[for Dave]

[t_emmagen]

It had been a typical day with the building crew. They were working on huts again, and Teyla often found herself trying to explain building basics to new islanders who were generally more hindrance than help. It was a good skill to have, and she could not begrudge them the lessons. Even if they did sometimes make her grit her teeth in

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[davor_dandalrei]

Dave had been waiting just long enough that he'd given up slouching awkwardly around Teyla's front yard and took a seat under a tree, idly drawing with a stick in the dry, baked dirt. Like most days, he was dressed in the basketball shorts and wifebeater that the clothing bin seemed inclined to give him, still a little sweaty from that morning's build and run. His own hut was newly completed and had stood up well to the first rainstorm the island threw at it. If nothing else, it was a relief to make up a pallet big enough that he didn't sleep with his knees under his chin.

So he sat day dreaming with uncharacteristic patience, remembering Levon's sister dancing for the Clan, the bonfire that had an alive thing before her, and the thrumming of her feet on the dry, baked dirt of the Plain.

[t_emmagen]

"Dave," Teyla was slightly breathless as she entered New Atlantis, having jogged from the compound. She had paused briefly just out of sight, watching him stare purposelessly into the distance. It was a look she caught on his face frequently when he did not realise she was watching. The look of remembrance. "I hope I did not keep you waiting long."

[davor_dandalrei]

He smiled slightly when he saw her, snapping out of his reverie when she called out.

"Not really," he said, rolling to his feet, "I was late, anyway." He crossed to meet her. "How was the build?"

[t_emmagen]

It was hard to judge early and late in this place, and easy to lose track of the sun and what point of the day it was. Teyla often wondered at just how used to Atlantis she had gotten, with its ways of marking time.

"It was good enough. The man we are building a hut for wanted to help," she added the last with no small bit of amusement, "But is rather clumsy."

[davor_dandalrei]

"Ah," Dave said, showing some sympathy. "Not quite as helpful as he thought he was, then?"

[t_emmagen]

"He tried very hard," she said graciously, "Which is commendable, in its way."

[davor_dandalrei]

"And pretty annoying," Dave added, a thousand times less patient that Teyla and always would be. Awkwardly, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, his hand looking huge and indelicate in contrast with her fine features.

"I met your friend," he rumbled. "Ronon."

[t_emmagen]

"I should be grateful that he tried," Teyla was reminding herself as much as him, her hand lifting to cover his.

"Did you?" Her smile lifted at the thought of them meeting, wondering which of the two would be more taciturn and withdrawn in that situation. "He is a good friend, even if we are from disparate times."

[davor_dandalrei]

"He was trying to let a dinosaur eat him," Dave pointed out, rolling his eyes. He looked down at her, thumb sweeping back over her cheekbone. The way things worked here, it hadn't taken long to grow used to the sporadic discrepancies in time.

"...is he from your future or your past?"

[t_emmagen]

"You must have met him not long after I did," she said with a soft smile, remembering Ronon's confusion, and her own. "My future. Years into my future."

[davor_dandalrei]

It was amazing how quickly you got used to things on the Island, even such uncomfortable discrepancies in time.

"Did you like what he had to say?" he asked, a flicker on his face betraying his concern. He wondered how he would deal with someone years into his future, Torc, Levon, if they'd have anything to report but a sloppy death on Andarien.

[t_emmagen]

"He said that my people were well," She could not ask for more, and his news that they had not been affected by the Hoffan drug was welcome. "And that we were still fighting the wraith, in a way. Much has changed, but much had not." Some of the changes she had known already, Carson's death among them.

[davor_dandalrei]

"I guess some wars just don't end," Dave said softly, still watching her carefully. "Is Ronon very different from how you remember him?"

[t_emmagen]

"Many do not, no matter how much you may wish that they did." She said it seriously, twisting her fingers through his, and tugging him toward her hut. It had been a long day, and Teyla found herself wanting to sit and relax. "He is much the same I think. I had only known him a few months when I came here, though he was a member of my team. He has always been reticent."

[davor_dandalrei]

Dave let himself be tugged, following her willingly, for once letting himself be dragged along.

"He's quiet," Dave agreed, shrugging. "Doesn't bother me much, anyway. Knew he was a soldier, though, even before I realized who he was."

[t_emmagen]

"I think in some ways you are alike." Just as in some ways John and Brendan were similar, and not simply because of their looks. It made her wonder, if she knew many people who were so much the same. "He has fought hard for his survival. Ronon does not trust quickly."