Culture

"Don't you have any other clothes?" Lisa asked, eyeing the same outfit I'd worn the day before.

"Uh, I only have work uniforms and I had to leave them behind."

"Then it looks like we're going shopping."

After morning meal, I clambered upstairs to put on my boots. Evan hobbled out of the bathroom and smiled.

"Lisa is taking me shopping," I said. "What's that?"

"Oh." He crossed to his bag and pulled a piece of square plastic free. "Here. Take this. There's money on it."

"Money?"

"Uh, well, I guess you don't have money in Pegasus, huh? It's our form of currency. We don't trade here. There are small machines in shops, at the front counters, and you just tap this against them when the salespeople tell you to."

"That's it called?"

"A credit card. I've got heaps of money on there." He chuckled. "It's not as if I'm ever home to use it."

I took the card and slipped it into my pocket. I tried not to look at Evan as I laced up my boots. It was strange, waking up with him in the same room. That one time on Atlantis was different, but here? Here it was different.

Lisa drove us to an Earth novelty called a 'shopping mall'. I showed her the credit card Evan had given me, and she squealed and dragged me to a shop filled with racks and racks of clothes. She began perusing through the clothes, and I kept my gaze averted from the other people in the store. They didn't care about me, I had to tell myself. Their judgements didn't matter.

"It's an interesting scar on your face," Lisa said, handing over a shirt. "Where'd you get it?"

"Knife wound when I was sixteen."

"Ouch. Did it hurt?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's take these ones to the changerooms and try them on."

I felt like we were in the shop for hours, putting on various items of clothing to see what they looked like and saying yes or no. I learnt, by watching others, how to use the credit card, and each time I tapped it, the machine beeped. We visited numerous shops, each with different styles, and eventually walked out with a dozen bags of clothes.

Afterwards, we put the bags in the car and went to a 'food court'. I bought myself a pork sandwich and devoured it, then bought another. They were delicious.

Lisa then took me to a waxing parlour, as she wanted a wax, and suggested I get one too. A "bikini wax", she said. She suggested that afterwards I purchase a bikini, which is something Earthlings wore when they swam.

The wax hurt more than I thought, but it had nothing on the tracker that had been implanted in my back. This pain was temporary, ebbing away into a pleasant tingle. The most uncomfortable part was having to display my most private parts to the young girl with waxing strips. The only other person who'd seen that was my husband.

"Your clothes are really cool," the girl said as she ripped hairs from my skin. I gritted my teeth. "Where'd you get them?"

"Um, I made them myself," I floundered. It was a lie, but I couldn't exactly tell her the truth.

We bought a bikini for myself, and afterwards Lisa told me that she'd called Evan and he and the children would meet us in a nearby park. By the time we arrived, the pain had become a dull throb. The park was a massive expanse of well-maintained green. I'd never seen a field that tidy. Evan and the two boys were already lounging on the grass and Martin saw us first. He raced over, yelling delightedly, and Lee quickly followed. Evan smiled and stood awkwardly and the sunlight glinting off his hair was… it was strange. I'd never seen him like this. I faltered in my step, then caught myself and continued my stride.

I couldn't deny how much I felt like an intruder. All these people had grown up here with an intimate knowledge of the culture and customs. Me? I didn't belong here. This wasn't my galaxy. These weren't my people. Fear pulsed through me, a different fear to the one I was accustomed to.

"Mom!" Martin cried. "We brought a Frisbee!" Behind him, Lee waved a round object around, then flung it towards Lisa. She yelped and ducked, then chased after it and scooped it and tossed it towards me. I caught it and stood awkwardly. What did I do?

"Have you never thrown a Frisbee before?" Lee asked, his voice high-pitched and annoying.

"No, we didn't have them where I'm from."

"Here." He plucked it from my grasp and demonstrated how to flick it using the wrist. It seemed straight-forward enough.

We spent some time tossing the Frisbee between us, until Lee accidentally tossed it too high and it went into a tree. The boys raced to the tree, lamenting how tall it was and how they couldn't reach the lower branches.

My fingers flexed of their own accord, my feet moving without urging. I hadn't climbed a tree in so long…

The first contact my fingers made with the branches made me shiver. For a long moment, I was back in Pegasus, midnight on the run, Solus waiting below to hear what I'd seen. I would climb back down, and he would be there illuminated by firelight. He would smile and hold his arms out and I would go to him, enveloped in his warmth, and scent, and everything would be alright.

