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The last time he'd been here he had still been a student. Things have changed surprisingly little. There's still the loud, bright end of the room, where people talk over the music or dance hectically. And there's still the other end, which Rodney is heading towards now.
He sits down at the end of the bar. Everything's muted here. The lights, the music, the talking. It's quiet enough that he can hear the moans coming from around the corner. Or maybe he's just imagining it.
He feels a rush that he can't remember from back then, at least not after the first time he'd been here. It had quickly become routine, the eye contact, the silent or not negotiation and then anonymous, no-strings-attached, but safe—he wasn't stupid—sex.
It is that routine, that ease that he's looking for now. He's been back here for just two months, the newest faculty member of the physics department in the local university, and while he likes the job, he does feel the stress that he puts upon himself. It isn't that he needs to prove himself—hell, they can be glad to have gotten him—but Rodney knows how they talk behind his back, how the decision to take him over some other quite high-profile candidates is questioned. Between his courses and research, he doesn't have much time, and the dates he's had with the two women who have passed his requirements in terms of looks and intellect have turned out disastrous and barely adequate respectively.
He's given up on trying to find a girlfriend for the moment, but he's not quite ready to give up on sex. Then he remembered this, the best stress relief there is, so he's made his way here, showered and shaved, which he can't remember being necessary, but that was then and this is now and better safe than sorry.
The bartender comes and Rodney orders a beer because that's what he did back then. He looks around. Nobody at this end of the room immediately catches his eye or looks at him. God, they all look so young. He certainly can't remember that. But then, of course, back then he was one of them.
When the bartender places the beer in front of him, Rodney takes a long sip, no longer to have something to do while he's making contact with someone, but because he realizes this might not have been such a good idea after all. Half of the guys here are students. And he can't have sex with any of his students. Or any students at all, and since he'd feel silly asking if they were students before having anonymous sex with them, that effectively means he can scratch about 80% of the people here as potential sex partners.
An older guy settles at the bar a bit further down and looks over. Rodney quickly turns his face to his glass. God, is he one of those old pathetic guys now? He carefully peeks over. The guy is looking ahead now. He's not bad-looking or anything, but he's maybe fifty and Rodney isn't quite that desperate yet. He could give Eileen another chance. Dinner with her was both boring and awkward, but she is pretty hot and maybe if he can just make it to the point where they have sex he'll be fine for a while.
Okay, this is pathetic. He'll not go out with Eileen again. And choosing this club was just an all-around bad idea. What was right for him as a student just isn't the right thing now, so he'll simply go and find a place where he can get what he's looking for. He turns to finish the beer, which isn't half bad, when he sees out of the corner of his eye someone sitting down next to him. He turns just enough to check if it's Old Guy, but it's not. In fact it's someone around his age, and he's pretty gorgeous to boot with messy dark hair and a tight black shirt.
Rodney would be tempted to turn around to see if the guy is meaning someone else, but he is sitting in the barstool, body turned towards Rodney, smiling at him in a way that's pretty unmistakable. "Hi," he drawls and okay, yes, this works, this is exactly what Rodney wants. He quickly looks towards the corner that leads to the backroom and back at the sexy stranger, afraid that if they stop to talk he might change his mind. It's been a while, but he hopes that his smile and the arch of his eyebrow are enough along with the unsubtle look.
The stranger gives a quick laugh, looks Rodney up and down and says, "Okay, lead the way."
Rodney grabs him by the top of his pants, because he's not risking to lose him and those pants will have to go quickly anyway. He stumbles into the backroom, dragging his conquest with him. Inside he freezes for just a moment as he's flooded with memories.
It's just like it was back then, hot and humid, the air full of sex, both the sound and smell of it. The darkness goes from pitch black to not really all that dark and it's in one of those corners that Rodney pulls the stranger, because now that he's bagged such a hot guy, he wants to see him at least a bit.
