John_Teyla Holiday Ficathon
Heres my submission for the John_Teyla Holiday ficathon! I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas,festive period!
Title: Silent Ritual
Rating: PGish
Summary: There are many ways of dealing with guilt.
The Story is for Tielan.
Request 1: any stage of relationship from friends to lovers. "Rituals do not
always involve words, occasionas, officials, or an audience. Rituals are
often silent, solitary and self-contained." ~Robert Fulghum~
What you don't want: Mushiness. Declarations of love. Stupidity. John's
military and Teyla's self-contained, do not turn them into teenyboppers or
soap-opera characters.
So here is the story, I hope it is okay and please leave comments; it will help me improve for the future!
--------------
Silent Ritual
It had become more of a ritual to them than a mere coincidental meeting. It was a way of relaxing, a way of releasing all of the energy and emotion caused by a mission, whether it went well or not. Today’s mission had gone very badly, or at least that was what John thought. They had travelled to a seemingly abandoned, tropical planet, only to find the aftermath of a great culling. Another planet where the horror of the inhabitants as they had been fed upon had been preserved for all to see, no-one had been spared, or at least if they had it could only be assumed that they were probably many millions of miles from the unfortunate planet.
However, the bodies of so many and the lingering feeling of death and destruction was not the main cause of John’s frustration; it was what the inhabitants had left behind.
As SGA:1 had begun to explore the area surrounding the village Rodney had fallen back to take readings to check if any power sources had been activated by their presence. As it turned out it was not anything technological or anything remotely advanced that had caused the accident, just ancient traps which the population of the village had used, assumingly to protect themselves from invaders, or what ever creatures which existed in the dense forests of the world. It had been a small pad which Rodney had stood on on his way back to the team who had paused around ten metres ahead, waiting for him. As soon as it happened, if not slightly before, he realised his mistake.
After a lot of pain for Rodney, attempts to stop the flow of blood from his wounds and a rush to the gate we reach our current situation. Rodney was in the infirmary, his luck with arrows seeming to become worse with every mission that passed. Before Dr Beckett had removed them three had been shot into his body from a seemingly innocent boulder. Even though during his time in Atlantis and all of his missions as a member of SGA:1 his reactions had improved greatly it was still not enough to get him out of their path. With it being so close to Christmas he was protesting as much as he could, after the effects of the sedative had worn off of course, to remaining in the infirmary. However, the Doctor decided that no matter how used to arrow related injuries Rodney was becoming, it was important that he recovered properly.
Ronon was running; it was the way he seemed to deal with most things. Although he may not have been willing to admit it he had become quite attached to Rodney and he didn’t want a member of his new ‘family’ to be hurt.
John and Teyla were in the gym. No words had been spoken by either of them since they had visited Rodney in the infirmary. No words had been spoken as they prepared themselves to spar. They were here to work out their thoughts and feeling in a time when neither of them knew what to feel. The raw passion and emotion of their sparring somehow had a soothing effect. They circled each other slowly, building up a pattern and a rhythm which they could follow. John’s arm twitched slightly, allowing Teyla to prepare herself for the first defence of the night. Their ritual was not about winning or loosing it was about being able to sleep properly that night, and being able to look Rodney in the eye in the morning without feeling guilty. It was only when this, their silent ritual first began that John finally understood what Teyla had meant when she had said ‘It is not always about the winning’.
They moved gracefully, the power of their blows seemingly lessened by the skill of the other. It was like a dance, a dance of trust and friendship. However, it was not perfect. Occasionally a blow would fall and strike true and hit its mark, as neither John nor Teyla were perfect, both were still learning; about the galaxy, about the ritual they shared and about each other. They both paused for breath, even with the Lt. Colonel’s military training and Teyla’s life experience the extreme form of exercise took a lot out of them both, though with Teyla it was more difficult to see.
Teyla spoke gently to him then, their silent agreement broken, with a fire in her eyes. “It was not your fault John, there was nothing you could have done to protect him.”
He frowned at her, he had not wanted to discuss his thoughts on the matter, but he knew Teyla could be trusted.
He paused a few moments before giving her a reply. “There is always something that could have been done, Teyla. I want you to promise me that you won’t blame yourself for him getting hurt.”
Teyla smiled slightly, one of the Atlantean moons illuminating her with an almost supernatural glow that the city lights, no matter how bright, seemed unable to prevent.
She replied with the air of someone who had been in similar situations many times before. It was only logical for John to suppose that as the leader of the Athosians she had been forced to deal with the injuries and even deaths of other people many times before. “Do not let it concern you; I know that it was the blame of neither one of us. The important thing is that he is safe and alive, correct?”
John did not reply but jumped forwards in attack, Teyla instinctively defending until they were once again locked in a fight, neither truly searching for victory; whilst neither willing to loose.
The next morning they told no-one of their ritual, of their time spent together. They were not lovers, not yet at least although there was a great deal that suggested that it would take little for them to make the transition, and it was not their intention to give volume to any rumours which were bound to be circulating.
They ate lunch in the infirmary with Ronon and Rodney; they watched their injured family member as he gorged himself on the chocolate cake, prepared in a completely lemon and citrus free environment, by the commissary staff. Their family stretched all across Atlantis including all of the people in it and the Athosians on the mainland who, after spending so much time with, helping with their harvest and even accompanying Teyla on her regular visits, John saw them being just as much family as his fellow Earthlings.
John’s eyes were almost instinctually drawn to Teyla’s, and as they met he saw that there was no guilt, only joy which her eyes seemed willing to show. Carefully, out of view of both Ronon and Rodney, Teyla slipped a warm fork into John’s hand. He grinned at her, he was certain there would be no guilt in either of them as they claimed their share of cake.
