Learning Curve (6/?)
Title: Learning Curve (6/?)
Author: Nytel
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to 408
Pairing: Ronon/Keller
Genre: Pre-Relationship, friendship
Summary: Jen gets some private self-defense lessons.
Word Count: 4,164
Beta:
carpenyx
Disclaimer: I am merely borrowing them. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 6
Jen couldn’t help but grin like an idiot as she pulled on the most comfortable pair of pajamas she owned and flopped down onto her bed. It wasn’t exactly a luxury quality mattress, but at the moment it felt like heaven. She had finished orientation for the new doctors just under two hours ago. Immediately afterward she’d briefed Colonel Carter on their progress. Then, much to Jen’s surprise, Sam had ordered her to take the rest of the evening and the next two full days off. She had tried to protest, but the colonel had been adamant, telling her she deserved it more than anyone in the city at the moment.
The praise had warmed her, making her happier than she’d been in … who knew how long. But what really topped it off was the knowledge that she could sleep for as long as she wanted to, and no one would complain. She didn’t even care that it was barely nine o’clock at night; she was going to bed now. After weeks of being awake until at least one in the morning, it was going to be one hell of a nice change.
Jen tugged the covers over herself and rolled onto her stomach, sliding one arm beneath the pillow and resting her head comfortably atop it. Letting out a sigh of contentment, she snuggled into the covers just a little more. Although she was exhausted, she did not find herself falling to sleep right away. It didn’t really surprise her, seeing as the past few weeks had had her so on edge; it was difficult to truly believe they were over.
Content to lie there and wait for sleep to take her, she let her mind wander. The first thought that sprung to mind was that she would finally be able to continue her lessons with Ronon. She couldn’t help but smile to herself-she had missed them terribly. The more time she spent with Ronon, the more she enjoyed hanging out with him.
“Sometimes love can spring up when you least expect it. You need only be ready to embrace it.”
Even alone, she blushed as Teyla’s words echoed in her mind. Jen liked the Athosian very much, but surely in this case she was simply out of her mind. Ronon was, well, Ronon, and she was her. In Jen’s mind that about summed it up. He would never feel anything for her beyond friendship, no matter how she might feel in return.
***
When Jen woke the first time, it was just after ten the next morning. She’d done a double take when looking at the clock, amazed that she’d managed to sleep for so long. And what was more, she still felt dead tired. The temptation to remain in bed for even longer was there in spades, but what was more overwhelming was the call of nature. Cursing the last glass of water she’d drank, Jen rose slowly and headed for the washroom in her room.
As she was washing her hands, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t help but grimace at the ragged appearance of the person looking back at her. There were huge bags under her eyes, her face had imprints from the creases of the pillow and her hair looked like a rat’s nest. She sighed as she walked back into the main part of her quarters to grab her towel. Sleep was tempting, but so was the thought of feeling truly clean.
After showering she felt somewhat human again, and decided that she should probably use at least some of her day catching up on things. Too lazy to leave her room, Jen found some old Power Bars she had stashed in a bag, and ate them while she worked. Everything that needed to be done was for herself, not for the mission.
First off she cleaned. Tidying was something she hated, but given that her room looked like her suitcase had thrown up all over it, she figured it was necessary. Only after she’d finished, was she able to find her laptop, which was good because she needed to place a personal order to Earth which was due at the end of the week. With every trip the Daedalus made, each person from the Atlantis mission was allowed to request so many things, and she was long overdue. Her list consisted mostly of ‘luxury’ items like more shampoo, perfume, DVDs and CDs, but it also included necessities such as new socks and hair elastics. It would be weeks until she actually saw any of it, but knowing it would arrive period put her in an even better mood.
As she was sending the list to the required Daedalus crewman via the Atlantis internet system, she realized she hadn’t written to her dad in weeks. Instantly feeling guilty, she settled herself more comfortably at her desk and began to type. She couldn’t tell him any specific details about the mission of course, but yet she still found herself filling pages and pages of a word document. By the time she was finished, and had gone over it with a fine toothed comb, making sure she hadn’t let anything slip, she was fully exhausted again.
It was only mid-afternoon, but she crawled back into bed without hesitation. She had no idea when she’d have the opportunity for another nap, so she wasn’t going to let it pass her by. Before she knew it, sleep had embraced her.
***
Upon waking the second time, Jen rolled over and looked at the bedside clock. She read the time, but it took a few seconds for it to register in her head. Four? Turning her head to stare at the window she couldn’t help but notice the distinct lack of afternoon sun, until she realized it must be four in the morning. Amazed that she’d managed to sleep more than twelve hours yet again, she pushed herself upright in bed.
When her stomach growled fiercely, she really wasn’t surprised. Two Power Bars were hardly enough to keep her full for long, and she suspected that if she hadn’t been so tired she would have woken up much earlier simply from the persistence of her appetite. It was early, but not enough so that the mess hall would be empty. There may not be any personnel eating there yet, but she was certain at least one or two of the cooks would be around. So even if they’d yet to put anything out, she was sure she could get something from them.