He drops down on a soft surface, pulling the stranger to stand between his spread legs and immediately goes to work on his fly. He glances up to the guy's face. It's not in direct light, but in this corner of the room it's bright enough for Rodney to see that the guy is watching intently what he does. Rodney can feel the half-hard dick through the blue-striped boxers and after running over it with his knuckles, making the stranger's breath hitch, he pulls the dark jeans and boxers down, exposing his dick.
Rodney licks his lips at the sight. It's been a while since he's sucked cock. He tends to date women, and he hasn't gone out for anonymous sex in a quite some time. But he's hungry for it now. He takes the cock in his hand and deftly strokes it to full hardness.
The guy above him moans and Rodney looks up, pleased to see the lust in his eyes. He thrusts into Rodney's hand, and Rodney can't wait to get him into his mouth so that he can grab his ass and feel it tense with each thrust. The guy seems to be eager for Rodney's mouth too, if the way he moves forward vaguely towards his face is any indication. Okay, time for practical things.
"Are you allergic to latex?" he asks, not stopping his administrations on the stranger's cock.
"Uhm," the guy says, just dazed enough to make Rodney proud.
Rodney wonders if he needs to repeat the question. And he hopes it won't be a problem. A lot of guys don't see the necessity of condoms if you're just giving a blow job, but most don't make too much of a fuss if you want one. However, there are exceptions and Rodney would hate it to be the case here, because call him paranoid but it would be a deal breaker for him.
"No, I'm not," the guy pants and Rodney smiles in relief. He gets out the condom and quickly rolls it over the guy's cock. And then he opens his mouth and wraps his lips around the head of his dick. The condom is mint-flavored but he knows the taste isn't going to last so he moves further down his cock as quickly as his throat will allow.
The guy tries to stay still and not thrust and Rodney moves his hands around to his ass. He lets his fingers run down the crack and the guy groans and widens his stance. Rodney wonders if he'd let him fuck him. God, that would be hot. He brushes over his hole with one finger and there's a panted, "Yeah."
Rodney moves back and lets the dick slip from his mouth. He looks up at the stranger and his own pants tighten. He'd like to see more of him, get him out of that shirt, run his hands all over that body. "Can I fuck you?"
Instead of answering, the stranger pushes Rodney back onto the surface and straddles him after getting out of his pants and boxers. Fuck this is hot. Rodney lifts his hand and pushes it underneath the tight shirt to feel the hot skin. The guy watches him predatorily for a moment, then manhandles Rodney further back onto some pillows and starts undoing his pants.
It's a relief to have his dick freed, and he lifts up to allow the guy to push the pants down enough that he has free access to Rodney's cock. He takes it in his fist and pumps it to full hardness.
"Condom and lube," he says between breaths.
"My pocket," Rodney says, pointing at where his pants are bunched around his knees.
The guys gets out what Rodney has, which is quite a lot. The guy snorts. "Big plans for tonight, huh?"
"I just like to be prepared," Rodney says a bit defensively. He picks out the lube and an unflavored condom.
"A regular boy scout. I see," the guys teases.
Rodney is trying to come up with a retort, but then the guy is stroking his cock again and he can only moan. The guy puts the condom on him and reaches for the lube, but Rodney gets to it first.
"Can I?" he asks.
The guy looks at him, lifts his hands and grins. Rodney pulls him closer and since that brings his cock into the vicinity of Rodney's mouth he gives it a quick suck. He squirts some lube on one hand and reaches around. The guy relaxes and Rodney runs his finger around his entrance only a few times before pushing in with the tip. He's tighter than Rodney would have expected from someone here. Or maybe Rodney just remembers it differently. It's been even longer since he's fucked a guy.
He pushes in deeper, feeling around. He opens his mouth again to go back to blowing him. He's not sure how the guy would prefer to come. He finds his prostate and hears a suppressed, "Fuck," coming from above. He looks up at the guy and the guy looks down and puts his hand on Rodney's head. He's gentle, not pushing or holding Rodney and Rodney wonders if they'll kiss. Some guys don't want it and Rodney himself isn't too keen unless the guy is really hot. He really wants to kiss his stranger though.
