The mess hall was quiet by the end of the dinner shift. Most people had gotten in early to get the best of the food the Daedalus had just delivered. Jessica ended up working late so missed out on the good stuff. Not that she minded, the chefs did a good job of whipping food up out of whatever they had. She briefly scanned the tables, before she made her way over to a solitary figure, sitting down across from him.
Reed smiled, "So, I hear you're joining our band of merry men."
"Yes, apparently I am." She poked at the unidentifiable meat on her plate before trying it, surprisingly flavorful and tender. The chefs were miracle workers.
"Better you than Adams." Reed shuddered, "Great doctor. Terrible off world. You excited to go off?"
Jessica nodded with a quiet, "Course."
Sitting back Reed crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "And yet you don't seem it."
"I don't?"
"Anything to do with a certain Major?"
"What? No." She replied while mentally screaming yes, that's exactly why she was nervous, "No. The Major's great, lovely guy, real nice."
Thankfully Reed let the subject drop after a short, uh huh, to show he didn't believe her and they continued their meal in silence. Three more trays dropped on the table with a clatter. Lorne, Coughlin and Parrish eyed up the meal, giving it a little prod as they tried to figure out what it was.
Coughlin grinned at Jessica, "Thank god you're replacing Adams. I like to think I have the patience of a saint but another mission with him and I was likely to throw him off a bridge."
"He whines more than McKay." Lorne agreed with a smile, "It'll be good to have you."
"Thank you, Major." Jessica replied formally. If she had to spend more time around him she may as well start practicing being professional about it now.
Parrish gave his meat another poke, "What is this?"
"No idea, but it's good." Jessica replied. She hadn't spent much time around Parrish, just in passing but he seemed pretty friendly, though, highly distracted by plants.
Time slipped away as they talked over dinner and Jessica felt herself relaxing with her new team, even the Major. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. Glancing at her watch she was surprised to see it had gone ten o'clock. They'd been here for well over an hour. Rising from her seat she bid them farewell and headed off to bed, feeling much more comfortable about the briefing and mission tomorrow.
The air was muggy as they stepped through the gate. The stargate stood in a small clearing, surrounded by jungle. A small path wound into the trees, well worn. Stepping onto the path they slowly made their way through the jungle, avoiding the vines hanging down. Every now and then the leaves rustled with wildlife running through them.
Reed walked out the front with Coughlin and Parrish, leaving Lorne and Jessica following behind. While they appeared relaxed their eyes flicked around, watching for movement, they listened through the buzzing of insect's for people who may be around.
The path led them to the edge of a village. A small amount of straw roofed huts surrounded a larger building. The villagers were going about their everyday business.
Coughlin approached a pair of men, building a hut, greeting them happily. The men returned the greetings cheerfully and motioned for them to follow towards the central building. Going inside the building offered little relief from the damp heat.
At the end of the building sat a square wooden table. Five people stood around it, seemingly arguing over a paper laid upon it. At the sound of the visitor's entering the conversation ceased and heads turned their way.
One woman stepped forward, her black hair pulled back off her dark face in a simple ponytail hanging down her back.
She spread her arms, her robe like dress spilling around her, "Greetings travelers. What brings you here?"
Lorne stepped forward, introducing his team and talking about offering trade. Jessica tuned out a little, this wasn't her expertise. Looking around she studied the building they were in. Light shone through the straw roof and few windows, supplemented by covered candles dotted around. The walls were bare and the only furniture was the table the natives stood around.
The remaining four people had moved to stand beside the woman that had first spoken. Two men and two women. The women were similarly clothed in robe dresses like the one who had spoken. The men had loose brown pants covered by a double breasted tunic.
Jessica was brought back to the conversation by a nudge from Reed. He tipped his head, motioning her and Parrish to follow him out the door, leaving Lorne and Coughlin to talk with the village leaders.
They meandered around the village, talking with the locals while waiting for the talks to finish. It wasn't a big settlement, maybe two dozen of the smaller huts and the occasional bigger hut. The bigger ones seemed to be the communal areas and often had an open side or two. In the one closest to the main building people worked away, preparing what Jessica guessed was a meal. Lunch, judging by the sun high in the sky.