For once she didn’t find it that difficult to leave the warm confines of the covers. It might have something to do with the fact that she was practically starving, or it may be that she had simply slept for so long that her body needed to do something else. Either way, it wasn’t more than a minute before she’d run herself another shower and was stepping under the water stream.
Too hungry to dawdle, she was finished and changed in less than ten minutes. This time when she looked in the mirror she was pleased to see someone at least vaguely human looking back at her. There were still slight bags under her eyes, but she looked better (and felt better) than she had in weeks. Smiling to herself, she threw her hair up into a messy bun, grabbed an old hoodie and pulled it on before cramming her feet into a well used pair of shoes and heading to the mess hall.
When she arrived she saw that there was only one table with an occupant, and she was more than pleased to notice that person was Ronon. He was sitting in the far corner, staring absentmindedly in the direction of the door. It took her a second to catch his eye, but when she did she gave him a huge smile and waved. He seemed surprised to see her, but smiled back. She indicated that she was going to grab some food from the kitchen and he nodded.
Five or so minutes later she made her way over to his table, carrying a tray laden with food. It was probably much more than she was going to eat, but she was hungry and the cooks had kept adding stuff to her plate.
“Hey,” she said pleasantly to Ronon as she pulled up the chair across from him and sat down.
“Hey,” he replied, smiling lightly at her. “Wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”
Jen raised her eyebrow in question as she began peeling the wrapper of her still warm muffin. “Oh?”
“I heard Carter gave you two days off. Figured you’d still be sleeping.”
She chuckled quietly. “I did sleep; a lot actually. But a person can only rest for so long. Plus, I woke up and I was starving.”
“I can tell,” Ronon said good-naturedly, eyeing her plate of food.
She stuck her tongue out at him before taking a bite of her muffin. After swallowing, she said, “So, what do you have planned for today?”
Ronon made a face that she couldn’t help but laugh at. “Negotiations.”
She smiled sympathetically. “It’s not the same people as before, is it?”
He nodded, and his fingers began to drum along the side of his coffee mug. “Yeah, the boring ones again.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
Ronon shrugged. “Could be worse I guess.”
“Are you going to need a break when you get back?” She found herself asking.
Ronon looked half confused and half amused. “What do you have in mind?”
She shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her seat. “I just thought, you know, that if you did…”
He leaned back in his chair, waiting patiently for her to spit the rest of the words out.
“I thought maybe we could train some more?” She finished lamely.
Ronon smiled. “I’d like that,” he said as he stared at her intently.
Jen felt herself on the verge of blushing, but forced herself to stay calm. “Great.”
“What time?”
Jen shrugged. “Whatever time you want,” she said earnestly before taking another bite of her muffin.
“Seven?” Ronon asked. “We should be back by then.”
Jen smiled. “Sounds good.”
“So,” Ronon said after a few seconds. “What are you doing today?”
“Not much,” she replied honestly. “I’ll probably take another nap, maybe read a book.” She grinned. “Pretty much whatever I want, I suppose. I did most of the stuff I had to do: cleaned my quarters, emailed in my personal request for the next Daedalus shipment, and wrote to my dad.”
“Yeah?” Ronon questioned, obviously wanting her to elaborate.
She told him about what she’d wrote to her dad, mostly little stories of amusing things that had happened around the medical department; colleagues who had stuck their foot in their mouth, retelling funny incidents, that sort of thing.
“Must be hard,” Ronon commented when she was finished. “Not being able to tell him.”
Jen nodded before taking a sip of her coffee. “It is, a little. But I think it’d be worse if he actually knew what we were up against out here. My dad tends to worry, and life sucking aliens in another galaxy… I think that might be too much for him to handle.”
They spent the next hour or so talking, about pretty much anything and everything that came to mind. After Ronon finished telling her about McKay’s latest misadventure, she pushed the tray of food away from herself. She had probably eaten too much, but it had been damn good.
“Full?” Ronon questioned.
Jen nodded as she leaned back in her chair. “Definitely. If you want any of it…” she waved her hand at the remaining food, “…go ahead.”
Ronon grinned and reached for a grape, popping it into his mouth quickly. She couldn’t help but laugh; sometimes he just reminded her of a big kid. It was cute really.
“What are you doing tomorrow night?” He asked suddenly.
“Nothing,” she answered. “Unless you want to train.” She couldn’t keep the hint of hope from entering into her voice.
Ronon smiled. “I would, but it’s game night. You should come.”
“I don’t know…”
He raised one eyebrow. “But you said it was fun last time.”
She nodded. “It was fun. I just…”
“You’re not intruding,” he added, reading her mind.
Jen smiled hesitantly. “I…well, I guess I could.”
“Good, it’s settled.”
Jen shook her head, amused. “Do you always get your way?” She quipped.
