Touch is Everything

Touch is Everything

Word count: 2204

Not mine. Don't sue

Summary: "I need you to take off your clothes."

Rodney stared in momentary speechlessness at John. "You want me to do what?"

"I need you to take off your clothes."

Grimacing, Rodney glanced at the guards surrounding them. "Now? You want me to strip down now?"

Sighing, John moved closer to him. "Look. The leader of the Rockorians will only meet with emissaries who are naked. Some sort of method of preventing assassination or something - even their own people have to be naked in her presence. You're the one who knows about what materials we're looking for, so that means the two of us have to go in. Teyla and Ronon... well, they'll have our six out here."

Shooting a glance at the two of them - Teyla smiling encouragingly, Ronon smirking - Rodney bit his lip. They really did need those metals, after all. And it wasn't like the showers at Atlantis weren't embarrassingly public. Everything he had had been seen by far more people than was really comfortable to contemplate anyway.

"Fine." He started to unzip his shirt, ignoring the way that John smiled encouragingly and unfastened his own vest. "I can't believe that I'm doing this."

"It'll be fine, McKay. Everyone else will be naked too."

"Not reassuring, Colonel. Not in the least."

Shirt off, fly undone, Rodney stalled for a minute while taking off his thigh holster and unfastening his boots. Glancing over at John out of the corner of his eye, he had to swallow hard as John's pants hit the floor. He could do this. He had nothing to be ashamed of and they really really needed those metals. Maybe if he kept repeating himself he'd actually start to believe it.

Finally, he couldn't stall any longer, and his pants, along with his boxers and the last remnants of his dignity were on the floor with John's. Ronon was grinning, as if this was the funniest thing he'd seen all day, and Teyla was now looking at some point over their heads. "We shall watch your things, Doctor McKay."

"Yeah, okay." Folding his hands uneasily in front of him, he followed John out of the small room. The people in the corridors averted their eyes, thankfully, so Rodney just focused on his breathing, letting John hold a quiet conversation with their guide.

Once they got to the large meeting chamber, though, it was hard to ignore it anymore - everyone in the room was completely, unabashedly, unashamedly naked. Rodney had never seen so much flesh exposed before, and was admittedly gaping before John elbowed him in the side, getting his attention. "Rodney! Eyes front!"

Rodney could feel the blush burning his face as he turned his attention to the one person in the whole room who was still dressed. If you could call it that. A bodice that dipped below her breasts and a skirt made of some sort of diaphanous material that did nothing to hide her shape made the leader looks somehow even more naked than the throngs of nude people throughout the room.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye at John, Rodney vowed to keep quiet and follow his lead, because right now if he opened his mouth he was pretty sure some variation of the word "boobies" was going to come leaping out. John, for his part, bowed low and started with the ceremonial greeting that they'd been taught.

By the time it was over, Rodney was feeling much better - enough so that when they started to list off what they needed and what they'd be willing to offer, he jumped right in. The Rockorian's leader might be half naked, but she was a sharp negotiator, and trying to get the best deal they could for the materials they so desperately needed was enough to keep Rodney distracted.

Just as he thought that they'd managed to reach an agreement, though, she stood. "I must meet with my advisors. Please, stay and eat a meal with the court. I shall give you an answer in the morning."

"But - oof" John's elbow landed on his chest, shutting him up. Fine. Okay. He could eat a meal, assuming that there was no citrus in it.

Tables were being pulled out from along the walls, and benches. Rodney had a moment of eww when he realized that they were expected to sit on these things naked - where undoubtedly other naked asses had been for god only knew how long, but John's glare shut him up pretty quickly, and he sat down with what was, for him, a minimum of bitching.

The food wasn't bad, either, and at least there was enough of it, but when he asked for water, the serving girl just looked at him funny and filled his cup with whatever strong smelling drink it was that they were all having. "I don't drink -"

John interrupted, holding his own cup. "Drink it, McKay."

"But - " Rodney didn't really think it was a good idea for them to be drinking, but as John glared at him, he picked up the cup and sipped at it. "Fine." It burned all the way down, and made his stomach feel like it was on fire at first, but the second sip was better, and the third went down fairly smooth.

By the time he'd finished the first cup full, he was starting to feel a little dizzy, enough so that he didn't stop the girl right away when she refilled it without asking him. And once it was poured, he didn't want it to go to waste. This time, he drank it without pause, wondering briefly why he'd ever thought to fight drinking it - it was pretty good.

A hand appeared on his shoulder as he was starting to sip at the third cup, and Rodney looked up blearily at John, who had appeared out of nowhere. He was blurry and indistinct, and vaguely Rodney wondered how much alcohol had been in those drinks. "John?"

"I think it's time we went to bed, whaddya say, Rodney? I think we've had enough." John didn't look so good, now that Rodney was looking carefully at him, and whoa, he'd forgotten how much there was to look at right now.

Without saying anything, Rodney stood up and just kind of... wavered for a moment, feeling dizzy and a little sick. "Okay. Let's go."

