FIC: Must Love Dogs, by mdime02
Title: Must Love Dogs and Genius Astrophysicists (But Not Citrus)
Author: mdime02
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Prompt: Must Love Dogs
Rating: R
Category: AU, romance
Word Count: ~3,850
Summary: Forced by his sister back into the dating game, can Rodney McKay find the one for him - the one who must love dogs?
Disclaimer: If you had yourself a Quantum Mirror, perhaps you’d find a universe where SGA belongs to me. Alas, this one isn’t it. *pouts*
Author’s Note: This is…not at all what I was expecting. I like it anyway.
If he were being totally honest with himself, Rodney had stopped listening - or contributing beyond the occasional grunt or nod of agreement - at least five minutes earlier. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate Jeannie interfering in his life, it was just…well, sometimes he really, really didn’t.
“You did what?!”
Jeannie smiled, that smug happily-married, already-procreated, I’m-your-little-sister-and-you-have-to-love-me smile that even his sternest glare had never been able to dim. “Created a profile for you. Honestly, Mer, if I didn’t step in, who knows how much longer you’d mope about Katie before getting back out there.”
“Out where?”
Jeannie rolled her eyes. “There! Out there, in the world. Where people date.”
“I’ll date when there’s someone worth dating.”
“And how do you plan on finding this person? You’ve barely left the house in weeks!”
Rodney spluttered. “Because I’m working!”
“Zelenka says you’re in a slump.”
“Zelenka’s a petty, jealous little man.”
“No, Mer, that’s you. And don’t give me that face - you’re not getting any younger, and God knows it will take a while to find a nice girl willing to put up with you.”
Rodney clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “Put up with!? I - ”
“Then prove me wrong. Take a look at your responses, set up meetings, and make an effort. That’s all I’m asking…you’re not just going to bump into someone at the grocery store and end up married. You need to try.”
“I did try,” Rodney sighed. “I also got left at the altar.”
“Oh come on, you guys hadn’t even set a date yet -”
“That’s hardly the point, though, is it? Katie was my best shot, and I managed to screw that one up, too.”
“Mer, look at me.” Rodney obligingly turned his head, and Jeannie continued, “You are a brilliant, handsome, good man. Yes, you’re socially inept and appallingly blunt, but you will find someone who likes you for you, faults and all - someone who doesn’t just ‘put up with’ you but really, truly sees you and loves you for yourself. You will. I promise.”
“Yeah, well, until then, apparently, I’m going to be dating a bunch of crazy people desperate enough to try an online dating service.”
Jeannie smiled. “See? Everything will be great.”
*****
“I do not believe it is your place to find me a man, John Sheppard.”
John ducked his head. “Yeah, well, I just thought…you’ve been so down since Kanaan and I…”
Teyla sighed. “You meant well, I know. But you should have suggested the service rather than creating an account for me and posting it so that I have no choice.”
“Right, well, next time I’ll - ”
“There will not be a next time.”
John shrunk beneath her glare. “Yes, Teyla. I’m sorry.” She raised an eyebrow and he added, “I won’t do it again. I promise.”
“Very well. So, let me see what paragons of manly virtue you have found on the internet.”
John brightened. “Really?”
“Well, I would not like to see your effort go to waste, even though it was misguided. After all, I do quite like the profile and descriptions you wrote.”
“Okay then, this first response is…”
*****
“I’ve been on five first dates in two weeks. I’m done.”
“But Mer -”
“Done!”
Jeannie sighed. “You shouldn’t get discouraged just because -”
“Because they’re crazy people? I mean seriously, they’ve all been Looney Tunes. Not to mention the humiliation of my first date. I show up there looking for love and I find Cadman. Laura Cadman.”
“I never understood what you have against her, Mer. She’s a very nice girl and…” Jeannie trailed off, wilting under her brother’s glare. “Okay, yes, that was an unfortunate start, but it’s also pretty funny.”
“Funny?! You accidentally set me up on a date with the woman I was once trapped in an elevator with! A tap dancing explosives expert who had previously tricked Carson into dating her. What could we possibly have in common?
