i do declare i'm a hippopotamus

2.

"Are you okay?" Sheppard's face was white, except for the slow, sludge-like trickle of blood from his forehead.

Rodney blinked stupidly at him. There was a ringing in his ears, his head felt like it was full of static and his whole body felt weak. What the hell had happened? Another blink. He couldn't remember.

Panic began to rise inside him, bile clawing its way up his throat. Why couldn't he remember? Where was he? Oh God, not good, really not good!

"Rodney, look at me." Sheppard's voice seemed far away, like he was calling down a long tunnel. There was darkness clinging to the edge of his vision. His head was spinning. "Rodney!" It was an order, barked and fierce and it pulled Rodney back automatically. He met Sheppard's gaze, feeling the panic ease ever so slightly. "Good. You're gonna be fine, okay? I'm going to get you out of here. I promise." Rodney nodded mutely. He believed him. Sheppard would keep him safe, he'd get him home. He'd figure this out.

3.

"Are you okay?" Sheppard cocked his head to one side, watching Rodney with a mixture of amusement and something that looked terrifyingly like affection.

"Oh yes, peachy," Rodney growled, trying to limit the damage from his spilled coffee on his jacket and desk, "I absolutely love it when people sneak up on me in the lab and I lose my hard earned coffee, almost wrecking vital and life-sustaining equipment in the process." Giving up on saving his jacket he used the sleeve to mop up the worst of the spreading liquid. "Seriously, you should wear a bell or something. At least that way we'd hear you coming."

Thankfully the lab was empty, had been for a good few hours now, so only Sheppard had been witness to his surprise. But still! This was his lab, it should be a safe haven, not somewhere he had to look over his shoulder!

"Mm, so you can pretend you're not out here working at 3am?" Sheppard settled his hip against the edge of Rodney's desk, his arms folded across his chest.

"It's not 3am!" Rodney scoffed, raising his arm to glance at his watch and he winced. Ah. Perhaps he'd been at this a little bit longer than he'd thought. "Well," he backpedaled quickly, "someone's got to keep an eye on this city to make sure she keeps running. Besides, you know the backlog of testing we have. Sometimes beauty sleep can wait."

The Colonel remained silently, stubbornly leant against his desk, so close that Rodney could smell his damn aftershave even at this time of night. It was irritatingly distracting.

"Do you mind?" He poked at Sheppard's hip with one finger; with any luck he'd leave or at least put a bit of distance between them.

"Kinda," Sheppard shrugged, "I think that beauty sleep's calling for you, Rodney. Come on." Finally Sheppard pushed himself off the desk, but he refused to leave until Rodney followed. He insisted on walking him right to his quarters, even waited outside until he heard the lock click shut behind him. And Rodney most certainly didn't listen out for his footsteps clicking away down the corridor.

4.

"Are you okay?" Sheppard's voice was soft - stable, but Rodney could sense the uncertainty in his tone.

Rodney couldn't blame him. He felt empty. Like a husk. Like he'd been fed on by a Wraith. Nothing more to give.

Kidnapped, bound, gagged, beaten - he wouldn't go so far as tortured, not even his dramatic flair wanted to go there right now.

Hands gripped his shoulders, dragging him back to reality. The warmth of skin through the torn remnants of his jacket caused a shiver to run down his spine. His throat was parched, scratchy. He hadn't spoken for days. It hadn't mattered to his captors if he'd spilt his darkest secrets, nothing had stopped them.

"Rodney, buddy," slowly, and with a great effort, Rodney lifted his head and caught Sheppard's eye. There was no humour, no light on Sheppard's face, even the smile that he forced his lips into looked wrong. Instead Rodney could sense anger rolling off him like waves. Tightly controlled anger. His whole body seemed coiled like a spring; but his eyes were…kind. Caring.

Rodney swallowed thickly, his own eyes suddenly burning.

"John." He croaked, reaching out with a trembling hand to lightly grasp Sheppard's elbow, trying to ground himself, to prove to himself this was real.

"I'm here."

The first tear rolled down Rodney's cheek and he hung his head, leaning forwards almost without thinking, until John's arms wrapped around him.

5.

"Are you okay?"

Rodney blinked once, twice, the world slowly coming back into focus. His lips were tingling, his heart hammering against his ribs. Before him Sheppard at least had the grace to look a little uncertain.

"I -" Rodney started, but words failed him. His brain was blank. Stuck replaying the kiss over and over again. The way Sheppard had stepped forwards. Hw his gaze had dipped to Rodney's lips. The siren of panic in Rodney's head and then the silence as their lips met.

It was what Rodney had been dreaming about for five years now. Ever since he'd accepted the fact that John Sheppard was ridiculously attractive and, therefore, he stood no chance at all. But then they'd become friends, best friends even and now…

"Oh god," Rodney's eyes widened, "this - you don't - this is a bet, right? Or - oh god…" this was surely going to ruin everything! He was going to lose the second best friend he'd ever had in his life. It was Carson all over again. Except this time there'd be no death, no clone, just John Sheppard waltzing around the city, being normal whilst Rodney pined.

"Whoa, Rodney," Sheppard's hands tightened on his hips - where they were still resting. Surely he should have pulled them away by now? There should be some distance between them right? "No. No bet. No weird Ancient tech. I just —" Sheppard broke off and when Rodney caught his eye, he saw a flash of fear. "I thought —"

Oh.

"So…this is…real?" Rodney asked slowly, his hands twitching at his sides where, embarrassingly, they'd remained the whole time. A sharp pinch at the soft roll of skin at his hip had him gasping. "Oi!"

"Sure seems real to me." The concern he'd spotted in Sheppard's eyes had gone now, a slow, lazy grin spreading across his lips. Like he suddenly understood Rodney was buffering, slowly fitting the pieces together and about to get onboard.

Another pause. Silence stretching between them, before Rodney launched himself forwards, his arms wrapping around John's neck and their lips meeting once more. One hand worked its way into that perpetually messy hair, twisting until he forced a gasp from John's lips and could slip his tongue forwards.

Definitely real!

+1.

"Are you okay?" Rodney asked, a ray of moonlight falling across the bed, illuminating one side of John's face. They were both panting, their skin flushed pink and slick with sweat. The floor was a jumble of clothes and shoes, kicked and thrown haphazardly as they'd flung themselves towards the bed. Gently, almost reverently he brushed a finger over John's bare shoulder.

Sometimes he still couldn't believe this was actually happening. That this was his life. That after everything, all his screw ups, his outbursts, his arrogant rants…he got this.

"Yeah," John's voice was quiet, but as he tilted his head towards Rodney, he could see the blissed out smile settling across his lips, "just gotta catch my breath."