Getting It by Zinnith
For moonmip who wanted to see some role reversal. Hope this is okay!
718 words and still unbeta'd because I'm still late ;)
It isn't until after the first few weeks, when Ronon is a little more used to having food and a room to call his own and isn't quite as likely to jump at anything that moves, that he begins to study the people around him more closely. They're a pretty strange bunch, completely unprepared for a life in what they refer to as the 'Pegasus' galaxy, but stubbornly resolved to stay anyway.
After he's spent a while studying them, making out the patterns, he's still left with one big mystery - what is it Sheppard sees in McKay?
It isn't that he doesn't like McKay. Ronon has saved and been saved by him countless times already and gladly counts the man as a brother. It 's just that he doesn't seem like Sheppard's type at all. McKay is loud and obnoxious and the word 'jogging' sends his sarcasm levels through the roof. And still, there are those long looks and those furtive touches when they think no one is watching. It is a mystery to Ronon and he isn't quite sure if he wants to figure it out or not.
When he eventually does, it's both unplanned and unpleasant. They have been separated from Sheppard and Teyla on Medrea, or P54-093 as the Lanteans calls it, and Ronon and McKay are doing their best to get back to the gate. The swamp water is hard to run in, and the pack of Medrean wildcats they ran into earlier didn't make things easier. They're moving too slowly, Ronon isn't sure if he managed to get all the cats, and to make things even worse, McKay just won't let go of his arm.
”Will you quit it?” he growls, pawing at McKay's hand with fingers that shouldn't be so listless. ”Let go, I'm fine.”
McKay's only response is a red-faced glare and a huffed, ”Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
They're drenched to their waists in bog water and Ronon can't remember the last time it was so hard to move. McKay is slowing them down, he's sure of it, even though for some strange reason, McKay is ahead of him and dragging him along.
”Let go,” Ronon grunts again, tugging at McKay's arm. "I'm fine." Just a moment to breathe, that's all he needs, and then he can get McKay safely back to the gate.
And then McKay does stop, and without his forward momentum, Ronon finds it surprisingly difficult to stay on his feet. McKay's face is red and sweaty, the vein in his neck is throbbing like crazy and he has that wild-eyed mental look that usually means that something is about to go to hell.
”Oh, of course you're fine, you over-grown schi-tzu, you just have half your blood volume on the outside of your body, and it's not like I'm an expert on that kind of voodoo, but I'm fairly certain that your current condition could not be interpreted as 'fine' in any language in the galaxy, so will you just shut up and let me help you?”
After that, Ronon remembers things as a blur of moving and yelling, McKay's shoulders heaving with every breath he takes, and a sense of wrong, that it shouldn't be happening this way.
In the infirmary afterwards, with more stitches in his skin than he wants to count, Ronon listens to McKay's loud complaining from the next gurney, how his back will never be the same again, and that he will send Ronon his chiropractor bill, and the amount of germs in swamp water. Ronon ducks his head so his hair hides the smile.
Sheppard turns up a little later, doing his best to conceal his worry, but Ronon can see how he just aches to touch McKay, make sure he's all right.
He lies back on the gurney, turns his head, and pretends to be asleep. In the corner of his eye, he can see Sheppard lean his forehead against McKay's in an Athosian greating, and when the nurse's back is turned, he quickly presses his lips to the top of McKay's head. McKay stops whining, just like that, and leans into Sheppard's touch, and Ronon gets it now.
He closes his eyes, giving his friends, his brothers, their privacy.
718 words and still unbeta'd because I'm still late ;)
It isn't until after the first few weeks, when Ronon is a little more used to having food and a room to call his own and isn't quite as likely to jump at anything that moves, that he begins to study the people around him more closely. They're a pretty strange bunch, completely unprepared for a life in what they refer to as the 'Pegasus' galaxy, but stubbornly resolved to stay anyway.
After he's spent a while studying them, making out the patterns, he's still left with one big mystery - what is it Sheppard sees in McKay?
It isn't that he doesn't like McKay. Ronon has saved and been saved by him countless times already and gladly counts the man as a brother. It 's just that he doesn't seem like Sheppard's type at all. McKay is loud and obnoxious and the word 'jogging' sends his sarcasm levels through the roof. And still, there are those long looks and those furtive touches when they think no one is watching. It is a mystery to Ronon and he isn't quite sure if he wants to figure it out or not.
When he eventually does, it's both unplanned and unpleasant. They have been separated from Sheppard and Teyla on Medrea, or P54-093 as the Lanteans calls it, and Ronon and McKay are doing their best to get back to the gate. The swamp water is hard to run in, and the pack of Medrean wildcats they ran into earlier didn't make things easier. They're moving too slowly, Ronon isn't sure if he managed to get all the cats, and to make things even worse, McKay just won't let go of his arm.
”Will you quit it?” he growls, pawing at McKay's hand with fingers that shouldn't be so listless. ”Let go, I'm fine.”
McKay's only response is a red-faced glare and a huffed, ”Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
They're drenched to their waists in bog water and Ronon can't remember the last time it was so hard to move. McKay is slowing them down, he's sure of it, even though for some strange reason, McKay is ahead of him and dragging him along.
”Let go,” Ronon grunts again, tugging at McKay's arm. "I'm fine." Just a moment to breathe, that's all he needs, and then he can get McKay safely back to the gate.
And then McKay does stop, and without his forward momentum, Ronon finds it surprisingly difficult to stay on his feet. McKay's face is red and sweaty, the vein in his neck is throbbing like crazy and he has that wild-eyed mental look that usually means that something is about to go to hell.
”Oh, of course you're fine, you over-grown schi-tzu, you just have half your blood volume on the outside of your body, and it's not like I'm an expert on that kind of voodoo, but I'm fairly certain that your current condition could not be interpreted as 'fine' in any language in the galaxy, so will you just shut up and let me help you?”
After that, Ronon remembers things as a blur of moving and yelling, McKay's shoulders heaving with every breath he takes, and a sense of wrong, that it shouldn't be happening this way.
In the infirmary afterwards, with more stitches in his skin than he wants to count, Ronon listens to McKay's loud complaining from the next gurney, how his back will never be the same again, and that he will send Ronon his chiropractor bill, and the amount of germs in swamp water. Ronon ducks his head so his hair hides the smile.
Sheppard turns up a little later, doing his best to conceal his worry, but Ronon can see how he just aches to touch McKay, make sure he's all right.
He lies back on the gurney, turns his head, and pretends to be asleep. In the corner of his eye, he can see Sheppard lean his forehead against McKay's in an Athosian greating, and when the nurse's back is turned, he quickly presses his lips to the top of McKay's head. McKay stops whining, just like that, and leans into Sheppard's touch, and Ronon gets it now.
He closes his eyes, giving his friends, his brothers, their privacy.