Cake
Summary: Total Fluff. Weir-Sheppard Pairing. It's someone's birthday.
Spoilers: None. At least up to Home for one small detail.
Disclaimer: Stargate: Atlantis and its characters do not belong to me.
Author's Note: Another one of those random sappy stories that pop into my head. Set within the first year after they arrived in Atlantis. I repeat, this is sappy...you've been warned.
Major John Sheppard settles against the headboard of his bed with a little sigh. It's been another one of those days. He wouldn't choose to be anywhere else or do anything other than what he does day in and day out here in Atlantis. Nevertheless, these rare moments when he's alone and can pretend that he's just sitting in his apartment back on Earth are a welcome break from reality.
He props a pillow behind him and reaches over to pick up his copy of "War and Peace" from the nightstand. John has just turned to the earmarked page when there's a knock on the door. It's not an unwelcome interruption. He knows it's Elizabeth – Dr. Weir, he corrects himself. None of the doors to their quarters actually lock. The Ancients were apparently very trusting with one another. Only Elizabeth ever bothers to knock.
It's not an emergency or they would have just paged him over the communications system. It's not work related because she would have caught him before he went down to his quarters. Their work discussions always take place on the balcony just outside the control room. If Elizabeth – Dr...oh who is he kidding, she's always Elizabeth in his head – is coming to his room, this is a personal visit.
"Come in," he says and smiles when the door opens to reveal Elizabeth on the other side.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she says with a glance down at his book.
"Page 41," he responds, putting the book back down on the nightstand and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
If moments by himself are rare, these moments with Elizabeth are even fewer and far between. It's not that they don't see each other, the two of them actually spend an inordinate amount of time together on Atlantis. But they hardly ever get these one on one moments where they can just be John and Elizabeth instead of the ranking military officer and expedition commander.
As Elizabeth walks in with a small smile, John can't help but wonder how much closer they would be if they spent more time with each other like this. They're friends, sure, but he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit to wanting more. He just hasn't found a good opportunity to try and see if she feels the same. There is also a part of him that doesn't want to risk losing what he already has with Elizabeth.
As friends, John has learned a lot about her since they arrived in Atlantis. For instance, he knows that Elizabeth is at the end of her laundry cycle because she's down to wearing her jeans and light blue sleeveless top. He's never gotten her to explain how she managed to bring so many different sets of clothes with her to Pegasus.
Over time, he's also gotten to know most of her facial expressions. John has developed a small hobby around learning the different nuances of her smile. There's the nervous, closed lipped cross between a smile and a grimace. The I'm-amused, but-shouldn't-be smirk. The I'm-glad-you're-back-safe smile. The rare goofy grin and even rarer full out laugh. The smile she's giving him now is tinged with a little mischief.
Elizabeth pulls a small brown bag from behind her back and walks over to the bed. Instead of pulling over the chair like she has in the past, she sits next to him on the bed. They are nothing if not creatures of habit, so he cocks his head to the side in a silent question.
"You don't know what day it is, do you?" Elizabeth asks.
"Uh...Tuesday?" John responds and is rewarded when her smile widens.
"I meant what day of the month."
Sheppard's brow furrows as he makes some quick calculations. Elizabeth knows when he's figured it out because his eyes widen in surprise.
"How did you know?" he asks with wonder in his voice.
"I do have access to all the personnel records." Elizabeth grins and hands him the paper bag. "Happy Birthday John."
He opens the bag and finds a sealed food container inside. John gives her a quizzical look, but all Elizabeth does is bite her lip nervously. He pops open a corner of the container and is assailed immediately by a familiar smell. He turns to her in awe.
"You – you baked me a cake?" he stutters.
Elizabeth nods and gives him that shy smile again. "It's supposed to be chocolate. I had to improvise with what little supplies we have left, so I hope it tastes okay. The frosting may not be very sweet."
"Do you do this on everyone's birthday?" John can't help but ask.
"No." Elizabeth blushes, but doesn't look away. "Just you. That's why I'm late. I had to wait for the kitchen staff to go to sleep."
"Even better," he says, making her blush a little more.
They look at each other for a moment before the excitement gets the better of him and he turns to pull a fork out of the bag. John is grinning like a kid in a candy store and Elizabeth thinks that all the sneaking around is well worth it. He's just about to put his fork into the cake when he stops and looks over at her.
"No candles?"
"Sorry," Elizabeth answers. "I didn't know where to begin to look for them."
"Oh. Okay." He sounds disappointed, but shrugs and digs in.
John puts a fairly large sized piece of cake in his mouth while Elizabeth looks on with some apprehension. She's wondering if she should have taken the time in the kitchen to actually taste the cake before walking in here. John is chewing with his mouth closed and she can't tell if that's good or bad. He finally swallows and looks over at her with a grin.
"This is great!"
"Really?" she responds with a little skepticism.
"Oh yeah. Here." John forks a slightly smaller piece of cake and holds it out to her. She hesitates for an instant before letting him feed her the cake.
They continue like this for a while, with John feeding himself and Elizabeth pieces of cake. They have to drink the soy milk she brought out of the bottle because she neglected to bring any cups. But neither of them can deny that the almost-chocolate cake and soy milk is the best meal they've had in a long time. The company doing a lot to sweeten the food.
When they've had more than their fill, John closes the lid on the remaining cake and starts to put it away. Elizabeth looks over and grabs a napkin from inside the bag. He turns sits back down next to her on the bed and she reaches over to wipe some frosting from the corner of his mouth. John grabs her hand as she pulls it away.
"In the risk of sounding too serious, I want to thank you for doing this."
"Even without the candles?" Elizabeth asks.
"Well," John says, "a person can't be too selfish anyway."
"Selfish?"
"Yeah. I mean, what more can a guy really ask for? I'm living in the coolest city, flying the fastest aircraft, and..." He pushes a stray hair behind her ear. "...I have a beautiful woman making me cake."
John leans forward at the same time he sneaks his hand to the back of Elizabeth's head. She meets him half way. Their lips touch for the first time, a sweet mix of chocolate and new love.
The End.
I know it's short, but I wanted to get this out there so you guys don't forget about me. Sorry if I seem to have dropped off the map with SGA fan fiction. I'm transitioning into a new job and just don't have as much time to write. Doesn't it suck when reality gets in the way?
Oh - and soy milk? Just figured that this is probably what they would have since I didn't see any cows or cow-like animals in Atlantis or on the mainland.