"Do you miss them?" Ronon asks, one day. There's no reason for the inquiry – Ronon mostly grunts, frowns, and plays with knives in ways that are almost amusingly familiar. He doesn't usually try to talk to Simon.

"No," Simon says, not looking up from his food. He'd hoped to be eating alone. It had been an exhausting day of too many emergencies. "I was glad to get away from them and get thrown into this insane, twisted world."

Ronon grunts, and after a moment asks, "You been spending a lot of time with McKay?"

This time, Simon half-smiles. "Oh yes. We're very close friends." And he imagines Wash starting in on McKay, or McKay stuttering as Zoe confronted him. He wonders if McKay would understand River, or if she'd drive him insane. The scenarios make his smile widen slightly.

"Huh."

"Actually," Simon continues, "I'd pay good money to go back. Anything. Everything."

Ronon grunts again, then says quietly, "Yeah. Me too."

Simon doesn't want to know Ronon's story. He's heard enough about what it's like in the Pegasus Galaxy from Teyla, from Sheppard. He's heard stories of loss and heartbreak and torture and death.

He doesn't want to know who Ronon misses, and what he longs for. But he opens his mouth and says, "My sister was experimented on by my government. I stole her away, but it was too late. She was broken in a way I couldn't fix." I don't know what is happening to her without me there, he doesn't say. I don't know if she's worse or better or even alive.

Ronon nods once. "The Wraith destroyed my planet. My people are gone."

It's Simon's turn to nod. So he does.