Ronon grinned broadly. “Yeah.”
Jen reached for one of the grapes and tossed it at Ronon, catching him off guard and hitting him right in the middle of his forehead. The accompanying thwack noise was what made her laugh though.
Ronon retaliated by grabbing a grape of his own and throwing it her way. She’d mostly been expecting it, so she managed to catch the projectile with one hand and toss it into her mouth, smirking at him.
She grabbed another and tossed it at him, but this time he was ready and managed to catch it directly in his mouth. “Impressive,” she stated, still smiling.
Their game continued until most of the bowl was empty, and they were both laughing near the point of hysteria. She knew that the few other expedition members who had entered into the mess were more than likely watching them, but she didn’t care. It was fun.
The next grape Ronon threw at her hit her directly between the eyes (probably exactly where he’d been aiming) and bounced onto the table. It was rolling for the edge, and Jen reached for it, but before her hand could close around it, it had already been snatched up. Looking up she saw Colonel Sheppard holding the piece of fruit and looking down at them.
“Good morning children,” he said lightly, obviously amused by their antics.
“Morning,” Jen replied, sitting upright in her seat, slightly embarrassed to be found acting like a five year old.
“Hey,” Ronon added from his side of the table, still grinning broadly.
“New game I don’t know about?” John inquired as he took a seat beside Jen, shooting Ronon an odd look at the same time.
Before Jen could even begin to ponder what it might mean, she caught sight of Teyla, who she hadn’t seen until just that moment. The Athosian took the remaining empty seat at the table and gave Jen a look that she couldn’t misinterpret. She was silently reminding Jen of their previous conversation, and of her words.
Once again Jen heard them echo inside her head. Unable to help herself, she glanced at Ronon. He was listening to something Sheppard was saying. She couldn’t help but notice that he did look happy, just as Teyla had said. It didn’t mean it was because of her though. Did it?
Jen pulled her gaze away from Ronon and gulped down what was left of her coffee, ignoring its now cool temperature. It didn’t make sense that Ronon would like her, not like that. She was so plain, and he was exotic, and … they just didn’t mix. But what about how you guys are friends? A small voice inside her head asked. They meshed very well in friendship, it was true. But that didn’t automatically mean he felt anything for her past that.
If she were completely honest with herself she could admit that she felt an attraction towards Ronon, both physically and emotionally, something that could very easily turn into something more, but only if her feelings were reciprocated, which she was sure they were not. Are you sure? The voice prompted.
She thought she was, at least mostly. But then she couldn’t help but think back on the past few weeks. They had spent a lot of time together, more often than not with him being the one seeking her out. She had told him things very few people knew about her, he’d been there to comfort her during her breakdown and he’d even made sure she was okay afterward. And that wasn’t even mentioning how goofy they’d been acting just now, practically flirting. Jen felt a sudden wave of nervousness pass over her as reality started to sink in. Could he actually like her that way?
It didn’t make sense, but yet all the signs pointed to the same conclusion. Maybe Teyla had been right…
“Jennifer,” Teyla said softly, interrupting her thoughts. “Is everything all right?”
She glanced up to see the three of them staring at her. Immediately she noticed how Ronon’s face was lined with concern. “You okay, Jen?” He asked.
Forcing a smile, she nodded. “Yeah, guess I’m just more tired than I thought. I’m going head back to my room.” She stood up and grabbed her tray. “I’ll see you guys later.”
***
Jen paced her room, trying to think of ways to combat her intense case of nerves. She was supposed to meet Ronon in the gym in less than twenty minutes, and she wasn’t sure she could.
After leaving the mess hall that morning she’d spent hours trying to sort things out in her head, and by the end she realized that by some bizarre chance, Ronon might actually like her, like that. The thought was enough to make her head spin, but she couldn’t deny the thrill of excitement it gave her. Though that thrill was closely followed by fear. Fear that she was misreading things, that he didn’t like her. Fear that even if he did, she’d manage to screw everything up before it started.
Taking a series of deep breaths, Jen forced herself to regain some semblance of calm. She would just have to take things step by step; it was the only logical way to approach the situation. Worrying about what may or may not happen in the future wasn’t going to do anyone any good. She just hoped that knowledge would be enough to get her through the next few hours.
She walked into the washroom and splashed some cold water on her face before grabbing her water bottle and heading out the door.
When Jen arrived at the gym she found Ronon waiting for her. He obviously hadn’t been expecting her so early and grinned sheepishly as she entered. “We got back ahead of time,” he explained.
She nodded and smiled back, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. “How was it?” She asked as she set her water bottle off to the side on one of the benches.
Ronon walked towards her as he spoke. “Not bad, still boring though.” He paused when he was standing only a foot or so away from her. “Is everything all right?”
Jen was taken aback by the question, for a second wondering if he could read her mind or something. “Everything’s fine,” she answered quickly.
“You just left kind of quickly this morning.”
