Never again, Sheppard vowed, never again would he meddle in the affairs of McKay. Now when he heard things that went bump in the night, he would stick his head out the door and very politely tell them to go bother the Wraith.
He shuffled down the corridor in a stupor. Less than two hours of sleep and now he could barely function. He sleep-walked past the infirmary, just in time to hear McKay wake up. At least someone got enough sleep, Sheppard thought sourly. He paused outside the door in the hopes of hearing Teyla read him the Athosian version of a riot act. He was surprised and disappointed to hear her being kind and gracious. Sheppard sunk further into his bad mood. Just this once, couldn't she be a little less diplomatic? He brightened slightly when he heard her voice grow irritated. McKay did not know when to shut up. Time to come to the rescue once again, he supposed. What had he just been thinking, about not meddling?
"Morning Teyla," Sheppard said cheerfully, "Feeling better?" Teyla smiled tightly. "I'll just take McKay here..." Sheppard trailed off muttering some vague excuse, dragging the scientist with him. McKay didn't even notice as Sheppard propelled him through Atlantis and placed food in his hands. Instead he turned to Sheppard, prattling on about Teyla being mad at him. Even as Sheppard's eyes drooped shut something clunked into place within his sleep-deprived mind. "Do you like her?" he asked, too tired to be subtle.
McKay's mouth dropped open, revealing an unattractive mash of half-chewed food.
"You do, don't you?" Sheppard asked, stifiling another yawn. "Well you should ask her out, but I don't know if Weir would be cool with it..."
"Is that why you haven't asked her out?" McKay asked in an obvious and desperate attempt to change the subject.
"Who?" asked Sheppard, pretending he didn't already who McKay was going to name.
"Weir," said McKay, grinning evilly.
As if conjured by the sound of her name, their leader appeared in the door of the room where Sheppard and McKay were eating. At the sight of her face, Sheppard lost control of his limbs. His spoon dropped from his suddenly limp fingers. He prayed she wasn't looking for him. Their fight, followed so quickly by McKay's too brilliant deduction had put him on edge. He would babble like an idiot. Weir scanned the room. Please, please make her be here for some other reason. Not finding what she sought, Weir disappeared from the doorway. Sheppard breathed a sigh of relief. Then he caught the look on McKay's face. Crap.
"Don't like her, eh?"
"Of course not," Sheppard lied coolly. "She's way too uptight for me." He watched McKay's face anxiously. Rodney wasn't so easily persuaded.
"So why were you hiding from her?"
There was a reason Sheppard wasn't a diplomat. He prided himself on being somewhat honest. Often too honest. So even he was surprised when the story of the fight rolled off his tongue easily. McKay bought it, and Sheppard turned the tables on him at the first possible opportunity.
"So, what are you going to do about Teyla?" McKay looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"If you tell anyone I'll stab you with my fork," he hissed.
Sheppard tried desperately not to laugh.
(AuthorNote! Yes, we are horribleee awful about updating, but this is all on Aiy's computer, and I'm the only one who works on it now... My so-called "fellow authors" never want to work on it. Aiy says it's b/c she's always doing something else. At the moment she's making pink muffins. I kid you not, they were supposed to be pink cookies, but she didn't use anything remotely resembling a recipe.-Q)