Author's Note: Well here is another chapter! And it's longer than all of the other ones too! This one took a little time to put together, and the way I had planned for it, it was supposed to be much longer too, but I ended it where I did because it just seemed right. Actually it felt like a right place to end the chapter. Thank you all for your reviews, and while I do seem to constantly be asking you all to point out the flaws in my writing it's because those are the places that I need to work on the most. It is, in a way, a need for perfection, but that is because I don't want to write some crap fan fiction that falls far below my own standards for my original writings. This is the same as an original piece, only I am writing with previously established characters that I didn't create, set in a world whose rules and norms I had no say in. It's the challenge I like, and since I (like a lot of people on this site) am an aspiring writer, I need to know that my writing can be flexible enough to fit into another persons constructs.
Also as a side note, my dearly beloved editors have upped and quit on me. So this piece has not been edited by anyone but me. I am now in the market for beta(s)/editors. If there is anyone interested in such a challenging job (consider my rather basic grammatical mistakes in places, and my often use of the wrong word), please drop a line in a PM or in a review. I'll be eternally grateful to anyone willing to take on the job.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 doesn't belong to me, please let the lawyers rest, I haven't any money to spare after I pay tuition.
Warnings: There is sexual content, not much and nothing explicit either. It's written to be humours, though I don't know if you, my dear reader, will understand my sense of humour. I found it funny when I was writing it.
Now, I want you sit back, relax, read, and review. But most importantly…
Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven: The Letter
"I have just been informed by the joint chiefs and the international committee that they want us to gain the cooperation of the Drakins in the production of a functional weapon against the Priors," General Landry announced to those gathered in his office. He'd called them into his office to prevent their visitors from becoming suspicious of their actions, as well as to keep the rumours to the absolute minimum. There were very few kept secrets at Stargate Command; Landry wanted this meeting to be one of those few secrets that remained secret. "As far as I understand what they were telling me they believe that the Drakins will be exactly what is needed to complete your suggested design, Colonel Carter."
"They might be, sir," Sam started. "But they made it very clear to us the other day that they didn't want to have anything to do with the creation of a weapon. They don't believe that they have any reason to become involved in this fight." Sam looked to the others gathered in the office as if for confirmation of her words, but she didn't need it.
"We were rather forcefully told that they don't fight in any war, sir," Mitchell chimed in.
"And I told you before, that's a load of crap," Vala added. "They fight wars just not the same kinds of wars that you fight."
Daniel looked to the dark haired woman leaning against the wall next to him. The way she had spoken those words gave him pause. It was almost as though Vala knew something they didn't about their strange guests. "And just how do you know this, Vala?" Landry questioned. There was a small sense of relief for Daniel to know that he wasn't going to be the one to pick this particular fight. Though, in a way, he wished he'd spoken sooner, maybe then she might open up to him later if she knew that he wanted to know what had happened to her. That it ate him up inside not knowing because he felt responsible for a host of pains and injuries that his imagination created for him to think about.
"I don't know how I know," Vala answered finally. "I was with them for about three months. I was almost completely under their control for most of that time. It was like being a deep shadow in the back of a million minds. I could catch bits and pieces of what they thought, what they remembered, and what they did. They fight wars, General. But like I said, they aren't the same kinds of wars that we would fight.
"They aren't physical and bloody, not outwardly anyway. It's more like a battle of wills and wits. It's an almost constant mental struggle with their enemies." Vala was looking at the floor before her feet while she spoke, her arms crossed before her. She looked so closed off, as though she could lock out whatever it was she was remembering. Daniel wanted to put an arm around her, shelter her from something that he couldn't see, something that he could never really fight for her. "They left their home and moved to that cavernous moon, they left for a reason. I know they left for a reason, a very terrible and bloody reason."
There was silence for the moment, everyone centering themselves in their own thoughts. But Daniel's were torn. One part of his mind was trying to think of ways that they might be able to get the Drakins to help them, the other part of his mind was almost…reaching out to Vala as though he could comfort her that way, or find out what was wrong. Because something was wrong, she just wouldn't open up to him. She didn't trust him enough to open up to him. This was a circular argument in his mind; it was his own fault that she didn't trust him.
"Regardless," Landry spoke finally. "They want you to try and gain their confidence and eventual cooperation anyway you are able to get it. And I suggest you find a way. The joint chiefs were hinting that we didn't really need them alive or cooperative to get what we need."
