Fic: Spencer Never Sees It Coming (Bandom/SGA)
Title: Spencer Never Sees It Coming
Fandom/Pairing: Bandom/SGA crossover. Ryan/Ronon, McKay/Sheppard, Brendon/Spencer, Ryan/Jon if you squint. MY TINHATS. LET ME SHOW YOU THEM.
Rating: PG13? IDK
Disclaimer: Half of these people are fictional, and the other half aren’t by none of them belong to me and none of this happened. All lies, etc etc.
Summary: Spencer doesn’t like Ryan’s new boyfriend very much.
A/N: This isn’t real fic, because it’s not supposed to be and if it is, then I just wrote Ryan/Ronon with something of a wee plot and I can’t be the person to do that because then makesomelove wins the imaginary contest that only lives in my brain and I am essentially and inadvertently her bitch. So this is not fic. If it was though, rain_dances is to blame, and mintyfiend was wonderful and beta’d it for me and all mistakes are therefore mine. I don’t think there’s any spoilers for SGA here- set sometime in Season 4, I guess. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DOWNLOAD LEAKED SGA EPS. DON'T DO IT. THAT WAY LEADS TO MADNESS.
So, maybe Spencer doesn’t like Ryan’s new boyfriend very much. He’s not sure why- and it’s certainly not jealousy like Jon implied (Spencer’s pretty sure Jon’s projecting there, anyways), he just doesn’t like him. Spencer is naturally suspicious by nature (he grew up with Ryan, he really can’t help it) and Ronon is…well, he’s hiding something. Spencer knows that for sure. Also he has stupid hair.
Spencer isn’t even sure where Ryan met the guy, but they’d passed through Colorado and suddenly there was a 7 foot tall dude sharing the bus for a couple of weeks while he was ‘on leave’. Spencer’s not sure what that’s supposed to mean. Brendon thinks he’s in the Navy, but Spencer’s sure that’s probably just wishful thinking on Brendon’s part, since he has a total thing for Navy uniforms that Spencer blames solely on Richard Gere.
Spencer thinks Ronon is probably in some secret forces unit and is a trained assassin and is most definitely going to kill them all in their sleep for reasons unknown. And this is the reason Spencer lies awake in his bunk for the first two nights after Ronon joins them on tour, and his iPod is missing (he finds it in Brendon’s bunk, a week later, when he’s…well, the point isn’t what he’s doing there anyways) and this is why he spends the night with a pillow over his ears trying not to listen to the grunts and moans coming from Ryan’s bunk.
Which is a whole other issue too. There should be no way that Ronon should fit into a bunk, let alone Ronon AND Ryan. And yet somehow whenever Spencer can’t find Ryan these days, he knows he can pull back the curtain and find the pair of them squished inside, wrapped around each other and looking like they were the most comfortable people on the planet. And yet when Spencer and Brendon try to do the same thing someone always ends up with an elbow in the kidneys and a leg sticking out through the curtain and…what Spencer and Brendon get up to in their spare time is so not the point.
It’s just blatantly unfair, is all, and Spencer tries talking to the others about it, but Brendon is half in love with Ronon himself, probably because he’s allowed to use Ronon like a climbing frame. And Jon, who Spencer had counted on to be on his side for reasons that are obvious to everyone but Jon and Ryan, it seems, just shrugs and says he’s glad Ryan is happy. Spencer doesn’t like talking to Jon about this, because he knows the implication is there that Spencer should be happy that Ryan is happy, and he is, except that he isn’t.
Not that Ryan notices anyway. Whenever he doesn’t have a guitar in his hands, he’s holding onto Ronon, and it’s disgusting and Spencer is very, very happy, thank you very much, that he and Brendon never had that ‘ridiculously caught up in each other and head over heels in love phase’ because, well, they’re not in love, okay, they’re just fucking about and it’s just a tour thing and it evolved out of friendship and not out of suddenly falling in love, which is not something Spencer is in with Brendon anyways. So.
The point is, Spencer would much rather Ryan and Ronon were all loved up somewhere that was elsewhere, where he didn’t have to put up with Ryan’s goofy smiles or Ronon making Ryan eat off his plate, or Ryan tracing the tattoo on Ronon’s neck with his tongue, right in front of Spencer when he’s busy trying to not watch Brendon bite his lip as Jon kicks his ass at something loud and violent on the Xbox.
