Author's Note: WARNING! TOTAL AND UTTER FLUFF! Lol, I just couldn't help myself, so this chapter is really cutesy. Even so, I do hope you enjoy!
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"Okay Lannie, I'm going to release you, however I don't want you walking around too much, you might aggravate what's still left of your injury. It has healed quite a bit, but it's still in a precarious spot, so take it easy." Lannie nodded at Dr. Beckett's stern instructions. She was sitting on the edge of her bed having carefully changed out of the scrubs she was wearing earlier to a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that Major Lorne had brought her to wear out of the infirmary. The Major was standing near Lannie, ready to bring her back to her room.
"I just have one quick stop to make before I return to my room, Doctor, and then I will relax for the rest of the day. I promise." Lannie flashed Beckett a smile and eased herself off of the bed. She winced slightly as she put pressure on her right side, and Lorne immediately grabbed hold of her to ease her weight. She smiled up at him, but managed to start walking slowly out of the room on her own. Lorne nodded towards Dr. Beckett and followed closely behind Lannie out of the infirmary. Once they had left the infirmary Lorne quickly caught up to walk besides Lannie, a gentle hand on her back in case she needed any help.
"So, where do we need to go first?" He asked her. Lannie smiled up at him. "I left some of my things on a balcony yesterday, and I need to go get them before anyone finds them." Lorne smiled back. "Lead the way." They entered a transporter and Lannie pressed a spot on the South Wing very close to where her things were. In an instant they were there, and there was no one around. Lorne reached over to hold Lannie's hand as they walked the short walk to the balcony. Lannie blushed at the gesture, but continued to slowly walk. Her side was sore, but she would be okay. Her wound when she had first gotten to the infirmary had been almost five inches across in diameter. However, it now was approximately 2 inches wide, but there was still a raw area in the center. She instinctively knew now that by resting it would heal faster, so she wanted to make sure she got back to her own room quickly.
Lannie and Lorne stepped out onto the Balcony. The sun was warm and bright, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. Lorne smiled. Of course Lannie would know about a place like this and come here to relax, it was almost as if she had her own private beach, although not connected to any water. It was a larger balcony, he noted, and he noticed Lannie's things in a nice shaded area. A folding lounge chair was there, and also a book, a pair of sunglasses, and an MP3 player. He cast a sideways look at Lannie.
"It was a gift from General O'Neill. He thought I would enjoy listening to a variety of music from earth, so he sent it to me. I have had it ever since the Daedalus's last visit. I guess I didn't show it to you." She looked up at Lorne, who smirked down at her. "Yea, you failed to mention that you had music. I hope he put some good stuff on there for you."
Lorne reached down and gathered up the small things, put them in their bag and handed them to Lannie, then folded the chair and put it back in its bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder, then turned again to look at Lannie. She smiled brightly at him. He couldn't help grinning back. He then stepped closer to her and gently pulled her into a tight hug. She sighed happily and returned the embrace. They stood there like that for a few minutes, Lorne lightly rubbing Lannie's back with his hand. Finally, they broke apart. Lannie was still blushing but smiling warmly at him. He once again interlaced his fingers with hers and looked into her eyes.
"Why don't we get you back to you room now, ok? I don't need you to aggravate your wound." She nodded and the two left the balcony and walked towards the transporter. Lorne pressed the spot closest to their rooms and in an instant they were there. The hallway was deserted for the moment, so no one saw the two of them happily walking hand in hand towards Lannie's room. They entered Lannie's room and Lorne helped her sit down on her bed. He then went to go put her chair in the closet as she put her bag down on the floor beside the bed. She carefully lay back down as Lorne walked back over to her. He sat down on the bed next to her, and reached down to the bag and pulled out the MP3 player.
"Let's see what kind of music the General sent you." He smirked at Lannie, and plugged the device into a set of speakers on the stand next to the bed. Lannie giggled slightly and propped herself up on her pillows.
"What would constitute as 'good' music? I have heard quite a few songs and have enjoyed some more than others, but I want your opinion. He smiled at her, then adjusted himself so that he was leaning up against the back of the bed right next to Lannie. She blushed again, but eased next to him, feeling calm and relaxed having him there so close to her. He smiled down at her and put his arm around her shoulders and lightly ran his hand up and down her right arm. He looked down at the MP3 player in his hand and turned it on to the first song.