Jen felt a surge of embarrassment, and hoped it wasn’t showing on her face. “Right. I just got tired all of a sudden.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” Tilting her head towards the door she asked, “Run?”
Ronon grinned. “Of course.”
When they arrived back Jen was feeling a little less tense in regards to the whole ‘Ronon-might-like-me’ possibility. She wondered how it was possible that spending a half hour running with him could put her so at ease.
“So, what’re we doing today?” She asked, unwilling to let her mind get stuck on its previous thought.
He shrugged, but headed towards the mats at the center of the room. “It’s been a while, so I was thinking we should maybe just review.”
Jen smiled as she followed him to the middle of the mat. “Sounds like a plan to me. But, Ronon?”
“Yeah?”
“Go easy on me,” she said jokingly.
He responded with a mischievous grin. “Maybe.”
She laughed and got into the ready position, waiting for him to ‘attack’ her.
His first two assaults on her were simple straightforward ones; she fended them off with moves she had learnt during her first lesson.
“Good,” Ronon said as he hopped back up onto his feet. “Now let’s see if you remember the more complicated stuff.”
She held her own for only a few minutes, before a well placed foot between her ankles caught her off guard, making her trip and land flat on her ass. Groaning, she pushed herself up off the mat. “Guess not, huh?”
“Ready position,” he said in response.
Her body responded automatically: her knees bending and feet spreading to shoulder width.
Ronon took his place in front of her. “I’m going to attack you in slow motion, so you can see what you did wrong.”
She nodded, and Ronon advanced. Within seconds she realized what she’d done to let him get past her guard the last time. Unfortunately she couldn’t remember the right moves to prevent him from tripping her either.
Ronon stepped behind her, positioning her arms, legs and torso in the correct defensive position. Normally when he did things like this, it took him only a few moments, but today it seemed like his hands were lingering longer than they had to. The realization caused a flow of warmth through her body, and suddenly she was all too aware of Ronon’s close proximity.
She tried to focus on his words as he guided her through the right movements, still standing pressed against her back, but she was having the hardest time concentrating.
“You okay?” He asked quietly in her ear, causing her to jump slightly.
“Fine,” she replied, probably just a little too quickly. She thought she might have seen him smirk from the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t be sure. She was too busy trying not to blush, and she wasn’t even sure she was succeeding.
The rest of the lesson carried on in much the same way: her forgetting a move and Ronon correcting her. Which of course meant him standing close to her, fixing her body positioning and leading her through the required actions. Each time he stepped behind her, her stomach clenched in nervousness and she couldn’t keep her heart from racing inside her chest. On top of that the palms of her hands were sweating, the room felt much too warm and she couldn’t focus on anything other than how near Ronon was to her, and the feel of his hands against her skin.
After an hour and a half had passed, she was flustered well past the point of distraction. Thankfully Ronon seemed to be okay with her progress, or else he was taking pity on her, and ended the session.
“That’s enough for tonight,” he said, the words accompanied by a smile. He walked towards the nearby bench and grabbed his water bottle shooting a stream into his mouth. “You did good,” he added.
Jen walked over to the other bench to grab her bottle, keeping her face turned to hide the blush on her cheeks. “Well, not really,” she said quietly.
“What do you mean?” Ronon asked as he walked towards her.
Jen took a drink from her bottle before replying. “I kept screwing up, forgetting things.” When she risked a quick glance at Ronon from the corner of her eye she saw that he was grinning. “It’s not funny,” she added indignantly.
“I’m not laughing,” he replied in a serious tone. “I just don’t think you realize how complex it is.”
“What is?”
“The stuff I’ve been teaching you. Some of those moves I used on you, you won’t see unless you’re fighting a pro, and in that case you’re probably in a lot more trouble than self-defense can get you out of.”
“Oh,” she replied quietly. “Guess I didn’t think about it like that…”
He smiled again, the intensity of it nearly enough to bring the blush back up onto her face. “Trust me, you did good.”
Jen smiled back. “Thanks.” When he kept staring at her, she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, fiddling with the cap on her water bottle as she did so. “Well, I should probably go,” she said slowly, tilting her head toward the door. “It’s back to work tomorrow.”
Ronon nodded. “Okay.”
“See you later,” she added as she headed for the door.
“Tomorrow,” Ronon said, and she stopped, turning to look at him. “Game night,” he reminded her.
She nodded quickly, before turning back around and heading for the safety of the hallway. Except it wasn’t safe, Ronon was still in her thoughts, invading them. And game night?
Jen groaned. If she had barely survived a training session with him she had no idea how she would manage an entire game night. This newfound revelation that he might like her, and that she did like him, was proving much more difficult to deal with than she ever would have imagined. She just hoped they wouldn’t be playing Twister again…
TBC
A/N: I apologize profusely for the delay in this chapter. Like I said, real life kind of exploded on me. Thankfully it's not in a bad way, but I've still been super busy with other things. I'll do everything I can to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but unfortunately I can't make any promises as to exactly when. Hopefully people understand. :)
Author: Nytel
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to 408
Pairing: Ronon/Keller
Genre: Pre-Relationship, friendship
Summary: Jen gets some private self-defense lessons.
