ozsaur
in
mcsheplets
Fic: Let Them Eat Cake
Title: Let Them Eat Cake
Author: ozsaur
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: G
Word Count: 1350
Notes: Goodness, this thing is fluffy! Big heaping bowl of fluff! I made dustandroses read it over anyway -- thanks for polishing the story up!
More Notes: Written for the Still In Love challenge.
John lined up the ingredients on the kitchen counter, then all the bowls and utensils he would need. Rodney always made fun of John's methodical approach to cooking, but he never made fun of the results. Smiling, John began to measure and mix, cleaning up after himself as he went along. Rodney was as good a cook, but he left a disaster behind him that he expected someone else, namely John, to clean up. John, on the other hand, left the kitchen nearly as clean as when he started.
Even though he didn't bake Rodney's favorite cake very often, he didn't need to look at the recipe. He kept the recipe card nearby just in case, but he easily fell into the familiar steps and didn't glance at it once. Once the pans were in the oven, he went to get cleaned up.
After his shower, John paused as he was leaving the bathroom and went back to rummage in the cabinet for Rodney's sunscreen. He spent the rest of the afternoon out on the balcony, enjoying the sun and the sea breeze while reading a book. He got up only to tend to the cake and fix himself a sandwich for lunch.
It was rare to have a day off to sit and do simple things. He might not be the military commander of Atlantis any more, but his days were always busy, and there still never seemed to be enough time in the day to get everything done, not to mention the endless paperwork that had to be filled out.
He could have gone to Athos to visit Teyla and the kids and take a look at how the reclamation project was going, but he would have been drawn into some project or another, and no matter how fun or interesting, it wouldn't have been restful. Restful was what he needed. He'd finally admitted, if only to himself, that he might not be as young as he used to be when he realized he'd rather nap than go running with Ronon. He still ran, he'd never give it up, but he'd scaled back to an easy mile or two a day, and was much more careful with his body than he used to be.
Tomorrow, he'd ask Teyla how the reclamation of Athos was going, and how the colony on New Athos was coming along. The team still got together for meals regularly, even though they weren't really a team any more. They mostly went out to maintain ties with their allies, which meant feasts and festivals; it was one of the perks of being the former flagship team, and accruing quite a reputation for themselves.
To John's surprise, he really didn't miss it. That was probably the most shocking thing he had figured out since the series of battles that brought the Wraith to their knees. Between the alliance of the Pegasus Consortium with Earth forces as well as a group of their Milky Way allies, the 10,000 year reign of the Wraith at the top of the food chain was well and truly over. There were still a few hive ships out there, but it was only a matter of time before they became legends used to frighten children around camp fires.
John was content with that. He'd played his part, and his name would go down in history books, but for now, he was happy to bake in his own kitchen on Atlantis. A half hour before Rodney was due to come home, John prepared a light meal. With cake for dessert, they didn't need one of Rodney's heart attack favorite dishes for dinner.
John was just putting the cake on the table when Rodney came barreling into their quarters, talking a mile a minute as he divested himself of his jacket and laptop. Tossing them onto the chair by the door, he headed into their bedroom. He was still talking when he came out again, dressed in more comfortable clothing and his favorite house slippers.
John folded his arms and waited for Rodney to notice the cake, which didn't take long. He stopped in his tracks, mouth slightly open on his next word, and visibly changed gears.
"Oh, god, what did I forget? Your birthday? No, can't be your birthday, you always get vanilla cake, and that's chocolate. Is it my birthday? That's my favorite, right? Double fudge, triple layer cake with chocolate mocha icing. Wait, it's not my birthday, Jeannie always sends me a present. Did I get a present? Oh! Our anniversary! -- "
"Rodney, Rodney, hold up. It's just cake. I was in the mood to bake today."
Instead of looking pleased with it, Rodney's shoulders slumped. "John, I'm sorry. My memory isn't what it used to be."
John walked over and gave Rodney a little shake. "Cut it out, you didn't forget anything."
