I'd say that all depends on how you define Teyla's position in Atlantis. At first, her presence was guaranteeing the Athosians still had access to the gate (in return for acting as a guide and making sure the expedition didn't starve), but as I recall, when the Asurans came, the people on the mainland evacuated to another world. I don't remember whether they moved back when Teyla did.
Anyway, it seems to me that after that point, Teyla is clearly working for the expedition as a local civilian contractor, like Ronon, but you're right that she's effectively a command-staff level advisor. Ronon's presence in those scenes implies that they're feeling out whether he has anything to offer on that level, but his comfort zone is totally among the team.
Also, Elizabeth has always technically been able to ground Teyla and could eject her from the city if it came to it (although John wouldn't back her without good cause). She really, really wouldn't. And it's really telling that when she left to meet the IOA, she left Teyla in charge, at least on the civilian side (and surely THAT means she's signed some official contract with the SGC, right?).
So...yeah. It's all murky because we don't know how Teyla fits into the overall scheme of things. Vala's position with SG-1 implies the SGC has a protocol for hiring non-Terrans... but that's the sort of detail they don't bother tellng us about.
Meanwhile, as far as the pairing, it's certainly not any more off-limits than John/Rodney. And how long did they have in S1 while they thought they'd never have contact with Earth again? Coming out of that, and seeing the extreme non-enforcement of Earth-rules...I'd say Elizabeth has a really good idea of what she can get away with. *g*
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Anyway, it seems to me that after that point, Teyla is clearly working for the expedition as a local civilian contractor, like Ronon, but you're right that she's effectively a command-staff level advisor. Ronon's presence in those scenes implies that they're feeling out whether he has anything to offer on that level, but his comfort zone is totally among the team.
Also, Elizabeth has always technically been able to ground Teyla and could eject her from the city if it came to it (although John wouldn't back her without good cause). She really, really wouldn't. And it's really telling that when she left to meet the IOA, she left Teyla in charge, at least on the civilian side (and surely THAT means she's signed some official contract with the SGC, right?).
So...yeah. It's all murky because we don't know how Teyla fits into the overall scheme of things. Vala's position with SG-1 implies the SGC has a protocol for hiring non-Terrans... but that's the sort of detail they don't bother tellng us about.
Meanwhile, as far as the pairing, it's certainly not any more off-limits than John/Rodney. And how long did they have in S1 while they thought they'd never have contact with Earth again? Coming out of that, and seeing the extreme non-enforcement of Earth-rules...I'd say Elizabeth has a really good idea of what she can get away with. *g*