It’s probably lucky that Spencer’s annoyances simmer away for days and days before he loses his temper and says things he’ll end up regretting, because before he can snap and tell Ryan he’s an idiot for getting mixed up with this guy (who would, talking of snapping, probably be able to break Spencer like a twig if he said half the things he wants to say), two guys show up at the bus door.
Well. When Spencer says show up, he means ‘one of them has a loud argument with Zack, shouting about how he’s not scared of American bullies and that he’s a genius, don’t they know, and that if Zack doesn’t let them in, there’s going to be a world of trouble, and meanwhile the other one calmly yanks open the bus door and stomps inside’.
The first thing Spencer notices is that the guy has great hair. The second thing he notices is that the guy is both incredibly hot, and old enough to be Spencer’s father. The third thing he notices is that Brendon is gaping at the guy too, obviously thinking the same things Spencer is thinking. Spencer doesn’t approve.
“What do you want?” he asks, stepping out and blocking the guy’s way. For a moment he looks like he’s going to push Spencer aside, but Spencer narrows his eyes and folds his arms across his chest. The guy sighs.
“Ronon!” the guy yells. “Ronon, get your butt out here right-“
“Sheppard!” Ronon barrels past Spencer and claps his hand to the guy’s shoulder. “What’re you doing here?”
“We’ve been recalled,” Sheppard says. “We need to-“ he stops and leans in to Ronon, sniffing. “Have you been smoking?” he asks. “Is that weed?”
Ronon shrugs. “Ryan said it’s called ‘pot’. It’s kinda like the stuff Teyla and the others smoke back on-“
“Ronon!” Sheppard interrupts and Ronon’s mouth shuts suddenly. Spencer finds himself maybe liking the new guy, if he can get Ronon to both shut up and, by the sounds of it, go away with him. “And, seriously, Teyla? Did you know about this?” he asks the other guy, who’s just climbing up the steps of the bus, Zack closely behind him with a half annoyed, half baffled expression on his face.
“Hmm?” the guy says, glancing around the bus and wrinkling his nose. “Oh, yeah, Botany has a whole section of the greenhouse dedicated to growing the stuff. It’s very important to the Athosian culture. And also to a lot of the scientists. And some of your Marines.” He pauses. “Uh. Forget I said that last part.”
“Rodney,” Sheppard drawls, his tone warning, and for a moment it reminds Spencer of how he tries to rein Brendon in sometimes, but it’s a ridiculous comparison, he realises, studying the two guys, because there is clearly something between them, deeper than fuck buddies.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Rodney flaps his hand in Sheppard’s direction. “I’m sorry, I should have told you before, does it really matter right now?” he turns to Ronon. “We’re going back,” he says. “And we need you to come.”
Ronon frowns. “What is it?” he asks. His voice is low and growly and intense. It tugs at something low in Spencer’s stomach and for a moment he can maybe see what Ryan sees in him.
Sheppard and Rodney share a look, then glance around the room. Zack is standing by the doorway, arms folded across his chest. Jon is sprawled on one of the seats, guitar on his lap, and Brendon is pressed close against Spencer’s side, close enough that Spencer can hear each intake of breath.
Sheppard’s expression turns grim. “Michael,” he says simply, and Ronon nods, matching Sheppard’s expression.
“Okay,” he says. “When do we leave?”
“We have…transportation arranged as soon as you’re ready,” Rodney says, and Ronon nods again.
“Gimme a few minutes to grab my stuff,” he says, and disappears back through the door towards the bunks.
They all stare at each other.
“So,” Rodney says into the silence, shifting awkwardly. “What’s the 411, dudes?”
Everyone stares at him.
“What?” Rodney says to Sheppard, who is shaking his head, looking half amused, half exasperated. “That’s how kids talk these days. Right? Right?” He looks at Brendon who shrugs.
“Uh, sure?”
“Just…Just don’t say anything, McKay,” Sheppard says, and walks over to take a seat beside Jon, who budges up for him. “Just stay quiet, and then we’ll take Ronon and leave. Okay?”
“Fine,” Rodney says, and wanders over to peer at Brendon’s broken amp, sitting in the middle of the table, and pokes at it. After a moment or two squinting at it, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small tool case, and starts poking around inside.
“Hey!” Brendon says, moving towards him. “That’s my-“
“Yes, yes,” Rodney interrupts. “Do you want this fixed or not? Because it won’t take a moment. I could maybe improve it too.”
