cover you warm (sga | elizabeth/teyla)

[fiachairecht]

cover you warm. stargate atlantis, elizabeth/teyla. sleepy harvest festival cuddles and musings on home. 1.8k words, rated t.

The sunset took hours on the mainland this time of year. It was one of the newest things Elizabeth had learned about their planet, and right now it wasn't particularly her favorite, because it meant that the Athosian's harvest festival showed no signs of ending.

Not that the Athosians didn't know how to put on an excellent party. Maybe that was one of the things you learned when every day without sign of the Wraith on your doorstep was cause for a celebration. But this was also the longest Elizabeth had spent away from the city — or even her paperwork — that wasn't for a trip to Earth in longer than she cared to think. Which, she smiled wryly, was probably why Teyla had been so insistent that she join her for the festival, even going so far as to rope John and Carson into her recruitment efforts.

She took another sip of the Athosian ale, scanning the clearing for her people. The Athosian invitation had been for everyone in the city, but between those who were on duty, those who didn't like the jumpers, and those who didn't like parties, there were probably only around fifty of her people here. Those she could see seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Lieutenant Cadman, who had acquired a hat in the shape of what seemed to be a disturbing cross between a bear and a chicken from one of the children. Ronon was examining knives with some of the hunters, John was deep in conversation with Halling, and Teyla was...

"Elizabeth!"

Speak of the devil. Teyla was threading her way through groups of people, table, and fire pits, balancing a tray above her head, and Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat at the sight of her. In a cropped tank top and long, beaded slit skirt, firelight sending shadows dancing across her skin, she looked more beautiful than Elizabeth had ever seen her. Her own jeans and layered tanktops felt positively drab in comparison.

"Teyla!" She set down her drink and raised a hand to beckon Teyla to her, though the other woman had already been heading more or less directly toward her table. She wasn't sure Teyla had heard her over the music, but the other woman quickened her pace and soon enough was standing in front of her.

Teyla offered her the tray, which was covered in a truly impressive array of pastries. "Eat," she said. When Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, she added, "I have been watching you tonight, Elizabeth. Even from a distance I can tell you've spent more time worrying about being away from Atlantis than enjoying the celebration."

"That's not true," Elizabeth protested, but it sounded weak even to her own ears and stood no chance of convincing Teyla's own skeptically raised eyebrow. The amount of picking at one of the truly wonderful meat dishes a few hours ago only counted as eating when measured against her worse days in the city, and she had spent nearly the entire party at the edges of various groups.

Teyla set the tray down and swung herself onto the bench, giving Elizabeth's hand a quick squeeze. "Eat," she repeated. "Or I shall feed you myself."

"Is that a promise?" Elizabeth asked, and she blamed the ale for it coming out a little more flirtatiously than she had meant it to.

Teyla's eyes widened, the spark of mischief unmistakable. "Would you like that?" she countered.

And suddenly there was nothing Elizabeth wanted more in the world. "Yes," she said softly, trying to ignore the heat coiling in her belly, "but perhaps later, when there's less chance of us acquiring an audience."

"I agree," Teyla sighed, and Elizabeth took comfort in the twinge of regret she could hear in her voice. "Well," she said, turning back to the table, "in that case, you should start with this." She handed Elizabeth something that looked rather like a cookie-shaped chocolate eclair.

"Why?" Elizabeth grinned. "Did you make...oh," she trailed off, question forgotten, as she bit into the pastry. If this was the closest the Pegasus Galaxy had to chocolate, she might even be tempted into giving up Earth chocolate altogether.

"Please, Elizabeth, you've seen me in a kitchen."

Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, last New Year's Eve. If I remember correctly," she grabbed another of the cookie-eclairs, "you were wearing rather more flour than ever made it into the cinnamon rolls."

"I did not start the food fight," Teyla said primly, folding her hands in her lap. "I merely came to Kate's defense when Doctor Zelenka found the water pistols."

"Mmhm," Elizabeth grinned around a mouthful of dough and berries. "That's not how Kate tells it."

Teyla propped her chin on her hand, contemplated the pastry tray herself. "Then Kate is a traitor," she declared firmly.

Any reply Elizabeth would have made was preempted by a small voice near her elbow. "Do you like my cookies, Ms. Doctor Elizabeth?"

Bedtime, it seemed, did not apply on festival nights. Elizabeth turned to find a boy of no more than six beaming up at her. She pushed aside her irritation at the interruption and mustered a smile. "I do indeed." The boy looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember a name. She tried to catch Teyla's eye, but the other woman just smirked at her. "Have you made them a lot?" she continued, when he showed no sign of leaving.

"Yeah! They're my favourites," he said proudly.

