This is not a good story
It's half way decent meta thinly disguised as a story with none of the creative pretty things that make stories fun and enjoyable. The voice is more formal then how I really hear John. I think I'll either work it into a decent story one day or simply rewrite it as actual meta. But, it exists and I need to be writing a paper so of course I'd rather mess around online. So I might as well post. I'll call it a work in progress. Constructive criticism very welcome.
Unrelated - I'm finally working out keyboard commands, very, very slowly but I'm still inordinately proud of it.
Ronon makes fun of him, in a ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ way. It reminds John of facing his superior officer after a particularly enjoyable night on base.
“Nothing Sir”
“No Sir”
“Yes Sir”
“Thank you Sir”
The trick was to combine wide innocent eyes with a completely blank expression and voice. It could be used to amuse, to frustrate, to annoy, even to anger. Ronon’s version has more edge to it then John is used to but it is not unpleasant.
They don’t spar often. Ronon is better then he and the dynamics of having the CO be publicly seen to land repeatedly on his back are complicated. John is a laid back kind of guy, he wants his guys to like him, to feel comfortable with him but he knows that a certain amount of awe is essential and more important. John knows from experience that you can hate your CO’s guts but some part of you not under your control retains the firm belief that He is God, knows all and can do all. When push comes to shove and you’re supposed to face the oncoming bastards without enough guns or ammo, when there are civilians relying on you and you’re terrified out of your head there’s comfort in the belief that the guy in charge can’t be beat. It’s false, but like many other false things, necessary. People need something and someone to believe in.
Teyla is different; that she is a woman automatically makes her less a rival in the eyes of most of the US military, if he’s honest it makes her less a rival in his own eyes as well. Though she is, in a sense, a foreign head of state she fits into their team flawlessly. She manages to give the impression that she follows orders only because she agrees with them but also the impression that the day will never come when she disagrees. It works.
Teyla wants to be part of the team that is working to defeat the Wraith. That is all she wants from Atlantis and they can give her that, no problem. Ronon wants something different from them, from him, John Sheppard. He wants a place to belong, someone to follow and to be sure that both of these are worthy. In return he offers himself, and it is not an offer to be rejected carelessly. If nothing else SGC files make it clear just how much a single individual’s competence can mean.
Colonel John Sheppard wants the skilled fighter who’ll keep him and his team safe. The military leader of the Atlantis expedition judges Ronon to be a valuable resource, one that is worth keeping. The man that has adopted the city of Atlantis and been adopted in turn, the one who loves his people fiercely if unwisely has an unformed premonition that this particular warrior will be important. John, in his inner core where he is stripped of age and responsibility and duty, wants the man’s smooth skin and wide eyes. He lusts after the vulnerable smile that appears so rarely and dreams of the perfection of a body shorn of the restrictive and civilized trappings that others wear. He’s fascinated by the play of muscles and the grace on display. It’s embarrassing in a man that has spent his life among fit men and had never been affecting this way by their bodies.
He knows that he cannot have both the warrior and the man. There is a wealth of unexpressed loneliness in Ronon’s eyes and fierce enjoyment of the physical, John thinks that it would not be a difficult thing to seduce him. He plans this seduction at night, when he is tired and has nothing in him left for considerations of duty. He has detailed fantasies and a plan that is flexible and dynamic, it’s a good plan with a high probability of success. Yet to take the man to bed would be to betray the warrior.
The US military is a modern force but what underlies it, what underlies all military institutions is more primitive, more basic, the connections that have always existed between the people who killed and the people for whom they did so. He thinks that Ronon has a clearer understanding of this then even the Marines, he feels no embarrassment in seeking someone to give his loyalty to, someone to trust and follow. One cannot be both someone’s officer and his lover because the two roles require a man to offer different things, mutually exclusive ones.
John has desires but he also has priorities, and he wants Ronon Dex’s skills on his team.
Unrelated - I'm finally working out keyboard commands, very, very slowly but I'm still inordinately proud of it.
Ronon makes fun of him, in a ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ way. It reminds John of facing his superior officer after a particularly enjoyable night on base.
“Nothing Sir”
“No Sir”
“Yes Sir”
“Thank you Sir”
The trick was to combine wide innocent eyes with a completely blank expression and voice. It could be used to amuse, to frustrate, to annoy, even to anger. Ronon’s version has more edge to it then John is used to but it is not unpleasant.
They don’t spar often. Ronon is better then he and the dynamics of having the CO be publicly seen to land repeatedly on his back are complicated. John is a laid back kind of guy, he wants his guys to like him, to feel comfortable with him but he knows that a certain amount of awe is essential and more important. John knows from experience that you can hate your CO’s guts but some part of you not under your control retains the firm belief that He is God, knows all and can do all. When push comes to shove and you’re supposed to face the oncoming bastards without enough guns or ammo, when there are civilians relying on you and you’re terrified out of your head there’s comfort in the belief that the guy in charge can’t be beat. It’s false, but like many other false things, necessary. People need something and someone to believe in.
Teyla is different; that she is a woman automatically makes her less a rival in the eyes of most of the US military, if he’s honest it makes her less a rival in his own eyes as well. Though she is, in a sense, a foreign head of state she fits into their team flawlessly. She manages to give the impression that she follows orders only because she agrees with them but also the impression that the day will never come when she disagrees. It works.
Teyla wants to be part of the team that is working to defeat the Wraith. That is all she wants from Atlantis and they can give her that, no problem. Ronon wants something different from them, from him, John Sheppard. He wants a place to belong, someone to follow and to be sure that both of these are worthy. In return he offers himself, and it is not an offer to be rejected carelessly. If nothing else SGC files make it clear just how much a single individual’s competence can mean.
Colonel John Sheppard wants the skilled fighter who’ll keep him and his team safe. The military leader of the Atlantis expedition judges Ronon to be a valuable resource, one that is worth keeping. The man that has adopted the city of Atlantis and been adopted in turn, the one who loves his people fiercely if unwisely has an unformed premonition that this particular warrior will be important. John, in his inner core where he is stripped of age and responsibility and duty, wants the man’s smooth skin and wide eyes. He lusts after the vulnerable smile that appears so rarely and dreams of the perfection of a body shorn of the restrictive and civilized trappings that others wear. He’s fascinated by the play of muscles and the grace on display. It’s embarrassing in a man that has spent his life among fit men and had never been affecting this way by their bodies.
He knows that he cannot have both the warrior and the man. There is a wealth of unexpressed loneliness in Ronon’s eyes and fierce enjoyment of the physical, John thinks that it would not be a difficult thing to seduce him. He plans this seduction at night, when he is tired and has nothing in him left for considerations of duty. He has detailed fantasies and a plan that is flexible and dynamic, it’s a good plan with a high probability of success. Yet to take the man to bed would be to betray the warrior.
The US military is a modern force but what underlies it, what underlies all military institutions is more primitive, more basic, the connections that have always existed between the people who killed and the people for whom they did so. He thinks that Ronon has a clearer understanding of this then even the Marines, he feels no embarrassment in seeking someone to give his loyalty to, someone to trust and follow. One cannot be both someone’s officer and his lover because the two roles require a man to offer different things, mutually exclusive ones.
John has desires but he also has priorities, and he wants Ronon Dex’s skills on his team.