"I still think we might have an easier chance talking them into helping us if we had Teal'c here with us," Mitchell was saying as the group finished off breakfast. "He's the best we have for proving that we are capable of overthrowing false gods, and that such things do exist." Using the last of his toast, Mitchell tried to pick up the run off from his eggs, cleaning off the plate in true military training style. "So what kind of attack plan are we going to use when we talk with them?"
"I don't think there will be any 'attack plan' that we can use to get the Matriarch on our side for this one," Daniel offered. "They are a self professed non-violent people. I don't think that they will ever agree to help us make a weapon of any kind." The coffee in his mug was a little on the cool side, but the bitter brew was still wonderful to taste. "We've seen it before. If they really don't want to help us in a fight, they aren't going to help us at all."
"But they value every life," Vala put in, scooping out the last of the porridge in her bowl. "Do you really think they'll just let us blunder about until we get all the bugs out of a weapon? That would cost more lives than necessary than if they just helped us from the start."
"That's certainly a different take on the subject," Sam offered. Daniel had been watching the uneasy interactions between the two women. "And it is true. If they can help us it means that more lives can be saved in the process. We'll lose less people in the trial and error stages."
Daniel shook his head and leaned forward, sliding his empty coffee mug across the table to sit next to his empty plate. "But they value every life, Sam. The Priors would fall under the category of every to the Drakins I think. But they are also so adamant that they not get involved with this fight. I think they are content to remain in their cave filled moon, unknown to the rest of the galaxy."
"But that's the problem, isn't it?" Vala asked. "They aren't unknown anymore. We know about them. The Priors know about them. It's only a matter of time before they send more through the stargate after them. They are going to want to get the Drakins under their thumb more than they wanted to get the Jaffa nation on their side." Vala looked at them all, meeting each of their eyes before she went on. "Don't you understand? The Drakins are more advanced than the Priors are. They are a threat to the Ori. And if they can be brought on to their side, then they become a threat equal to that of the Priors. Maybe more so."
She was so sure of what she said, certain in her claims, firmly believing in every word she said. She knew what she said to be true. She may not really remember much of anything about her time with the Drakins before Daniel came to get her, but there were little things that she just knew and this was one of those things. She was certain of what she said, but under it all was a small current of fear. A little voice wondering but what if we can't convince them to help us? When she looked at Daniel she could see that same little voice whispering to him too.
The corridor where the Drakins were being roomed was now dimly lit, to allow the light sensitive Drakins to move freely between the rooms they were housed in. They had basically gotten the presidential suites with bunk beds. But they were comfortable, and lit as they were in minimal candle light they felt inviting instead of stark and plain. The SGC hadn't been able to get their hands on light bulbs that were faint enough to accommodate the light sensitivity. Instead, Landry had ordered a number of new recruits to hit up the local stores - buying out their candle stocks.
"Welcome," the Matriarch announced when she saw who their visitors were. She seemed honestly glad to see them. Daniel couldn't really blame her for that since the only other time he knew she left these rooms was the day after she had bound Vala and him together. It could get very dull just sitting around a room with nothing of great importance to do. Daniel remembered doing that the last time he had descended and had been trying to remember his own past from the few keepsakes that Jack, Sam, and Teal'c hadn't gotten rid of. It had been a rough time for him, but when he wasn't struggling to recall a life he didn't even know he'd had, it had been rather boring to be left in an unfamiliar room.
"Hi, Mother," Mitchell said, taking a seat when she waved them to sit down. He still wasn't very comfortable with calling some stranger such an informal and familial name. All of the Drakins were in the room. The women had been in one corner, sitting on the floor cross legged facing each other when they had entered. The men had apparently been lounging about the room while the women did whatever it was they were doing.
"The quarters that have been arranged for us are very comfortable," the Matriarch offered sociably. Daniel glanced at the woman when she said that, losing interest in what they had been doing before hand simply because it seemed like such an odd statement for her to make. When Daniel had first met her, she seemed like the no-nonsense type of woman, not someone who would offer pleasantries as she just had. Even Vala had noticed this, Daniel saw from the corner of his eye.
"We're glad you like them," Daniel offered, smiling to the veiled woman.
"You find Mother's words surprising," one of the Sisters spoke.
Daniel gave a very slight, involuntary shudder. It disturbed him that these people could pick up on his thoughts, even if it was just the surface ones. "Yes," he answered, speaking to the Matriarch. "You don't strike me as someone who does small talk."
