Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: Well this idea hit me when I was watching The Gift and Charin mentioned that Teyla painted beautiful pictures. I thought it would be cute and my sister said go for it. A huge shout out for Lady Bozi who by my request drew the picture that is in this story. You are a talented artist and thanks again for the steamy picture.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
To say Teyla was frustrated was an understatement, spending an hour with Dr. Heightmeyer wasn't exactly a pleasant afternoon. She hadn't needed to be there and to find out why she had been sent was more than just a little confusing.
"It has been brought to my attention by Dr. Weir and others that you spend most of your time sparring or on missions," Kate explained.
"I don't see how this is a problem," Teyla said.
Kate smiled, "When people spend too much time working they end up burning out or it can cause other serious problems like depression. Do you have a hobby or something that is not related to work?"
"Of course!" Teyla protested.
"Like what?" Kate asked.
Teyla was silent as she tried to think of something that wasn't related to her leadership with her people and her work with Colonel Sheppard's team but she came up blank.
"I'm beginning to see your point," Teyla admitted.
Teyla was a little embarrassed that her inability to stop working had come to light. It wasn't that she didn't want to do something in her free time but that for years she had dedicated her days to leading her people and now that she had time to spare she just didn't know what to do with herself.
But to say that she didn't do something in her spare time wasn't exactly the truth of course she would never admit to anyone that if she ever had a minute to herself alone she generally spent it daydreaming about a member of her team. She was just thankful that it hadn't come out in the session; she would have been mortified if she had to admit her infatuation with Ronon Dex.
Find a hobby was what Kate had said, but what could she do?
Teyla thought back to before her father died, she used to dance but she would die before letting anyone from Atlantis catching her doing that.
She remembered what Charin had said before she died, that she used to paint beautiful pictures. Teyla smiled at the memories of her attempted paintings. She remembered how as she grew older she had found talent in sketching. She could true that but she hadn't sketched in years.
She rummaged through her things until she found paper and a sketching pencil. Teyla sat on the edge of her bed staring at the blank paper, willing herself to think of something.
Unfortunately her thoughts turned to Ronon as usual, after spending five minutes trying to think of something else she finally thought why not?
She set to work sketching the image of Ronon the way he had looked yesterday when he came to her room asking if she wanted to spar.
He leaned against the doorway in his casual confident manner, arms crossed and a slight smirk on his face as he looked straight into her eyes. His gaze never failed to unsettle her with his piercing green eyes.
The hours passed swiftly and she didn't even notice until she had finished. She looked down at the drawing and was impressed how quickly the old way had come back to her.
Another idea for a drawing entered her mind and once it came it wouldn't leave so with a devilish smile she quickly got to work on another drawing.
This one was harder since it was all from her imagination, unknowingly the sun began to set into the ocean and the light grew dimmer but her fingers still flew over the page as the lines blended into the form of two figures.
Once finished she set the pencil aside and stretched her cramped fingers. She grinned at her finished piece, it was definitely the most scandalous she'd ever drawn.
It was a lover's embrace, Ronon was holding her close. She was arched against him, head thrown back, eyes closed in passion with her hands entwined in his hair. He was leaning close about to lay sensual kisses on her throat, his eyes were slanted with arousal and it didn't leave much to the imagination as to what would happen next.
It needs just one finishing touch she thought before signing her name in the bottom right corner. She admired her work silently saying it was the best she'd done. Maybe it was because she wanted it more than anything to be true. At any rate there was a flame between them, a flame of desire, she sighed and set the two drawings aside.
The door to her room opened and the familiar face of Elizabeth Weir walked in.
"Hey," She said, "You're not angry with me for sending you to Dr. Heightmeyer are you? Because the way you work so much is just the short road to a burnout."
"No, it's alright," Teyla reassured her, "I understand and it actually helped me decide to start drawing again…as a hobby."
Elizabeth eyes widened in surprise, "Really? I had no idea you could draw."
Teyla nodded, "I haven't done it in years but I'm going to start again."
"Have you started yet?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well…" Teyla began and stopped when she saw Elizabeth pick up one of her drawings. Teyla's heart beat in her ears as she tried to think of an explanation for why she would draw herself and Ronon in such a way when Elizabeth exclaimed…
"Teyla this is wonderful."
Teyla breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Elizabeth had picked up the one she had drawn of just Ronon. "I was…inspired," was all that Teyla said.
"Well it's very good," Elizabeth told her, "you really captured the essence of him." Her gaze fell to the other drawing that lay face down, "And this one…"
"Is not finished yet," Teyla finished for her before snatching the picture away. "I'm…uh…drawing one of you and it isn't complete, I'll let you see it when it's done."
Elizabeth smiled, "I'm flattered that you would think to draw me."
Teyla nodded, "Well it just came to me." She thought for a minute longer, "And I will draw the rest of the team as well and maybe even one of Atlantis."
