Gather Ye Rosebuds

She is a very strong-minded woman, he mused, not one easily convinced by just any idea. The sense of impropriety was also a factor—technically she was his superior; she was in charge of the expedition even if he was the ranking military officer. Actually, he was not sure what the regulations were on that front, given that she was a civilian and all; but the regs were not the whole concern. Caldwell had been keeping a rather close eye on them these past few weeks. He could make trouble for them back on Earth.

But the Daedalus was due to head back to Earth that afternoon, so Caldwell would not be on hand to disapprove of the situation. Heck, John thought as he landed in the hanger bay, I should just ask her and not take no for an answer. Lizabeth may be as stubborn as Hell, but even she would enjoy a break and a good picnic every now and then. Decision made, he went straight to Elizabeth’s office.

As predicted, Elizabeth was not immediately taken with the idea of a picnic. Her first objection was how it would look to the others. She pointed out the very same thoughts that he had earlier—she was in charge of the expedition and technically of him, Caldwell’s ability to make problems for them, and so forth.

“The Daedalus will be heading back to Earth soon,” John pointed out. “Caldwell won’t be here to wonder at anything.”

“What about everyone else?” Elizabeth countered.

“What about them? If anyone asks, all you have to say is that there’s something you wanted to check out on the mainland. What’s suspicious about that?”

Elizabeth was hard to convince, but eventually she came around. The fact that the Daedalus was due to leave was a large factor in her decision. Colonel Caldwell was keeping a close eye on them, but why should they let it stop them from an innocent picnic when he was not even there to comment? As for what anybody else could say, well, rumours would abound no matter what they did. Some of these rumours had even reached her ears. Something about the two of them in supply closets…

“This is nice,” Elizabeth said, popping a piece of the local “apple” in her mouth. She was not just talking about the “apple”, which was sweeter and juicier than the varieties from Earth; but also about the picnic itself. John had chosen a secluded clearing on the mainland. There were woods all around, the clearing roughly the size of a football field. It was nice and quiet though, with weather more reminiscent of a mid west spring than the winter usually associated with St Valentine’s Day. John was not one to let the occasion pass, though. She had found a sweet Valentine waiting for her on the co-pilot’s seat in the Jumper; and he had supplied a bottle of the local “wine” that had been such a hit at the holiday dinner for the picnic.

“Really,” John’s hazel eyes sparkled. “What exactly is nice? The picnic? The wine? The company?”

“All three,” she grinned mischievously. “Of course, that may be the wine talking.”

He grinned in return, although both knew that while the local “wine” gave them a nice buzz, it really did not cause intoxication. “Of course.”

“So,” she put the wine glass down. “Have you anything else planned for this picnic?”

“Well, roses are the norm for St Valentine’s Day. I would have given you a bunch, but I haven’t been able to find any. First bunch I find though…”

“Promises, promises. So,” she asked again. “Anything else planned?”

He thought got a moment. “No, not really. At this point, I thought we’d play it by ear.”

Her eyes widened. “John Sheppard without a plan?”

“You say it like it’s unusual.”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

John had to chuckle. His habit of winging it was well known. “I had a few ideas. Most were contingent on the success of the picnic.”

“From where I’m sitting, I’d say it’s pretty successful. What were your ideas?”

“We could go for a walk, explore a little. I saw a couple of trails in the woods as we were flying over that look passable.”

That seemed tame compared to that Elizabeth thought he would come up with. “Was that your only idea?” she asked coyly.

“Not exactly,” he hesitated. “That’s just the one that was most appropriate to suggest.”

“I see. A walk sounds like a good idea.”

Grinning, John hopped lithely to his feet and extended a hand to help Elizabeth up. When she was also on her feet, he stooped to kiss her hand. “Ladies choice of the trail we follow.”

That made her pause to think. Unlike her companion, she had not really noticed the trails as they were flying over. “Uh… let’s take the longest trail. Whichever one that was, I didn’t really see.”