I reached the top of the tree and my hand fastened around the Frisbee.

The sun was getting low in the sky. I clambered down the tree and handed the Frisbee to Martin. Lisa glanced at the sky.

"Might be time to head home," she said. At once, the boys protested, but she shushed them and ordered them into the car.

"We'll walk," Evan told her. Lisa shoved the boys into the car, and they drove off. Evan and I went to the footpath and began our journey along the hard surface. People walked past, heading in any which direction, and I dodged around them, unwilling to brush against any of them.

"There are so many people," I muttered. Evan chuckled.

"I know, but you get used to it. There are some places where no one lives."

I glanced up at the sky. The colours were different to New Lantea, darker, murkier. While they were still lovely, they were… dull.

"Why is the sky so dull?" I asked.

"Pollution. Our technology here is fuelled by stuff that's poisonous to the atmosphere."

"If it's poisonous, why use it?"

"Well, we haven't come across a power source that's clean enough to support the world."

"What about the power sources on Atlantis?"

"We can't use those here. The world… they don't know about the Stargate. It's a secret. How would we explain where we got these new power sources?" He smiled ruefully. "Things here are very different. People are happy to live in ignorance."

"I suppose they never had to live in fear of the Venator."

"It's very different in Pegasus. I kinda prefer it. Things are simpler." He fell silent and we walked on. "Do you miss it sometimes? Your home? Your people?"

"Sometimes." As strange as it was, I didn't want to go back to life before running. I didn't want to go back to the days when I didn't know Solus, or Atlantis. Mainly Solus.

"Go left here," Evan said. "Did you have fun shopping?"

"Yeah. Here." I pulled the credit card from my pocket and handed it to him. "Thank you. I got many clothes."

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun then."

"We got pork sandwiches."

"Ooh, delicious."

It was dark by the time we got back to the house. Evan panted slightly and complained at how tiring it was using crutches all the time. We climbed the stairs and let ourselves in. Edmund was cooking evening meal and Lisa was bathing the boys. I followed Evan up the stairs and sat cross-legged on my bed.

"I'll shower first," Evan said. "Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah."

"Are you doing okay?" Evan sat on the bed behind me. "You've been a bit quiet."

"I just… it's a strange place."

"It's okay. Just, if you're struggling, tell me. I can explain anything you want, and we can go anywhere and do anything you want." He clapped my shoulder. "Just let me know, yeah?"

"Okay."

"Awesome." He stood heavily and grabbed his duffle bag. "See you in a bit."

o.O.o

I settled into Earth routines. While it was different to Atlantis, the daily structure was generally the same. I would get up, eat, do whatever I had to during the day, have evening meal and go to sleep.

On my third day, Lisa took me to a 'Zumba class'. We ate a morning meal of bacon and eggs together, dressed in shorts and shirts, and headed out. Hundreds of people wandered the streets, all heading to their first activities for the day. We arrived at the gym and a woman approached us, one of the loveliest women I'd ever seen. Long blonde hair and a body that resembled an hourglass.

"Hi honey!" She kissed Lisa's cheeks, then hardened her gaze on me. "Who's this?"

"Beatrice, this is Molli. Molli, Beatrice. Molli works with Evan."

"Oh." Beatrice's expression turned dark. "You work with him."

"I do."

"Mhm. Sure. That's it." Beatrice turned and flounced away. Lisa chuckled.

"Don't mind her. She's just had a thing for Evan for I dunno, ages."

We moved further into the gym, Lisa greeting dozens of people. I followed behind her, waiting to see what Zumba was. When the music started pumping I paled. I'd never been a good dancer. Lisa moved beside me, copying the dance instructor, and I clumsily attempted to follow along. It took a few moments to feel the rhythm and understand the pattern of moves. They were repetitive, certain moves for certain beats. Lisa smiled the entire time. That was the main thing I remembered afterwards.

When we got back to the house, Evan and the boys had started making midday meal. 'Hamburgers', they said. Lisa took over the cooking and the boys settled in front of the television to play video games. I watched them stare at the screen as they played and wondered how they could just sit there like that. Didn't they want to play outside? Go exploring?

"Y'know," Evan said suddenly, "we should take the boys to the beach later. After lunch. Lisa?" he called. "Can we take the boys to the beach after lunch?"

