![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Fic 'In Passing'
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellifer_fic
Pairing: Shep/McKay
Rating: Mild (Adult themes... ish)
Notes: School challenge
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!
In Passing | In Flux | At Rest
Summary: Rodney stared openly as John turned back in his direction, leaned out a long, tanned arm and snagged some of Rodney’s fries. He dropped them into his mouth when he leaned back, exposing a long line of throat that Rodney suddenly found very compelling.
Rodney even forgot to protest about the theft of his food.
By Senior year, Rodney McKay was pretty much resigned to the fact that high school was never going to be an enjoyable experience for him.
He was never invited to the cool parties, or any for that matter. He’d even managed to alienate the alienated, the Maths, chess and science club members, by casting aspersions on their collective intelligence, or lack thereof.
Yep, he’d pretty much started counting the days till he could leave when on the second week his world changed.
Sitting in homeroom on a lazy Monday morning, the bored students were advised that there was a new addition to their ranks. Most didn’t care and Rodney went back to his chem. book, ignoring the world at large, when he felt a ripple of excitement pass through his fellow assembled class mates. The girls sat up a little straighter and the guys slumped further in their chairs. Rodney looked up toward the doorway to see what had captured their attention so aptly and saw a figure leaning against the jamb.
The guy was the perfect balance of skinny and muscular that Rodney envied amongst his peers. His hair was spiked and defied gravity and he wore a t-shirt with a band name Rodney had never heard of and jeans that hung low on his narrow hips. Rodney looked around the room, noting that there were a number of empty chairs and went back to his book.
A shadow fell across him a few moments later and he looked up to see the guy standing next to him, leaning a flat palm on the desk beside Rodney’s and with his head slightly canted. “You mind?” His voice was tinged with a trace of Southern drawl. Rodney opened his mouth as the guy dropped into the chair, slouching so effectively that he looked like he had been seated for hours.
Rodney looked around his class and saw mystification on the faces of all present.
When the bell rang out, the guy was gone and Rodney thought, well, that was fun while it lasted.
~*~
At lunchtime, Rodney sat by himself off to the side of the cafeteria. The last thing he was expecting was to see the same flat palm and hear the same drawled “You mind?”
Again, without waiting for his answer, the guy dropped into the chair opposite Rodney. He swung his long legs up and over until they were resting on the table, crossed at the ankle. Rodney thought he might pull something if he ever tried the same manouever.
Rodney tensed automatically when Derek Peters, jock extraordinaire, appeared behind the new guy. Derek was one of the few people that didn’t actively ignore Rodney’s existence. Instead, he soundly punched Rodney on the arm in exactly the same place whenever he was close enough. The tradition had started in Freshman year and Rodney was pretty sure he’d had the same bruise for four years now. He knew that these days Derek did it more out of habit than any real malice but it didn’t help his certainty that one day his arm was just going to drop off.
“Hi John.” Derrek greeted and for the one and only time in his life, Rodney was glad that Derrek Peters existed because now he knew his strange interloper’s name. “We had a guy break his leg over summer. You should try out this afternoon.”
Rodney assumed Derek was talking about football. John turned to Rodney and offered him a lazy grin, as if they were sharing a joke. “Nah, not much into playing.” John shrugged. There were very few people, in Rodney’s opinion, in all the world, who could remain cool despite having an unpopular opinion. John seemed to be one of them.
“Oh, no worries. Listen, Kerry is having a party, her folks are away. It’s tonight if you want to come.” John turned again and raised eyebrows at Rodney. He flushed scarlet, trying to concentrate on the food in front of him. There must have been something unspoken that passed between the two alpha males at the table because a moment later Derrek said. “You too, Rodney.”
“Me too what?” Rodney blinked in surprise.
“Party. Tonight.” Derrek clarified and Rodney took a few beats just to stare at him. His childhood tormentor was inviting him to a party and looking like it was the most normal thing in the world. Any second now Rodney was sure that both Derrek and John would burst out laughing and wander off, slapping each other on the back about the great joke they had played.
Instead, John looked at Rodney expectantly.
“Uh, um, sure.” Rodney squeaked, not really practised at the correct response needed.
“Yeah, we’ll come.” John agreed and Derrek grinned and sauntered away.
Rodney stared openly as John turned back in his direction, leaned out a long, tanned arm, and snagged some of Rodney’s fries. He dropped them into his mouth when he leaned back, exposing a long line of throat that Rodney suddenly found very compelling.
Rodney even forgot to protest about the theft of his food.
~*~
There had been beer, playing pool and hanging out, three things that definitely had not, up until that night, been things Rodney McKay regularly indulged in.
Rodney entered his house after midnight on a school night, another first, and was greeted by a pair of socked feet poking up from behind the couch. “Where have you been?” Rodney rounded the couch to see his sister sprawled, her head nearly touching the floor, watching the television upside down.
“I was out, with friends.” Rodney sniffed, dropping down on the couch next to Jainee and stealing the remote.
