Fic: Not Quite a Square (OT4, PG)
Title: Not Quite a Square
Author: whiteraven1606
Recipient: moonlettuce
Pairing: John/Rodney/Ronon/Teyla OT4 (with not everyone wanting all the other three, it's complicated)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don't own them, more's the pity. Written just for fun, not money.
Author's Notes: I'd have totally written you a crossover, but alais I've never watched Teen Wolf.
Summary: Teyla arranges for her team's happy ending after watching jealousy and misunderstandings nearly derail the whole team.
****
Teyla watched McKay storm away and John's shoulders hunch down further before he followed. She sighed as Ronon settled on his haunches near her. "They will not wander far."
Ronon looked at her out of the side of his eye for a moment before letting his head fall forward to allow his dreads to cover her view of his expression. "Why don't they just admit it to each other? I don't understand why their culture is so fussy about..." He waved one hand in the direction their teammates had gone and then at himself and her.
Teyla resisted the urge to poke at their small fire since it would only bother Ronon. "I'm not sure John even knows himself."
"Hmm." Ronon ran his fingertips down the hilt of one of his knives. "His brother seemed to think Sheppard and I were."
Teyla glanced at Ronon as he tilted his head enough for her to tell he was frowning at their fire. "You haven't apporached him? I thought you had."
Ronon sighed and shifted to sit on her log beside her. "The terms don't translate well."
"He understood me well enough when we first met and he refused me very gently."
Ronon blinked at her. "You..."
Teyla smiled at the memory. "I convinced him later when he was feeling raw from having saved the City and nearly losing Rodney."
"Ah." Ronon squinted as he looked out into the trees in the direction of McKay's stomping was fading away at.
She smiled as she touched Ronon's elbow. "You can still have him, Ronon."
He shook his head sharply. "That's not...He wants Rodney."
"Hmm." Teyla poked Ronon in the ribs and smiled as he gave her a betrayed glare. "John is flexible."
Ronon shoved up and hurried quietly into the forest.
Teyla leaned her forearms on her knees and poked at the fire with a smile on her face. Her men would need a bit more pushing once they got back to the City.
****
John shook his head as he settled on the couch between Teyla and Rodney. Ronon sprawled on the floor in front of them. "Tell me again why you wanted Ronon and me to bring this back from Earth, Teyla?"
Rodney looked up from his tablet. "What I want to know is who told her about something called Teen Wolf in the first place."
Teyla settled her feet under herself so she leaned on John. "You do realize the tablet I was given shows a list of shows and movies and when they become available on Earth, do you not, Rodney?"
John shifted his arm to lay across Teyla's shoulders so it wasn't trapped, even as she put more weight on his side. "I'm sure he knows, Teyla, I think he wrote the program that shows the list."
"Oh, ha, ha." He frowned at his tablet as he tapped its screen more forcefully. "I just didn't realize it'd translate written English into..." Rodney leaned over his computer to stare at Teyla with narrowed eyes. "Why did you pick this again?"
John bit the inside of his cheek as Teyla smiled far too sweetly at Rodney.
"I liked the pretty young men."
Ronon scuffed and rolled up to lean against John's shins. "I was told there would be fighting."
John eased his legs apart to give Ronon more room. "Let's watch the first few episodes. If we don't like it then we'll switch to something else." He glanced down at Teyla's head as she pushed on him more. He shifted a little closer to Rodney and she eased off again.
Rodney started up their TV-like viewing panel and settled against cushions as the show started. He put his tablet aside with an annoyed look in Teyla's direction.
John tried to settle in to watch, but Teyla kept pushing him until he was crowding into Rodney's space.
****
Ronon watched John and McKay continue their mating dance as their mock fighting became more pointed. It had just gotten worse after the planet where John and McKay had woken up married to each other. He was waiting for a sparring session to go sour between them.
He watched as Teyla poked and pushed all of them into the positions she wanted them in. He watched more closely when it all started to strain John in a way Ronon knew would break the man if something didn't ease.
As they progressed through Teyla's show, now the team's show, though none could get McKay to admit he loved it as much as the rest of them, Ronon found he liked the idea of pairing characters together that the episodes didn't suggest or show to be mated.
As he and John went on their normal morning run it occured to Ronon how to learn the proper words to talk to John about mating with him, or even McKay at this point, he'd given up being picky about it if it kept John sane. He smirked as they rounded another corner in their planned running path.
Ronon waited until John was gasping for air and desperately needing to rest instead of just barely pushing John's limits like he normally would. Ronon slowed down their pace as they approached a bench on the pier that faced a portion of the City that didn't show battle scars.
John collasped on the bench as he settled against the rail to face John.
John raised his eyebrows as he kept gasping. "What?"
Ronon folded his arms across his chest. He still wasn't convinced that John would want to be mates with him or with Rodney. "Teyla's show."
John eyed him and lolled his head on his neck to look up at the sky as his breathing finally started to slow down. "What about it?"
