“You know, for a genius, you’re an idiot,” John said, carefully unrolling the gauze his lover had clearly painstakingly wrapped around his arm.
“You’re going to regret that remark later,” Rodney replied calmly, trying to keep the smile from his face. He was in pain, he wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this, but the attention was calming. “Mark my words, there’ll be some emergency or another, and you’ll say, if only there was a genius around to formulate some kind of hare-brained scheme to save all of Atlantis in the eleventh hour—“
“I meant,” John interrupted, “that you’re a doctor. I don’t care that you’re not a medical doctor, you’ve worked for the Air Force for years, right? You had to have some basic first aid training at some point.”
“Oh,” Rodney said, looking down at his sleeve, which was now exposed and rather blood-stained. “Well, I wasn’t thinking so much about first aid as I was thinking that I didn’t want to look at the blood anymore. I know it’s probably only psychosomatic, but it really doesn’t hurt that much until I see the blood.“
“You’re making my case for me,” John sighed. “Take off your jacket. You better lose the shirt, too.”
Sighing, Rodney shrugged the jacket off and peeled the shirt over his head, wincing when he reached his right arm. “Ow. Okay, ow, ow, ow. That hurts… rather a lot, actually.”
“Of course it does,” John said, rolling his eyes. “That’s because it’s started to heal with the fabric pressed into the wound, Einstein. You’re really not changing any opinions here. I still think you’re an idiot. You’re my idiot, but…” Pulling the fabric away from the wound in one swift movement, John ducked a swing from Rodney’s left fist. “An idiot nonetheless.”
“You did that on purpose,” Rodney accused. “You could give a guy a little warning.”
“Of course I did,” John replied. “If I warned you, you would have chickened out.” he said, studying the cut. “Damn it, Rodney, this is all my fault. You and Elizabeth could have ended up dead—“
“We all could have ended up dead if you hadn’t come through for us, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
John ducked his head, partly in agreement and partly to inspect the wound closer. “It’s deep,” he said softly. “Wiggle your fingers for me. Any loss of feeling?”
“No,” Rodney frowned. “Should there be?”
“Not if you’re lucky,” John murmured. “Means there’s no nerve damage. Guy who cut you knew what he was doing. Made sure you could still do what he needed you to but still inflicted some serious pain. I’m no doctor, Rodney, but at least this is better than wrapping your arm in gauze and wishing it away. It’s too late for stitches, but at least it’s mostly stopped bleeding. Shouldn’t scar too bad, either. But you will let me change this dressing and make sure you keep it clean, do you understand? That’s an order.”
“I’m not military,” Rodney pointed out. “I don’t have to take orders from you.”
“I’m not issuing the order as Major Sheppard, Rodney. I’m issuing it as John, the guy you share a bed with – and I’d like to think we share a little bit more than that.”
It was the closest they’d come to Relationship Talk since the first time they fell into bed together, and John felt Rodney stiffen. “Major—“
“John,” John corrected, wrapping the wound with fresh gauze.. “There’s no one here but us mice, remember?”
“John,” Rodney amended. “I think… I think I want there to be more, but I don’t know if there can be. I’m terrible with relationships. I sabotage myself without even realizing. I’m selfish, I’m careless, I get wrapped up in my work—“
“All of which I knew about going into this,” John returned. “I don’t have the best track record, either. I’ve had my fair share of screw-ups. But this thing we’re doing – and I mean the expedition, the offworld missions, not just the sex – I’ve never had this much in common with any of the women I’ve dated. And I bet that not a single woman you’ve dated knew you were an arrogant jackass from the get-go.”
“Well, no,” Rodney admitted. “I can actually be rather charming, given the proper motivation, so to speak. So… we’re really doing this?”
“I want to. Do you?”
There was a long pause while Rodney considered. “What if I screw up again?”
John snorted. “'What if'?”
“Okay, when I screw up. Then what?”
“Then we fight. We hash it out, and I’m not opposed to decking you, if I gotta, to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours. And then we get over it. We’re a team, you and me, even more than we are plus Teyla and Ford. Even Weir can see it.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it? Okay?”
“Okay,” Rodney repeated. “What are you looking for, flowers and poetry? Have we met?”
John smirked. “I just didn’t think you were going to give in that easy, is all. Guess that means I’m wearing the pants in this relationship, huh?”
Rodney rolled his eyes. “Please. You were the first one to want to define the relationship, which clearly makes you the woman. Also, you’re much prettier than I am, and you spend altogether too much time on your hair in the morning.”
John’s smirk turned into a grin. “That’s a damn lie, and I’ll deny it to anyone who asks,” he told him. He’d finished the bandaging a while ago, but he was still holding Rodney’s arm gingerly. “How’s it feel now?”
“Like someone cut my arm open,” Rodney retorted. “Better,” he conceded, looking down to where his arms was cradled between John’s. “John…”
“Rodney,” John said, looking up and catching his gaze. “Look. The reality of this is that you’re a liability. It’s phenomenally stupid of me to get involved here, but I’m in too deep to back out now. Even if I wasn’t, I don’t really want to, and if you hadn’t noticed, I can be just as damn stubborn as you.”
“I’m not—“
“Don’t interrupt me, I’m on a roll. People will figure out you’re my Achilles heel, and they’ll use you to get my attention. I can’t stop that from happening, but I can promise you that I will always, always be there to save you from the bad guys, as long as you promise me the same thing.”
Rodney’s mouth had fallen open; he closed it and swallowed. “John…”
“Do we have a deal, McKay?”
Holding out his hand, Rodney gave a lopsided smile. “I think I can agree to those terms.”
John took the hand and held it rather than shaking it. “You still drive me nuts.”
“Yes, and you still have the ability to make me angrier than anyone else in the known universe.”
“So nothing’s changed?”
Rodney smiled wryly. “Oh, everything’s changed. But you and I? We’re… the same as we’ve ever been.”