Hello lovely people, I'm back again. This chapter is dedicated to Starlightdreamerstar from Ao3, for all your amazing comments to far. They really make my day and I am so glad you're enjoying the story. I was happy to hear that the story is helping through a challenging time and I hope your challenges will be over for you soon :)
Twenty Questions
As life settled down for the people on Atlantis it came time to choose teams to travel through the stargate. SG1 was going to stay the same, O'Neill, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c. They were going to be the main team for cultural exploration and uncovering the secrets of the ancients around the galaxy; which was right up their alley.
John had been given charge of SG2 and he decided he was going to take Rodney and Teyla, which was great, now he just needed to choose a fourth. O'Neill suggested Vala, but honestly John thought she was more trouble than she was worth. Their team was going to be the ones in charge of looking for technology and allies around the Pegasus galaxy, since Teyla was the expert on who was best to trade with. John got the feeling that Vala would be a liability on those kinds of missions, so decided he'd go with someone else; he just had no idea who.
The rest of the SG teams were going to be general exploration, and John sat with O'Neill and the commanders of those teams after they'd been assigned, going through personnel files to chose teams.
This was how John met Major Lorne, the man who was supposed to have been along to be the military 2IC.
O'Neill had been right about the man being a bit younger than John, but he'd also been around the stargate program a lot longer. John had to admit he'd been a little worried about how the man was going to react to him when they met since John had essentially taken his job. He was pleased when the man sat down beside him at the table and shook his hand with a friendly smile. "Major Lorne, It's nice to meet you, Sir," he said brightly.
"You too, Major," John replied, wondering if he should add, 'sorry for taking your job' at the end of that sentence.
"Oh, and hey, no hard feelings, I'm glad you got the job. I hate paper work," Lorne said amiably and John chuckled.
"Me too, Major, glad to hear there are no hard feelings. Do you know who you're going to choose for your team?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I'm thinking Lieutenant ford, Lieutenant Cadman and Dr Parish," Lorne replied. "I worked with them all back at the SGC so I know they'll make good team members."
"Well, that's one way you're very fortunate, Major. I'm taking Teyla and Dr McKay, but otherwise I'm at a complete loss because I'm still getting to know everyone," John replied, eyeing the stack of personnel files currently laid out on the briefing room table.
"Well then, might I make a suggestion, Sir?" Lorne asked.
"That would be very welcome, Major," John replied.
Lorne rifled through the stack for a moment before handing John a file. "Lieutenant Alice Boman, good with weapons and combat as well as people. I was going to choose her for my team, but when Colonel O'Neill mentioned that you were going to be the team making the most first contact with the locals, I thought she'd suit you better. She'll watch your back diligently and smile at the natives while she does it," Lorne explained and John took the file with a polite thank you.
He read through the file and turned to grin at the other man. "I have a feeling I'm going to like you, Major," he said gratefully.
"Hey, you saved me from hours of paper work, it's the least I can do," Lorne replied with a cheeky grin and John chuckled.
He was definitely going to like this man.
XX
After hours of being in the briefing room making decisions, and helping other people make decisions, it was a relief to head down to the sparing room. They all had far too much pent up energy and needed an outlet for it.
O'Neill had ordered all of the marines to attend regular sparing sessions with Teyla and Teal'c and John didn't mind that at all. He was a good soldier, he knew it, and after that first mission the reports of his skills had spread like wildfire, so the entire city now knew it too, but there was always room for improvement and he was keen to learn anything the two lifelong warriors could teach him.
He was surprised to see Rodney and Sam sitting in the room talking to Teal'c when they arrived.
"What are those two doing in here? Do you think they got lost?" One of the Captains joked to the others, some of whom chuckled at his joke, although John was pleased to see that Lorne wasn't one of them. John was about to walk over and say hello to Rodney when O'Neill arrived with Teyla, who was wearing an interesting outfit and carrying two big sticks in her hands.
"All right marines, line up," he called out and they all lined up to one side of the room.
Teal'c walked over to join O'Neill and Rodney and Sam looked over at John and the others. John grinned when he caught Rodney's eye and Rodney smiled brightly back.
"For those of you who have never met Teal'c, this man is basically a walking encyclopedia of combat; there is a lot he can teach you. I have only seen a little of Teyla's capabilities and they were impressive enough that I have a feeling she's going to be just as knowledgeable. They have been kind enough to offer their services to help you improve your skills and you're going to take them up on their kind offer."