"Is there an Earth word for wanting Peter Hale and the Argent father to mate?" Ronon mentally frowned as John's breathing hitch for a moment.
"Ooookay. Peter Hale and Chris Argent. Now that's a picture." John shoved himself upright enough to sit on the bench. "Back up a second."
Ronon waited as he watched John thinking.
John narrowed his eyes at him. "When you say mate..."
"I mean fucking." He frowned. "For life. Not leaving each other for another mate or mates."
"Ah." John rubbed his wrist with his other hand like he did when he was nervous. "You don't mind that it'd be two," John made a vague hand motion as he spoke, "...guys?"
"No." Ronon cocked his head. "We don't have common words to talk about this."
John's eyebrows went up again. "Uh...I'm pretty sure we do."
"No." Ronon huffed. "I tried to ask you to...fuck after I became comfortable here." He frowned at using a crude word for what he wanted with John. "You didn't understand me."
With a grimace, John flopped back across the seat of the bench. "Oh, trust me, I understood." He put his hands on his face. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Wrong?" Ronon leaned forward. "What are you talking about?"
John shook his head with his hands still on his face. "I'd get kicked out of the Air Force so fast."
"Teyla said that Lorne said your military isn't putting out soldiers for fucking their own gender now."
John lifted his hands just enough to turn and stare at Ronon. "Teyla said?"
Ronon nodded. "Sure. We talk."
"About...fucking?"
He leaned his head back to look up at the tower they were seated outside of. "That too." He listened to John's clothing rustle as he shifted position again. "We've been waiting for you to figure out you'd like to fuck McKay."
"Huh." John moved to sit at the rail next to him. He bumped his shoulder into Ronon's. "I think we've had a misunderstanding somewhere along the way."
"No." Ronon shook his head as he kept looking over the tower's lines. "McKay wants you, but not me or Teyla. I want you and Teyla, but I'm not so sure about McKay. Teyla wants all of us and you want McKay. Not that easy to misunderstand."
John ran his hand over his hair. "Pretty badly misunderstood actually." He huffed out a short pained sounding laugh. "I didn't know Rodney was interested in me. I thought he was eyeing Teyla. His attempts at flirting with her made me realize how I felt about him."
Ronon dropped his head and turned to stare at John.
John shrugged with one shoulder as he ducked his head slightly. "I was jealous and I...sort of gave Rodney crap for it."
"Oh. That's why you both have been so angry." Ronon shook his head. "He likes Teyla, but he wants you more." He blinked as he thought. "What do you think you're doing wrong?"
John drew his legs up and rested his wrists on his knees. "I can't seem to have a squad without someone or more than just someone in it wanting to fraternize with me. It's a command nightmare."
Ronon gently settled his hand over the wristband John was never without. "It isn't wrong for your soldiers to love you, Sheppard."
John huffed and wiped his free hand down his face. "Yeah. Right." He blinked several times before turning towards Ronon with widening eyes. "You think I said no to your offer because I didn't want you?"
He pulled his hand back and pushed himself to his feet. "That is in the past."
John followed him up and kept following as Ronon started back the way they'd come from. "Hey..."
Ronon kept moving. He didn't want to talk about how raw he still felt.
John caught his forearm and pulled hard. "Hey, hey. Stop a second."
He stopped and stood, taking deep breaths to keep himself from running. He stared straight ahead as John came around his side to stand in front of him.
"Ronon."
He regretted pulling his hair back out of his face this morning. "What?"
John pressed his hands to the front of Ronon's shoulders. "I want you. For mates."
Ronon glared at him.
"I know. I know how it sounds, but..." His eyes flicked down and away before settling on Ronon's neck tattoo. "I want you and Rodney."
Ronon pulled out of John's grasp and ran. He had never wanted to hear John say he wanted anyone with that same horrible wooden expression on that John used when he faced down Wraith.
****
Teyla wanted to just beat them all when she found Ronon was hiding and John wasn't talking to anyone and Rodney thought it was somehow his fault even though he had no idea what had happened.
Of course, Teyla wasn't her mother's daugther for nothing. This was salvagable. She simply needed the right English words and some sleight of hand to get Rodney and John to Ronon's quarters.
She spoke to Dr. Zelenka about lying to Rodney to get him to Ronon's room after ending his day's work. She went to Lorne about dragging Sheppard to Ronon's rooms at the correct time. For the words she needed to learn she went to Dr. Beckett and spent the afternoon working out the right words with a very red faced Carson trying hard not to ask her why she needed to know.
Teyla spent the hour before her two more stubborn teammates were due forcing Ronon to get up and clean up. He looked painfully young to her as she all but shoved him into his shower.
She stripped blankets and pillows and rearranged the bedding to handle Rodney's back and Sheppard's knee he didn't want to acknowlege as painful. It took her time to settle everything to her satisfaction, but that was just as well since it meant she was just finishing when Ronon finally braved her anger.
"Why are you here?"
"I am tired."
He blinked at her.
Teyla smiled as she started stripping his towels off. "Sit down on the side away from the door." She guided him to make sure he went where she wanted. "I am tired of waiting and being a nearly proper lady of my culture."