Elizabeth laughed, "Well if they are all as good as this one we'll have to have them framed."
"That really isn't necessary," Teyla told her as she quickly shoved both of the pictures into a drawer.
"Well if you are done here, I was wondering if you would want to join me for a late dinner in the Mess Hall." She asked.
"Of course," Teyla told her as she shooed her friend out the door and followed her.
"I can't believe you would draw this!" Rodney exclaimed as he all but tore the picture out of Teyla's hands, "this is unethical!"
Teyla smiled, "I'm sorry but Colonel Sheppard requested it and I didn't see any harm in drawing it."
"Drawing what?" Elizabeth asked as she, John and Ronon entered the room.
"I finished the drawing Colonel," Teyla told John.
"Oh let me see," He said bounding over to them. He laughed when he saw, "Yes very nicely done." He told her, "Take a look." He handed the drawing to Ronon and Elizabeth who started laughing when they saw it.
The drawing was of when they had first met Ronon, when Rodney had gotten caught in one of Ronon's Wraith traps and was stuck hanging upside down from a tree.
"I remember that," Ronon laughed, "you looked ridiculous."
"Well thank you," Rodney said sarcastically.
"Out of curiosity, what were you planning to do with this?" Elizabeth asked.
John smiled, "Why Xerox it and post it all over the city of course."
"No you can't do that!" Rodney yelled, "Or I'll…I'll request that Teyla draw a picture about what happened to you on P3X-615."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "What happened on P3X-615?"
"Nothing," John said quickly, "nothing at all."
She turned to Rodney, "Oh it was something," he said laughing.
"Alright!" Elizabeth said, "You two stop making Teyla use her talent for drawing for evil and start putting everything into your mission reports, and I mean everything." She looked pointedly at John.
"I'm still not going to tell you what happened," He told her.
"Oh I'll find out somehow," was her reply.
Teyla laughed on the inside, she had no idea that her drawings would turn into such a fiasco. It seemed everyone wanted something to remember what had happened on a certain mission or just a portrait of themselves.
The one she had drawn of the city hung in the Gateroom framed by Elizabeth's request, Colonel Caldwell had even asked her to draw one of the Deadalus. Colonel Sheppard had even given her a leather folder to carry her supplies and drawings in.
Even with all the attention she still found time to draw things that she wanted to, like a scene from the mainland or of the Stargate.
Which is what she was doing on the south pier, her hand slowly drew the crashing wave as it sprayed its salty kiss onto the base of the city. So intent on her work she didn't hear the door open or the approaching footsteps.
"What are you doing this time?" A voice asked behind her.
Teyla jumped and turned her head, "Ronon you scared me."
"Sorry," He said smiling, he looked down at her drawing, "Pretty good," He told her.
"Well I'm not finished yet," She reminded him, "and once I'm done I sure it will be better than 'pretty good'."
Ronon chuckled at her comment, he shook his head, "You spar, you lead and you draw, what can't you do?"
She thought for a moment, "Cook." They both started laughing.
Ronon grew serious, "Do you always draw what you see?"
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever drawn something else besides what is right in front of you?"
She thought for a moment, "I've drawn pictures of my father and of other people from my past."
"No," he told her, "What I meant was have you ever drawn something that you just thought of, something that hasn't happened, something that is just you."
Teyla bit her lip as she thought of the one drawing that was from her own imagination, "Just one," she admitted.
"It's your favorite isn't it?"
"Yes," she confessed.
"Can I see it?" He asked.
"No," she protested, holding the folder with her drawings tightly.
"Why not?"
Because if I did I would die from embarrassment and ruin our friendship she thought but she said, "Because it's personal."
He nodded and didn't ask any further but asked something else, "What do you like to draw most?"
She thought for a moment, "Beautiful things."
He surprised her by gently tracing her features with his fingertips, "Then you should draw yourself sometime," he told her in almost a whisper. His fingers caressing the curves of her cheek, her heart beat so fast and her mind whirled with one though, is he going to kiss me?
But he drew his hand a way and with a curt goodbye he walked away leaving her alone on the pier. She stared for the longest time at her unfinished picture with out seeing it, instead she was seeing the way his green eyes had captivated hers and remembered how rough his fingertips felt but how gently they could be.
She realized she wasn't going to finish this drawing and put it away, her fingers found the picture she had drawn so long ago. The one of her and Ronon caught in desire, the one she loved the best. She smiled wistfully at it and how close it almost was.
She began walking to her room and was putting it away when she accidentally ran into John. Her pictures went flying in every direction as both of them apologized profusely and began to pick up the scattered drawings.
After picking them all up, Teyla apologized once more and continued on her way. It wasn't until she had rounded the corner did John notice the one picture that had been left behind.
He picked it up with every intention to chasing her down and giving it till, that is until he got a glimpse at what it was.