"Is this about me not staying home today? I wanted to, I did. But the inspections had been scheduled for weeks and I couldn't put them off. Good thing, too, you have no idea what the botanists have been up to. Weaponized dandelions! Can you believe that? I said no to that project, and they started it anyway. They thought it would be okay since they did it on their own time, but they've been using unauthorized resources for their hairbrained -- "
John laughed, "Weaponized dandelions?"
Rodney smirked, "You remember, that plant from PLK-239. The one that can shoot seeds as far as a klick away. The one that got Lieutenant Rowly in the ass and he had to spend three hours in the infirmary having them pulled out with a pair of tweezers."
Rodney looked almost gleeful about that, and John didn't really blame him. As far as Rodney was concerned, spending several years being the guy who got shot in the ass with an arrow was several years too many. It was about time someone else took over the torch, and lived with all the ass jokes.
"Good thing you caught them, then," John said.
But the smile slowly slid from Rodney's face. "John, I really am sorry."
John cupped Rodney's face in his hands and kissed him gently. "You don't have to take time off just because I do."
"I know, but we never seem to have enough time together."
John rolled his eyes. "We spend plenty of time together."
"Yes, but not just the two of us. We usually plan things for our days off. We visit Teyla or Ronon, and when we go on vacation, we always end up at Jeannie's or Dave's. I can't remember the last time it was just the two of us."
"Hey, I didn't bake a double fudge, triple layer cake with chocolate mocha icing to make you feel guilty. I just wanted to do something nice for you."
Rodney started to smile again. "Nice, huh?"
"Yeah, nice. Sometimes I want to do nice things. Because, you know... I want you to know that I lo -- have these feelings. And whatnot."
"I think you might have reached another milestone in your personal development. Now you can express yourself with chocolate cake instead of by smacking me on the back of the head."
John very lightly smacked Rodney on the back of his head.
"Ow," Rodney said, then kissed John soft and sweet. When he drew back, licking the taste of John off his lips, he said, "Let's eat cake."
"What about dinner?"
"Cake first. Dinner later."
As John headed to the kitchen to get the plates, Rodney stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Just so you know," he said, "I feel like chocolate cake about you too."
John laughed, and drew Rodney into another kiss. The cake could wait.
Author: ozsaur
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: G
Word Count: 1350
Notes: Goodness, this thing is fluffy! Big heaping bowl of fluff! I made dustandroses read it over anyway -- thanks for polishing the story up!
More Notes: Written for the Still In Love challenge.
John lined up the ingredients on the kitchen counter, then all the bowls and utensils he would need. Rodney always made fun of John's methodical approach to cooking, but he never made fun of the results. Smiling, John began to measure and mix, cleaning up after himself as he went along. Rodney was as good a cook, but he left a disaster behind him that he expected someone else, namely John, to clean up. John, on the other hand, left the kitchen nearly as clean as when he started.
Even though he didn't bake Rodney's favorite cake very often, he didn't need to look at the recipe. He kept the recipe card nearby just in case, but he easily fell into the familiar steps and didn't glance at it once. Once the pans were in the oven, he went to get cleaned up.
After his shower, John paused as he was leaving the bathroom and went back to rummage in the cabinet for Rodney's sunscreen. He spent the rest of the afternoon out on the balcony, enjoying the sun and the sea breeze while reading a book. He got up only to tend to the cake and fix himself a sandwich for lunch.
It was rare to have a day off to sit and do simple things. He might not be the military commander of Atlantis any more, but his days were always busy, and there still never seemed to be enough time in the day to get everything done, not to mention the endless paperwork that had to be filled out.
He could have gone to Athos to visit Teyla and the kids and take a look at how the reclamation project was going, but he would have been drawn into some project or another, and no matter how fun or interesting, it wouldn't have been restful. Restful was what he needed. He'd finally admitted, if only to himself, that he might not be as young as he used to be when he realized he'd rather nap than go running with Ronon. He still ran, he'd never give it up, but he'd scaled back to an easy mile or two a day, and was much more careful with his body than he used to be.
Tomorrow, he'd ask Teyla how the reclamation of Athos was going, and how the colony on New Athos was coming along. The team still got together for meals regularly, even though they weren't really a team any more. They mostly went out to maintain ties with their allies, which meant feasts and festivals; it was one of the perks of being the former flagship team, and accruing quite a reputation for themselves.
