Last chapter
"U r S3xi3"
Elizabeth's face lit up and she beamed at John. Her bony fingers immediately started tapping away at the buttons once again;
"U r 2"
Carson' eyes widened further than he had thought medically possible.
A wicked grin made its way across John's mouth causing Elizabeth to blush a light red. John's heart started to beat a little faster, pleased at the emotions he was so easily evoking.
Annoyed at the pleasure John was having at seeing her so clearly embarrassed, she deftly retrieved the calculator before the colonel could, and began to type again…
And now…
She sent the calculator spinning across the table. It lightly bumped against John's arm, who immediately spun it round to face him;
"N1cE A55"
He licked his lips absentmindedly, his cheeks growing hot at the sight of Elizabeth's raised eyebrow in reply.
This was going a little too far… he didn't want any awkward situations; he loved Elizabeth – as a friend, anyway, he quickly added… Na, they were adults! Who was he kidding? It was just a little fun…
"…and you know what?" Rodney's voice suddenly re-tuned itself to John and Elizabeth's listening frequency. "…I get the distinct impression no one here is actually listening to me!"
John stared blankly at an angry looking Rodney Mckay, who had been, just moments ago, approaching the climax of his "anti-cafeteria-chairs" rant. Elizabeth recovered quickly, creasing her eyebrows into a "this-is-a-serious-matter" type frown.
"I completely agree Rodney. I will contact the Daedalus and request new chair cushions to be delivered as quickly as possible" She nodded, a faint smile across her lips.
Rodney looked momentarily surprised at Elizabeth's quick reply, for he had been almost certain she and Sheppard had been up to something. Ah well, he must have been mistaken after all…
"Anything else, Rodney?" John asked innocently.
"Well, yes, as a matter of fact. I was just going to briefly mention this one to Carson later on, but now that you're all here…" Rodney paused, briefly concerned at the possibility he was taking up perhaps a little too much of the allotted meeting time dedicated to "Other Issues".
This reflection was swiftly ignored, and he continued as before;
"On many occasions I have found myself limping through cross-fire, struggling through damp forestry and endless fields, the pain often too great to bare. But I have pushed aside these waves of nausea; grinned and bared the excruciating hurt – if not for me, then for my team-" Carson leant forwards, bemused at how such an injury could have escaped his notice.
Rodney raised his hand to his forehead, unintentionally mimicking the pain he had no doubt suffered "…Yes! The insoles of my combat boots are unbearable!" He stressed, a look of wild disgust plastered across his face mirrored exactly the high regard in which he held this crisis.
"HA!" Carson spurted out, cramming a fist into his mouth to muffle any further hysterics. Rodney gave him a quizzical look, irritated at this untimely interruption. Elizabeth too, turned away, heading towards a nearby window as if in thought, concealing fits of laughter in a sudden outburst of coughing.
John stared open mouthed at Earth's leading scientist, unable to comprehend how anything so trivial – so minutely interesting – could be of such concern to this universal genius. Ronon and Teyla's expressions, however, made up for what the other's wholly unsympathetic ones lacked.
In- souls? This sounded painful indeed. Why were they laughing at what was so obviously a disaster? In-souls… Wraith technology by the sounds of things…The poor doctor, we must help.
Returning to the table, Elizabeth's gaze fell upon the two warriors; both looking a little confused, but nonetheless sympathising with Rodney.
"Teyla, Ronon. Insoles are the cushioning found on the base of a shoe…" Elizabeth explained, grinning. It took a moment to grasp, but eventually both sets of eyebrows rose as they simultaneously turned towards Rodney, then back again.
"What!" they spoke in unison.
10 minutes later
"Yes Rodney, now run along and soak your poor injured feet for a few hours. Goodness knows the battering they've taken after having to walk to this meeting!"
"Shep-" John closed the door, Rodney's retaliation cut short. He'd continue this argument later.
The remainder of his team and Carson, had too, left. Running his hand through his hair, he turned his attention back to Elizabeth.
"Yeah, you let that one go too far, Elizabeth". She sighed inwardly, reflecting on the "conversation" she had shared with Sheppard. He was her best friend, and the carefully constructed walls she'd spent so long building were close to crumbling. And yet, as she looked at his flyboy grin, Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if the risk she had forbidden herself from taking, could - in the end - be worth it. She smiled back at him, and then leaned forward to retrieve the calculator.
"Yoink" Johns hand swept out and deftly seized the calculator, just inches away from Elizabeth's grasp. She glared at him in mock anger.
"Ha ha – ha ha – ha h- HEY!" John cried, as a smirking Elizabeth retrieved the calculator from his outstretched hand, which, had moments before, been waving the prize tantalisingly close to her face.
"Mwaha. Victory is mine John Sheppard. Don't be so cocky" Elizabeth laughed, sitting down at her desk. John sniggered. Following her inadvertently, he looked for a nearby chair. Finding none, he cleared a space on the desk before sliding himself on top of it, still smirking.
"What was that snigger for Colonel?" Elizabeth questioned, opening the first report that lay before her. John shook his head, dismissing the subject.
"Well, what was it?" She asked again, oblivious to dismissal.
"Well!" repeated a confused Elizabeth, raising her head from the report. She thought back to what she had just said; "Oh! Really, you are pathetic! The leading military figure…" She shook her head in disgust, "Sometimes I think you are possibly as immature as Rodney. Laughing at the word "Cocky"?" She paused in disbelief. "You're a kid, John Sheppard."
John mimicked pain, "Hey, call me what you want, throw a punch, kick my shins, beam me to a passing hive ship, but I resent being compared to McKay."
"Which reminds me, haven't you got an argument to finish with Rodney?" She asked, swiftly moving the conversation on, hopefully towards an ending.
"Trying to get rid of me are you, Miss. Weir"
"Yes, I am" She nodded, shunting several reports along the desk, nudging Sheppard in the back.
"Sure you don't want a hand with these?" He asked, nodding towards the pile of reports.
"No, I think I'm ok thank you, Colonel"
"Right…and-" he jumped off the desk, tapping her on the shoulder" "You're it"
"I'm what?" She asked, raising her head once again from her reports.
"You know; it, tag. Now you have to chase me"
"Oh get out" she laughed. And with that, he was gone. Picking her pen up, she started reading the report for the third time. Three lines in, and she had taken nothing in. Elizabeth sighed, her mind floating back to the conversation they'd just shared. Allowing heself a few seconds reflection, she returned again to the report, this time determined to make progress.
Hey, yeah, haven't updated this in a while! Wrote it pretty quickly, so sorry for any grammar points... Pandi xx