Rodney said, inclining his head to the couple on the dance floor, fitted together perfectly as they moved in each other's arms, an inexpressible joy on their faces.
"Were we that bad?" John asked.
Elizabeth chuckled. "Sometimes you still are."
Food and drink, toasting and dancing, happy words and kisses stolen in moments of pause marked the rest of the evening. Carson introduced them all to Highland reels and Radek to polkas, though everything from waltzes to more modern dances and songs took up much of the evening. Everyone had a good laugh at The Gay Gordon and McNab singing an old song entitled Banais an Dotair or The Doctor's Wedding.
The world got more and more warm and fuzzy and slightly off-kilter as the alcohol flowed. Neither John nor Rodney were big on the whole drunk thing and so paced themselves. They watched as Carson and Radek proceeded to drink pretty much everyone who wasn't pacing themselves under the table.
"I guess it's true what they say about Scotsmen and Eastern Europeans," Rodney said.
"I guess so," John answered. "Another dance?"
Rodney nodded and they went to join Carson and Radek, Lorne and Cadman, Elizabeth and Gilchrist, and Miko and McNab on the dance floor. They enjoyed one last slow dance, then Carson and Radek excused themselves. Those who stayed till the last gathered to throw flower petals, confetti, and an Athosian legume similar to peas ("Flowers are Scottish tradition, peas are Czech tradition," Elizabeth explained) at the departing couple.
Then, those left standing turned and considered the disaster area that was the gateroom. "Well," Elizabeth said, "maintenance staff will take care of most of this tomorrow, or, rather, later today, but we should at least get folks up and home..."
***
"Thanks," Kavanaugh slurred slightly as John tucked Deyn into his bed. The boy had long ago given up the fight against sleep and they'd found him curled up under a corner table, Carson and Radek's Athosian marriage shawl tucked around his shoulders.
"We'll see you tomorrow... not terribly early, though," Rodney said and the two left the scientist sitting next to his son's bed.
Kavanaugh stared down at his son, a look so tender and vulnerable on his face that few on Atlantis would believe him capable of it, then leaned down and brushed dark blond hair from Deyn's forehead. "Goodnight, buddy," he said, then pressed a brief kiss to the boy's head.
He walked unsteadily into his bedroom, sat tiredly on the bed, and set down his digital camera. An image of Nelson Gilchrist standing before a happy couple, leading a nervous man and woman through their vows filled his mind. He reached into the drawer of the bedside table and drew out a box. Inside were a collection of pictures, but lying atop were three rings-- one man's gold band, a woman's engagement ring, and a woman's plain gold band matching the man's.
He picked up the two woman's rings, fingering them as tears slid down his face. "God, Beth," he sobbed as he clutched them to his chest. "I'm so sorry... so sorry I waited so long..."
***
"God, I love you in this," Rodney murmured, hands sliding over John's blue-clad shoulders, down his back to his ass and then forward to grasp narrow hips.
John kissed him quickly, green eyes smiling into blue. "You cut a pretty dashing figure in a tux, too." His lips took Rodney's again. "And I love watching you at the piano-- all that passion. Your piano teacher was an asshole." He slid his hands around Rodney's waist and pulled him closer.
Rodney chuckled, kissing John. "Yeah, but if it hadn't been for that asshole, I wouldn't have met you."
"Mm." They kissed again, then John leaned his forehead on Rodney's. "I guess I'll forgive your Salieri, then."
"Don't know that I'm quite up to Mozart's level," Rodney said, placing one hand on John's face and drawing him into another kiss.
They broke apart and then John kissed the tip of his nose. "You would have been."
***
"Ah, love," Carson sighed, fingers curled in Radek's hair as they kissed. "I think I've missed this as much as the sex." He was glad of their quick encounter earlier or he would have already lost control at the touch of Radek's naked skin against his.
"Ano," Radek answered, hands exploring his husband's skin, rediscovering the warmth and life and responsiveness of it. "So beautiful, my Carson..."