“Really?” Brendon is at his side in an instant, peering over his shoulder and getting in the way. “That would be awesome. Do you think you could make it go up to 11?”
Fifteen minutes later, Spencer realises that when Ronon said he was going to grab his stuff, what he really meant was that he was going to go and grab Ryan’s ‘stuff’. Rodney and Brendon are having a loud conversation about musical technicalities that zoom so high above Spencer’s head they’re practically stratospheric, that has them both waving their arms enthusiastically and shouting ‘Yes! That’s it exactly!’ a lot, that would normally be annoying but is helpfully drowning out the loud thumps and moans coming from the back of the bus.
Sheppard is watching Rodney with a fond smile, and moves over to sit beside Spencer.
“Our geniuses at work,” he remarks, nodding in Rodney and Brendon’s direction.
Spencer snorts, because sure, Brendon is brilliant, more talented than 99% of people Spencer knows, but that doesn’t mean he’s a genius. “Brendon’s not-“ and he pauses, because he’s wrong, Brendon maybe is a bit of a genius and Spencer just hasn’t seen it because he hasn’t been looking for it.
“He’s not mine,” Spencer finishes lamely, and he doesn’t like the way the words taste on his tongue. Sheppard cocks an eyebrow but doesn’t say a word, just fiddles with his wristband, and Spencer doesn’t know what that means, but he doesn’t want to ask, especially not with Jon smirking at him from across the bus, earphones firmly in his ears to drown out Brendon’s exclamations (or maybe to drown out Ryan’s muffled ones).
“Rodney is yours?” Spencer is about to ask, but Brendon’s voice gets suddenly shrill and Rodney is squawking about something and Sheppard is on his feet, manhandling Rodney into the seat he’s just vacated and ushering Brendon to a seat further down the bus.
Spencer doesn’t dare ask what the sudden argument was about, but he’s pretty sure it’s something terrible and life threatening, like what key a particular piece of music should be played in, or the pros and cons of uprights versus baby grands.
No one says anything for a very long time, but there’s a lot of glaring going on.
Another fifteen minutes pass, and Spencer realises that someone needs to say something soon so he can block out the sounds of Ryan going “Yes, fuck, harder” on the other side of the door which, really, isn’t as soundproof as it probably should be, and Spencer’s half inclined to write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the manufacturer.
Beside him Rodney is muttering and glaring at Brendon still, who has seemingly forgotten the entire argument and is staring in fascination at Sheppard’s hair, demanding to know what products he uses to get his hair to stay like that.
Rodney makes an annoyed sound as Brendon leans in close, his hand resting on Sheppard’s shoulder. “He’s very clingy,” he remarks, narrowing his eyes as Sheppard laughs at something Brendon says in his ear. “Doesn’t it bother you, your boyfriend being all over someone else’s…I mean, another guy, like that?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Spencer says, too loudly, and Brendon’s head snaps up. There’s something raw in his eyes that Spencer thinks might be hurt, but then it’s gone, and Brendon is looking away, turning his back on Spencer and asking Sheppard further questions about his hair care regime.
“Well, not anymore,” Rodney says, and he sounds a little apologetic. “You might want to fix that.”
“I thought that was your department,” Spencer asks, nodding towards the amp, still lying in the middle of the table, and trying not to think about the look Brendon had given him and why it had stung so much. “I’m guessing you’re some sort of high tech repair guy?”
Rodney splutters at him. “I’ll have you know that I’m much, much more important than some repairman! I have two PhDs! I’m an essential part in the running of-“
But Spencer doesn’t find out what Rodney (and therefore Ronon and Sheppard) are a part of, because the door back to the bunks opens and Ronon steps out, clothes rumpled and skin still sheened with sweat.
“Let’s go,” he says, flashing a bright grin at everyone.
Sheppard and Rodney jump to their feet, and follow Ronon off the bus, waving their goodbyes over their shoulders. Sheppard is talking into a small device, too low for Spencer to hear, and then they’re striding off across the parking lot.
“Wait!” A blur passes Spencer, recognisable as Ryan from the flash of tweed and paisley as he passes. “Ronon!”
Ronon stops and turns around, meeting Ryan halfway and lifting him up, kissing him like they’re in some bad daytime movie that Spencer certainly never spends his days watching while the others are all still snoring in their bunks.
