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Rodney burst through John’s door, hands gesticulating wildly.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this! It never goes well. Remember last year when I had to find a gift for Dr. Biro of all people? Biro! She doesn’t like anything but autopsies. But that’s nothing compared to this year.”
John blinked several times, running his hand through his disheveled hair. Rodney’s late night visits had become all too common recently, as though John’s quarters were somehow both of theirs, and distance or propriety didn’t at all matter. Which was strange because John was fairly sure—or at least somewhat sure—that they weren’t in that kind of a relationship.
Only Rodney never got this memo. Rather, he sent out many different non-verbal messages himself that all seemed to contradict one another. For instance, dating Katie Brown for a short while sent a definite signal of being straight and not at all interested. On the other hand, he did spend an awful lot of time around John, ignoring personal space, bantering and flirting. At least it felt like flirting…
Whatever this was, John didn’t really want to think about it at all, much less at 2650 hours when he started work the next morning at 0500 hours. The extra four hours in the Lantean day somehow translated to ridiculous working hours more often than not as opposed to personal time in which John could hide away from all the hustle and bustle of the city and finally relax. Although Rodney was always welcome to join him, of course, because somehow time with Rodney was relaxing and wonderful and not at all something John felt the need to flee from.
Yeah…he liked Rodney. He liked him a lot. And this whole mixed signals thing? Definitely not helping.
Rodney had stopped talking at some point, staring intently at John as though expecting an answer to a question. John hadn’t been listening, his brain not exactly turned on yet.
“Well?” Rodney prompted.
“Well what?”
“Do you want to trade? There’s no way I won’t screw up finding Cadman a gift, and the truth is I’m still upset at her for that whole…you know…sharing a body thing and her taking over and…Yeah, I’m not going to think about that. I just need to trade. Who do you have?”
“For the secret santa?”
“Yes, for the secret santa! What else? Did your brain melt or something?”
“It’s 2700 hours.”
“Yes. So?”
“It’s late.”
“Not that late.”
“I’m going back to bed.” John hid beneath his blanket in a way that any other person in the world would have understood as ‘go away,’ but this was Rodney, and well…
“Seriously? You won’t trade? You’re going to leave me with Cadman?”
Maybe if John didn’t answer, Rodney would leave it alone. Maybe…Not likely.
“Who did you get then? Someone good? Oh! Elizabeth? I bet you got Elizabeth. She’s easy. Just give her any old rock from a planet and say it’s special to them. She’ll like that.”
“It’s not Elizabeth,” John muttered.
“Oh. Huh. Who then?”
“We’re not really supposed to be asking each other that are we?”
“Well…no. Not usually. But you and I always share, don’t we?”
“I just spent the entire day hiking through mud and rain with AR-4. I have to be on duty early tomorrow and I’m tired. Good night.”
“What? No! We haven't sorted this out yet. There’s no way I can sleep until I have a gift wrapped, ready to go, and it's one that won’t get me hit upside the head by a pissed off idiot who doesn’t know a good gift when they see one.”
John groaned. He grabbed the nearest pillow and placed it firmly over his ears. This did not work at all as planned. Rodney just responded by speaking louder.
“You still haven’t said who you have.”
“You really want to know?”
“Yes! Obviously!”
“Kavanagh. I got stuck with Kavanagh. Still want to trade?”
“Oh. Uh…wow. That really is…no, I think I’m good.”
“Now that that’s settled…sleep.”
“Kavanagh is a worse match than Cadman. He doesn't like anything, and he's not afraid to tell you everything wrong about your gift choice. I thought he gave up on these exchanges.”
“Clearly not.”
“Someone got him beer last year, and he went off about how city personnel need to always be sober in case of emergencies.”
“I remember.”
“Maybe you could give him a lobotomy? Even if he doesn't like it, the rest of us might be better for it.”
It wasn’t that Rodney was completely obtuse to the fact John needed sleep. No, it was just once he was focused on a problem, he couldn’t stop until that problem was solved. Knowing this, John gave a dramatic sigh just for show, then he sat up.
“I’ll just get him a book or something.”
“Hm, I suppose that would work. Perhaps, ‘How to not piss off your colleagues on a daily basis.’ I don’t know. You got Kavanagh…that’s about as screwed as you can get, right? No wonder you weren’t going to tell me. Just…maybe give up and give him a rock?”
“Isn’t that what you were going to get Elizabeth?”
“Yeah, I’m not the best at coming up with gifts.”
“Gee, I hadn’t noticed.”
