The beginning of this was actually meant to be a part of something else I was writing before I realized it had absolutely no reason to be there. Or rather, the plot device would have worked fine except everything I wanted to say about the plot device would be wrong, completly wrong.
I still liked the idea though, so viola, instant story.
Veritas
johnrodney, pg
12 january 2006
*
On M3X-824, they attend yet another welcoming ceremony where the natives spiked their drinks with what may or may not have been a truth serum. Guaranteed spiritual enlightenment, they said, which Rodney has learned means exactly one thing in the Pegasus Galaxy: really good drugs.
They spend about a day giggling through What I Really Think About Your Hair, too high to care about being offended and later, too hung over to think anything besides pain and never again.
On the third day, they’re clear headed enough to approach rational again, but they still can’t lie. Teyla and Ronon are handling that just fine: Teyla’s a born diplomat and Ronon never spoke much in the first place.
John, on the other hand, opens his eyes in the infirmary and tells the nurse on duty that she has really nice breasts before blushing bright red and tries to hide underneath the covers.
Rodney spends a good five minutes laughing before he remembers: oh yeah, it’s in him too. He’s never been a good liar before, but he’s also never been compelled to tell the truth either, and one look at the tips of John’s hair that are peeking out from beneath the white infirmary blanket reminds Rodney why that’s always been a Very Good Thing.
Beckett says the drug is leaving their bodies by increments and by the fourth day, they regain the power of sarcasm. Apparently, intent is what matters here, and as long as you’re trying to express your inner most thoughts, a little exaggeration can be forgiven.
Which means, over the course of a day, Rodney goes from "I think you're probably pretty intelligent though sometimes you make dumb errors that annoy me greatly because they waste time and I have to fix them" to "Congratulations, you've reached a new level of incompetence never previously scaled by mankind. Be sure to leave a flag."
Even that is an empty victory though because no sooner does he finally regain some humanity after chewing out Kavanagh for the first time since getting back that he bumps into Radek and John in the jumper bay.
Radek’s spent the week blissed out on asking Rodney, “What do you really think of me?” and hearing “I think you’re one of the more practical people that I know, and I probably don’t give you enough credit” in return.
It’s probably residual karma from every time he’s made an undergrad cry that John is with him. From what Rodney’s heard, John’s spent the week on solitary patrols to the uninhabited outer regions of Atlantis, and he had such high hopes that this would all end without any incriminating confessions.
“Watch this,” Radek says happily. “Rodney, what do you think of Colonel Sheppard?”
“I think he is a very decent human being,” Rodney says through gritted teeth, “and he looks really hot in his black t-shirt.”
There’s a moment when everyone stills, and Rodney sneaks one glance at John’s bewildered face before he remembers that he can at least run away.
He’s still trying to figure out the sliding door equivalent of sticking a chair under the handle when said door opens against his will, and John’s striding in like running away isn’t some big clue that Rodney does not want to have this conversation.
To prove that the universe really does hate him, John says, “I think we need to talk about this.”
“Look Colonel,” Rodney says, and it was a sad day indeed when he’s the one pointing out social niceties, “the proper reaction to embarrassing declarations is to laugh politely and then never mention it again.”
To his credit, John looks about as tenuous as Rodney feels and at least the tips of his ears were pink.
“If it makes you feel better,” John says, “you can ask me how I feel about you.”
"What would be the point of that?” Rodney says. “And also, I wouldn’t take advantage of a delicate situation,” he adds smugly. Beat, then, "Ha, that's the truth! I really do have the moral high ground! Not that I doubt-well, I did doubt myself from time to-"
“Because if you had asked me,” John interrupts, looking him in the eye for the first time, “I would have told you that I thought you are really hot too.”
Oh, Rodney thinks. “Oh,” Rodney says.
(And then they had sex and lived happily ever after.)
*
← Ctrl ← Alt
Ctrl → Alt →
← Ctrl ← Alt
Ctrl → Alt →