He pushes a second finger in, making short work of the preparation now. The guy is panting above him. After Rodney removes his fingers, he pulls back and asks, "Do you want me to blow you or can you come while I fuck you."
The guy pulls the condom off his own dick, moves back, takes Rodney's dick in his hand and guides himself down on it. He's biting his lip, and Rodney groans as his cock is sheathed in tight heat. Fuck, this will be over too soon. He closes his eyes and tries to think of his job, the parts that he hates, the socializing with morons, which he's tried to avoid so far, because he just can't bring himself to fake interest in one of the disciplines that really don't deserve to be called a science. Okay, he feels less like he'll explode any second now.
When he opens his eyes, the guy looks at him with something like amusement. Then it turns into lust again, and he takes Rodney's hand and puts it around his cock. "I can come like this," he assures Rodney and starts to move.
Wow. He can't remember it being this good. He tightens his fist around the guy's cock so that he can fuck up into it and down onto Rodney's cock. The way Rodney's lying on the surface makes it hard to impossible to move, but still he tries to thrust up at least a bit.
The guy starts to speed up and really ride him and it's amazing. The tight feeling of him around his cock drives Rodney crazy, and when he looks up he's faced with one of the hottest sights he can remember. The guy is a bit flushed now, mouth half-open, and he's looking at Rodney as if he's not sure how long he'll hold on. There are noises coming from his throat, soft moans, and Rodney wants to kiss that mouth really badly. He watches the mouth and moves his free hand to the guy's taut thigh and then up, over the shirt to his shoulders.
The guy moves forward as if he's been waiting for this and Rodney doesn't even have to pull to feel that mouth descend on him. The kiss is hot and wet and open and the guy pushes his tongue into Rodney's mouth without hesitation. Rodney tangles one hand in his hair, while the other keeps stroking his dick, more softly now because he wants to take his time, wants to enjoy this as long as he can. He slows down the kiss, caressing the guy's hair.
Rodney has a hard time remembering when kissing felt like this. Certainly none of his encounters here in his youth had been like this and even the women he'd dated, casually or not... Something twists inside him. He feels a pang of want, of longing that has nothing to do with sex.
Shit.
This is just an anonymous fuck, just some stress relief, and suddenly he's thinking about dinners and making out on the couch, and he doesn't even know the guy's name!
And he can't ask, he knows that. He tries to banish all thoughts from his mind that do not revolve around right here, right now. He's having fantastic sex with a really hot guy who kisses like Rodney is the best thing that ever happened to him. There's no bad here at all.
He starts to stroke the guy's dick more urgently. The guy takes this as a cue and speeds up again, moving up and down on Rodney's cock at a dizzying pace. Rodney can feel the pressure building in his balls. The guy's fucking himself on Rodney and groaning into his mouth between kisses and holding Rodney's face. It's too much and Rodney knows that he won't be able to hold back for much longer so he starts to jack the guy off in earnest and then he's there.
He rides the edge of climax, freezing and then he spasms and comes and he manages a few more strokes and sees and feels the guy joining him, pulsing his come onto Rodney's good shirt.
They stay like that, panting for a few moments and then the guy moves off of Rodney and settles himself next to him. He puts his hand on Rodney's arm. "Sorry about the shirt," he says between breaths.
Rodney feels a hysterical laugh rise in his chest, but he can hold it back. He turns to the guy. He looks sweaty and well-kissed and well-fucked and Rodney wants nothing more than to take him home. But he's been there and he knows the rules. He's actually laughed in the face of a guy who had asked for his number in this very room and now he wishes he hadn't, now he wishes it was possible. But it isn't and he doesn't want this to end awkwardly.
"Doesn't matter," he says, because it's the truth, and he only hopes that he won't be pathetic enough to keep the dirty shirt as a reminder, although he's pretty damn sure he's going to jerk off, taking in the smell of it as soon as he's home and can get it up again.
The guy pets his arm and sits up. He looks for his boxers and Rodney takes a deep breath and takes off the condom and starts to get dressed too.