“Well, if you’re so good at it, oh all-knowledgeable-gift-giver, what should I get Cadman that won’t blow up in my face?”
“She does like explosives.”
“And that is not a gift.”
“It could be.”
“Right. I’ll just package a bunch of C-4. Nothing could possibly go wrong.”
“She likes dancing?”
“Yeah…I could work with that, but— What the hell is that?!?”
The sudden panic in Rodney’s voice brought John awake to full alert level. Rodney had jumped back, now staring and blinking over and over again at a tiny, green creature crawling up John’s leg with its four frog legs. Its axolotl gill-like protrusions bounced with each step.
John relaxed, motioning for the creature to crawl onto his lap. It did so with a purr. Its slick, slimy skin grew purple spots as it nuzzled John’s leg.
“Oh this? This is Axie.”
“Axie?”
“Yeah, I, uh, got her today at the market. Elizabeth and Carson cleared her.”
“You got a pet? And you didn’t tell me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance?”
“I saw you at dinner.”
“It didn’t come up.”
“I’m sorry, that makes no sense whatsoever.”
“It’s not like I meant to get one. She followed me home from the market.”
“A random pet followed you home? And Carson said you could keep her?”
“Maybe?”
Axie blushed, purple spots transforming to pink. She lifted John’s arm then crawled underneath, hiding.
“Am I asleep?” Rodney asked. “Is this some kind of weird dream, or something?”
“Probably. Why don’t you go to your quarters and find out?”
“Ha ha, very funny. So…Axie, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“What does she do?”
“Do? Um, nothing much. Follows me around. Eats. Sleeps. She’s a pet.”
“She's hiding from me.”
“I think you woke her up.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know she was here?”
Rodney leaned over, trying to look beneath John’s arm. Axie grew more spots. Shit. John did not want Rodney to figure out why. He needed to think of something else.
His brain—messed up as it was—thought of his dad and how he refused to let John have his dog sleep in his room even after his mom had died. Axie’s spots turned royal blue.
“That’s a cool trick,” Rodney said, moving far too close for John’s comfort. Axie peeked out curiously from John’s arm. Rodney reached out a finger and Axie nuzzled against it.
“There is no way Carson just let you keep her here.”
“Then we don’t need to tell him, do we?”
“You’re going to be in so much trouble.”
“We’ll see.”
“You’re not hiding anything else in here are you?”
“No. Now, can you please go? I’m tired.”
“So you claim.”
“Claim?”
“Yeah, I think you were just trying to get rid of me so you could hang out with Axie. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“So you said.”
Rodney paced the room as he continued to talk at lightning speed.
“Maybe Cadman would like a pet? Maybe a fish or something? It has to be easy to take care of and pass quarantine. Wait! You got her today? That means you didn’t quarantine her at all. Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how many diseases she might have? You really need to talk to Carson! She could give us all rabies or something equally awful and painful.”
John sighed, rubbing his temples. Axie’s spots turned red.
“It’s fine, Rodney.”
“No, it’s not. You can’t just bring in unauthorized life forms.”
“You sound like Kavanagh.”
Rodney gaped, making an odd twisting movement with his nose. He tilted his chin upwards. “You did not just say that.”
“I did. Now, can we please drop this?”
Axie seemed to nod its head in agreement, its spots now a deep shade of maroon.
“But what’s with her spots?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
Axie crawled up John’s arm, settling onto his shoulder. Its long tail swung back and forth against John’s chest.
“So let me get this straight? You allowed Axie to follow you home. You didn’t quarantine her, which we both know makes no sense. Unless! You already knew she was safe? She’s obviously attached to you and living in your quarters. Her spots keep changing colors. But what determines the colors?”
“Leave it be, Rodney.”
“What? Why? You have to figure it out. What if her spots mean she’s ill? Or maybe they say something about what she wants. Or…”
Rodney snapped his fingers, his big ah ha movement.
“That’s it!”
“What?”
“Feelings. When you were mad it turned red, right. That’s classic mad, isn’t it?”
“At home maybe? But in Pegasus?”
“Right, it could be different here. But let’s say for a moment it’s not. Her spots were blue. Blue for sad? Right? And that’s when you suddenly made that weird face!”
“What weird face?”
“The one you make when you're remembering something upsetting that failed to stay bottled up.”
“I don’t make a face for that.”
“Of course you do. So, that’s it!”
He snapped his fingers again. “Axie followed you home because she bonded to you. And since she bonded to you, she knows what you’re feeling. Pets can do that, you know. They’re attuned to us and they can see when we need comfort. They know when we’re sick or when we’re sad.”