“Fine, don’t tell me.” She grunted, lowering a foot so she could jab him in the ribs more affectively.
“I was! I have friends.” Rodney protested but Jainee waved a hand in a ‘yeah,yeah’ gesture that drove Rodney up the wall. “Fine. One of them is coming over to dinner, tomorrow!” Rodney slapped a hand to his face, wondering just what had possessed him.
His sister arched an eyebrow and reached over a hand, snatching the remote back.
~*~
John had said yes, in a way that made Rodney think that he wasn’t too insane for asking. He appeared on Rodney’s doorstep at seven as agreed and Rodney was astounded. His excitement levelled off into smug satisfaction when Jainee spied their guest and proceeded to stare openly, as impressed as Rodney had been when he’d first spied John in the doorway of his classroom.
There was roast and small talk and his parent’s obvious excitement that Rodney actually did have a friend and wasn’t spending all of his time in the basement building thermo-nuclear weapons and planning the destruction of the town. Jainee followed John’s every movement like a non-too-subtle puppy.
At the end of the night when John followed Rodney up to his room and then pressed him against the door and licked his way into his mouth, Rodney was too stunned to do anything but wrap hands around John’s waist and pray that the evening would never end.
~*~
For the next four weeks, Rodney got to see what people meant when they said that high school was the best time of their lives. At the beginning the more popular people that flocked to John like moths to a candle, tried to exclude Rodney, but John was dogged in his inclusion and soon Rodney was accepted and even talked to without the glowering presence of his dark shadow.
Derrek Peters even apologised for harassing Rodney for all those years and then punched Rodney in the arm.
He realised it was meant to be a gesture of friendship so forgave Derrek.
It was the other arm.
The fifth week, when John didn’t turn up to homeroom, Rodney didn’t think too much of it. When John had failed to show up the rest of the week and into the next, Rodney drove his newly purchased hunk of rust over to the address John had given him and found the apartment empty, devoid of all furniture and life.
Rodney felt bereft and abandoned.
~*~
Two years later, Rodney’s mother called and told him he had a postcard waiting at home.
“Who’s it from?” Rodney asked, curling the phone under his chin and glowering at his flatmate who was playing Nintendo when Rodney was trying to study.
“No return address. It’s strange. It’s a postcard of a sunset and the postmark is from Guam. It just says ‘Wish you were here’.”
Rodney hung up the phone smiling.
Author:
kellifer_ficPairing: Shep/McKay
Rating: Mild (Adult themes... ish)
Notes: School challenge
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!
In Passing | In Flux | At Rest
Summary: Rodney stared openly as John turned back in his direction, leaned out a long, tanned arm and snagged some of Rodney’s fries. He dropped them into his mouth when he leaned back, exposing a long line of throat that Rodney suddenly found very compelling.
Rodney even forgot to protest about the theft of his food.
By Senior year, Rodney McKay was pretty much resigned to the fact that high school was never going to be an enjoyable experience for him.
He was never invited to the cool parties, or any for that matter. He’d even managed to alienate the alienated, the Maths, chess and science club members, by casting aspersions on their collective intelligence, or lack thereof.
Yep, he’d pretty much started counting the days till he could leave when on the second week his world changed.
Sitting in homeroom on a lazy Monday morning, the bored students were advised that there was a new addition to their ranks. Most didn’t care and Rodney went back to his chem. book, ignoring the world at large, when he felt a ripple of excitement pass through his fellow assembled class mates. The girls sat up a little straighter and the guys slumped further in their chairs. Rodney looked up toward the doorway to see what had captured their attention so aptly and saw a figure leaning against the jamb.
The guy was the perfect balance of skinny and muscular that Rodney envied amongst his peers. His hair was spiked and defied gravity and he wore a t-shirt with a band name Rodney had never heard of and jeans that hung low on his narrow hips. Rodney looked around the room, noting that there were a number of empty chairs and went back to his book.
A shadow fell across him a few moments later and he looked up to see the guy standing next to him, leaning a flat palm on the desk beside Rodney’s and with his head slightly canted. “You mind?” His voice was tinged with a trace of Southern drawl. Rodney opened his mouth as the guy dropped into the chair, slouching so effectively that he looked like he had been seated for hours.
Rodney looked around his class and saw mystification on the faces of all present.
When the bell rang out, the guy was gone and Rodney thought, well, that was fun while it lasted.
~*~
At lunchtime, Rodney sat by himself off to the side of the cafeteria. The last thing he was expecting was to see the same flat palm and hear the same drawled “You mind?”
Again, without waiting for his answer, the guy dropped into the chair opposite Rodney. He swung his long legs up and over until they were resting on the table, crossed at the ankle. Rodney thought he might pull something if he ever tried the same manouever.
Rodney tensed automatically when Derek Peters, jock extraordinaire, appeared behind the new guy. Derek was one of the few people that didn’t actively ignore Rodney’s existence. Instead, he soundly punched Rodney on the arm in exactly the same place whenever he was close enough. The tradition had started in Freshman year and Rodney was pretty sure he’d had the same bruise for four years now. He knew that these days Derek did it more out of habit than any real malice but it didn’t help his certainty that one day his arm was just going to drop off.
