When in Rome

When In Rome

Word Count: 2705

Pairing: John/Rodney

Summary: "You've got to be kidding me," Rodney said, staring at John. "They want us to do what?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Rodney said, staring at John. "They want us to do what?"

Sheppard very studiously stared at a spot just behind Rodney's head. His face was flushed, and his hair was sticking up even more than normal. "They want us to have sex."

"And just why would we do that? ," Rodney spat.

"Something about it demonstrates trust or some bullshit like that. I'll be honest, I had trouble following it. But Teyla says that we don't have to actually, um, penetrate. Apparently this is something that she's done before." Sheppard was still staring at the wall, and he looked downright embarrassed.

Rodney glared even harder. "So Teyla's done it. Why can't she do it again? And why is Ronon being... spared?"

Sheppard sighed and for the first time met Rodney's eyes. "Teyla can't do it again because she's done it before, and besides, these people don't consider either Teyla or Ronon to be representatives of our people. Teyla's Athosian, and Ronon's Satedan. Neither of them are Atlantean, by these folks' logic. That leaves us. And we can't afford to let this deal fall through, Rodney. If something happens to the Daedalus, we're screwed."

Staring at Sheppard in disbelief, Rodney felt his way over to a bench and practically fell on to it. Sheppard was right. The deal that the Avilans were offering was a good one - the Pegasus equivalent of wheat for medical supplies, plus hunting rights. They couldn't afford to lose this deal over a little bit of modesty. It wasn't helped by the fact that Rodney already had a crush the size of Montana on Sheppard. This might be the only chance that he'd ever have to touch him.

"Fine, fine. I'll do it." Then he had a thought. "Wait. If there doesn't have to be penetration, then, um, what do we have to do?"

Sheppard shrugged. "I don't know." Turning slightly, he called out, "Teyla?"

"Yes, Colonel?" Teyla looked more than a little frustrated, not that Rodney could blame her. She'd been trying to argue the village elders out of this requirement, and had met with no success.

"We're going to do it. But what do we have to do, exactly? I don't want to finish and be told that it didn't qualify," Rodney put in quickly, when Sheppard hesitated over how to phrase the question.

Teyla flushed slightly and turned her face to the side. "I believe it does not matter the exact nature of the... sacrifice. All that matters is that both of you reach completion. I am sorry, Doctor McKay. I believed my previous sacrifice was sufficient goodwill, or I would never have brought you here."

Rodney wasn't sure what to say, but Sheppard saved him from it. "It's alright, Teyla. We'll get through this, and the terms are good. But we're going to have to talk about what other possible trading partners you're hiding from us because you don't think we can handle it."

"Colonel, I would never - "

"You certainly would, Teyla. But that's neither here nor there right now. Ask the elder if Rodney and I can have a few minutes to talk, and then we'll do this thing."

Teyla returned to the older man he'd been talking to, and Sheppard returned his attention to Rodney. "Have you ever done anything like this before, Rodney?" Rodney felt the blood flooding his face, and found that he was unable to answer. "Oh, come on - we're about to bare our all in front of a bunch of strangers. The least you can do is let me know what we're dealing with here. Are you going to freak on me?"

Rodney shook his head and found his voice. "No, I'm not going to freak out, though we might be looking at serious problems getting it up. I'm not used to an audience, Colonel. As far as your other question - I know the theory, but I've never had the opportunity to practice practical application."

"Great." But Sheppard didn't look annoyed - just calm. Actually, the expression on his face reminded Rodney of his jumper lessons. "How about this - I'll blow you and you can just give me a handjob, okay?"

He sniffed. "If you can give a blowjob, Colonel, I'm sure I can handle it."

"You don't have to."

"But I want to at least try." If this was the only chance that Rodney was going to have to get his hands on Sheppard, he was going to go for as much as Sheppard would let him.

"Look, just because I offered a blowjob doesn't mean that you have to. I'm perfectly fine with a handjob."

Rodney just stared at him. "Are you seriously arguing against having your dick sucked?"

Sheppard flushed to the roots of his hair. "It's just - I know you don't want to do this, and I don't want you to feel like you have to do more than you're comfortable with, okay?"

"I'm fine with it - it was my idea, after all. Besides, it's not like you've done this before either." And suddenly they were back to Sheppard not meeting his eyes. "What the - you have done this before?" Rodney couldn't control the way that his voice spiraled up and out of control.

