Title: Everyone's Got to Eat
Summary: Kanaan observes familiarity and wonders when it will be his.
Characters: Kanaan, Sheppard, Torren and Teyla
Pairing: Kanaan/Teyla, Teyla-John
Rating: K+
Notes: This story is kind of bleh. Actually, there is no kind of. It is bleh but I thought I'd post it anyway.
Notes2.0: For the JT prompt battle. Prompt Kanaan's reaction to how much time John spends with Teyla and his child.
When Kanaan slips into the mess hall some time after the dinner time rush, he pauses when he hears a soft gurgle float across the sullen atmosphere. The sound of his child is a pleasant respite from the almost insurmountable exhaustion that had crept over him throughout the day. As much as he enjoys his new position – limited though it is – as adviser to the expedition from Earth about Michael and his experiments, he is not yet used to the gruelling hours Mr Woolsey expects from him.
He moves to the large refrigerators through a door on his left and retrieves the traditional Athosian snack he had prepared for himself and Teyla earlier in the day; as advanced as those from Earth may be, he has no taste for the 'zapped' food they dispense at dinner time, or the reheated leftovers tucked away in Tupperware boxes in the farthest reaches of the refrigerator.
The few people in the room nod a greeting at him as he moves around chairs, falling the sound of his child's playful sounds and the light quality of Teyla's laugh. When he spots them, tucked around the corner near the open balcony doors, he can't help but smile. The winter sun is low in the sky and the amber glow highlights the features of Teyla's face that he has come to know over the years, the wind wafting her hair from her face.
He hesitates only when he sees his son in the arms of Colonel Sheppard, the latter's fork pointing at Teyla as he recounts a tale to her that has them both smiling. He can't remember a time when he has seen the Colonel so at ease and he wonders if the man has a family of his own back on Earth; the thought seems alien to him and from what Teyla has told him about Colonel Sheppard, he can't imagine it to be so.
Kanaan doesn't ponder too long and as he steps into their field of vision, Kanaan can see the smile drop from the Colonel's face, despite the light greeting they share.
Kanaan only manages to sit when Colonel Sheppard shuffles from his seat, carefully cradling Torren to his body.
"I better go."
Kanaan glances at the half eaten tray of food and glances questioningly to the Colonel, though the other man avoids his gaze.
Kanaan watches as Colonel Sheppard discards of the half eaten food and leaves the mess hall. He shakes his head; the Earthlings are very wasteful.
--
Lunch time in the mess hall is usually very busy but as Kanaan enters, few people populate the tables and chairs in the room. Winter's grip had lessened and many of the city's inhabitants had taken their lunches to the balconies and few grassed spots around the city, revelling in what little warmth the low suns allowed.
His son's jumbled chattering greets his ears and he smiles. Though his words made little sense, Kanaan found joy in the fact that his son was trying. He moves without hesitation to the corner of the mess hall where Teyla usually sits with their son and he finds he's a little surprised by the sight of Colonel Sheppard sitting cross legged on Torren's blanket, munching happily on whatever the caterers had conjured up that day.
He watches for a moment as Sheppard offers a piece of chocolate to Torren, as Torren takes it in his chubby fingers and as Teyla chides Sheppard with a playful tap to his upper arm.
Torren laughs and Kanaan feels warmth bloom in his chest that he cannot suppress. He approaches the trio and smiles down at them, noting how Sheppard swallows his food quickly and unfolds his legs, making to stand.
Kanaan waves him back down, urging him to stay but Sheppard stands anyway, brushing his hands over his trousers, playfully rubbing his knees.
"Sitting like that for too long isn't good for my old knees," he says lightly, but Kanaan can sense the tension in the other man's tone. Teyla frowns at him and he rolls his eyes and Kanaan wonders what it is he is missing. "I have to go anyway; personnel reports don't write themselves."
"Unca Joh?"
Kanaan can't help the surprised frown at his son's words, nor can he help it when his son reaches out with his arms for Sheppard. The ferocity with which Sheppard hugs him is another surprise.
"Later, buddy." He places Torren back on the blanket and ruffles the boy's hair, eliciting a giggle from the infant. "See you at dinner?"
As Teyla nods, Kanaan wonders when he stopped sharing meals with his family.
--
Kanaan's surprised to find neither Teyla nor Sheppard in the mess hall with the other breakfast eaters but he doesn't question it as he picks a bowl of fruit that the Atlantis expedition had harvested on the mainland; the summer warmth had made for a good harvest and the crops were tasteful and abundant.
As he clears his plate and leaves it on the rack with the others, he's distracted by the sound of Colonel Sheppard's voice and Torren's ecstatic squeals. Expecting to see Teyla, he is surprised to find Sheppard alone with the boy, Torren's arms fixed securely about the Colonel's shoulders as Sheppard carries him on his back. As he watches, Sheppard hops about the mess hall, dipping and diving and causing Torren's squeals to increase in intensity.
No one else turns to gaze at the spectacle; it is this which surprises Kanaan the most.
"Hey," John Sheppard greets as he approaches Kanaan, reaching behind him to hoist the toddler onto his hip. "Say hello to your daddy, Torren."
Kanaan takes his son when he reaches out to him, relishing in the feel of his son in his arms; it feels like an eternity since he'd held him though it had only been that morning.
"Is Teyla feeling any better?"
John shrugs nonchalantly as he picks up two bowls from the table, filling both to the brim with cereal and milk.
"She didn't look too good when I went to pick up Torren this morning," he said as he glances back at Kanaan over his shoulder. Kanaan doesn't try to interpret the look. "I told her to go see Keller or Carson but..." Sheppard shrugs and Kanaan smiles.
"She is very stubborn."
Kanaan watches as Sheppard raises two eyebrows and nods.
"She's certainly something."
"I am sorry you are to care for Torren this morning, Colonel Sheppard," Kanaan says but Sheppard simply shakes his head.
"I don't mind," he says lightly as he reaches past Kanaan's head to ruffle Torren's hair. "Besides, everyone's got to eat."
Kanaan hesitates for a moment when Torren reaches for Sheppard again, who eagerly takes the child in his arms. As Kanaan watches, he feels a pang; they look so very natural together and Kanaan can see familiarity in the way Torren tugs at Sheppard's hair, in the way that Sheppard glares playfully at the boy, in the way they both laugh as Sheppard pretends to lose his grip on the boy.
As Kanaan says his goodbyes, he wonders when he will gain that familiarity with his son.