After what seems like an eternity where Spencer is unable to look away from his best friend saying goodbye to the man he…well, likes a whole lot, because Spencer recognises the look of love on Ryan’s face and he never sees it there when he looks at Ronon. And then Ryan turns and trudges back towards the bus. Just as he steps on board, there’s a bright flash of light outside, and by the time Spencer’s blinked away the bright dots in front of his eyes, Ronon and his friends have gone.
“I think I’m going to go and have a nap,” Ryan says dully, heading back towards the bunks. “Spencer, can I…I don’t want to sleep in my bunk tonight.”
Spencer nods, and reaches out, catching at Ryan’s hand. “Hey, he’ll be back,” he says, firmly, but Ryan shakes his head, smiling sadly.
“No. I don’t think he will. He…he has things to take care of that have nothing to do with me, and that’s okay.” He squeezes Spencer’s hand and Spencer squeezes back until Ryan tugs his fingers away and disappears out back.
There’s a long pause, then Jon stands up. “I think I’ll go and check he’s okay,” he says, giving Spencer a meaningful look, then glancing at Brendon, before following after Ryan.
Brendon stares at Spencer, then pointedly looks away when Spencer meets his eyes.
“Are you mad at me?” Spencer asks, and Brendon huffs.
“You said I wasn’t your boyfriend,” Brendon says and Spencer nods, slowly.
“The thing is,” Brendon says, turning to face him again. “Is that I thought I was.”
“Oh,” Spencer says, and Brendon looks down at his hands. “Oh!” he says again, realisation hitting. “I thought you…that you didn’t…that it was just a tour thing.”
Brendon rolls his eyes and gives Spencer a look so similar to one Rodney had given Sheppard that it hits Spencer, hard, right in the chest. So hard that it knocks the breath out of him, which is particularly problematic when Brendon leans in and kisses Spencer until his lungs scream for air and he remembers how to breathe again.
“Are we on the same page now?” Brendon asks, and Spencer nods, sliding his hand down Brendon’s arm and pulling him down until he’s half in the seat and half on Spencer’s lap.
“Is that okay?” Brendon asks, sounding shy as he tips his head towards Spencer’s.
Spencer shrugs and tries to act all nonchalant, but the twisted feeling he’s had inside him for what feels like forever- the feeling that’s made him jealous and irritable and irrational- starts to unwind and he’s smiling when he leans in and says “Yes,” against Brendon’s lips.
Fandom/Pairing: Bandom/SGA crossover. Ryan/Ronon, McKay/Sheppard, Brendon/Spencer, Ryan/Jon if you squint. MY TINHATS. LET ME SHOW YOU THEM.
Rating: PG13? IDK
Disclaimer: Half of these people are fictional, and the other half aren’t by none of them belong to me and none of this happened. All lies, etc etc.
Summary: Spencer doesn’t like Ryan’s new boyfriend very much.
A/N: This isn’t real fic, because it’s not supposed to be and if it is, then I just wrote Ryan/Ronon with something of a wee plot and I can’t be the person to do that because then makesomelove wins the imaginary contest that only lives in my brain and I am essentially and inadvertently her bitch. So this is not fic. If it was though, rain_dances is to blame, and mintyfiend was wonderful and beta’d it for me and all mistakes are therefore mine. I don’t think there’s any spoilers for SGA here- set sometime in Season 4, I guess. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DOWNLOAD LEAKED SGA EPS. DON'T DO IT. THAT WAY LEADS TO MADNESS.
So, maybe Spencer doesn’t like Ryan’s new boyfriend very much. He’s not sure why- and it’s certainly not jealousy like Jon implied (Spencer’s pretty sure Jon’s projecting there, anyways), he just doesn’t like him. Spencer is naturally suspicious by nature (he grew up with Ryan, he really can’t help it) and Ronon is…well, he’s hiding something. Spencer knows that for sure. Also he has stupid hair.
Spencer isn’t even sure where Ryan met the guy, but they’d passed through Colorado and suddenly there was a 7 foot tall dude sharing the bus for a couple of weeks while he was ‘on leave’. Spencer’s not sure what that’s supposed to mean. Brendon thinks he’s in the Navy, but Spencer’s sure that’s probably just wishful thinking on Brendon’s part, since he has a total thing for Navy uniforms that Spencer blames solely on Richard Gere.