They soaked each other in-- the sight of eyes and mouths and throats and shoulders and chests, arms and legs and even cocks, beautiful in a way they were not in the cold light of aesthetic logic; the touch of hair and hands and mouths and feet and sliding legs and skin; the smell of sweat and soap and the distinctive blend of disinfectant and formaldehyde that hung on Carson compared to the smell of metal and ozone and oil that clung to Radek; the taste of skin and becherovka and whiskey and the strangely sweet tastes of the other's mouth; the sound of breath and beloved words and gasping and two heartbeats beating as one. Their bodies, their voices, their blood, sang with the words, "Yours... yours... yours... always, eternally yours..." as they joined, surrendered to the other.
"So beautiful, my Radek," Carson echoed as he watched his lover, no, his husband move over him. And then Radek threw his head back, let out a long moan, and came, covering Carson's chest with semen, clenching around his husband's erection within him and Carson said, "Ah, love," with wonder in his voice and filled Radek. It was almost gentle. They held each other afterward, murmured words of affection in three languages, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, Kavanaugh, Weir
Relationships: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Beckett
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Smut, a touch of angst, schmoopy romance
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 54 of the Broken Series
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
They'd already transported before he could even react, but his mind was filling in the gaps. While Dutcher and Santos were still patients of his, he'd seen them often enough with the table full of Marines of a distinctly anti-gay persuasion to draw some rather panicked conclusions. He tried to pull away, but they only tightened their grip.
He had a sudden flash of memory, beaten and bloody, his jaw forced open and sleeping pills...
"Doc! Doc, are you there?" Dutcher was saying.
"Please... please, don't hurt me..."
"We ain't gonna hurt you," Santos answered.
"Hey, it's okay," Dutcher added. "We're not bad guys."
Carson looked at them doubtfully. At the look, Santos's easy grin slipped and his expression changed to one more closely associated with someone who'd just been punched in the gut.
"It's an old Czech tradition to kidnap the bride," Dutcher said, "or so Major Lorne tells us. There wasn't a bride, so we just made do with Dr. Z's new spouse."
"Ma- Major Lorne?" Carson asked.
"Yeah, we've kidnapped you under his orders, which I believe are part of Colonel Sheppard's orders. You didn't really think we were gonna..." Dutcher's voice died.
Santos said something under his breath that Carson thought might be Spanish. "We gotta go, man. Come on."
"You okay, doc?" Dutcher asked.
"I... Aye, I'm fine now. Where are we going?"
"Do you know where your dearly beloved keeps his still?"
Carson grinned. "Yes, but that would be telling."
"Well, we were just wanting to keep it convenient for him to pay off your ransom. Come on."
Dutcher hit the map and Carson felt the odd mental jar of being transported, then the two Marines were hustling him out of the transporter and down the hall. They were stopped in the halls by a patrol.
"Should I ask?" Sgt. Trogdon said.
"Just making it harder for Doc Z to get his husband back," Dutcher answered.
Beside Trogdon, Conwell's eyes got huge. "What do you think you're doing? You can't--"
"Major Lorne's orders," Santos cut in before the man said something unfortunate.
"Oh," Conwell said, still looking nervous.
Trogdon waved them on. "We didn't see you."
A couple minutes later, they arrived at another transporter and took it somewhere else, where they repeated the pattern. More transporters until Carson found himself walking into the cafeteria. He gave the two a surprised look.
"If he uses the life-signs detector, he'll likely ignore people in the cafeteria in favour of other areas," Dutcher explained. "Have a seat, doc."
Santos gave him another hurt look, then turned away.
"Hey, Hoo-boy, what's eating your shorts?" Dutcher asked.
Santos turned back, dark eyes flickering to Carson before looking at Dutcher. "He thought we was gonna hurt him, like we was criminals. I got out of L.A. for this?"
"What, you're accusing the Scotsman of being racist? He thought I was in on it, too."
Santos just glared.
"I'm sorry," Carson said. "I hadn't thought about your... experiences with racial prejudice. I was just panicking."
