Title: A Touch of Normal
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Sam/Cam/Vala
Summary: The three indulge in some R&R at the cabin.
for: virkjatol
A/N: Just, ugh, brain fail for writing atm so this didn't turn out as well as I hoped.
Cam settled back in the chair and perused the lake, setting the fishing rod down, determined to get a bite. In the distance he could just make out the figures of Sam and Vala, who'd set out at a ridiculously early time for a hike and were now on their way back. It was the middle of summer and they had grabbed the rare oppurtunity of a weekend off with both hands, exiting the mountain before sirens could go off and they were hauled back through the gate by unforeseen circumstances. He had hustled Vala and Sam through some quick pack and grab preparation and they'd hit the road. Within a few hours they'd reached the cabin and down time was officially in motion.
Cam watched the two figures as they moved, with a smile that could be considered goofy to anyone seeing it. He cocked his head and heard laughter on the breeze, watched the blonde figure pause and bend over and no doubt Vala had said something extremely provocative and politically incorrect and completely Vala-eque. He doubted any of them had known a person like her in their entire lives. It was good to hear Sam laugh, so hard it hurt and gasping for air. The kind of brimming happiness and enjoyment that made her eyes sparkle brighter and showed the inner Sam that sometimes got constricted by regs and the uniform and too many brain cells working on problems.
Cam had always eventually been able to drag that part of her out, with a little work and effort. But Vala doesn't have to try, no effort, just the magic touch, the Vala touch. And Sam did the same for Vala, knew that under the tough exterior, the cocky manner and outgoing personality, that there was hurt and confusion and darkness that threatened to consume if it was allowed out. An aching guilt for the years as a host to a goa'uld, the memories of pain and suffering caused. The endless grind of a wanderer with no place to call home.
Sometimes Sam pushes, just to give that darkness an opening, because she knows the darkness won't go away unless it's dealt with, head on. The first time Cam saw Vala lose it, really lose it, where the anger turned to madness, turned to sorrow and desperate, aching sobs, it was like some chasm had been breached. There he was, an airforce Colonel frightened by the sheer force of such bleeding emotion and at a loss as to how to handle it. Sam had simply waited until Vala had stopped fighting it, drawn her into a tight, fierce embrace and let her cry it out. The Sam touch.
Somehow he's settled into the dynamic of these two women and he's never been able to figure out how it happened. He thinks maybe, they just reached out and reeled him in before he had a chance to protest. Sam with her too clever brain and Vala with her too mischevious sensibilites coming up with some kind of plan that he was unable to dodge.
Sometimes they gang up on him and really, it isn't fair because he's a guy and well, they are hot and attractive and hell yeah just damned sexy. If it was all about the sex he'd say he was the luckiest guy in the world - but there's more too it than sex and it makes him feel like maybe he's the luckiest guy in every universe out there (and he knows there a few variations, having been privy to many of them).
Giving the fishing line a nudge, impatiently hoping to get the fish interested in his bait, the two objects of his affections came into view by the side of the lake, following the path. Evidently they'd been to the meadow because Sam's hair is adorned in mauve softness, Vala has found the largest pink bud to tuck by her ear and they are carrying more than their fair share of posies to dot around the cabin. Cameron ponders on teasing Sam and her bouquet and the general domestic look it creates, but she looks too happy and carefree to tease and instead he grins like the adoring idiot he is.
Vala headed off towards the cabin after flashing him a smile and Sam wandered along the small jetty, collapsing into a chair beside him.
"Anything?" She asked with a smile and he reached over to pick a stray purple flower from her hair, teasing it between his thumb and forefinger.
"Pretty sure this pond if bereft of fish," he said in reply, looking suspiciously over the water.
"Well I could get behind that assumption if it wasn't for the fact I caught us supper yesterday," Sam teased and gave a small giggle.
"Then I guess I'm pretty sure I suck at fishing," Cam grinned back.
"Well you can't be good at everything Colonel," Sam said with a sigh, settling back into her chair.
"Beer?" Vala asks from behind them and they both turn to see her flashing a wide grin and handing out bottles.
"Thanks," Cam says, looking at his line again for a second, thinking he'd sensed movement. Purposefully ignoring Sam's sly smile as he's greeted by nothing but the slow drift of his float resting on the lake surface. "So, where'd you two get too? And did you leave any flowers for, you know, nature to enjoy?"
Vala settled down beside his chair, feet dipped into the cold water, back resting on Cam's legs. With a finger she gave the fishing line a soft pull as if to help the fish along in taking the bait but they don't rise to her challenge and instead she pressed her head back against his knee.
"You know, if you wish to find out what we get up to on our hikes, you're quite welcome to come with us," she replied. "However if you wish to remain in the confines of bed, I'm afraid your not going to be privy to that kind of information."
Looking down at her, Cam frowned wondering at the implications of the offhand comment, before looking at Sam who gazed innocently off into the distance. Sam trying to look innocent and Vala trying for serious is a dangerous scenario and he can either rise to the challenge or change the subject. He's not a wimp, but these women scare him sometimes in ways only they know how to.
"What are we doing for lunch?" he asks, painfully aware he's a coward and drawing a sly chuckle from Sam.
"Well, we're evidently not having fish," Vala surmised, getting an even bigger snort out of Sam.
Cam knows it should be unattractive but he smiles again and gives a shake of his head at the teasing. Tiling her head right back, Vala looked at him upside down, giving a wide smile and knocking the giant pink flower from it's position behind her ear. Cameron catches it before it falls and she looks forward, lets him tease her scalp and hair with his fingers before he sets it back in place again. He indulges a little more because he can, Vala's hair is like satin, soft to touch, thick frongs that fall in waves at their own accord. He learned early on she likes head massages, doesn't mind her hair being toyed with. Which is good because sliding fingers through hair like Vala's is an indulgence all it's own.
Sam's less tolerant, though when it comes to kissing it's fair game. But the head massages, the fiddling with a stray strand just because, is a no no. She usually bats their hands away when they get too touchy, though isn't averse to a neck massage, or shoulder massage and dissolves into a puddle of goo once a full body massage is on the cards.
Closing her eyes, Vala sighs as Cam continues to apply slight pressure, fingers sliding through the thick satin black to caress her scalp. The pink flower is a nice effect, vibrant against the dark backdrop. He takes a sly look at Sam who's relaxing in her deck chair beside him, fingers toying with the beer bottle, face upturned to the sky and enjoying the peace and quiet. The mauve flowers are like a garland and he surmises Vala made it at the meadow because Sam likes flowers, but he doubts she'd sit and create a garland, though it's not beyond her to wear it. It sits atop the soft, wispy blonde hair she's given up keeping short, usually swept back but hanging loose today.
He watches her mouth twitch and she opens her eyes, squinting and turning her head to look at him.
"What?" she asked, catching him staring, a twinkle in her eye.
"Nothing," Cam replied equally at ease, listening to Vala hum in enjoyment as his fingers continue on their merry indulgence.
They lapse into silence and it's a world away from their normal, every day existence. They've three days of just this and it's a thought that warms Cam through, inviting and teasing because it's a long time but not enough, never enough.
But he'd not complain. Three days is better than none.
~fin~