Ten

That… went well, didn't it? At least Evan did his best not to let on how much it must have bothered him to be forced to sit beside her. She really hopes they could both make the rest believe that everything was okay between them, because she's just fed up with being watched too closely. As of now, she can honestly say that she really can't recall any other situation where she wished to be able to hide away behind the solid doors of her quarters like this.

Maybe… maybe that's going to be the very first thing she does when being back on Atlantis: Hole herself up in her quarters for at least a week until all the buzz has quieted down a bit. And maybe when Evan's irritation has faded enough that he won't make it impossible for her to explain everything in a reasonable way.

Yeah, because that worked so very well all the other times, a little treacherous voice tells her, but she shuts it off, because she has a job to do now. Granted, it has to do with hair style and fancy clothes, but by calling it a job maybe she can convince herself to stop fretting about it and simply get to work.

She sighs and walks into the room, Teyla following her. After they left the briefing room, they haven't talked much – she only told Teyla she is not looking forward to the dressing up part – she still suspects that Teyla will have to say something about the situation between her and Evan sooner or later.

For now, though, Teyla only walks over to a table in the middle in the room. On it there are several items, one of which seems to be a neatly folded piece of cloth. After a short look, Teyla picks it up and unfolds it. It turns out to be a dress of something like linen, dyed a deep, rich blue, with embroidery around the rectangular shaped neck line and the hems of the wide arms.

"I would say… this is something to look forward to wearing." Teyla just remarks with a friendly smile, and if she's honest… Teyla is right. Someone had had a very good eye, and she's quite relieved that the dress isn't white. Blue is so much more her color. She has to suppress the immediate reflex to make some ironic remark – conditioned through years of having to prove you were one of the boys – and instead sighs, a little defeated.

"Okay… could have been worse. At least it's appropriate for a Marine officer." Yeah, well… after years of being among guys, she obviously needs a little more practice to be able to appreciate some of the things said to be of female interest a bit more.

And so she finally surrenders and starts changing out of her BDUs and into what they laid out for her. Teyla offers to help her – being a bit more familiar with this kind of semi-medieval garment and all – for which she is actually quite thankful. For a while they are just chattering away about this or that, but when Teyla helps her fasten the ribbons on the back of the dress, she says, "I hope this whole situation does not put too much strain on your relationship." trying to sound casual.

And if she hadn't overheard what Colonel Sheppard told Teyla, she might have assumed Teyla was really just making a casual comment about it, but she did overhear it and so she immediately knows that this is Teyla's attempt to get an opening for wheedling it out of her if they will jeopardize the whole outcome of this thing because of some private misunderstanding. And she is just fed up with beating around the bush. "It doesn't." Teyla wants to cut in, probably to ask again, but she has decided to cut to the chase. "The thing that does is that I did something behind his back which he didn't like. And from where he's standing… he has every right to."

"Laura…" Nuh-uh, she wants to get this over with without any more fuss.

"Don't worry about the mission. We are professional enough not to let it get into the way of doing the job. I promised him I'd clean it up, and he agreed with that. Please don't… interfere, any of you. I know you wouldn't, but to be honest… I'm not so sure about Colonel Sheppard. If he asks you… could you please just tell him that we have everything under control and he doesn't have to worry?" Teyla looks like she wants to make some kind of contradictory statement, but obviously she managed to look determined enough that she just sighs and starts handing her the rest belonging to her wedding attire.

"If that is your wish… I will do so." She just nods.

"Thank you." And now that Teyla got to pry around a little, she thinks it's only fair she gets her own turn.

"So… when's your turn?" Mh… maybe she could have done better with starting off a conversation about something Teyla pretty surely doesn't want to talk about. And yes, Teyla just frowns at her.

"When is it my turn with what?" Come on, Teyla, don't be dense.

"Well… getting married. For real, I mean. Not like… this." She turns back to the mirror, facing herself, done with the dress and only needing some advice on what to do with her hair. At present… it's sticking out in every direction. She tells herself that it's just her professional ambition to do every job as good as possible that makes her want to improve that, not something as mundane as vanity. Determined she starts loosening her usual braid… or at least what's still left of it. How the hell did it all get so messed up?

