SGA Fic: Out Of Bounds - John/Rodney - NC-17 overall

[icarus]

The story in one file up to an earlier chapter: Out Of Bounds.

Title: Out Of Bounds
Author: Icarus
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: John/Rodney
Summary: "This scoring system is starting to seem a little arbitrary," John growled in complaint.

A/N: Thank you once again to my tireless betas, rabidfan and roaringmice, as well as tingler and mariamme.

Previously in Out Of Bounds: Known more for his jumps than his artistry, figure skater John Sheppard hires ex-skating champion and "artiste" Rodney McKay to be his coach. Their teasing friendship warms into something more. After a year of training and preparation... the U.S. Championships.

[Previous][Next]
Out Of Bounds
by Icarus



Heart-thumping disco filled the arena by the time John jogged down the steps, his hair still damp. He fumbled with the laces on his skates, stamping his heel into the back while Rodney sauntered up to the boards, sidling between staff members and bored cameramen. He gave the other coaches a dignified nod.

Clusters of older women under lap blankets filled the rows nearest the ice. The best seats in the house were up for grabs during practice sessions. A older guy, as small as a jockey and easily in his fifties, stepped down the rows diagonally over seatbacks with effortless balance, obviously an ex-skater.

John didn't manage to be first on the ice this time; he was still tugging the sleeves of his jacket off when his name was called. The little red-headed kid -- Nathaniel Peters from Sectionals -- cut around the ice with short, sharp strokes. Behind Peters came two new skaters, Wynne and Reinhardt, crisscrossing in front of each other. From this angle it looked like they'd almost collided but John knew there was plenty of room. Only beginning skaters needed a three foot clearance around them, and that mostly because they freaked out.

Mark Svick slid immediately over to his coach for an early conference. John had forgotten Svick had taken fourth at Mids; or well, not forgotten exactly, just hadn't thought much about it. Which was strange considering John had spent the last couple years focused on beating Svick.

John tossed his jacket at Rodney. Hopping over the lip of the rink, John bent and took his hard guards off, then put some power into his strokes to catch up.

He let his breathing even out, head down and one arm tucked behind his back like a speed skater. He edged into the first curve. His skates hissed like a jet trail. He did some easy crossovers, then got to work and opened up into his usual footwork pattern. He angled around the next corner -- and the back of his skate lost its bite into the ice. He skidded sideways, right into the boards.

John picked himself up, planting his skate on the ice and laughing in embarrassment.

Rodney looked down at John, his nose lifted. "Hmm, yes. You're permitted to do that here, but not during competition."

John dusted the ice off his pants. He looked surreptitiously around. The other skaters smothered smiles pretending not to look at him, while the little old ladies peered over in concern. John coughed into his fist. "Yeah. I'll keep that in mind."

"In addition," Rodney said. His eyes glinted with amusement. "You're allowed exactly two falls in practice today."

John raised his eyebrows. He was practicing the quad today. "Or else?"

"Or else..." Rodney paused, face going blank in surprise. Then he swung his pointer finger as if on sudden inspiration. "I deduct points!"

"You're on."

"Oh—and you're starting with a negative five, by the way." When John opened his mouth to protest, he added, "Hey! Just be grateful it's not ten."

"This scoring system is starting to seem a little arbitrary," John growled in complaint, but he dug his skate into the ice and swung into stride with a determined smile on his face.

[Previous][Next]

Comments

[rike-tikki-tavi.livejournal.com]

Poor John. Are you trying to get him flustered before the competition?

[dunv-i.livejournal.com]

(that sounds about how I start every practice session - step on the ice, turn for some back crossovers, tip over and plant on my butt.)

Also,

*bounces!!!!!*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I was at Skate America, watching these world class skater skate out, athletic and impressive -- and then this young Canadian skater slammed right into the boards, not ten feet from where he stepped onto the ice.

The German ice dance team (current World champions) fell during their freeskate. When asked why, the guy joked, "I think there was some ice out there."

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

At Skate America I watched these world class skaters do the exact same thing.

Every now and then you get a reminder: hello, ice!

[ariadne83]

Haha I love Rodney in this, with his ruthless judging.

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

Oh, they are so cute and competitive. I know, I know... d'uh. But it's adorable. :)

And I love how Rodney is keeping John laughing. He really is a good coach, I think.