“And you think Axie is expressing my feelings through her spots?”
“Exactly! Actually, your voice says you’re surprised but you don't seem surprised. You already figured this out, didn’t you?”
“Maybe?”
“And you didn’t tell me. Why?”
“I wanted to sleep.”
“No no no no no. That’s not it. You're acting weird.”
“I am not.”
“You are!” Rodney insisted, stopping just long enough to jab his finger in John’s direction before pacing again. “You're weird and you have a new, unauthorized pet. Only I doubt she’s really unauthorized. You just didn’t want me knowing about her. I bet Carson already cleared her. Which means other people know about Axie. So that means…Oh.”
Rodney tilted his head right, gazing deep into John’s eyes.
“What does the pink mean?”
“What?”
“The pink spots? What do they mean?”
As if on cue, Axie’s spots turned to a bright pink. Based on the fiery feel to John’s cheeks, they were now the same color. Shit.
“You pulled my name. Didn’t you?”
“Maybe…”
“Axie is my present.”
“Maybe?”
“No, I’m right. I figured it out! That’s why you didn’t want to trade! And of course Kavanagh isn’t participating this year. Not after last year’s debacle. You’ve been lying to me.”
“Maybe?”
“Is that all you can say?”
“Maybe?” John shrugged. He felt so unnaturally warm. Axie’s pink spots continued to manifest, growing darker by the second.
“You're blushing.”
John wanted to pretend he had no idea what Rodney could possibly be talking about, but the jig was clearly up. Sitting on his bed, he couldn’t back away, so instead he turned to the side, as though Rodney couldn’t see him if John wasn’t looking his way.
“So, Axie’s in tune to your emotions and right now she’s sporting pink spots because you’re blushing. And that means…You got me a pet because you know how much I miss my cat. And you went out of your way to bring me Axie because you wanted to fill that part of my life. And the reason you're blushing is you like me. Ha! Wait…You like me?”
John’s ears burned. Maybe this was all a dream after all? That might be better.
“You like me?” Rodney asked again, disbelieving, chin hanging loose.
“Can we please not have this conversation?” John drawled.
“Oh no, we’re so not done yet. Yes, or no, are Axie’s feelings attuned to yours?”
John nodded.
“And you got me a pet for the exchange.”
John nodded.
“And you like me.”
John hesitated but then his head seemed to move of its own accord, nodding. Axie also nodded.
“Oh. Wow.”
Rodney seemed to freeze in place, his eyes wide and frightened. Then suddenly he spun around, almost as if in a daze. He staggered away without another word. The doors slid shut, leaving John shocked and confused.
“Well, shit,” John muttered, falling back against his pillow. His stomach twisted.
Axie’s spots changed from pink to blue. It’s tail brushed against his cheek several times, in a sort of caressing, comforting motion.
Then John’s door swung open again. Rodney bolted in, his hands waving in circles.
“So Axie is my pet, right?”
“Really, you want to discuss this now ?”
“I just want to understand how things work. You got me Axie. Axie is my pet.”
“Yeah, not so much. It turns out she imprints on the person of her choice.”
“Oh. That’s you.”
“Judging by the spots? Yeah.”
“Hm. I guess I’ll just have to visit a lot more then.”
“You already visit a lot.”
“You don’t want me to visit more?” Rodney asked with a lopsided frown.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Well, you also never said before that you liked me, but apparently you do.”
“And you’re never going to let that go. Are you?” Axie’s spots flamed red.
“I don’t see why I should.”
“Really?”
“No. It took us this long to admit we like each other. Do we really want to go back to pretending we don’t?”
John reran the words several times through his Rodney translator. He couldn’t have just said…could he?
“Wait…You…?”
Rodney shrugged. “Yeah. Obviously.”
“Oh.”
“So can we just kiss already?” Rodney asked, staring intently at John. “I’m really awful at the whole awkward stage of relationships. I’d love to bypass it as much as possible.”
John barely had a chance to nod before Rodney leaned in and pressed their lips together. John’s stomach twisted in knots once more, but less painful and more awesome. Axie crawled down his back and away, as if to give them privacy.
“I still need to find a gift for Cadman,” Rodney said after the fourth kiss was mostly—but not entirely—finished.
John couldn’t help but laugh. Rodney’s mind and problems were something else. Without a ready solution, he would not move on. Even in the midst of life-altering confessions.
“We’ll figure something out,” John promised, then he pulled Rodney closer and kissed him again. Perhaps they didn’t need to sleep tonight after all.