Cosmetically Speaking

By: Bursztyn

Sam rubbed her eyelids clean with her makeup remover again, feeling somewhat disheartened. She tried to remember a time when she used to apply eye makeup on a regular basis. It had to have been high school, she decided, and that really couldn't have been that long ago.

She sighed. The problem was she had never worn eyeliner before, preferring to stick with a simple array of eye shadows. What she had really been interested in was how many shades she could color her lips and still get away with it, although she found green had been perfectly acceptable on St. Patrick's Day wherever she went. Hey, she was a scientist. Experimenting was what she did.

She wished she had experimented a little more with eyeliner.

Sam surveyed her reflection in her full-length mirror critically. She had done her best, had even gone shopping for a blue dress and a pair of shoes to match. She got her nails done (something she never did) and had spent more time worrying about her hair than was probably good for her.

Now all she needed to do was add the finishing touches: her makeup. Her eyeliner was stubbornly refusing to cooperate with her though. She frowned a little at her eyelids which were slightly pink from all the times she had stopped and rubbed off her makeup. She was an astrophysicist for goodness sake! She could draw a straight line. Just not, apparently, on her eyelids.

Feeling a little frustrated, Sam reapplied her eye shadow with a well-practiced hand and mentally prepared herself to try again.

Her doorbell rang and Sam's eyes shot up to her clock in shock. Surely she had plenty of time? She had made sure to give herself plenty of time to get ready, just in case something happened, like discovering her inability to apply eyeliner.

Shaking herself out of her momentary panic, Sam saw that she had a good hour left before Pete was supposed to show up. Wondering who it could be, she set her pencil down and went to answer the door.

"Daniel?"

He was holding a small cardboard box in his arms. "Hi Sam," he greeted. "Sorry for barging in like this but General Hammond asked me if I could drop these off with you. He sends his apologies for intruding on your week off but says these files are really important and it would be great if you could go over at least some of them before you come back."

"Yeah, sure," she agreed, opening up the door for him. "If you could just set them on the coffee table in the living room that would be great."

"Sure thing." He casually hefted the box from one arm to the other, studying her with a tilt of his head. "You look great. Are you going somewhere?"

"I have a date with Pete tonight."

"Is he taking you somewhere fancy?"

"I have no idea," she smiled. "He just told me how to dress. It's going to be a surprise."

"Sounds like fun," Daniel said earnestly. "You look like you're almost ready though. Isn't it the girl's job to keep the guy waiting?"

"I'm not as ready as I look," she said morosely. "I'm having a bit of trouble with my makeup."

Daniel set the box down on her table and straightened up, examining her through his glasses. "What kind of trouble?"

She waved her hand, as if doing so would make her problems vanish. "I can't seem to get the eyeliner to cooperate," she confessed. "It's not a big deal though. I was thinking I would just have to do without."

Something flickered in Daniel's eyes but it was gone before Sam could recognize what it was. "I could help," he offered.

Sam paused, thinking he was joking. When she realized he wasn't she looked at him skeptically. "Really?"

Daniel looked a little uncomfortable. Wait, that wasn't it. Embarrassed perhaps? "Ah, yeah. On Abydos we decorated our eyes on special occasions and for parties. And the Abydonians loved to party…"

"So you got a lot of practice," Sam said gently, aware of the bittersweet memories talk of Abydos would inevitably drudge up for Daniel. She smiled at him a little mischievously. "You think you can draw a straight line better than me, mister?"

"I hope so," he retaliated in a teasing tone, "because if I can't I must have been dreaming every time I applied kohl on Sha'uri's eyes."

Sam led him back to her bathroom and presented him with her pencil. "Okay," she declared, "work your magic."

Daniel looked around and closed the toilet seat cover. "Sit," he told her. She did so and he tiled her jaw up gently. "Close your eyes."

Daniel's hand rested on her cheekbone and she could feel him apply the tip of her pencil gently to her left eyelid. He worked in steady, confident strokes, and before she knew it he had finished. "You used to do this for Sha'uri?" she asked before he started on her right eye.

"All the time," he replied. "We didn't exactly have much in the way of mirrors so we partnered off to help each other out. Skaara's the one who showed me how. It was like a competition to see who could come up with the best designs. I liked imagining what designs the pharaoh's queen in Ancient Egypt might have worn and enjoyed recreating them for Sha'uri." He removed his hand from her face. "Done."

Sam stared at her reflection in the mirror over her sink. It wasn't flashy or fancy. It was neat and simple, but most of all, it was even and straight. She was genuinely impressed. "Wow Daniel. Thanks."

"No problem." He handed her back her pencil.

"You'll have to show me some of those designs you were talking about some day."

"I could make sketches," he offered.

"Would you? I bet Janet and Cassie would love to see them too."

"Sam, don't go telling everyone."

She smiled innocently. "Oh, I won't. But you know how things get around on base."

Daniel buried his face in his hand. "I'm never going to hear the end of this. I've doomed myself." He looked up. "I don't suppose I could just ask you not to tell anyone?"

Sam gave him a look of pure disbelief.

"Right, I thought not."

"I'll only tell Janet and Cassie," she reassured him. "After that, if it somehow gets out I swear I will have had nothing to do with it."

"So you're saying in advance that you blame Janet?"

"Maybe?"

Daniel smiled and shook his head. "Have fun with Pete tonight Sam."

"I will," she said, walking him to the door. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Anytime," he said, "really. I'd forgotten how much I missed that tradition."

Sam brandished her pencil in the air. "I'll call you," she told him honestly, and waved when he got in his jeep and drove away. She then went back inside to finish up with mascara. It looked like she wouldn't have to keep Pete waiting tonight after all.