No one commented so he continued, "First off I want you to go through a few basic rounds of sparing in pairs, let Teal'c and Teyla assess your skills, then you'll each have a chance to work with one of them today to improve those skills. Sheppard, Lorne, you first," he called them into the circle and they shared a smile before moving to do as they were told.
"We want a good assessment of your skills, so don't kill each other, but no holding back either," O'Neill directed and they shook hands before moving to opposite sides of the circle. O'Neill set a timer then told them to start.
Lorne was a good fighter, there was no denying that, but John beat him handily well before their time was up.
"And that, is why you're the 2IC," Lorne said as John helped him up, and John chuckled.
"Nah, it's just cause I'm old," John replied and Lorne laughed as they moved over to sit down next to Rodney and Sam, who greeted them brightly.
"Nice match," Rodney complimented them both.
"Pretty sure I just got my ass handed to me, but thanks," Lorne replied with a chuckle.
"You did, fine," John told him before turning to Rodney and Sam and thanking them.
The next pair or marines stepped into the circle and they all turned their attention to the match, even if John would have preferred to have his attention on Rodney; he had a responsibility to help these people improve just as much as O'Neill.
Some of the matches were great, some were downright painful. When they were over O'Neill took the losers of each match over to Teyla and Teal'c first. John watched Teyla go through a few moves with the Captain who had made the comment about Sam and Rodney when they'd first walked into the room and the man seemed resistant to learning anything, which annoyed him. Teyla was demonstrating moves and the Captain was trying to do them, but refused any of Teyla's attempts to help him get them right.
He finally managed the move, but Teyla still took him down without difficulty.
"What the hell? I did it the way you told me to," the Captain snarled from down on the floor.
"Just because you have performed a move does not mean you have performed it correctly," Teyla replied calmly.
"And just how exactly am I supposed to improve?" he demanded.
"You're dropping your elbow, you need to keep it high," Rodney said from beside John, startling him. John turned to look at him curiously but Rodney's attention was on the Captain. "You can perform the move fine, but if you don't keep your elbow high enough your arm won't have the strength to deflect a blow."
The Captain looked livid, "Am I seriously getting combat tips from a science geek?" he snarled.
"That 'science geek' also happens to be a martial arts expert, both of our chief science officers for this expedition are," the Colonel explained. "I always have them assess new marines and give feedback, which is exactly what they're doing, and you can show them some respect, Captain." O'Neill snapped.
The marines all looked over at Sam and Rodney incredulously and the pair just smiled.
"With all due respect, Sir, are you joking?" the Captain asked.
"No, Captain, I am not," O'Neill replied seriously and none of the marines looked like they knew what to think.
"Would the chief science officers be so kind as to give us a demonstration of their abilities then, Sir?" the Captain asked and John could hear the he was deliberately keeping the insolence out of his voice just enough to avoid getting in trouble for insubordination. "Perhaps Teyla could assess their skills while they're here with us."
"Well, they weren't expecting to do that today, so they aren't exactly dressed for a work out, Captain," O'Neill replied with that tone John had quickly learnt to recognise as false pleasantry usually employed a few minutes before O'Neill made someone pay for being an ass.
"Surely their clothes don't matter if they're experts, Sir?" The captain asked and O'Neill looked about an inch from losing it when Rodney stood up and moved into the circle.
He looked at the Captain with a raised eyebrow, then turned to Teyla. "I'd be delighted to have you assess my skills, Teyla," he said with a friendly smile and she looked pleasantly surprised.
He pulled off his jacket, revealing his long sleeved, light blue shirt, that hinted at a lot of lovely muscles underneath, and picked up the sticks that the captain had dropped when he'd thrown his little tantrum. He then looked at the captain expectantly until he moved out of the circle and stood back smirking as if he were waiting for something really amusing to happen.
Rodney gave Teyla a polite bow, which she returned, then they both took fighting stances. O'Neill set the timer, asked if they were ready, then called for them to start.
Holy shit!
Of course John didn't say it, but he certainly thought it.
Rodney was already a walking aphrodisiac for John, beautiful, smart, funny, everything John could want, and of course he had always assumed the man was physically strong, even though it wasn't an obvious thing. Deceptively strong people turned John on, and right now John was seeing proof of Rodney's strength right in front of him; he'd never been so turned on in his life.
Rodney spun around the sparing circle with Teyla in a graceful dance, his movements smooth and easy, everything perfectly timed. John had seen Teyla fight a couple of times and he'd never seen her struggle against an opponent, except Teal'c, until now. Teyla was winning, but John could tell Rodney was making her work for it and that in itself was amazing.
