The NotSoCinematic Experience.
Sequel to The NotSoTrivial Injury, and next in the NotSo series.
I've had a few requests from people asking about Cam's reaction to the S/J relationship. Hopefully this story answers some of those questions. Also, I've always wanted to explore the Sam/Cam friendship a little because I think they have such a cute chemistry, so I went there too...
P.S- Monsters. Inc fans might notice a slight something. Yes, I stole. Yes, I'll give it straight back, I promise. And if anyone is noticing a trend in the movie selection, please note that Judy Garland has always been, and will always be, my first love. As though that explains everything.
To my loyal reviewers, one thousand thank-you's. To my readers, thanks for dropping by.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
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She's sitting on her couch in her favourite shorts and singlet, swaddled in her mother's crocheted blankets, her fourth-favourite movie ever on the television, and is completely surrounded by handsome men. Needless to say, Samantha Carter should be one happy woman.
Only, she's not entirely happy, because Cam keeps giving her fiancé strange looks, Daniel keeps shushing the only other drop of oestrogen in the room, Teal'c refuses to pass her the laptop and Jack, bless him, has taken up residence at the other end of the couch and is therefore squishing her feet.
When she twitches her toes against his hip he throws her a look that says he knows exactly how much he's irritating her, and turns back to watch Judy and Fred skip across the screen. She sighs silently and throws the blankets off, intending to go get a drink. Immediately Jack is there, a questioning look on his face.
"I got it" she mutters, and he backs off. They've already had the talk today about him babying her too much.
It's been two and a half weeks since she had half her side blown off, and a week since she escaped the confines of the infirmary with strict instructions to not be back on base, or else. Though Vala briefly used the hand device straight after surgery to work on the worst of the damage, Lam insists on letting Sam's body recover the old-fashioned way, and so here she is, bandaged within an inch of her life, painkillers for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and practically on house arrest.
Thankfully, Landry is not as cruel as his daughter, and allows Sam the use of her laptop at home. Which would be great, except her guys are all fussing so much she's barely got more than a few hours of work done.
She pads softly over her kitchen tiles to the fridge, and turns when she hears footsteps following. She expects to see Jack standing there, at just the right distance, offering support without crowding her. Instead it's Cam, hands in pockets, that familiar lazy grin on his face, and she sometimes forgets between the bullets and beatings, that he's just an easy-going country boy she met at the academy.
They haven't spoken much since his visit to the infirmary, though she doesn't think any more needs to be said. He's not the kind of guy to save a life just for the praise, and she's known him long enough to know that being at her house for movie night is his way of offering support.
A sudden wave of guilt washes over her, and she steals a subtle glance at her fiancé, sprawled comfortably on her couch as though he belongs there. She didn't mean to not tell Cam, after all. In fact, she was certain she'd made it blatantly obvious, once she got back to the mountain from Nevada. Neither Daniel or Teal'c seemed surprised, so why should anyone else?
But it was entirely clear that he hadn't known about the relationship when he'd choked on his drink upon seeing them hug at the 200 after-party. Clear to all in Sundry, as the beer went spluttering all over his chin and shirt and shoes, in the middle of her living room.
She'd taken him to get cleaned up in the bathroom just down the hall, laughing her ass off as he tried to regain some modicum of respectability. He'd finally admitted defeat when she took the toilet roll out of his hand and promptly started wiping the beer froth from his chin, still chuckling despite his repeated pleas for her to stop.
He'd looked at her then, eyes wide, brows slightly furrowed, lips almost pouting. The look of a child begging their mother to tell them Santa is real and that the other kids are lying.
So she explained, there in her bathroom of all places, half a toilet roll in one hand, the other resting on the basin. And Cam had listened quietly, never letting on that he felt in any way left out, though he surely must have. They chatted briefly about how long things had been serious, and about the general progression of the relationship over the years, and then about relationships in general. They talked about how hard it is to find someone worth a damn, and how much harder it is when you work in a top secret facility. They talked a little about Jonas Hanson, who Cam knew from the academy and secretly despised, and about Pete, a name that isn't mentioned much anymore. They talked about Lorraine, a girl Cam was very close to marrying some years ago until he was deployed and she refused to follow.
They've known each other for over twenty years- seen each other through their studies, and training, and those first few gruelling years straight out of the academy. Yet, there they were, standing in her bathroom, finally catching up on some long-overdue gossip.
Until Daniel had barrelled in, desperately seeking to empty his bladder.
Cam had followed her back to the kitchen in search of a replacement beer, and suddenly hugged her in front of the fridge, whispering his blessing into her shoulder. She'd hugged him back and then handed him his drink, and he hadn't brought it up again. Strangely, some of the Jack-O'Neill-hero-worship-syndrome seemed to wear off after that, though she imagines that it's hard to over-glorify a guy who's sleeping with one of your closest friends, intergalactic superman or not.
Wordlessly she passes Cam another soda can as he comes over now to stand next to her, smiling a little as he nods his thanks. If he has any idea what train of thought she's been on, he doesn't show it. Not that he would. He's cocky, confident, optimistic and perhaps just a little naive, but he's also surprisingly quiet when there's nothing that needs to be said. It's just one of the many reasons they're still friends after all this time.
"You not a musical fan, hey?"
He shrugs nonchalantly, giving a little whine of indecision, his hand shaking midair. "I'm neither here nor there. Though, I gotta say, it's hard not to like Judy when she sings about your home-town the way she does"
His southern drawl becomes more pronounced the moment he thinks about home, and it's a trait of his she's always found endearing, from the very first time she bumped into him in the corridor, his 'watch it little lady' ringing in her ear. That he can go back to the same house he was born in, pick up a spade and just start working in the garden, makes her insanely jealous for reasons she doesn't like to consider.
