Author: (written under a pseudonym)
Setting: Post-series
Pairing: Rodney/John
Rating: NC17
Words: 1010
Summary: John and Rodney come back to Earth and try to settle down.
Rodney hated the look on John's face as they stood in front of the swirling wormhole of the Atlantis Stargate one last time. The Wraith had been defeated and the military had gutted the place for all its technology. The military was intent on building their own bases in space: something about no surprises and a new frontier. Rodney knew better than to bet against surprises.
"Ready?" John asked.
Rodney nodded. Like Lot and his family, Rodney was afraid to look over his shoulder, to see the city glaring at him for his betrayal and destruction of it. One day, it'd probably become a museum.
John took Rodney's hand in his as they stepped through the Gate.
*****
Rodney signed the final form that said he would not, under threat of imprisonment, give any information concerning the Stargate program away. And John received his honorable discharge for his bravery in times of great need. Rodney wanted to mumble something about everyone's bravery; everyone's sacrifice; or possibly strangle someone for every mark on John's skin.
They moved in their new, but furnished, house in Toronto on a Sunday. Rodney spent the entire day hooking up his computers and yelling at the IT guys that it was clearly their fault that the internet didn't work since he was indeed a genius. John put away everything else and went grocery shopping.
"What are those?" Rodney asked around midnight, pointing to the chip bag John held.
John raised his eyebrow. "Cheetos."
"They say natural on the bag." Rodney knew about unnatural things in the universe and Cheetos were one of them. They were dye and horrible things that clogged arteries and decomposed slower than dinosaurs. "Cheetos are not good for you."
"These are." John picked the bag up and offered Rodney some.
Sighing, Rodney grabbed one and tasted it first with his tongue and then placed it in his mouth. It tasted not unlike a Cheeto. Different, but perhaps better. He grabbed another.
"See." John smiled. "I knew you'd like them."
"I don't," Rodney said as he stuck a third in his mouth.
*****
On Monday, they had their first argument. Rodney thought it was perfectly okay to ask the woman who'd been cat-sitting for the past 10 years if he could have his cat back. John made the mistake of pointing out that the cat probably wasn't even alive.
Rodney refused to talk to John for the rest of the day. He sat on the couch, watching Deep Space Nine reruns and ignoring the teaching offers he'd been receiving over e-mail.
"Talk to me, Rodney," John said. Rodney knew that John was stretching, desperate to get back on his good side, because John never wanted to talk about their feelings. Which was just fine with Rodney.
What won Rodney over wasn't John's pout, which didn't quite work as well now that he was older, but the Cheetos. John had brought another bag with him. They tasted especially good when Rodney licked the cheese flakes off John's lips and then kissed down his neck.
As they slowly stripped each other's clothing off, Rodney thought it was somehow fitting that they'd been too tired to have sex last night and that the first place they'd be having sex was on the couch with a space show on in the background. He traced the scars across John's chest and down his torso. They were the things Rodney preferred never to think about. So instead, he concentrated on getting moans from John's lips as his hand ran over John's cock.
John's reactions had almost become as familiar as his own, and Rodney found a comfort in that. He kissed John, before urging him to roll over. Rodney placed a pillow under his knees. His left one constantly bothered him ever since the mission to M4X-677; another mission they didn't talk about.
"You going to take all day," John said. "I know we don't have anything else to do but-"
"But I can't take stock in the moment?" Rodney asked. "This is the first time in our new house." He heard John make an 'oh' sound. It was more than their new house. It was also their new life, their new home. Rodney wondered just when he'd become too damned sentimental.
Rodney shook his head and reached for the lubricant. He placed kissed down John's spine as his fingers stretched John. John muttered under his breath, as he always did, urging Rodney on. Sometimes Rodney could make out words or phrases, and when they'd first been together, he'd tried to decipher the entire thing. Now he just enjoyed the rhythm.
Fucking John was on Rodney's top three things to do in the universe, along with winning a Nobel and taking the perfect nap. Rodney thrust gently into John, feeling his lover relax and tense around him.
"Yes," John said, one word sostenuto rising above the rest. Rodney quickly picked up his pace, feeling John chuckle when the couch creaked under them.
As Rodney continued to thrust, he felt John pushing back against him. He steadied himself before reaching down to stroke John's cock.
This had always been all the things they couldn't say to each other. Rodney could count on one hand all the times John had said, "I love you." What mattered more was John letting Rodney in, letting him see all the cracks and breaks, and letting Rodney love him. John coming in his hand mattered.
Rodney's own orgasm soon followed with a heavy groan. He only caught his breath for a moment before moving off John. They were too old and broken to lay post-coital in an awkward position. "That was..."
"Good," John finished. He met Rodney half-way towards sitting up with a strong kiss. A kiss that said they were made up and that tomorrow, they'd head down to the animal shelter and argue which bedraggled kitten to take home. They'd end up with two, and John would, of course, name them both.
Rodney smiled and didn't think about looking back through the Gate.