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"Hey, Rodney," John says. He has to grin when Rodney startles, half jumping out of his chair in the control room before setting back down with a glower.
In apology, he sets down one of the two mugs he's carrying on the edge of Rodney's desk.
Rodney turns his glower to the mug. "Is that coffee?" he demands. "It better be coffee, because I haven't had one in thirty-five minutes and I'm about to pass out. Do you have any idea how much paperwork I still have to finish from that last mission?"
John rolls his eyes. "It isn't coffee," he says. He takes a sip of the contents of his own mug and sighs in satisfaction as he leans against Rodney's desk.
Rodney looks at his own mug suspiciously. "Then what's the point? Is there lemon in this? You aren't trying to kill me, are you?"
"No, Rodney," John sighs. "If I killed you it would be very bad for Atlantis. Also I'd probably have to do your paperwork. Just try it. You trust me, don't you?"
It says a lot about how far they've come, John thinks, that Rodney only gives him a few more suspicious glances before he picks up his mug and sniffs at it. A look of confusion crosses his face before he takes a slow sip.
His eyes flutter closed, and John should look away before Rodney opens them again and he reveals something he really, really shouldn't.
"Is this hot chocolate?" Rodney demands, staring at the mug in wonder as if it isn't the cheap, packaged kind and is instead some kind of gourmet creation the likes of which he's never tasted before.
John grins. "I got them to slip a few packs into the latest supply run," he says. It was worth the wheedling, to see the look on Rodney's face now.
"I think I love you," Rodney says.
"Aw, shucks," John drawls. "You're going to make me blush."
"I'm serious," Rodney says. "If you have more of this, I'll propose right now."
John raises an eyebrow. "You, down on one knee?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Rodney scoffs. "These knees can't take that kind of abuse. If you want to marry me so badly, you can get down on one knee."
John starts to say something, then stops and just shakes his head. Conversations with Rodney always seem to go like this—roundabout and leading him to places that don't seem to make sense on the surface.
Instead, he just grins. "I'll keep that in mind," he says.