"Why?" Santos demanded.
Carson considered him for a moment and sighed. "I'm afraid it's your choice of friends, son. I was under the impression you joined them in their disapproval of my relationship with Radek."
The dark eyes flickered to Dutcher. "Told you it was a bad idea to hang with your cousin."
"Hey, don't bring Kelly into this!" Dutcher shot back.
"He's trouble. One of these days they gonna ship his ass back to Earth and we'll be with him, he keeps shooting his mouth off."
"He's got his reasons!"
"His reasons are shit!"
"It's a free country!"
Santos laughed. "It's another galaxy, Dutch."
"Lads," Carson interrupted, "I don't think this is the place."
Both Marines looked sheepish and sat down at the table with him. There was a long, uncomfortable silence, then Santos said, "So... uh... the kilt... is it true what they say?"
***
Rodney snorted when Radek produced a Swiss army knife from his tuxedo pocket and pried open the control panel of the transporter. A few minutes later, a location lit up on the map. Radek turned to them and raised an eyebrow. "So, who is coming?"
When they encountered Trogdon and Conwell claiming to have not seen anything, Radek simply gave them an evil grin and said something about power failures and cold showers. Conwell pointed. "They headed to the transporter down the hall."
It got a little more difficult after that, as Radek had to check rooms and the nearest transporters in all directions, but soon enough they arrived on the cafeteria level.
As he cautiously made his way down the hall, they heard laughter coming from the cafeteria, including Carson's distinctive chuckle.
"... So, then, my sister says, 'You go ask him!' and the next thing we know, Rita's kneeling down in front of him looking up his kilt!"
"Oh, lad, your sister sounds like a wild one."
"Yeah, I miss her. But she's almost through with her degree, so it's worth it."
Radek smiled at John, Rodney, Lorne and Cadman and stepped into the cafeteria. Carson looked up from where he was conversing with the two Marines and smiled. "Oh, there ye are, love. I was beginning to wonder."
Radek grinned. "It wasn't that long."
"Can't have him yet, Doc," the blond-headed Marine said. "You've got to pay up first."
"And what do I owe?" Radek asked.
"Well, since all the security patrols are missing out on the party, I was thinking a bottle of your best hooch... for each of us should do the trick. That's ten bottles."
Radek chuckled and turned to Carson. "Ah, milácku, you are expensive bride."
"It's all those worldly goods I'm thee endowing," Carson answered.
"All right, wait here," Radek instructed the Marines. "I'll return in a moment."
***
When the rest of the wedding party spilled out of the transport outside the gateroom, Radek hit a distant dot on the map and the two grooms disappeared once again.
"What are you doing, love?" Carson asked as Radek pressed him against the wall of the transporter.
"Taking the edge off," Radek answered, pushing Carson's sporran against him suggestively before taking his husband's mouth in a desperate kiss.
"We can't show up at the reception mussed," Carson said when they broke the kiss. Despite his misgivings, his hips had a mind of their own, pushing him against Radek's hand insistently.
"Can't show up hard, either," Radek answered him, then dropped to his knees.
Carson opened his mouth to protest but ended instead with a groan as Radek's hands swept the kilt upwards and his lips closed around Carson's erection. Whatever concerns he'd had about not mussing them fled as he fisted Radek's hair, trying not to pull to the point of pain.
It had been long enough that it didn't take much before Carson found himself spilling into his new husband's greedy mouth, and then he was scrabbling with the fly on Radek's tux pants.
Finally, finally, his hand slipped inside and found Radek hard and hot and just perfect. Radek's forehead thunked down on Carson's shoulder and his hands grasped their broad planes to steady himself, his hips rocking back and forth, fucking Carson's fist. "Bože..." he gasped, then descended into whispered, broken Czech, finally ended by a desperate, "Zlatíčko... teď..."
Carson quickly dropped to his knees and engulfed his husband's erection. "Ano," Radek gasped and throbbed down Carson's throat.
***
"Hey, here's the happy couple now!" Bates announced when they walked in fifteen minutes after the rest of the wedding party.
