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Daily Drabble #5 - Significant Others, SGA, John/Rodney

First commenter on the day's drabble(ish) gets to provide pairing and prompt for the next one. You can choose from Spike/Xander, John/Rodney and Sam/Dean or choose one of them as a solo character. Give me a word, or mood, or something to think on and I'll see what I can do. I may expand the possible selection if this works and I actually get my mojo firing on all cylinders. (Nobody gets two drabbles in a row. If you get one today, you don't get to have one tomorrow, even if your comment is up first.)

Author: darkhavens
Title: Significant Others
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG
Words: 798
Spoilers: Brief mention of events in 'McKay and Mrs. Miller'
Concrit: darkhavens @ slashverse.com. If you spot a typo, please feel free to tell me in comments. I want you to!
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. No harm, no foul, no money made.
Summary: Rodney has something to confess.
Notes: Daily Drabble #5, written for kimberlyfdr, who requested 'John/Rodney, Family'.



John let Rodney fidget and mumble and start a dozen pointless, aimless conversations before putting him out of his misery by forcing a confession.

"Spit it out before you choke on it, Rodney."

Rodney's expression flickered briefly through rabbit-in-the-headlights, denial and general shiftiness and then he dropped down onto the foot of John's bed and his whole being radiated resigned guilt.

The lack of immediate defensive muttering told John that whatever was going on in Rodney's head was serious. He carefully set aside the golf club he was cleaning and settled himself at the head of the bed.

The silence was getting heavier and more worrying by the second and John had never been any good at waiting. He stretched out one foot and poked Rodney in the ribs with his toes.

"Hey, whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

Rodney fiddled with his cuffs.

"Jeannie was at the SGC when we called in. She's been doing some consulting there and when Sam told her I was on the radio, she asked to speak to me."

His left cuff button came off into his twiddling fingers and he stared at it for a moment before pocketing it and switching his attention to the one on the right.

"She's pregnant again; five months along. We've been invited to their New Age "Welcome to the Family" head-wetting, flower-waving, screaming-little-brat-blessing ceremony."

John ignored the air quotes, figuring Rodney was under stress, though where exactly that was coming from, John still couldn't quite understand.

"I don't get why you're… Wait, we? We're invited?" And from the way Rodney's left eye twitched, John knew he'd hit on the source of the problem.

"I… No, I still don't get it, Rodney. I know you know Jeannie didn't invite me so we could continue the torrid clandestine affair we didn't start while she was here, so why are you so bothered? Or do you just not want me to come, is that it?"

Rodney opened his mouth to reply but John carried on with his verbal speculation.

"No, that's not what's got your panties in a knot. If you didn't want me to come you wouldn't have mentioned my invite in the first place, you would have-"

"She didn't invite you, okay?" The words burst out of Rodney at full volume, and then he blushed. "She said I could bring a friend, if I wanted to, and I'd said your name before it even occurred to me that you might not want to go."

He wrapped one large hand around the closest of John's ankles and absently traced the bones and tendons while looking everywhere but at John.

John nodded slowly, fitting all the jigsaw pieces together.

"You know that 'bring a friend' line really means 'bring a date', right?"

The hand on his ankle tightened as Rodney turned back to wordlessly study his expression. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he proffered a feeble smile.

"Oh." John blinked. "Oh!" His stomach did a back-flip. "So you… You want to tell her - about us? I… that's... Wow!" he couldn't stop the laugh that forced its way out.

"Gee, Rodney, you're taking me to meet the family. That's serious relationship stuff!"

Once again, Rodney's rabbit-in-the-headlights expression appeared, but as soon as he noticed the corners of John's mouth twitching, it was replaced by a scowl of epic proportions, even as he slumped, just a little, in relief.

"Oh, yes, very funny. Tease the man with no interpersonal skills. I… I just want somebody - Jeannie - to know about us. She's family and, well, so are you, I suppose, and oh, my god, can we please stop talking about this now before I break out in hives?"

As if to highlight his words, Rodney lifted his hand from John's ankle and scratched violently at his neck.

"See? See what you've done?"

Rodney chased the itch around the back of his neck and down under the collar of his shirt to his collar bone, not noticing that John was scootching his way down the bed until two strong legs wrapped around his waist.

"Hey." John dropped his chin onto Rodney's shoulder, displacing the scratching fingers, and slid his hands up under Rodney's shirt to palm his nipples.

"I happen to know you have some great interpersonal skills. Why don’t we get naked and I can show you which ones I like the best?"

Leaning back into John's embrace, Rodney was practically purring as John nuzzled the sensitive skin of his nape.

"And then you can help me choose what clothes to wear for the ceremony. I have to look my best if I'm going to be introduced as your significant other."

He was still laughing when Rodney finally managed to pin him to the bed.