Love Under Duress

A Little Kissing Couldn't Hurt

Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Warning: DADT mention

Rodney ignored the footsteps approaching him and groaned when he saw the boots of none other than Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, standing at the entrance to his lab. "What do you want, Sheppard?" he asked, not bothering to look up from his work.

"Hey McKay, wanna do something fun that would probably get me thrown out of the army if anyone caught us?" John asked quickly, no doubt with an overconfident grin plastered on his face. The man groaned yet again, looking up, "No, I am not interested in going on a dangerous secret mission, and I have no doubt that your idea of fun varies greatly from mine-"

He abruptly stopped at the end of his sentence when he noticed that John looked extremely nervous, leaning against the doorframe. His brow furrowed, "Sheppard, are you alright? What sort of mission are you talking about, exactly?"

The man standing in the doorway cleared his throat nervously and began speaking again, "Well, it's less of a mission and more of, uh-" He stopped talking. He couldn't seem to get the words out. Rodney was slightly worried now; John had no reason to be worried by talking to him, unless perhaps he thought Rodney would be upset with him at his proposal. Still... no. It was very unlike him.

Rodney stood from his workplace, approaching the man and looking him over with a modicum of concern, "You're actually starting to worry me now. Are you sure you weren't infected with something or replaced by an alien on our last mission? Maybe I should call Beckett to get you checked out."

That seemed to knock John out of his stupor, and he suddenly started speaking again, "Ah, no! That's not necessary at all. It's just... I meant I'd like to kiss you." He blurted out so quickly that Rodney was unsure if he'd heard him correctly, and his face quickly turned red when he realized the implications of John's statement.

"Oh, I-" Rodney wasn't sure what to say to that. John covered the lower half of his face with his hand, embarrassed and a bit disappointed. Rodney realized that it sounded like he was saying no, and also simultaneously realized that he might not exactly want to say no, so he quickly amended his statement, blurting out whatever words came to mind.

"I- I mean it's not like I'd object to such a thing and I might possibly even enjoy something like that and oh my god this is so embarrassing-" John cut him off, Rodney's words returning a cocky grin to his face. "You wouldn't mind kissing me, huh? Perhaps even enjoy it?" he asked with mock surprise, teasing Rodney.

Rodney's face flushed red, and John was pleased to get such a reaction out of him, seeing as how he expected a complete rejection, perhaps even anger or disgust. "Hey!" Rodney protested, "It's not like you're horribly unattractive or anything and it just so happens that you're the most bearable out of all the idiots in this damned city."

He paused. If he was being honest with himself, it's not like he hadn't thought of John as something other than a friend, though with DADT still in effect, he had kept those thoughts completely to himself. He spoke up, "But, couldn't you get in trouble? I mean if- if we got caught."

"And what would Weir do?" John asked, "Lock me in my quarters for kissing a man? Plus, I doubt she'd even mind. She's not military." It's not like he hadn't thought about it, but he'd mostly been worried about outright homophobia from Rodney. Not like he thought badly of the man, he had a sort of crush on him- one that could put a schoolgirl to shame- but... you could never know.

Rodney nodded, realizing he was right. "Okay, so, you want to... do it, I guess? Or are you gonna keep teasing me about it forever?" he asked somewhat nervously, perhaps worried that this was all a big joke of some sort to put his feelings on display and poke fun at them. Perhaps the rest of the expedition was waiting to point their fingers and laugh at him. It seemed that his ego wasn't boundless after all, since he somehow couldn't believe that someone like John would be interested in him in any way.

He nervously glanced at John, and the dark-haired man only smiled, conscientiously cupping Rodney's face with his hands. He leaned forward, and Rodney realized he should probably close his eyes. So he did, and maybe for a second he thought it was just a dream, as it did seem almost suspiciously similar; That thought left his head as their lips met, and he realized John was too real to not be.

John pulled away first, dropping his hands to his sides, an unconscious euphoric smile on his face. Rodney let the corner of his mouth tug upward as he stared at the beautiful man in front of him. Rodney suddenly started laughing, "At least everyone won't have to deal with our constant bickering anymore."

"Oh yes, we'll be doing quite the opposite of that," John said, smiling. He reached behind him to seal the door to Rodney's lab- in case anyone suddenly came looking for either of them- and leaned in for another kiss. "Perhaps we should handle ourselves with a bit of discretion, though," he said before their lips met. Rodney nodded, not really listening. He was too entranced by a certain Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard to care.