Disclaimer – I don't own any characters, just borrowing!

A/N This is my very first fanfiction. I've not really clarified where in the series this is set, but there are some clues. I just wanted to take these characters out to play! Hope you like it!

Chapter 1 - Meatloaf

Ronon stared at his plate. The flat plain of his slice of meatloaf was overshadowed by a steep escarpment of mashed potato, flanked by a forest of fallen broccoli trees. Ronon found himself planning how he might ambush an overconfident party of wraith, unwarily crossing the exposed route over the meatloaf. Would he lie in wait, dropping down suddenly from a broccoli branch or would he simply pick them off from a distance, lying flat at the crest of the mash-mountain?

It occurred to Ronon as he mused (he wasn't aware that he was doing any such thing, not being given to analysing his own thought processes), that at one time he would not have given any thought whatsoever to the taste, texture or appearance of his food. Seven years a runner made for a certain... efficiency to the whole eating experience - eat anything, eat it now.

Ronon briefly looked up from his plate. The commissary at the SGC was quiet, most of the blue-clothed tables empty. Ronon sat with his back to a wall, strategically placed to observe both the main entrance and the serving area and the potential escape route to the kitchen. His eyes wandered over the pictures on the wall - various earth flying machines. Ronon wondered whether Sheppard had flown them all, whether they all went faster than two hundred miles an hour, which Sheppard liked best.

The doors to the commissary opened slowly. Teal'c. Teal'c's eyes scanned the room and fell upon Ronon. He approached in his deliberate, almost regal and yet potentially lethal manner.

"RononDex," he stated.

"Teal'c."

Silence, neither man uncomfortable, both more than content with the absence of small talk.

"Your presence is still required at the SGC?"

"Yeah. Forms. Tests. Paperwork."

Another pause. Teal'c considered.

"It was the same when I first arrived on earth. The Taur'i like to measure, to quantify. They cannot simply accept that which is offered on trust alone. Well, those in power cannot."

Ronon grunted agreement.

"You do not eat," Teal'c observed.

Ronon poked idly at the mountain with the tip of his knife. He created a small cave. If uninhabited by wild creatures it would be a safe haven.

Teal'c stood up straighter, his hands clasped behind his back. A very small smile lifted the corners of his lips.

"I recall DanielJackson once sitting, confounded by a plate of meatloaf, just as you are now." Teal'c's lips twitched. "O'Neill remarked that he should consume the meatloaf before it initiated an attack."

"Huh," Ronon responded.

"I have heard," Teal'c continued solemnly, "that there is a new establishment in Colorado Springs. I believe that it is a type of restaurant known by the Taur'i as 'All You Can Eat'". Teal'c watched Ronon, eyebrow raised in question.

Ronon looked up, meeting Teal'c's intense gaze fully.

"All you can eat?"

"Indeed."

"All you can eat?"

The eyebrow elevated further.

"All you can eat?"

The commissary doors opened again, quickly thrust aside by a blonde-haired figure, eyes fixed intently on the screen of an open laptop. Colonel Samantha Carter wove her way through the tables, fingers still tapping at her keyboard and came to a stop before the desserts. She looked up.

"Oh!" Her exclamation of disappointment drifted across the room to Teal'c and Ronon and as Sam turned away, thwarted in her mission for blue jell-o, she noticed the two men and smiled.

"Hey Teal'c, Ronon!" Teal'c inclined his head, Ronon nodded slightly. "No blue jell-o," she said, with a jerk of her head towards the counter and a rueful smile.

"Indeed," agreed Teal'c. He stepped towards her slightly. "RononDex and I have formed a plan to visit the new 'All You Can Eat' restaurant. Would you care to accompany us SamanthaCarter?"

"Oh, well, I should really finish..." She looked at the laptop. "Although, it is late, so maybe... Yes," she said decisively. "That would be great, Teal'c. I'll just drop this off and see you topside? I'll drive."