"Oh my god!" He exclaimed aloud when he saw what was on the page, Teyla and Ronon in a very passionate embrace and there was Teyla's name signed at the bottom in flourish. He stood there in the hallway just staring at the picture contemplating on what to do next.
Rodney and Lorne were in alone in Rodney's lab arguing about something, probably who took the last green jell-o when John walked in.
"Ok I have a hypothetical question that I could use your help on," he told them, "hypothetically if you found a certain drawing that someone made, and that drawing is about a certain someone with someone else in a very…intimate moment what exactly should you do?"
Lorne and Rodney looked at each other before Lorne replied, "We're going to have to see the picture before we can answer that."
John rolled his eyes and handed the picture to them, once they all got a good eyeful of the picture they both had amusing reactions. Rodney spit out his coffee all over his computer and Lorne raised his eyebrows and said, "Whoooooa."
"Yes," John told them, "Now what should I do, on one hand I should do the gentlemanly thing and return the picture to her on the other hand I could use this as major rights for teasing."
Rodney spoke up first, "Well of course you should return it to her."
John looked at Lorne, "Major?"
Lorne smiled evilly, "I'll turn on the Xerox…and I know just what to do with the original."
The next morning Teyla walked around the base to find people holding up pieces of paper and whispering, and more than one gave her strange look. She made her way to Dr. Weir's office.
"Elizabeth, have you noticed that everyone is acting a little odd?" Teyla asked.
"Yes," Elizabeth smiled, "and I know why. You might want to sit down." Teyla sat down across from her desk looking very confused. Elizabeth continued, "you might say that everyone is admiring you're work." She told Teyla, "we have a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words," she said handing Teyla the drawing, "let's just say yours is worth ten thousand."
Teyla's eyes widened when she saw what was in her hand, "NO!" She yelled snatching the picture away, she looked at Elizabeth sheepishly, "I'm trying to think of an explanation for why I would draw this but…the drawing speaks for itself."
"I'm afraid so," Elizabeth said.
"How many pictures are there?" Teyla asked.
"It's hard to say," Elizabeth admitted, "just about everyone on Atlantis has one."
"So there is no chance that he wouldn't…"
Elizabeth shook her head, "They did a thorough job." Elizabeth shook her head, "who would do this?"
They both thought for a moment before speaking at the same time, "John!"
"Yes?" A voice said from outside the office.
Teyla whirled around to see John, Rodney and Lorne, grinning and looking quite please with themselves, she stood up slowly, "I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You!"
"In my defense," John said quickly, "It was Lorne's idea."
"But Rodney actually did the copying." Lorne added.
"And John found the picture." Rodney finished.
"Then I will kill all three of you!" Was her reply and began to stalk towards them.
"Stop!" Elizabeth yelled, "There will be no killing even though you all deserve it." She turned to the three culprits, "Until I can think of a proper punishment you three better start taking down all of the pictures, NOW!"
It was a mad dash to try and get all the pictures and surprisingly many wanted to keep the pictures. Even more swarmed around Teyla asking questions like 'Do you really love Ronon?' Did this happen?' 'What does Ronon think?' It was all Teyla could do to dodge all of them.
She was bending over grabbing one picture that had been dropped on the floor and walked on considerably when she saw Ronon walking towards her.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Nothing," she told him crumbling up the picture and tossing it away. She prayed to the Ancestors above that somehow he would have missed all of the pictures and that nobody had told him anything.
"I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about this," He told her showing her the original picture she had drawn, "I found it outside my door."
She stared at the picture in his hand realizing that this was definitely the most humiliating moment in her life, "I was…I mean…its just." She tried to speak but not words came that could explain everything and save their friendship.
"About that picture you drew," he began, "the one that was from your imagination, the one that's your favorite. This wouldn't happen to be it would it?"
She covered her face with her hands, "Yes," she whispered, tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that their friendship will be destroyed due to this picture, "I'm sorry," she blurted out, "but I didn't think it would do any harm and I just really wanted it to be true. I just started to draw it and I didn't think it would be found much less that you would see it. I'm going to kill Colonel Sheppard for doing this, and I'm so sorry about the position this has put us in and if there was any way to save our…"
Ronon cut off her rambling by placing a hand over her mouth, "Will you stop talking?" he asked her. She nodded because his hand was still over her mouth. "Do you want to hear what I think about it?" She nodded again.
Instead of removing his hand from her mouth he moved it to gently cradle her head as her pulled her lips to meet his.
This kiss was beyond anything she had every imagined, more than she had ever dreamed. It was intense with the desire they both shared and the love they longed for as they grasped on to each other to ride out this storm of passion a gentle molding of two souls that needed each other to be complete.
When they finally drew away he whispered, "That's what I think about it."
She laughed softly and replied, "I'm sorry could you repeat that?"
He was more than happy to comply.
A/N: So what did you think? Please review and shweir fans stick around this story is going to have a shweir sequal called Thoughtful Words that my sister is going to write so stay tuned.