Ronon turned his head to stare up at her as she held out one of his nicer shirts that didn't hang off his frame.
She kept smiling as she wiggled the shirt. "Here."
He took it gingerly from her and continued to stare at her until she lifted her eyebrows and he hurried to put on the shirt.
"John and Rondey will be here soon." She shoved Ronon back down with her foot as he started to get up. "And everyone is going to sit down and listen to me. I've learned new words to explain what I want..." She gentled the pressure she was putting to bear on his ribs with her foot. "And what you want as well...to John and Rodney so they will understand."
Ronon shook his head. "That wasn't why I..." He pulled on a dread. "John doesn't want any of us willingly." He pulled the sleeves of his shirt down to cover his hands. "He had his battle face on when he said he wanted both McKay and me."
"Hmm." Teyla knelt down next to Ronon and pulled his head to her shoulder. "John is...complex. He has fears that are deep in his soul." She pulled back to look Ronon in the eyes. "You've seen this when he was trapped away from us for the day that wasn't a day for him."
Ronon frowned, but nodded slightly as he kept his eyes on her.
"He fears failing his own people. Any of them. All of them."
"You're saying he was afraid." Ronon shook his head. "That is not better."
"It is." Teyla checked the time. "Ronon, he was terrified that you'd deny him. That you'd shame him for wanting more than a single person."
"That's..." Ronon blinked several times and then cocked his head. "Earth doesn't have groupmating?"
"Yes, they do, but they don't call it that and it is rare for them."
"Huh." Ronon flopped back into his blankets. "There's no fixing this. Not now that I've run from his offer."
Teyla looked down at him. "You must trust me."
****
John was not pleased. "Tell me again why she told you to trick me?"
Lorne sighed and shoved on John to keep him walking. "Sir, as much as I take orders from you there are certain things I don't want to know about. When Teyla starts asking for you to be hogtied and frogmarched to Ronon's room not three days after you and him quit running together I just look the other way."
John huffed. "I'm telling you for the last time, Ronon and I aren't a couple."
"Uh huh. Sure, sir." Lorne pushed him harder as he started trying to dig in his socked feet. "You want Teyla mad at you? 'Cause, I have to tell you, sir, I'd rather deal with you mad than her. You'll just take my rank. She'll beat me to a pulp in front of the Marines."
"Okay, I can see your logic, but really did you have to take my boots?"
"Teyla's orders, sir."
John sighed as Lorne hit the chime for Ronon's door. He could hear Rodney complaining and it was coming closer. "Ah, crap."
Lorne patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe you should just agree to whatever it is she wants."
John considered striking his head on the corridor wall as Rodney was wheeled towards them by Dr. Zelenka.
Lorne raised an eyebrow at the gurney Rodney was strapped to. "Really?"
Zelenka shrugged. "He did not believe my lie so I may have said his snack bar might be lemon flavored one."
Rodney pulled against the straps over his chest. "I just want it known I am here against my will."
John leaned against the wall. "You aren't the only one, buddy."
Ronon's door opened and Teyla looked them over. "Rodney, you will come in and listen to me. Understood?"
Rodney frowned, started to open his mouth to yell, and John shook his head slightly at him. He deflated. "Fine. Just don't expect me to listen quietly."
Teyla gave them her half-smile that John thought meant she was about half a step away from killing someone. "I would never expect you to be quiet, Rodney." She gestured to the gurney. "Dr. Zelenka, please release him. I'm certain Dr. McKay understands what my reaction will be should he attempt to evade me."
Rodney swallowed.
John wiggled his socked toes at Teyla. "Why have Lorne take my boots?"
Teyla simply smiled at him as she pulled the rope binding his arms loose. "John, you know as well as I you can not outrun Ronon, even more so without your shoes."
John huffed as he listened to Rodney scramble off the gurney behind him. "He ran from me, Teyla. Why do this?" He heard Lorne and Zelenka slip away with a small part of his attention as he watched Teyla steady Rodney.
"Everyone will hear me at once. I did not spend an afternoon learning new English words just to have only half of you understand what I say."
John exchanged glances with Rodney before squaring his shoulders and forging ahead into Ronon's room.
****
Ronon was nearly certain this would end their team. The small hope that Teyla was right about John's fear being what Ronon had seen did not outweigh the certainy that neither John nor Rodney would understand even if Teyla had learned words to speak just for this.
He watched as Teyla all but shoved John and Rodney into the room.
She pushed John down next to Ronon and pointed Rodney at the cushions she'd arrangged while Ronon had been in the shower.
Ronon watched Teyla as the others settled, Rodney with his muttered protests, John with his rigid posture, that all but screamed he didn't want to be where he was.
Once they stopped moving around, Teyla pulled Ronon's single upright chair over and sat primly on the edge of it.
Teyla leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees. "If, when I am done, you still wish to leave, then and only then will I allow you to go." She looked at each of them. "We are not a square that bears equal weight on each side with crossbraces and that is not a bad thing."
