Written for the LiveJournal community "letter love", for the letter S. Teyla/Rodney UST.
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Scarlet
The fire isn't large enough to light the edges the cave, so Rodney sets their backpacks down near the centre. He makes his way to where he can just make out her silhouetted figure leaning against the entrance.
"We'll wait here until dawn. Sheppard will radio us if he gets back before then."
"The creature -"
"We don't stand a chance against it in the dark. Besides I think we, well you, scared it off for now." He moves her arm across his shoulder and wraps his own around her waist, groaning as he takes her weight. "You rest, I'll keep an eye out for any nasty beasts that come looking for us."
"Rodney..."
"Teyla, you can't walk. In fact, you can barely keep yourself upright. Let me be the one to stand guard over you for a change."
Her smile fades as they stop and she notices the trickle of blood across his cheek for the first time. Impulsively, she leans towards him. He catches his breath as her mouth lays the barest of touches on him.
Rodney chuckles nervously. "Huh. You sure you don't have concussion too?"
Her lips glisten in the light of the fire, and he wants nothing more than to taste himself on her. Instead, he raises his free hand to brush the scarlet liquid away with his thumb. Her eyelids flicker at his touch, and for the first time he notices how exhausted she is. Wrapping both arms around her, he lowers her gently to the ground. Her head falls back against the backpack as she closes her eyes with a sigh. He takes one last look at the entrance to the cave before lying down beside her.
"Rodney?"
Her eyes are still closed when he turns to her. "Hmm?"
She raises one eyelid and taps her thigh holster.
"Oh, right. Of course."
He picks up the P90s that he had dropped next to their backpacks, resting one against his chest and the other on his knee, aiming both at the entrance. He waits until he can hear her steady breathing before leaning across to brush his lips against her drenched hair.
"We'll be just fine."