And How

***

1. "So, what do you think?" She gives him a bright, hopeful expression and crosses her fingers before tucking them underneath her chin.

John stares at her and decides that it's probably sacriligeous somewhere to entertain naked thoughts about your boss when she's asking for an opinion on the latest infectious diseases power rotation.

"I think that you are trying to get me to agree to something you think I normally wouldn't agree to." Huh. That tank top really was... something.

She stared at him prettily and smirked. "Took you this long to figure that out huh?"

He sighs and signs off on the bottom line of pad in defeat.

2. "What do you think?" Even though his vision is dimming out somewhat, he can see the smear of dirt on her jaw. He wonders how that got there.

"What?" He manages to get it out on the downswing of a cough. He knows it's bad because his hands are cold. Probably really bad.

The light slap makes him blink and refocus. "WHAT?"

"JOHN!" She is glaring and flushed and grimy. "I need to know the charge to set on this! And if you pass out on me, I will kick you until you're awake again, dammit!"

"Six! You need six to break the core rock, dammit!"

They eventually got out of the underground cavern, but only after she kicks him five times.

3. "God, this has been a terrible week."

She's got a headache. He can tell because she keeps rubbing her fist against her eyebrow. That means stress. He bites his lip at the guilty pang in his stomach.

"Yeah." He deliberately shifts on the balls of his feet. It's one of his tells and he knows she knows that.

She groans and rubs at her eyes. "Whaaaaat?"

"Rodney came to see me..."

She drops her hands and stares at him. The squirm is real this time.

"Do you think I should trust Rodney on this?"

He stares back.

4. The stage goes dark and the crowd is already three mugs past rowdy. The first anual Atlantis Talent Contest has concluded with a rather surprising jingle, leaving the audience - and the judges - rather stunned.

"Soo..." Judge number one leans over and raises an eyebrow at Judge number two.

"She wins. Very much wins."

Elizabeth just smirks, continuing to clap for Laura Cadman and her not lying hips.

John just knows the image of his subordinate's rather impressive abs (and those bangles) will be sticking with him a rather long while.

5. They're drunk and on their balcony. It's a bad combination, really. But the booze had been there (bad) and they'd been depressed (also bad) and the balcony had just seemed like a good idea.

"Should we have sex?" Elizabeth is cutely slurred and warm on his shoulder.

"No." He's not lying. "Do you think we're going to do it anyway?"

She giggles into his neck and bites his ear. Really, he has no chance.

-fin-

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