Stargazers Stargaters Part 30
The next morning, after Jack mistakenly believed that he had seen Sam and Beneck...um...kissing, until the lights went out, Jack came into the kitchen where his hostess, Seria was sitting drinking cohna; Antar's version of a caffeinated beverage.
"Good morning, Jack; would you like some cohna?" Seria asked pleasantly.
"Sure, thanks." Jack replied, but without his usually half-smile.
"Uh oh, someone woke up under the bed this morning." Seria half-teased.
"Huh? Oh, I think you mean 'woke up on the wrong side of the bed'." Jack corrected, but then nodded his agreement with her assessment. "Yeah, I guess I didn't sleep too well."
"Is something troubling you? Perhaps I can help." Seria offered and Jack hesitated before answering.
"Nah, it'll be okay; nothing a little time off won't cure...Speaking of which, don't you guys have weekends on this planet? We've been working for nine days straight." Jack commented.
"Weekends? Oh yes, a week is seven of your Earth days and your custom is to work for five days and then rest for two." Seria reminded herself.
"Yeah, although I don't mean to imply that we aren't willing to work hard or longer than five days at a time...just like we have been doing...I was just wondering if we could maybe take a break today. Hey, do Antarians fish?" Jack asked.
"Well of course we have rest days here on Antar." Seria answered. "Actually, since our days are longer than Earth's we usually work only four days in a row before taking one or two days to rest...I guess we haven't organized our work schedules that well yet, have we?" She apologized.
"No problem." Jack assured her. "So...do Antarians fish?" He asked again.
"As in taking fish out of the water, so that we can eat them? Of course." Seria answered, puzzled.
"That sounds like you're referring to people who catch lots of fish for your entire community." Jack tried to clarify. "I was talking about taking your fishing pole, some lures, some beer, finding a quiet spot along a riverbank and...you know...fishing."
"Ahh, I see; yes we do have a few people here in the city who enjoy fishing for the fun of it." Seria nodded her understanding.
"There ya go." Jack grinned.
"I have never tried it, but perhaps I could find someone who would wish to go fishing with you." Seria offered.
"Yeah sure that would be great...and then you could do whatever you like to do, to relax while I'm out of your hair for a while." Jack agreed.
"Out of my hair?" Seria asked, confused as she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair. "Oh no, no; I did not mean to imply that I would not be...intrigued...by learning how to fish...I think that might be fun to give a try, but I do not have any of the proper equipment..." Seria told him.
Hey great!" Jack grinned. "As to equipment, do you think we could borrow someone's? Otherwise I'm sure we could jury-rig something."
"Let me see what I can find out after breakfast. Seria said.
"Sweet!" Jack agreed.
Two hours later, Seria had made contact with some of the community's fishermen, but they were all either out fishing, or otherwise unavailable. Jack was undeterred though and managed to MacGyver a couple of fishing poles for them as well as some lures by fan-folding a couple old aluminum gum wrappers. And Seria used her powers to create two hooks.
"Fishing poles, check; lures, check; drinks, check; pick-nick hamper, check. Okay let's go, I think I even know where we can find a great fishing spot." Jack said and Seria smiled as they walked out the door.
Half an hour later, the two of them had found a quiet spot on a riverbank not far outside of the city. Jack had shown Seria the basics of how to fish, using their home-made fishing poles and they were both lazily casting their gum-wrapper-lures into the water. Suddenly, Seria felt a pull on her line and she jumped up from her seat on an old log.
"Jack, I think I've caught something!" She cried, excitedly.
"Okay, just pull the line in slowly; you don't want to startle him and make him try to escape the hook." Jack urged her in a soft voice.
"Oh-ka-y..." Seria whispered as she slowly drew the line in, hand over hand. "Uh oh, it's starting to fight me." She groaned and then stepped forward into the shallow water as she fought the struggling fish; the warm water lapping around her bare feet and ankles.
"Easy, easy..." Jack said coming over to help her.