Teyla, behind her, feigns ignorance, while helping her with taking the hairpins out. "But… whom should I marry?" She can't help frowning. How stupid does Teyla think she is?

"Uh… Kanaan? I mean, he's the father of your son, you're living together… I just thought it's only a matter of time until you two get hitched." For a moment, neither of them say anything, but then Teyla stops helping her with her hair and something that looks suspiciously like helplessness creeps on her face.

"Laura… it is not as easy as it seems." Okay… now comes the hard part. She knows it's probably neither the right time nor the right place for this, but for weeks now she's been wondering what's going on between Teyla and Colonel Sheppard, and she has the feeling that whatever it is, they should really clear it up. She knows all too well what a toll keeping things secret and trying to ignore difficult feelings can take on you.

But just for once she wants to try the stealthy approach instead of just waltzing in. Teyla is worth that. "It's not? Well, I thought that…" Ah hell, screw it. She'll never be a stealthy-approach-girl. "Okay, no. This isn't gonna work." She turns around to face Teyla instead of just looking at her reflection in the mirror. "Teyla, tell me. I'm your friend, I'm not gonna tell anyone, whatever it is. So?"

Teyla looks… not exactly happy. In fact, she looks very much like she wants to be somewhere else entirely, which just serves to harden her own suspicions. "I… do not think that this is either the right place or the right time for this." No, it isn't. But there's so much discomfort and frustration in Teyla's whole bearing that she feels like she should do something about it now.

So… to shorten this, she just grabs the bull by its horns. "It's Colonel Sheppard, isn't it?" Bingo. Even serene and controlled Teyla can't hold back a look that tells her she hit home.

"I do not know…" No. No pretending anymore. Teyla was the one telling her she had to stop pretending she wasn't involved with Evan and she will now tell Teyla that she has to stop pretending there isn't something beyond friendship going on between Colonel Sheppard and her.

"Trust me, Teyla. I'm not gonna blab about it. Not even to Evan." She means that. Whatever Teyla tells her is going on between Sheppard and her, she will keep it to herself, and herself only. She knows that there is a very special bond of friendship between Teyla and Evan, but she also knows that there are some things that should only be kept between Teyla and her.

For a moment, it looks like Teyla actually considers telling her everything about the strange looks and gestures and overall tension between her and Sheppard, but then she opts for, "I… I will talk to you about it. I promise. But we have a task to fulfill now." The look on Teyla's face… tells her that for today the subject is closed, definitely. Well… it was all the confirmation she needed anyway, because Teyla just more or less admitted that there are things between her and Sheppard that are not how it should be between teammates. For the time being, she'll have to be content with that.

She purses her lips. "Yeah… right. So… how does a girl wear her hair if she wants to be fashionable in the Pegasus galaxy?" A little relieved that she'll let it lie for now, Teyla gives her a small smile.

"Well… I think I have an idea…" Immediately, she sets to work.

When they are finally done, she takes a last scrutinizing look at her reflection. The woman that stares back looks a lot different from her usual self. It's been ages since she last wore a dress, and it makes her feel pretty uncomfortable to wear her hair not completely pinned up on a mission, but overall… it's not that bad. She just hopes she can manage to push away all thoughts of how much damage all of this could do her reputation and her standing, most of all with the NCOs.

Meyers and McPherson are Marines like her, but all this stuff… makes it very clear that there are far greater differences between them and her than simply their ranks. She doesn't want them to see her like this, because it does make it exceedingly hard to think of her only as a Marine, and not as a… well… woman. "Laura? Are you ready?" As if to chase those thoughts out of her head, she shakes it slightly and straightens up.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be, let's go." It's a job, she reminds herself, and the guys know that. They'll not think less of you – well, at least those of them who do have respect for you – and they'll be professional about it. Teyla just nods and they leave the room to attend maybe the most embarrassing thing happening to her yet.

A/N: Oh well... I'm really taking my time with this, ain't I? I still have it on my mind, I swear (and because Eva asked: Moore and Reece are coming on... even slower than this one... sorry :S But you might want to keep an eye out for them in the "Hundred Ways" ;)). I just have some RL issues with which I have to deal right now and which seem to put a damper on my writing :S I hope it'll all be resolved by the end of the month and I think I'll just try and distract myself from it with the writing...