Word Count: 4,164
Beta:
carpenyx
Disclaimer: I am merely borrowing them. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 6
Jen couldn’t help but grin like an idiot as she pulled on the most comfortable pair of pajamas she owned and flopped down onto her bed. It wasn’t exactly a luxury quality mattress, but at the moment it felt like heaven. She had finished orientation for the new doctors just under two hours ago. Immediately afterward she’d briefed Colonel Carter on their progress. Then, much to Jen’s surprise, Sam had ordered her to take the rest of the evening and the next two full days off. She had tried to protest, but the colonel had been adamant, telling her she deserved it more than anyone in the city at the moment.
The praise had warmed her, making her happier than she’d been in … who knew how long. But what really topped it off was the knowledge that she could sleep for as long as she wanted to, and no one would complain. She didn’t even care that it was barely nine o’clock at night; she was going to bed now. After weeks of being awake until at least one in the morning, it was going to be one hell of a nice change.
Jen tugged the covers over herself and rolled onto her stomach, sliding one arm beneath the pillow and resting her head comfortably atop it. Letting out a sigh of contentment, she snuggled into the covers just a little more. Although she was exhausted, she did not find herself falling to sleep right away. It didn’t really surprise her, seeing as the past few weeks had had her so on edge; it was difficult to truly believe they were over.
Content to lie there and wait for sleep to take her, she let her mind wander. The first thought that sprung to mind was that she would finally be able to continue her lessons with Ronon. She couldn’t help but smile to herself-she had missed them terribly. The more time she spent with Ronon, the more she enjoyed hanging out with him.
“Sometimes love can spring up when you least expect it. You need only be ready to embrace it.”
Even alone, she blushed as Teyla’s words echoed in her mind. Jen liked the Athosian very much, but surely in this case she was simply out of her mind. Ronon was, well, Ronon, and she was her. In Jen’s mind that about summed it up. He would never feel anything for her beyond friendship, no matter how she might feel in return.
***
When Jen woke the first time, it was just after ten the next morning. She’d done a double take when looking at the clock, amazed that she’d managed to sleep for so long. And what was more, she still felt dead tired. The temptation to remain in bed for even longer was there in spades, but what was more overwhelming was the call of nature. Cursing the last glass of water she’d drank, Jen rose slowly and headed for the washroom in her room.
As she was washing her hands, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t help but grimace at the ragged appearance of the person looking back at her. There were huge bags under her eyes, her face had imprints from the creases of the pillow and her hair looked like a rat’s nest. She sighed as she walked back into the main part of her quarters to grab her towel. Sleep was tempting, but so was the thought of feeling truly clean.
After showering she felt somewhat human again, and decided that she should probably use at least some of her day catching up on things. Too lazy to leave her room, Jen found some old Power Bars she had stashed in a bag, and ate them while she worked. Everything that needed to be done was for herself, not for the mission.
First off she cleaned. Tidying was something she hated, but given that her room looked like her suitcase had thrown up all over it, she figured it was necessary. Only after she’d finished, was she able to find her laptop, which was good because she needed to place a personal order to Earth which was due at the end of the week. With every trip the Daedalus made, each person from the Atlantis mission was allowed to request so many things, and she was long overdue. Her list consisted mostly of ‘luxury’ items like more shampoo, perfume, DVDs and CDs, but it also included necessities such as new socks and hair elastics. It would be weeks until she actually saw any of it, but knowing it would arrive period put her in an even better mood.
As she was sending the list to the required Daedalus crewman via the Atlantis internet system, she realized she hadn’t written to her dad in weeks. Instantly feeling guilty, she settled herself more comfortably at her desk and began to type. She couldn’t tell him any specific details about the mission of course, but yet she still found herself filling pages and pages of a word document. By the time she was finished, and had gone over it with a fine toothed comb, making sure she hadn’t let anything slip, she was fully exhausted again.
It was only mid-afternoon, but she crawled back into bed without hesitation. She had no idea when she’d have the opportunity for another nap, so she wasn’t going to let it pass her by. Before she knew it, sleep had embraced her.
***
Upon waking the second time, Jen rolled over and looked at the bedside clock. She read the time, but it took a few seconds for it to register in her head. Four? Turning her head to stare at the window she couldn’t help but notice the distinct lack of afternoon sun, until she realized it must be four in the morning. Amazed that she’d managed to sleep more than twelve hours yet again, she pushed herself upright in bed.
When her stomach growled fiercely, she really wasn’t surprised. Two Power Bars were hardly enough to keep her full for long, and she suspected that if she hadn’t been so tired she would have woken up much earlier simply from the persistence of her appetite. It was early, but not enough so that the mess hall would be empty. There may not be any personnel eating there yet, but she was certain at least one or two of the cooks would be around. So even if they’d yet to put anything out, she was sure she could get something from them.