"Ah, the Beatles. Excellent band. One of those that can be admired by generation after generation." He said, as the Classic played. Lannie nodded. "I really like them. I think General O'Neill put quite a bit of their music on there." Lorne started playing with the device, scrolling through all the different artists. "Wow, he really did put everything on here. Eh." He frowned at one of the titles. "He put pop music on there. I'm not sure about this stuff Lannie, it's not that great."
Lannie looked over to what he was looking at. Shaking her head, she replied, "No, I definitely do not like Britney Spears. Do you think you can remove all of those songs for me?" Lorne laughed. "Sure, no problem. What else don't you like on here?" Lannie began pointing to different names as Lorne continued to scroll through everything Lannie had. He quickly deleted many of the titles that she didn't like, and had to agree with her on most of them.
"Well, Hun, I can tell you that you have a pretty decent taste in music. I think I might have a couple songs that you would like that General O'Neill didn't put on here. I can get them for you later." He turned the music off and placed the MP3 player on the table. He cuddled closer to Lannie, feeling more content than he had in a long while. Lannie smiled and looked up at him.
"Thank you Evan, I would like that a lot." She smiled contently as she rested her head on Lorne's shoulder. He smiled and looked down at her.
"How are you feeling? Do you need some pain relievers or anything?" Lannie shook her head slightly. "No, I feel fine. A little tired, though, but I'm not in pain. Thank you though Evan."
"No problem." He leaned down slightly and kissed Lannie's forehead. She looked back up at him with a slight questioning look on her face. "One day at a time, remember? I don't want to just jump into this. Okay?" She nodded. "I guess I just have questions about what actually happens now." She confessed. He chuckled softly. "I'm not surprised. It's okay though." He thought for a little while.
"Well," he started, "I agree with what you said yesterday, about keeping this quiet for a little bit. So that means that we can't be walking down the halls holding hands, unless we know we're alone, like today." He smiled awkwardly and blushed slightly himself. Being in Atlantis sure did present him with a ton of new experiences, to say the least. He continued. "But we basically keep doing things that we've been doing all along, having meals together, watching movies together, that type of thing. I don't know, for all I know this will be all over the City in a matter of a few weeks, and then things will probably be a little different, but for now, it basically stays the same. Only we get to be closer. Basically."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how to explain it, I've never really had to before." Lannie chuckled to herself. "I understand. We do everything we've done before, only now we get to sit here, like this. And take things one day at a time." She looked up with a slightly wicked look in her eyes that shocked Lorne slightly, but he laughed gently. "Exactly." He said. Lannie settled into him more. "Tell me more about yourself, Evan." She murmured. Lorne laughed. "You want to know more about me? Yea okay. Let's see." He paused for a moment, thinking about what to tell her.
"Okay, well, when I was a kid we had this dog. You know what a dog is, right?" He looked down at Lannie who nodded slightly. Smiling, he continued. "Okay, well, we had this German Sheppard named Toby. My mom hated giving any animal a dumb name, so he was named Tobias, or Toby. It fit him too, he was a pretty decent size, and had beautiful coloring, brown with a bit of white on his neck and face and some darker brown on his back. And he was loyal. He would protect you like the best of them. And he loved the water. Remember how I told you we always went to New Hampshire in the summer? Well he loved going up there. We were on this really great fresh water lake and he would just love going swimming. My brother and I would stand on the beach and try to throw tennis balls out into the water as far as we could, and Toby would have a grand ole' time swimming out to get them. And he was pretty much my dog too. He'd sit there waiting for me to get home from school, and at night he slept at the foot of my bed. He loved everyone else too, of course, but we had a special kind of relationship."
Lorne looked down at Lannie, and smiled. Lannie was lying against him, sleeping soundly with a content look on her face. Lorne leaned his head back against the wall. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, but that's the way it usually was when you were only around the same people day after day. Time seems to move faster, bringing people closer together or even further apart. He looked down at Lannie again. The two of them were definitely getting closer. Lorne smiled to himself. How was it possible that one girl had completely broken through his military shell to get to know the personal Evan? Lannie was definitely one of a kind. Whatever was going to develop between the two of them, it would be good, he knew. Readjusting his right arm around Lannie, Lorne moved into a more comfortable position, and he leaned back and closed his eyes as well.
-------------TBC-----------------
Thoughts? I promise the next chapter will have some more revelations about Lannie, along with other less-fluffy stuff, although it's all fluff when you are in a new relationship. If I remember correctly, lol. Please Review!