They were both stepping into and then out of the shallows as they tried to pull the fish in, making the footing slippery.
"This must be one big fish; it's really putting up a fight!" Seria exclaimed.
"Could be..." Jack said as he felt the tug on her line. "If we were on Earth I'd have to warn you that this could be an old mud-filled boot or some other trash...it just doesn't feel quite...right." Jack warned.
"No, here it comes!" Seria exclaimed, but then the mud beneath her bare feet gave way and she started to slip. "Jack!" She cried out.
"I've got ya!" Jack said, dropping the line and grabbing Seria around the waist, but then the riverbank under his bare feet gave way as well and they both went sliding.
Jack tried to catch his balance and succeeded for a few seconds, but then he lost it again and they both fell headfirst into the river.
"Jack!"
Seria!" They both cried out before they hit the water.
A moment later they both surfaced and tried to stand in the shifting goo of the streambed.
"Here, take my hand." Jack reached out to Seria.
"Thanks." Seria said grinning. "Well...I guess...the fish got away...but I'd swear it was this big!" She said while lifting her hands up before her and holding them three feet apart.
"Atta girl; you've just passed the first test in becoming a master-fisherman...learning how to tell whopping fish-tales!" Jack grinned back at her.
"Oh you!" Seria giggled and then surreptitiously leaned down to dip her hand in the water...before quickly hitting Jack with a giant splash of water.
"Oh ho, you want to play, do you?" Jack laughed threateningly, before splashing her back.
"Aack!" Seria cried out as water hit her in the face. "I'm going to get you for that, Jack!" But then she cried out in pain.
"What?" Jack yelled, wary that this was a trick, but also worried that Seria had truly hurt herself.
"I stepped into a hole just as I turned towards you, but my foot couldn't turn with the rest of me." Seria said through clenched teeth.
"Come on; let me help you to the bank." Jack said as he came close enough to put his arm around her and help her out of the water.
Seria was breathing quickly, but trying to suppress any sounds of pain.
"We're not in battle, you know; it is okay to cry out if you need to." Jack reminded her kindly while respecting her strength.
"It's, it's okay...I think it's just a sprain." Seria replied as they made their way towards the bank where Jack helped her sit down and then squatted down near her feet.
"Let me take a look." Jack said as he picked up her foot. "This may hurt, but can you move it?" Jack asked as he gently palpated the joint and tried to move Seria's foot just a little.
"Ssst!" Seria hissed out between her clenched teeth.
"Okay, sorry; enough with the exam, let's get you home and then I'll call Max." Jack said and Seria nodded.
"Oh, but you don't need to carry me, Jack; I'm sure I could walk..." Seria argued as Jack bent over to pick her up in his arms.
"No you can't, so just settle down and let me play the gallant gentleman for once in my misspent life." Jack told her.
"Oh Colonel, with a request like that, how could any girl refuse!" Seria teased as Jack slowly made his way up the muddy riverbank towards her home.
~*~*~*~*~
Earlier that morning, Sam and Beneck had been glancing over their list of tasks to be completed when Sam realized that she had never retrieved any soil samples for the lab techs back at the SGC, to analyze. So, the two friends decided to make a day of it, by hiking out into the countryside at a comfortable pace, take their samples, eat a pick-nick lunch and perhaps gather some foliage samples on the way back. By mid-morning, they had made their way out of the city and were leisurely hiking beside a stream when they decided to take a break in the shade of what Beneck called a kao tree.
"It is beautiful out here." Sam said as she squatted down and took a swig from her canteen.
"Nature is an important part of our spirituality and our lives in general." Beneck agreed as he also drank from his flask.
Just then, the sound of a man and a woman speaking floated to them from upstream.
"Sounds like someone else had the same idea as we did, to get out of the city and enjoy the countryside." Beneck noted.
But then they heard the voices more distinctly.
"Jack! Seria!"
"Sounds like the Colonel convinced Seria to go fishing with him." Sam said and tried to smile as she remembered the invitations to go fishing, which she had declined in the past.