Then, in a feat that John still couldn't explain, Rodney managed to push Teyla off balance and leapt back, performing a perfectly executed backwards roll and stripping his shirt off as he went, throwing it aside and leaping back up to face Teyla again.
John had been turned on before, he was damn near burning with desire now.
It startled him to realise that he'd never seen Rodney without his entire upper body covered, even when he was going to bed he wore long sleeved shirts and right now John was cursing that. Rodney was incredible, his upper body was sleek and toned, every muscle perfectly defined under his smooth, creamy skin. John was incredibly grateful that everybody else in the room was as distracted by the match as he was because it gave him a chance to adjust his erection before anyone could notice it. He knew he should look away and try to get himself back under control, but he couldn't make himself look away; Rodney was so damn beautiful.
His movements were even more graceful without that shirt impeding him and he and Teyla finished the match on fairly even ground. When O'Neill called time Rodney leapt back away from Teyla, who smiled at him delightedly, then bowed politely before she came over to touch her forehead to his.
"That was a wonderful match, Dr McKay, well done," she congratulated him.
"Thank you, Teyla, you too, and call me Rodney, we're going to be team mates after all," the scientist replied.
"I will be delighted to undertake missions with such a skilled warrior," Teyla replied happily and they shared a warm smile as they parted.
John would freely admit, only to himself of course, that seeing them smile at each other like that made him more than a little Jealous. Rodney wasn't generally good with people, but John knew Teyla tended to make everyone feel at ease and he was glad they were getting along since they were both going to be on his team, he just hoped friendship was all the both wanted with each other. He honestly had no idea how he'd manage if and when Rodney developed feelings for someone else, and if it were a team mate it would be even worse.
"Now, Captain, what were you saying?" O'Neill asked the man who was still staring at Rodney in shock.
"I … I …" he cleared his throat and stood up tall. "Nothing, Sir, I apparently need to keep my elbow up when performing that manoeuvre, Sir."
"Bravo," O'Neill replied sarcastically then turned to smile at Rodney. "Nice demonstration, Rodney," he praised with a wide smile.
"Thanks, Jack," Rodney replied, picking up his shirt and pulling it back on before moving over to stand in front of the spot he'd been previously occupying, stretching his limbs.
"Nice match, amico," Sam said with a proud grin.
"Thanks, amica, it's been a while and I felt a little stiff. I'll need to get back into it properly now that we're all settled in here," Rodney replied, still stretching.
"Rodney, that was, awesome!" John said with a wide grin when he finally got his voice to work. "When we're finished here you're going to have to tell me how you know how to do that."
Rodney gave him that bright smile that he loved so much, "Sure," he agreed easily. "I hope you won't mind if I give you feedback while you're sparing with Teal'c or Teyla in a few minutes.
"Um … no," John replied, still in more than a little shock. He certainly wasn't going to refuse feedback from someone who could hold their own against Teyla.
The group of very shocked marines went through their sparing with Teyla and Teal'c, none of them hesitating to take advice or direction from Rodney or Sam after Rodney's demonstration. When it was John's turn, he sparred with Teal'c, and by the time his turn came around Rodney had already doled out plenty of advice to the soldiers who had come before him about taking down opponents who were bigger than them, which was something he admitted he specialised in since he started martial arts at a very young age, and John had been paying attention, so Rodney didn't have a lot of advice for him. If there was one thing John did well it was fight and he learnt anything combat related quickly.
When they were finished O'Neill offered praise on a job well done, giving the complaining Captain a sideways look, then they all headed back to their rooms to shower before dinner. Rodney and John were done at pretty much the same time and headed to the mess hall together.
JJJ and Vala were doing something weird that evening, or so Rodney told John, so the only people at their usual table were Carson, Daniel and Sha're. They waved hello before moving into the food line where Teyla soon joined them.
"Good evening to you both," Teyla greeted them with a warm smile.
"Hi, Teyla," they greeted her in unison before chuckling at each other.
"You both fought extremely well this afternoon, I was most impressed," the Athosian praised them warmly and they both thanked her.
"So did you, your skills are amazing," Rodney replied. "I'm afraid mine are a little rusty, I've been so busy getting ready to come here and then getting everything set up I haven't had a lot of time for practice. I'm hoping to change that now things are a little more settled."
"Well, I thought you fought very well. If you had not told me your skills had lapsed I would have been unaware," Teyla replied.
