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bantha_fodderSpoken Over Time by Pen
Stargate: Atlantis, Teyla and John, PG.
For the Teyla ficathon, as organised by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tielan. The request I received was: John/Teyla: playfulness that unexpectedly turns serious - not necessarily during stickfighting.
With thanks tostorydivagirl and ladyjax.
**
"This is a game of commerce," says Teyla as she moves the top hat to Oxford Street.
"Well, sure," John says, and rolls the dice.
"Are the children of Earth so eager to imitate their elders that they must play at paperwork?"
"It's more of a game for adults," John replies. He moves three squares to Picadilly Lane, and winces; hopes briefly that she does not remember its worth.
Teyla is a leader; Teyla is a trader and a politician, and, "That is six hundred dollars," she says to him with a smile. Reluctantly, he counts the notes into her palm, then silently counts his small remaining worth.
"I'm beginning to suspect that I should never have introduced you to this game," he says wryly.
"There was little enough for me to learn," Teyla replies, and John is silent.
He gets the feeling she is laughing at him, and he frowns.
*
There is a game the children play, down by the river, and although she finds it quite simple, there is a joy she still gets in playing. She asks John to fly her across in a jumper when the gate is quiet and Elizabeth refuses to let them work. By the river, he takes off his shoes and she attempts to teach him to make little rafts, but he already knows what he is doing.
His boats win every race.
*
Teyla takes easily to the things they bring from Earth; their board games and their video games. He thinks she learns to like football, or at least put up with it, but she's patient and he appreciates that. He wonders, sometimes, the ease at which she learns other cultures and other traditions. He remembers the visit to Earth which was not a visit; he remembers her wonderment, and how easily she acclimatised to life there.
He tries to trick her with poker, but he has a terrible poker face and she laughs all the time. He introduces her to scrabble, but when she speaks there are too many words that he has yet to learn. He even resorts to teaching her hockey, but a stick is still a stick and it still hurts when she hits him.
Monopoly was a last resort, and in hindsight, not as clever an idea as he had hoped.
*
She asks Miko about her country. "It is somewhat like Major Sheppard's," Miko says, and everything after that is unfamiliar.
It is like that first day, all over again.
*
At the door to the mess, John pauses. On their own at a table, Miko is teaching Teyla to use chopsticks, and Miko's giggles drift toward the doorway.
From behind, a bump, and Rodney shoulders past. "Excuse me," he says, "I'm in a hurry. Not all of us have the luxury of being able to stroll in at the end of dinner time and eat whatever poisons have been left at the trough. I have allergies to cater for."
"Rodney," says John, as he follows Rodney into the mess. "When did you learn how to use chopsticks?"
"College," Rodney replies, "Along with how to open beer bottles with my toes and how to play Twister. Don't you have anything better to do?"
"I'll let you go," John says, and Rodney sighs. At the stupidity of all humans, John supposes.
He grins.
*
Teyla grips her sticks and swings. The sound of stick hitting flesh echoes loudly in the gym, and she pauses, concerned. "Are you okay?" she asks him, and he coughs.
"I'm good," he replies.
"You are not usually so clumsy, nor so unsure," she continues. "I am concerned that you are unwell."
"I'm fine," he insists, and his stick is a blur as he moves to hit her. She parries and deflects but she is not fully prepared and it hurts. She spins away from him and stands, a full length between them.
"Ah," she says with a wry grin, "You are trying to trick me."
"It would have worked, too, if it wasn't for those kids!" he says, and she is confused. Often his words make sense whilst his meaning does not, so she tilts her head.
"What kids?" she asks, and he smiles.
"Just a thing from Earth," he replies, as she knew he would, and swings out to try to hit her again.
The sound of stick against stick is calming, and the rhythm is like prayer.
She duels with him until they are sweating and breathing heavily, and his arm aches from where she hit it repeatedly.
It is her gift to him.
*
John greets her, and she tilts her head at the box in his arms. "Another game?" she asks.
"Twister," he replies. "It usually only comes out after a few beers, but I figure we're right to play sober."
"Are you so eager to beat me, Major?" John looks up and meets Teyla's eyes. He smiles at her.
"Nobody's as perfect as you, Teyla," he says. "You've got to lose sometime." She laughs, and he sets out the mat. "Besides, I think Jinto'll like this one."
"This is truly a children's game?" she asks, and he nods.
"It is," he says, and frowns. "Now, how are we going to spin this thing?"
*
On P4X-312, Rodney gets readings so high he can't even speak. He just points and runs, and when he stops to pant heavily, Teyla conceals a smile with a turn of her head and the heft of her weapon. The villagers are amenable to a barter of the ZPM, of course they are, because they have no need of three and Ronon, with a look to Rodney, agrees to their terms.