They're not in a hurry and Rodney keeps throwing glances at the guy, a last glimpse of his ass, his thighs. Then they're done and presentable again, ignoring the stain across Rodney's shirt. They're standing next to each other and the guy smiles, relaxed and happy and showing nothing of the turmoil that Rodney feels.
Rodney tries to smile back, because this was fun and great and everything, and he should really take it for what it is.
The guy leans forward and kisses him quickly, and Rodney forces himself not to chase after his mouth when it's gone again. It's a kiss goodbye he knows and only now does the smile disappear from the guy as if maybe he regrets that it's over too.
But he turns and leaves, and Rodney just watches after him and forces himself not to follow him.
He waits a full five minutes after the guy disappears, and only then does he leave the room too.
When he scans the club, there's no sign of his stranger, as Rodney knew would be the case. He lifts his head, tries to gather himself and leaves, resisting the urge to look up and down the street for any sign of the guy he's just had possibly the best sex of his life with.
~~
"Rodney?"
"Yes, Sally," Rodney asks through the intercom. He tries not to sound annoyed because Sally is actually a really competent assistant and doesn't harass him with nonsense. She can also be quite a pit bull towards others which is absolutely necessary to get things on campus. She also keeps up better than anyone with all the gossip going around, which isn't always a useful talent, except for potential blackmail material and mostly to know which people to avoid.
"You have a visitor," Sally begins and Rodney is ready to take back everything good he ever thought about her because the first lesson he drilled into her was to make people go away. "It's John Sheppard."
His mind draws a complete blank.
"From the mathematics department," she adds helpfully.
Rodney mentally goes through the list of people, and he's heard of all of them because deserved or not they've all managed to publish something—except one person. The darling of the university, ex-military—which is really all that Rodney needs to know about the man—turned to teaching after being honorably discharged, entirely unpublished and the guy on campus that everybody loves. The sheer thought of him raises Rodney's hackles because someone who's liked by colleagues, students, and staff alike can't possibly be doing his job right. And while Rodney is unfortunately used to incompetence, it's positively aggravating to hear Sheppard this and Sheppard that as if he should be a role model or something.
"I'm very busy," he barks into the intercom, hoping that Sheppard can hear it.
There is a short pause.
"He really thinks you'd like to see him."
What the hell? Who does that guy think he is? He'd love to storm out and give Sheppard a piece of his mind, but that would just give him what he wants, so Rodney stays put and takes a deep breath before answering.
"Tell him I'm just going to finish this and then drop by his office," he says, trying to sound as if he means it. This should buy him a couple of days until he can come up with something else. There has to be a way to avoid Sheppard. Rodney suspects the man wants to drag him into some committee, making university a better place or some bullshit like that. He shudders at the thought.
"Okay," she says and Rodney breathes a sigh of relief. "He says you can finish and he'll just wait here for you."
"What?!" Rodney can't believe the nerve of the guy.
"He's coming in now," Sally informs him and the door opens and Rodney gets up, ready to tell him where he can shove it, when the person who enters turns out to be none other than his stranger from last night. He's wearing a suit now, but the hair is just as messy, and he closes the door and smirks at Rodney, and Rodney needs to sit down now. So he does.
Except that he's not really standing in front of his chair any longer, so he lands on his ass, which at least turns the smirk on the guy's—Sheppard's—face into worry. He rushes to Rodney.
"Are you all right?"
Rodney looks up and glares at him. Sheppard crouches down next to him to help him up, but Rodney pushes his hand away.
Sheppard sighs. "Listen Rodney..."
Dammit. He knows who Rodney is, he must have known who Rodney was yesterday, because he didn't look surprised to see him just now... "Is this some kind of sick game to you?"
Sheppard looks actually hurt for a moment, then it turns more exasperated. "I was just having a drink when you showed up."
"You came on to me," Rodney points out.
"I just said 'Hi'," Sheppard shoots back.
"But you were all..." Rodney gestures vaguely at the general area of his chest. "You could have said something!"
