Author's note: A little humor back in the mix. Hope you enjoy!
Of all of Earth's food, John's favorite was cake.
It wasn't because of the taste or the memories of birthdays past, but rather because of Teyla.
He remembered the first time she tasted the delightful desert on MX-8793. It was one of her first times off-world with him and the rest of their team. After several hours of walking through the dense brush of the planet, John instructed everyone to stop for lunch.
"Here," he said, throwing her an MRE. "We only save these MREs for the people who actually leave Atlantis." He couldn't help but to wink at her.
Famished, they ripped open their meals. Like the people around her, she ate the meat first and then proceeded to consume all of the almonds.
"Finally, some kind of decent dessert. I'm telling you, Sheppard, most of those desserts they try to pass of in the MREs make Betty Crocker look like a gourmet chef,"Rodney complained.
John watched as she pulled out the slice of chocolate cake and studied it for a second. He briefly wondered if she had ever eaten cake before. Carefully, she unwrapped the plastic and pulled the bread-like dessert out. She took a bite.
She leaned to Rodney who was the closest to her. "What do you call this?"
"Cake," Sheppard answered before Rodney could.
"It is delicious," she replied, her eyes filled with delight.
"You should taste my grandma's red velvet cake. It makes this taste like shoe leather," said Ford with a smile. "But, this is definitely better than the peach cobbler dessert."
John watched Teyla as she took another large bite of the piece of cake. A crumb was on her lip, begging for him to kiss it off, but before he could give into the request, reality spoke up.
"Oh, you mean the three pieces of dried peaches in a soggy dough?" Rodney asked sarcastically.
John watched ruefully as Teyla's tongue reached out and snagged the crumb that should have been rightfully his.
"Yeah," Ford said with a shudder, "that."
Teyla glanced at John with a worried expression; her euphoric mood ruined. No no no, John thought, he wanted to watch her for just a little longer.
"Come on, you guys. You're scaring Teyla. The dessert isn't that bad," John said unconvincingly.
"This coming from the man who actually enjoys eating those awful turkey sandwiches," responded Rodney.
John ignored him, instead turning back to Teyla as she popped the last bite of cake into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed, as if she was trying to memorize the taste of the dessert. Why was she torturing him so much?
"Major," she said with a smile after she finished, "thank you."
That's it, John decided, when he got back to Atlantis he was going to hide all the MREs with the chocolate cake and make sure he had one for Teyla every time they went off-world.
If she could have her cake and eat it to, John wanted the joy of watching her do it.