Teyla exchanges a look with John, and he shrugs. They turn back to Ronon, and he executes a strange dance, as instructed by the villagers and by the flashing lights in the ground at his feet.
Beside her, John snorts. "Is something wrong?" she asks him, quietly.
"No, Teyla," he replies, and leans around Teyla to speak with Doctor McKay. "Hey Rodney, does this look familiar to you?"
"I'm sure I've never seen an arcade game in my life."
"I didn't say it was an arcade game," John says, with a grin, "And I think we both know what a game of DDR looks like."
"Don't laugh," says Doctor McKay, the threat clear. "If we don't get that ZPM back to Atlantis, I'm going to use you to power the city."
Teyla rests a hand on Doctor McKay's arm, as if to soothe him. "Is this game dangerous?"
John shakes his head, and keeps on grinning. "Nah," he says. "I just wish I was the one playing it right now." His grin is infectious, and Teyla grins back at him before watching Ronon again. His moves are sleek and swift, and she wonders if this was how he was when he was running; sudden and swift and intuitive.
As Ronon brings his foot down, the ground flashes twice and he starts to fall through. He reaches out, and grabs two villagers. They tumble through with him, and the ground closes up behind them.
"What was that?" yells John, quick to anger, and even quicker to protect.
"It is the game," says the headman, and will say no more after that. John begins to move, and Teyla follows, her eyes on the ground and her ears alert. Doctor McKay follows also, no protest at the ZPM they are leaving behind.
Although John waves his weapon about, and makes threats; although Doctor McKay scans for life signs and sends them in every direction; although Teyla tries to negotiate for information and is familiar with this world, in the end, Ronon does not require their assistance to free himself.
"It was only a game," he grinds out, the fresh cuts on his face still bleeding, and tosses the ZPM from one hand to the other.
Doctor McKay whimpers.
*
He sits on the observation deck, leaning against the wall, his legs splayed out in front of him. He blinks, and Teyla obscures his vision. She bobs down in front of him. "I have not seen you in some time," she says. "I have something I wanted to show you." Teyla reaches out a hand, and it hovers in the air.
"Teyla," says John, and his voice is deeper, more regretful, than he'd like. He reaches out and curls his fingers around Teyla's; squeezes once and lets go, and releasing her hurts. "We're from different places," he says. "Our games are different. What if someone gets hurt?"
She smiles like he's joking, even though he's never been more serious. What happened on P4X-312 should never have happened, and Ronon was more than capable but he shouldn't have had to be, and he won't let that happen to Teyla.
"I trust you," she says. John pushes to his feet.
"You shouldn't," he says. "A misunderstanding-" he breaks off.
Teyla looks confused.
John walks away.
*
The light streams into the gym, yellow and golden and warm. Teyla stands in the middle of the room, her sticks at her feet, and beckons John in when he pauses in the doorway.
"I thought we weren't playing games anymore," he says, and steps to meet her. She traces an invisible circle around them.
"Usually there is someone there, and there, and there." She points, then reaches for his hands.
"Teyla," he starts, but she interrupts him; puts a finger on his lips and shushes.
"Trust me," she says, and wraps her hands around his.
In silence they move, her feet finding their way, and it is not a dance but it is not training, and John stumbles.
"I'm not so good at this game," he says, and her hands tighten in his hair.
"It is not a game," she replies, and lowers her head.
John lowers his head until their foreheads touch. She grips his elbow, and his hand is warm on her arm. "Good thing it's not," he says, and steps on her toe.
She laughs.
His grip on her arm tightens.
END
Stargate: Atlantis, Teyla and John, PG.
For the Teyla ficathon, as organised by
tielan. The request I received was: John/Teyla: playfulness that unexpectedly turns serious - not necessarily during stickfighting.With thanks to
storydivagirl and ladyjax.**
"This is a game of commerce," says Teyla as she moves the top hat to Oxford Street.
"Well, sure," John says, and rolls the dice.
"Are the children of Earth so eager to imitate their elders that they must play at paperwork?"
"It's more of a game for adults," John replies. He moves three squares to Picadilly Lane, and winces; hopes briefly that she does not remember its worth.
Teyla is a leader; Teyla is a trader and a politician, and, "That is six hundred dollars," she says to him with a smile. Reluctantly, he counts the notes into her palm, then silently counts his small remaining worth.
"I'm beginning to suspect that I should never have introduced you to this game," he says wryly.
"There was little enough for me to learn," Teyla replies, and John is silent.
He gets the feeling she is laughing at him, and he frowns.
