#it's a jumper I've never done a jumper before it should be pretty it has lace :3

[pearl-kite]

Was feeling confident about this capstone up until the last evaluation also came back needing revisions, because now I'm genuinely worried I'll just run out of time. They have a 72 hour window to get evaluations done upon submission, and with just 12 days left and 5 tasks?

I'll basically need to have everything completed flawlessly (so that I don't need to resubmit with revisions) and submit them immediately upon receiving an evaluation (that absolutely has to pass first try)

If I had just one more week, I wouldn't be this nervous.

[canirove]

In The Name of Love | Chapter 9

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Masterlist

"Merry Christmas, mum."

"Merry Christmas" she says, hugging me. 

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"We have it all under control, don't worry."

"Ok. Then I'm gonna go say hello to auntie… Mum! What are you doing?”

"Checking if you are wearing makeup" she says after rubbing her finger on my face.

"Why?"

"Because you look different, and since you never wear it… Have you gotten botox?"

"What?" I laugh.

"It's ok if you have, I won't judge you."

"I haven't done anything to my face, mum" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Then what is it? Because your hair also looks the same, and I'm pretty sure I've seen you wearing that jumper before."

"I don't know" I shrug. 

"There is something. I know there is" she says, squinting her eyes at me.

"Yeah, cool. I'm gonna go say hello to everyone else" I reply, walking away.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Merry Christmas, Val!"

"Merry Christmas, Marina. How is high school going?"

"It sucks" she says, sitting down next to me. "What about your school?"

"I'm loving it."

"Well, at least one of us is happy" she sighs while checking her phone. 

"Marina, is that… Is that who I think it is?" I say, pointing at her lock screen.

"My boyfriend, yes" she grins.

"Your what?" I laugh.

"Not in this universe, but in the one in my head he is. Isn't he hot?" she says, unlocking her phone and showing me the other photo she has as her background.

"I mean… In that photo… not that much."

"What? Have you seen him, Val? Like really seen him?" she says, almost hitting me with her phone when she moves it closer to my face.

"I have, yes" I chuckle. And this morning in my bed to be precise. Because my cousin's "boyfriend" and the person on her phone… is Pedri.  

"He is so hot" she says, starting to scroll through a bunch of photos of him.

"Who is hot?" 

"Hello, David. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, cousin" he says, sitting on the sofa with us. "Who is hot?"

"My boyfriend" Marina smiles.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I do" she says, showing him a photo of Pedri shirtless.

"He's cute."

"He is the most handsome man ever" Marina sighs.

"She's in love" I say, trying not to laugh. 

"And aren't you two ashamed?" my mum says, showing up out of nowhere. "Your little cousin has a boyfriend already, and you two nothing. Did you know that Angela also is bringing her boyfriend for lunch tomorrow so we all can officially meet him?"

"Yeah, she introduced him to mum and dad the other day too. Good for them, I guess" David shrugs.

"You two are the oldest cousins. You should be married already and with a kid each."

"Yeah… I think I'll pass" David shrugs again.

"Urgh" my mum says, rolling her eyes. "By the way, do you see anything different in Val?"

"She looks the same as always to me. Marina?"

"Same" she says, not lifting her eyes from her phone.

"But there is something different. I know it" my mum insists before leaving us alone.

"She is right, you know?" David says.

"About what? Us being a disgrace to the family?" I laugh.

"I'm talking about you looking different. Like happier. As if… Oh my God, Val. Are you getting the vitamin D?"

"What?"

"He means if you are having sex. D stands for dick."

"Marina!" I say.

"What? I'm 16" she shrugs.

"You are Val, aren't you? Who is he? Is he hot? The P.E. teacher at your school? A dilf?"

"I'm not seeing anyone, David."

"Then why are you blushing?" Marina smirks.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are, Val" David chuckles. "C'mon, tell us something about him. We promise we won't tell your mum. Right, Marina?"

"Promise."

"He… He is just a friend" I say, nervously playing with my fingers.

"A friend with benefits."

"Yes, David. A friend with benefits."

"Do you love him?" Marina asks.

"What? No! No, no, no. I may have some type of feelings for him, but I do not love him."