"And I think they might be Elizabeth's favourites now, too," Teyla said, finally taking pity on her. "Why don't you go offer some to Lieutenant Cadman? She must be tired after telling you children stories all night."

His eyes widened, and he scampered off without another word. "And that," Elizabeth said ruefully, "is why I've been avoiding the main parts of the party all night."

"You couldn't possibly be afraid of children?" Teyla teased, and Elizabeth blushed. "The great and powerful Elizabeth Weir, commander of Atlantis, scourge of Wraith the galaxy over, hides from children?"

Elizabeth laughed. "No," she said. "Avoiding isn't hiding."

"Well, in that case, I have an idea for better ... avoidance." Teyla smiled mischievously, producing a leather sachet from some improbably located pocket. "There is another clearing about a five minute's walk from here, and it too has a fire pit. I suggest we take our drinks and some of these pastries and make a, shall we say, strategic retreat there."

"You," Elizabeth returned the smile, "are an absolute genius."

Teyla's smile widened. "I am well aware." She pressed a soft kiss to Elizabeth's lips and extended her hand. "Come. Help me find a blanket."

*

Children dodged and fire lit, Elizabeth lay back on the blanket as Teyla sorted through their pilfered provisions. "I like this," she murmured absently, staring at the stars that sparkled through the few stubborn leaves.

"This?" Teyla asked, settling back on her heels and offering Elizabeth a tart.

"The party. Sneaking out." She ignored the tart in favor of tangling her fingers with Teyla's free hand. "Us."

Teyla's eyes were sparkling with firelight and mirth as she abandoned the pastry and leaned down to kiss Elizabeth, sliding a hand under her top to brush lightly against the underside of her breasts. "It is nice to bend the rules once in a while. Or at least to feel like we are."

"Mm," Elizabeth agreed, tugging Teyla down until the smaller woman was lying completely on top of her. "I don't think we're far enough from the main party to bend them as far as I'd like to with you." She kissed her again anyway, reveling in the soft slide of Teyla's lips against hers.

"No matter," Teyla said when they parted, her breath ghosting across Elizabeth's cheek. "You will stay the night, and I," she half-straightened, straddling Elizabeth's hips and resting a finger against her mouth, "may spend most of my time in the city but I am still the leader of my people. And as such, I have the best tent."

Elizabeth gave the finger against her lips an experimental flick with her tongue, and grinned as Teyla swallowed hard. "You're incorrigible."

"I am," Teyla agreed easily. "But I keep my promises." She was warm, so warm pressing down against Elizabeth that Elizabeth was tempted to forget how close the others were and make Teyla keep her promise right then. But instead she brushed her fingertips across Teyla's stomach, and Teyla slid off her to lie on the blanket as well.

They lay in silence for a while, hands loosely clasped, listening to the faint music and chatter from that drifted over from the party and the continent's few nocturnal birds. Elizabeth was torn between watching the stars — different, this far from the city — and Teyla's face, which was more content than she had seen it in a while. "It's strange, you know. Seeing the stars without the ocean."

Teyla hummed in agreement and snuggled closer to her side. "I know. In truth, it is one of the reasons I do not come out here as often as I used to."

"At least you're only ever a jumper ride away," Elizabeth sighed. "I don't know how I manage on Earth, knowing I have to come back on the Daedalus."

The words sat between them for a long moment while Teyla idly stroked the back of her hand before she said, "You manage because being on the Daedalus means you're coming home."

Home. Elizabeth couldn't pinpoint an exact time over the past few years when Atlantis became home and Earth stopped being more than a place to attend meetings, but she couldn't imagine feeling any other way anymore.

"Home," she echoed, and twisted to kiss Teyla's temple. She got a mouthful of her hair instead, and the two of them laughed, laughed for long enough that Elizabeth to start worrying that someone would hear them and come looking. But every time either of them thought they had themselves under control, they would catch the other's eye and the laughter would begin again.

When they finally settled down, Elizabeth yawned. "Sorry. It was a long day even before I came over here."

"There is no need to apologise," Teyla assured her, running her fingers through Elizabeth's hair in a way that was doing nothing to banish the exhaustion that had settled over her like a blanket. "You sleep far too little, Elizabeth."

"Sleep," she sighed, her words half-lost in Teyla's skin. "Sleep is for those without the Wraith at their front door."

"And tonight, that includes you. We will rest here for a while, and say proper goodbyes to those still left at the festival, and then I will see what you look like naked on my bed while I kiss every inch of you, and I will refuse to let anyone wake you up tomorrow morning ... assuming you manage to stay awake past step one of my grand plan."

"Well," Elizabeth grinned, much less sleepy already and punctuating every few words with lazy, open-mouthed kisses against Teyla's exposed chest and stomach, "with motivation like that, I think I can manage."