Ronon frowned at her and he could see John's bewildered look from the corner of his eye.
"What Ronon and I call a groupmating you would call a...moresome. No, three..." Teyla stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Four of us...ah, yes, foursome."
John ducked his head as Rodney started to sputter.
Ronon cocked his head. "A what?"
"Foursome. It means a groupmating with four people."
"Oh." Ronon cocked his head. "I told you..."
Teyla held up her hand. "No. What I want for us is something Earth people call an open...yes, open relationship within the four of us. You and John. John and Rodney. Myself with each of you."
Rodney stopped sputtering to gape at her.
John shook his head. "Ronon doesn't want anything to do with me. Teyla, I get that you don't want to lose the team, but you can't just..."
Teyla slipped from her chair to kneel in front of them. "You have all been jealous of the others' flirting. John, I have watched you watching Rodney and watching Ronon. I've seen Rodney long for you. I've tried to talk to Ronon about his feelings. You have all been very stubborn."
Ronon flopped back into his bedding and shook his head as he tried not to giggle.
John leaned over him. "You ran away from me."
Ronon threw his arm over his eyes. "You want Rodney."
"Hey! Doesn't Rodney get any say in this?"
****
Rodney watched all his teammates be crazy people for several mintues until it sunk in that John, his John wanted him back. That Ronon didn't actually want to murder him in his sleep. That Teyla seemed to think they should all be a big poly-groupmating thing. And he was totally going to corner whoever she had to go to for her newly learned words. He might even have to kiss that person.
Now, he had all of them staring straight at him and what had his mouth done without him this time?
"Well, I mean, I'm on this team too and I think it is only fair that I get to have a say in any group orgies."
John collasped down and covered his face with both his hands. "There's not going to be any group orgies, Rodney."
"Well, why not?"
John dropped his hands to stare at him. "What?"
Rodney shrugged. "Why not? It isn't like it needs to go into a report and I'm pretty sure you'll still treat us just like you always have in the field. You did with Teyla after she and you had that night...And I'm not supposed to know that, I'll shut up now."
Teyla laughed as John covered his face again.
Ronon sat up. "How did you find out about them having shared a bed?"
John split his fingers to eye Ronon through them. "How'd you?"
Ronon curled his arms around his pulled up knees. "Teyla mentioned it."
John lolled his head, hands and all to eye Rodney.
He shrugged. "I hear things. Also, I tried to talk to you because of the knife thing and the talking thing and thinking maybe you would kick me off the team thing and your door wouldn't open and then it gave me a symbol I had to go look up. Which I couldn't find a translation for in the database, so Dr. Jackson finally translated it for me about a month ago. It meant 'having relations' which I think means it said 'go away I'm fucking' and Jackson just didn't want to be that crass."
He watched them staring, well, John was still hiding his face, at him and Rodney knew he'd have to help Teyla with this, with John, if he wanted to keep his team. And there were two more seasons of Teen Wolf to watch with them yet to catch them up to the current season.
"So. I say we work out sleep arrangements and work on John's issues with feelings at a later date."
John threw a hand at him and smacked him very gently on the thigh. "I don't have issues."
"Oh, please. You have more feelings issues than I have health problems, real or imagined." He waited for John to glare at him. "Not kidding. You do this thing when you're trying to be all heartfelt and serious that makes you look like you're facing down a Wraith." He wiggled his fingers around his own face for John to get his meaning.
"I do not."
"You do." Rodney ignored where his back was starting to ache and threw himself on top of John. "You've listened to Teyla. You want to leave?"
John flicked his eyes around and Rodney just waited him out.
Finally, John settled his eyes on Rodney's shoulder. "I'll stay."
Rodney patted him on the shoulder. "Great. Good." He slipped to one side as Teyla came to lay along his back. "We'll just lay here and work out who's sleeping with who, shall we?"
John buried his face in Rodney's neck. "Gah. I just...I'm always going to be bad at this."
Rodney patted him. "Yeah, it's pretty bad when I'm better at people than you."
Ronon snugged up against John's other side. "He's good with strangers."
John pressed his forehead against Rodney a little more. "Strangers aren't important. It is different when it's strangers."
Rodney smiled as John's hand snaked from between John's face and his neck to reach across him to Teyla's side.
"We will make lists of boundaries and limits in the morning."
Rodney craned his head around to stare at Teyla. "Please, tell me you didn't get someone to explain kink negotiations to you."
"That was Dr. Beckett's only frame of reference for how to deal with John's needs on handling feelings."
John groaned and Rodney bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Ronon leaned up on an elbow. "What is..."
Rodney put his hand over Ronon's mouth. "Later."
Teyla patted Rodney's hip. "In the morning."
****
John woke up to Ronon's dreads across his face and a pool of Rodney's drool on the lower part of his chest. His legs were cold and Teyla was standing over them holding a coffee cup and smiling down at him.
He smiled back and closed his eyes. Negotiations and his issues could wait a little longer. He had his City and his team. He didn't need much more than that.
