I have no idea Ronon's age, but I think he's supposed to be younger than Sheppard and Co, so I'm going to say 28 for now,

Sparklyshimmer2010 - I'm glad you like that one. I was trying to go for more emotion in it. There are so many layers to the character John Sheppard, I only hope to be able to capture some of them.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

John. And sweets. They go together well.

In many senses.

I mean, it's fun to watch him enjoying a piece of cake, the blissful expression on his face and the way he eats it slowly, sometime giving a little moan and grin. I think, one of those occasions, however, he was having lemon coffee cake, and was being more dramatic about it, than usual, just because McKay was sitting across from him.

Still, maybe Rodney didn't enjoy the show, but I certainly did.

Then again, how could anyone not enjoy John making dessert seem almost...sinful?

Today's dessert was chocolate cake, and if you were lucky enough to be a good friend to the person who baked the cakes, they'd make an extra one just for... Well, I asked a couple extra be baked today, simply because it was Ronon's birthday, back on his home world. He didn't understand our rituals, but it was John's idea, and I had to agree, I thought it might be fun.

So there were three extra cakes made, and I planned to have extra big slices for the senior staff, and a whole cake for Ronon himself. You should see that boy eat! I never planned for what happened, to happen. And between you and me, that was a security feed I was going to keep and play again and again. The whole thing was, well..

Ok. First of all, I should start from the beginning. John loves sweets, ok? Anything will do, from sweet tart lollipops he can munch on throughout the day, to pieces of gum, to gummy candies he can smuggle from earth. Anything.

Ronon... He loves a lot of our foods, our sweets especially.

And I really don't think either of them meant for this to happen. Really. Still...

John was carrying the cake into the lunch room for Ronon's birthday.

He wanted to do it, seeing himself more as Ronon's best friend, which was true, than anyone. Teyla didn't know much about the ritual, but would have a chance to find out for herself when her birthday came around, and Rodney... He was all for it, especially when he realized there would be cake.

"It's a tradition, Ronon. How people celebrate their date of birth varies, but they almost always involve cake and a party of some sort with your friends." I remembered John telling him with a grin before disappearing into the kitchen.

He hadn't taken long before the lights in the room dimmed. Of course, Teyla and Ronon hadn't known this was coming, so they'd dropped into defensive stands, Ronon grabbing his blaster quickly.

It took myself and McKay to inform them it was part of the tradition, for them to relax, even though Ronon had made a point to point out how impractical it was. Sure, it took away from our ability to see enemies skulking around, but here in Atlantis, I certainly hoped we didn't have enemies there, at that moment, to worry about.

The singing started up... First just John, who was carrying the cake with one big lit candle in the center, shaped into a number. 28. Yeah, it surprised me, too. Under all those dreadlocks and that beard, there was a surprisingly young man underneath.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you..."

One by one, we all began singing. John was eyeing the cake with the usual glint in his eyes, as if he wanted to rush off and eat it himself. Obviously, his sweet tooth was whispering sweet nothings into his ears again.

"Happy birthday dear Ronon..."

Said Satedan seemed quite uncomfortable when everyone sang that part, maybe because of the 'dear' in it.

"Happy birthday to you!"

John was by his side, quietly urging him to make a wish and blow out the candles so they could get on with stuffing their faces. I couldn't help the grin when Ronon looked at him blankly and John had to explain the wish part.

And how it wasn't to be repeated loudly or it wouldn't come true.

And then how it was just a tradition, and everyone knew their wish might not necessarily come true, anyway.

And then threaten to walk off and eat the cake himself if Ronon didn't stop asking questions and blow the damn candles out.

I was kind of glad I had Lt. Cadman manning a video camera, catching all this. Security feed be damned. I wanted a copy of that tape!

When he finally did blow the candle out, Rodney had already gotten the knife to cut the cake, but John decided to forego the birthday boy doing the cutting, when it came to Ronon and his fondness with knives. Instead, he was walking next to Ronon as they made their way to a table to set the cake on, for cutting.

