Chapter Text
"Come on, go to the bar, Rodney."
With a dramatic sigh and an annoyed roll of his eyes, McKay surrendered to his fate and slowly made his way towards the crowded counter, where his friends, if he still wanted to call them that after this crazy evening, had chosen his victim for the night.
He should have known better that something like this was going to happen when yesterday, Carson had called him enthusiastically and asked several times if he would like to go out with him, Jennifer and Kathie. It had been far too long since they all met together, away from work. After all, he obviously couldn't spend the rest of his life alone in his lab.
Oh boy, and how he could, but again he had allowed himself to be persuaded by the doctor.
Again, he let out another groan of deep frustration and sat down next to a young man who appeared to be at least his own age and wore a black shirt. Rodney felt almost sorry for the guy.
"Hello. Listen, I'm no more keen on making meaningless small talk with a complete stranger than you are, if I can read your annoyed expression correctly, but my friends over there, in the corner..."
McKay motioned quickly in the direction of Carson.
"... think you look quite nice, however they want to judge that since they've only seen your back so far, but it's the truth. I have a simple offer for you... I'll order you a drink, we'll pretend to exchange some polite phrases and then I will be gone in twenty minutes. You know, unfortunately you aren't interested in me, we're not compatible and so on."
He tried to look as innocent and harmless as possible so as not to alienate the man who just stared at him with a blank look.
Rodney could certainly understand the stranger, the black-haired man probably thought that a madman must be sitting in front of him. He, himself, would have had serious concerns if someone would sit down next to him without a warning and made such an absurd offer, but he didn't want Carson or Jennifer to send him out for 'hunting' again.
"I know, this must sound crazy, but my friends think it's their duty to lure me out of the house every now and then to introduce me to some unknown faces, otherwise they probably think I'm going to die alone. Well, they just don't understand that there are people who find their satisfication in their and not in relationships, which, in the end, are doomed to fail."
Quickly, he waved to the bartender and ordered two beers for himself and the strange man.
"I'm Rodney by the way."
The guy just nodded but fortunately accepted the offer.
"John."
Grateful, he smiled at his 'new friend' and turned around to show Carson that he had succeeded. The doctor would hopefully leave him alone for the next few weeks and wouldn't drag him to overcrowded bars anymore.
"You're saving my life, John, but you don't have that much trouble with stuff like that, am I right?"
It was supposed to be a joke, but apparently the man found his question less funny. His face darkened and he glared at him angrily.
"Uh.."
McKay raised his hands soothingly.
"... I didn't want to say anything wrong. I am sorry if I offended you!"
Internally, the scientist could slap himself. It was no secret that he repeatedly managed to cause trouble with his cheeky statements, it was probably the reason that he was still single. He just had wanted to make a harmless joke to loosen up the tense mood, the situation was already bizarre enough, but John wasn't obviously ready to give him a smile.
On the other hand, it would help his charade to explain to Carson that the doctor's plan hadn't worked out, but Rodney couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut. He didn't want to take advantage of the stranger either. Maybe the man had had a bad day or had to cope with a stroke of fate, and then good ol' McKay would come along and say some stupid things about John's success with other men.
Sadly, he shook his head. What a crazy night indeed.
"You know, it's just annoying that my friends have the need to set me up with other people all the time. I can understand their concern, they want me to be happy and finally find a suitable partner. What they don't get, however, is that my work really fills me with joy. I'm a physician, and yes, I can already hear what you must be thinking now... how boring, that's a real nerd talking... but you don't know the feeling when a theory, which you have painstakingly created over the years, suddenly works out. Or when your ideas about the universe come true and you are the one who has solved another piece of the mysterious puzzle."
At the end of his monolouge, Rodney smiled. His work was very important to him. Of course, it woud be nice if he had someone to share these feelings with, but it should not be. Unfortunately, it didn't make the situation any easier when he was constantly being forced to meet someone new just so his friends could calm their consciences.
"Please, don't get me wrong. I am truly glad I know them. They are probably the only people on this planet who voluntarily spend time with me."
He giggled happily.
"But that's our little secret, right?"
McKay didn't get an answer. Surprisingly, he didn't find it bothersome, so he was just relieved that he could get all of this out of his system. He knew, of course, that a stranger in a bar wasn't the right person to talk about his problems, but John didn't seem to care what he thought or what insignificant things kept him up at night. The other man was definitively longing for the very moment when he could continue to sit alone at the dirty counter again and Rodney would disappear back into the dark corner, from which he had come.
"Don't worry, you'll be rid of me in ten minutes and I can go back to my cozy lab tomorrow. Then, there's just me, my experiments and unfortunately my useless colleagues who can't even tell me whether 5347 is prime or not. Can you imagine, sometimes I think the managers at Sheppard Industries hire these idiots to punish me for embarrassing the old Sheppard in front of his people last month."
John looked at him skeptically for a moment, but then just shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at his half-empty beer. McKay could guess what was going on in the other man's head, that he might as well could hold back, but that wasn't his style. Rodney would not accept pseudo-science, not while he was still sane.
"Prime."
Surprised, he looked back at John, so he hadn't expected the other man to even have been listening to him. The scientist had often experienced, also with his colleagues, that people around him preferred to ignore his opinion. He was all the more pleased that his silent friend had followed his words after all.
"What did you say?"
The stranger rolled his eyes in boredom.
"5347. Prime."
Rodney didn't know what to be more surprised about, that the man had basic math skills or that he seemed like the answer should be obvious to everyone.
"Sure, but how do you know something like that?"
John shrugged his shoulders again.
"I studied math at Stanford. Don't get your hopes up too much though, I'm just a pilot... U.S. Airforce."
McKay shook his head qucikly. He wasn't disappointed that the other wasn't a scientist, he was rather pleased that it looked like he didn't have to lead any more monologues.