"You cannot be serious!" Teyla looked Sheppard straight in the eye.
He smiled, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "Why, yes I am." He noted her reluctance, and helped herup the stairs. "Come on! I'm not asking for a lot, just I need a little help that's all."
She raised a brow. "Help?" she asked cautiously, stopping halfway. There was something about his request that screamed that he was hiding his real intentions.
"Yeah, help." He shifted slightly and continued, "I need a little leverage for my little bet against Lorne."
Teyla brushed away his once-helpful arm and continued to mount the stairs alone.
"A bet against Lorne, Colonel?" she asked aloofly. "You implore my help to fabricate a romantic bond between Ronon and Dr. Keller?"
Sheppard followed after her, leaping two and then three steps at a time. "Well when you put it like that, it's not really romantic is it?"
Teyla ignored his jibe. "And forcing two adults into a relationship is not, I suppose?" She made for the quarter's door, but Sheppard – as quick as lightning – barred her way. For a pregnant woman, she sure knew how to make a man chase after her.
"I guess McKay hasn't shown you yet." Taking her hand, he excitedly led her to McKay's lab, wondering what on Earth had gotten into Colonel Sheppard.
Keller sighed. She had taken up the position of the Chief of Medicine for the Atlantis Expedition for a reason, and the reason being stress. No sooner had she hesitantly accepted the position, problems of all kind arose, knocking at her door without end. She'd admit to some degree that as a doctor that nothing she could do or say could ever stop her from treating a person, but what was one to do if the very definition of her career relied solely on treating the same person over and over?
"Ronon," she sighed. "Isn't there anything else that you enjoy doing that does not involve violence?"
He eyed her strangely. "Not really."
She had noted his frequent visits to the infirmary. There was nothing appealing about being constantly injured, but realised that she knew very little about the Satedan male sitting stoically beside her.
"You can't think of one thing? None at all?" Her hands began to tremble, but fought off her nervousness and continued to suture the wound on his forehead.
"Does drinking coun – OW!"
Keller mumbled an apology at her clumsiness.
"I guess now I know a little more about you."
"Yeah, I guess." She offered him a weak smile and carried on.
An awkward silence followed. Since the quarantine scare a few weeks ago, Keller had been on the toes whenever it came to Ronon. She had found herself replaying the same moment over and over, secretly wishing that Zalenka had not been successful. Stupid woman, berated internally. And where do you think you'd be if he hadn't? The thought raked at her miserably, and as if to add salt to her wounds, Ronan remained in a perpetual state of obliviousness and continued to seek out the infirmary at his leisure.
To her honest joy, Colonel Sheppard paraded into the infirmary to see how his friend was holding up. As if there was any need, Keller added silently.
"How's my baby?" he joked lightly. "He won't have to stay overnight will he?"
"Of course not, it was anything major: just a few stitches that shouldn't take long to heal. Just try not to let it happen again." She packed her things away.
"You're kidding right?" scoffed Ronon.
"Uhh-"
"Are you guys feeling up to a midnight rendezvous with the recreation room?" Sheppard interrupted boldly. "I snuck in a request for more movies and popcorn."
"S-sure. I've got the night off." she turned to Ronon before abruptly setting her gaze elsewhere. He shrugged indifferently.
"Cool, well I guess I should remind you to turn up in your pj's. Nothing ruins a good ol' sneak-out if you're not in your pj's!" He left as jovially as a love-struck teenager, which was more than what could be said about the remaining pair.
Ronon cocked his head towards Keller. "What are pj's?"
She mulled over her answer, thinking of the best way to explain a concept she took for granted. "Well, it's what people from Earth wear to bed," she explained. "It's short for pyjamas."
He frowned, his reaction far from the one that she had imagined. "I don't think I have anything..." Colour rose to her cheeks. She turned, eager to leave and squeaked that what he was wearing was fine.
Outside, John stifled his laughter as Teyla looked on in confusion. The people on Earth have very strange customs, she mused. A smile played upon her lips as he jittery described the encounter, reassuring her with stubborn certainty that the sparks were truly there.
Teyla and Keller were late. Popcorn lay sporadically upon the floor, causalities of Ronon and Sheppard's boredom. Rocking backwards and forwards, Sheppard observed his friend's unusually passive response to their plight. It was almost humbling.
"So," began Ronon. "When are you and Teyla hooking up?"
A rogue kernel spluttered past. "Hooking up? Me? Teyla? No!"
"Why not?" The smile in his eyes did not help. "You look at her like you want to eat her. You know, with your eyes wide and –"
Sheppard shot up. "You are one sick bastard you know that?"
