Title: Modesty
Summary: The Earthlings have a strange sense of modesty when it comes to their naked bodies.
Characters: Teyla, Rodney & Ronon
Rating: K+
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"Oh, you have got to be kidding."
Teyla looked up from unlacing her boots and eyed Rodney McKay with a weary eye. All she wanted to do was wash the days dirt and grime from her body and fall into the bed that the indigenous people of this latest planet had kindly granted them. She was filthy, covered in the mud from the moist hills they'd trekked over, soaked through to the bone from the misty rain that was like a dense fog across the grassy fields they'd walked across for nigh on six hours because Rodney had noticed some unusual energy readings.
"What is it, Rodney?"
He spluttered for a moment when she continued to disrobe, averting his eyes instantly when she peeled her trousers from her legs.
"I... you... I can't share a shower with you!"
Teyla arched her eyebrow. The people from Earth had a strange sense of modesty when it came to their naked bodies but at that moment, she did not care for their modesty –or Rodney's protestations. She tossed her trousers to the side and began working on her jacket.
"Don't worry McKay, Teyla's not going to care that those extra pies you've been sneaking to your room at night are starting to show."
She hid her laugh behind a gentle cough, casting an appreciative glance in Ronon's direction, noticing that he too did not share the Earthlings modesty. McKay guffawed, his eyes almost bulging from his head at Ronon's comment.
"That is not what I'm wor- hey! I've lost weight, actually – especially after that trek we just had to get here, so don't talk to me about putting on-"
"Rodney," Teyla interrupted firmly, casting a lingering glare in his direction. "You can leave and have a shower later but I for one would like to get out of these wet clothes as soon as possible – I am sure you would too." She raised her eyebrow, asking him to contradict her but all he did was splutter a few more times.
"But I-"
"I promise not to look," she assured him humorously, pointedly turning her back to him as she pulled her T-shirt over her head. The cool air of the shower room hit her and she shivered as cold spots started to rise across her skin.
She heard him swithering behind her before conceding with a sigh and a muttered "Fine". She cast a glance to Ronon once again, noticing the amused smirk on his features. She peeled off her bra as she
walked past Ronon into the room where the promised deliverance of warm water would be, gently patting the Satedan on his arm as he laughed at McKay's attempts to keep his modesty.
As the warm water hit her back, she sighed and closed her eyes, relishing in the heat that seeped into her bones. She waited a few moments before reaching out blindly for the soap that was on one of the small ledges.
"Hey, McKay," she heard Ronon's deep voice say from outside the room. "Remember what I said about Fatman?"
"Oh, shut up!" Teyla smiled, a small laugh escaping her lips as she lathered the soap across her body and she tried to not groan in pleasure. "No wonder Sheppard decided to wait until later to take his shower," Rodney grumbled again and she rolled her eyes, even though he could not see her.
"Stop talking and hurry up."
As Ronon continued his banter with Rodney, Teyla sighed in gratitude. Despite being naked and ready for his shower, Ronon was holding back to allow Teyla this small privacy and she found that she was glad. There was an intimacy to a shower that she did not wish to share with either of the men outside the small partition; did not wish them to see her body as she rubbed her hands across the slick skin, touching herself the way a lover would, or as she rinsed the water from her hair. And as much as she respected and cared for the men outside, those acts were too private to share with them.
As she did these things, she sighed in resignation.
It seemed as though the Earthlings' modesty had spread, thankfully, to the Pegasus natives.