Lorne and Coughlin eventually came out of the main building, joining Parrish, Jessica and Reed in the area in front that formed a sort of village square.
"They've invited us to the midday meal. Apparently it's soon."
Reed nodded, "I think we saw it being prepared over there." He pointed to the hut they saw, "Talks went well then?"
Coughlin snorted, "Well there's no McKay here to offend the locals so that makes it easier."
The village leaders exited the building and motioned for them to follow. As they followed the leaders to what appeared to be the dining area Lorne called Jessica back to walk with him.
"Hey doc, they've agreed to show us all their medicines and let us study them in exchange for medical aid. Can you handle that?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Of course." She replied, a little absently.
Instinctively he rested his hand on her arm, "You alright, Doc?"
Her eyes jumped up to his, "What, oh, yeah. I'm fine." Her brow remained crinkled as she stared past him at a small group of woman watching them with small smiles on their faces.
Lorne smiled, "Relax doc. Come on, let's go eat."
Reluctantly he withdrew his hand from her arm, a little glad she hadn't shaken it off herself. Tipping his head, she walked on. Behind the main building was a long roof, held up with poles and one back wall. A low table covered the length of the dirt floor, surrounded by cushions. People milled around, places dishes and stone plates along the table.
Following the instruction to sit they shrugged their packs off and made themselves comfortable on the cushions. Waiting until after the locals had helped themselves to food, they started to eat, the air filling with quiet chatter.
A woman leaned down between Jessica and Lorne, offering some type of berry and nut cake. Politely they took a piece each before carrying on with their meal.
After lunch was finished a group of women surrounded Lorne and Jessica, "You must bathe."
"Ah what?" The confusion was obvious on their faces.
"Don't offend the locals sir." Coughlin commented, managing to keep his grin under control, just.
"After the cake you must bathe." One of the woman commented before herding them off to two separate rooms.
Jessica found herself in a round room with a stone tub in the centre. The tub was already filled with with steaming water.
"You bathe. Then in there." The woman pointed to a door to the side of the hut.
Jessica shrugged as the woman left. There are worse things they could be doing off world than having a hot bath. Folding her clothes neatly she slowly sunk into the tropical water. She rested her head back on the side of the tub. Her eyes wandered over the straw roof, it was so intricately knitted together. It always amazed Jessica what could be achieved with such little advancements or technology. Like the intricate carvings on old buildings and statues around Earth.
Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, relishing in the warmth of the tub. There were definitely worse ways to not offend the locals. She chuckled remembering how the phrase came up after McKay once again stuck his foot in his mouth and the team were chased off the planet by the farmers wives waving pitchforks.
When she opened her eyes again she realized how far the light shining in the cracks had moved. Had she fallen asleep or were the days short. Surely it hadn't been that long. Climbing out she went to grab her clothes. She was sure she left them right beside the tub but now they were gone, a blanket lying in their place. Maybe she had fallen asleep if someone had come in without her noticing.
Grabbing the blanket she pulled it over her shoulders wrapping it tightly around her. She felt a little like a walking burrito as she headed towards the door the woman had pointed out earlier.
She walked through into a larger hut. Lavish rugs covered the floor, a few draping across the walls. The only furniture was a large bed in the centre of the room, blankets piled on. A door on the other side of the room opened and Jessica froze as Lorne walked through, a blanket wrapped around his waist. She couldn't help her eyes wandering across his body. Admiring his toned chest she remembered what it felt like to have the strong arms wrapped around her as he kissed the back of her neck. For a moment she wondered what would happen if the towel dropped. She was quickly brought back to reality as he awkwardly commented about his clothes disappearing.
"Major, this is Coughlin." Their ear pieces buzzed.
"Go ahead, Coughlin." He quickly replied.
"Apparently they're having some form of ceremony. They've insisted we stay the night." There was suppressed laughter in his voice, "You and Jessica have to stay in there for the night. We're being given beds elsewhere. Something to do with cake and bathing. We'll check in with Atlantis and let them know the change of plans. Don't want to offend the locals. Sir." They heard him burst into laughter as the transmission ended, apparently finding the situation quite amusing.