"Small talk? I do not understand what this means."
"Small talk… light conversation," Daniel struggled. "Talking about things that are of no real importance or significance. Sometimes we call them it pleasantries." Daniel was mentally kicking himself for his inadequate answers. He was a linguist, he should be able to communicate better than this, but he was finding it difficult without a base reference for their language to guide him. The few words they had given them didn't have any relation to any language he already spoke or knew of.
"I understand now, but your frustration is a puzzle," the Mother's sandy voice toned. "You believe that it should be easy to communicate with us and it frustrates you that you are unable to express yourself appropriately. Why?"
"Because I'm a linguist," Daniel answered, some of his frustration coming through in his voice. "It's part of my job to learn new languages and communicate with people from different cultures. Part of what is so frustrating is that I don't know your language, and from the few words that you've spoken to us I can't think of a single parent language or even a common base with any of the other languages that I already know."
"But you already know our language," a Sister said approaching the group sitting around the table with the Matriarch. She stood behind the Matriarch, not taking a seat. "When the ceremony was preformed, you understood what Mother ways saying, yes?"
"Well, yes," Daniel began. "But you were in my mind helping Vala and I tie off the bond."
"Yes, I was," the Sister answered. "But you did no gain your understanding of the words spoken through me. You understood those words because you already knew the language. You cause yourself distress for no reason."
Mitchell leaned forward in his chair, hands clasped on the table before him. "And how would Jackson already know your language if he's never heard it before?" They had to start their conversation somewhere, Mitchell surmised, and this was a better start than some he could think of.
"Because our language is older than time. Every living creature knows the language we speak. All they must do is listen to what is being said, it is in the mind to understand what is being said. It is the same words that began creation," she explained. "We speak more in thoughts and vibrations than we do with words. And while your species cannot speak the same language you are capable of understanding it because of the connections that all living things have to one another."
Vala rolled her eyes, and in the dimly lit room no one but the Drakins could see her do this. It was the religious mumbo-jumbo that was coming from the woman's mouth. The words that began creation, she snorted out in her mind. It was just as much crap as their proclamation that they didn't fight wars. She could reasonably believe in the interconnectedness of all things, everything was made up of the same kinds of atoms and energy. But the belief that there the universe had be brought into being by a few spoken words was just beyond her. It sounded too much like the Priors claims that the Ori had created humans – just so much bullshit.
Sam spoke before Vala was able to even summon up the scornful words she wanted to speak. "Actually, we came here to talk to you about that universal connection." Sam looked to the others; Mitchell and Daniel were waiting for her to go on, to bring the conversation around the topic that they had been sent there to discuss. Vala gave her a dark look before she seemed to suck in the disdainful look. "Our people want to know if you would be willing to help us finish and perfect the tool we are creating to help us fight against the Priors that the Ori send to our galaxy." Sam's words were straight to the point, no beating around the bush.
"No." The Matriarch's answer was just as abrupt and straightforward.
"You understand that the Prior that they sent to your people won't be the last, don't you?" Mitchell asked. "They are just going to keep sending more and more until they either convert you to their way of thinking or destroy you."
"We will deal with them as they come," the Matriarch answered flatly.
"And what are you going to do with them, Mother?" Mitchell asked. "Keep destroying them all by putting your colony at risk each and every time?"
"We will not be brought into your wars," Bendi answered harshly. "Why is this so difficult for you to grasp?"
"It's not," Sam answered quickly. "But what happens next time you try to use the connective mind of your colony? What if you can't force them all to remain open to each other?" Sam looked to the veiled face of the Matriarch and her two Sisters standing behind her. "You said it yourself. It nearly destroyed your colony when you killed the Prior. What do you think is going to happen next time? Or the time after that?
"They're going to eventually close themselves off to you because they'll know what you are going to do and won't want to help. It'll destroy your colony just as surely as the Priors will. By helping us make a weapon you probably wouldn't have to risk the… soul of your people. You wouldn't have to force them to live through the destruction of another life."
There was a still silence when Sam stopped talking. Everyone seemed to be considering her words carefully, but Vala could see they were going to refuse to help, again. "You're a threat to them. If they can't control you, they will do whatever is necessary to destroy you and all of your people. And if you jut give into them, they'll force you to do things that are far worse than what we are asking you to help us do."
