[SH] The First Time

[shepcrew]

This was it, he decided. They'd been together long enough for him to be certain of a few things, and, also? It just felt right.

He had nothing planned save for the where, and the presentation of the where. He decided that several candles on the dresser - the surface of which had been cleared of just about everything - would suffice for lighting. Not too many, because that was over-kill, and besides, he had no idea how candles played a role in those rituals she mentioned and the last thing he wanted was for her to be reminded of that. Somehow, he didn't think it would matter, but still. The thought was there. And he banished it.

The awkward part came when Teyla discovered him smuggling the candles to his room. She raised a brow and he stammered something incoherent and fled for the sanctuary of his room. He had gone for lunch with McKay, and when he had returned, his modest supply of candles had been augmented to provide an artful, yet sensual display, and a bowl sat in the middle of a semi-circle of candles of various sizes on the dresser, with a bottle of scented rose-water and a strange flower that reminded him of a lily on a lilypad. Peeking out from under the bowl was a folded piece of paper, which he snatched up and read eagerly.

The proper Athosian custom for this particular event of courtship requires candles placed in a specific array around the room. The centerpiece of a floating flower is to represent the eternalness of your union, as the flames represent the strength of your passion.

I will be by to light the candles and set the flower when the time comes.

I wish you both the best.

T.

He smiled and pocketed the note. He looked around his room and figured that, incongruous as the candles would be with the rest of the decor, it was somehow fitting. Thanks, Teyla. I owe you one.

Now, all he had to do was wait for Inara to arrive for her visit and reherse the excuse he had to force her to use the guest chambers to freshen up.

...He just wished he wasn't so damned nervous.

Comments

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

She lets the kiss linger for a moment before sighing, smiling. "I missed you." It's one of the things she's found herself saying every time she comes back.

And of course, saying I love you before she leaves, every time. Just one of those things.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

One of those things to give a nice consistency to an ever changing 'verse. And it makes sure that they never part without reaffirming their feelings.

He sits and enjoys the closeness a little longer before smiling and kissing her again. "You and I need to take a trip to see Katie. We got to take them to this new planet and I found the neatest thing."

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

"Ooh?" She did like the botanist, although she was still somewhat at a loss as to how she and McKay had managed to communicate their mutual affection to each other.

Still. And Katie did have some of the most fascinating plants. Inara still hoped that one day they would find something that Kaylee could grow on Serenity.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

"You have to see it," he says, not giving an inch to her curiosity. "C'mon."

He gently nudges her off his lap, giving her a quick hug and a twirl before taking her by the hand and leading her down to the botany department.

"Oh! And I hope you brought something nice to wear. I have a surprise for dinner," he says with a wink. That way if she didn't, she had a bit of time to snag something from one of the other women.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

She follows him with a grin and maybe a little bit of a bounce, giving him a silly John look. "I brought something nice to wear." Of course she did. Then again pretty much her entire wardrobe is made up of somethings nice.

She beams at him though, because, yay surprise!

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

He beams back at her, ignoring the looks from the people they pass. Everyone knew when Inara visited, including the new people that came through every so often.

"Good." He hopes she likes it, the surprise. He owes a lot of people a lot of money for this one, and it'd be a shame if it was wasted.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

It was hard not to notice, given the change in his mood. Inara, for her part, sort of manages not to bounce alongside him, nodding politely and smiling to the few people she's managed to get to know who pass her.

But her curiosity is increasing, too. And she keeps giving him mock-suspicious looks, as though she can stare him into telling her.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

He won't be stared into anything, unfortunately, and he gives her hand a squeeze as he winks at her.

He takes the short route to the botany department, though, so this little mystery can be solved quickly.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

She squeezes his hand lightly back, wrinkling her nose playfully at him as they enter, and looking around for Katie once they're there.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

She see them come in from the back corner and calls out. "Hey, you two! You're just in time." She emerges from her hiding spot, carrying a potted plant. "We just finished transplanting your flower," she says to Sheppard, holding the pot out to him.

He takes it from her and looks it over. "Looks like it'll be happy here," he decides. Then he's showing it to Inara. "We still haven't named it yet."

Katie beams and winks at Inara. "We could always name it after Inara?" She suggests.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

See Inara. See Inara blush. See Inara blush and hide her smile almost in John's shoulder for a moment and not really knowing what to say.