"Copy that." Lorne replied simply, glancing at Jessica, "He's gonna find himself on babysitting duty after this."
Her face had paled a little when she heard she was spending the night in the hut with Lorne. The entire night, with no clothes, and that fine, fine specimen of a human. Her knees almost dropped out from beneath her.
"You okay?" Lorne asked, taking a step forward, "You're looking a little..." He didn't want to say horrified, but really she did look horrified at the thought of sleeping in the same hut as him.
"I'm fine," She said hurriedly, trying to ignore the hitch in her voice. She was totally not fine, nor could she remove her eyes from his body, sweeping over the tattoo on his arm, the tight abs. It was nothing she hadn't seen before but it was just as good as the first time. She couldn't believe this was happening.
The room had started to darken. The day had seemed short. Hopefully that meant the planet had a quick rotation and the night was also short.
"I'll sleep on the floor. You can take the bed." Lorne offered.
It brought a small smile to her face, always the gentleman she thought, but she couldn't make him sleep on the floor. Really it was more just ground, and she wasn't petty enough to make him do that, not when the bed was big enough for both of them. They were both adults after all, they could keep their hands to themselves, couldn't they?
"Don't be silly, there's plenty space for both of us on the bed. We can just, um, put blankets down the middle, like a wall." She almost facepalmed herself, a blanket wall, real mature. So much for being an adult.
He snorted at her suggestion, "Sure. If you want a, blanket wall, go ahead."
The room was almost dark now. Thin lines of moonlight shining through the cracks where the roof met the walls. Keeping the blanket tight around her, Jessica headed for the bed, following through with her suggestion of a blanket down the middle. Glancing at Lorne she felt the heat rise inside her at the grin and raised eyebrow. Turning away she climbed into the bed, lying as close to the side without falling off as possible.
Feeling the bed move as Lorne got in the other side she briefly wondered if he'd kept his blanket on or not. Biting her lip she realized this was not going to be as easy as she thought. Rolling over she peered over the blanket wall, surprised to see him watching her curiously. He raised an eyebrow in response. Taking a deep breath she willed her heart to stop racing. They were just two adults, sleeping on the same bed, she repeated to herself, nothing more, just two people who worked together, that was all. But she couldn't deny that she still enjoyed his closeness, that she wanted to reach over and trace the tattoo on his arm, run her fingers down his back. He had always been attractive, but suddenly, gazing at her with those clear blue eyes, he was even more so.
"You should get some sleep." He commented quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts. He had wanted to talk to her, find out what made her so uncomfortable. But starting that conversation while they were both naked in bed together seemed like the completely wrong time to do it.
Jessica nodded awkwardly, her eyes holding his for a little longer before she flipped onto her stomach and nestled down into the blankets, one hand unconsciously lying on the blanket wall, remembering the comfort it once drew from the man beside her.
Lorne watched as Jessica curled up into the blankets, dark hair falling across her face. It took everything in him to not reach across and brush her hair behind her ear. She looked so sweet and innocent as she quickly fell asleep. All he wanted to do was pull her close and wrap his arms around her. He remembered how she fit perfectly against his body, as if molded to him.
He chuckled a little at her blanket wall, her need to put something physical between them. It told him that she might still be interested in him. Her eyes sweeping his body earlier certainly indicated that she still found him physically attractive.
The blanket wall moved as her hand shifted onto it. Hesitantly he reached his hand out, gently running it along the back of hers, relishing her soft skin. He almost pulled away when her hand moved, turning over to carefully clasp his.
A soft smile lit up his face. Apparently her subconscious still wanted him to stay close. The thought caused his heart to flutter and once again it took every ounce of strength not to lean over and kiss her.
With a resigned sigh he disentangled his hand from hers and rolled over, knowing that somehow, he'd have to convince her to let him close again. Closing his eyes he fell into an uneasy sleep.
A/N Hope you like it so far! Let me know how its going!