Rodney paused to drain his coffee mug and Jeannie quickly cut in, saying, “She seemed different from her profile, I really didn’t know it was Laura. But that doesn’t mean you give up. Yes, your second date ended in tears, and yes, the third brought her mother along, but…”
Jeannie trailed off, seeming to realize that she wasn’t helping matters. Rodney, meanwhile, had been struck by a sudden realization and his expression changed from one of frustration to one of dawning horror.
“Jeannie,” he said slowly.
“Hmm?”
“What, exactly, did you say in my profile?”
*****
John groaned, but knew he didn’t stand a chance. He was, after all, the one who had gotten Teyla into this whole blind date thing in the first place.
“Are you sure you can’t just -”
“John Sheppard, I cannot believe that you would even ask me such a thing. I am unable to go on the date that I arranged, but neither can I simply not show up. It is very simple: you will take Jinto to the dog walk, look for the man matching the description, and convey my regrets at canceling our plans.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Thank you.” Teyla smiled. “And later, you can tell me whether or not I should try to reschedule.”
John smirked. “You’re going to trust my opinion?”
She arched a brow. “Don’t I always?”
*****
Rodney scanned the park anxiously, hoping that his date would magically appear before he had to look at his watch again and gauge his relative humiliation. The only women in sight were either far too young or far too old. He hadn’t really been stood up, had he?
Lump tugged on her leash again and Rodney followed, letting her lead him towards a bench that sat in the shade of a large tree. Maybe he would sit down, rest a minute…
Not really paying attention, Rodney stumbled over an overeager spaniel with a Frisbee. The dog yelped but immediately went back to tumbling across the grass with his toy.
“Sorry ‘bout that, he doesn’t look where he’s going.”
Rodney looked up at the man approaching him, sharp remark dying on his lips as he took in the lean form and handsome face - and the outrageously messy hair. “Yes, well, apparently neither do I.”
The man grinned. “No harm no foul, then.”
“I suppose not.” He said the words absently, still staring.
“Nice dog you’ve got there.”
“Hmm?” That hair was utterly distracting. How did he get it to stick up like that?
“Your puppy? What is he, about seven months?”
Rodney shook his head, turning his attention to the dog at the end of his leash. “Oh, yes. Almost eight. And it’s she.”
“Well, she’s a beauty. What’s the little lady’s name?”
“Lump.”
The man looked down at the puppy cautiously sniffing his own, then raised a skeptical eyebrow in Rodney’s direction.
“Well not really. I just call her that. She’s my niece’s dog, I bought her, but Maddy’s only four and, well, Sugar Lump. They usually call her Sugar, but I…”
“Call her Lump.” The man chuckled. “Your…sister? Brother? Must love that.”
“Actually, my sister thinks it’s hysterical, especially when Madison gets all hyped up about it, but my brother-in-law is none too pleased. And yours?”
“Jinto. He’s not mine either, I’m just walking him for a friend.”
“No dog of your own?”
“No, I…not anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Rodney said, and he meant it, too. The sadness that flashed through the man’s previously laughing eyes was doing painful things to Rodney’s insides. He knew how much it hurt to lose a dog, even if his younger self had been deluded into believing she’d found another family to take her in.
“Must love dogs,” he muttered under his breath, cursing Jeannie once more for this entire pointless exercise.
“Excuse me?” The man looked suddenly interested.
“Oh, it’s just…I identify as a cat person. I like cats. They’re independent, clean, intelligent…but my sister is convinced otherwise, like I’m harboring some deep hidden love for slobber and muddy paws.”
Reminded of his date, Rodney scanned the park again.
“Looking for someone?”
“I was supposed to meet…nevermind. It doesn’t matter.” Rodney shook his head. True love wasn’t just going to walk up and introduce itself. What had Jeannie been thinking? And what had he, to go along with it?
“If you’re not waiting on anyone, do you want to grab a coffee? There’s a café down on Maple that allows pets.”
“Really? I…coffee would be great, actually.”
The man smiled, as if Rodney agreeing to the suggestion had been important.
“Great,” he echoed. “I’m John, by the way. John Sheppard.” He stuck out his hand.
“Rodney McKay,” Rodney replied as they shook, hands lingering a touch too long.
John whistled and Jinto came running, stumbling over his legs and the Frisbee, jumping as John laughed and attempted to hook him back on his leash.
“Ready?”
Rodney spared one last glance around the park, not at all mournful that his date had never shown. “Let’s go.”
*****
Rodney stormed back into the house, dropping Lump’s leash and brushing past an inquiring Jeannie. He went straight into his office, hands itching for a pen the whole way.
The next time he looked up, it was pitch black outside his window, he had apparently eaten dinner (probably Jeannie’s doing), and his slump was officially over.
“Jeannie?” He called, “You still here?”
No answer. Rodney collected his dirty dishes, brought them into the kitchen, and downed two glasses of water. Taking a deep breath, he considered calling his sister, then dismissed the idea as inviting trouble.
Predictably, that’s when the phone rang.
He considered ignoring it, since if it were Jeannie she’d assume he was still working and if it were anyone else he didn’t care, but then he realized that it might be John calling. “Hello?”
“Well?” Jeannie.
“Zelenka will weep when he reads this. Weep.”
“That’s great, Mer, but I meant your date.”
“Will you proof it for me? That’s a generous offer, really, because this is some groundbreaking stuff I -”
“Meredith. Your date.”
“Oh, it was…” He paused, not sure what to say. She didn’t show up, but I met this crazy-hot, sarcastic, goofy, wonderful guy instead? We talked for hours? I think I really like him?
“Mer? Mer, are you there?”
“What? Oh, yes, yes, I’m here. It was fine. Good, even.”
“Really?”
He could read the surprise in her voice. “You don’t have to act so surprised, you know. People like me.”
Jeannie laughed. “People do no such thing. Except…you know what? Sometimes they do. Huh.”
“Again with the surprise. You’re my sister!”
“And I love you very much. Now spill. I want details.”
“And I want a sister who’s less nosy.” Because he couldn’t tell, not really. He wasn’t even sure if John liked him that way, since flirt seemed to be his default setting and he might just want to be friends. And Rodney was supposed to be looking for the girl of his dreams, for a nice woman to settle down with and start a family - not a man who would only complicate things.
“Mer?”
He hesitated. “Sometimes complicated’s good, right?”
Jeannie laughed. “Oh God, she’s not married, is she?”
“No, no that’s not…” Rodney sighed. “Look, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”
“Yeah Mer, sure thing,” Jeannie replied, though he could hear the puzzlement in her voice. “Love you.”
“You, too. Bye.”
After he hung up the phone, Rodney stood there a long time before giving up his tangled thoughts as a Gordian knot and dragging himself off to bed.
*****
“So he did not mind that I had to break our date?” Teyla asked.
“Hmm? Oh, no,” John said, realizing that his reason for being in the park in the first place had never come up. “He was a nice guy.”
“Nice enough that you went for coffee.”
“Well, I had to make sure he was good enough for you.”
“And how many hours did this interrogation need?” Teyla raised an eyebrow. “Somehow I do not think that was the case.”
John looked away, guilty.
Teyla slid closer to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You liked him, truly?”
“Yeah, I…yeah.”
“There is no shame in admitting it, John. You are entitled to find someone for yourself, as well.”
“I don’t even know if he likes guys, or if he feels the same.”
“He enjoyed your company, did he not?”
John grinned, remembering how their conversation had flowed seamlessly right from the start, caroming from one topic to the next without pause or awkwardness. Rodney had been funny, sarcastic, and scary smart. They had just…clicked. “He did.”
“Then you must see him again, and take a chance.”
“Teyla, I…”
“You deserve happiness, John. Take it.”
*****
Jeannie had ambushed him the next morning, softening him up with freshly baked muffins and strong, steaming coffee. She managed to wheedle a few details out of him, but Rodney had somehow avoided references to the fact that his original date had never showed, and even more miraculously avoided spilling that the she was not a she but rather a he - a he whom he wouldn’t mind seeing a lot more of.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of Jeannie’s reaction, exactly - his sister had, after all, once caught him making out with his undergraduate lab partner - but rather that what had happened the day before was so unexpected, even Rodney himself wasn’t sure what to say or how to react.
When John called that afternoon, however, it was as if Rodney knew exactly what to say, knew exactly what he wanted.
And four days and four “dates” later, what he wanted was standing on his doorstep, groceries and DVDs in hand.
“Hey,” John said.
“Hey yourself,” Rodney answered, mentally cursing his lame response. “Uh, come on in.”
“Thanks. I know you said you’d order pizza, but I figured we could make it instead, so I brought a bunch of stuff - no citrus, I know, though that’s not really a typical pizza topping, so.”
Rodney cocked his head. “Are you…nervous?”
“No! No. I just…um, refrigerator?”
“Right. This way.”
After the food was safely stashed away, they headed towards the living room. Rodney turned to ask John about his movie choice, but faltered at the look on the other man’s face.
“John?”
“Look, I…I’m just going to…”
John looked determined, like he was gearing himself up for something that could either go really, really badly or incredibly well. It clicked in Rodney’s head a second before it happened - he’s going to kiss me, John’s going to kiss me - and then there John was, leaning in, cupping Rodney’s face in his hands and…
Almost before Rodney knew what was happening, he was backed against a wall with John’s tongue down his throat and his hands on John’s ass. Their first kiss was far behind them, so much so that Rodney had already lost track, lost his sense of anything that wasn’t John, his kisses, his smell, the feel of his hands across Rodney’s back, dipping low and sneaking underneath his t-shirt to touch bare skin.
Rodney moaned, pulling back from John’s lips to kiss his jaw, his neck, desperate for more and half-giddy with the knowledge that John was just as eager.
“I have a bed,” he whispered.
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
John gasped as Rodney fumbled with John’s belt buckle. “Too far. God, Rodney, too far.”
“We just have to…” Somehow they were climbing stairs, half undressed and mostly undone, panting and desperate. Rodney pushed himself against John, trying to lead him to the bedroom but getting distracted by the feel of John’s cock against his body.
They practically fell through the open doorway, stumbling against each other before John had the brilliant idea to remove his pants and lay back on the bed. Rodney stared a moment, transfixed by the sight of him, then practically vaulted onto both the bed and John.
They were working on getting Rodney’s pants off between kissing and groping, much harder to do from the horizontal, and Rodney didn’t hear the phone ring, or the answering machine click on, or anything but John’s soft gasps until suddenly Jeannie’s voice was in his bedroom, loud and discordant.
He bolted upright, chest heaving and looking wildly around the room before he realized that Jeannie wasn’t actually there but was, in fact, on the phone and practically in tears. He grabbed for the phone, fumbling, and “Jeannie? Jeannie, what’s wrong?”
Rodney bit his lip as Jeannie stumbled through a mostly-incoherent explanation that ended with “and I have to…and Maddy’s…and Kaleb is away still, and please, Mer, I need you.”
“Of course, of course. I’m on my way.” He hung up, staring dumbly at the phone in his hand.
“Rodney?”
Rodney looked over at John, who looked concerned but still completely wrecked, sinful and sexy. He wanted to kiss him again, so he did, a soft brush of lips on lips before he pulled away to hunt for his clothes.
“I have to go. I’m sorry. That’s was my sister, she…she’s at the hospital, Maddy…I have to go.”
“It’s alright, Rodney. I understand.”
“You can, I mean…”
“Just go. Make sure everyone’s okay.” John’s lips quirked. “We can pick this up later.”
“I’m not sure when I’ll…”
“Just give me a call. Go.”
“Thank you.” Rodney finished dressing quickly and left, unable to resist a backwards glance as John slid from the bed and started dressing. If it were anyone but Jeannie, anyone but Madison…
*****
John had hoped that Rodney would call him and let him know what was going on, but by the next morning he still hadn’t heard from him. Okay, so he had known Rodney for less than a week, but it felt like so much longer. Rodney just…fit, somehow. So why wasn’t he calling? Didn’t he realize John would be worried?
“John, stop pining.”
“I’m not pining. More like moping.”
Teyla rolled her eyes. “Well then you must stop that as well. Go to his home, see if he is there. I’m sure he has just been distracted.”
“What if he doesn’t want me to just show up?”
“Trust me, he will be glad to see you, just as you will be glad to see him. And John?”
“Yeah?”
“I would recommend you bring coffee.”
*****
When the doorbell rang, Rodney spent a moment pondering whether just thinking about John had made the man magically appear. But then he opened the door.
