Jennifer walked into her darkened room, kicking off her shoes as she went. She knew her way around so well by now that lights weren't necessary. Besides, she preferred the gentler light of her lamp to the overhead lights. Throwing her jacket over a chair, she hummed to herself as she made her way across the room.
"Stay away from McKay," a voice rumbled in the dark.
Jennifer jumped.
"Ronon! You scared me half to death!" she said, taking a deep breath to steady her frantically beating heart.
"Sorry," he said, detaching himself from the shadows and coming towards her.
"What are you doing standing here in the dark? Why didn't you turn the light on?" Jennifer asked, peering at him questioningly in the gloom.
Ronon shrugged, his form outlined by the faint light of the window.
"I like the dark," he said.
"I know you do. Can I turn on a light?" Jennifer asked.
Again, Ronon shrugged. He walked over to her bedside, and turned on the lamp there. Instantly, light flooded the room. He folded his arms over his chest and smiled at her.
"Hi," Jennifer said with a smile.
Ronon grinned, and in two steps he had crossed the room and gathered her up in his arms.
"Hi," he responded, holding her close. Gently, he placed a kiss on the top of her head. "You scared me today, you know."
"I know. I'm sorry. It was supposed to be routine, I swear."
"I know," Ronon replied. "That's why I wanted to go with you. You have a habit of getting into trouble."
"I do not!" Jennifer protested, pulling away from him.
Ronon gave her a pointed look.
"Ok, ok, so I get into a bit of trouble," Jennifer admitted. "That's why you gave me those sparring lessons."
"They served you in good stead. You were amazing today."
"Oh yeah?" Jennifer blushed, pleased with his praise.
"Yeah. I was so proud of you. You know what it made me want to do?" Ronon said, drawing her closer again.
"What?"
Ronon bent down, and kissed her. Immediately, heat flooded Jennifer's veins, making her blood sing. She tangled her fingers in his long dreds, drawing him closer.
"I had to stop myself in front of McKay," Ronon said, leaning his forehead against hers.
Jennifer giggled.
"He probably would have died of surprise," she asked.
"I should have…it would have been worth it to see his mouth hang open," Ronon countered, kissing her again.
"You… you were saying something about Rodney before?" Jennifer asked, gathering her scattered thoughts.
"Yeah. Stay away from him."
Jennifer frowned.
"Why?"
"He came to talk to me today. He wanted to know what my intentions were. Towards you," Ronon said.
Jennifer, who had just poured herself a glass of water and taken a sip, choked.
"Your intentions?"
"Yeah. He wanted to know if I had any romantic interest in you," Ronon said, a wicked gleam coming into his eye.
"And just what are your intentions, Mr. Dex?" Jennifer asked, a smile forming on her lips.
"I thought I made them clear enough," Ronon said gruffly. He kissed her again, slowly.
Jennifer giggled.
"I think that's pretty clear. I can't believe Rodney asked you that."
"He likes you," Ronon said disapprovingly.
"I know," Jennifer sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"You don't like him back, do you?" Ronon asked, almost anxiously.
Jennifer scoffed.
"Come on, Ronon. It was one drink."
"You gave him the wrong idea," Ronon grumbled.
"So he asked your intentions?"
"Yeah," Ronon said. "He asked me if I was… interested in you."
"Is that all you are? Interested?" Jennifer teased, cuddling close to him.
Ronon laughed, and Jennifer heard it rumble in his chest.
"Very interested," he said.
"Did you tell him to stay away from your girl?" Jennifer asked, her eyes dancing.
"If I had to do that, you wouldn't be my girl," Ronon answered, gently stroking her hair.
Jennifer pulled away from him, her face worried.
"Please tell me you didn't beat Rodney to a pulp!" she said.
Ronon smirked.
"I wanted to. Skinny little know-it-all trying to steal my girl out from under me."
"To be fair to him, he didn't know I was your girl," Jennifer reminded him.
"True. My Jennifer," Ronon said, holding her to him possessively.
"So what did you do if you didn't beat him up?" Jennifer asked, smiling.
"We decided to let you choose between us."
Jennifer looked thoughtful.
"Well, Rodney is cute…" she said.
"Hey!" Ronon protested.
"Well he is! He's also rude and arrogant and a self-important hypochondriac."
"You like to talk to him, though," Ronon said. "He can keep up with you."
"He has nothing to teach me about himself. I like man with a little mystery. Besides, you don't need a PhD to be intelligent. You show me your intelligence in unexpected ways," Jennifer reminded him.
"Like how?" Ronon asked.
"Like your amazing tracking stills today, and your deep empathy with that runner, and your capacity for kindness.
"It was McKay's technogadget that saved you today though," Ronon said, his forehead wrinkling. "Are you sure you don't want someone like him?"
Jennifer smiled.
"Pretty sure," she said.
Ronon took her hand, and laced their fingers together.
"Good. Because I would have had to beat him up if you'd said yes."
Jennifer rolled her eyes.
"We decided to let the best man win," Ronon said.
Jennifer looked up into Ronon's eyes, and smiled.
"I think he has."
Author's Note: So the conversation between Ronon and McKay in "Tracker" really made me think. I expected Ronon to be a lot more angry that McKay was admitting he was interested in the same girl. But instead Ronon just sort of smirked. Which made me think that maybe he had Jennifer already, and Rodney just amused him.