"Yeah, Rodney you looked great out there, I wouldn't have picked that you were rusty at all," John complimented his friend, wanting the other man to know how truly impressed he'd been.
"Well, thank you, I'm glad I didn't look as rusty as I felt," Rodney replied with a shy smile.
"I for one am pleased that your skills are only going to improve, it will help to keep my own skills sharp if we spar regularly. I am also excited to spar more with you, John, you fight very well," she said with a smile for John.
"Yeah you do, you looked amazing today; I'm not sure whether I'd said that yet, sorry if I hadn't." Rodney said with an apologetic smile. "You take in information and process it then implement it well too. I noticed you were paying attention to the things I was telling the other marines about battling with Teal'c and that you used them without me having to say anything when it was your turn; that's impressive."
"Thank you, Rodney," John replied with a warm smile for his friend, "You gave good advice. I'm still really curious about how you're so good at all of this."
"As am I," Teyla said. "I thought it was only the soldiers on your world that had combat skills."
"No, not always," Rodney replied. "I'll tell you about it when we've got our food and we're sitting down. You are joining us tonight, right?" Rodney asked Teyla and John ignored the spike of jealousy that immediately stabbed him.
He was not going to be jealous of his own team mate damn it!
"As long as I am not intruding," Teyla asked, looking concerned.
"No, of course not," John replied, squashing down the jealousy and giving her an easy smile.
"Well then, I would be delighted," Teyla agreed with a grateful smile.
They got their food then headed over to the table where the others were sitting. Carson, Daniel and Sha're had all met Teyla and they greeted her as brightly as John and Rodney. John imagined Sha're and Teyla would get along well, and of course Daniel would be curious about Athosian culture so he'd love talking to her. Carson just seemed to like everyone, he was pretty much a human care bear.
John waited for Rodney to sit down before he did, waiting to see whether he'd choose to sit with Teyla rather than next to John as he usually did. He felt petty for being pleased when Rodney took his usual seat and John was able to sit beside him like normal, but damn it all that was his spot and he wasn't keen to give it up, just like he wasn't keen to give up Rodney; even for Teyla who was someone he particularly liked.
"So, you had a story to tell us," John said, prompting Rodney to get back to answering their questions.
"Oh, yes. Well, you know I was sent off to boarding school as a child," Rodney started, glancing over at John. "On Earth sometimes parents send their children away to special places for their education and they live there for a good portion of the year, only returning home for holidays and our summer season," he explained for Teyla's benefit.
"Why would they do that?" Teyla asked sounding confused.
"There are a lot of reasons, but they don't really matter right now. Jeanie and I were sent there as soon as we were old enough to start our first year of schooling, so we were five," Rodney continued and John looked over at him in surprise and horror.
Five? That was so young! John didn't think boarding schools took kids that young and he said so.
"Most of them don't," Rodney agreed. "The one we went to was different. It ran from the first year of elementary school, all the way to the last year of high school, and they only liked to take children if they attended the school from the very first year of education; they didn't accept transfers unless there was a really good reason, or the person being transferred was from a particularly important family. It was a very prestigious private school that was world renowned for getting the very best out of its students and that's where my parents wanted us to go, so we were sent as early as we could be."
"That sounds horrible," Teyla noted and Rodney nodded.
"It was," he agreed. "Anyway, one of the hardest parts about being at the school with kids who are so much bigger than you is of course the bullying. Sam, Jeanie, Janet, Jennifer and I were the school geniuses and we moved up through the grades really quickly. It made us a target for the bullies because most people don't like different, particularly teenagers, and a lot of the time privileged children are even worse. With the girls there were some awful pranks and having their possessions stollen, for me it was a lot of … physical bullying."
John felt anger bubble up inside him at the thought of anyone hurting Rodney.
"That is terrible! Was nothing ever done about it?" Teyla asked, sounding as angry as John felt.
"No. The school used physical punishment as well so they didn't see what the bullies were doing as that big of a deal, they called it getting me to 'man up' and apparently every boy who came through the school was taught to 'man up' in whatever way was necessary for them. Plus, the worst bullies were the children whose families were rich and famous so the school was certainly not going to do anything to make those children's parents look badly at them."
That was disgusting, but john didn't say anything, letting Rodney continue.
"Anyway, I worked out very early on that I was going to have to be able to defend myself and the girls, particularly as we all got older and they began attracting attention from the male population of the school. So, I found a martial arts dojo near the boarding school and started going there as soon as I could. It was a big dojo and they taught all kinds of different martial arts so I was able to learn them all. I told Sam and the others about it and Sam decided to come along with me, when we left the school we kept up the practice until we were happy with our skills. We've mastered all the styles we chose to learn now," Rodney finished and Teyla looked as impressed as John felt.