Even under the veils covering her face, Vala watched, amazed, as the thin woman seemed to grow even thinner. It was like she was slowly fading away right before her eyes until Bendi placed his hand on the Matriarch's shoulder. Closing her mismatched eyes, Vala watched as the woman seemed to draw strength from her guards touch. "We must consider this," she answered softly.
Daniel hesitated only a heartbeat before he added gently, "While you're considering, maybe you might want to see what we're asking you to help us fight. There are a number of worlds that have already been converted and some that are being approached." When all he got was a steady look for an answer Daniel sucked in a deep breath. "You're a healer. You might be able to help the people that the Priors are killing with plagues and illnesses for their refusal to follow Origin."
"They are destroying those that do not wish to follow these Ori?" the Matriarch asked, appalled.
"Yes," Mitchell stated flatly. "They either kill them with an aggressive illness and spreads after than wildfire or they send some of their new, devoted followers to slaughter them."
"And you believe that we can help them?"
"Probably," Mitchell said. "Then again you might become infected too. All we know about the plagues is that it starts with the Priors DNA and mutates into this supper bug that ends up wiping out every person that catches it unless they agree to follow the Priors. Then the Priors 'heal' them."
"They are using the connective links between peoples to fashion these illnesses," the Matriarch answered. "Much as we do when we try to heal illness and injury. We will have to come in contact with those that carry the illness to know if we can help them or not." The Matriarch closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I will need to return back to the Colony to discuss the … situation with my Brethren and other Sisters. I will leave Bendi and Kessu here, if this is acceptable to show that I will return with an answer either way. Kessu is one the best healers in the Colony aside from myself. If you can educate her on what exactly the illness that these Priors are using she may be able to discover a solution before my return."
Mitchell, Sam, Daniel, and Vala nodded their understanding and everyone rose to leave. They had reached the door when the Matriarch called to them, "Daniel Jackson, Vala MalDoran, would you remain a moment. There are things we must discuss before I return to the Colony."
She looked weary and tired, Daniel noted as he and Vala took their seats again. The Matriarch studied them both for a moment, an eerie silence filling the room. But the silence didn't last very long, nor did the Matriarch's study of them. Sighing, she broke eye contact and asked them, "I must ask how you are managing with bond that was forged between you."
Daniel and Vala looked at each other. How were they dealing with their bond? They weren't, and both saw the reason why that was differently. Vala didn't know how she was supposed to be managing this bond when Daniel wouldn't even have a normal conversation with her. He hadn't been willing to exchange serious words with her since he had found her and assured her that everything was very real. Or more pointedly, Vala thought back, since he'd pinned her against the wall in the bath room and left her head spinning from a rather heated kiss. It was back to his low opinion of her and questionable sexual history, Vala thought. He couldn't take her seriously as a person because she was attracted to him and he assumed that he'd be just another conquest to her.
Daniel was just as bewildered about how he was supposed to be coping with their bond when Vala wouldn't open up with him. She stuck with meaningless topics of conversation when they did speak to one another. It was frustrating that she didn't trust him, but Daniel didn't blame her for that, not after some of the things he had done to her. But he had tried to gain her trust again. He'd been respectful to her silence about what had happened to her in the Ori galaxy, even though horrendous thoughts of what might have happened kept dancing their way through his mind. He didn't know how to prove to her that she could trust him, didn't even know where to begin. So how could he be dealing with their bond when she wouldn't even open up?
The soft sigh of the Matriarch, was like sandy being swept up by a gentle breeze in the desert, and was just as dry. "You have avoided one another in a foolish attempt to spare yourself. You are making yourselves miserable in the process because of your inability and unwillingness to communicate with one another," the Matriarch announced in an exasperated tone. "You have both discovered that you are able to feel the stronger emotions of the other?"
Both Vala and Daniel nodded, slightly puzzled.
"Then you must feel one another's unhappiness and distress. If one of a pair is unhappy in anyway than so is the other. But you must learn to separate your own discontent from the others. And you must complete the bonding, or no matter how content both of you are the everyday world will begin to lose its damankt… its colour, vibrancy.
"The completion of the bond will relieve the stress that is slowly building and will forge a much more complete union. Natural instinct for this matter should already have taken hold. You are both too stubborn to see what needs to be done to provide relief from a growing despondency that can only be eased by physical closeness," she tried to explain.
