"Gives you a bit of vertigo, doesn't it?" Sheppard asked, settling himself against the rail next to Vala.
"V-vertigo?" She asked sounding more startled than confused.
"Oh, right. Dizziness." He corrected, looking slightly bashful at his oversight.
"You could say that. You have this view all of the time?" She asked, her eyes full of wonder.
"Well at night it tends to be a little darker." He noted, his eyes tinkling with humor.
"Can't imagine why." She quipped, giving him a light smile, easily picking up on his humor.
"It's too bad you won't be here long." He remarked lightly.
"Long enough for Daniel to talk about it for months." She sighed weakly before lowering her voice as if to tell him a secret. "He doesn't get out much."
"You don't say." He gave her a smile that told her he wasn't the least bit surprised.
"I try but…" She raised her hands in gesture signifying her failure, "...what can you do?"
"Fun gal like you. I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to get out."
"Maybe you've forgotten how dreadfully boring Earth can be."
"No, I haven't forgotten." He laughed and Vala decided it was good to hear someone laugh again even if it wasn't Daniel "Mr. Serious" Jackson.
"The trip here was rather interesting. I learned a great deal about your people."
"Like what?"
"There's a lot more of you than I expected from a little backwater planet even though…"
"Vala." Daniel's disapproving tone stopped her statement on the shallowness of Earth's gene pool from coming out.
"You wouldn't be causing trouble, would you?" He asked, his tone growing more tense.
"Obviously not, Daniel, because that would be fun. Does it look like I'm having fun?" She answered sharply.
"Just talking that's all." John spoke up, giving Daniel his best "I'm innocent as far as you know" look.
"Right." The archeologist sounded unconvinced as his suspicious gazed flitted between the innocuous pair.
"Well there's things Vala and I need to see." Daniel said stiffly, attempting to end Vala's playtime.
"See. I told you, no fun at all," she remarked, giving John an exasperated look.
"You were talking about me?" John had to stifle a laugh as Daniel's face turned an interesting shade of pink and then decided he was best left seen but not heard.
"Oh of course not. We're just talking about football. The Bulls or the Lakers, what do you think?" She asked, throwing her hair over her shoulder and giving John a playful wink.
"That's basketball, Vala. Stop talking to Mitchell," Daniel corrected through a clenched jaw.
"I wasn't talking to him, I was talking to Colonel Sheppard here."
"It's John, actually," he said, forgetting that he should mind his own business.
"Now that you've been properly introduced I think it's time to be on our way."
Vala shot a fierce look at Daniel before turning to John with her hand outstretched.
"It was lovely meeting you, John. I hope to see more of you, without such a rude audience."
"Maybe we can do lunch," he suggested as he shook her hand. John noticed that her eyes looked remarkably like the ocean as she gave him a bright smile.
Daniel coughed in an ill-concealed attempt to hurry things along.
"Right, the Orii wait for no one," she said gravely and then reluctantly released his hand. John turned back to the ocean as they walked away.
"You really were talking about me, weren't you?" And John had to smile as Jackson's incredulous voice was carried back to him.
"Well someone has to do it," was the last thing he heard before they went inside.
Mitchell was right, Vala was interesting to say the very least.