For once she didn’t find it that difficult to leave the warm confines of the covers. It might have something to do with the fact that she was practically starving, or it may be that she had simply slept for so long that her body needed to do something else. Either way, it wasn’t more than a minute before she’d run herself another shower and was stepping under the water stream.
Too hungry to dawdle, she was finished and changed in less than ten minutes. This time when she looked in the mirror she was pleased to see someone at least vaguely human looking back at her. There were still slight bags under her eyes, but she looked better (and felt better) than she had in weeks. Smiling to herself, she threw her hair up into a messy bun, grabbed an old hoodie and pulled it on before cramming her feet into a well used pair of shoes and heading to the mess hall.
When she arrived she saw that there was only one table with an occupant, and she was more than pleased to notice that person was Ronon. He was sitting in the far corner, staring absentmindedly in the direction of the door. It took her a second to catch his eye, but when she did she gave him a huge smile and waved. He seemed surprised to see her, but smiled back. She indicated that she was going to grab some food from the kitchen and he nodded.
Five or so minutes later she made her way over to his table, carrying a tray laden with food. It was probably much more than she was going to eat, but she was hungry and the cooks had kept adding stuff to her plate.
“Hey,” she said pleasantly to Ronon as she pulled up the chair across from him and sat down.
“Hey,” he replied, smiling lightly at her. “Wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”
Jen raised her eyebrow in question as she began peeling the wrapper of her still warm muffin. “Oh?”
“I heard Carter gave you two days off. Figured you’d still be sleeping.”
She chuckled quietly. “I did sleep; a lot actually. But a person can only rest for so long. Plus, I woke up and I was starving.”
“I can tell,” Ronon said good-naturedly, eyeing her plate of food.
She stuck her tongue out at him before taking a bite of her muffin. After swallowing, she said, “So, what do you have planned for today?”
Ronon made a face that she couldn’t help but laugh at. “Negotiations.”
She smiled sympathetically. “It’s not the same people as before, is it?”
He nodded, and his fingers began to drum along the side of his coffee mug. “Yeah, the boring ones again.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
Ronon shrugged. “Could be worse I guess.”
“Are you going to need a break when you get back?” She found herself asking.
Ronon looked half confused and half amused. “What do you have in mind?”
She shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her seat. “I just thought, you know, that if you did…”
He leaned back in his chair, waiting patiently for her to spit the rest of the words out.
“I thought maybe we could train some more?” She finished lamely.
Ronon smiled. “I’d like that,” he said as he stared at her intently.
Jen felt herself on the verge of blushing, but forced herself to stay calm. “Great.”
“What time?”
Jen shrugged. “Whatever time you want,” she said earnestly before taking another bite of her muffin.
“Seven?” Ronon asked. “We should be back by then.”
Jen smiled. “Sounds good.”
“So,” Ronon said after a few seconds. “What are you doing today?”
“Not much,” she replied honestly. “I’ll probably take another nap, maybe read a book.” She grinned. “Pretty much whatever I want, I suppose. I did most of the stuff I had to do: cleaned my quarters, emailed in my personal request for the next Daedalus shipment, and wrote to my dad.”
“Yeah?” Ronon questioned, obviously wanting her to elaborate.
She told him about what she’d wrote to her dad, mostly little stories of amusing things that had happened around the medical department; colleagues who had stuck their foot in their mouth, retelling funny incidents, that sort of thing.
“Must be hard,” Ronon commented when she was finished. “Not being able to tell him.”
Jen nodded before taking a sip of her coffee. “It is, a little. But I think it’d be worse if he actually knew what we were up against out here. My dad tends to worry, and life sucking aliens in another galaxy… I think that might be too much for him to handle.”
They spent the next hour or so talking, about pretty much anything and everything that came to mind. After Ronon finished telling her about McKay’s latest misadventure, she pushed the tray of food away from herself. She had probably eaten too much, but it had been damn good.
“Full?” Ronon questioned.
Jen nodded as she leaned back in her chair. “Definitely. If you want any of it…” she waved her hand at the remaining food, “…go ahead.”
Ronon grinned and reached for a grape, popping it into his mouth quickly. She couldn’t help but laugh; sometimes he just reminded her of a big kid. It was cute really.
“What are you doing tomorrow night?” He asked suddenly.
“Nothing,” she answered. “Unless you want to train.” She couldn’t keep the hint of hope from entering into her voice.
Ronon smiled. “I would, but it’s game night. You should come.”
“I don’t know…”
He raised one eyebrow. “But you said it was fun last time.”
She nodded. “It was fun. I just…”
“You’re not intruding,” he added, reading her mind.
Jen smiled hesitantly. “I…well, I guess I could.”
“Good, it’s settled.”
Jen shook her head, amused. “Do you always get your way?” She quipped.
Ronon grinned broadly. “Yeah.”
