Moonlight of Your Soul, 8/8

[gilascave]

Tada! And look, my shiny icon made for me by chaps1870!! Which means I have to write lots more Radek/Carson so I can use it.



Moonlight of Your Soul
Chapter Eight

An hour later he smelled Carson. He counted the moments, then turned away from his computer as Carson stormed into the lab. He came over and stopped in front of Radek.

"It was *nothing*," Radek said before he could speak.

"Oh, was it? Then I suppose Deanna was exaggerating, when she said she heard that Kavanagh poured hot coffee all over you and treated you like...like..." Carson shook his head, too frustrated and wound up to speak.

"It was a spill, not 'pouring'," Radek explained.

"Which you cannot tell me was an accident!" Carson reached out, then frowned at Radek's shirt.

"I borrowed this from Rodney," he explained the missing stain.

Carson just frowned harder. "And the things he said?"

Radek sighed. He had not asked Dr. Saito to repeat the things he had said to her, but he could imagine they were just as rude and ill-informed as the comments Kavanagh made about everyone else he did not like. "Are nothing. Kavanagh is a jerk -- everyone knows this. Why are you surprised he takes this as reason to be rude?" He gestured at Carson and himself.

That brought Carson up short. "He...wait, he attacked you because we're sleeping together?"

Shrugging, Radek said, "He is not fond of werewolves, either. But he is not worth being upset over."

Carson stepped back, sitting down on the stool beside Radek. "Then...you're all right?"

"I am perfectly fine. It is nothing to worry about, Carson. Really. He is gone and is working elsewhere now -- of his own choice," he added hastily, as Carson's eyes narrowed. "So I avoid him, which is no great hardship for me. You may avoid him as well and we are all happy." He stood up and stepped over to Carson, slipping in between his knees. He put his hands on Carson's shoulders and was pleased to see the worry finally leave his lover's face.

Radek gave him a kiss and Carson wrapped his arms around Radek's waist. For a moment they stood there, each apparently content to just look into each other's eyes.

Eventually Carson asked, "So I suppose it's a bit early for lunch?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Radek didn't try to move, though he expected Carson would soon try find an excuse to leave and let them both return to work. Radek gave him another kiss to forestall him.

Carson grinned. "Perhaps I could sit here while you work. They can call me if they need me in the infirmary."

"There is one small flaw in that plan," Radek told him.

"Oh?"

Radek continued, "I can get nothing done like this." He smiled, adding, "I cannot reach the keyboard." He very deliberately left his hands where they were.

"So you're saying I should go," Carson said, though it was obvious he knew that wasn't Radek's point at all.

"I am saying...." Radek lost his train of thought. Three seconds ago he'd known exactly what he'd been going to say. Then Carson had begun rubbing a small circle on the small of his back.

"Yes?" Carson prompted.

"A bit higher, please?"

"Huh?" Carson stopped moving his hand in his surprise -- then he laughed. More importantly, he moved his hand a bit higher and went back to rubbing. "There?"

Radek nodded. He leaned forward a little, settling a little of his weight onto Carson.

"I'm not holding you up," Carson said. "We can take the day off and do this properly, if that's what you want."

"Or you can get back to work," Rodney's voice did not quite interrupt.

"Hush, please," Radek told him. "Am working."

"Really." Rodney did not sound as though he believed him.

"Am thinking about ZPMs," Radek told him. "Working on...my theory...." He sighed, happily.

"Oh, good, because for a minute there I thought you were falling asleep on top of Carson."

At that, Carson stopped rubbing -- less because of Rodney's comment, Radek thought, than because of the fact Radek was starting to fall over. Radek opened his eyes and found Carson watching him with a very bemused expression.

There was more in it than that, and Radek was surprised as how much affection he could see there. Not because he hadn't known how Carson felt, but because it seemed much stronger than Radek had suspected.

"Why did you say nothing this whole time?"

Carson frowned. "About what?"

Radek reached down and traced a finger along the edge of Carson's face. "This." The way Carson was looking at him -- it was not possible he had grown to care so much in less than a day.

For a moment Carson kept frowning, confused, and he started to shake his head. Then his face cleared. "Oh. You mean--"

"You never said," Radek repeated. "All the time we've been together, you never said how you really felt."

"Well...." Carson shifted in his seat, tensing slightly. Radek ran his fingers slowly up and down the back of Carson's neck. He seemed to relax a bit, but he still spoke quietly. "Whenever I tried, you tensed up. I thought...you knew what I was trying to ask and you'd have turned me down."

Which was not far from the truth, Radek knew. He would have had to say no -- though not for the reasons Carson would have assumed. "I am sorry."

"At least now I understand," Carson said. "Not exactly what I expected, mind. But I'm glad--" He stopped and looked away, flushing with guilt.

Radek raised an eyebrow, but Carson didn't continue. "Glad you were not the reason I would have said no?" he guessed.

Carson nodded. "Sounds awful, doesn't it?"

"If it was how you felt, it is not awful," Radek told him. Then he grinned. "You are only human."

Carson mock-glared at him. Radek quickly cut off what he was about to say with another kiss. Carson kissed him back, pulling him in close and feeling very much like he had no intention of letting Radek go.

"You know, I don't think he's really thinking about the ZPMs," Rodney said conversationally. There was a stifled laugh from Dr. Saito. "Do you think I should try to tell them we have a meeting with Dr. Weir in an hour about finding that pipe room Dr. Titov wants to explore?"

There was no reply; Radek assumed Dr. Saito was, as usual, unable to speak when Rodney addressed her directly. He kept kissing Carson, however, because an hour was more than enough time to prepare for a meeting. For that, he needed five minutes at most, consulting a map of the city to pinpoint the room he'd found.

Which left fifty minutes to think very deeply about things other than ZPMs.

"Back to your room?" Carson asked. "It's a good deal closer."

Radek nodded. "Back to my room." He stepped back and let Carson stand up, taking hold of his hand.

"Thanks for coming into work today," Rodney called after them. "Really appreciate all the effort you put into powering the city and keeping us all alive and--" The lab door closed behind them, but Radek could still hear Rodney saying, "really don't need help anyway, I can do it, no problem, you go have fun and leave me here to...you know, I think there's a way...."

At that point his voice faded, and Radek thought that perhaps tomorrow he would ask Rodney to explain his new idea.

He glanced over to see Carson watching him, and he could smell the scent of his rapidly growing arousal.

Perhaps the day after tomorrow.

the end