Spencer thinks Ronon is probably in some secret forces unit and is a trained assassin and is most definitely going to kill them all in their sleep for reasons unknown. And this is the reason Spencer lies awake in his bunk for the first two nights after Ronon joins them on tour, and his iPod is missing (he finds it in Brendon’s bunk, a week later, when he’s…well, the point isn’t what he’s doing there anyways) and this is why he spends the night with a pillow over his ears trying not to listen to the grunts and moans coming from Ryan’s bunk.
Which is a whole other issue too. There should be no way that Ronon should fit into a bunk, let alone Ronon AND Ryan. And yet somehow whenever Spencer can’t find Ryan these days, he knows he can pull back the curtain and find the pair of them squished inside, wrapped around each other and looking like they were the most comfortable people on the planet. And yet when Spencer and Brendon try to do the same thing someone always ends up with an elbow in the kidneys and a leg sticking out through the curtain and…what Spencer and Brendon get up to in their spare time is so not the point.
It’s just blatantly unfair, is all, and Spencer tries talking to the others about it, but Brendon is half in love with Ronon himself, probably because he’s allowed to use Ronon like a climbing frame. And Jon, who Spencer had counted on to be on his side for reasons that are obvious to everyone but Jon and Ryan, it seems, just shrugs and says he’s glad Ryan is happy. Spencer doesn’t like talking to Jon about this, because he knows the implication is there that Spencer should be happy that Ryan is happy, and he is, except that he isn’t.
Not that Ryan notices anyway. Whenever he doesn’t have a guitar in his hands, he’s holding onto Ronon, and it’s disgusting and Spencer is very, very happy, thank you very much, that he and Brendon never had that ‘ridiculously caught up in each other and head over heels in love phase’ because, well, they’re not in love, okay, they’re just fucking about and it’s just a tour thing and it evolved out of friendship and not out of suddenly falling in love, which is not something Spencer is in with Brendon anyways. So.
The point is, Spencer would much rather Ryan and Ronon were all loved up somewhere that was elsewhere, where he didn’t have to put up with Ryan’s goofy smiles or Ronon making Ryan eat off his plate, or Ryan tracing the tattoo on Ronon’s neck with his tongue, right in front of Spencer when he’s busy trying to not watch Brendon bite his lip as Jon kicks his ass at something loud and violent on the Xbox.
It’s probably lucky that Spencer’s annoyances simmer away for days and days before he loses his temper and says things he’ll end up regretting, because before he can snap and tell Ryan he’s an idiot for getting mixed up with this guy (who would, talking of snapping, probably be able to break Spencer like a twig if he said half the things he wants to say), two guys show up at the bus door.
Well. When Spencer says show up, he means ‘one of them has a loud argument with Zack, shouting about how he’s not scared of American bullies and that he’s a genius, don’t they know, and that if Zack doesn’t let them in, there’s going to be a world of trouble, and meanwhile the other one calmly yanks open the bus door and stomps inside’.
The first thing Spencer notices is that the guy has great hair. The second thing he notices is that the guy is both incredibly hot, and old enough to be Spencer’s father. The third thing he notices is that Brendon is gaping at the guy too, obviously thinking the same things Spencer is thinking. Spencer doesn’t approve.
“What do you want?” he asks, stepping out and blocking the guy’s way. For a moment he looks like he’s going to push Spencer aside, but Spencer narrows his eyes and folds his arms across his chest. The guy sighs.
“Ronon!” the guy yells. “Ronon, get your butt out here right-“
“Sheppard!” Ronon barrels past Spencer and claps his hand to the guy’s shoulder. “What’re you doing here?”
“We’ve been recalled,” Sheppard says. “We need to-“ he stops and leans in to Ronon, sniffing. “Have you been smoking?” he asks. “Is that weed?”
Ronon shrugs. “Ryan said it’s called ‘pot’. It’s kinda like the stuff Teyla and the others smoke back on-“
“Ronon!” Sheppard interrupts and Ronon’s mouth shuts suddenly. Spencer finds himself maybe liking the new guy, if he can get Ronon to both shut up and, by the sounds of it, go away with him. “And, seriously, Teyla? Did you know about this?” he asks the other guy, who’s just climbing up the steps of the bus, Zack closely behind him with a half annoyed, half baffled expression on his face.
“Hmm?” the guy says, glancing around the bus and wrinkling his nose. “Oh, yeah, Botany has a whole section of the greenhouse dedicated to growing the stuff. It’s very important to the Athosian culture. And also to a lot of the scientists. And some of your Marines.” He pauses. “Uh. Forget I said that last part.”
