Title: Let's All Go To The Drive-In
Author: Maeve Bran
Rating: T
Summary: Daniel explains to Vala a unique piece of Earth culture, post "Bounty".
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1. I'm just having a little fun.
Notes: This is just a silly piece of fluff dedicated to jedibuttercup for being there when I call at 8pm on a Friday night from the truck and say "Help. I need to know if there is a drive in movie theater near Cheyennne Mountain." She not only looks up theaters in Colorado, she Mapquests them to find the closest one to Colorado Springs in about 2 minutes.
Word count: 967
"Daniel," Vala said as she bounced into his office. "What is a drive in?"
Daniel looked up to see Vala standing there, waiting for an answer. He sighed and closed the book he had been searching through. "It's a movie screen out in a field. People drive their cars in and park. Then they tune their radio to the theater's frequency and watch the movie. Why do you ask?"
"Cam was telling stories about his high school days and the drive-in featured heavily in more than a few. Are there any still around?" Vala explained.
"I don't know if there are any around here," Daniel replied. "I suppose you could look it up on the Internet."
"Okay." Vala moved to Daniel's computer, since Daniel was working at the center counter with his books. A moment later, she frowned. "It says there is one in Pueblo. How far away is that?"
"I think that's about an hour away," Daniel answered automatically. He looked up at Vala again and saw her expectant face. "Vala, would you like to go to the drive-in Friday night?"
"Sure. I'd love to," Vala answered with a megawatt grin. Then she left his lab to do who knows what.
Daniel sighed and went back to work. He had no idea why he had just agreed to take Vala to the drive-in, but he found himself looking forward to Friday night anyway. Maybe it was the fact the he could probably count on one hand the number of times he had been to the drive-in himself, and it was a chance to be normal, not a space-going hero.
Friday afternoon at about five, Daniel sought out Vala. He found her in her quarters primping.
"You ready to go?" he asked after she opened the door to him.
"Almost. We just have to stop by the commissary," Vala replied.
"Why the commissary?" Daniel asked, puzzled.
"I talked to Sam and she said a lot of people take a picnic or other food to the drive-in. Then I got talking to Lt. Crow in the commissary and she said she'd pack us a nice picnic dinner. Since I didn't know what was traditional, I told her to go for it," Vala explained, as if it was obvious.
"Okay. Let's go." He looked at her outfit and then said, "You might want to bring a sweatshirt and maybe that throw blanket. It will be late and most likely chilly by the time we get back."
Vala dashed over to her dresser and pulled out a sweatshirt with the Air Force logo on it. Then she grabbed the blanket Daniel had mentioned. "So, just how late are we going to be?"
"Well, the first movie won't start until after sunset, so around nine. I hear Transformers is about two and a half hours, then a half hour intermission, and Live Free or Die Hard is just over two hours so we'll be able to leave around 2:30 and get back here at about 3:30 AM."
It hit him then that he was willingly shutting himself in a small confined space alone with Vala for something like ten hours. Heaven help him if she got bored and wanted to explore just what else happened at drive-ins.
The ride passed without incident and they got a good parking space. They started in on dinner, but after that Vala got bored.
"So tell me darling, why are drive ins so popular?" Vala asked, trying to find a comfortable position in Daniel's jeep.
"Well, for one it is cheaper to see the two movies at a drive in. For another, they don't care if you bring in outside food and drink." Daniel listed off the practical reasons before getting to the impractical. "Then there is the fact that if you talk during the movie no one shushes you. Finally, for many couples, particularly the high-schoo-aged crowd, there is a little more privacy in a car so they can not watch the movies at all."
"Instead they do what?" Vala asked, but then noticed Daniel's blush. "Oh, Darling. I think I may just enjoy these movies no matter what they are about." She reached her hand out and stroked his knee.
Daniel blushed harder and moved her hand away. "Vala, I did not bring you here to neck. I brought you here to watch some movies and have some fun away from the base."
"But Daniel, you said this 'necking' thing was part of the experience," Vala complained.
"Necking is only a part of the experience if you are part of an established couple. Which we are most definitely not. Lastly, that usually happens in the second feature when the young families have left and it is really late," Daniel further explained.
"Oh. Earth certainly has some complicated courtship rituals," Vala said fascinated.
"You have no idea. The rituals I could tell you about from the ancient Mayans..."
Vala realized that Daniel was starting to go into Professor mode and interrupted him. "That's all right, Daniel. The only courtship rituals I'm interested in are the ones you would observe."
"And why would that be?" Daniel asked.
"That would be because I want to do things right and proper with you, Daniel," Vala confessed.
Daniel was speechless. Of all the answers she might have given, that was the last one he expected. Vala was serious. She wanted to do things properly with him. It almost made him wonder what kind of impropriety she had committed in the past, but that thought soon gave way to the thought that she just may have serious feelings for him.
"Well, if that is truly the case, I should tell you that traditionally, on Earth, couples don't have sex until after they are properly married..." Daniel began seriously.
-x-