"That is truly impressive, Rodney," Teyla complimented.
"Thanks, it was all self-preservation to begin with, then it became something else I'd started so I had to master it; it's just part of my personality," Rodney replied and John couldn't get over how humble the man sounded talking about something that must have been a massive feat.
"Well, you certainly impressed me, and all the other team leaders in the room today. I don't imagine anyone will think twice about taking advice from you in the future," John said with a proud smile for his friend.
Rodney smiled back at him, shyly but appreciatively. "Thanks, you were amazing too; you move so well. Have you had any formal martial arts training?" he asked.
John shook his head, "Nothing until the air force," he replied and Rodney looked surprised.
"Really? And you're still that good? You really have a talent for combat, John," he complimented and John smiled, feeling a pleasant flutter in his stomach. He liked it when Rodney was impressed by him, the man was so damn impressive himself it meant a lot.
"He is right, Colonel, that is a lot of talent and ability for someone who has only had limited training," Teyla said, looking pleased. "It will be an honour to travel through the ring of the ancestors with you both."
"You too, Teyla," Rodney replied with a friendly smile and John mimicked it, trying to ignore his jealousy.
He paid close attention to his friends' interactions throughout the rest of dinner, keeping an eye out for any signs that they were attracted to each other. A few of the others came along as they got further through the meal and Teal'c sat down beside Teyla, drawing her attention to him which was a small relief.
John knew it was petty of him, but he did his best to monopolise all of Rodney's attention for the rest of dinner, and when he noticed the scientist was done, he quickly asked what he wanted to do that evening.
"Oh … I actually had an idea about that," Rodney said and John held his breath, hoping he wasn't about to hear Rodney say something about Teyla. "You know how we always listen to Johnny Cash at night, and he definitely makes a great sedative so I'm certainly not looking to change that, but, I was thinking that perhaps, before we go to sleep, I could introduce you to some of the music I like as well and maybe hear what else you like to listen to. We've been so busy setting up the city and everything that we haven't really had the chance to get to know each other that well, I thought this might be a good way to start. Or we could play a game, if you like games, do a round of 20 questions or something? Only if you want to of course," he asked, and John grinned at how nervous he'd stated to sound.
"Okay," John agreed easily, wanting to soothe the scientist's nerves. "Sounds good to me."
"Really? Okay good. I thought about maybe snagging a few more pudding cups and taking them up to the room as well, what do you think?" he asked.
"I'm in," John agreed easily. "You ready to head off?"
"Yeah," Rodney replied, standing up and bidding the rest of the group good night, John doing the same. They headed over to the bin to get rid of their rubbish before sneaking over to grab a few extra pudding cups out of the tub they were kept in; delighted when they found butterscotch and caramel hiding at the bottom.
John couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face as they walked back up to their room with their haul, his mind doing a happy dance about having Rodney to himself, while also pondering over which band to introduce Rodney to when they got back.
When they reached their room John was surprised to find a metal frame wrapped in plastic sitting beside each door along with a plastic wrapped mattress. There were more sitting beside the doors to the other occupied rooms as well; obviously the beds had finally reached their level.
John tried not to let his disappointment show as he opened the door to their room and they put down the pudding cups they'd snagged. If they had beds now it meant they'd have to get back to their discussion about the room and John was worried that Rodney was going to say it was time to set up their own individual spaces. John didn't want individual spaces, he wanted them to keep sharing the space, but he also didn't want it to be too obvious just how much he wanted that in case it scared Rodney off.
"So … beds," Rodney said neutrally, looking at the metal frames. "And we have to put them together," he studied them thoughtfully for a few moments. "Tomorrow's job?" he asked looking over at John with a raised eyebrow.
"Works for me," John agreed easily, helping Rodney pull the frames into the room, then the mattresses.
He was happy not to have to have the room conversation tonight, he wasn't ready for that, and he was looking forward to actually getting to have some fun with Rodney for once. The scientist was right, aside from when they were working, they hadn't had a lot of time to spend together or get to know each other; he wanted to do that.
They unwrapped their mattresses and the sheets that came with them. They put the fitted sheets on the mattresses, then took them out onto the balcony and pushed them together up against the glass door and put their pillows behind them, making themselves a makeshift couch; it was a lot nicer than sitting outside on the hard floor.