"Um." She manages. Eloquent, as always. "Well..."

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

"Now there's an idea," he says, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "How would we do that?" Because he's good at naming things without the scientific gibberish.

Katie shrugs. "Well, it resembles an orchid, so how about something like Inarria Orchanus?"

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

She nods a little, not quite managing to keep from either blushing or grinning all silly-like.

They're naming a flower after her. There's a flower, and they're naming it after her. And ... no, that about sums it up, and it's the most romantic silly thing anyone's ever done for her and ... it's wonderful. Simply wonderful.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

John thinks about it for a moment, decided he can't come up with anything different, then nods. "Sure. I like that."

Katie grins. "Well, you can keep that one, since we brought a couple back with us."

"Neat! I'll leave it here for now, though, and be by to pick it up later."

"Sure thing!" she says, taking the flower from him. She turns to go put it back, but then pauses. "Oh, and good eye, Colonel Sheppard. We would have passed this one over if you hadn't found it."

John shrugs, giving her an aw shucks look. "Always glad to be a help." Besides, botany missions are always boring, it's hard not to wander and look at everything.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

She does give John a somewhat amused look for that, that he would find the pretty flower before the botanists. And yet she has the feeling that if she points that out there will be awkward metaphors.

And she can come up with enough of those for herself. Oh yes. And may or may not be doing so. And blushing. A little.

"I don't believe I've ..." Ohh, no, she can't say this without blushing, or smiling all shy and silly-like. Not really. "... ever had a flower named... for me. Before." The last part comes out somewhat softer.

Really, John has the ability to completely rob her of all her usual social skills.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

Katie gives them an amused look. She may even be 'aww'-ing over them, too.

John slides his arm around her and gives her a squeeze. He won't tell her that the naming it after her didn't occur to him, until Katie mentioned it two minutes ago.

"Thanks, Katie" he says with a smile. "I'll see you later, then."

The other woman nods and waves at them before disappearing behind the various flora.

"So," he says to Inara. "Where to, next?" Because he had nothing planned outside of this little side-trip.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

"Mmm, I don't know," she beams over at him, snuggling him for a moment. "I suppose we could always go point and laugh at Rodney for blowing something up. Though I suppose that would be mean." And she isn't that mean. Really.

Even if it was John's room that he blew up. (She may have some words about that later when she finds out it wasn't.)

"Or..." Hm. Usually when she comes over, given advance warning, John has light duties or no duties at all. "Well, there's always the balcony."

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

He clears his throat delicately. The balcony is a bad idea right now, but he doesn't tell her that. "...I may have gotten us flight clearance if we wanted it," he says off-handedly. He knows that a Jumper trip will draw her away from the very dangerous territory she keeps wanting to take them.

This surprise stuff is hard.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

Oooh, Jumper flight. Her eyes widen, brighten, well-distracted from balcony territory. "Oh, well then. If you have clearance for the Jumper..."

John's adolescent enthusiasm for flying is contagious; just mentioning the possibility of a recreational Jumper flight is enough to turn her sixteen again. Still.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

He grins and then takes her by the hand again, this time to lead her to the Jumper Bay. "I'll even take you under water this time."

Because he can. And it's fun.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

"Ooh..." She does not skip. She does not bounce. But it's clearly by sheer force of will, given the smile and the spring in her step. "Think we might see a ... what was it, a whale?"

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it was a whale. Or, close enough, at any rate. Maybe we can see if we can track Rodney's whale?"

The fact that they're both glowing with the prospect of a Jumper trip might have people raising eyebrows. It might not. The people in the Control Room know, seeing as how they're heading up to the Jumper Bay.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

She laughs. "I'm sure he'd want to know what it's been up to," she provides as an excuse. "Or vice versa, perhaps."

Really, given that the two of them glow around each other anyway, it might be hard to tell. Then again, Jumper flight does present its own unique delights.

[shepcrew.livejournal.com]

He nods appreciatively. "Yes. Exactly. It's always nice to keep friends informed of things."

He's just chuffed at the prospect of flying under water again.

[sevenvirtues.livejournal.com]

"Only fair and polite, after all." Serious nod. Not really serious. She's more than a little excited, herself.