Now, maybe Ronon meant it as a joke, or maybe he forgot just how strong he was, compared to the rest of us, but he suddenly decided to turn and clap John on the back. It was meant as a friendly pat, as if to say 'thanks, buddy', but John tripped from the force and ended up doing a face dive.

...Right into the cake.

I felt my jaw drop. I saw Rodney's jaw drop and Teyla's eyebrows skyrocket. I saw Evan cover his mouth as a grin began to spread across his face. I heard Lt. Cadman snicker, and Carson's comment of 'oh, boy'. Ronon looked torn between mourning his lost cake, and laughing his ass off at John, as the Colonel slowly got up.

He stayed quiet as he looked down at himself.

His face was covered in cake and icing, and even as he cleared it out of his eyes, I had a feeling he'd be redder than a beet under it all. It clung to his hair, and his shirt, and the massive chunk of cake slowly slid down his chest to smear cake all over his uniform top, his arms, and down his pants.

...And maybe down his pants.

My eyes began to water as I quickly covered my mouth. The room was dead silent except for the occasional snicker and hiccup of laughter. Wincing a little, Ronon grabbed a massive handful of napkins from shocked, and enjoying this entirely too much Rodney, and handed them to John.

"Uh, sorry?" He offered with one of his toothy grins, showing he wasn't really all that sorry. Sticking his finger in a lump, he licked it off and seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Good cake."

John nodded quietly, his face carefully masked.

Shaking my head, I walked over and folded my arms over my chest, completely unable to fight the huge grin that crossed my face. "Colonel. Are you alright?"

Zelenka was muttering gibberish, and I realized it must have been his native language. Bubbles of hiccupped laughter kept escaping, but he'd promptly straighten his face, and try to look mournful, or at least sympathetic, only to end up laughing again.

John looked at me a long moment before nodding. Opening his mouth, he licked his lips and brushed his cake covered hands over his cake covered shirt. "Yeah, I'm...uh, fine."

Following Ronon's example, I slid a finger through the icing on his cheek, trying not to blush when I felt my finger rub against his cheek, itself, and licked my finger afterwards. "Mmmm. Ronon was right. This is good cake."

He nodded again. "Thanks." He took a step closer, his eyes narrowing.

Grinning a little, I tilted my head. "You know, that's a good look for you, John."

Hmm... John as dessert. Now there's an idea.

Now one of his cake smeared eyebrows rose. "Really?" He began to smirk, and I felt my eyes narrow.

"John..." I slipped a warning tone in there, despite my being highly amused at the whole situation. "Don't you dare..."

I caught Ronon grinning and slipped him a slight glare for starting all this.

"Sorry Elizabeth." John stated loudly as he stepped forward. Reaching out, I felt his arms slide around my waist and pull.

"John!" Yes, I'll admit, I yelped. Not screeched, not squealed, but yelped. I felt myself fall forward, and the icy slick coldness of the cake crushing against my chest as my jaw dropped again. "Let me go!"

Cheers started up, and so did a bunch of wolf whistles. I felt my face heat up, even as the icing on the side of his neck brushed against my cheek. Then John did something totally unexpected.

Grabbing my cheeks with his hands, he pulled my head back and the next thing I knew, a pair of very sweet warm lips were being pressed against my own. I gasped, and felt my eyes widen, before they quickly shut as he pressed his face right against mine, smearing cake all over me. Still he kissed me and before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing him back.

I wonder if I can get him to pop out of my cake on my birthday? Or maybe, repeat this without a shirt? And maybe alone, without an audience?

The wolf whistles and laughter brought me back to the present only seconds later, I guessed, and getting an idea, I ran a hand down his chest, collecting a big pile of cake. As he pulled away from the kiss, looking all too smug with himself, I grinned and reached out, reaching up the back of his shirt and smearing the cake all over his back, watching as he jumped around with a yelp, trying to dig the stuff back out.

Yes. John loves sweets, but I have to say. I love John covered in sweets.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

So, um... John covered in cake. There's a thought.

This chapter was inspired by ChiaraHhue 's 'Just Desserts'. Have to love the idea of Colonel John Sheppard 'as' dessert, hmm??

Hope you like it.

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi