Happy Birthday Zinnith!
Today is Zin's birthday, so we must celebrate! *throws confetti* I hope you have a brilliant day, sweetheart, filled with many presents, lots of cake, and perhaps a bit of McShep...! ♥
Title: Reciprocity
Author: the_cephalopod
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Word Count: ~2500
Author’s Notes: Written for the lovely zinfic for her birthday. ♥ I hope you enjoy it, honey! *hugs* Also, because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this story is set in her fantastic Entangled Particles-verse in which Rodney is an author. Other stories in this 'verse include Entangled Particles, Spatial Separation, and Common Tangent - all available here. They're fab, so go read them if you haven't already!! This particular story is set in my little branch of her ‘verse (because she’s awesome and lets me play with her boys) and is set after both Subtle Realignment and The Physics of Ferris Wheels. Many thanks to sgamadsion for correcting both my typos and my British-isms!
Reciprocity
for Zinnith
John looked around the large room, marvelling at the complete and utter devastation which surrounded him. Despite the fact that he’d volunteered for this particular duty, he couldn’t help the groan that escaped him. Who would have thought that twenty children could makes such a mess? Although, now that he actually thought about it, perhaps he shouldn’t really be that surprised. After all, the other staff at the youth centre had practically jumped at his offer to handle the clean-up by himself. Even after almost a year spent working with the kids, he obviously still had a lot to learn…
“Looks like a tornado’s just hit, huh?” a voice said from behind him.
John managed to drag his gaze away from the disaster zone to turn around and meet Hal’s eye. The youth centre’s manager was standing at the doorway to the rec room, very wisely not venturing any further in as to do so would quite possibly be to risk both life and limb.
“Yeah,” John agreed, shaking his head and letting some of his disbelief show. “And possibly a minor earthquake along with it.”
Hal chuckled at that. “So, do you need some help here after all, son?” he asked.
John was sorely tempted, but he shook his head. “No, no, I can handle it,” he replied, knowing that not only had Hal been at the centre since the crack of dawn, but also that his wife would be waiting for him at home. “I’ve seen worse… well,” he amended at Hal’s sceptical look, “just about.”
Something in Hal’s expression turned serious for a moment. “I guess you have,” he said softly as his eyes slid down to John’s bum leg for a moment, obviously recalling some of John’s rare comments about his time in the Air Force and the reason he was here in Sacramento as opposed to patrolling the skies of some far flung place, defending his country.
John usually felt uncomfortable when people made reference to his injury, but with Hal it was different. Hal, himself having been forced to retire early from his career as a pro-footballer, understood the bouts of uselessness and depression from which John occasionally suffered. Yet, despite his own physical limitations, Hal hadn’t let his disability slow him down, let alone stop him from living his life to the fullest. Once he realized he could no longer play the sport that had defined him for most of his life, he had simply refocused all his energy into starting the youth centre - providing a safe and educationally-enriching place where the children and young people of the neighbourhood could spend their free time.
It was something for which John truly admired Hal - that even in the face of such personal obstacles, he wasn’t defeated. It was a lesson John had taken to heart as he’d struggled to make something of himself after leaving the Air Force. All in all, John owed Hal an awful lot. His offer of some part-time work for the youth centre had come at the perfect time in John’s life, just when John was feeling at his most miserable - when he thought that he’d lost Rodney, the one thing that had given his life meaning.
“Yeah - I’ve worked here for over a year now, remember?” John said, hoping to dispel the shadow which threatened to fall over their conversation.
“Well, I’ve run this place for a hell of a lot longer than that, and they still manage to surprise me every damn time,” Hal replied.
John had to agree with that sentiment. “It does look a lot worse this time,” he admitted. “Worse even than the time Rodney came in to teach them all how to make ferro-fluids.” He smiled at the memory; that had been bad - by the end of the session, the place had been absolutely covered with iron filings and there had been a few too many near misses with the corn oil for John’s peace of mind. Of course, Rodney had only let the kids experiment with the safer way of creating ferro-fluids, saving the more sophisticated method involving oleic acid and ferric chloride solution for his solo demonstration, but even still the clean-up had taken a good hour.
Hal laughed at the memory. “Well, that was a good day too,” he said with a smile. “I’d have never have thought it to look at him, but your McKay isn’t half bad with the kids.”
John felt something warm bloom in his chest at Hal’s words; his McKay, it had a nice ring to it. “Well, he does have hidden depths,” he admitted, knowing from the soft look on Hal’s face that he was probably wearing a goofy grin, but completely unable to help it.
“So, you think he’d come back for a repeat performance?” Hal asked. “A few of the parents keep asking about it, and whether he’ll be doing another children’s book.”
“Ah, no - I doubt it,” John replied, somewhat apologetically. “Ferris Wheels was pretty much a once off I’m afraid. His publisher has tried to get him to write another book for kids, but he’s been rather adamant that one was enough.” John grinned to himself at his understatement of the case - Rodney had been particularly vocal in expressing just how unlikely it was that he would be writing a second children’s book; words such as ‘hell’ and ‘freezing over’ being shouted down the phone with even more force than even Rodney usually used.
“Pity,” Hal said. “Well, he’s got an open invitation here if he ever changes his mind.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know,” John said. “Actually, he’s away on a lecture tour at the moment,” he added.
“Oh?” Hal said. “So that’s why you didn’t mind staying late to handle the clean-up. When’s he due back?”
“Next week - probably Thursday or Friday, depending on whether he’s asked to give another talk,” John replied. He sighed as the familiar ache settled low in his gut, the one he’d become accustomed to feeling whenever Rodney had to go out of town for an extended period. Part of him wished that he didn’t feel quite so lost without Rodney. Of course, it wasn’t that he couldn’t handle the time alone - after all, he’d been alone in one way or another for most of his adult life, and much of it had been spent in places far more inhospitable than Sacramento - but John’s relationship with Rodney was unlike any other he’d previously known. Without quite knowing how or when it had happened, Rodney had somehow managed to become an integral part of John’s life, artlessly forcing his way into every aspect until John couldn’t help but be painfully aware of his absence.
“Well, when he gets back, you let him know he’s welcome here anytime,” Hal said. “If anyone can get him to come back, it’ll be you, John.”
That made John laugh as he tried to picture Rodney’s response to him suggesting another talk at the youth centre; he doubted there was enough coffee in the world to tempt Rodney back. “Yeah, right,” he replied. “As if anyone can make Rodney do anything.”
“Well, he did put on a pretty good show on Careers Day,” Hal said. “And I seem to recall that all of his recent books are dedicated to you…” Hal’s voice trailed off speculatively.
“True,” John replied with a smile as he recalled the how overwhelmed he’d been to finally open the copy of Gravitation that Rodney had left for him and find the dedication - ‘John, this is for you’. “We’ll see…” he said to Hal. After all, there might not be enough coffee with which to bribe Rodney, but blowjobs were another matter entirely. He shook his head to clear it of the various tempting possibilities with which Rodney could be persuaded before looking back to Hal. “Now, you just leave the rest of this clean-up to me and get on home.”
“Yes, sir,” Hal replied with a mock salute as he turned to go. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Once alone again, John took a fortifying breath as he surveyed the wreckage with a practiced eye. Deciding quickly on the best plan of attack, John rallied his bin bags and rubber gloves and got down to business. With the local schools closed for the summer vacation, the youth centre had been busier than ever during the past few weeks. Many of the parents had volunteered to come in and give the regular staff a helping hand and today they’d had a local artist come in to run a craft session with the kids. As a result, much of the debris was left over scraps of paper and assorted other bits and pieces that had be incorporated into the children’s collages. As usual, the kids had been instructed to clean up their own supplies, but despite this there was still a fair amount of stuff to be dealt with before the rec room would be ready for use the following day.
As he worked, John found himself replaying his conversation with Hal. He couldn’t help but wonder how someone like Hal saw him and Rodney. It had become obvious to John early on in his employment at the youth centre that Hal didn’t have any problems with him being gay or being in an active romantic relationship. This open-minded attitude was something John knew he would never take for granted. Having spent years hiding that part of himself while serving in the military, John was still more than a little uncomfortable with revealing it now, even though he had a life outside the anachronistic dictates of the US Military Code. He knew that this was something he was going to have to tackle sooner or later, largely because he did have a few friends from his time in the service with whom he was still in contact, but for now he was happy enough to enjoy the freedom to be with Rodney with his new friends here. Laura and Carson, like Hal, had also happily welcomed John into their lives and had also happily accepted his relationship with Rodney.
Pausing for a moment to tie up the last of the trash bags, John was pleased to see that the room was already looking considerably better now that all the clutter was gone. Now all he needed to do was wipe down the tables, put up the chairs, mop the floor and the room would be done. He made his way to the youth centre’s kitchen and prepared a bucket of soapy water, the mop and some sponges and then headed back to the rec room. His leg was starting to ache and he could feel his limp getting more pronounced as he made his was from table to table. Still, he’d be done here soon and it was only a short walk to the bus stop which would take him almost all the way to his apartment.
Life in Sacramento was good; he had a satisfying job, good friends and, best of all, John had Rodney. Although he would always bear the physical scars of his time with the Air Force, John knew he was healing. In fact, now that he thought about it, he’d probably started healing before he’d even become injured in the first place. Looking back on his past, John could see now that he’d been searching for something for many years, probably ever since he’d first left home, walking out of the large country mansion with no more than a duffle bag full of clothes and his father’s angry words still echoing in his ears. The Air Force had given him both a purpose and the opportunity to do what he thought he’d always love best. At the time, John had thought that the freedom he experienced as he soared high above the clouds was as close to perfect happiness as he was ever going to get.
But it was not to last; things had started to go all to hell from pretty much his first week in combat in Afghanistan and had come to a head when he’d disobeyed orders in an attempt to rescue his friends. He’d accepted his posting to McMurdo with an overwhelming feeling of numbness - his failure weighing more heavily on his soul than either the black mark on his record or his father’s final pronouncement that he no longer had son. The white expanse of Antarctica hadn’t really been all that conducive to revitalise the dulling of John’s senses and, looking back at that time, John suspected that had he not stumbled across the beat up copy of Entangled Particles he might well have stayed that way.
However, find it he did, and thus started one of the oddest relationships John had ever had. He’d been captivated from the start - totally enthralled by the intelligence and passion imbibed in every word. Though it might sound trite, something about the book and, as he later found out, about its author, roused him. Thanks to their serendipitous meeting in Houston and subsequent correspondence, John had begun to see the true joy of life once again. Even before the accident which spelled the end of his military career, John had already left - he was already living in Sacramento with Rodney.
With the room now spotless, there was nothing left to do but lock up the centre for the night and make his way across the road to the bus stop. It was dusk when John finally stepped outside, the glow from the street lamps illuminating the sidewalk and the small car park beside the youth centre’s playground. Checking the time, John set off as quickly as he could towards the nearest bus stop. He wasn’t in a rush to get back to his empty apartment, but his leg was aching in earnest now and he didn’t want to stand out in the cool night air either. He didn’t notice the car idling on the road outside until the door suddenly opened and the familiar figure of a man got out. For a moment John just stood stock still and stared, thinking that he must be seeing things.
“Rodney?” he said in disbelief. “You’re here.”
“Well, obviously,” Rodney replied, rolling his eyes as he approached John.
“Why? I mean, I didn’t expect you ‘til next week. Did something happen?” John asked.
“No, no, nothing like that,” Rodney said, waving away John’s concern as he came to stand in front of him. “I… I was just… alone,” he said, looking slightly forlorn and reaching out to grasp John’s forearm and pull him close. “I wanted to come home,” he said, the words muffled against the nape of John’s neck. “I missed you.”
“Oh,” John said, smiling and letting himself relax fully in Rodney’s embrace, melding their bodies together. He brought his arms up and held Rodney tightly to him in return as the emptiness in his chest faded away to be replaced by a happy glow. “Me too.”
~fin~
Title: Reciprocity
Author: the_cephalopod
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: G
Word Count: ~2500
Author’s Notes: Written for the lovely zinfic for her birthday. ♥ I hope you enjoy it, honey! *hugs* Also, because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this story is set in her fantastic Entangled Particles-verse in which Rodney is an author. Other stories in this 'verse include Entangled Particles, Spatial Separation, and Common Tangent - all available here. They're fab, so go read them if you haven't already!! This particular story is set in my little branch of her ‘verse (because she’s awesome and lets me play with her boys) and is set after both Subtle Realignment and The Physics of Ferris Wheels. Many thanks to sgamadsion for correcting both my typos and my British-isms!
Reciprocity
for Zinnith
John looked around the large room, marvelling at the complete and utter devastation which surrounded him. Despite the fact that he’d volunteered for this particular duty, he couldn’t help the groan that escaped him. Who would have thought that twenty children could makes such a mess? Although, now that he actually thought about it, perhaps he shouldn’t really be that surprised. After all, the other staff at the youth centre had practically jumped at his offer to handle the clean-up by himself. Even after almost a year spent working with the kids, he obviously still had a lot to learn…
“Looks like a tornado’s just hit, huh?” a voice said from behind him.
John managed to drag his gaze away from the disaster zone to turn around and meet Hal’s eye. The youth centre’s manager was standing at the doorway to the rec room, very wisely not venturing any further in as to do so would quite possibly be to risk both life and limb.
“Yeah,” John agreed, shaking his head and letting some of his disbelief show. “And possibly a minor earthquake along with it.”
Hal chuckled at that. “So, do you need some help here after all, son?” he asked.
John was sorely tempted, but he shook his head. “No, no, I can handle it,” he replied, knowing that not only had Hal been at the centre since the crack of dawn, but also that his wife would be waiting for him at home. “I’ve seen worse… well,” he amended at Hal’s sceptical look, “just about.”
Something in Hal’s expression turned serious for a moment. “I guess you have,” he said softly as his eyes slid down to John’s bum leg for a moment, obviously recalling some of John’s rare comments about his time in the Air Force and the reason he was here in Sacramento as opposed to patrolling the skies of some far flung place, defending his country.
John usually felt uncomfortable when people made reference to his injury, but with Hal it was different. Hal, himself having been forced to retire early from his career as a pro-footballer, understood the bouts of uselessness and depression from which John occasionally suffered. Yet, despite his own physical limitations, Hal hadn’t let his disability slow him down, let alone stop him from living his life to the fullest. Once he realized he could no longer play the sport that had defined him for most of his life, he had simply refocused all his energy into starting the youth centre - providing a safe and educationally-enriching place where the children and young people of the neighbourhood could spend their free time.
It was something for which John truly admired Hal - that even in the face of such personal obstacles, he wasn’t defeated. It was a lesson John had taken to heart as he’d struggled to make something of himself after leaving the Air Force. All in all, John owed Hal an awful lot. His offer of some part-time work for the youth centre had come at the perfect time in John’s life, just when John was feeling at his most miserable - when he thought that he’d lost Rodney, the one thing that had given his life meaning.
“Yeah - I’ve worked here for over a year now, remember?” John said, hoping to dispel the shadow which threatened to fall over their conversation.
“Well, I’ve run this place for a hell of a lot longer than that, and they still manage to surprise me every damn time,” Hal replied.
John had to agree with that sentiment. “It does look a lot worse this time,” he admitted. “Worse even than the time Rodney came in to teach them all how to make ferro-fluids.” He smiled at the memory; that had been bad - by the end of the session, the place had been absolutely covered with iron filings and there had been a few too many near misses with the corn oil for John’s peace of mind. Of course, Rodney had only let the kids experiment with the safer way of creating ferro-fluids, saving the more sophisticated method involving oleic acid and ferric chloride solution for his solo demonstration, but even still the clean-up had taken a good hour.