“Rodney,” Sheppard drawls, his tone warning, and for a moment it reminds Spencer of how he tries to rein Brendon in sometimes, but it’s a ridiculous comparison, he realises, studying the two guys, because there is clearly something between them, deeper than fuck buddies.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Rodney flaps his hand in Sheppard’s direction. “I’m sorry, I should have told you before, does it really matter right now?” he turns to Ronon. “We’re going back,” he says. “And we need you to come.”
Ronon frowns. “What is it?” he asks. His voice is low and growly and intense. It tugs at something low in Spencer’s stomach and for a moment he can maybe see what Ryan sees in him.
Sheppard and Rodney share a look, then glance around the room. Zack is standing by the doorway, arms folded across his chest. Jon is sprawled on one of the seats, guitar on his lap, and Brendon is pressed close against Spencer’s side, close enough that Spencer can hear each intake of breath.
Sheppard’s expression turns grim. “Michael,” he says simply, and Ronon nods, matching Sheppard’s expression.
“Okay,” he says. “When do we leave?”
“We have…transportation arranged as soon as you’re ready,” Rodney says, and Ronon nods again.
“Gimme a few minutes to grab my stuff,” he says, and disappears back through the door towards the bunks.
They all stare at each other.
“So,” Rodney says into the silence, shifting awkwardly. “What’s the 411, dudes?”
Everyone stares at him.
“What?” Rodney says to Sheppard, who is shaking his head, looking half amused, half exasperated. “That’s how kids talk these days. Right? Right?” He looks at Brendon who shrugs.
“Uh, sure?”
“Just…Just don’t say anything, McKay,” Sheppard says, and walks over to take a seat beside Jon, who budges up for him. “Just stay quiet, and then we’ll take Ronon and leave. Okay?”
“Fine,” Rodney says, and wanders over to peer at Brendon’s broken amp, sitting in the middle of the table, and pokes at it. After a moment or two squinting at it, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small tool case, and starts poking around inside.
“Hey!” Brendon says, moving towards him. “That’s my-“
“Yes, yes,” Rodney interrupts. “Do you want this fixed or not? Because it won’t take a moment. I could maybe improve it too.”
“Really?” Brendon is at his side in an instant, peering over his shoulder and getting in the way. “That would be awesome. Do you think you could make it go up to 11?”
Fifteen minutes later, Spencer realises that when Ronon said he was going to grab his stuff, what he really meant was that he was going to go and grab Ryan’s ‘stuff’. Rodney and Brendon are having a loud conversation about musical technicalities that zoom so high above Spencer’s head they’re practically stratospheric, that has them both waving their arms enthusiastically and shouting ‘Yes! That’s it exactly!’ a lot, that would normally be annoying but is helpfully drowning out the loud thumps and moans coming from the back of the bus.
Sheppard is watching Rodney with a fond smile, and moves over to sit beside Spencer.
“Our geniuses at work,” he remarks, nodding in Rodney and Brendon’s direction.
Spencer snorts, because sure, Brendon is brilliant, more talented than 99% of people Spencer knows, but that doesn’t mean he’s a genius. “Brendon’s not-“ and he pauses, because he’s wrong, Brendon maybe is a bit of a genius and Spencer just hasn’t seen it because he hasn’t been looking for it.
“He’s not mine,” Spencer finishes lamely, and he doesn’t like the way the words taste on his tongue. Sheppard cocks an eyebrow but doesn’t say a word, just fiddles with his wristband, and Spencer doesn’t know what that means, but he doesn’t want to ask, especially not with Jon smirking at him from across the bus, earphones firmly in his ears to drown out Brendon’s exclamations (or maybe to drown out Ryan’s muffled ones).
“Rodney is yours?” Spencer is about to ask, but Brendon’s voice gets suddenly shrill and Rodney is squawking about something and Sheppard is on his feet, manhandling Rodney into the seat he’s just vacated and ushering Brendon to a seat further down the bus.
Spencer doesn’t dare ask what the sudden argument was about, but he’s pretty sure it’s something terrible and life threatening, like what key a particular piece of music should be played in, or the pros and cons of uprights versus baby grands.
No one says anything for a very long time, but there’s a lot of glaring going on.
Another fifteen minutes pass, and Spencer realises that someone needs to say something soon so he can block out the sounds of Ryan going “Yes, fuck, harder” on the other side of the door which, really, isn’t as soundproof as it probably should be, and Spencer’s half inclined to write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the manufacturer.
