A/N: Just a little one-shot I wrote late at night, takes place sometime after Season 6 and before Season 9. No intended pairings or deeper meanings. Enjoy!
Sloshed
"Hey Jack! Jack, check this out!" Daniel gestured wildly for O'Neill to come over to where he sat on the couch, playing with an (mostly) empty beer bottle and a coaster. "See! When you stick the coaster on the bottom, and turn it upsi' down, the coaster sticks!" Unfortunately, in his less-than-sober state, Daniel succeeded only in dumping the remainder of the beer in his lap, and dropping the coaster to the floor.
"Carter, remin' me why we let Daniel have beer?" Jack asked from his comfortable, slouched position in the arm chair. He had reached that pleasant phase of inebriation where everything in the world was fine and dandy, but his speech was only slightly slurred and his motor skills were still functioning, well, mostly functioning, as he knocked the magazines sitting on the arm of the chair to the floor. He looked over at his second in command, who was seated next to Daniel on the couch, and was currently trying to find a napkin between bouts of giggling at his plight. "It was your idea, sir…" She trailed off into laughter, and reached across Daniel's lap to the napkin which had once held his pizza. "Daniel, you really oughta know that trick only works if there's enough liquid for surf'ce tenshun…" Sam's technical explanation trailed off as she got distracted with making sure she correctly pronounced all the words.
"O'Neill, I believe MajorCarter is also inebriated to the degree which she cannot answer your question adequately." Said Teal'c. He was sitting in the other armchair in Jack's living room, and had been nursing a single bottle of Root Beer all evening. "I, however, am perfectly capable of responding. I believe we allow DanielJackson to partake of alcoholic beverages because of the entertainment value his antics provide us with while in a state of inebriation."
"Wow." Daniel paid no attention to the ministrations of Sam as she attempted to dry off his pant leg, and stared at Teal'c in exaggerated awe. "Did you hear that Jack? Teal'c is so deep!"
"Daniel, I know we've had this conversation before, and—" Jack began, gesturing emphatically with the beer bottle in his hand, but Daniel interrupted him before he could really get going.
"Jack! He's so deep I couldn' even unnerstan' half the words he said!"
"No, Daniel." Jack spoke slowly and precisely, partly because the alcohol was making him slur his words a bit, but also to make sure Daniel heard what he was saying. "That's not Teal'c being deep, that's you being drunk."
"Yeah." Daniel nodded thoughtfully, "yeah, yeah I think you're right."
Sam had given up on her cleaning job, but one hand still rested on Daniel's thigh as she leaned against him on the couch. "No, sir, I think Daniel's….Daniel's on to something!" She stated emphatically, gesturing with her free hand. "I mean, Teal'c, Teal'c always knows jus' what to say, or, or do!" She nodded. "Any sichuwayshon, I mean, situation..." Sam broke out giggling again, and muffled her face in Daniel's sleeve.
Teal'c simply watched them all with an inscrutable look on his face, and then turned to Jack. "I do not believe I have seen MajorCarter this inebriated for quite some time." He turned his attention back to his female teammate, who was now intent on explaining to Daniel just why it was impossible for the tornado in the Wizard of Oz to actually pick up a house. Because clearly there was a direct correlation to the depth of Teal'c's wisdom and the physics involved with making a manmade structure soar through the air in a classic move.
"Yeah. It's been awhile since we've had a team night like this tho. Ya gotta 'mitt i's nice not havin th' fate o' th' worl' hangin' ov'r head alla time." Jack's speech was slurring more now, as he finished off the beer in his hand and reached for another from the few left on the table. "An' we haven' lost someon' for mor'n a month! That's a good a reason as any for getting' good and sloshed, right buddy?" Jack toasted Teal'c with his beer, and then turned to join in Carter's one sided debate. Daniel was much more interested in seeing if he could read the beer bottle label upside down, without his glasses. Evidently, the fact that the letters wouldn't hold still was a source of great amusement to him.
"Indeed, my friend, indeed." Teal'c said quietly among the hubbub, taking a long drink from his Root Beer. After having saved the galaxy 8 times in as many years, it was well within their rights for his teammates to let go and just have a good time in each other's company.
Teal'c finished the bottle, and reached for another, this time a Cream Soda. "O'Neill, I believe MajorCarter is correct in her assertion that the flying monkeys are the results of genetic experiments…" He joined in the conversation with gusto, taking Sam's side in a discussion of the true origins of the frightful monsters from the Colonel's favorite movie, against Jack, who firmly held they were magical and thus created from scratch with wings, and Daniel who argued that he could, in fact, stand on his head for five minutes since his best friend in fourth grade had dared him to, and he was sure he could still do it.
Needless to say, the night ended in laughter, spilled drinks, (only one broken lamp), and companionship as the four teammates strengthened the bond which had been forged by fire and ice, life and death.