------------
Hope it was a nice read and please comment!
WhiteTigeress00
Title: Silent Ritual
Rating: PGish
Summary: There are many ways of dealing with guilt.
The Story is for Tielan.
Request 1: any stage of relationship from friends to lovers. "Rituals do not
always involve words, occasionas, officials, or an audience. Rituals are
often silent, solitary and self-contained." ~Robert Fulghum~
What you don't want: Mushiness. Declarations of love. Stupidity. John's
military and Teyla's self-contained, do not turn them into teenyboppers or
soap-opera characters.
So here is the story, I hope it is okay and please leave comments; it will help me improve for the future!
--------------
Silent Ritual
It had become more of a ritual to them than a mere coincidental meeting. It was a way of relaxing, a way of releasing all of the energy and emotion caused by a mission, whether it went well or not. Today’s mission had gone very badly, or at least that was what John thought. They had travelled to a seemingly abandoned, tropical planet, only to find the aftermath of a great culling. Another planet where the horror of the inhabitants as they had been fed upon had been preserved for all to see, no-one had been spared, or at least if they had it could only be assumed that they were probably many millions of miles from the unfortunate planet.
However, the bodies of so many and the lingering feeling of death and destruction was not the main cause of John’s frustration; it was what the inhabitants had left behind.
As SGA:1 had begun to explore the area surrounding the village Rodney had fallen back to take readings to check if any power sources had been activated by their presence. As it turned out it was not anything technological or anything remotely advanced that had caused the accident, just ancient traps which the population of the village had used, assumingly to protect themselves from invaders, or what ever creatures which existed in the dense forests of the world. It had been a small pad which Rodney had stood on on his way back to the team who had paused around ten metres ahead, waiting for him. As soon as it happened, if not slightly before, he realised his mistake.
After a lot of pain for Rodney, attempts to stop the flow of blood from his wounds and a rush to the gate we reach our current situation. Rodney was in the infirmary, his luck with arrows seeming to become worse with every mission that passed. Before Dr Beckett had removed them three had been shot into his body from a seemingly innocent boulder. Even though during his time in Atlantis and all of his missions as a member of SGA:1 his reactions had improved greatly it was still not enough to get him out of their path. With it being so close to Christmas he was protesting as much as he could, after the effects of the sedative had worn off of course, to remaining in the infirmary. However, the Doctor decided that no matter how used to arrow related injuries Rodney was becoming, it was important that he recovered properly.
Ronon was running; it was the way he seemed to deal with most things. Although he may not have been willing to admit it he had become quite attached to Rodney and he didn’t want a member of his new ‘family’ to be hurt.
John and Teyla were in the gym. No words had been spoken by either of them since they had visited Rodney in the infirmary. No words had been spoken as they prepared themselves to spar. They were here to work out their thoughts and feeling in a time when neither of them knew what to feel. The raw passion and emotion of their sparring somehow had a soothing effect. They circled each other slowly, building up a pattern and a rhythm which they could follow. John’s arm twitched slightly, allowing Teyla to prepare herself for the first defence of the night. Their ritual was not about winning or loosing it was about being able to sleep properly that night, and being able to look Rodney in the eye in the morning without feeling guilty. It was only when this, their silent ritual first began that John finally understood what Teyla had meant when she had said ‘It is not always about the winning’.
They moved gracefully, the power of their blows seemingly lessened by the skill of the other. It was like a dance, a dance of trust and friendship. However, it was not perfect. Occasionally a blow would fall and strike true and hit its mark, as neither John nor Teyla were perfect, both were still learning; about the galaxy, about the ritual they shared and about each other. They both paused for breath, even with the Lt. Colonel’s military training and Teyla’s life experience the extreme form of exercise took a lot out of them both, though with Teyla it was more difficult to see.
Teyla spoke gently to him then, their silent agreement broken, with a fire in her eyes. “It was not your fault John, there was nothing you could have done to protect him.”
He frowned at her, he had not wanted to discuss his thoughts on the matter, but he knew Teyla could be trusted.
He paused a few moments before giving her a reply. “There is always something that could have been done, Teyla. I want you to promise me that you won’t blame yourself for him getting hurt.”
Teyla smiled slightly, one of the Atlantean moons illuminating her with an almost supernatural glow that the city lights, no matter how bright, seemed unable to prevent.
She replied with the air of someone who had been in similar situations many times before. It was only logical for John to suppose that as the leader of the Athosians she had been forced to deal with the injuries and even deaths of other people many times before. “Do not let it concern you; I know that it was the blame of neither one of us. The important thing is that he is safe and alive, correct?”
John did not reply but jumped forwards in attack, Teyla instinctively defending until they were once again locked in a fight, neither truly searching for victory; whilst neither willing to loose.
The next morning they told no-one of their ritual, of their time spent together. They were not lovers, not yet at least although there was a great deal that suggested that it would take little for them to make the transition, and it was not their intention to give volume to any rumours which were bound to be circulating.
They ate lunch in the infirmary with Ronon and Rodney; they watched their injured family member as he gorged himself on the chocolate cake, prepared in a completely lemon and citrus free environment, by the commissary staff. Their family stretched all across Atlantis including all of the people in it and the Athosians on the mainland who, after spending so much time with, helping with their harvest and even accompanying Teyla on her regular visits, John saw them being just as much family as his fellow Earthlings.
John’s eyes were almost instinctually drawn to Teyla’s, and as they met he saw that there was no guilt, only joy which her eyes seemed willing to show. Carefully, out of view of both Ronon and Rodney, Teyla slipped a warm fork into John’s hand. He grinned at her, he was certain there would be no guilt in either of them as they claimed their share of cake.
------------
Hope it was a nice read and please comment!
WhiteTigeress00