****
Author: whiteraven1606
Recipient: moonlettuce
Pairing: John/Rodney/Ronon/Teyla OT4 (with not everyone wanting all the other three, it's complicated)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don't own them, more's the pity. Written just for fun, not money.
Author's Notes: I'd have totally written you a crossover, but alais I've never watched Teen Wolf.
Summary: Teyla arranges for her team's happy ending after watching jealousy and misunderstandings nearly derail the whole team.
****
Teyla watched McKay storm away and John's shoulders hunch down further before he followed. She sighed as Ronon settled on his haunches near her. "They will not wander far."
Ronon looked at her out of the side of his eye for a moment before letting his head fall forward to allow his dreads to cover her view of his expression. "Why don't they just admit it to each other? I don't understand why their culture is so fussy about..." He waved one hand in the direction their teammates had gone and then at himself and her.
Teyla resisted the urge to poke at their small fire since it would only bother Ronon. "I'm not sure John even knows himself."
"Hmm." Ronon ran his fingertips down the hilt of one of his knives. "His brother seemed to think Sheppard and I were."
Teyla glanced at Ronon as he tilted his head enough for her to tell he was frowning at their fire. "You haven't apporached him? I thought you had."
Ronon sighed and shifted to sit on her log beside her. "The terms don't translate well."
"He understood me well enough when we first met and he refused me very gently."
Ronon blinked at her. "You..."
Teyla smiled at the memory. "I convinced him later when he was feeling raw from having saved the City and nearly losing Rodney."
"Ah." Ronon squinted as he looked out into the trees in the direction of McKay's stomping was fading away at.
She smiled as she touched Ronon's elbow. "You can still have him, Ronon."
He shook his head sharply. "That's not...He wants Rodney."
"Hmm." Teyla poked Ronon in the ribs and smiled as he gave her a betrayed glare. "John is flexible."
Ronon shoved up and hurried quietly into the forest.
Teyla leaned her forearms on her knees and poked at the fire with a smile on her face. Her men would need a bit more pushing once they got back to the City.
****
John shook his head as he settled on the couch between Teyla and Rodney. Ronon sprawled on the floor in front of them. "Tell me again why you wanted Ronon and me to bring this back from Earth, Teyla?"
Rodney looked up from his tablet. "What I want to know is who told her about something called Teen Wolf in the first place."
Teyla settled her feet under herself so she leaned on John. "You do realize the tablet I was given shows a list of shows and movies and when they become available on Earth, do you not, Rodney?"
John shifted his arm to lay across Teyla's shoulders so it wasn't trapped, even as she put more weight on his side. "I'm sure he knows, Teyla, I think he wrote the program that shows the list."
"Oh, ha, ha." He frowned at his tablet as he tapped its screen more forcefully. "I just didn't realize it'd translate written English into..." Rodney leaned over his computer to stare at Teyla with narrowed eyes. "Why did you pick this again?"
John bit the inside of his cheek as Teyla smiled far too sweetly at Rodney.
"I liked the pretty young men."
Ronon scuffed and rolled up to lean against John's shins. "I was told there would be fighting."
John eased his legs apart to give Ronon more room. "Let's watch the first few episodes. If we don't like it then we'll switch to something else." He glanced down at Teyla's head as she pushed on him more. He shifted a little closer to Rodney and she eased off again.
Rodney started up their TV-like viewing panel and settled against cushions as the show started. He put his tablet aside with an annoyed look in Teyla's direction.
John tried to settle in to watch, but Teyla kept pushing him until he was crowding into Rodney's space.
****
Ronon watched John and McKay continue their mating dance as their mock fighting became more pointed. It had just gotten worse after the planet where John and McKay had woken up married to each other. He was waiting for a sparring session to go sour between them.
He watched as Teyla poked and pushed all of them into the positions she wanted them in. He watched more closely when it all started to strain John in a way Ronon knew would break the man if something didn't ease.
As they progressed through Teyla's show, now the team's show, though none could get McKay to admit he loved it as much as the rest of them, Ronon found he liked the idea of pairing characters together that the episodes didn't suggest or show to be mated.
As he and John went on their normal morning run it occured to Ronon how to learn the proper words to talk to John about mating with him, or even McKay at this point, he'd given up being picky about it if it kept John sane. He smirked as they rounded another corner in their planned running path.
Ronon waited until John was gasping for air and desperately needing to rest instead of just barely pushing John's limits like he normally would. Ronon slowed down their pace as they approached a bench on the pier that faced a portion of the City that didn't show battle scars.
John collasped on the bench as he settled against the rail to face John.
John raised his eyebrows as he kept gasping. "What?"
Ronon folded his arms across his chest. He still wasn't convinced that John would want to be mates with him or with Rodney. "Teyla's show."
John eyed him and lolled his head on his neck to look up at the sky as his breathing finally started to slow down. "What about it?"
"Is there an Earth word for wanting Peter Hale and the Argent father to mate?" Ronon mentally frowned as John's breathing hitch for a moment.