Daniel stopped her when he said, "We've already told you that we'll cross that bridge when we come to it-"
"Yes, and I am now telling you, that when you reach your bridge it may not be in a manner that either of you wish," the Matriarch interrupted. "I did not realize how stubborn you species could be in this matter and so am now warning you. If you avoid this particular crossing long enough your own natural instincts and baser drives will grow slowly more prominent. Physical closeness, proximity will help delay such an event but it will not last forever." Closing her eyes, the Matriarch rubbed at her temple, thus missing the very bristling look Vala gave her. "If you refuse to consummate this bond or you dither on the edge of you bridge you will become depressed and grief stricken for no reason. Then you will begin to fade from your own personalities. You will eventually become a simple shadow of the person you once were and no amount of mating will ever bring you back to yourselves."
Vala had a biting remark sitting on the tip of her tongue and had been ready to deliver it until the Matriarch had said the last. They would fade from their own personalities she said. It was like being told she ha to complete the bond or Daniel would die all over again. She wouldn't let his die then, and she wasn't going to let him 'fade' from himself either. She didn't think that she could stand to watch Daniel become a husk of what he was. He had such a passion of discovery, an excitement that belonged more to child when it came to something new and interesting. Even if that new and interesting thing was a crumbling rock from some lost civilization. He was idealistic, kind, noble, and had a sharp enough mind to exchange witty comments with her and still keep her interested. If were to suddenly become some being that only existed, if he lost that excitement, that child-like amazement with the world, he wouldn't be Daniel. And where would that leave her? Apparently in the same boat, but her own deterioration seemed insignificant when compared to what she would lose in Daniel.
Daniel's mind was following many of the same tracks. He had worked hard, obsessively, to get her back. And if a little sex would keep Vala just like she was, it seemed like a small price to pay. As annoying as she could be, as much of a pain in the ass as she had been at times, Daniel had been at a loss without her. She'd brightened his day, turned the regular routine of his life into an unpredictable game. Watching her lose the vitality and the clever intelligence would be worse than finding her dead would have been. Because he'd have exactly what he wanted to have her back, only to have her permanently gone from her own mind and body.
"I see that you understand what I have been attempting to explain to you both from the start," the Matriarch said, disrupting their trains of thought. "This is not a matter that can be entered lightly. I told you both this from the start. Neither of you could contemplate the loss of the other; the concept of your own eventual demise at the time was distant. I am urging you to contemplate this matter seriously. Follow the natural courtship rituals of your peoples, this 'three date rule' that the guard outside the door told me of earlier. But do not delay too long or it may become too late."
They had seen the Matriarch and most of her group off later that afternoon. Bendi and Kessu were in the infirmary pouring over Dr. Lam's records of every case of the Prior plagues that she had to offer. Neither of them knew how to operate a computer, and so were writing out their notes and efforts on paper. Landry had been thrilled when he had been briefed that the Matriarch was seriously considering helping them perfect Sam's anti-Prior weapon. The news apparently had greatly pleasure the joint chiefs and the international committee as well because Landry hadn't been sporting the customary scowl after talking with those particular groups of people.
Daniel and Vala were once more back in his office. Vala was putting the final touches on her report for Landry, who had graciously extended her more time to finish it. Apparently he'd gotten a very nice pat on the back for gaining the probably cooperation of the Drakins. But not only that, Landry seemed to realize that Vala was having difficulties facing some things that had happened and was not yet ready to put them down on paper for anyone to read. It the guilt Daniel nurtured inside of him grow a little larger. How horrible could those events be to make Vala not want to face them even in a clinical way on paper?
Vala was possibly one of the strongest willed people he knew, Daniel mused as he flipped through his mail. She'd already faced enough in her life, he figured, to become jaded to some of the more unpleasant things that life could offer. He separated Vala's temporary citizenship papers from the mail and stuck the rest in a basket on his desk to be looked at tomorrow. Picking up the stack of faxes next, Daniel ideally went through them while he tried to beat his overactive imagination and his guilt back with a mental stick. Some of the things his mind came up with to make him feel responsible for would have killed Vala, therefore being impossible, but that didn't stop the images or thoughts from coming to him.
Daniel paused when he came from a very neatly typed out letter from a senator he didn't know. He knew that there had been new placements in the senate, and apparently Senator John T. Peterson was one of the new appointments. But Daniel was trying to absorb the rest of the letter aside from who had sent it.