"So, did you want to listen to music, or play 20 questions?" John asked when they were finally settled on their makeshift couch with their pudding.
Rodney looked thoughtful, "I was just joking about the 20 questions, but I would actually like to know more about you, so, let's go with that one first," he suggested and John nodded easily.
"Okay, can I ask first?" John asked.
"Sure?" Rodney replied easily.
"What's your favourite colour?" John asked.
Rodney looked thoughtful, "I like different colours for different things. In general I like sunset colours because they're nice and warm and I always get cold too easily, but I like to surround myself with more muted tones like blues and greens where I sleep because they help calm me down; which isn't an easy feat." He studied John for a moment then said, "All-round favourite colour though … would have to be green," he finished, his gaze trained on John's eyes for a moment before looking down at his pudding again. "How about you?"
Maybe John was reading too much into this, but did Rodney like green because John's eyes were green? Surely not, the fact that John's favourite colour these days was the blue of Rodney's eyes was making him overthink the other man's perfectly platonic answer, that had to be it.
Rodney was waiting for his answer, so John thought about it. He wanted his answers to be thoughtful like Rodney's, not rudimentary, and blue was a common favourite colour for a lot of men.
"I agree with you on the sunset colours, I particularly like that reddy/orangy colour you tend to get when it's low but not gone yet. I also like green, like evergreen tree green, but my favourite colour is blue," he replied.
"Ah, like the sky, of course," Rodney replied with a smile.
"Actually no, I do like that blue, but I prefer darker … more like ocean blue," John explained looking over at Rodney, who was looking up at him thoughtfully, and studying the man's far too beautiful eyes.
"You must like being here then," Rodney commented with a soft smile.
"I love being here," John agreed with a nod, although he wasn't agreeing for the reason Rodney thought.
"Me too," Rodney said, his smile turning warm.
God John wanted to kiss him.
"Oh, ah, so, it must be my turn for a question now," Rodney said suddenly and John quickly schooled his expression and nodded. "Hmm, okay, favourite food."
John thought about it, "Indian, I'm a sucker for butter chicken. You?"
"I love butter chicken," Rodney agreed with a wide smile. "I like Indian, Italian and Thai."
John nodded, "All good choices," he agreed. "My turn, favourite place?"
"Here," Rodney replied immediately. "But aside from here … the Canadian mountains. You?"
"Here," John agreed. "Then Australia."
"Really? I've never been there," Rodney said.
"Yeah, I love it. Best beaches -although Bondi isn't all it's cracked up to be, there are tons of better ones-, good surfing, nice golf courses, friendly people, good beer and lots of open road and open sky," John explained.
Rodney nodded with a chuckle. "I guess I don't have to ask what your hobbies are then, that was going to be my next question."
John chuckled along with him. "Flying, riding a motorcycle, surfing, golf, skiing, playing the guitar, listening to music, playing video games and being a human light switch," John said and Rodney laughed at the last one, which had been John's point.
"I'm sorry if I get you to do that a lot," Rodney said apologetically.
"Are you kidding, it's the highlight of my day, pardon the pun there. I like coming down to the lab to turn things on for you, it's fun," John assured him, and Rodney smiled beatifically as John thought about how the thing he most wanted to turn on down in the lab was Rodney. "What about you, hobbies?"
Rodney looked thoughtful, "I play the piano when I have one nearby, martial arts of course … honestly a lot of the things I do every day for work are hobbies for me, thinking up solutions to problems, building things … oh I do like remote controlled cars, coming up with obscure games to play with Sam … and video games and music like you. I suppose that's one area we're very different, hobbies," Rodney said, sounding a little disappointed about that.
"That's okay, it means we have things to introduce each other to," John replied, wanting to lift his mood. "We're going to be here for a while and there's only so much to do … what kind of obscure games?" he asked, finally registering that part of Rodney's sentence.
"Oh, lots of different things. We play meme off, bad theories bingo, daddy issued jeopardy, ruin an inspirational poster with two words or less, shag, marry or throw off a cliff -not an original but still fun-, we always find ways to amuse ourselves," Rodney explained and John couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, you're going to have to teach me how to play some of these games."
"Sure," Rodney agreed easily. "Your turn," he prompted.
"What are your parents like?" John asked, wanting to get onto things that were a little less superficial.
"Horrible. Yours?" Rodney asked in return, not elaborating.
"Horrible," John echoed. "They hate me."
"Mine too," Rodney said with an understanding smile. "Do you have any siblings?"