“Katie? What are you…”
“Hi, Rodney,” she said shyly. “May I come in?”
“I, um, yes, of course. Why…” Rodney trailed off, confused and distracted. What could Katie possibly want from him? And this early in the morning, too.
He left the door open, following her into the living room.
Katie looked around, commenting, “You’ve redecorated.”
“A bit.” Mostly because Rodney hadn’t done so well right after their break up, and several lamps and assorted knick-knacks had suffered the consequences. Looking back on it now, Rodney couldn’t understand how he had ever expected it to work out between them. He’d only known John for five days, and already the man fit right into his life, fit together with Rodney just as he was.
Katie started talking, something about thinking about her goals and talking through their issues and Rodney just nodded along, not even pretending to listen. Katie was all wrong for him, and he had never seen it. He needed someone whose strengths would match his own, someone who snarked back and loved cheesy sci-fi movies and did complex math in his head. Someone who let Rodney technobabble and seemed to enjoy it - and sometimes even understood it. Someone who loved ridiculous country songs and super-fast cars and was by turns goofy and intense. Someone infuriating and fascinating, strong and competent and good to the core of his being and, oh God, Rodney was in love with John.
It was the distraction of this epiphany, as well as having completely ignored what Katie was saying in favor of his internal conversation, that made Rodney kiss her back. He didn’t even realize it was happening until he heard a sharp gasp and pulled away in time to see John’s shocked face turn to stone as he turned and left.
“Fuck!”
Rodney raced after him, but slipped on…oh, he thought from the floor, John brought coffee. He shook off Katie’s attempts to help, escorted her firmly and finally out the door before slamming it shut, and spent several minutes quietly panicking before he called Jeannie.
*****
John punched the nearest object, which turned out to be both a tree and a big mistake as he yelped in pain. Where had he…?
Ah. The dog park.
After seeing Rodney kissing that…that…woman, John had just taken off running. He couldn’t believe what an idiot he’d been, thinking that Rodney would ever choose him, the screw up, the outcast, over Miss Strawberries and Cream.
He’d really deluded himself this time, imagining a future, imagining that Rodney felt John was as necessary to him as Rodney had become. In just five days, he’d let himself fall -
“Hey.”
John whirled around, startled. “How did you…?”
“You didn’t take your car. I just figured…well.” Rodney shrugged. “And here you are.”
“Here I am,” John echoed, unable to think with Rodney so close. He couldn’t do this right now. “So long, Rodney.”
He turned away, but paused as the other man called out to him. “What?”
He heard Rodney step closer. “I didn’t kiss her.”
John looked up at that, disbelieving. “I saw you -”
“Yes. I mean no. I…she kissed me, I didn’t realize…but I was thinking about you, and -”
“About me?”
“Yes,” Rodney insisted.
“You were thinking about me, so you kissed a woman.”
“I wasn’t listening to Katie, I was…you’re just…and I…”
John snorted. “Very eloquent, McKay. Apology not accepted. Good bye.”
Rodney held up his hands, placating. “No, John! I…”
John could see him struggling, the emotions flashing across Rodney’s expressive face before he took a decisive step forward and a deep breath.
“I didn’t listen to a word she said, I…how did you do this to me so quickly?”
“Do what?”
“I love you, you idiot.”
John stared.
“Okay, okay so maybe that didn’t come out right, but I do and I…God, you’re just, somehow you’re just everything and it just hit me, right then, and…”
“Rodney?”
“Yes?” He mumbled, head turned down, shoulders hunched, and clearly expecting a dismissal.
“Shut up.”
“I…okay. I’ll -”
John cut him off with a kiss. Rodney froze against him, but John waited for that big brain to catch on and he swore he could almost feel it when the gears shifted and everything clicked, the other man suddenly soft and pliant, kissing back tentatively, carefully. John pressed further in, kissing more deeply, more sweetly, trying to show Rodney that he understands exactly, that he feels the same way, that he…
“Really?”
And apparently he was whispering that aloud. John pulled back to look into Rodney’s eyes. “Yes. Really.”
Rodney’s face lit up and he laughed, joyous, throwing his arms around John and holding on tight.