Jen reached for one of the grapes and tossed it at Ronon, catching him off guard and hitting him right in the middle of his forehead. The accompanying thwack noise was what made her laugh though.
Ronon retaliated by grabbing a grape of his own and throwing it her way. She’d mostly been expecting it, so she managed to catch the projectile with one hand and toss it into her mouth, smirking at him.
She grabbed another and tossed it at him, but this time he was ready and managed to catch it directly in his mouth. “Impressive,” she stated, still smiling.
Their game continued until most of the bowl was empty, and they were both laughing near the point of hysteria. She knew that the few other expedition members who had entered into the mess were more than likely watching them, but she didn’t care. It was fun.
The next grape Ronon threw at her hit her directly between the eyes (probably exactly where he’d been aiming) and bounced onto the table. It was rolling for the edge, and Jen reached for it, but before her hand could close around it, it had already been snatched up. Looking up she saw Colonel Sheppard holding the piece of fruit and looking down at them.
“Good morning children,” he said lightly, obviously amused by their antics.
“Morning,” Jen replied, sitting upright in her seat, slightly embarrassed to be found acting like a five year old.
“Hey,” Ronon added from his side of the table, still grinning broadly.
“New game I don’t know about?” John inquired as he took a seat beside Jen, shooting Ronon an odd look at the same time.
Before Jen could even begin to ponder what it might mean, she caught sight of Teyla, who she hadn’t seen until just that moment. The Athosian took the remaining empty seat at the table and gave Jen a look that she couldn’t misinterpret. She was silently reminding Jen of their previous conversation, and of her words.
Once again Jen heard them echo inside her head. Unable to help herself, she glanced at Ronon. He was listening to something Sheppard was saying. She couldn’t help but notice that he did look happy, just as Teyla had said. It didn’t mean it was because of her though. Did it?
Jen pulled her gaze away from Ronon and gulped down what was left of her coffee, ignoring its now cool temperature. It didn’t make sense that Ronon would like her, not like that. She was so plain, and he was exotic, and … they just didn’t mix. But what about how you guys are friends? A small voice inside her head asked. They meshed very well in friendship, it was true. But that didn’t automatically mean he felt anything for her past that.
If she were completely honest with herself she could admit that she felt an attraction towards Ronon, both physically and emotionally, something that could very easily turn into something more, but only if her feelings were reciprocated, which she was sure they were not. Are you sure? The voice prompted.
She thought she was, at least mostly. But then she couldn’t help but think back on the past few weeks. They had spent a lot of time together, more often than not with him being the one seeking her out. She had told him things very few people knew about her, he’d been there to comfort her during her breakdown and he’d even made sure she was okay afterward. And that wasn’t even mentioning how goofy they’d been acting just now, practically flirting. Jen felt a sudden wave of nervousness pass over her as reality started to sink in. Could he actually like her that way?
It didn’t make sense, but yet all the signs pointed to the same conclusion. Maybe Teyla had been right…
“Jennifer,” Teyla said softly, interrupting her thoughts. “Is everything all right?”
She glanced up to see the three of them staring at her. Immediately she noticed how Ronon’s face was lined with concern. “You okay, Jen?” He asked.
Forcing a smile, she nodded. “Yeah, guess I’m just more tired than I thought. I’m going head back to my room.” She stood up and grabbed her tray. “I’ll see you guys later.”
***
Jen paced her room, trying to think of ways to combat her intense case of nerves. She was supposed to meet Ronon in the gym in less than twenty minutes, and she wasn’t sure she could.
After leaving the mess hall that morning she’d spent hours trying to sort things out in her head, and by the end she realized that by some bizarre chance, Ronon might actually like her, like that. The thought was enough to make her head spin, but she couldn’t deny the thrill of excitement it gave her. Though that thrill was closely followed by fear. Fear that she was misreading things, that he didn’t like her. Fear that even if he did, she’d manage to screw everything up before it started.
Taking a series of deep breaths, Jen forced herself to regain some semblance of calm. She would just have to take things step by step; it was the only logical way to approach the situation. Worrying about what may or may not happen in the future wasn’t going to do anyone any good. She just hoped that knowledge would be enough to get her through the next few hours.
She walked into the washroom and splashed some cold water on her face before grabbing her water bottle and heading out the door.
When Jen arrived at the gym she found Ronon waiting for her. He obviously hadn’t been expecting her so early and grinned sheepishly as she entered. “We got back ahead of time,” he explained.
She nodded and smiled back, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. “How was it?” She asked as she set her water bottle off to the side on one of the benches.
Ronon walked towards her as he spoke. “Not bad, still boring though.” He paused when he was standing only a foot or so away from her. “Is everything all right?”
Jen was taken aback by the question, for a second wondering if he could read her mind or something. “Everything’s fine,” she answered quickly.
“You just left kind of quickly this morning.”
Jen felt a surge of embarrassment, and hoped it wasn’t showing on her face. “Right. I just got tired all of a sudden.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” Tilting her head towards the door she asked, “Run?”