"One, a brother, we haven't spoken in more than a decade," John replied. He didn't really like talking about his family, but he wanted to know more about Rodney so he knew he'd have to offer up some of his own information. "Why do your parents hate you?"
"They just always have," Rodney replied. "I don't think they actually wanted children, they just had us because it was expected. Father wanted to continue on the family line, mother just felt like it was her duty as a woman. They never liked us though, or wanted us around, they hired a nanny straight away to look after us and shipped us off to the boarding school as soon as we were old enough. They were never happy with what we accomplished, it was never enough and eventually I just stopped talking to them. I think the last time I saw them was when I got my first PHD. I thought they'd be proud of me for once, but all my father asked was what I was going to achieve next, so I stopped bothering after that. Why do yours hate you?"
"They always have," John replied honestly. "I can't remember a time where either of them looked at me with anything but hatred and disappointment. I did the same with my father, tried to make him proud of me, but nothing worked. I went off to Stanford when I didn't want to, aced my degree, and when even that wasn't enough to make him happy I decided I was going to the air force. When I told him he promptly kicked me out and we haven't spoken since. Not that there's anything new there, even when we lived in the same house we didn't speak."
John thought about telling Rodney the other reason Patrick Sheppard kicked him out, just to find out what he'd say, but he didn't. DADT was still a thing and he never wanted the truth about his sexuality to get around the base. Besides, he couldn't handle Rodney looking at him the same way his father had the day he'd found out, with a face full of hatred and disgust; it would kill John. He might lose Rodney as a friend completely and he couldn't handle that, he needed him; John felt so much better having Rodney as a part of his life.
"I can't imagine anyone hating you," Rodney said quietly.
"I can't imagine anyone hating you either, you're so nice," John replied and Rodney huffed out a laugh.
"Not to everyone," he reminded John. "I do wonder how much of a different person I'd be if I hadn't had Sam growing up, I have a feeling I wouldn't be very nice at all," he admitted. "And as much as I try, I can't be open and nice the way other people can … I mean tonight, with Teyla, I was trying so hard to be as nice and welcoming as I could, to make her feel comfortable with us because she's going to be part of our team, but I had to fight not to pull back and disappear the entire time. Don't get me wrong, I like her, she seems like a genuinely nice person and I think, given a bit of time, I could get to think of her the way I think of Daniel and Sha're, you know, a good friend, but I'm certainly not going to get there in a hurry. I wish I were different, I just … can't be. This is who I am, I don't know how to be anything else," he said sadly.
John knew he shouldn't, but he wrapped an arm around Rodney and pulled him into his side, holding him tightly. "There's nothing wrong with you, okay, you're … you're perfect the way you are," he said softly. "I've only known you for a few weeks, but you're the best person I've ever known and the best friend I've ever had. You make everything better, including me. I'm not good at being open with people either, I'm terrible at it, I go out of my way to not have to talk to people I don't need to because I just … don't like doing it. I know that makes me strange, but I'd rather be strange and have you like me, than be normal and have everyone else like me but not you."
He ran his hand gently down Rodney's arm. "This group of friends you've dragged me into, they're the most friends I've ever had. I genuinely like them all, but I find talking to them hard sometimes. I only manage it because you're there and … you're only the second person I've ever met in my life that I don't find it hard to talk to," he confessed, hoping he wasn't saying too much.
"Who was the first?" Rodney's question surprised him.
"Lyle, he was my best friend until he was killed about a year ago," John replied honestly.
"What happened to him?" Rodney asked.
"His chopper was shot down," John replied. "I went out to look for him and I found him, but I couldn't get him back to help in time."
Rodney's hand reached up to grasp the one John had wrapped around him and he leant into John's side. "I'm sorry, I can't imagine how horrible that must have been for you," he said sadly.
"It was devastating," John admitted honestly.
They were quiet for a while, then Rodney said, "You're the second person for me too, Sam was the first. Even though I grew up with the rest of JJJ, I've never found them as easy to talk to as you and Sam."
John bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push back the urge to pull the scientist into his lap and kiss him breathless.
Rodney, you have no idea what you do to me. I want to hold you and never let go.
They were silent for a long time and John took that time to try and get his emotions back under control. He knew he should probably let Rodney go, but he just couldn't bring himself move, it felt so good to hold him. Looking over at the scientist he noticed the long sleeved shirt he was wearing and thought of another question to ask.
"Why do you always wear long sleeved shirts?"
There was a moment of silence, then, "I … don't really like my arms," Rodney replied quietly. "Plus, the long sleeves make the scar on my hand less noticeable."