“Hi John.” Derrek greeted and for the one and only time in his life, Rodney was glad that Derrek Peters existed because now he knew his strange interloper’s name. “We had a guy break his leg over summer. You should try out this afternoon.”
Rodney assumed Derek was talking about football. John turned to Rodney and offered him a lazy grin, as if they were sharing a joke. “Nah, not much into playing.” John shrugged. There were very few people, in Rodney’s opinion, in all the world, who could remain cool despite having an unpopular opinion. John seemed to be one of them.
“Oh, no worries. Listen, Kerry is having a party, her folks are away. It’s tonight if you want to come.” John turned again and raised eyebrows at Rodney. He flushed scarlet, trying to concentrate on the food in front of him. There must have been something unspoken that passed between the two alpha males at the table because a moment later Derrek said. “You too, Rodney.”
“Me too what?” Rodney blinked in surprise.
“Party. Tonight.” Derrek clarified and Rodney took a few beats just to stare at him. His childhood tormentor was inviting him to a party and looking like it was the most normal thing in the world. Any second now Rodney was sure that both Derrek and John would burst out laughing and wander off, slapping each other on the back about the great joke they had played.
Instead, John looked at Rodney expectantly.
“Uh, um, sure.” Rodney squeaked, not really practised at the correct response needed.
“Yeah, we’ll come.” John agreed and Derrek grinned and sauntered away.
Rodney stared openly as John turned back in his direction, leaned out a long, tanned arm, and snagged some of Rodney’s fries. He dropped them into his mouth when he leaned back, exposing a long line of throat that Rodney suddenly found very compelling.
Rodney even forgot to protest about the theft of his food.
~*~
There had been beer, playing pool and hanging out, three things that definitely had not, up until that night, been things Rodney McKay regularly indulged in.
Rodney entered his house after midnight on a school night, another first, and was greeted by a pair of socked feet poking up from behind the couch. “Where have you been?” Rodney rounded the couch to see his sister sprawled, her head nearly touching the floor, watching the television upside down.
“I was out, with friends.” Rodney sniffed, dropping down on the couch next to Jainee and stealing the remote.
“Fine, don’t tell me.” She grunted, lowering a foot so she could jab him in the ribs more affectively.
“I was! I have friends.” Rodney protested but Jainee waved a hand in a ‘yeah,yeah’ gesture that drove Rodney up the wall. “Fine. One of them is coming over to dinner, tomorrow!” Rodney slapped a hand to his face, wondering just what had possessed him.
His sister arched an eyebrow and reached over a hand, snatching the remote back.
~*~
John had said yes, in a way that made Rodney think that he wasn’t too insane for asking. He appeared on Rodney’s doorstep at seven as agreed and Rodney was astounded. His excitement levelled off into smug satisfaction when Jainee spied their guest and proceeded to stare openly, as impressed as Rodney had been when he’d first spied John in the doorway of his classroom.
There was roast and small talk and his parent’s obvious excitement that Rodney actually did have a friend and wasn’t spending all of his time in the basement building thermo-nuclear weapons and planning the destruction of the town. Jainee followed John’s every movement like a non-too-subtle puppy.
At the end of the night when John followed Rodney up to his room and then pressed him against the door and licked his way into his mouth, Rodney was too stunned to do anything but wrap hands around John’s waist and pray that the evening would never end.
~*~
For the next four weeks, Rodney got to see what people meant when they said that high school was the best time of their lives. At the beginning the more popular people that flocked to John like moths to a candle, tried to exclude Rodney, but John was dogged in his inclusion and soon Rodney was accepted and even talked to without the glowering presence of his dark shadow.
Derrek Peters even apologised for harassing Rodney for all those years and then punched Rodney in the arm.
He realised it was meant to be a gesture of friendship so forgave Derrek.
It was the other arm.
The fifth week, when John didn’t turn up to homeroom, Rodney didn’t think too much of it. When John had failed to show up the rest of the week and into the next, Rodney drove his newly purchased hunk of rust over to the address John had given him and found the apartment empty, devoid of all furniture and life.
Rodney felt bereft and abandoned.
~*~
Two years later, Rodney’s mother called and told him he had a postcard waiting at home.
“Who’s it from?” Rodney asked, curling the phone under his chin and glowering at his flatmate who was playing Nintendo when Rodney was trying to study.
“No return address. It’s strange. It’s a postcard of a sunset and the postmark is from Guam. It just says ‘Wish you were here’.”
Rodney hung up the phone smiling.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
Oh god, poor John. I've actually been to Guam. That's not fun. Not fun at all. *lived on an Air Force Base there.*
*shudders* Not Fun.
I talk too much.
From:
no subject
Read the other two parts of the story and be reassured... *smiles*
From:
no subject
From:
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