Carson was blushing slightly, but Radek smiled happily and pulled him forward.
McNab started in on some song as the two walked to the head table. Behind it, hung on the wall was a giant banner featuring the red, blue-clawed lion-rampant of Scotland's coat of arms turned to face the silver, crowned, double-tailed lion rampant from the Czech coat of arms. Images of thistles and linden tree leaves decorated the walls and tables.
The head table was draped with the same plaid as Carson's kilt. On it sat a multilayered cake with recognisable figures of Radek and Carson on it standing in front of a model of the central tower and surrounding spires, lights winking from multiple windows. They carefully set the layer aside. McNab held out his dirk. They took it together and together cut the first slice of cake. They carefully fed each other amidst catcalls, smiling and laughing.
Elizabeth stepped forward and took their cake plate when it was empty and to the startled gasps of the crowd, flung it at their feet, where it broke. Together, they cleaned up the pieces, pausing often for kisses.
Teyla then draped the two of them with a cloth embroidered by an Athosian craftswoman and presented them with a bowl of tuttleroot soup ("Do not worry, I did not prepare it," she whispered as she presented it to them). The two of them fed each other with the single spoon in the bowl.
They followed by sharing champagne and then the tables laden with food-- Scottish, Czech, Athosian, and others-- and drink were uncovered. Champagne, becherovka, whiskey, beer, Athosian ale, and Zelenka's infamous hooch flowed freely. Kolache, tarts, bridies, and knedliky mixed with Athosian sautéed sjewal and daskar biscuits.
Rodney stood, lifting his glass. "In keeping with honouring the happy couple in our own traditions, and being as McKay is Celtic... 'May you have Walls for the wind And a roof for the rain, And drinks bedside the fire, Laughter to cheer you And those you love near you, And all that your heart may desire.'"
People murmured assent and joined the toast.
John stood, then. "I guess it's my turn to offer a toast. At Rodney's and my wedding, Carson and Radek offered blessings from their own cultures. Well, I'm from all over the United States and my heritage is pretty much mutt." There was scattered chuckling. "So, instead, I'm going to borrow from the Apaches because I like the sentiment, even if I don't share in the heritage. 'Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth for the other. Now there is no more loneliness. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May your days together be good and long upon the earth.'"
Drinks were raised and drunk again. They spent an hour just eating and mingling, then a dance floor was cleared.
The first song was Athosian, sung by Teyla to accompaniment by several of her people that were attending. The words were in Ancient. Elizabeth teared up as she listened to Teyla's rich voice fill the room.
"What's she singing?" John whispered, earning an annoyed look from Rodney.
"May your love shine eternal as the stars," Elizabeth translated. "May it cross worlds and bring warmth and light, healing and freedom to many peoples. May it never falter in evil times or be... taken for granted-- not the best translation, but it's hard to convey-- in times of joy." Elizabeth smiled. "Well, that's the chorus, at least."
"'Shine' is the right word," Rodney said, inclining his head to the couple on the dance floor, fitted together perfectly as they moved in each other's arms, an inexpressible joy on their faces.
"Were we that bad?" John asked.
Elizabeth chuckled. "Sometimes you still are."
Food and drink, toasting and dancing, happy words and kisses stolen in moments of pause marked the rest of the evening. Carson introduced them all to Highland reels and Radek to polkas, though everything from waltzes to more modern dances and songs took up much of the evening. Everyone had a good laugh at The Gay Gordon and McNab singing an old song entitled Banais an Dotair or The Doctor's Wedding.
The world got more and more warm and fuzzy and slightly off-kilter as the alcohol flowed. Neither John nor Rodney were big on the whole drunk thing and so paced themselves. They watched as Carson and Radek proceeded to drink pretty much everyone who wasn't pacing themselves under the table.
"I guess it's true what they say about Scotsmen and Eastern Europeans," Rodney said.
"I guess so," John answered. "Another dance?"