Hal laughed at the memory. “Well, that was a good day too,” he said with a smile. “I’d have never have thought it to look at him, but your McKay isn’t half bad with the kids.”
John felt something warm bloom in his chest at Hal’s words; his McKay, it had a nice ring to it. “Well, he does have hidden depths,” he admitted, knowing from the soft look on Hal’s face that he was probably wearing a goofy grin, but completely unable to help it.
“So, you think he’d come back for a repeat performance?” Hal asked. “A few of the parents keep asking about it, and whether he’ll be doing another children’s book.”
“Ah, no - I doubt it,” John replied, somewhat apologetically. “Ferris Wheels was pretty much a once off I’m afraid. His publisher has tried to get him to write another book for kids, but he’s been rather adamant that one was enough.” John grinned to himself at his understatement of the case - Rodney had been particularly vocal in expressing just how unlikely it was that he would be writing a second children’s book; words such as ‘hell’ and ‘freezing over’ being shouted down the phone with even more force than even Rodney usually used.
“Pity,” Hal said. “Well, he’s got an open invitation here if he ever changes his mind.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know,” John said. “Actually, he’s away on a lecture tour at the moment,” he added.
“Oh?” Hal said. “So that’s why you didn’t mind staying late to handle the clean-up. When’s he due back?”
“Next week - probably Thursday or Friday, depending on whether he’s asked to give another talk,” John replied. He sighed as the familiar ache settled low in his gut, the one he’d become accustomed to feeling whenever Rodney had to go out of town for an extended period. Part of him wished that he didn’t feel quite so lost without Rodney. Of course, it wasn’t that he couldn’t handle the time alone - after all, he’d been alone in one way or another for most of his adult life, and much of it had been spent in places far more inhospitable than Sacramento - but John’s relationship with Rodney was unlike any other he’d previously known. Without quite knowing how or when it had happened, Rodney had somehow managed to become an integral part of John’s life, artlessly forcing his way into every aspect until John couldn’t help but be painfully aware of his absence.
“Well, when he gets back, you let him know he’s welcome here anytime,” Hal said. “If anyone can get him to come back, it’ll be you, John.”
That made John laugh as he tried to picture Rodney’s response to him suggesting another talk at the youth centre; he doubted there was enough coffee in the world to tempt Rodney back. “Yeah, right,” he replied. “As if anyone can make Rodney do anything.”
“Well, he did put on a pretty good show on Careers Day,” Hal said. “And I seem to recall that all of his recent books are dedicated to you…” Hal’s voice trailed off speculatively.
“True,” John replied with a smile as he recalled the how overwhelmed he’d been to finally open the copy of Gravitation that Rodney had left for him and find the dedication - ‘John, this is for you’. “We’ll see…” he said to Hal. After all, there might not be enough coffee with which to bribe Rodney, but blowjobs were another matter entirely. He shook his head to clear it of the various tempting possibilities with which Rodney could be persuaded before looking back to Hal. “Now, you just leave the rest of this clean-up to me and get on home.”
“Yes, sir,” Hal replied with a mock salute as he turned to go. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Once alone again, John took a fortifying breath as he surveyed the wreckage with a practiced eye. Deciding quickly on the best plan of attack, John rallied his bin bags and rubber gloves and got down to business. With the local schools closed for the summer vacation, the youth centre had been busier than ever during the past few weeks. Many of the parents had volunteered to come in and give the regular staff a helping hand and today they’d had a local artist come in to run a craft session with the kids. As a result, much of the debris was left over scraps of paper and assorted other bits and pieces that had be incorporated into the children’s collages. As usual, the kids had been instructed to clean up their own supplies, but despite this there was still a fair amount of stuff to be dealt with before the rec room would be ready for use the following day.
