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Ronon watched. He was good at that. He spent a great deal of time trying to learn about the people that now inhabited Atlantis. He was particularly interested in John. Given the close quarters and the small population with fewer females than man, it wasn’t surprising to see how everyone looked at other people. Everyone but John that was. John never looked, not like everyone else. He could appreciate beauty, but there was always something missing. At first Ronon had thought that it was just John being aloft, for some reason separating himself from his people because he was one of the leaders (stupid in Ronon’s opinion, given that the best leaders were those that had strong ties to their people).
But as time passed and Ronon learned through the daily gossip who was sleeping with whom and Sheppard’s name never came up, Ronon began to wonder. He learned about the rules and regulations that governed the military from Earth as well as the concept of homophobia (what did it matter who people slept with?), but Ronon didn’t see John caring much about either of those (well maybe the first a bit, but the rest of the exhibition didn’t seem to care, and John never called anyone on their actions).
All the watching didn’t help decrease Ronon’s interest in John; the questions just made it all the worse. So one day when they were alone in the training room and Ronon had a panting John straining beneath him, Ronon didn’t fight the urge to kiss him. John froze for an instant, kissed back an instant longer, than twisting, shoved Ronon away and sprung to his feet. For once long moment, he stared down at Ronon who remain motionless on his back before he turned and fled.
Surprisingly it was John who sought Ronon out, showing up at the door to his quarters the following evening. Wordless, Ronon stepped to the side, letting him in, unsure of what to expect. He certainly hadn’t anticipated John seeking him out after he’d all but run from him.
It was John that broke the silence. “Look. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impress, but I don’t do that.”
“Do what? Kiss? Kiss men? Sex?” Ronon had an idea, crazy as it may have been.
“Yes. No. I mean—” John broke off with a sigh, running his fingers through his spiky hair and looking away. “It’s just easier to not. My interests aren’t exactly conventional. Most people don’t react well.”
Ronon’s brow rose as he said slowly, “Your interests…? Like the stuff that McKay is always teasing Zalenka about?”
It was John’s turn to raise a brow as he wondered what exactly was going on that he’d never heard about. “Like what?”
“Toys and paddles and bondage and some other things I didn’t understand.”
Color rose high on John’s cheeks. “Yes, in a sense.”
Taking a chance, Ronon sank to his knees, keeping his eyes locked with Sheppard’s watching as his eyes dilated and he drew a startled breath. “And this?”
“Yes,” John hissed, but he didn’t moved clearly still hesitant.
“But there’s something else,” Ronon said, probing because he wanted this again, had never expected to find it, but he needed to know everything.
“No standard penetration sex. I don’t need an ass or mouth near my cock.”
That was… not what Ronon expected. “I can kiss you?”
“Yes.”
“Touch you?”
John smirked, relaxed a bit. “Only if I give you permission.”
“Your mouth on my prick?”
Grinning widening, John said, “If you’re lucky.” Walking forward, he fisted his fingers in Ronon’s dread locks and jerked his head back. His other hand trailed across Ronon’s lips, and when he parted them, John sank two fingers in, searching his mouth.
Shivering, Ronon felt very much like an animal being inspected for sale. And later when he was bound so tightly he couldn’t breathe without feeling the bite of the ropes, his buttocks and thighs hot and throbbing as John took his time burying a third finger in his ass, Ronon couldn’t have been happier.
And even later when after they’d come down, John thanked Ronon, two simple words, holding so much emotion. It caused something to twist in Ronon’s chest. John’s interests weren’t the strangest he’d encounter. There was nothing to fault there. And John’s smile when Ronon told him that warmed his heart.