How Jennifer Made the First Move

Disclaimer: The usual. Please don't sue.

14 - Game Night

The rec room on Atlantis was a flurry of activity. Board games, card games, video games. Sheppard was in the back corner playing poker with Major Lorne, Amelia Banks, and two of the civilian maintenance team, Joe Dryden and Paxton Thiruvengadathan. The largest stack of chips had a place of honor in front of Pax, a female engineer from the state of Tamil Nadu in India. She spoke English with a British accent due to learning the language from British missionaries. Joe Dryden on the other hand was from deep in the heart of Texas and wasn't ashamed to say so.

McKay had started out at the Wii station. He'd beaten all comers so far and no one else was willing to be humiliated at his hands. Well, Sheppard had beaten him earlier but had deserted for the poker game before McKay could make a comeback.

Tired of playing alone, McKay decided to try his hand at another game and settled on Scrabble. Again, he beat all comers, though Richard Woolsey came in a very close second. And again, he was left to play alone. That is until Jennifer arrived. She pulled the chair out opposite and watched him create random words on the board. Finally, she reached out and stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Rodney, why are you sitting here by yourself?"

He looked up at her then back to the tiles on the board, pouting. "No one will play with me."

She laughed at his use of the childish phrase then tried to hide it when he shot her a sharp look. "The problem is you're too competitive. People are afraid to go up against you. But I'm not. Tell you what, we'll play a game of my choosing and if you win you get a special prize. If I win, I get the special prize."

His interest was piqued. "Okay. What's the game?"

She retrieved a pad and pen from another table. At the top of the first page she made three sets of dashes: four, two and three, then an inverted L below that. "Hangman. Okay, first letter."

He didn't even have to think. "E."

"Very good." Jennifer filled in three of the spaces:

_ _ _ E _ _ E _ E

"Next letter."

"S."

"Ah, another winner." This one was entered in the second space of the first word:

_ S _ E _ _ E _ E

The game continued until Rodney had completed the phrase:

I S L E O F E W E

He looked at the words, turning them over and over in his mind. "It doesn't make sense. An island of female sheep?"

"Say it out loud." Jennifer suggested.

One shoulder came up then down in a shrug, "Isle of ewe."

She met his eyes with a smile. "Close. Try it again but say it faster."

"Isleofewe."

"Once more, this time with the accent on the second syllable. It sounds like something you'd say to someone for whom you have a very strong affection."

He tried one more time, "IsleOFewe. Ah! Got it!. I love you!"

"Oh, Rodney," She reached across the table and took him by the hand, her thumb making circles on his wrist, "I love you too."

His eyes were wide. Was she saying what it sounded like she was saying? "You uh…"

"Yes." She rounded the table and sat in his lap, both arms around his neck, "I love you!"

"Really?"

"Really. Now, are you ready for your special prize?"

"Already got it. You love me. I love you. What more could I want?"

As she whispered in his ear, his smile got wider and wider. He put her on her feet and they left the rec room. Out in the hall he came to a stop. "Just out of curiosity, what would you have gotten if you'd won?"

She winked at him. "Same thing." They walked down the hall hand in hand.

The End