"Ooookay. Peter Hale and Chris Argent. Now that's a picture." John shoved himself upright enough to sit on the bench. "Back up a second."
Ronon waited as he watched John thinking.
John narrowed his eyes at him. "When you say mate..."
"I mean fucking." He frowned. "For life. Not leaving each other for another mate or mates."
"Ah." John rubbed his wrist with his other hand like he did when he was nervous. "You don't mind that it'd be two," John made a vague hand motion as he spoke, "...guys?"
"No." Ronon cocked his head. "We don't have common words to talk about this."
John's eyebrows went up again. "Uh...I'm pretty sure we do."
"No." Ronon huffed. "I tried to ask you to...fuck after I became comfortable here." He frowned at using a crude word for what he wanted with John. "You didn't understand me."
With a grimace, John flopped back across the seat of the bench. "Oh, trust me, I understood." He put his hands on his face. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Wrong?" Ronon leaned forward. "What are you talking about?"
John shook his head with his hands still on his face. "I'd get kicked out of the Air Force so fast."
"Teyla said that Lorne said your military isn't putting out soldiers for fucking their own gender now."
John lifted his hands just enough to turn and stare at Ronon. "Teyla said?"
Ronon nodded. "Sure. We talk."
"About...fucking?"
He leaned his head back to look up at the tower they were seated outside of. "That too." He listened to John's clothing rustle as he shifted position again. "We've been waiting for you to figure out you'd like to fuck McKay."
"Huh." John moved to sit at the rail next to him. He bumped his shoulder into Ronon's. "I think we've had a misunderstanding somewhere along the way."
"No." Ronon shook his head as he kept looking over the tower's lines. "McKay wants you, but not me or Teyla. I want you and Teyla, but I'm not so sure about McKay. Teyla wants all of us and you want McKay. Not that easy to misunderstand."
John ran his hand over his hair. "Pretty badly misunderstood actually." He huffed out a short pained sounding laugh. "I didn't know Rodney was interested in me. I thought he was eyeing Teyla. His attempts at flirting with her made me realize how I felt about him."
Ronon dropped his head and turned to stare at John.
John shrugged with one shoulder as he ducked his head slightly. "I was jealous and I...sort of gave Rodney crap for it."
"Oh. That's why you both have been so angry." Ronon shook his head. "He likes Teyla, but he wants you more." He blinked as he thought. "What do you think you're doing wrong?"
John drew his legs up and rested his wrists on his knees. "I can't seem to have a squad without someone or more than just someone in it wanting to fraternize with me. It's a command nightmare."
Ronon gently settled his hand over the wristband John was never without. "It isn't wrong for your soldiers to love you, Sheppard."
John huffed and wiped his free hand down his face. "Yeah. Right." He blinked several times before turning towards Ronon with widening eyes. "You think I said no to your offer because I didn't want you?"
He pulled his hand back and pushed himself to his feet. "That is in the past."
John followed him up and kept following as Ronon started back the way they'd come from. "Hey..."
Ronon kept moving. He didn't want to talk about how raw he still felt.
John caught his forearm and pulled hard. "Hey, hey. Stop a second."
He stopped and stood, taking deep breaths to keep himself from running. He stared straight ahead as John came around his side to stand in front of him.
"Ronon."
He regretted pulling his hair back out of his face this morning. "What?"
John pressed his hands to the front of Ronon's shoulders. "I want you. For mates."
Ronon glared at him.
"I know. I know how it sounds, but..." His eyes flicked down and away before settling on Ronon's neck tattoo. "I want you and Rodney."
Ronon pulled out of John's grasp and ran. He had never wanted to hear John say he wanted anyone with that same horrible wooden expression on that John used when he faced down Wraith.
****
Teyla wanted to just beat them all when she found Ronon was hiding and John wasn't talking to anyone and Rodney thought it was somehow his fault even though he had no idea what had happened.
Of course, Teyla wasn't her mother's daugther for nothing. This was salvagable. She simply needed the right English words and some sleight of hand to get Rodney and John to Ronon's quarters.
She spoke to Dr. Zelenka about lying to Rodney to get him to Ronon's room after ending his day's work. She went to Lorne about dragging Sheppard to Ronon's rooms at the correct time. For the words she needed to learn she went to Dr. Beckett and spent the afternoon working out the right words with a very red faced Carson trying hard not to ask her why she needed to know.
Teyla spent the hour before her two more stubborn teammates were due forcing Ronon to get up and clean up. He looked painfully young to her as she all but shoved him into his shower.
She stripped blankets and pillows and rearranged the bedding to handle Rodney's back and Sheppard's knee he didn't want to acknowlege as painful. It took her time to settle everything to her satisfaction, but that was just as well since it meant she was just finishing when Ronon finally braved her anger.
"Why are you here?"
"I am tired."
He blinked at her.
Teyla smiled as she started stripping his towels off. "Sit down on the side away from the door." She guided him to make sure he went where she wanted. "I am tired of waiting and being a nearly proper lady of my culture."
