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Monogamy is a strange Earthling tradition. Ronon has had it explained to him again and again by his new allies. It still barely makes sense.
Teyla so far provided the best insight. Earthlings came from a place where Wraiths and the constant threat of culling were never a reality. Their biggest threats were disease and each other. Limiting partners in a patriarchal structure fit with their resources and evolutionary constraints. Not all Earthlings partook in the tradition, but by most it is to this day deemed "normal" in almost all Earthling cultures.
Still seemed stupid. How could one partner satisfy the varied needs any being naturally had? That expectation set them up for nothing but failure.
Since he's come to stay at Atlantis Ronon has had many partners. All of them varied in genders, preferences, and endurance. And so far all of them have left him as satisfied as any one partner could. They were each wonderful, but each their own singular joy with their own limitations.
Though in the last few months Ronon will admit he's lessened his number of partners. He's not even sought out anyone new in weeks. There remain only three. He's found each extremely varied and very diverting. When one is busy, not in the mood to scratch any of Ronon's itches, or have him scratch any of theirs, another is always available. Ronon has found it the strangest synchronicity.
He must be going native. These are not only the longest lasting partners he's had, but he feels little to no compulsion to seek out anything different.
When he desires something soft, a gentle voice to guide him and give him a sturdy, beautiful altar to worship at Elizabeth Weir is who he seeks. She was hesitant when they first met, wary when Ronon began showing interest in more than just conversation and field reports. What they share together is more than worth the effort he put in to get her to agree.
Ronon feels like he is earning something when he's allowed to kneel at her feet. She orders him gently in everything. It's the greatest of gifts when he does well and pleases her. He's allowed to rest his head on her lap and turn his brain all the way off.
She's a pillar of absolute strength in the moments she allows them to share. Ronon is grateful for every second. He would never think to disobey her when they are alone in her room. He gets to his knees for her every time and uses his mouth, fingers, and cock in every way she sweetly demands.
He's never once left her room dissatisfied. He's never once left her wanting. He knew how to beg her sweetly, please and thank you. Attention and adoration are always returned with the heady pleasure of release. Ronon knows when he pleases Elizabeth and not just from the salty, sweet come on his tongue and beard.
She makes him submit with gentle orders and kindness. Ronon would never even think to disobey.
With Teyla it is very different. They train together, fight side by side in the field. They've bled together. And when Ronon asks her to force him to submit she gladly obliges. Teyla holds that same ferocious zeal for living that burns in Ronon's gut. Maybe it's just their shared origins in the Pegasus galaxy. Maybe it's something else. It makes no difference.
All that matters is that Teyla always gives him what he needs and takes everything she needs in return. They do not hold back on each other. She has punched him squarely in the face as foreplay. He's pinned her to the wall and fucked her as deeply as she ordered.
She knows how to read him when they spar. She knows how to read him when they fuck. When they train and Ronon loses badly on purpose she knows exactly what he needs from her. She knows just how to ride his face, making him work for every gasp of breath between her thighs. She makes him groan. She makes him whimper. She makes him come his brains out and sends him limping from her bed with a smile.
He admires Teyla's ferocious strength. He loves how she uses it against him. But best of all he loves how her heat fades to warmth. Her wicked smiles glitter with true joy. She is the most alive when fighting, fucking, laughing. Ronon loves fueling that flame. He loves stoking that fire with his body and soul. She warms him so perfectly in return.
When Ronon needs something completely different he comes to Sheppard. When he needs a brother in arms, another man to be stupid with, a smile and a gun callused grip on his flesh John always comes through.
He's a fellow soldier and a trusted friend. When Ronon feels stir crazy and stupid John can meet his energy and raise him even higher. Ronon trusts him, almost more than himself. But it's different from the others. He trusts that John will do what any soldier would do. He trusts John will think with his gut and act accordingly.
When they come together Ronon feels like he understands everything. He gets John and John gets him. Ronon can relax when John tells him what to do. It barely feels like trust. It just feels natural. All that John tells him to do Ronon would want to do anyway. When they fall into bed together it's like shorthand. They can tell when one needs to top more than the other. They can tell when one of them needs to be pinned to the mattress and fucked. They can tell who needs to get sucked off so they can think straight, who needs to get tied up and forced to come.
Ronon has never had another man who could just as easily tell when he needed to talk and when he needed to fuck. Shepperd has proven himself to Ronon in the field time and time again as a commander. But when they come together he is a friend, a lover, a safe haven Ronon can find the greatest satisfaction with and not have to worry he isn’t giving his partner exactly what they need.
They make an excellent complement. Ronon’s lovers. They serve as his family, his balance, his friends. And it’s the strangest thing, this monogamy of sorts. He doesn’t know if it will last forever. He’d never think to limit himself if another caught his eye. But he knows for certain that as long as his lovers welcome him to their beds, he’s exceptionally happy to be there.