*
There is a game the children play, down by the river, and although she finds it quite simple, there is a joy she still gets in playing. She asks John to fly her across in a jumper when the gate is quiet and Elizabeth refuses to let them work. By the river, he takes off his shoes and she attempts to teach him to make little rafts, but he already knows what he is doing.
His boats win every race.
*
Teyla takes easily to the things they bring from Earth; their board games and their video games. He thinks she learns to like football, or at least put up with it, but she's patient and he appreciates that. He wonders, sometimes, the ease at which she learns other cultures and other traditions. He remembers the visit to Earth which was not a visit; he remembers her wonderment, and how easily she acclimatised to life there.
He tries to trick her with poker, but he has a terrible poker face and she laughs all the time. He introduces her to scrabble, but when she speaks there are too many words that he has yet to learn. He even resorts to teaching her hockey, but a stick is still a stick and it still hurts when she hits him.
Monopoly was a last resort, and in hindsight, not as clever an idea as he had hoped.
*
She asks Miko about her country. "It is somewhat like Major Sheppard's," Miko says, and everything after that is unfamiliar.
It is like that first day, all over again.
*
At the door to the mess, John pauses. On their own at a table, Miko is teaching Teyla to use chopsticks, and Miko's giggles drift toward the doorway.
From behind, a bump, and Rodney shoulders past. "Excuse me," he says, "I'm in a hurry. Not all of us have the luxury of being able to stroll in at the end of dinner time and eat whatever poisons have been left at the trough. I have allergies to cater for."
"Rodney," says John, as he follows Rodney into the mess. "When did you learn how to use chopsticks?"
"College," Rodney replies, "Along with how to open beer bottles with my toes and how to play Twister. Don't you have anything better to do?"
"I'll let you go," John says, and Rodney sighs. At the stupidity of all humans, John supposes.
He grins.
*
Teyla grips her sticks and swings. The sound of stick hitting flesh echoes loudly in the gym, and she pauses, concerned. "Are you okay?" she asks him, and he coughs.
"I'm good," he replies.
"You are not usually so clumsy, nor so unsure," she continues. "I am concerned that you are unwell."
"I'm fine," he insists, and his stick is a blur as he moves to hit her. She parries and deflects but she is not fully prepared and it hurts. She spins away from him and stands, a full length between them.
"Ah," she says with a wry grin, "You are trying to trick me."
"It would have worked, too, if it wasn't for those kids!" he says, and she is confused. Often his words make sense whilst his meaning does not, so she tilts her head.
"What kids?" she asks, and he smiles.
"Just a thing from Earth," he replies, as she knew he would, and swings out to try to hit her again.
The sound of stick against stick is calming, and the rhythm is like prayer.
She duels with him until they are sweating and breathing heavily, and his arm aches from where she hit it repeatedly.
It is her gift to him.
*
John greets her, and she tilts her head at the box in his arms. "Another game?" she asks.
"Twister," he replies. "It usually only comes out after a few beers, but I figure we're right to play sober."
"Are you so eager to beat me, Major?" John looks up and meets Teyla's eyes. He smiles at her.
"Nobody's as perfect as you, Teyla," he says. "You've got to lose sometime." She laughs, and he sets out the mat. "Besides, I think Jinto'll like this one."
"This is truly a children's game?" she asks, and he nods.
"It is," he says, and frowns. "Now, how are we going to spin this thing?"
*
On P4X-312, Rodney gets readings so high he can't even speak. He just points and runs, and when he stops to pant heavily, Teyla conceals a smile with a turn of her head and the heft of her weapon. The villagers are amenable to a barter of the ZPM, of course they are, because they have no need of three and Ronon, with a look to Rodney, agrees to their terms.
Teyla exchanges a look with John, and he shrugs. They turn back to Ronon, and he executes a strange dance, as instructed by the villagers and by the flashing lights in the ground at his feet.
Beside her, John snorts. "Is something wrong?" she asks him, quietly.
"No, Teyla," he replies, and leans around Teyla to speak with Doctor McKay. "Hey Rodney, does this look familiar to you?"
"I'm sure I've never seen an arcade game in my life."
"I didn't say it was an arcade game," John says, with a grin, "And I think we both know what a game of DDR looks like."
"Don't laugh," says Doctor McKay, the threat clear. "If we don't get that ZPM back to Atlantis, I'm going to use you to power the city."
Teyla rests a hand on Doctor McKay's arm, as if to soothe him. "Is this game dangerous?"
John shakes his head, and keeps on grinning. "Nah," he says. "I just wish I was the one playing it right now." His grin is infectious, and Teyla grins back at him before watching Ronon again. His moves are sleek and swift, and she wonders if this was how he was when he was running; sudden and swift and intuitive.