"She's falling in love with him" Marina says, looking at David as if I wasn't sitting between them.

"She definitely is, yes. And she's falling hard" David replies.

"What are you two talking about? I'm not falling in love with anyone, hard or soft" I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Sure, Val. Sure" David laughs. "But I'm happy for you. You deserve a good man after boring Marc."

"I thought you liked him."

"I thought so too, but then he started dating that horrible Isabel, completely ignoring the way she always treated you, and I moved him to the black list."

"He sucks" Marina says. "Not like my Pepi."

"Please don't call him that, he hates it" I say.

"How do you know? He plays for Barça and you say you always ignore what they do" she asks, arching an eyebrow.

"I… I think I read it somewhere. Against my will, of course" I say with a nervous laugh. Fuck. Shit. Help.

"You've got even more red than you were before, Val. Do you secretly watch Barça's games?"

"That's ridiculous, Marina."

"Do you have a crush on Pedri?"

"What?" I say, my voice sounding all squeaky. "Why would I have a crush on him?"

"Because he is hot? Look at him" she says, showing me another photo.

"He has really nice lips. What do you think, Val?" David says.

"I don't think anything. He plays for the enemy, he's forbidden."

"Are you telling me that if he asked, you wouldn't… you know" he smirks.

"Eww, no."

"I would" Marina says. "And ugh, my phone is dying, gonna go find a charger. But this spot on the sofa is mine, ok? Don't let anyone sit here."

"We won't" David smiles. "Val, why are you shagging a football player?" he whispers once Marina is gone.

"What?" 

"Valeria, I know you better than I know myself and I've seen the way you've reacted to us talking about that Pedri guy. And right now you are so red I fear all your blood is on your face and your head may explode. So, how did you meet? Did he slide into your dms?"

"He didn't slide anywhere."

"Didn't he?" he says with a mischievous smile.

"You are the worst, David" I reply.

"But I'm not lying, am I? And he must be really good at sliding judging by the way you are glowing."

"I… you.."

"Yes?" he grins.

"Ok, fine" I sigh, finally giving up. "But we'll talk about it later when we are alone. I don't want anyone hearing us."

"Yeah... We don't want Marina finding out that her cousin is shagging her boyfriend. Or worse, your mum!" David laughs.

"You seriously are the worst" I say, hitting his arm.

"Yet you still consider me your favourite cousin" he smiles.

"Somehow I do, yes." 

"Do you promise to tell me everything about this guy, then?"

"I promise. Now shut up and bring me a glass of something. With alcohol if possible."

"Right away, my lady!" he says.

I can't keep this from David. He's always been there for me during the good and the bad times, always knowing what to say and do. And having a different point of view regarding my relationship or whatever it is I have with Pedri, may be good. It may even help me understand what the hell I am feeling. Because he and Marina were right. I am falling in love with him. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

I can't believe you lied to me 😭

What?

You have a girlfriend! 

What the fuck are you talking about, Val?

You have a girlfriend and you didn't tell me 😭

I don't have a girlfriend!

Yes, you do! Her name is Marina!

Marina? I don't know anyone with that name

Her name is Marina and she is 16

What?

She's my cousin!

Fucking hell, Val 🙄

Are you drunk?

No

Then what is all this? 

Me messing with you 😜

Not funny 🙄 

I thought you had read some bullshit online and believed it

I know better than that

Good

Who is this Marina, then?

My youngest cousin.  On Christmas Eve she told me that you were her boyfriend.  On a alternative universe, but 🤷‍♀️

What? 😂😂

She has you as her lock screen and phone background, like a million photos of you saved, and runs a fan account about you on Instagram. But I was texting you because I need to ask you a favour

Ok

Can you get us tickets for one of your next games? Maybe one on Saturday since she has school.  I want them to be her Christmas gift

Val, Three Kings Day is in a couple of days. 

Aren't you a bit late with your presents? 😂

I already have her present.  This is an extra one because I know her dad is getting her your shirt 

Are you sure about this, tho? You'll have to go to the Camp Nou again 😏

I know 😫  But it'll be just for a couple of hours, I know I can survive that

I was thinking that I could meet you after the game, maybe give her an autograph and take some photos too?

