Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 52

Chapter 52 - A Day Short

As much as Teyla respected the members of the Atlantis expedition, it was with the understanding that the majority of its members were not the most skilled when it came to dealing with other people. 

That understanding was a big part of why Teyla often positioned herself to handle various social issues that the expedition encountered when traveling through the ring of the ancestors. And why when it had come time to decide on someone to watch over Atlantis's newest resident, she had not hesitated to volunteer.

She was starting to wonder however if she might have overestimated her ability to successfully do so unaided, as the young Elf woman now walking circles around the Athosian’s living quarters seemed to be perpetually energetic in a way that was leaving Teyla herself rather exhausted.

“Are you sure I can't get something like what you're wearing?” Rayla asked pityingly as she picked at the slightly tight chest of the BDU they had found for her.

“I'm sorry to say my outfits are somewhat too tightly tailored for you to comfortably wear.” Teyla returned with a slightly apologetic bow of her head to show she really did wish it was an option. “Though if you wish, we can see about having something similar made for you the next time we visit my people on the mainland.”

“That would be nice.” Rayla began, only to furrow her brow in consideration for a moment before focusing on Teyla chest with a slight frown. “Would I still have to wear a bra with that? Because I don't think I like how they pinch.”

“It depends on the outfit.” Teyla admitted, not the least surprised the garment she was currently wearing was a somewhat bad fit given the young woman's size. “However properly fitted support should not pinch, and serves several useful functions for women in general.”

“Does that apply to Elves?” Rayla asked as she briefly glanced down to her own chest before looking back up to meetTeyla's eyes with a questioning gaze. “Because I heard one of the others mention that Elves have higher levels of charisma and dexterity than humans.”

“They were likely talking about one of their games.” Teyla offered, recalling a number of similar mentions she had overheard over the past year.

“Oh.” Rayla muttered, cocking her head slightly as walked over to examine one of the sheensilk curtains Teyla had been gifted after a particularly successful trade agreement. “So like the person in the cafeteria who said I could be Deedlit's little sister?”

Teyla winced slightly, having heard the story about that from Elizabeth. “Stories of people with pointed ears are apparently quite numerous on their world.”

“Yeah.” Rayla agreed as she turned back to Teyla “I'm starting to realize that.” She reached over her shoulder and pulled a lock of her ankle length hair over her shoulder to stare at it for a moment. “I don't think my hair is helping though. Because I've heard multiple people say it makes me look like various other people who I'm pretty sure now are from stories.”

That was better than what it reminded Teyla herself of, but it would be a grave insult to suggest out loud any similarities to the Wraith, even if they were the only one's the Athosian had ever encountered with hair even approaching that length.

“I think I wanted to shorten it.” Rayla continued as she brought a hand up to a point a couple inches below her breasts. “To about here.”

Thankfully that it least was relatively easy to accomplish as Teyla knew the expedition had a handful of people who were quite skilled in the art of hair care.

“It should be little trouble to arrange for an appointment tomorrow with Sergeant Gates.” She put forward with a smile. “He is the one who has been doing my hair since I arrived at Atlantis.”

Which had been something of a relief to her, as her hair had never been particularly easy for Charin to deal with, a fact she was coming to suspect might be the fault of her ancestry.

“There are a lot of different jobs here aren't there?” Rayla mused half to herself. “But I don’t think dealing with hair is something I’d enjoy given how much trouble mine was after the shower.”

“To be fair, I have never known any with hair as long as yours currently is.” Teyla said, shooting the young woman a wry smile. “

“And knowing people is your job?” Rayla put forward questioningly. 

“A part of it.” Teyla confirmed with a slight nod, not exactly sure where the other woman was going with her current topic.

Pursing her lips, Rayla seemed to consider that before continuing. “What about going through the Stargate? Is that also part of your job?”

Teyla nodded again. “Sometimes. Why do you wish to know?”

“I’m trying to figure out what I want to do.” Rayla returned with a shrug. “Meeting new people and going through the stargate to see all the planets out there sounds interesting. But I overheard Elizabeth talking to some of the soldiers about how they ended up in combat with the Wraith on their last mission through the stargate. And I’m not sure what the Wraith are, but the kind of fighting the word combat brought to mind doesn’t seem very interesting.”

Elizabeth had wanted Teyla to be cautious when discussing certain subjects, an understandable caution given the many unknowns connected to the young elf’s existence on Atlantis. However she was not sure the expedition leader had considered the difficulty in keeping such common subjects away from the elf’s overly sensitive hearing.

“The Wraith are… Complicated.” Teyla settled on. “Though yes, there are many inherent dangers in traveling through the stargate to other worlds.”

And even more still for women than men, but that was a conversation she was saving for a point when Rayla was a bit more settled in since the Athosian had yet to experience worse than the occasional appreciative glance from a member of the expedition.

Which for a bit had made Teyla wonder if she was slipping some, as she usually ended up with at least one proposal after the first week of staying at a new location during a trade mission.

“Are there other things you believe you might enjoy?” Teyla asked her.

“Swimming!” Rayla answered happily as she glanced over to the window with an almost hopeful look on her face. “And reading.”

Frowning slightly, she focused back on Teyla with a considering look in her eyes. “Is there a job that involves finding things? Because I want to find out why I’m here, and it feels like if there is a job that involves learning how to do that it would be a good first step.”

“I believe there are several.” Telya admitted with a slight smile. “Though from what I know such jobs usually require several years of apprenticeship to one who has already learned the various intricacies involved themselves.”

Or in the case of those from Earth something called a college degree, but she wasn’t entirely sure what the point of those were given a number of marines she’d talked to seemed to have ones that involved things completely different from what their skills would suggest.

“Is there anything like that I can learn while everyone’s asleep?” Rayla asked. “Because I’m really starting to think I don’t actually need that, and it gets really boring just watching you.”

Teyla felt her eyebrow twitch slightly at that particular reminder. “I will see if I can find you some electronic books on the subject.”

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Author’s Notes: Unfortunately Rayla you do need sleep, you just figured out one of the things it’s suggested people with healing powers don’t do. Thankfully when Eventus gets back to the city he can explain the why of that and then carry her to bed when she passes out.