Work Text:
“McKay! Where the— oh. There you are,” Sheppard said. His boots crunched towards Rodney through the freshly-fallen snow, the light from his flashlight joining Rodney’s. “We’re almost at the gate, don’t wander off and get lost now. Make me stay out in this all night to come save your sorry ass.”
Rodney just smirked. “Ah. But you would come save my ass. Anyway, I’m fine,” he said, talking over the beginning of Sheppard’s indignant retort. “I was just… It really is pretty, isn’t it?” he asked, gesturing at the snow that was still falling around them; big, fat, fluffy flakes of it, fluttering down and catching the light from their flashlights.
“…I guess,” Sheppard said, sounding entirely unconvinced.
“You don’t like snow?”
Sheppard shrugged, and the only sound for a moment was their footsteps as they tromped through the snow together. Rodney could see Ronon and Teyla’s tracks disappearing ahead into the darkness, and already beginning to fill in again even though they couldn’t be that far ahead yet.
“Didn’t really see too much of it growing up,” Sheppard finally answered. “About all it’s good for in my books is making missions more miserable than they need to be. I’m surprised you like it, though.”
Rodney frowned. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, y’know, I just… Honestly, I expected you to be a little more… complain-y about the whole thing.”
“Excuse me, it’s not like I complain about everything,” Rodney said indignantly.
“There’s the sun, for one. Or, actually, any of them.”
“Suns burn, Sheppard. My skin is very fair! And after all the various and sundry radiation exposures I’ve been subject to, it’s a wonder I don’t already have—”
“There’s also sand.”
Rodney huffed incredulously. “Well, yeah. Sand. Gets. Everywhere! I mean, have you ever been to a beach?”
“There was Afghanistan,” Sheppard said mildly. “And I used to surf a lot,” he added, before Rodney could start feeling guilty about forgetting the whole… painful military history thing.
“Really? You know how to surf?” he asked, glancing sideways at Sheppard. Now there was a mental image…
“Sure. I could teach you, if you wanted. We do live on an ocean planet these days.”
Rodney perked up, though slightly nervously. “Really?”
“Yeah, ‘course,” Sheppard said, looking over at him. “It does usually involve sun, though. And sand.”
“Yes, well…” Rodney cleared his throat. “Sometimes those are acceptable. In limited amounts.”
Sheppard laughed. “Okay, so explain it to me, then,” he said, waving a hand vaguely in the air.
“Explain… what?”
“Snow. What’s the big appeal?”
“I don’t know… I guess a lot of it is just… good memories,” Rodney said thoughtfully. “Heh. Like, when I was little? We used to go visit my grandparents over the Christmas holidays, right. And they lived on this farm, way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. I hated the drive, but I always loved it once we were actually there. And if we were really lucky, it would snow while we were there, just like this. Most of my family lived there, so me and Jeannie and all the other cousins would pile onto sleds and toboggans, tie on to the back of Grandpa’s tractor, and he’d pull us all out to the long hill in the woods behind the big field to go sledding.”
“Okay, that does sound pretty fun,” Sheppard said. “Still hard to imagine you enjoying that, though,” he said— but he was smiling, and giving Rodney one of those weirdly soft looks he usually only wore when they were— when—
Rodney blushed, pulling his gaze away again. On duty, McKay. Come on. Get it together.
“It was great,” he said, trying not to let his mind wander. “There’d be a fire to warm up at, and we’d stay out there for hours, until it started getting too dark to keep going. And then we’d get pulled back home again, starving and already half asleep. Your mittens’d be soaking wet by then, too, but nobody cared. Y’know, it’s funny, I hadn’t even thought about those visits in years, but—”
Rodney cut off as Sheppard’s radio crackled to life and Teyla’s voice came through. “John, we are at the gate. Should we wait for you, or—?”
“Nah, you ‘n Ronon go on ahead,” Sheppard answered. “Rodney and I are just a couple minutes behind you. Leave the door open for us, willya?”
“Of course,” Teyla said, and the radio went silent again.
A moment later, Rodney heard the not-too-distant whoosh of the stargate establishing a connection. A few more meters through the trees, and he could see the ring out in its clearing, the rippling blue light of the event horizon shimmering out over the pristine snow, unmarked save for the double line of Teyla’s and Ronon’s footprints.
Beside him, Sheppard stopped walking and clicked off his flashlight. “Wait.”
“What is it, what’s wrong?” Rodney asked, tense, turning his off too and looking around nervously for imminent danger.
“Relax, Rodney,” Sheppard said, warm amusement in his voice. “I just meant— c’mere.”
Rodney’s eyes widened as Sheppard reached out and gently tugged him closer by the waist.
“Oh,” he managed, swallowing hard, his tongue darting out to wet suddenly dry lips. They didn’t normally even acknowledge that particular, and fairly recently developed, aspect of their relationship— friendship— whatever it was— while actually… on duty. “Shouldn’t we be, um, going through the, uh…” He trailed off, gesturing with one hand in the general direction of the stargate. His other hand had somehow found its way to Sheppard’s— no, John’s— chest and was currently holding on tightly to his jacket. “They’ll be waiting for us to come through.”
“They can wait another minute or two,” John said, his voice low and warm in a way that sent a little curl of heat twisting through Rodney’s core.
With the faint illumination from the gate spilling out and reflecting off the snow, Rodney could just barely make out the familiar, crooked smirk on John’s lips— and then those lips pressed against his, pulling a quiet whimper from his throat.
“I thought maybe you could help me out with the whole ‘good memories of snow’ thing?” John murmured a brief moment later, his forehead resting against Rodney’s and their breath misting the cold air.
Rodney nodded wordlessly, fisting both hands in the front of John’s padded military jacket. He still wasn’t entirely used to the idea that he’d… somehow fallen for Sheppard in the first place, let alone the part where John actually wanted him back… But he had, and John apparently did—
And as John kissed him again, deeper, arms tightening around him to hold him close, Rodney got blissfully lost in the sweet, wet heat of John’s mouth and the warmth of John’s body against his; all his constantly swirling thoughts and worries calming, quietly drifting away into peaceful nothing while the snow drifted silently down around them.