Do you really want to do that? She's fucking crazy 😂

She's your cousin, I'm used to it 🤷🏻‍♂️

🙄🙄🙄

Tickets and meeting after, then?

We'll see.  First I'll have to come out with an excuse for why I know you

Yeah… you can't tell her you are fucking her boyfriend

That's what my cousin David said He knows btw

What?

He knows me better than I know myself and could feel that something was going on, so I had to tell him 🤷‍♀️  We had a really nice chat 

And what did he say?

That haters gonna hate and good for me 🤷‍♀️

I like him  

My mum thought I had botox because my face looked different 🤦‍♀️

What? 😂😂😂

And then David told her it was because of some vitamin D I was taking.  But not the one from oranges 

I don't get it

🍆

Oh… 

You mean my vitamin D 😏

Yeah 🙄 

It's really good. It gives you clear skin and keeps you in shape. 

Are you in need of another session? I'm free 😏

I'm not in Barcelona until the holidays are over, remember?

Had forgotten 😔 

We'll have to make up for it when you are back, do something to burn all the turrón you must be eating 😏

Ugh, don't mention it.  I'm eating for two or three 😫

Val… 😳

Relax 😂  It's just that my aunt is the best cook ever and I can't help myself 

It's the second time you've scared me today

My poor heart can't take it anymore 💔

Aww, poor Pepi 🥺

🙄

My cousin calls you her Pepi 😂

🙄🙄🙄 

What do you call me? 🤔

Annoying

Look who is talking 🙄

😇

No, but seriously

Am I just Pedri? No nickname?

No

You are so boring, Val 🙄

Yet you like me 😌

I do

And very much ❤️💙

I don't like those colours 🤢

🙄🙄

🤷🏼‍♀️

Better like this? 🤍

Much better 🥰

I like you, Val 🤍

And I like you too, my annoying kid/teenager/young man 🤍

I think I prefer not having a nickname 😂😂😂

Ok 🤷‍♀️  I like you 🤍

💙❤️🤍

That looks French 😂

And then I am the annoying one 🙄

😚

I guess we'll have to stick to white so the lady doesn't complain 🙄

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍 

Oh, wow. Are you ok? 😂

Count them

What?

Count the hearts

14?

Yes, like my team's champions league trophies 😌

I'm leaving you for your cousin

You can't

Why not?

I'm not allowing it 

Jealous? 😏

No But you are MY annoying kid/teenager/young man and no one else's.  Understood?

Yes, ma'am 🥰

[stroni-bomb]

You Are My Home - Jaehyun - Chapter 2

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

A/N Okay guys I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long! Me and Cherry discussed what was going to happen this morning and we also got quite a lot of other things on lock down! I hope you enjoy this chapter and so it begins~

____________________________________________

It had been a week since being at N City, every day that passed you only grew more and more grouchy. You knew you were waiting for that human to heal before any actions could take place but she was sure talking her sweet time. You did feel bad though, you couldn't believe yourself. Ever since, that day, you swore to never change ever again. You couldn't hurt anyone else but look at this, you had nearly destroyed a whole supernatural 'family' who now were going out of their way to save you. What had you done for them? Nothing but being rude and disrespectful, even towards your own mate. But you had to admit, annoying Yuta was something you enjoyed doing. It was funny to see him getting so riled up about it, then seeing Doyoung putting him in a bubble when really it should be you being punished. Comedy gold.

You shuffled uncomfortably, your ankles were beginning to hurt due to the fabric around then that kept you in place. You so wanted to rip them off but you couldn't reach, that itself nearly made you change again but you somehow found the will not to. There was a slight knock at the door, you grunted in response and it slowly opened to reveal Taeyong.

"We are holding the meeting today, Ireum has fully healed and is able to take part. That is if you're feeling okay? If not we can post pone-"

"Just get me out of these damn shackles and let me change, come back in ten minutes and I should be ready...Please?"

He nodded and pointed to a cupboard that you assumed had spare clothing in it, you wondered why he didn't come in to remove the fabric around your ankles but when you looked down you realised they weren't there anymore.

"Stupid twig holding magic man, he's going to get it one day."

