Work Text:
“You know what I hate?” Rodney demanded, glaring at John.
“Uh, a lot of things,” John replied, wondering where this had come from as he leaned back against the log he was using as a backrest.
“No, no,” Rodney said intently, his eyes wide and bright from the alcohol.
John always loved these moments. Harmony’s planet was the only one that had alcohol Rodney could drink. He’d never forget the heart-stopping moments during the first year when something had set off Rodney’s allergies each time until the other man had sworn off all alcohol that didn’t come from Earth. But it had been impossible to deny Harmony a toast, especially when the teenager looked one second from demanding John’s head for trying to steal her throne.
If there was ever a point John felt the need to have kids, he just thought of Harmony, and the impulse went away.
But the alcohol hadn’t set off Rodney’s allergies, so they had traded for a few bottles, kept for Rodney for moments like this, celebrating Torrens second birthday on New Athos. It was one of the few times Rodney could drink, and any tolerance he once had had gone out the window years ago. Especially since the stuff from Harmony’s planet made moonshine look like kids' apple juice.
“The moon,” Rodney said, flinging an arm up to the sky where the moon hung, distant and bright.
“You hate the moon?” John asked.
Rodney shook his head. “No, no, no, not the moon,” Rodney said intently, and he leaned in, staring at John with wide eyes as if he could make John understand by staring at him alone.
“Then why?” John asked, taking another sip of the beer they had gotten from Harmony.
“We are on another planet,” Rodney said, leaning in even closer. “And this is my fourth one today because you are paranoid and the moon!”
“Yes, the moon,” John said, unable to stop himself from cracking a smile.
“No, no, we are on another planet! In another galaxy! And I’ve never been on our moon,” Rodney said, eyes wider and sadder than they had been before.
“No?”
“No!” Rodney cried, throwing both arms up in the air and slumping back. “No moon!”
“Sucks.”
Rodney nodded, looking down at his hands and then back up at the sky before sighing and slumping. “Always wanted to go to the moon. Used to dream of meeting Neil Armstrong, and he’d be so impressed with my math he’d fly me up there,” Rodney admitted words beginning to slur slightly.
John bit the inside of his cheek to stop from chuckling at the image of a young Rodney walking on the moon in a small space suit, especially since John had more than one dream of flying one of the spacecraft and landing on the moon himself.
“Well, this is more fun than a moon,” John said, trying to cheer Rodney up.
“Yeah?” Rodney asked.
“Yeah, we have food. And drinks, and most importantly, a breathable atmosphere,” John explained, tilting his cup towards Rodney.
Rodney took it and finished it before John could tell him he hadn’t been offering it. Rodney gave him the cup back and nodded his head slowly. “At…at..air, air is good,” Rodney said, slumping to the side and resting his head on John’s shoulder.
John wrapped his arm around Rodney’s shoulder, still giddy at the fact that he could do this. “Air is good. I love air.”
“I love you,” Rodney said intently, poking John in the knee. “Not air, you.”
John had to bite the inside of his cheek hard to keep the grin off his face. “Back atcha buddy,” John said, leaning in to kiss Rodney quickly, pulling back before it went aware. He wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t get drunk just from kissing Rodney at this point.
Rodney nodded firmly, tucking himself into John’s side. John rubbed his thumb over Rodney’s arm, feeling the soft skin as he looked out across the party that was winding down for the kids and beginning to wind up for the adults if the way barrels of ruus wine were coming out.
“Better than the moon,” Rodney muttered, fingers curling into John’s pants and holding tight.
“What?”
“You’re…you’re better than the moon,” Rodney said intently. “Cuz I can…I can walk on you.”
John didn’t even fight the grin, glad that Rodney was tucked against his side and he couldn’t see it. “Well, I’m gonna take that as a good thing.”
“It is a thing. A good thing. A love thing,” Rodney said, patting John’s leg. “You’re better.”
“Better than the moon? Yeah, we went over this.”
“Better pilot than them,” Rodney said, sounding sleepy now. “Could…could fly Saturn’s rings around them.”
John chuckled. “Glad you think so.”
“I’m…smartest man, so I know!” Rodney said, pulling back and looking intently at John. “You’re the best.”
John’s smile turned soft, and he didn’t even want to think about what expression was on his face. “So are you,” John said.
Rodney leaned in and pressed a sloppy kiss against his mouth before he shifted and laid down, resting his head on John’s leg and pressing his face against his stomach. A few seconds later, he started to snore, right on schedule. A few drinks and Rodney fell asleep every time. John rested a hand on Rodney’s shoulder, thumb stroking again as he watched as Rodney started to snore, mouth open and face lax, looking younger under the soft light from the moon. He watched Rodney long enough he started to feel creepy before he tilted his head back and stared up at the moon.
He could see the appeal and dreamed of going as a kid. But life had taken him to other places, and right then, there was nowhere else John wanted to be.