The Near Miss Saga 2

Round Hole, Square Peg

by Cynical_Coat

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asc/ccoat/nmsaga02.php
Summary: Sheppard has McKay watching duty on mission... and even though they kind of do, they don't

Watching Rodney work was torture.

The room might be a little bigger than last time, but he was still waiting, and still stood to get nothing more than a peep show, and knowing that Rodney wasn't doing it on purpose was worse.

That damn scientist was driving Sheppard to distraction without even trying, without even noticing, and what could he say?

-hey, McKay... quit fucking that post, 'cause coming in my pants is *so* two decades ago...-

Not likely.

Rodney groaned with exertion, forcing Sheppard's attention back to him. He was grinding himself unconciously against the column, gripping it with his thighs to gain more leverage as he tried to force a quite literally square peg into an equally literally round hole. The metal peg was already beginning to glisten with the sweat from Rodney's hands when the normally brilliant man had his latest epiphany. He started running his hands up and down the shaft, slowly at first, gaining momentum as he failed to find the switch he was searching for. Sheppard kept his silence and his load by sheer force of will and strength of training... but it was a near thing. Rodney looked at him, probably to gripe, and caught John staring at him.

"What?" He snapped.

"... Nothing."

"Well, quit staring and help me." Just as though he hadn't already refused several offers of help.

-oh, I'll help alright...-

Sheppard cleared his throat roughly.

"What do you want me to do?"

Rodney frowned at him and wiped his hands on his thighs. Why that gesture should be arousing was beyond Sheppard's current ability to fathom... all he knew was that it was.

"Come around the other side of the column and help me pull this out... I must be doing something wrong."

-yeah... usually you take your clothes off and ignore the stone post in favor of the hot and bothered Airforce Major...-

He moved around to the other side of the post and slowly took hold of the metal peg, just below where Rodney's hands were wrapped around it. His breath hitched as their fingers brushed but he turned it into a cough by sheer habit. He found that simply reaching the peg pulled his groin flush with the pillar, and given his already hardened state, he was far from comfortable, but backing away was no longer a choice. Rodney was sure to question his obvious arousal, and there was no way he could leave the pillar without making it abundantly clear.

"Now what?"

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Rodney snapped, brows furrowed and attention focused inward. Sheppard might as well not have been there, let alone ready to rumble. "The other three slid right in, no problem... but this one..." He muttered to himself, shaking his head. "There's nowhere else it can go... it has to be here." He gave an experimental tug, glaring at Sheppard until he did the same. Nothing happened, other than Sheppard moving another fraction of an inch toward totally losing it when he unconciously arched his back. "What are you panting about? You've barely done anything."

Sheppard seriously considered just telling him the truth, but aborted at the last second.

"It's hot in here..."

Rodney glanced around, as though he could gauge the temperature by sight.

"I guess your right..." Without another word he released the peg and moved back, unzipping his coat and shrugging it to the floor. After a moment's consideration and a warning glance at Sheppard, his tee- shirt followed. Sheppard breathed a silent sigh of relief when he saw the thin white undershirt beneath. It wasn't much... but he didn't think he could take the sight of too much more exposed skin on Rodney's part without making a total mess of the inside of his fatigues. The man had more muscle definition than Sheppard had expected... it suggested a latent power that he didn't often have to use. Another thing that Sheppard was surprised to find alluring.

It was clear from Rodney's attitude that he expected Sheppard to follow suit and strip down. He had, after all, been the one to complain. Holding a tight breath in his chest, managed to unzip his own vest and jacket without moving very far from the post. Not far enough to expose his discomfort, but far enough for a little reprieve from that constant pressure. He yanked his tee-shirt up over his head like a teenager in one of those coming of age films that poeple back home were always talking about. He was *not* wearing any kind of undershirt, so as he dropped the tee shirt to the floor, he was suddenly a step closer to being completely naked with the man that had him throbbing to the point that every movement nearly sent him careening over the edge. And wouldn't that be fun to explain to Rodney? Let alone the rst of th team...

Rodney's eyes were critical as they swept over him, making him shudder and ache.

"You really need to gain some weight, Major."

"Sure, I'll just borrow some of yours." That wasn't fair, but he was just as sensitive about his weight as Rodney was.

"I mean it, Major." Rodney said, looking faintly hurt beneath his annoyance. "There's no telling what winter on Atlantis will be like."

"Maybe we've already had winter, and now we're headed into a sweltering inferno of a summer that makes Southern California look like Antarctica." That might be nice... it would give him plenty of opportunity to watch half-naked Rodney working in his lab or wwandering around on the balconies.

"I'll be sure to look into it as soon aas we get back, Major, but right now... could we just get back to the matter at hand?"

-wonderful idea, Rodney... if only you knew what matter that was.-

As they resumed their positions and uncomfortable grips, Sheppard grinned, thinking of a way to throw McKay nearly as off-balance as he himself was.

"I was just thinking..."

"Dangerous business..." Rodney muttered, but Sheppard ignored him.

"What exactly does this thing do... Rodney?"

And that was how Ford and Teyla found them, half naked on opposite side of the column, staring at each other silently while griping a rather phallic shaft of metal for no apparent reason.

And it was Ford's turn to write the over-all mission report...

fin

Next: Fixation