Ronon grinned. “Of course.”
When they arrived back Jen was feeling a little less tense in regards to the whole ‘Ronon-might-like-me’ possibility. She wondered how it was possible that spending a half hour running with him could put her so at ease.
“So, what’re we doing today?” She asked, unwilling to let her mind get stuck on its previous thought.
He shrugged, but headed towards the mats at the center of the room. “It’s been a while, so I was thinking we should maybe just review.”
Jen smiled as she followed him to the middle of the mat. “Sounds like a plan to me. But, Ronon?”
“Yeah?”
“Go easy on me,” she said jokingly.
He responded with a mischievous grin. “Maybe.”
She laughed and got into the ready position, waiting for him to ‘attack’ her.
His first two assaults on her were simple straightforward ones; she fended them off with moves she had learnt during her first lesson.
“Good,” Ronon said as he hopped back up onto his feet. “Now let’s see if you remember the more complicated stuff.”
She held her own for only a few minutes, before a well placed foot between her ankles caught her off guard, making her trip and land flat on her ass. Groaning, she pushed herself up off the mat. “Guess not, huh?”
“Ready position,” he said in response.
Her body responded automatically: her knees bending and feet spreading to shoulder width.
Ronon took his place in front of her. “I’m going to attack you in slow motion, so you can see what you did wrong.”
She nodded, and Ronon advanced. Within seconds she realized what she’d done to let him get past her guard the last time. Unfortunately she couldn’t remember the right moves to prevent him from tripping her either.
Ronon stepped behind her, positioning her arms, legs and torso in the correct defensive position. Normally when he did things like this, it took him only a few moments, but today it seemed like his hands were lingering longer than they had to. The realization caused a flow of warmth through her body, and suddenly she was all too aware of Ronon’s close proximity.
She tried to focus on his words as he guided her through the right movements, still standing pressed against her back, but she was having the hardest time concentrating.
“You okay?” He asked quietly in her ear, causing her to jump slightly.
“Fine,” she replied, probably just a little too quickly. She thought she might have seen him smirk from the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t be sure. She was too busy trying not to blush, and she wasn’t even sure she was succeeding.
The rest of the lesson carried on in much the same way: her forgetting a move and Ronon correcting her. Which of course meant him standing close to her, fixing her body positioning and leading her through the required actions. Each time he stepped behind her, her stomach clenched in nervousness and she couldn’t keep her heart from racing inside her chest. On top of that the palms of her hands were sweating, the room felt much too warm and she couldn’t focus on anything other than how near Ronon was to her, and the feel of his hands against her skin.
After an hour and a half had passed, she was flustered well past the point of distraction. Thankfully Ronon seemed to be okay with her progress, or else he was taking pity on her, and ended the session.
“That’s enough for tonight,” he said, the words accompanied by a smile. He walked towards the nearby bench and grabbed his water bottle shooting a stream into his mouth. “You did good,” he added.
Jen walked over to the other bench to grab her bottle, keeping her face turned to hide the blush on her cheeks. “Well, not really,” she said quietly.
“What do you mean?” Ronon asked as he walked towards her.
Jen took a drink from her bottle before replying. “I kept screwing up, forgetting things.” When she risked a quick glance at Ronon from the corner of her eye she saw that he was grinning. “It’s not funny,” she added indignantly.
“I’m not laughing,” he replied in a serious tone. “I just don’t think you realize how complex it is.”
“What is?”
“The stuff I’ve been teaching you. Some of those moves I used on you, you won’t see unless you’re fighting a pro, and in that case you’re probably in a lot more trouble than self-defense can get you out of.”
“Oh,” she replied quietly. “Guess I didn’t think about it like that…”
He smiled again, the intensity of it nearly enough to bring the blush back up onto her face. “Trust me, you did good.”
Jen smiled back. “Thanks.” When he kept staring at her, she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, fiddling with the cap on her water bottle as she did so. “Well, I should probably go,” she said slowly, tilting her head toward the door. “It’s back to work tomorrow.”
Ronon nodded. “Okay.”
“See you later,” she added as she headed for the door.
“Tomorrow,” Ronon said, and she stopped, turning to look at him. “Game night,” he reminded her.
She nodded quickly, before turning back around and heading for the safety of the hallway. Except it wasn’t safe, Ronon was still in her thoughts, invading them. And game night?
Jen groaned. If she had barely survived a training session with him she had no idea how she would manage an entire game night. This newfound revelation that he might like her, and that she did like him, was proving much more difficult to deal with than she ever would have imagined. She just hoped they wouldn’t be playing Twister again…
TBC
A/N: I apologize profusely for the delay in this chapter. Like I said, real life kind of exploded on me. Thankfully it's not in a bad way, but I've still been super busy with other things. I'll do everything I can to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but unfortunately I can't make any promises as to exactly when. Hopefully people understand. :)