Hold On, Hold On, Hold On

There was no indication how they knew exactly, when Rodney returned to his lab the following day, but he became aware of the change almost immediately. Whether they sensed it somehow as soon as he came into the room, or whether there had been some telepathic tom-peepery going on last night, he would be left to wonder. The first thing he noted after his initial anxiety at being alone once again with his lab ‘assistants’ was the fact that they all stopped what they were doing when he stepped through the door and turned towards him, standing straight, eyes lowered, for a second or two before returning to their work. It was, he realized, a less formal version of a salute, and an extremely efficient morning greeting.



It was all about posture and body language with the Wraith. It showed now in the little things, like they way they turned to him when he was talking to them, instead of doing their level best to ignore him even if he was shouting in their faces, or the way they suddenly acknowledged his personal space boundaries. They stood a respectable arm’s length away when they were working near him, they didn’t ‘accidentally’ bump into him anymore, and they actually moved out of the way when he approached to go past them.

The best part, the best part, was that they now took great pains to avoid eye contact, unless he was addressing them directly. He no longer had to meet their challenging gazes with every order he gave, and he no longer felt them watching him hungrily everywhere he went.



It was good. Really good. So much better than the time Rodney had returned to find half of them replaced, and the other half sporting cuts, fractures, and missing teeth, part of their punishment for an earlier vicious attack on their human ‘supervisor’. Then, he’d had to endure the collective glare of eight angry Wraith, half of whom were in pain because of him, and the other half having been pulled from other, more comfortable positions to work for a weak, whiny human.



He still kept the heaviest wrench-like tool he could find tucked in his belt, and he still watched them all out of the corner of his eye, but after the first few days he could actually concentrate on his work without worrying about another attack.



Rodney and his team started making better progress, and Todd began coming around to check on the project, which Rodney enjoyed for the fact that he was the only one around who could understand Rodney’s new ideas without needing to have them explained five times and with finger puppets. Sometimes he even stayed to discuss them, and to help Rodney tinker with the equipment.



It was on such a night, about a week after their union, that Todd stayed later than usual, and the discussions began to waver off of the subject of science.

“How many kids?”



The Wraith shrugged. “No more than a few hundred are left alive now, I’m sure. The war has taken its toll.”



“But… they’re not all here with you now, are they?”



“No. They were scattered even before I was captured. I know not where.”



“What, you don’t… keep in touch, you know, on birthdays or anything?”

At this, the Wraith threw back his head and laughed.



“Parental bonds mean very little to the Wraith. I gave them my genes and owe them nothing. They will live and die on their own strengths.”



Rodney shook his head. “And I thought my dad was a rotten father.”

Seated across from him, the Wraith chose one of the pieces from their playing board and moved it. Rodney considered his options, trying to veer his mind away from the dreadful implication that he technically had step-children.



The game was a Genii pastime, similar to chess. Todd had learned it watching his jailers during captivity. He’d taught it only recently to Rodney in compensation for the fact that most Wraith games played on the ship during recreational hours were far too violent to be played by humans, and Rodney was always complaining that there was ‘nothing to do’.



It wasn’t long before Rodney moved again. The game was simple to learn, but unfamiliar enough to both of them that they were still working out advanced strategies.



“What about their mother, your, ah, first wife. Did she. . .scatter away somewhere as well?” inquired Rodney, imagining that Wraith queens couldn’t possibly be monogamous, but not having the courage to ask.



Todd fixed him with a glare. “If she were still alive I would be with her now. The bond between mates is one that means a great deal to Wraith.”



“Oh. I’m sorry.”



The Wraith shook his head. “No need. While she was alive I was utterly devoted to her, so much so that I nearly didn’t survive her death. Now looking back, I see how the experience shaped me for the better. Assuming control over the hive that had once been hers gave me a taste for power, which I have never lost, and which has been a great… comfort,” he concluded, grinning wolfishly.



“That’s… nice,” muttered Rodney, unable to think of anything else worth saying. The Wraith’s grin had far too many pointed teeth, which still, after all this time, frightened him. He shifted his concentration back to the game.



All of this reminiscing had thrown Todd off, it seemed, because Rodney won in five more turns.



“Ha!” he exclaimed, putting his last piece down triumphantly. “You. Lose. Care for a rematch?” he asked sunnily.



The Wraith smiled in return. Rodney thought he looked awfully pleased for someone who had just lost a game. Most people would be annoyed at this point, and Rodney did so enjoy that look of defeat.



“Perhaps another day,” proposed the Wraith. “I believe it is now time for me to accompany you to your room.”



“Already? It’s not that late…” Rodney’s smile faded as the implication sank in. “Oh. You mean, to… Again?”



“Yes.”



Rodney winced. “Why? I mean, if we don’t for a long enough time, do we stop being mated or something?”



“No. I’m asking because I want to. I’d forgotten how pleasurable the act of coupling could be.” The Wraith reached out to touch Rodney’s cheek with the barest of caresses. “I was under the impression that you were not unsatisfied the last time we were together.”



His jaw set, Rodney wanted to argue, but found he couldn’t. He was ashamed of what had happened the last time, of how he’d reacted, so much so that he couldn’t bring himself to explain it.



“If you insist,” he finally assented.



*~*~*



The second time was easier. He knew what to expect, and he knew where all of the Wraith’s clothing needed to be unfastened. This time when Todd first pressed his stiff cock into Rodney’s carefully prepared entrance, he hardly felt any burning at all. The keen embarrassment he’d felt the last time still jabbed him sharply, but it soon faded, leaving only arousal.



He kept his eyes open and watched the Wraith, who in turn watched him. His gaze traveled slowly over Rodney’s body with a quiet intensity that Rodney found to be almost as intrusive as the warm, slickened cock moving inside of him. The Wraith’s hands, which had been still the first time, scraped softly over Rodney’s skin and lingered to caress the spots that made Rodney’s breath hitch.



When Todd reached down to stroke his hard, leaking cock, Rodney allowed it without objection, only watched, and let the fear and the arousal he felt mingle freely. He looked into those terrifying alien eyes and felt his body respond wholly without his volition. He lifted his hips and spread his legs further, and saw his mate’s black, slitted pupils dilate fully at the sight.



A wave of pleasure built, and Rodney let it wash over him while the Wraith sped up and growled with the effort of ploughing himself into the soft flesh of Rodney’s opening.

When they both collapsed, spent and exhausted, and the Wraith rolled off of him, Rodney lay panting, his eyes closed, feeling the warm fluid dripping out of him and the hum of his sated body. He thought of absolutely nothing.



“Meredith Rodney McKay,” said his mate beside him, giving Rodney a twinge of satisfaction that was somehow unrelated to the carnal pleasures he had just enjoyed.

“Yes, Sekarr…?” Rodney murmured sleepily.



But his mate had no reply. He seemed to have only wanted to say the name out loud, and let it stand as a statement on its own, as though it meant much more. Delighted to hear his own name in return, he rolled over to draw the human close, and hold him while Rodney drifted into a deep sleep.



*~*~*