Dear Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Jackson,
I would like to personally offer my sincere congratulation and best wishes for your recent marriage. I am happy to announce that your marriage, marked by what I am told is a bonding ceremony performed by an off-world minister, is considered legal under the law passed several years ago. And while not all of the stipulations have been met, as they were explained to me, even a marriage ceremony performed here on Earth is considered legal by the end of the public ceremony.
Since you have decided to make Earth your home, we thought it best to push Mrs. Vala MalDoran-Jackson's citizenship papers through. As such I would like to assure you that Mrs. Vala MalDoran-Jackson's citizenship papers will be rushed so as to help with the transition of making your new home. We have forwarded temporary citizenship papers to you both, with a social insurance number, a birth certificate, and other such pieces of identification. Your marriage certificate will be special delivered to you the following week.
Congratulations once more on your recent marriage and best wishes for many happy years together.
Sincerely,
John T. Peterson
Daniel just stared blankly at the paper for a minute. It wasn't sinking in at all. Well most of it wasn't. Vala's temporary citizenship papers had arrived, they were sitting on the corner of his work table right now. But their marriage certificate would be special delivered to them next week? They were considered legally married? That was not sinking in, not very well at least. Daniel looked up to were Vala sat behind his computer, frowning down at the keyboard as she typed up her report. He was married. It was official. Well, almost. It would be 'official' when the marriage certificate arrived next week. But he was married.
Vala glanced up at him as though she could feel him watching her, and the little frown that had creased her brown a moment before turned into a concerned look. "What is it Daniel?" she asked. Something had told her that there was something wrong. She'd been so absorbed in writing her report; she hadn't even noticed that Daniel had been staring at her for a while now. There was a paper held in one hand, separate from the others. Whatever was on the paper seemed to be the source of the shocked look that had taken hold of Daniel's features.
Daniel handed her the sheet of paper and Vala carefully read over the contents of the letter. Then she read the letter a second time, not really believing what a rather inept senator had written. Not only had he repeated himself, but he seemed unable to write a proper congratulatory letter. Even as this information sifted through her mind, the words neatly typed out saying they were legally married according the laws on Earth were a little more difficult to assimilate. Vala kept waiting for the anxious fear that usually accompanied the realization that she was in or headed for a lasting committed relationship. But it never came. Instead she felt an echo of Daniel's shock, and some strange relieved acceptance, mingle with her own sense of contentment and safety and astonishment.
"Well, at least this time we won't be living out someone else marriage while we're trapped in their bodies," Vala said, handing Daniel back the paper and went looking for the promised temporary citizenship papers. She wondered to herself if there would be information as to where she would now be living in the thick envelop. Daniel was still staring at her, a smirk lighting his mouth. Ripping open the envelop Vala continued, "At least this time, if I get upset with you I can yell at you."
She was looking through the various bits of paper and identification that her envelop had contained when Daniel answered, "I believe that it has mostly been you that's caused me frustration and pushed the limits of my patients beyond belief."
Vala seemed to have ignored him however because she very suddenly announced, "They neglected to tell me where I would be living."
Daniel drew up short when she said that. It had never occurred to him that Vala would need a place to live. Of course she wouldn't want to live on base forever - the food was horrible. Now that she was a legal citizen in America, she'd want to have a place to call home off base. It had slipped his mind completely that Vala didn't already have a home here on Earth. The reality of the situation hadn't sunk in that far yet, but it apparently had dropped that far for Vala. "You can stay at my place," Daniel offered before the thought even completely formed in his mind. "I've got a spare bedroom that I was planning to make into an office but never really got around to it."
Vala looked up to Daniel, considering him and his offer for a moment before she said, "I will not be a burden or a charity case, Daniel." Vala's choice of words, brought to mind the words Daniel had used just after they had bound…I won't be another conquest. Well, this was communication, Daniel guessed. Or at least they were drawing some very firm lines in the ground for each other. Daniel wouldn't be just another notch in the bed post, and Vala refused to be dependent on anyone, even him.
Daniel managed to keep the smile that wanted to surface back by sheer force of will alone. Vala might not take a smile at this moment in the context that his thoughts were drawing on it. "Fine," Daniel said. "When you start getting pay checks you can pay half the rent."
Daniel had glanced at his watch as they pulled out of the underground parking lot of the mountain the next day. They'd left the mountain late enough that they had missed all the morning traffic but had left early enough that there wouldn't be massive crowds at the grocery stores or the mall. He needed to restock his fridge and Vala needed civilian clothing to go about town with. He wasn't too sure how he was going to manage Vala and shopping. From previous experience Vala liked clothes. Mixing Vala and a mall didn't seem like such a good idea to Daniel, but it wasn't like she could go around in a mix and match of military clothing.