You scowled and got up out of the bed, walking towards the cupboard. When you opened it you sighed wanting to punch Taeyong in the face, he had purposely filled it with Jaehyuns clothes and you had no other choice but to wear them. You weren't going to go out in a hospital gown after all...It wouldn't hurt to just wear one of his jumpers...

After about five minutes you were gushing like a little girl as you snuggled into the jumper you were wearing, you decided on the jumper and a pair of jogging bottoms and you smelled exactly like him. It sent your wolf senses crazy and your mate bond was screaming out to you, you loved it and for once you let down the walls you had put up. Once you heard the knock at the door you built them all back up again and stood up, pulling yourself together.

"Yeah Yeah I'm coming."

You said and opened the door, it was Jaehyun. You unintentionally blushed and suddenly felt self concious which wasn't like you at all. You shifted your gaze to the floor as neither of you said anything, you felt awkward, a feeling you weren't familiar with at all. You cleared your throat and breathed in sharply.

"Are we Erm, gonna go?"

You tried to say without hinting your obvious discomfort, he laughed causing you to frown.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing, you're just really really cute. Especially when you're blushing."

You so wanted to let yourself blush even more and just hide your face in his chest but you blocked out all mental images of doing just that. Instead you pushed past him and turned around to face him.

"Whatever. I am not cute and I was not blushing, do you want me to kick your ass?"

He smiled and shook his head, following you out of the room even though you had absolutely no clue as to where you were going. You came to a stop and looked at him, he was smirking which made you roll your eyes. You held out your arm, a signal to get walking and he did just that, not without laughing a little first. You followed him down the corridor and down about 4 sets of stairs, it didn't get any better when you walked into a room and suddenly everyone had their eyes on you. They were glaring, especially the younger looking ones. Two young boys in particular, who you could sense were werewolves, had you in their sights whilst another boy was standing in front of a girl quite defensively. Your throat went dry and you attempted to swallow, it was so painfully clear that you were not welcome here, you didn't think you ever would be.

You recognised Taeyong, Doyoung and Yuta in the crowd of boys and Taeyongwalked up to you and Jaehyun, you had noticed Jaehyun had a stern look on his face as his eyes scanned the room. Taeyong shot you a smile but you ignored it your thoughts else where. You were pretty sure everyone was ready to pounce on you and for the first time you actually felt threatened, like your own life was in danger.

"Everyone I believe you haven't actually been introduced to Y/N yet-"

"Oh no we have. It was the one who nearly killed us all if I remember correctly."

Your eyes snapped to the young teenager, he had red hair and you couldn't quite tell what sort of supernatural he was. He stank of werewolf yet he certainly wasn't one, maybe a shape shifter? Although you were pretty sure they were all dead.

You glared at him, about to open your mouth until the atmosphere suddenly changed causing you and everyone else to calm down. You looked around confused as to why you suddenly weren't angry anymore.

"Jaehyun stop with the calmness crap it's annoying."

Yuta said and that answered your question. So he could control moods? That would prove to be useful in quite a few situations, especially in a house full of supernaturals.

"Can we all please just be quiet? As much as you all may hate Y/N right now she's apart of the family now and we help our family."

There was a series of groans but you ignored them, the word family repeating itself in your head. What made anyone think you were apart of this. This mess? No one would want you to be family anyway.

"What do you mean family? I don't need a family and you certainly don't want me to be a part of it. I respect that you guys are trying to help me, especially after everything I've caused but I've tried everything. There's no point I'll only be getting in your way, in fact I should probably leave now I can sense when I'm being a burden. See ya, thanks for...The clothes? You'll probably be wanting them back too."

You were about to walk out the door when a small hand gripped your arm on your way past. You looked to see who it was and was surprised to see the young girl grabbing your arm. You could see how this had put the boy protecting her on edge too.

"Please don't go, you'll like it here! Everyone treats everyone like a family no matter what you've done. Sure they're being a bit sceptical now but just wait it out. You aren't a burden, if you were Taeyong never would've offered his help in the first place. Just hear us out, if you still want to leave after then I can't stop you but please listen to what we have to say first."

You looked at her confused as to why she was so willing to help you, surely she knows you were the one that nearly killed her? You looked down at her leg and saw the long scar running down it, her right arm was covered in little scratches that had yet to heal and you began to despise yourself for it.