Rodney nodded and they went to join Carson and Radek, Lorne and Cadman, Elizabeth and Gilchrist, and Miko and McNab on the dance floor. They enjoyed one last slow dance, then Carson and Radek excused themselves. Those who stayed till the last gathered to throw flower petals, confetti, and an Athosian legume similar to peas ("Flowers are Scottish tradition, peas are Czech tradition," Elizabeth explained) at the departing couple.
Then, those left standing turned and considered the disaster area that was the gateroom. "Well," Elizabeth said, "maintenance staff will take care of most of this tomorrow, or, rather, later today, but we should at least get folks up and home..."
***
"Thanks," Kavanaugh slurred slightly as John tucked Deyn into his bed. The boy had long ago given up the fight against sleep and they'd found him curled up under a corner table, Carson and Radek's Athosian marriage shawl tucked around his shoulders.
"We'll see you tomorrow... not terribly early, though," Rodney said and the two left the scientist sitting next to his son's bed.
Kavanaugh stared down at his son, a look so tender and vulnerable on his face that few on Atlantis would believe him capable of it, then leaned down and brushed dark blond hair from Deyn's forehead. "Goodnight, buddy," he said, then pressed a brief kiss to the boy's head.
He walked unsteadily into his bedroom, sat tiredly on the bed, and set down his digital camera. An image of Nelson Gilchrist standing before a happy couple, leading a nervous man and woman through their vows filled his mind. He reached into the drawer of the bedside table and drew out a box. Inside were a collection of pictures, but lying atop were three rings-- one man's gold band, a woman's engagement ring, and a woman's plain gold band matching the man's.
He picked up the two woman's rings, fingering them as tears slid down his face. "God, Beth," he sobbed as he clutched them to his chest. "I'm so sorry... so sorry I waited so long..."
***
"God, I love you in this," Rodney murmured, hands sliding over John's blue-clad shoulders, down his back to his ass and then forward to grasp narrow hips.
John kissed him quickly, green eyes smiling into blue. "You cut a pretty dashing figure in a tux, too." His lips took Rodney's again. "And I love watching you at the piano-- all that passion. Your piano teacher was an asshole." He slid his hands around Rodney's waist and pulled him closer.
Rodney chuckled, kissing John. "Yeah, but if it hadn't been for that asshole, I wouldn't have met you."
"Mm." They kissed again, then John leaned his forehead on Rodney's. "I guess I'll forgive your Salieri, then."
"Don't know that I'm quite up to Mozart's level," Rodney said, placing one hand on John's face and drawing him into another kiss.
They broke apart and then John kissed the tip of his nose. "You would have been."
***
"Ah, love," Carson sighed, fingers curled in Radek's hair as they kissed. "I think I've missed this as much as the sex." He was glad of their quick encounter earlier or he would have already lost control at the touch of Radek's naked skin against his.
"Ano," Radek answered, hands exploring his husband's skin, rediscovering the warmth and life and responsiveness of it. "So beautiful, my Carson..."
They soaked each other in-- the sight of eyes and mouths and throats and shoulders and chests, arms and legs and even cocks, beautiful in a way they were not in the cold light of aesthetic logic; the touch of hair and hands and mouths and feet and sliding legs and skin; the smell of sweat and soap and the distinctive blend of disinfectant and formaldehyde that hung on Carson compared to the smell of metal and ozone and oil that clung to Radek; the taste of skin and becherovka and whiskey and the strangely sweet tastes of the other's mouth; the sound of breath and beloved words and gasping and two heartbeats beating as one. Their bodies, their voices, their blood, sang with the words, "Yours... yours... yours... always, eternally yours..." as they joined, surrendered to the other.
"So beautiful, my Radek," Carson echoed as he watched his lover, no, his husband move over him. And then Radek threw his head back, let out a long moan, and came, covering Carson's chest with semen, clenching around his husband's erection within him and Carson said, "Ah, love," with wonder in his voice and filled Radek. It was almost gentle. They held each other afterward, murmured words of affection in three languages, and slowly drifted off to sleep.