Title: Waiting is hell
Author: rosiepaw
Rating: G
Pairing: John/Rodney
Word count: 352


Waiting is hell

Although the kebab-things one of the vendors was selling were really good, the market had been a bust in terms of interesting technology. Rodney was ready to call it a day. When he spotted the spikes of John’s hair rising about the crowd, he headed in that direction.

He was turning the corner around the last row of stands between John and him when he saw the contents of the table John – and Teyla – were standing at. Blankets. Thick, fleecy blankets. The one that his team-mates were apparently bargaining for was exactly the same colour as his orange fleece.

Rodney had ducked back around the corner, out of sight, before he had a chance to realize how silly his reaction was. There was no reason for him to be feeling that he’d seen something he shouldn’t see. John and Teyla were buying a fleecy orange blanket ten days before Christmas. Big deal. Maybe it was Teyla who was buying the blanket – although when Rodney thought about it, it seemed unlikely that Teyla would need John’s help in bargaining and all too likely that John would need Teyla’s.

Maybe John was buying the blanket for himself. Maybe he was buying it for, well, someone else. Someone not Rodney. Hell, maybe the thing at the harvest festival had been a fluke. Both John and he had had quite a bit to drink. John had been gone by the time Rodney woke up the next morning, and they hadn’t spoken about it since. Although they weren’t actively not speaking about it, either. John didn’t act uncomfortable or different. He was just, always, almost painfully John.

Who was buying a fleecy orange blanket. Almost certainly not for Rodney.

Rodney put his chin up and marched around the corner, only to freeze when John spotted him. They stared at each other a moment before John drawled, "It’s okay, McKay, it’s not a Christmas present."

Oh. Fine.

John raised one eyebrow and smirked, still looking right at Rodney. "It’s wrapping paper."

Oh?

The smirk intensified.

Ohhhhhhh... And still ten days to wait.

- 30 -