As Ronon brings his foot down, the ground flashes twice and he starts to fall through. He reaches out, and grabs two villagers. They tumble through with him, and the ground closes up behind them.
"What was that?" yells John, quick to anger, and even quicker to protect.
"It is the game," says the headman, and will say no more after that. John begins to move, and Teyla follows, her eyes on the ground and her ears alert. Doctor McKay follows also, no protest at the ZPM they are leaving behind.
Although John waves his weapon about, and makes threats; although Doctor McKay scans for life signs and sends them in every direction; although Teyla tries to negotiate for information and is familiar with this world, in the end, Ronon does not require their assistance to free himself.
"It was only a game," he grinds out, the fresh cuts on his face still bleeding, and tosses the ZPM from one hand to the other.
Doctor McKay whimpers.
*
He sits on the observation deck, leaning against the wall, his legs splayed out in front of him. He blinks, and Teyla obscures his vision. She bobs down in front of him. "I have not seen you in some time," she says. "I have something I wanted to show you." Teyla reaches out a hand, and it hovers in the air.
"Teyla," says John, and his voice is deeper, more regretful, than he'd like. He reaches out and curls his fingers around Teyla's; squeezes once and lets go, and releasing her hurts. "We're from different places," he says. "Our games are different. What if someone gets hurt?"
She smiles like he's joking, even though he's never been more serious. What happened on P4X-312 should never have happened, and Ronon was more than capable but he shouldn't have had to be, and he won't let that happen to Teyla.
"I trust you," she says. John pushes to his feet.
"You shouldn't," he says. "A misunderstanding-" he breaks off.
Teyla looks confused.
John walks away.
*
The light streams into the gym, yellow and golden and warm. Teyla stands in the middle of the room, her sticks at her feet, and beckons John in when he pauses in the doorway.
"I thought we weren't playing games anymore," he says, and steps to meet her. She traces an invisible circle around them.
"Usually there is someone there, and there, and there." She points, then reaches for his hands.
"Teyla," he starts, but she interrupts him; puts a finger on his lips and shushes.
"Trust me," she says, and wraps her hands around his.
In silence they move, her feet finding their way, and it is not a dance but it is not training, and John stumbles.
"I'm not so good at this game," he says, and her hands tighten in his hair.
"It is not a game," she replies, and lowers her head.
John lowers his head until their foreheads touch. She grips his elbow, and his hand is warm on her arm. "Good thing it's not," he says, and steps on her toe.
She laughs.
His grip on her arm tightens.
END
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 02:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 02:57 am (UTC)*loves*
And I don't even ship this pairing :) That final scene is just marvellous! :) 小bantha的饲料: 谢谢你让我们分享你的故事!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:34 pm (UTC)Oh! Whilst I remember have you seen a movie called 我的父亲母亲？
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 01:07 pm (UTC)哇! 我没想到你也读过我的故事因为我知道你觉得我的 preferred ships 大部分没有道理哈哈!
希望你多多写 Stargate Atlantis 的故事 .... John/Teyla, Ronan/Weir, John/Elizabeth, Lorne/Novak 吧! 求求你!!! 只是,千万别写 Sheppard/McKay! 我真的受不了那个 pairing :P
关于我上述所提到的喜欢的 '船', 我早知道虽然你不支持有些 ship 你还能写特别动人的故事 比如 Cedric & Hermione, Sharon/Apollo. 我有证据 - 亲眼看过. 呵呵!
have you seen a movie called 我的父亲母亲？
看过 .... 感觉很好看可是特别难过. I cried buckets and buckets!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 02:26 pm (UTC)EXCELLENT. :o)
I cried buckets and buckets!
I just saw it last week! It was so incredibly sad - I tried not to cry, because I was with other people, but at the end, with the procession and all the students who came back to the town, walking in the dark? I cried. I am getting sad just thinking of it! It was a very beautiful moment. I think I would like to own a copy of this movie.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 03:34 am (UTC)I love those two. And you nailed all of the character voices. I feel like I just saw a new episode.
::contented sigh::
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 04:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 05:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:06 pm (UTC)Love the story and the execution of it, the way they interact and the differences between their cultures and how they look at things. Great job, very pleased. Thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 12:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 04:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 11:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 07:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 11:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-30 11:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-04 10:11 am (UTC)Glad you enjoyed!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-01 11:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-04 10:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-04 04:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-04 10:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-06 05:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-09 07:31 am (UTC)Thank you so much for writing in this ficathon!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-05 09:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-05 12:22 pm (UTC)