likesthecoat | (no subject)

"So . . . the Ancestors. Who are they, really?"

He sips, too. The mint tea is much better with the sugar in.

"They were once very much like you or I. Rodney says that they were the first evolution of this form. They built the great cities of my galaxy and seeded it with life, but several thousand years ago, they ascended."

"What does that mean, ascended?"

"It is the next stage in our evolution. They reached a point where they no longer required physical bodies and they exist now as pure energy." She pauses, sipping her tea. "That is, of course, the scientific explanation, but I understand there is a spiritual component as well."

"Really," Ianto says, and his expression, a bit more eloquently, says he doesn't like the notion of being pure energy much at all.

Teyla's expression is similar. "It is...very strange for me to think of it, but yes. When I was younger, I believed the Ancestors to be gods who watched over us, kept us safe when they could."

"What do you think of them now?"

"Now I know that they can keep us safe, but they choose not to. And when they were like us, they were curious, but arrogant, and this was their downfall."

Ianto chuckles dryly. "That sounds familiar."

"Oh?" She cocks her head a bit.

"Lots of civilizations have fallen out of arrogance, that's all. It's a common theme in history."

"Ah. Yes." She sips her tea. "I would not exactly say that they fell, though. They...fled. They were caught in a war they were losing, so they chose to leave the galaxy, rather than be defeated."

"Run away, run away," Ianto murmurs with another dry chuff.

Sadly, no one has ever introduced Teyla to Monty Python. As a result, she gives Ianto a confused and slightly amused look.

"Sorry. Um, that's from a film. A parody of the Arthur legend. The knights tend to bravely run away when things get too rough for them."

He sighs. At least Jack has been around for a century--he's got a vague idea of cultural references. It's hard to remember with someone who'd know nothing about them.

"I see," Teyla says, though she really doesn't. (It probably doesn't help that she doesn't know who Arthur is either.)

Ianto would sing Sir Robin's song if the mun could remember the words.

He says, "Sorry. More Earth stuff." He sips his tea.

"That is quite all right," Teyla says, and she smiles a bit. "I have become used to being the one who does not understand the reference."

Ianto looks down at his tea cup. "My boss is . . . from another place. Time, too. It's complicated. And sometimes we say stuff and he just looks blank . . . he never asks. I wish he would."

Teyla nods. She can sympathize. "Sometimes it becomes...tiresome to always be asking questions. It is easier not to ask unless you need to."

"Yes, I see. I also suspect he's given up on staying current. It can be tiring."

"And if it is not necessary, it does no one any harm."

"No, I suppose not."

"Your boss, you...worry about him?"

He nods. "Quite a bit. I'm . . . fond of him."