"Scar?" John asked curiously.
Rodney turned his left hand over and John saw a raised line of skin across his palm. He reached out to take Rodney's hand and ran his thumb gently across the raised skin.
"What's it from?"
"The cane they used to hit us with at the boarding school," Rodney replied. "I was punished quite a few times and always in the same place on the same hand. They didn't want to injure out dominant hands of course, so it had to be the other one all the time and sometimes the last one hadn't had time to heal before the next one. It ended up like this."
"How young were you when this started?" John asked afraid of what he'd hear.
"Five," Rodney replied. "I got my first punishment the day after we arrived; my hair wasn't tidy enough. It was so fine when I was young and it took the girls and I a few weeks to get it to sit in a way the teachers liked."
John was livid as he turned to face Rodney and pulled him into a proper hug, completely ignoring the fact that he shouldn't. "Bastards!" he growled.
Rodney's arms slipped around him in return and the scientist's head came to rest on his shoulder. As angry as John was, he couldn't ignore how amazing it felt to have Rodney in his arms like this. He pressed his face into Rodney's hair, only just managing not to kiss the dark strands.
As they sat there in silence again John thought about Rodney's hair, it was always perfectly styled and looked amazing, unlike John's rebellious mop, and John always thought about how well it suited him. Knowing that Rodney probably only did that to his hair every day because he'd been beaten as a child made John's heart hurt and it was going to be hard to look at Rodney's hair the same way he used to.
It made him wonder how many of Rodney's other habits were left over from his boarding school days. Like his posture which was always perfect, his table manners which were impeccable, his uniforms which were always pristine, the way he spoke with every word perfectly enunciated and clear. How much of that had been beaten into him when he was so young he shouldn't have even known they were things? John's childhood had been terrible and his family had been wealthy so they expected him to be pristine whenever company was around, but at least he'd gotten a chance to play outside in the dirt when no one was visiting.
How had Rodney not grown up to be a horrible, bitter man? Well, Rodney had answered that for him already; Sam. JJJ as well of course, but mostly Sam. John had already liked Sam, he felt a completely new level of affection and appreciation for her now. He'd really have to thank her one day.
"John," Rodney's quiet voice startled him.
"Yeah."
"I don't want to close the wall," Rodney said so quietly John almost didn't hear him.
"I don't want to either," John admitted.
They lapsed back into silence, then Rodney asked, "Do you want to hear a song I like?"
"Sure," John agreed easily.
John was expecting Rodney to have to go back into their room to get his iPod, but instead the scientist surprised him by pulling the little device out of his pocket, meaning Rodney didn't to move at all, which John was happy about, even if he knew he was going to have to let him go eventually. If Rodney wasn't complaining about the hug John certainly wasn't going to mention it.
He scrolled through the songs for a few moments before choosing one.
"It's called Clocks. The words don't really make a lot of sense, that's a theme with this band, but I like the music," Rodney explained as an amazing piano introduction began to play.
John listened to the song play through. Rodney was right the words were really odd, but the music was lovely.
"I like that song, you're right about the music," John said when it was over.
Rodney paused his music and asked John what he wanted to play for them. John grabbed his iPod and scrolled through his music until he came across Harley and Rose by the Black Sorrows. "The story isn't wonderful, but I like the music and the singing," John explained as the song started playing.
"You're right, it is nice," Rodney said after a few moments, sounding relaxed and more than a little sleepy. John knew he ought to suggest that they head inside to bed, but he didn't want to, it was so nice being out here with Rodney in his arms. When the song was over John let the next song play, which turned out to be Johnny Cash, and he felt Rodney starting to get heavier in his arms.
He eased them both down onto the mattresses, doing his best not to startle Rodney awake. Once he had them both settled, he lay there for a while with Rodney still cuddled up in his arms, watching the scientist sleep. He would rouse him shortly and help him get to bed, for now he just wanted to watch him.
Was he asleep?
"Rodney," he whispered, unsurprised to hear Rodney's breathing remain deep and even. He shouldn't, he knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't stop himself from pressing a gentle kiss to Rodney's forehead. He lay down beside him then and leant his forehead against Rodney's, closing his eyes and just enjoying the moment.
Soon … he'd wake him up soon …
XX
And there we go. What did we think? I wanted to talk about Rodney's life at the boarding school and how much Sam has always helped him be a better person. I had that visual for Rodney's first sparing match with Teyla in my head for so long before I wrote it, I hope you liked it.