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Of all the cultures they had encountered, of all the customs they had seen, it was those of the Americans that baffled Rodney the most. Through their travels they had discovered numerous different cultures, each with its own set of customs. Some cultures were patriarchal, some matriarchal, some said prayers before meals, and some celebrated with dance and song. While some of the customs were familiar to those from Earth, others were foreign, but still respected as a part of that people’s society.
Despite what Rodney might say of the softer sciences, he was fascinated by the traditions they found, and set his mind to learning more about them. After all, knowing more about people, gave him a better understanding of how to deal with them. He had always had a thirst for knowledge, and this was just one of the less obvious ways that was fed. He kept silent about the observations he made, hording the knowledge for himself. Doing the same on Atlantis, not wanting to be caught at a disadvantage by any of the community that had formed there.
It had surprised him, that the behavior of those from his own planet, who he should have felt closest to, was often baffling to him. The gruff machoness the military held onto had always seemed rather odd to him. All too often the military and even some of the others on Atlantis hid themselves behind their fighter exterior, not wanting to seem emotional or weak. Rodney had never thought of emotions as weak, to him they were something he could draw on to give him strength. While he might not express everything, he rarely held in something out of worry for how it would appear.
One of the biggest things he noticed, was touch, or rather lack of it. While people felt comfortable hugging after life or death situations, or giving manly high fives or pat on the backs for a job well done. Rarely did they seem touch to just for the pleasure of it, instead holding themselves somewhat contained, not wanting to do something inappropriate. Living in Atlantis, in another galaxy, with all the weirdness that brought, Rodney would have thought that some of the social restrictions would have started to dissipate. Yet they hadn’t, instead being held onto as strongly as ever.
He knew that it puzzled Telya and Ronon on occasion. They were much freer with their affection and more confident with themselves physically than those from Earth. They didn’t worry that their actions would be misinterpreted; instead they were sure that they got want they wanted to across. The restrictions those from Earth places on themselves, did not make sense to their way of thinking. It was something he actually agreed with.
Touch had always been important to him, never more so because it was so often withheld. While his parents had never been overtly abusive, they were never really affectionate, and so he had grown up almost touch starved. Being the genius that he was hadn’t helped matters, as often turned people away with his intelligence and personality. Yet, he always longed for physical touch from those around him, those he cared about.
Babies who lacked touch could fade away and die, the human need for it so great. Touch was what gave people a real physical connection to the world around them. It’s what grounded them, reminded them that they weren’t alone. For Rodney it was all that and more. Touch was what comforted him and made him feel safe and loved, as he cuddled with John in bed. Confident that as long as he could feel the other man, the nightmares would stay away, and everything would be okay in the end.