Daniel's arm still smarted where Vala had smacked him for laughing at her when she saw his car. She'd looked so dubious of the safety of a land roving vehicle that Daniel couldn't help but laugh. She could steal and pilot almost any kind of spaceship but she didn't trust his driving abilities. Never mind the fact that he'd been driving since he'd been old enough to get his drivers license. Her earlier reserve about being driven around in a car had melted away to fascination with the world outside of the mountain base.
They were in the grocery store picking up the necessities. Daniel had grabbed a shopping cart and hand begun to aimlessly weave their way through the ails, starting with the produce, moving on to the butchers section, then through the ails themselves. Vala had been randomly picking things up and reading the labels, but never asked any questions about the items. She added things to cart when something interested her, but little else. She had been strangely quiet while they shopped and Daniel waiting for her to ask questions, like why he'd picked up a half dozen fresh tomatoes when he could get them in a can. But she didn't ask those questions.
They were in the 'personal care' ail; Daniel was trying to remember if he even had a bottle of shampoo at his apartment. Deciding to play it safe, he picked up two bottles of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner for good measure. Vala was staring at the rather large assortment of feminine products while Daniel went in search for tooth paste and another toothbrush, figuring that the feminine products were something that Vala could figure out for herself. Daniel left the shopping cart next to Vala, figuring that she might take a little while to decide which particular product she wanted.
Daniel was a little a way from Vala, picking up soap when she asked, "Daniel, what is this?"
Daniel turned, soap in one hand, toothpaste and tooth brushes in the other, to see what Vala was looking at. To his slight embarrassment Daniel recognized the box she was holding in her hands. "They're condoms," he answered, dropping the items he held in his hands into the cart next to Vala.
"Yes, I know. That's what it says on the box," she said with a hint of sarcasm as she read the back of the box. "But what are they?"
Daniel was silently wishing Vala would have asked questions over the difference of fresh tomatoes and canned tomatoes. But this was Vala he was shopping with. She lived to embarrass him. Adopting an academic tone of voice to cover his awkwardness over this particular conversation Daniel answered, "They're used during sex to help prevent pregnancy and contracting a STDs."
Vala looked up at the selection available, frowning slightly. There were ribbed condoms, studded ones, some were thin, some where flavoured, other came with warming lubricant, others came with their own separate bottles of lubricant, and still others professed to be un-lubricated. There were even some with sizes marked on them with a choice between large and extra-large for those marked. She assumed the rest came in a uniform size. The box in her hands claimed to be a verity pack. "But there are so many of them. How do you pick between them all?" She was still examining the other kinds available when she asked this.
Daniel wished the floor would just open up under him and swallow him whole. "Personal preference usually dictates what kind gets used," he answered in the same academic tone of voice.
Vala forced back a smile when she heard that tone of voice. She was setting him off balance again, embarrassing him at the moment, but he was still answering her questions. "So which is your preference?" Vala asked, reaching for a second box. "The verity packs? Or the glow in the dark ones?" She was playing with him now. She doubted that Daniel would go after some plasticized genital sheath that glowed in the dark. But she could picture a number of her other lovers being more fascinated with his erect glowing penis than with her. Daniel did not strike her as someone that shallow.
She stood very still when Daniel stepped up next to her. He'd been keeping his distance from her since she'd begun the line of questioning; she'd expected him to simply walk away from her. Instead he'd moved into her, she could feel the warm pulse of his body near hers when he reached around her and snagged a box from the shelf and tossed it into the shopping cart with the rest of their items. He'd grabbed a box of thin condoms… size large. "If you are trying to impress, Daniel, you should have grabbed the box marked extra-large."
Daniel just pushed the shopping cart further down the ail as he answered her over his shoulder, "If you think I grabbed the box to impress, Vala, why don't you pick the box you think more appropriate to set such a male ego in its place?" With that, Daniel turned at the head of the ail and went down the next row. Vala turned back to the condoms and considered. Daniel was not one to tease, or at least he hadn't been. But she had learned long ago not to believe a word out of a man's mouth when it came to his size – they all tended to over exaggerate.
Vala set the boxes in her hands back on the shelves and grabbed a 'jumbo' verity box before she went to catch up with Daniel.