"Still, Easter bonnets 'aint exactly my specialty. You?"
She snorts at that and looks back to the television over the kitchen bench. "I love them. The musicals, not the bonnets"
"But?"
It's another thing she loves about Cam- his simplicity. Not the same dense act that Jack puts on like a mask. It's more that he really is just a meat-and-three-veg kind of guy, and all he wants is a straight answer, because that's all you'll get in return.
"I dunno. Cabin fever, I guess"
"Drives ya crazy, don't it?"
"Mmm-hm"
"You feelin' any better?" he asks, gesturing vaguely towards her side.
"Yeah. Much. I'm on the good stuff"
"Wuss" he says with a grin, and she grins back, recalling the way his harmless, jocular taunts encouraged her up that damn obstacle wall over twenty years ago. She thinks about the slap on the back he gave her when she made it down the other side, and about the whispered congratulations he gave, low enough for only her to hear. She also thinks about his long road to recovery after the Antarctic crash, and the fact that what he went through makes her injuries now look like a paper cut. He fist-bumps her shoulder lightly with a crooked smile, and she smiles back.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nice to girls?"
She's met his mother, and knows darn well that she did.
"Yeah, but you don't count"
"Hey!"
She props a hand on her uninjured hip in mock outrage, her mouth flying open.
"Yeah, girls who can kick my butt don't require the same special treatment"
"And don't you forget it buddy"
She pokes his shoulder to emphasize her point, though she's now thinking about proposing a hand-to-hand duel once she's better, for kicks. They had tried to spar once in the academy, for a combat-class bet. They both gave up after two hours, realising neither were any closer to winning, and shared the unclaimed pool money, splurging it on beers that night with a whole bunch of classmates.
She wonders if it would be any different now.
"Oh don't worry, I won't" he smirks.
She grins again and leans the uninjured part of her back against the counter, turned away from the television, facing him where he stands to the side of her fridge.
"So- how's missions been?" she asks, not nearly as subtle as she'd like.
"Don't worry sweet pea, we've missed you" he says with a smirk.
"Sweet pea?"
"No?"
"It's kinda... high school, don't you think?"
"Bit much?"
"A little"
"Alright. How about honey pot?"
She smirks. "Sure thing schnookums"
"Googly-waddles"
She snorts and giggles a little, ducking her head as he bats his eyelashes and kisses the air in her direction. She lightly whacks his shoulder, still grinning widely, and he drops the act and has a chuckle too.
"Hey love-birds, shush"
They look over to the back of Jack's head and grin to each other. Though he has no intention of saying anything that might upset his boss, Cam will encourage the boss' fiancée as much as possible and in any way he can. Therefore, he wiggles his eyebrows at her as she throws a line over her shoulder.
"But shmoopsy-poo, we were only having a little fun"
A pillow comes flying in the direction of the kitchen, and with surprising accuracy- given Jack didn't actually look when he tossed it backwards over his shoulder- it almost hits Cam. Sam giggles again.
"It wasn't me!"
He manages to tack a barely audible 'Sir' on the end, three seconds too late.
"You were an accomplice, Mitchell. You deserve to be pillowed"
Sam laughs lightly again at Cam's expression and he glares at her in mock outrage. "Traitor" he hisses, causing a giggle to escape from his nemesis.
"You two gonna watch the rest of this? It was your idea"
Sam rolls her eyes at Daniel, sitting as he is on the two-seater. Vala sits quite comfortably next to him- almost on top of him to be honest- and Teal'c sits on her other side. It is not a couch meant for three grown people, but it says a lot that Daniel gave in to Vala's insistence, and Sam can't help but wonder if it will take them as long as it took her and Jack. It's a different type of relationship, to be sure, but it has a weird way of working, and if Teal'c's subtle smirk is anything to judge by, he's also well aware of the 'it' between them.
"Just because you don't like musicals Daniel" she replies as she and Cam meander back to the living area, drinks in hand.
"I love musicals!" pipes in Vala, throwing her hand up with an air of pomposity and a grin to match.
"I don't mind musicals" amends Daniel, sending his couch buddy a glare out the corner of his eye.
"Liar" says Jack, grinning around the rim of his glass.
"I don't"
"Oh come on, you could barely stand to watch High Society the other week" says Sam, plopping herself upright on the couch, tucking the blankets back around her and making room for Cam on her other side, as she settles next to Jack.
"Now, that one I didn't mind. That was a remake of a classic. And if nothing else I could look at the way it depicted American East Coast society-"
"Snore. Boring"
She's still not quite used to Vala's sudden and extreme interruptions, but regardless, Sam likes her immensely. She's a breath of fresh air in a place that could do with some sprucing up, and she's always a good drinking/girl-talk buddy, even if she is a little more flamboyant than Sam's usual company. Teal'c only looks on fondly, seeming to enjoy the conversations of his companions. Sam gets the impression that he's never really met anyone like Vala either, and something tells her he has quite a soft spot for the old con. She might have to ask him about that later.
"Guys, will ya shut it and just watch"
And because a General yelling at you to be quiet usually does the trick, they all fall silent for a moment. Until she hears Cam mutter under his breath, barely loud enough for her to hear, and then all bets are off, as she bursts out in a fit of giggles that pull at her stitches a little but do wonders for her mood.
"Googly-bear"
They don't really watch the movie much after that, content to sit and chat about everything and nothing, making each other laugh at all the funny stories they've got to share. Sam doesn't really mind- she's got this movie on DVD anyway. And if all else fails, she'll just invite her people over again for another movie night, and they can watch Judy and Fred waltz down Fifth Avenue when they're all feeling less talkative.
That is, if she can get the mental image of Cam in a Bo-Peep costume out of her head first.