Ronon turned his head to stare up at her as she held out one of his nicer shirts that didn't hang off his frame.
She kept smiling as she wiggled the shirt. "Here."
He took it gingerly from her and continued to stare at her until she lifted her eyebrows and he hurried to put on the shirt.
"John and Rondey will be here soon." She shoved Ronon back down with her foot as he started to get up. "And everyone is going to sit down and listen to me. I've learned new words to explain what I want..." She gentled the pressure she was putting to bear on his ribs with her foot. "And what you want as well...to John and Rodney so they will understand."
Ronon shook his head. "That wasn't why I..." He pulled on a dread. "John doesn't want any of us willingly." He pulled the sleeves of his shirt down to cover his hands. "He had his battle face on when he said he wanted both McKay and me."
"Hmm." Teyla knelt down next to Ronon and pulled his head to her shoulder. "John is...complex. He has fears that are deep in his soul." She pulled back to look Ronon in the eyes. "You've seen this when he was trapped away from us for the day that wasn't a day for him."
Ronon frowned, but nodded slightly as he kept his eyes on her.
"He fears failing his own people. Any of them. All of them."
"You're saying he was afraid." Ronon shook his head. "That is not better."
"It is." Teyla checked the time. "Ronon, he was terrified that you'd deny him. That you'd shame him for wanting more than a single person."
"That's..." Ronon blinked several times and then cocked his head. "Earth doesn't have groupmating?"
"Yes, they do, but they don't call it that and it is rare for them."
"Huh." Ronon flopped back into his blankets. "There's no fixing this. Not now that I've run from his offer."
Teyla looked down at him. "You must trust me."
****
John was not pleased. "Tell me again why she told you to trick me?"
Lorne sighed and shoved on John to keep him walking. "Sir, as much as I take orders from you there are certain things I don't want to know about. When Teyla starts asking for you to be hogtied and frogmarched to Ronon's room not three days after you and him quit running together I just look the other way."
John huffed. "I'm telling you for the last time, Ronon and I aren't a couple."
"Uh huh. Sure, sir." Lorne pushed him harder as he started trying to dig in his socked feet. "You want Teyla mad at you? 'Cause, I have to tell you, sir, I'd rather deal with you mad than her. You'll just take my rank. She'll beat me to a pulp in front of the Marines."
"Okay, I can see your logic, but really did you have to take my boots?"
"Teyla's orders, sir."
John sighed as Lorne hit the chime for Ronon's door. He could hear Rodney complaining and it was coming closer. "Ah, crap."
Lorne patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe you should just agree to whatever it is she wants."
John considered striking his head on the corridor wall as Rodney was wheeled towards them by Dr. Zelenka.
Lorne raised an eyebrow at the gurney Rodney was strapped to. "Really?"
Zelenka shrugged. "He did not believe my lie so I may have said his snack bar might be lemon flavored one."
Rodney pulled against the straps over his chest. "I just want it known I am here against my will."
John leaned against the wall. "You aren't the only one, buddy."
Ronon's door opened and Teyla looked them over. "Rodney, you will come in and listen to me. Understood?"
Rodney frowned, started to open his mouth to yell, and John shook his head slightly at him. He deflated. "Fine. Just don't expect me to listen quietly."
Teyla gave them her half-smile that John thought meant she was about half a step away from killing someone. "I would never expect you to be quiet, Rodney." She gestured to the gurney. "Dr. Zelenka, please release him. I'm certain Dr. McKay understands what my reaction will be should he attempt to evade me."
Rodney swallowed.
John wiggled his socked toes at Teyla. "Why have Lorne take my boots?"
Teyla simply smiled at him as she pulled the rope binding his arms loose. "John, you know as well as I you can not outrun Ronon, even more so without your shoes."
John huffed as he listened to Rodney scramble off the gurney behind him. "He ran from me, Teyla. Why do this?" He heard Lorne and Zelenka slip away with a small part of his attention as he watched Teyla steady Rodney.
"Everyone will hear me at once. I did not spend an afternoon learning new English words just to have only half of you understand what I say."
John exchanged glances with Rodney before squaring his shoulders and forging ahead into Ronon's room.
****
Ronon was nearly certain this would end their team. The small hope that Teyla was right about John's fear being what Ronon had seen did not outweigh the certainy that neither John nor Rodney would understand even if Teyla had learned words to speak just for this.
He watched as Teyla all but shoved John and Rodney into the room.
She pushed John down next to Ronon and pointed Rodney at the cushions she'd arrangged while Ronon had been in the shower.
Ronon watched Teyla as the others settled, Rodney with his muttered protests, John with his rigid posture, that all but screamed he didn't want to be where he was.
Once they stopped moving around, Teyla pulled Ronon's single upright chair over and sat primly on the edge of it.
Teyla leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees. "If, when I am done, you still wish to leave, then and only then will I allow you to go." She looked at each of them. "We are not a square that bears equal weight on each side with crossbraces and that is not a bad thing."