"Keep your voice down!" Sheppard hissed, and then suddenly he was looking again, as he dragged him further away from where Teyla was still talking to the elder. "Fine, yes, I've done it before. I didn't think you'd have a problem with it!"

"No, no... you don't understand, Colonel." Rodney stopped, unable to finish the thought. What if Sheppard wasn't interested in him? That would be just too embarrassing. Thinking quickly, he tried to find an explanation that wouldn't be some variation of "I've been in love with you since you sat in that chair." "I'm not offended or anything. I just... think that it's a useful thing." Wincing, Rodney thought to himself that was lame, but still better than nothing.

Sheppard looked mollified, at the very least, so Rodney took a deep breath. "Should we do this?"

"No time like the present for embarrassing sex rituals," Rodney said, sotto voice, then nodded. "Yes, let's get this over with."

Rodney followed Sheppard over to the village elder, who smiled at him and spoke of the need for trust between the Atlantians and the Avilans, and how the Ancestors granted this little ritual to them as a way to ensure the honesty of trading partners. Rodney spoke softly, right into Sheppard's ear, "And if they all get their jollies off at the same time, the Ancestors surely won't object, right?"

Sheppard snickered, turning it into a cough at the last moment. The elder gestured towards the two of them, and head held high, Rodney stepped out, followed closely by Sheppard. They were directed towards the dais elevated at one end of the town commons, and with a sigh that they shared, they made their way there.

Climbing up the stairs, Sheppard whispered in Rodney's ear, "Let me go first, okay?"

Looking down at all the people gathered below, Rodney nearly whimpered. Oh, this wasn't good - he wasn't even sure he was going to be able to get it up, but if he didn't, they'd lose their new trading partners, and it would be all his fault. His thoughts were spinning out of control, and he tried to calm himself down, but it wasn't working. Some of his distress must have communicated itself to Sheppard, who stepped in front of him and said, "Hey, don't look at them. Just... pretend it's just the two of us, okay? In your quarters, back in Atlantis, and I'm about to give you some really excellent head, even if I do say so myself."

Rodney opened eyes he didn't realize that he'd closed, and focused on Sheppard. He nodded and Sheppard flashed him a grin. When he went to slide to his knees, though, Rodney stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Greatly daring, he said, "Can I - have a kiss first?"

The grin that Sheppard had been wearing morphed into something a little more honest, a little more open. "Sure." And then there were lips on his, soft and gentle and chaste.

Rodney broke.

One of his hands grabbed the back of Sheppard's jacket, the other wove itself into the incredibly thick hair, and he tipped Sheppard's head to get the perfect angle. His mouth opened, and the kiss he gave Sheppard had nothing chaste about it. Instead, it was hungry.

Sheppard had frozen, but as Rodney licked at his lips, he started to move again, mouth opening to let Rodney in. For long minutes they kissed, deep and hard and needy, until Rodney thought he could come just from that. Then Sheppard had to one-up things, dropping to his knees gracefully and unbuttoning the front of Rodney's pants, pulling out his cock. He was hard from the taste of Sheppard, and the first touch of his tongue to his cock nearly made him sob. "Oh, god," he said, studiously looking at Sheppard instead of the crowd gathered in front of them.

"That's it, Rodney," Sheppard said, licking a long slow path up the underside of Rodney's cock. Rodney tangled his hands in Sheppard's hair, the thick strands twisting around his fingers like a living thing. Sheppard's eyes dropped shut, and he mouthed at Rodney's cock eagerly, even happily. Rodney closed his own eyes but couldn't keep them closed. He had to watch. There was no way that Sheppard was enjoying this as much as the look on his face implied, but that didn't mean that Rodney couldn't pretend to himself.

As Sheppard took him ever deeper, he started to make little noises that sure sounded like enjoyment. Rodney wanted nothing more than to thrust into that wet heat, get even deeper, but he forced himself to stillness. When Sheppard scraped his teeth lightly along the shaft, Rodney hissed and his resolve almost broke. "Ah, oh, god," he gasped out.

Sheppard's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Rodney. Then he very deliberately grabbed Rodney by the hips and tugged, forcing Rodney's cock even deeper into the glorious moving tightness that was his throat. He snapped, hips starting to move erratically. Sheppard took every stroke, sucking and licking as much of Rodney's cock as he could reach.

Rodney's hands moved from Sheppard's head to his shoulders, and he was making harsh little panting noises with every stroke. Sheppard brought up his own hands and gently, tentatively rolled Rodney's balls, and with a harsh cry, Rodney came in a rush.