To John's surprise, he really didn't miss it. That was probably the most shocking thing he had figured out since the series of battles that brought the Wraith to their knees. Between the alliance of the Pegasus Consortium with Earth forces as well as a group of their Milky Way allies, the 10,000 year reign of the Wraith at the top of the food chain was well and truly over. There were still a few hive ships out there, but it was only a matter of time before they became legends used to frighten children around camp fires.
John was content with that. He'd played his part, and his name would go down in history books, but for now, he was happy to bake in his own kitchen on Atlantis. A half hour before Rodney was due to come home, John prepared a light meal. With cake for dessert, they didn't need one of Rodney's heart attack favorite dishes for dinner.
John was just putting the cake on the table when Rodney came barreling into their quarters, talking a mile a minute as he divested himself of his jacket and laptop. Tossing them onto the chair by the door, he headed into their bedroom. He was still talking when he came out again, dressed in more comfortable clothing and his favorite house slippers.
John folded his arms and waited for Rodney to notice the cake, which didn't take long. He stopped in his tracks, mouth slightly open on his next word, and visibly changed gears.
"Oh, god, what did I forget? Your birthday? No, can't be your birthday, you always get vanilla cake, and that's chocolate. Is it my birthday? That's my favorite, right? Double fudge, triple layer cake with chocolate mocha icing. Wait, it's not my birthday, Jeannie always sends me a present. Did I get a present? Oh! Our anniversary! -- "
"Rodney, Rodney, hold up. It's just cake. I was in the mood to bake today."
Instead of looking pleased with it, Rodney's shoulders slumped. "John, I'm sorry. My memory isn't what it used to be."
John walked over and gave Rodney a little shake. "Cut it out, you didn't forget anything."
"Is this about me not staying home today? I wanted to, I did. But the inspections had been scheduled for weeks and I couldn't put them off. Good thing, too, you have no idea what the botanists have been up to. Weaponized dandelions! Can you believe that? I said no to that project, and they started it anyway. They thought it would be okay since they did it on their own time, but they've been using unauthorized resources for their hairbrained -- "
John laughed, "Weaponized dandelions?"
Rodney smirked, "You remember, that plant from PLK-239. The one that can shoot seeds as far as a klick away. The one that got Lieutenant Rowly in the ass and he had to spend three hours in the infirmary having them pulled out with a pair of tweezers."
Rodney looked almost gleeful about that, and John didn't really blame him. As far as Rodney was concerned, spending several years being the guy who got shot in the ass with an arrow was several years too many. It was about time someone else took over the torch, and lived with all the ass jokes.
"Good thing you caught them, then," John said.
But the smile slowly slid from Rodney's face. "John, I really am sorry."
John cupped Rodney's face in his hands and kissed him gently. "You don't have to take time off just because I do."
"I know, but we never seem to have enough time together."
John rolled his eyes. "We spend plenty of time together."
"Yes, but not just the two of us. We usually plan things for our days off. We visit Teyla or Ronon, and when we go on vacation, we always end up at Jeannie's or Dave's. I can't remember the last time it was just the two of us."
"Hey, I didn't bake a double fudge, triple layer cake with chocolate mocha icing to make you feel guilty. I just wanted to do something nice for you."
Rodney started to smile again. "Nice, huh?"
"Yeah, nice. Sometimes I want to do nice things. Because, you know... I want you to know that I lo -- have these feelings. And whatnot."
"I think you might have reached another milestone in your personal development. Now you can express yourself with chocolate cake instead of by smacking me on the back of the head."
John very lightly smacked Rodney on the back of his head.
"Ow," Rodney said, then kissed John soft and sweet. When he drew back, licking the taste of John off his lips, he said, "Let's eat cake."
"What about dinner?"
"Cake first. Dinner later."
As John headed to the kitchen to get the plates, Rodney stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Just so you know," he said, "I feel like chocolate cake about you too."
John laughed, and drew Rodney into another kiss. The cake could wait.