"You're not denying it," he chuckled, causing Sheppard to glare – but he saw past it.
"Well I am now," he shot back, slowly. "I look at her like any man would a pregnant woman. It's been a long time since I've seen a pregnant woman before, okay?"
"There's an old saying, 'Satedan soldiers make a very healthy country."
Sheppard choked breathlessly, burying his head in his hands. "Ronon. I'm ordering you to shut up."
"That's not very nice," said a familiar voice from behind. Ronon and Sheppard rose on instinct and caught their breaths. It took the women all of a late, single second to realise that they had fallen for Sheppard's joke. Keller winced at the sight that she had scarred them with, being dressed in her one and only rubber ducky pyjamas. Teyla, sharply sensing her friend's apprehension not to mention her own, ushered her companion back the way they had come. Sheppard gave chase and urged them back. He helped Teyla settle beside him.
"It's fine really. We don't mind, do we Ronon?" The tall, dark man did not respond – not even when Sheppard threw some popcorn at him. Teyla smacked at his hand.
"Ronon?" Keller asked nervously, jumping up and down; waving her hands in front of him.
"Yes?"
"Could you-are you- excuse me," she muttered, as she slide her way across to Teyla's side. Ronon kindly stepped out of her way. Whoa, was all the reaction he could muster. The taste of popcorn no longer held his fascination; only to be replaced by splays of unsettling yellow.
John and Teyla, on the other hand, were lost in their own little world, violently arguing which movie to watch. Keller looked on enviously, craving how easily their friendship had blossomed. She could say very little of their other companion – she couldn't tell if he was bored or if his intention was to scare her into conversation.
In any case, the Satedan instilled a fear within her that she had not felt in a very long time. It's almost like that – Oh my! Just like that time he shuffled silently towards her, offering the same arm on which to rest her head. Their closeness left her unsettled and her feathers blatantly ruffled.
"Why don't you pick a movie?" she asked stiffly. He nodded and leaned over, making her regret ever asking him. On her right, Teyla and Sheppard sat peacefully next to each other, watching the exchange.
"See, it's working," Sheppard whispered in her ear.
"How can you tell?"
"Ronon never picks the movie to watch. He just grunts and lets me choose. He's flirting with her."
"John, Ronon is not courting her. He's just being polite." She didn't flinch at – nor notice - the warm arm curling its way around her back and onto her shoulder.
"Sure, whatever you say Teyla."
Nearly an hour into their movie, Teyla had lazily snuggled up against to Sheppard. They had both fallen asleep. Keller curled her arms around her knees – leaning against the back of the seat the four of them shared.
Ronon had not said a word to her, strangely enough. She was so used to probing for the sordid reasons behind his injuries that she could not think of a way – none at all – to start some conversation. She could tell though, whenever he wriggled and squirmed because his weight would let her gravitate closer and closer. Whenever he did this, she took to focusing her attention dead ahead at the bright screen, afraid to let her glance wander.
This is getting horribly uncomfortable, she thought as he shifted once more. But this time, she could feel something warm tickle at her neck, and realised that he was looking at her. Her lips felt dry the very moment she began trembling.
"You are cold." It was a statement rather than a question.
"A little. I guess my pyjamas aren't really warm enough for our cold, dark city." Keller resisted the urge to flinch at the warm arm curling its way around her back. She braved a look at those intriguing eyes and saw within them something she did not expect: warmth; longing; and deep down, a need that she could only fulfil.
There was nothing that could tear her eyes away; she was lost in the heat of it all. She realised with a pang of guilt, that she had wanted this feeling – his warmth, his presence, all of it – from the very beginning. It surprised both of them, when he lowered his mouth upon hers, bringing an end to what they had failed to finish. She did not protest, she did not flinch. Keller did, however, kiss him back, and in the midst of it all ended up nestled upon his lap.
Now with both arms firmly around her, there was nothing Ronon wanted more than to hold her closer.
"Ronon?"
"Hmm?""
"You're very warm," she giggled, before burying her head against his chest. Quite soon, exhaustion got the better of them and fell asleep.
A little later, Sheppard woke up not only to find Teyla in his arms but Keller snuggled up nicely against Ronon as well. Well, would you look at that he exclaimed quietly. Ronon's all grown up!
Major Lorne was not a happy soldier. He had lost two bets that morning. First to Sheppard who bet that Ronon and Keller would hook up; and second to Ronon who guessed rightly about Sheppard's successful come-ons towards Teyla.