"I nearly killed you yet you still want to help? I hurt you before I can do it again."

You growled slightly and revealed your fangs hoping to scare her off, instead she looked you in the eyes determination gleaming within them. Instead it was you who flinched back, surprised at how determined she was.

"I trust you. You don't mean to be like this, I can see it. Now you just have to trust us."

You frowned and turned to look at Taeyong, shock evident on your face.

"Where in the world did you find this human?"

"Well she isn't no ordinary human."

He said with a proud smile.

"You don't say..."

Finally the meeting began and you were introduced to everyone, you were familiar with everyone's names and their supernatural that you felt more at ease. Now the real talk had begun about getting your curse gone.

"Taeyong she said she tried everything, what other options is there?"

Johnny asked and everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Well I do have something, someone actually, in mind."

You sighed not wanting to meet any new people there was enough here as it was. They waited in silence for his answer, you were quite curious yourself since you were sure there was no supernatural that could cure a curse like this.

"I know a girl, quite a young girl actually. But she's talented, the first I've seen or her kind. I met her when she needed a favor, she says that I owe her something and maybe this might just be that something. She's a guardian seeker and her name is Nev, I would tell you more about her but I'm sure you want to get this sorted pretty quickly. If you want to try it I could put you in contact with her? It may work."

Your eyes beamed at the thought of another possibility, another chance. But you soon put your hopes down, 'it may work', there was still the chance that it wouldn't work at all. You couldn't let yourself get excited but you couldn't lie, you were anticipating it greatly. You nodded your head in response, you smiled to show how grateful you were.

"Wow I think that's the first time I've seen you smile."

Yuta said, ultimately killing the moment.

"Shut it, you always have to ruin the mood."

But for the first time in quite a while you laughed, with others laughing along with you.

------------------------------------------------------------------

You went back into the room, you didn't really want to call it your room since you weren't exactly going to move in. Ten had gone out and gotten you a backpack and clothes for the journey, your own clothes was something you hadn't had in a while. You missed it. You missed everything about being normal. You quickly got changed and packed your bag only to be interrupted by a knock at your door. You went to open it and there stood Jaehyun, with a backpack, and an extra bag full of food. You stared at him, eyebrows furrowed.

"E-erm are you ready? Nev is expecting us so we should set off."

He said nervously, confused as to why you were looking at him like that.

"I'm sorry...We?"

"Yes! Is that a problem? Taeyong said it'd be best if you went with someone... He said I was the obvious choice..."

Something inside of you screamed in excitement at the thought of Jaehyun accompanying you to uplift your curse but something also highly disapproved.

"You- I- what? I can take care of myself."

He looked at you in obvious disagreement. Okay maybe he was right, you may get lost but you could definitely take care of yourself if danger ever came your way. You'd be fine! You can handle yourself so what was this guys deal?

"Well I'm sorry but what Taeyong says goes and Taeyong said I'm going so I'm going."

"...Fine. Angels boy."

"That's right. Angels boy and proud."

He said with an amusing smile, a smile that you really wanted to slap off of his face. He was toying with you, he was always being cute and you really wanted to strangle him everytime. You didn't ask for it but you secretly wanted it, you couldn't win either way.

"Yes well, come on then angels boy. We have a curse to get rid of."

"Aye aye captain."

He said with a small salute, causing a very faint laugh to escape your lips. You two stood smiling at each other for a little while longer before you caught yourself, spun on your heel and turned your back to him, walking down the corridor and turning left.

"Erm Y/N! The way out is right!"

"Right. Right I knew that! I was testing you, well done you passed!"

[buffycuddlespigs]

I've just seen the John Sheppard picture (with his pointed ears) and I have a prompt for you: Rodney sometimes wondered about John's ears but he always thought it's just a /whim of nature/. But then he gets shot and John, who's half-fairy, heals him with a spell. And now John has a lot to explain :D

Dear anon, I’ve had this prompt for so long but it was only when reading When Family Nox that I appreciated the thought of John as fae so…here’s a belated fill.

