A/N: Written for the letter W for the LiveJournal community Letter Love for the Teyla/Rodney pairing. Friendship or pre-relationship.
W for Water
I am simply concerned for the welfare of my team mate. He repeated the line in his head as if it was a mantra, using it to mask the other thoughts that were surfacing and threatening to paralyse him. He had been surprised to see her slip into the transporter as he was returning from the lab, since it was rare to see anyone awake at that time of night unless they were on duty. And he knew for a fact that Teyla wasn't.
Retracing his steps, Rodney searched his lab for a life signs detector. Finally finding one in Radek's desk, he made his way down to the lower levels of the city. He remembered that Teyla had once mentioned how much she missed the water, to which he had scoffed and told her to look around them. She had replied that living on it wasn't the same as living by it; you couldn't reach out and touch or immerse yourself in it when you were several hundred feet in the air above it. It had been the first time that he had actually considered that Teyla might be homesick, not just for her people but also for Athos itself. He had tried to be more considerate towards her since then, offering to fly her to the mainland and accompany her off-world even when there wasn't talk of finding advanced technology. And all because he was 'concerned for her welfare'.
The life signs detector finally came to life as he neared the west pier. He peered cautiously out towards the water as the outer door slid open and caught sight of her sitting at the edge of the pier, her legs dangling over the edge. Even in the calm of the night, the tips of the waves were high enough to catch her feet.
"Was there something you wanted, Rodney?" She hadn't moved since he had stepped out onto the platform but it didn't surprise him that she knew who he was.
"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. It's been a pretty tough day." He sat down beside her, taking off his boots and flinging them to one side.
"I am fine." She turned to face him for the first time, and he was relieved to see that she was telling the truth. "Really."
"Good. Because if you're not, you won't get to go off-world. And if you can't go, I can't go. Which means that I might miss out on on finding ZPMs, fighting Wraith, saving the world, saving the galaxy, saving the universe..."
"I understand. I would not want to be responsible for the destruction of the universe by preventing you from going off-world, Rodney."
"Now, just because it's dark, it doesn't mean I can't see your eyes rolling. I mean, honestly, people around here don't appreciate how important I am -"
He only just caught her wicked smile before she used all of her strength to push him into the water. He spluttered and coughed as he resurfaced, her delighted laughter rising above the sound of the sea splashing against the pier. Luckily he hadn't fallen far from the edge, and only needed one stroke of his arms before he could reach up and grab her foot. She yelped as she landed on top of him in a movement as ungraceful as he had ever seen from her. They wrestled for a few minutes but quickly gave in to their laughter and simply held on to each other as they tried to regain their composure.
As Rodney pushed the soaked strands of hair away from Teyla's eyes, she told him quietly, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being you."
He laughed as he replied, "Well, that has to be the first time anyone's ever said that to me. But you're welcome."
They stayed in the water for a while longer, and Rodney found himself agreeing with Teyla. There was definitely a difference between living on water and living by it.