Five Men Who Never Wanted Teyla Emmagen
- Mona Lisa Smile -
If ever there was a word to describe her smile, enigmatic is it.
The Mona Lisa has nothing on Teyla.
She holds her own silence and keeps her own secrets.
Carson appreciates that. When he's exposed to people like McKay, who will talk just to hear the sound of his own voice, or Lieutenant Ford, who gets bossy and far too big for his size eight boots, someone who will just listen and nod in understanding is a blessing.
If there are times when he has to resist the urge to pontificate, just to see that smile on her lips, well, a man finds it easy to talk to a woman who has a way of listening with a smile.
He likes her smile.
It warms him all the way through his body as she looks at him over the newborn he's just helped deliver in the Athosian camp. Both mother and child are healthy, and Teyla both reassured the mother and assisted in the delivery - no easy birth considering the woman was slim-hipped and the baby large.
"Thank you, Dr. Beckett," she says when they have left the family to their quiet celebration, and are down at the river, washing their hands.
He's learned to observe the Athosian proprieties where they don't interfere with his profession's need for cleanliness and hygiene. Teyla's people have been more than willing to take advantage of what help Atlantis is willing to provide them by way of advice in health and wellbeing, and the occasional ritual - the returning of the mother's blood to the land through the river - is something he can stand for the sake of having a better relationship with her people.
"You're more than welcome," he tells her, smiling back, almost helplessly.
There's something sweet and yet knowing in her smile when she turns it on a man. It's as though it's a benediction and a gift.
Carson knows the physiology of it: the neurotransmitters that give off endorphins when one smiles, creating a pleasant state to go with a pleasant expression. That doesn't explain why he feels as though he could leap tall buildings with the rush that goes through him as they amble back to the Athosian campsite. Endorphins from a smile shouldn't make people act like that.
They're flying back in the puddlejumper, peaceful and silent, across the sea towards the city. He glances at her profile as she stares thoughtfully out of the window, unaware or uncaring that her life depends on his inept piloting skills. She catches his look and her smile slides down his spine like a warm-tipped finger on his bare skin.
It's been a while since he responded to a woman like this.
Carson turns hurriedly back to the console and wishes for a cold shower right about now.
-oOo-