"Yeah," she called back. "I've gotta go to work anyway. Would you guys feel up to going to see the new Indiana Jones as well?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Can you quit yelling?" Martin demanded. "We're trying to play here."

"Oh, quiet you," Lisa called. She doled out hamburgers for midday meal and I nibbled mine absently.

"It's good, yeah?" Evan asked from his seat beside mine. I nodded.

"Better than the food on Atlantis, anyway."

After midday meal, Evan ushered the boys upstairs to get changed for the beach. I got changed into the bikini I'd bought the other day and pulled on a pair of shorts. I'd never worn this material before. It was quite rough against the skin. Once everyone was ready, the four of us left the house and walked down the streets that Evan knew well. It wasn't like Atlantis. There, I knew exactly where I needed to go. Here, everything was foreign.

The beach was filled with people. Evan chose a spot, and once he was seated, Martin and Lee raced into the water.

"Make sure they don't drown," Evan said.

"They won't." I slid off my shorts and walked down to the water. Just as I reached the edge, I heard a whistle.

"Yo, mamma, can I get me a piece of that!"

I glanced around and saw two men lying in the sand nearby, staring at me. Nope. I turned back to the water and slowly waded in. The boys were trying to battle the huge waves and I waded forward to join them. I wasn't prepared for the strength of the water. It pounded against me and I turned sideways in an attempt to alleviate the pressure. I'd never been in water like this before.

And the taste. So bitter. I spat water from my mouth and wiped my face. Martin and Lee were having the time of their life in the water, diving and doing handstands and messing around. After several minutes of this, Martin found his way to the water's edge and knelt on the hard sand. Lee joined him, then me, and I sat and watched them pushed the sand together into a mound.

"We're making a sandcastle," Lee said. I brushed sand from my knees and watched them push more sand into the pile. When they were done, they raced back over to Evan and I followed.

"Uncle Evan, can we get ice-cream?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, can we?" Lee jumped up and down, showering sand everywhere.

"Why not?" Evan clambered to his feet.

The sun was low when we left the beach, heading for an ice-cream shop. I recalled the small tubs of sugary goodness that I sometimes had in the Infirmary. The ice-cream shop sign was brightly coloured, definitely brighter than anything in my village. The boys chose colourful ice-cream and I chose vanilla, a familiar flavour. On Earth, they served it in strange triangles rather than tubs. It was colder than the ice-cream on Atlantis, but far more flavoursome.

"This is really good," I said to Evan.

"And the cone is edible."

"The cone?"

He pointed to the triangle the ice-cream had come in. We walked on, eating our ice-cream, and Martin and Lee chatted animatedly about things I didn't understand. Once we arrived back at the empty house, we took turns in the shower, then Evan and I prepared evening meal. They didn't use fire on Earth, and Evan taught me how to use the 'oven' and 'stove'. We prepared meat and vegetables, roasting and toasting them thoroughly. It was fun in the kitchen, working alongside Evan. He had a good sense of humour. We laughed the entire time, and Evan even drank one of Edmund's beers.

"What? He doesn't really drink them. You want one?" He held one out.

"No, thank you. I never really acquired the taste."

"Fine by me." He cracked it open and took a swig. For a second, I saw Lian at a village festival, cheerfully drinking ale.

Lisa and Edmund arrived home within ten minutes of each other, sniffing the air.

"Smells good," Edmund said. He stared at Evan. "Hey, you drank my beer!"

"Yeah, and they were wonderful, thanks." Evan raised his can in a salute, even though it was almost empty.

Lisa and I set the table, then called everyone to eat. Everyone took their portion of food, then tucked in.

"How was your day, honey?" Lisa asked Edmund. He rolled his eyes.

"It was shi- I mean, it was awful." He glanced at the boys, but they hadn't noticed. "Come on, it was a really busy day and I had to counsel the Benson's again. Do you have any idea how irritating they are?"

"Nope," Evan said cheerfully, cutting up his meat, "and I'll never have to." Lisa stifled a giggle behind her hand. Earthlings had strange jokes.

"Uncle Evan got us ice-cream today," Martin announced. Lisa looked at her son with so much warmth that my stomach flipped. I don't remember my mother ever looking at me like that.

"What? I felt bad about missing their birthdays." Evan shrugged.