"Right, because you would have been so pleased to meet me," Sheppard says sarcastically.
Rodney doesn't quite know what to say to that because Sheppard's not wrong.
"When I found out that you'd been hired, I was looking forward to meeting you," Sheppard explains, sitting down on the floor next to Rodney. "You were gone from the reception before I could introduce myself, and when I asked your assistant, she always told me that you were still settling in."
Rodney grimaces.
"I've heard...very entertaining stories about you," Sheppard continues, smirking again now, "and when I saw that you have a really nice ass," Rodney's eyes shoot up at that, "I really wanted to meet you. But your assistant didn't give me a chance, and I've never seen anyone leave meetings as fast as you do. So yesterday when you walked in, I thought that would be a great opportunity to meet you without any bias against me, and when you suggested... Well, you know what happened."
Rodney flushes at the thought. He can still clearly see Sheppard—what was his first name again? John—in his mind, riding him. Suddenly a thought occurs to him.
"Do you do that often?" he asks weakly. The idea of Sheppard—John! Really, he's had his dick up his ass, he can call him by his first name—regularly having sex with strangers isn't appealing at all.
"No," John says immediately. "That was actually the first time I've gone back there."
Rodney's relieved and then smug, because the idea of John only doing that with him is pretty hot. The smirk drops from his face as he realizes what this means. The hot guy that he's had sex with and thought about all night long is not unavailable. He's here and not a slut and apparently interested in Rodney and there's a really good chance that they can do it again.
Rodney beams.
John frowns. "You're no longer mad at me?"
"No. Although I reserve the right to bring this up at my convenience in the future. But I don't see why it should stand in the way of further...engagements on our part."
John smiles. "So, if I asked you out on a date...?"
"I'd say yes, although it wasn't exactly what I was thinking of." He lifts his eyebrows meaningfully.
John's smile fades. "Rodney," he begins, and Rodney doesn't like the sound of that at all. "I'm too old for something casual. So if you're only after sex—"
"No!" Rodney immediately says. That isn't what he means at all. If it had been just sex, he wouldn't have cared about ever seeing John again. "Dating is good. I mean I've never dated a guy, but it's not because... Well, frankly, I'm not sure why. But I really want to date you. I want..." He thinks back to dinners and making out on the couch. "Definitely not just sex," he finishes and means it.
John smiles and leans forward, and Rodney meets him halfway in a deep kiss. He cups John's face with one hand and uses the other to steady himself. They break away eventually.
"We should get up," John points out, looking around them where they're still sitting on the floor.
Rodney is tempted to suggest they make out a little longer, but he wasn't actually lying when he said he was working on something. He sighs and nods.
John jumps up, surprisingly easily—he's a soldier, Rodney reminds himself and now that he's met John he wonders what's the story behind that—and helps Rodney up. He doesn't immediately let go of Rodney's hand, instead quickly kisses him again. Rodney eagerly returns the kiss.
"How about I pick you up for dinner tonight?" John asks after pulling away.
"Okay. You can pick me up here at seven. Or maybe sooner." Rodney walks to the door. "I don't think I have any appointments. Sally?" He opens it and Sally tumbles into the room.
She catches herself and straightens. "Yes, Rodney?"
Behind him, John snorts.
"I don't have any appointments this evening, do I?" Rodney asks her. It's not as if there's any point in getting outraged. This isn't the kind of thing he'll replace her over.
"No," she says happily. "You can pick him up at six," she says over Rodney's shoulder.
"Okay," John says and smiles. He walks to the door and plants a quick kiss on Rodney's cheek on his way out.
Sally sighs in a way that's entirely unfitting for someone who hasn't been a teenager for thirty years.
"I'll go back to work. I don't want any more disturbances," he says decisively, but she just grins at him and returns to her desk.
She's already picking up the phone when he turns to go back into his office. By the end of the day, the whole campus will know about John and him. It's not an entirely unwelcome thought. It's certainly the best gossip about him yet.
"Don't forget to tell them that he approached me," he says airily and disappears into his room to finish in time for John to pick him up.