John Sheppard had incited a lot of feelings in Rodney since that first meeting.  Infuriation, certainly; Frustration, definitely; Infatuation?..well, maybe a little.  There was one feeling though that John inspired over and above all of those.  It wasn’t something Rodney ever expected, especially not while he was living in a galaxy as fear inducing and unknown as Pegasus, but the fact remained that, no matter what the galaxy threw at them, all Rodney had to do was look into John’s eyes - a different shade of brown, green or gold every time - and he knew that everything was going to be ok.

Loyalty, trust, whatever you wanted to call it, it all boiled down to the same thing: John made Rodney feel safe.

Even now, with John’s face flecked with dots of red, dots of red that Rodney knew to be his own blood, Rodney knew that it would all somehow be ok.

He opened his mouth to try and tell John that, to ease the pain and worry on his face, but the words didn’t come, a wet cough resulting in more dots of red on John’s face sounding instead.

“Don’t,”  John’s voice choked on the plea as he cupped Rodney’s cheek with his hand.  "Just, please Rodney, let me..“

John’s grip on Rodney’s face was hindered by the fact that his hands were shaking badly and Rodney ignored his earlier plea to not talk in an effort to soothe him.  

“John,” he managed to spit out between his teeth, “s’ok.  M’alright.”

“No, Rodney,” John shook his head, “it’s not OK.  But it will be.  It will be, buddy.”

An unexpected warmth started to flow into Rodney, entering his body from the source of John’s touch and quickly filling every pore, every inch of him with a warm, golden heat that matched the warm, golden glow of John’s eyes.

Rodney reached his hand out towards those glowing eyes, wanting to know if they were the source of the heat but the movement resulted in something cracking unpleasantly in his chest, a rush of cold coming behind the sound, threatening to overtake the pleasing warmth that John was pouring into him.

John’s eyes grew fierce, the golden hue darkening as he tightened his grip on Rodney.  “Don’t you even think about it, McKay,” he warned.  

Rodney didn’t know what John was talking about.  Thinking about anything other than the warring sensations of warm and cold was beyond him right now.  If he could think, he might have turned his mind to the unfairness of it all, to the fact that he’d never plucked up the courage to tell John just how safe he made Rodney feel, just how infuriating, how frustrating, how wonderful he was.  He didn’t have room for any of that though, it was all he could do to keep his eyes from closing.  Rodney didn’t want to close his eyes, he didn’t want the golden glow to go away but as the warmth pouring into him started to wane he found it harder and harder to manage.  The last thing he heard before the gold disappeared was a desperate, whispered ‘please’’.  

One frantic puddlejumper trip, one emergency surgery, and ten days of a medically induced coma later, Carson smiled down at Rodney and told him that he must have some kind of guardian angel out there.

Rodney only half listened to him prattle on about chest wounds that should have had him bleeding out in seconds and arterial damage that was much less pervasive than they had feared.   He listened enough to nod in the right places, to accept the sip of water that Carson held out for him and assure himself that he was no longer in any danger.  Miraculously so, apparently.  The other half of Rodney was trying to make sense of what happened.  He had felt that bullet rip through him as if he were one of the marine’s paper targets.  He had felt the blood rushing out of him with each pump of his heart, had saw…he didn’t know what he’d seen.  Something impossible.  Something…something that he couldn’t explain.  Or could he?

Rodney came to the realisation that Carson was right.  Or half right, anyway.  Rodney had someone, or something, looking out for him. But whatever John was, he wasn’t an angel.

“What are you?”

John half rose from his seated position on the bed when Rodney barged into his room, his golf magazine lying forgotten on the bedspread.

“Rodney,” he drawled cautiously, “aren’t you supposed to be in the infirmary?”

“Don’t Rodney me, don’t you…” Rodney ran his fingers through his hair, already dishevelled from almost two weeks in bed, not caring that he was messing it up even worse.  “What are you?” he demanded again.  “You’re not human.  You can’t be.  Humans don’t glow like you did back on that planet, humans can’t stop someone who was shot in the heart from bleeding out like you somehow managed to do, Colonel.  So, I’m going to ask again:  What. Are. You.?”

