"If I had to sum up Friendship in one word, it would be Comfort."
--Adabella Radici
Rodney McKay hated the cold. Seriously. He'd been perfectly fine at Area 51; the temperature there barely got in the low 40s at the worst. Siberia had been hell, as had Antarctica. And now he was stuck on some God-forsaken ice ball of a planet, freezing his ass off because Sheppard had once again managed to offend the local leader via his Kirk tendencies towards the man's daughter. Seriously, when would that man learn?
Probably never. Rodney mused as he tried to scoot closer to the meagre fire that Ronon had built in the small cave they were hiding out in. Teyla was already curled up by the flames, huddling in her coat and looking rather more miserable than Rodney was used to seeing. Ronon seemed perfectly fine, but then Rodney figured that he had probably had to deal with worse during his seven years as a Runner. Sheppard was sitting near the front of the cave, his back towards the fire, keeping watch. As Rodney watched him, the lanky pilot shivered occasionally as he sat. Rodney snorted softly. The Colonel barely had any body fat on his body; it was little wonder he was getting so cold. Not to mention that he probably was going to get hypothermia soon if he didn't get closer to the fire.
'Colonel, as much as I appreciate you watching for possible fur-coated savages, get closer to the fire before you freeze your skinny ass off.' Rodney said after a few minutes of watching Sheppard shiver. The Colonel turned his head, surprised.
'What?'
Rodney rolled his eyes. 'I seriously doubt they're going to come after us in a blizzard, Sheppard. Besides, your pathetic attempts at trying to be macho while you're obviously just as cold as the rest of us are starting to bug me.'
Sheppard grinned. 'Why, McKay, I didn't know you cared.' He drawled, standing up.
Rodney merely raised an eyebrow. 'Please. Elizabeth would have my head if I brought back a frozen Colonel-On-A-Stick. I'm merely looking out for my well-being.'
'Uh huh. Right. And I'm Santa Claus.'
'Try one of his elves. You've already got the ears.'
Ronon and Teyla exchanged weary and confused glances at their banter, but ignored it, conserving their energy to stay warm.
--
Morning found them all huddled together in a pile, Ronon in the middle, since the big Satedan was like a space heater on legs. Rodney woke first as a bright ray of sunlight lanced right into his eyes. He groaned, and attempted to figure out where he was. It was slightly chilly, but he was oddly warm and comfortable. He drifted in a state of drowsy comfort until a large drop of icy cold water landed on his face from somewhere above. His flailing and sputtering woke the rest of the team, who woke with various grumblings and complaints.
They made the trek back to the 'Gate in silence, squinting against the bright sun that was reflected off the freshly-fallen snow. When they stepped into the evening-lit 'Gate room back in Atlantis, their clothes steamed gently as the warmth sank in. All had various looks of relief on their faces as they handed off their weapons to the waiting Marines, heading as was customary to the infirmary, and Carson's ministrations.
--
Once they were finished with their checkups, Rodney had headed directly to his quarters, bypassing the labs, which attested to the depth of his desire to get to his own bed. He gratefully changed into a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved sleep shirt and crawled into his bed, burrowing underneath the covers. Sighing contentedly, he tried to get to sleep. Oddly enough, he couldn't find a comfortable spot, even with his prescription mattress. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, he sat up, grumbling. One hand scrabbling for his radio, he pulled the blankets up around his shoulders.
'Sheppard.' Rodney said after tapping his radio.
'Yeah, Rodney?' the Colonel replied after a minute.
'Where are you?'
'Rec room, watching a movie with Ronon. Why?'
'Stay there. I'm coming to join you.' Rodney said, searching for his shoes and finally giving up and putting on a second pair of socks.
'I thought you were going to bed?' Sheppard asked.
'Changed my mind.' Rodney left his room, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. It trailed on the ground behind him like a king's robes, but he didn't care. One vertigo-inducing transporter ride later (Why hadn't they fixed that yet? Note to self, get Zelenka to do something about that.), Rodney found himself outside the rec room. He let himself in and found Ronon and John sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the beat-up couches that littered the room. John looked up when Rodney entered, but barely lifted an eyebrow at the physicist's odd attire. Given the fact that both he and Ronon were about as bundled up as Rodney was, there wasn't much he could say.
Rodney glanced at the still screen, Sheppard having paused the movie when he came in. Surprisingly, it was a movie he could actually tolerate (one of the few animated movies he liked- The Incredibles), so he sat down on the other side of Ronon and settled in, stealing one of the Satedan's pillows. Ronon grumbled slightly, but gave up after John started the movie once more. Right about the time that Syndrome was taunting Mr. Incredible after the ex-superhero had been captured, Teyla wandered in and sat down next to John, who shared some of his blankets with her.
Elizabeth found them the next morning, dead to the world. The DVD player that had been rigged up had gone into standby mode, the Expedition logo bouncing from corner to corner of the screen. Rodney was snoring softly as he leaned against Ronon, who was sitting slumped against the couch. John and Teyla had curled up next to each other under the blankets that they shared, Teyla's hair splayed across John's chest as she slept, head resting on his shoulder. Elizabeth smiled and silently shut the door, issuing a quiet order for Atlantis' flagship team not to be disturbed for a few more hours. After all they had been through the past few years, she figured that they, of all people, deserved some peace and quiet.