The only thing that kept Rodney on his feet was Sheppard's hands on his hips. He held him steady until Rodney thought that his knees would support him again, and then he nodded. Sheppard rose from his knees gracefully. Rodney's attention was drawn to the front of his pants, where they tented obscenely. He could feel his mouth start to water.

Before he could move, though, Sheppard had tugged him in by his shirt, and was kissing him again. While they kissed, Sheppard's hands were busy buttoning Rodney back up so that nothing showed. As soon as he was finished, Rodney got to work on Sheppard's, undoing his fly and stuffing his hand in. He got his hand wrapped around his cock, which was hard and wet at the tip. Sheppard groaned.

"Hell, Rodney, it won't take much," Sheppard whispered, but Rodney was stubborn. Dropping to his knees, though not as gracefully as Sheppard, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he leaned forward and licked the tip of Sheppard's cock, making him suck in a whooping breath.

Opening his mouth wide, he sucked the head into his mouth, running his tongue around it. When he glanced up at Sheppard, he saw that his eyes were closed, his hands in tight fists. Without releasing his cock, he grabbed one of Sheppard's hands and placed on the back of his head. Sheppard's eyes shot open, and his mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. Then his hand relaxed, cupping the back of Rodney's skull.

Rodney smiled as well as he could around his mouthful of cock. Sucking gently, he gradually took more and more of Sheppard's cock into his mouth, only to choke and gag when he went a little too far. He pulled back, coughing. "You doing okay there, Rodney?" Sheppard asked.

"Fine, fine," he said, hoarsely, giving himself a second to catch his breath. This time, he wrapped his hand around the base of Sheppard's dick before attempting to suck just the top of it into his mouth. It took more coordination that he would have thought to jerk and suck at the same time, and he felt his respect for the various women he'd slept with over the years rise.

Sheppard's hand started to comb through his hair, not pushing on his head at all, but he was breathing hard. Each breath ended on a little whine, and Rodney realized that he was getting hard again from hearing it. Suddenly, Sheppard said, "I - I'm gonna..." but before Rodney could react, he was coming.

It was too much too fast for Rodney to swallow, and he could feel it leaking out of the corner of his mouth. The taste wasn't bad - a little salty, a little bitter - but the consistency was weird. Still, he didn't think he'd done too badly for his first time.

Sheppard was still breathing hard, his hands gentle on Rodney's head. Rodney couldn't resist, leaning in and resting his forehead against Sheppard's belly. For just a moment, he needed to pretend that Sheppard had done this because he wanted to.

But he was urged to his feet, to the sounds of applause. He stood in front of Sheppard long enough for him to tuck himself away, and then he turned to look out at the small crowd, many of whom looked like they were ready to grab the nearest available body and drag them off. Rodney's eyes went to Teyla and Ronon, who were standing on either side of the dais, their backs to Rodney and Sheppard.

Sheppard gave an ironic little half bow, and led the way off the stage, Rodney following in his wake. The elder was smiling, and Rodney was relieved. There had been a part of him that had been afraid that even after doing this, the trade would fall through. Teyla, Sheppard, and the elder sat down to finish negotiating, while Rodney went to join Ronon. "You did good,Ó Ronon said, gruffly.

Rodney felt blood flood his face, but he didn't say anything at all. He was grateful that the negotiating didn't take long, and before too much time had passed they were on their way back to the 'gate.

He was a little surprised to find himself walking next to Sheppard. He was even more surprised when he started to talk. "So, that wasn't bad." Unsure of where this was going, he shook his head. "You know -"

Interrupting, he said, "Yes, Colonel, I know, we can't talk about this back in Atlantis. Please don't strain yourself." He was hoping to head off any recriminating statements, because he wanted to save the memory of Sheppard's dick in his mouth for later. The reality had been so much better than any fantasy.

But Sheppard just continued as if Rodney hadn't said anything at all. "I was thinking. Maybe we could... try it again without an audience? I'm not sure I did the best I could."

Rodney actually came to a stop, unable to walk or talk or think. Sheppard looked at him, obviously amused by the effect his statement had. Finally, Rodney managed to get his mouth to work. "I think if you got any better, I might just have a heart attack."

"But what a way to go!" Sheppard said, laughing. Rodney resumed walking, thinking about it. His first impulse was to say yes, but there were things to consider - risks and benefits and -

"Yes," his mouth said.

Sheppard smiled at him. "Cool."

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