As he worked, John found himself replaying his conversation with Hal. He couldn’t help but wonder how someone like Hal saw him and Rodney. It had become obvious to John early on in his employment at the youth centre that Hal didn’t have any problems with him being gay or being in an active romantic relationship. This open-minded attitude was something John knew he would never take for granted. Having spent years hiding that part of himself while serving in the military, John was still more than a little uncomfortable with revealing it now, even though he had a life outside the anachronistic dictates of the US Military Code. He knew that this was something he was going to have to tackle sooner or later, largely because he did have a few friends from his time in the service with whom he was still in contact, but for now he was happy enough to enjoy the freedom to be with Rodney with his new friends here. Laura and Carson, like Hal, had also happily welcomed John into their lives and had also happily accepted his relationship with Rodney.
Pausing for a moment to tie up the last of the trash bags, John was pleased to see that the room was already looking considerably better now that all the clutter was gone. Now all he needed to do was wipe down the tables, put up the chairs, mop the floor and the room would be done. He made his way to the youth centre’s kitchen and prepared a bucket of soapy water, the mop and some sponges and then headed back to the rec room. His leg was starting to ache and he could feel his limp getting more pronounced as he made his was from table to table. Still, he’d be done here soon and it was only a short walk to the bus stop which would take him almost all the way to his apartment.
Life in Sacramento was good; he had a satisfying job, good friends and, best of all, John had Rodney. Although he would always bear the physical scars of his time with the Air Force, John knew he was healing. In fact, now that he thought about it, he’d probably started healing before he’d even become injured in the first place. Looking back on his past, John could see now that he’d been searching for something for many years, probably ever since he’d first left home, walking out of the large country mansion with no more than a duffle bag full of clothes and his father’s angry words still echoing in his ears. The Air Force had given him both a purpose and the opportunity to do what he thought he’d always love best. At the time, John had thought that the freedom he experienced as he soared high above the clouds was as close to perfect happiness as he was ever going to get.
But it was not to last; things had started to go all to hell from pretty much his first week in combat in Afghanistan and had come to a head when he’d disobeyed orders in an attempt to rescue his friends. He’d accepted his posting to McMurdo with an overwhelming feeling of numbness - his failure weighing more heavily on his soul than either the black mark on his record or his father’s final pronouncement that he no longer had son. The white expanse of Antarctica hadn’t really been all that conducive to revitalise the dulling of John’s senses and, looking back at that time, John suspected that had he not stumbled across the beat up copy of Entangled Particles he might well have stayed that way.
However, find it he did, and thus started one of the oddest relationships John had ever had. He’d been captivated from the start - totally enthralled by the intelligence and passion imbibed in every word. Though it might sound trite, something about the book and, as he later found out, about its author, roused him. Thanks to their serendipitous meeting in Houston and subsequent correspondence, John had begun to see the true joy of life once again. Even before the accident which spelled the end of his military career, John had already left - he was already living in Sacramento with Rodney.
With the room now spotless, there was nothing left to do but lock up the centre for the night and make his way across the road to the bus stop. It was dusk when John finally stepped outside, the glow from the street lamps illuminating the sidewalk and the small car park beside the youth centre’s playground. Checking the time, John set off as quickly as he could towards the nearest bus stop. He wasn’t in a rush to get back to his empty apartment, but his leg was aching in earnest now and he didn’t want to stand out in the cool night air either. He didn’t notice the car idling on the road outside until the door suddenly opened and the familiar figure of a man got out. For a moment John just stood stock still and stared, thinking that he must be seeing things.
“Rodney?” he said in disbelief. “You’re here.”
“Well, obviously,” Rodney replied, rolling his eyes as he approached John.
“Why? I mean, I didn’t expect you ‘til next week. Did something happen?” John asked.
“No, no, nothing like that,” Rodney said, waving away John’s concern as he came to stand in front of him. “I… I was just… alone,” he said, looking slightly forlorn and reaching out to grasp John’s forearm and pull him close. “I wanted to come home,” he said, the words muffled against the nape of John’s neck. “I missed you.”
“Oh,” John said, smiling and letting himself relax fully in Rodney’s embrace, melding their bodies together. He brought his arms up and held Rodney tightly to him in return as the emptiness in his chest faded away to be replaced by a happy glow. “Me too.”
~fin~