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

the suspense! the suspense! somehow knowing how you are wrapping it all up is making it so wonderful.

also, it will be a wholly different and equally fun experience to read it all in one go later.

go you!

[melagan.livejournal.com]

How wonderful to see more of this! And I love the tone you set with John and Rodney.

I know I have to wait. I know it will be worth it. but guhhhh *headdesk*

[rabidfan.livejournal.com]

The new sections always look so good when posted! Yay!

[seekergeek.livejournal.com]

Hee! Good of Rodney to keep John's mind off things by issuing a ridiculous challenge!

[abigail89.livejournal.com]

I gave Boy1 the DVDs for season one of SGA. [We arrived late in the game of SGA, but we're trying to catch up.] I adore these two. Not much subtext, eh? :D

I'm assuming Rodney is using a little reverse psychology of him. Hee!

[irishjeeper.livejournal.com]

*bounce* yay for a new chapter. :) I Love the easy teasing between Rodney and John.

[rellan.livejournal.com]

Hee! They are so adorkable.

[b-dsaint.livejournal.com]

yeah! they are so cute... and yeah that's how I begin every skate as well... power around the ice and trip over air. :-)

the team world something or other is coming to Japan next month... (april)... lol i know I'm going to be looking for John! :-)

[fenchurch1.livejournal.com]

oh tantalising! The pressureis building and all we can do is bite our nails and hope! Thank you!

[lexstar29.livejournal.com]

I love these little snapshots. You get a real sense of their relationship. I can't wait to do a re-read of the whole story in one hit.

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Hee! Oh, John! And I love Rodney's method of, uh, encouraging his charge to deliver a good performance. <3

[rissabby.livejournal.com]

Yay, a new entry! I've been thinking about you lately and hoping there would be a new chapter soon. Love how Rodney appeals to John's competitiveness.

[e313.livejournal.com]

Hurray! *cheering up for John*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Couldn't resist tweaking the current judging system.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Rodney thinks so. And it did loosen John up quite a bit.

[djinanna.livejournal.com]

::snicker:: You set us up well with that one. There's John, being all impressive and competition-minded, no longer obsessed about beating some guy or other, and then *splat*. Of course, I have to be veryvery careful about laughing - I wouldn't last even one step on the ice. I can't even rollerskate.

In other thoughts, sweet little bit of flirting at the end.

And the tension mounts as we head towards the competition....

[fawkesielady-ed.livejournal.com]

oh this was good but no where near long enough to make me really really super duper happy....
But then I think you know that I'd read every bit of this fic even if you posted it one word at a time!

Thanks for this little bit to hold me over until you get the next chapter posted! I can't wait!!

As always, fantastic job!!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I have this constant inward debate: post small pieces right away, or wait and post larger pieces? This has been a question before.

When I wait, RL issues spring up between one post and the next. I find that it might be a month or more between updates. People forget what happened in the last part. I can see from my stats that everyone's having to go back to reread.

On the other hand, if I post smaller parts, they come faster, but readers are left hungry for more.

I tried putting it to a vote. The result was that readers really wanted both: long sections and for them to be posted sooner. *throws up hands* Ha! Of course.

After last summer's vote, I started feeling very under the gun to try to meet people's desires. The pressure distracted me from actually writing the story. I got less done.

I've given up and decided just to post whatever works to motivate me to write.

If I need to post small sections to feel like I'm making progress, I post small sections.

If I need to hold onto a long section to work out some bugs in the story, I hold onto it.

That's what I've done all along, and it works. I've almost completed a massive WiP and stuck to my guns long after a lot of fanfic writers would have thrown in the towel (based on the large number of unfinished WiPs).

Which is good news. I'm hoping to do a whole slew of posts soon. If John's LP would just come together... school and WG's being home (and on the computer<.i>) has been getting in the way of my writing time.

[thatratorpheus.livejournal.com]

Eeek! Well, I hope he got that out of his system. On the other hand, I've seen so many competitions (even Worlds or the Olympics) where practically everybody falls down, like Carnage on Ice, and the skater who manages to stay upright ends up winning. Of course, not that this weill happen to John, cuz he'll be blindingly brilliant - he will, won't he?...huh?...eeep?...