No. 25

Prompt: Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, These Vicious Masks
http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/700901.html?thread=92490981#t92490981

They wore such vicious masks because it was the only way to keep the truth concealed. Rodney called him stupid and suicidal when he called himself heroic. He called Rodney insufferable and arrogant when Rodney was always right, had saved their lives over and over again. Because if they broke that boundary, if they got too close or were too gentle, the truth would be written all over their faces, in every shared glance and every casual touch.

I miss you. I want you. I love you. You're mine. I'm yours.

So they kept slinging verbal barbs at each other, and when that became too much for the people around them, they dialed it down to sarcasm, and somewhere along the way, after the hundredth time they'd saved each other, it became grudging affection, and finally, when they kissed it was a surprise to no one.