Rodney saw the brief moment when John considered bluffing his way out of this flit across his face, no doubt planning on blaming the entire thing on Rodney’s blood loss.  That moment passed, rejected, obvious in the slump of John’s shoulders, in the way he collapsed back onto the bed with a heavy sigh and an expression like he was facing a firing squad.

Rodney refused to feel sorry for him, pushing the rush of sympathy away.  John had lied to him, goddamnit.  He’d made him believe that he was human, that he was someone that Rodney could count on, someone Rodney could trust.  Wasn’t that a joke?  How could he trust someone that had lied to him every day they’d known each other?  Was he even Rodney’s friend?  Was that even true?

Rodney collapsed onto an empty chair, the anger dissipating to leave behind hurt.  “Is your name even John?” he asked weakly.

“Yes.”  John seemed relieved to have an easier question to answer.  “Of course my name is John.  I didn’t…Rodney, I never lied to you.”

Rodney huffed indignantly but John’s voice grew stronger, surer of himself.  

“No, that’s not fair,” he said.  “I might not have told you everything about myself but what I did tell you, every word of it was true.”  John was standing up now, moving around the room, pacing, trying to find the words.  

After a full minute, Rodney grew impatient.  “Preferably before Carson finds out that I’m AWOL, Colonel?  Let me help you out.  You’re an Ancient.  This entire time, you’ve been hiding from us, watching us, watching me try to make sense of this city, of this technology, and - - “

John broke into Rodney’s accusations with his donkey bray of a laugh.  “I’m not an Ancient,” he said.  “I..look, Rodney, this is hard for me.  I’ve never - - nobody except my mother knows this.  Just…give me a minute to figure out how to tell you this, would you?”

Rodney leant back in the chair, careful not to pull his stitches, and waited as patiently as he could manage.

“I’m human,” John eventually said.  At Rodney’s scoff, he bobbed his head in acceptance.  “Ok, maybe not 100% but my father is.  That makes me half human.”

John seemed to really need Rodney to believe him in this, the need for Rodney’s understanding clear in the line of his body, the punch of his words.  Rodney nodded, accepting John’s words for the truth.  Even now, he trusted John more than the situation warranted.  

“Your mother?” Rodney asked.

John swallowed a knot in his throat and told the truth.  “A fae.”  Those two words seemed to release something in him and Rodney watched, bewildered, as John sank onto the floor, chuckling at nothing.

“A fae?  You’re telling me, what, that you’re a fairy?”

John stopped chuckling, looking Rodney in the eye for the first time since he’d demanded to know what John was.  “I’m pretty sure that I’m not allowed to tell you that under military regs.  But, yeah.  In both senses of the word.”

“In both…” Rodney took a moment to process but eventually landed on one burning, hurtful question.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

John huffed a laugh.  “It’s not exactly getting to know you small talk.  ‘Hey, I’m John Sheppard.  I like college football, Ferris wheels, anything that goes faster than 200 miles per hour, oh and by the way, I’m half fae and have moderate healing and glamour abilities.  What’s your name?’”

Rodney shook his head.  “Not that.  Why didn’t you tell me that you were - -”

“Rodney,”  John pushed up to his knees and shuffled towards him until he was kneeling on the floor next to Rodney’s chair, his hands on Rodney’s thighs.  “They’d kick me out if they found out.  I can’t risk that.  I can’t risk not being here to - to - “

“To save my life.”  Rodney finished John’s sentence.  “Just how often have you done that?”

John shrugged, his mouth twitched up into a smile.  “Actually saved your life?  Just that once.”

“But you’ve healed me before,” Rodney knew it with certainty.  “All those injuries that should have been more serious, the energy cloud, the Wraith stunner, the head injury after the jumper crash.  You made them all better.  Why?”

John looked at him sadly.  “You’re a genius, Rodney.  You know why.”

Rodney did know, couldn’t believe that he’d been so blind for so long.  Shaking his head, he reached out to trace the point of John’s left ear with his fingers.  “It’s good to know that there’s a reason for these at least.”

John’s eyes twinkled as he smiled.  “So, you don’t mind them then?”

Rodney’s eyes moved from John’s ears to meet his eyes.  They weren’t glowing gold right now but they were still the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.  He answered the only way he could. With the truth.

“I love them.”