As soon as they stepped out of the meeting hall, they were met by the same guide from earlier, and followed him through the confusing twists and turns of the halls, finally being delivered to a completely different room. One glance inside sent John back into the hall. "Where are my people? And our clothes?"

"Forgive me, Colonel. Your people have been given meals and other rooms, and your things are with them. You will be reunited with them after your meeting in the morning."

John started to argue with the guard, but Rodney just stumbled into the room. He needed to lie down and soon, because the way the room was spinning was enough to make him feel more than a little sick. He focused just enough to find the one bed in the room and collapsed on it, face down.

When he woke up, some time later, it was too warm and he grumpily tried to kick off the blanket, only to realize that it wasn't one. It was John, still naked and plastered up against his back, that was overheating him. It wasn't the first time they'd shared a bed, but it was the first time that Rodney had woken up to being, well, cuddled, in his sleep.

As he shifted uncomfortably, John grumbled sleepily and wrapped one arm around his chest. "Stop moving," he said, his voice sleep roughened and deep. Rodney froze for a moment and then surreptitiously tried to pull away to hide the predictable effect being touched was having on him. John's arm grew tighter, palm sliding down so it was flat against Rodney's belly. "I said stop, Rodney."

"John - " It came out strangled and tight, and Rodney could feel John waking up behind him.

"Rodney? You okay?" John's thumb was moving in a way that was probably supposed to be soothing but was anything but.

His head was floating from the alcohol, and all of the blood from his head had gone down to his dick. All Rodney could think was how bad an idea this was, and as John's hand moved again, Rodney jackknifed to a sitting position.

Unfortunately, that had the effect of shifting John's hand so that it was further down his stomach, and Rodney gasped as the back of it brushed against his cock. John stilled. "Rodney?"

"Uh... It must be the alcohol. Just move your hand. Please?"

The hand moved, but not away. Instead, it wrapped firmly around Rodney's cock, and he couldn't help the whimper that rose in his throat. John's other hand got a grip on his shoulder, tugging him back down and encouraging him to turn to face him. "John?"

The smile on John's face was quiet. "Be quiet, Rodney," and then there were soft lips on his own, pressing gently.

With a moan, Rodney opened his mouth, letting John's slick tongue slip into his mouth. The soft kiss was almost more intimate than the hand slowly moving over his cock. Then John shifted and Rodney gasped at the sensation of his cock pressing against his leg.

They twisted without words; till John had Rodney pinned down on the bed, moving slowly over him, with him. Rodney spread his legs further, feeling John's cock move in the space between torso and leg, his own pressed tight between their bellies.

Rodney didn't know what to do, where to put his hands, and he couldn't ask, because John's mouth wasn't moving away from his.

His hips felt like they didn't belong to him, moving without any guidance whatsoever. With a cry that John swallowed, he spilled between them, but he couldn't stop moving. Then John cried out, and as he came, Rodney finally closed his hands on John's shoulders, pulling him close.

They kissed slowly, lazily, for long minutes after, as Rodney lost himself in the afterglow of a truly mind bending orgasm. Eventually, though, the combined effects of alcohol and sex hit them both and they slept.

The next morning, they were woken up by a knock on the door. It was their guide from the night before, who smiled knowingly at their befuddled state. "Our leader will meet with you in ten minutes."

With no more than a look between them, Rodney and John tabled any sort of discussion about what had happened the night before as they frantically tried to clean themselves up for the meeting.

Apparently, the conversation with her advisors had gone well, and hammering out an agreement - metals for medical supplies - was quickly arranged. Then they were escorted to yet another room, where Teyla and Ronan, and most importantly, their clothes, waited for them.

They didn't dawdle, dressing quickly and making their way back to the 'gate. There was no time, nor privacy, for Rodney to bring up the way that John had touched him, and since John wasn't meeting his eyes he pretty much assumed that they weren't ever going to do so.

At the debriefing, their nudity was passed off with a "They have some very odd customs" from John, and a quick warning entered into the log about the strength of their alcohol, but when it came to their evening away from Teyla and Ronan, John simply said nothing, meeting Elizabeth's eyes squarely.

When she looked at Rodney, he could feel the color rising in his face, but he didn't say anything, and with a nod, she moved on.

Rodney went back to his lab, where he yelled at Kavanaugh for messing up the city waste disposal again, and gloated at Zelenka about the agreement they'd reached. For some reason he was in a better mood than usual, enough so that he could ignore the fact that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

When he went back to his room, it hit him square in the head, because John was sitting there waiting for him in the dark. "Colonel?"

"Rodney." He was waiting for him to say say something, he realized. Some variation of "We need to talk," or "It was just the alcohol," he realized. He also realized just how much he didn't want it to be. So he was delightfully surprised when John just shook his head and stood up.

He held himself very still as John approached him, feeling absurdly like if he moved John might startle. Somehow, he managed even as his personal space was invaded, and then John's mouth was pressed to his, gently, oh, so very gently.

When they came apart again, he opened his mouth to say something. He wasn't sure what it was going to be, but he couldn't keep silent. "Don't," John said, and then they were kissing hungrily, as if it had been forever since either one had been touched.

Rodney decided that this once, he could live with silence.