Beside him Rodney is muttering and glaring at Brendon still, who has seemingly forgotten the entire argument and is staring in fascination at Sheppard’s hair, demanding to know what products he uses to get his hair to stay like that.
Rodney makes an annoyed sound as Brendon leans in close, his hand resting on Sheppard’s shoulder. “He’s very clingy,” he remarks, narrowing his eyes as Sheppard laughs at something Brendon says in his ear. “Doesn’t it bother you, your boyfriend being all over someone else’s…I mean, another guy, like that?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Spencer says, too loudly, and Brendon’s head snaps up. There’s something raw in his eyes that Spencer thinks might be hurt, but then it’s gone, and Brendon is looking away, turning his back on Spencer and asking Sheppard further questions about his hair care regime.
“Well, not anymore,” Rodney says, and he sounds a little apologetic. “You might want to fix that.”
“I thought that was your department,” Spencer asks, nodding towards the amp, still lying in the middle of the table, and trying not to think about the look Brendon had given him and why it had stung so much. “I’m guessing you’re some sort of high tech repair guy?”
Rodney splutters at him. “I’ll have you know that I’m much, much more important than some repairman! I have two PhDs! I’m an essential part in the running of-“
But Spencer doesn’t find out what Rodney (and therefore Ronon and Sheppard) are a part of, because the door back to the bunks opens and Ronon steps out, clothes rumpled and skin still sheened with sweat.
“Let’s go,” he says, flashing a bright grin at everyone.
Sheppard and Rodney jump to their feet, and follow Ronon off the bus, waving their goodbyes over their shoulders. Sheppard is talking into a small device, too low for Spencer to hear, and then they’re striding off across the parking lot.
“Wait!” A blur passes Spencer, recognisable as Ryan from the flash of tweed and paisley as he passes. “Ronon!”
Ronon stops and turns around, meeting Ryan halfway and lifting him up, kissing him like they’re in some bad daytime movie that Spencer certainly never spends his days watching while the others are all still snoring in their bunks.
After what seems like an eternity where Spencer is unable to look away from his best friend saying goodbye to the man he…well, likes a whole lot, because Spencer recognises the look of love on Ryan’s face and he never sees it there when he looks at Ronon. And then Ryan turns and trudges back towards the bus. Just as he steps on board, there’s a bright flash of light outside, and by the time Spencer’s blinked away the bright dots in front of his eyes, Ronon and his friends have gone.
“I think I’m going to go and have a nap,” Ryan says dully, heading back towards the bunks. “Spencer, can I…I don’t want to sleep in my bunk tonight.”
Spencer nods, and reaches out, catching at Ryan’s hand. “Hey, he’ll be back,” he says, firmly, but Ryan shakes his head, smiling sadly.
“No. I don’t think he will. He…he has things to take care of that have nothing to do with me, and that’s okay.” He squeezes Spencer’s hand and Spencer squeezes back until Ryan tugs his fingers away and disappears out back.
There’s a long pause, then Jon stands up. “I think I’ll go and check he’s okay,” he says, giving Spencer a meaningful look, then glancing at Brendon, before following after Ryan.
Brendon stares at Spencer, then pointedly looks away when Spencer meets his eyes.
“Are you mad at me?” Spencer asks, and Brendon huffs.
“You said I wasn’t your boyfriend,” Brendon says and Spencer nods, slowly.
“The thing is,” Brendon says, turning to face him again. “Is that I thought I was.”
“Oh,” Spencer says, and Brendon looks down at his hands. “Oh!” he says again, realisation hitting. “I thought you…that you didn’t…that it was just a tour thing.”
Brendon rolls his eyes and gives Spencer a look so similar to one Rodney had given Sheppard that it hits Spencer, hard, right in the chest. So hard that it knocks the breath out of him, which is particularly problematic when Brendon leans in and kisses Spencer until his lungs scream for air and he remembers how to breathe again.
“Are we on the same page now?” Brendon asks, and Spencer nods, sliding his hand down Brendon’s arm and pulling him down until he’s half in the seat and half on Spencer’s lap.
“Is that okay?” Brendon asks, sounding shy as he tips his head towards Spencer’s.
Spencer shrugs and tries to act all nonchalant, but the twisted feeling he’s had inside him for what feels like forever- the feeling that’s made him jealous and irritable and irrational- starts to unwind and he’s smiling when he leans in and says “Yes,” against Brendon’s lips.