Ronon frowned at her and he could see John's bewildered look from the corner of his eye.
"What Ronon and I call a groupmating you would call a...moresome. No, three..." Teyla stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Four of us...ah, yes, foursome."
John ducked his head as Rodney started to sputter.
Ronon cocked his head. "A what?"
"Foursome. It means a groupmating with four people."
"Oh." Ronon cocked his head. "I told you..."
Teyla held up her hand. "No. What I want for us is something Earth people call an open...yes, open relationship within the four of us. You and John. John and Rodney. Myself with each of you."
Rodney stopped sputtering to gape at her.
John shook his head. "Ronon doesn't want anything to do with me. Teyla, I get that you don't want to lose the team, but you can't just..."
Teyla slipped from her chair to kneel in front of them. "You have all been jealous of the others' flirting. John, I have watched you watching Rodney and watching Ronon. I've seen Rodney long for you. I've tried to talk to Ronon about his feelings. You have all been very stubborn."
Ronon flopped back into his bedding and shook his head as he tried not to giggle.
John leaned over him. "You ran away from me."
Ronon threw his arm over his eyes. "You want Rodney."
"Hey! Doesn't Rodney get any say in this?"
****
Rodney watched all his teammates be crazy people for several mintues until it sunk in that John, his John wanted him back. That Ronon didn't actually want to murder him in his sleep. That Teyla seemed to think they should all be a big poly-groupmating thing. And he was totally going to corner whoever she had to go to for her newly learned words. He might even have to kiss that person.
Now, he had all of them staring straight at him and what had his mouth done without him this time?
"Well, I mean, I'm on this team too and I think it is only fair that I get to have a say in any group orgies."
John collasped down and covered his face with both his hands. "There's not going to be any group orgies, Rodney."
"Well, why not?"
John dropped his hands to stare at him. "What?"
Rodney shrugged. "Why not? It isn't like it needs to go into a report and I'm pretty sure you'll still treat us just like you always have in the field. You did with Teyla after she and you had that night...And I'm not supposed to know that, I'll shut up now."
Teyla laughed as John covered his face again.
Ronon sat up. "How did you find out about them having shared a bed?"
John split his fingers to eye Ronon through them. "How'd you?"
Ronon curled his arms around his pulled up knees. "Teyla mentioned it."
John lolled his head, hands and all to eye Rodney.
He shrugged. "I hear things. Also, I tried to talk to you because of the knife thing and the talking thing and thinking maybe you would kick me off the team thing and your door wouldn't open and then it gave me a symbol I had to go look up. Which I couldn't find a translation for in the database, so Dr. Jackson finally translated it for me about a month ago. It meant 'having relations' which I think means it said 'go away I'm fucking' and Jackson just didn't want to be that crass."
He watched them staring, well, John was still hiding his face, at him and Rodney knew he'd have to help Teyla with this, with John, if he wanted to keep his team. And there were two more seasons of Teen Wolf to watch with them yet to catch them up to the current season.
"So. I say we work out sleep arrangements and work on John's issues with feelings at a later date."
John threw a hand at him and smacked him very gently on the thigh. "I don't have issues."
"Oh, please. You have more feelings issues than I have health problems, real or imagined." He waited for John to glare at him. "Not kidding. You do this thing when you're trying to be all heartfelt and serious that makes you look like you're facing down a Wraith." He wiggled his fingers around his own face for John to get his meaning.
"I do not."
"You do." Rodney ignored where his back was starting to ache and threw himself on top of John. "You've listened to Teyla. You want to leave?"
John flicked his eyes around and Rodney just waited him out.
Finally, John settled his eyes on Rodney's shoulder. "I'll stay."
Rodney patted him on the shoulder. "Great. Good." He slipped to one side as Teyla came to lay along his back. "We'll just lay here and work out who's sleeping with who, shall we?"
John buried his face in Rodney's neck. "Gah. I just...I'm always going to be bad at this."
Rodney patted him. "Yeah, it's pretty bad when I'm better at people than you."
Ronon snugged up against John's other side. "He's good with strangers."
John pressed his forehead against Rodney a little more. "Strangers aren't important. It is different when it's strangers."
Rodney smiled as John's hand snaked from between John's face and his neck to reach across him to Teyla's side.
"We will make lists of boundaries and limits in the morning."
Rodney craned his head around to stare at Teyla. "Please, tell me you didn't get someone to explain kink negotiations to you."
"That was Dr. Beckett's only frame of reference for how to deal with John's needs on handling feelings."
John groaned and Rodney bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Ronon leaned up on an elbow. "What is..."
Rodney put his hand over Ronon's mouth. "Later."
Teyla patted Rodney's hip. "In the morning."
****
John woke up to Ronon's dreads across his face and a pool of Rodney's drool on the lower part of his chest. His legs were cold and Teyla was standing over them holding a coffee cup and smiling down at him.
He smiled back and closed his eyes. Negotiations and his issues could wait a little longer. He had his City and his team. He didn't need much more than that.
****