As evening meal continued, talk turned to movies. I was silent, having nothing to contribute to the conversation, and when I finished my food I started clearing the table. Edmund immediately leapt into action, taking over the clearing. The boys fled the table and disappeared into the house and Lisa went for a shower.

I climbed upstairs, tiredness in my bones, and perched on the windowsill in the guest room, staring out at the night. From my vantage point I saw the other houses on this half of the street, all glowing with inside lights. Shadows moved around in the lights. I glanced up at the moon, the single silver circle cutting through the sky like a knife. I wasn't used to seeing one moon. New Lantea had five moons, with two visible. I heard footsteps and Evan appeared in my peripheral vision.

"It's warm tonight." I gestured outside.

"Well, it's summer. The boys are on holidays right now."

"Summer?"

"Earth is kind of on an angle." Evan tilted his hand. "One half of the year, America is slightly closer to the sun, and for the other half, we're slightly further away. When we're closer, it's warmer and when it's further away, it's colder."

"Oh. Does it snow here?"

"Yeah, for a few months. I always liked snow days."

"I never really liked snow. My home never had snow."

"And yet you're supposed to be from Croatia." Evan chuckled. "C'mon, Lisa's putting the boys to bed and then we'll go to the movies."

"Okay." I dove into the numerous bags on my bed and pulled out shorts and a shirt. Evan rummaged through his bag for a fresh set of clothes and I went into the guest room to change. I sat on the toilet seat to lace up my shoes, only emerging when Evan said he was decent.

Like everything else, the cinema wasn't far away. Like everything else, the cinema wasn't far away. The city was so spread out that it would have been easier to take the car, but I suspected Lisa and Edmund didn't like driving everywhere.

"Fuel is expensive," Edmund said when I asked. It meant nothing to me, but I nodded like I understood. He laced his fingers with Lisa's and the pair walked ahead of Evan and me. My stomach clenched as I watched them. I remembered holding Solus' hand like that.

"So, what happened with the Benson's?" Lisa asked Edmund.

"Still cheating on each other and blaming each other and they still want a divorce." He sighed. I leant close to Evan.

"What's a divorce?" I whispered. He turned towards me, our noses almost touching.

"When two people who are married decide they don't wanna be married anymore," he whispered back.

I fell silent, thinking back to my people. As far as I could remember, no married couple decided they didn't want to be together anymore. Usually, one or both of them were taken by the Venator. Marriages rarely lasted a lifetime.

"Molli, do you have a boyfriend?" Lisa asked me suddenly. I blinked, trying to recall the term. Someone who you were involved with, but not married to.

"No, I've never had a boyfriend." I scrunched my nose at the strange term. 'Intended' was a much better word.

"Never?" Lisa gaped. I was aware that all eyes were on me. I flushed and looked down at the path. I wanted to blurt that I had a husband, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the strange look in Evan's eyes, or Lisa's sad stare.

We arrived at the cinema and Edmund and Lisa bought tickets and food. It was dark inside, and Edmund led us to our seats. The room was quite stuffy, with dozens of chairs arranged in front of the biggest screen I'd ever seen. I sat at the end of one row, with Evan beside me, and he balanced a tub of food on his knees. As the movie started, I tasted this new delicacy. Crunchy and salty. Delicious.

I tried to focus on the movie, I really did. However, as on Atlantis, I couldn't engage. I dozed in my seat, mind wandering into my memories instead of the images that flashed across the screen before me. I thought of Atlantis, of Solus, of his smile and deep chuckle.

One day… we would be together again. I chewed on more of the delicacy, warmth filling my bones.

After the movie, we walked back to the house.

"Those ants were pretty disgusting." Lisa shuddered.

"I dunno, I was kinda disappointed," Edmund said. "I thought it would be good but-"

"-couldn't capture the feel of the originals?" Evan finished. Edmund nodded. "Yeah, I feel that. It wasn't really… the same."

They talked more about the movie on the walk back and Edmund unlocked the door to the pitch-black house. We all filed inside and shuffled to our respective rooms. I entered the guest room first, grabbed my sleeping clothes and changed in the bathroom. Evan was already in bed when I re-entered the room. I laid on my blanket and stared at the sliver of light between the window and curtain. I felt a sudden pang of homesickness for Atlantis. Atlantis was warm, a constant presence in my mind, but Earth? Earth was cold.