Work Text:
One morning, John sits on the edge of Rodney's desk, and rather than handing Rodney the usual cup of coffee, he suggests they blow off work and go to the planetarium. John quirks an eyebrow at Rodney, and twirls his finger in a hurry-up gesture Rodney is already familiar with. Rodney wants to go, but he has things to do. When John starts to whistle the Jeopardy theme song, Rodney caves.
It takes less than minute for Rodney to be ready to leave; he shuts down his computer and grabs his coat before he can change his mind. John is promising Rodney he won't regret it, pushing him gently toward the elevators. Rodney sees the look of surprise on Radek's face, and he notes Miko's owlish blinking, but when Lorne pokes his head out of his office he just smiles, and Elizabeth waves them out the door.
They walk to the planetarium, stopping along the way for coffee. John talks the whole way, and Rodney just smiles and watches John's hands as he describes the fighter jet IMAX movie he'd seen the previous week. He's sure he looks like a love-struck moron, but John doesn't seem to notice anything is amiss, so he pushes it down and decides to enjoy the day.
They look at every exhibit, eat too much junk food, watch the IMAX movie (twice) and sit through three different shows in the planetarium before they call it a day. Rodney loves every minute of it, but the last planetarium show of the day is his favorite.
They're slouching down, heads tipped against the back of their seats, chatting about nothing while watching colored lights float across the surface of the planetarium's dome. As the lights go down for the show, Rodney turns to whisper something to John, only to see John already looking his way.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just...I had a great time today, Rodney. Thanks for slacking off with me."
"Yeah, me, too. I. Yeah."
John leans in then, and presses a brief kiss to Rodney's lips. Rodney freezes in place for a split second before he tilts his head, sliding his mouth along John's with a sigh.
When the music starts to play, John pulls away, and Rodney sees his smile in the reflected light of a nebula. John reaches out and turns Rodney's head so he's looking up at the projected stars.
Rodney's glad it's dark -- he's smiling like a loon, sure that everything he's feeling is written on his face for anyone to see, and he's terrified of what will happen if John figures out just how in love he already is. He's not even sure what the show is about; he spends the entirety of it pressing his shaking fingers to his mouth, and watching John from the corner of his eye, wondering if John will kiss him again, and if it means what he hopes it does.