It was cool under the canopy of trees. The trail they were following was close, reminiscent of a deer trail back home. There was barely room for them to walk side by side, so more often than not there were in single file. Yet somehow, quite unconsciously, they were hand in hand—quite a feat then walking single file. Ahead, there was a clear fork in the trail, making them stop and choose.

“Which one, O Leader?” John asked.

Elizabeth pointed to the less worn trail with the hand that was holding John’s. They both looked down at their conjoined hands as if suddenly realising they were together. With a muttered apology, John moved to let go, but she tightened her grip. “Don’t,” she spoke in a near whisper, almost afraid to break the spell. “I like it.”

John appeared flustered, and to cover this he turned his attention to the trail she indicated. “This one, huh? ‘Two roads diverged in the woods, and I… I took the one less travelled by’,” he quoted.

“ ‘And it has made all the difference’,” she finished with a smile.

Squeezing her hand, John indicated that she should take the lead. Still smiling, she did so without letting go of his hand. As they rounded a bend that was just a few metres ahead of them, the trail disappeared into a wall of light bracken. Pushing through the bracken, Elizabeth found herself in a small clearing of wildflowers. She gasped in wonder.

Pushing through himself, John could see why. “Wow,” he said. “Pegasus Galaxy’s own secret garden.”

“Did you plan this, John?” she asked, bending over to smell the nearest flower.

“How could I?” he protested. “I didn’t even know it was here.”

There was no reply from Elizabeth, as she was exploring the ‘garden’. There were flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colours here; some very similar to those found on earth. Then she found something that was rather appropriate for the day. “John, come take a look at this.”

John did so, regarding what she indicated with mild astonishment. “Roses.”

“Rosebuds, to be more precise.” Indeed, the flowers did resemble cream and red coloured rosebuds—complete with thorns.

“ ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying. And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying’.” The pilot could not resist quoting Robert Herrick.

Elizabeth chose not to comment on the poetry. “I believe you said you would have given me roses today had you found any. Well…”

Smiling, John crouched down to pick a bud of deep crimson colour. “I won’t pick a bunch as it would ruin the effect,” he said as he stood up. “But ‘a rose by any other word would smell as sweet’.” He gently caressed her cheek with the soft petals.

Her hand closed around the flower. “You’re quite the poet today, aren’t you?”

He shrugged, relinquishing the rose. “You inspire poetry.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Without thinking, John leaned in to give her a soft kiss. Embarrassed, he pulled back. “Sorry, I always seem to be kissing you,” he apologised, thinking of the Christmas kiss from six weeks before.

Elizabeth also recalled that kiss. “I really don’t mind.”

Whether he was still under the influence of the wine or not, John Sheppard took this as a challenge. Leaning in, he gave her a deeper kiss, encouraging her mouth to open under his so he could explore it with his tongue. He only drew back when the lack of oxygen became an issue. “Did you mind that?”

Wordlessly she shook her head, speech obviously beyond her at that point. Taking this as further encouragement, he leaned in again; this time making his way down the line of her neck, alternatively licking and nipping. Pausing over her pulse point to lightly suck, he spoke between breaths. “How about this? Do you mind this?”

“No,” Elizabeth gasped, unable to draw breath, the sensation was so powerful.

“Tell me when you do mind,” he murmured. It was the last thing said for a while.

Silently they made their way back to the jumper. It was not an uncomfortable silence, but both knew that the issue needed to be addressed before they went back to Atlantis, and nether knew quite how to. As John opened the Jumper, Elizabeth took a deep breath, deciding to broach the subject first. “John, we need to talk.”

“No we don’t,” he countered as he helped her inside. “I know what you’re about to say. But we can’t pretend it didn’t happen. The minute we deny it, Rodney, Carson, Ronon, they’ll all be onto us.”

“But we have to deal with it some time,” she pointed out. “It changes everything between us.”

“Yes it does,” he agreed. “But it could be a change for the better. We can deal with it by not ignoring it, though. Let’s just see how things work out, all right?”