Next, a lot of laughter and splashing could be heard; Sam stood up and walked down to the water's edge before looking upstream, where she spotted them, standing in the dappled shade. They had been playing in the water, splashing each other, but as she watched, Jack's silhouette paused in the action of scooping up another handful of water and instead, straightened, to walk over to Seria and put his arm around her; holding her close. And from what she could see of their shadowed forms, Seria was returning Jack's embrace, as she tilted her head up to speak to him. Then slowly, the two people upstream walked towards the bank and out of view...
'Oh man!' Sam exclaimed silently to herself. 'Are they going to..? The Colonel...My Colonel and Seria?' Sam continued to think to herself as a mist of green jealousy floated up in front of her eyes. She looked over to Beneck who had also walked to the water's edge and saw a troubled frown mar his forehead. 'Ah, so he sees it too; their attraction for each other.' Sam thought sadly, before Beneck interrupted her thoughts.
"Maybe we'd better be heading back, Samantha. Didn't you say that you were having dinner with Liz and some of the other ladies tonight?"
"Yes I am...yeah; we might as well head on back." Sam agreed and the two friends started hiking back, but took a different route from Jack and Seria, who were taking the shortest path possible back to the city and help.
An hour later, Sam had showered, changed and rested for a while before heading over to the Royal Manor, where she was to meet up with Liz, Sha're, Isabel, Tholla, Maria; who was visiting over another weekend and...Seria. Sam frowned to herself as she walked through the gardens; how was she going to handle seeing that woman, this evening? Sam felt that she wanted to scream at Seria...or at Jack, but she knew that she had no one to blame for her situation but herself...and those dammed regulations. But mostly herself; how many times had she turned the Colonel down when he had invited her to go "fishing", or to attend a hockey game. How many times had she passed over the opportunity to transfer to another SG-team, so that Jack would no longer be her direct superior? Instead, Sam had believed it more important that they remain friends and teammates so that she could at least see Jack every day.
These thoughts and justifications were on her mind as Sam walked up the few steps to the Manor's patio and saw Max and Liz in a passionate clinch, while sitting on the porch swing made-for-two. She recoiled as if she had been slapped. 'Oh man, I have the jealousy-thing big-time if I can't even stand to see my friends, who are madly in love with each other, kissing.' Sam thought to herself and then looked around her. 'What do I do now; leave and come back or pretend I didn't see anything while I make a lot of noise, walking across the patio to the Manor?' But then the decision was taken out of her hands, when Maria and Michael came out the Manor themselves. Sam had her emotions more under control, so that she was able to smile at the way their hands were clasped tightly together as they walked towards their friends.
"Maxwell, do I have to find a surgeon to physically separate you two, for Pete's-sake? Come on man, the ladies are starting to arrive and we'll be late arriving at Mardall and Tholla's house, for our men's-night, if we don't get going now." Michael gruffly teased his best friend.
"Hey, you two are even worse than we are, by my count." Max retorted after reluctantly pulling away from Liz to glance up at his friends.
"That's 'cause we don't get to see each other every single day, like you two do, so we have to make the best use our time together when we are!" Maria giggled.
"You're right, Maria, but what can I say...I'm hooked on Liz's sweet kisses...and may I never find a cure for my addiction." Max said as he stood up, but then bent back down to give his fiancé one more lingering kiss.
"See ya later, Pixy-girl." Michael said as she drew Maria's hand up, to kiss her knuckles; his eyes never leaving hers' as he did so.
"Now who's making us late, Michael?" Max teased his friend before heading off towards Mardall and Tholla's; the host-couple for Teal'c and Jim Valenti. "Hey, Sam; how was your day?" Max asked her as he and Michael passed by.
"Fine; Beneck and I took a hike out into the countryside." Sam replied.
"Good, see you later." Max replied with his gentle smile.
"'Bye." Sam called after them, before turning back toward the patio and the other women who were gathering there.
The talkativeness of the group allowed Sam to stay in the background where she would not have to say much to Seria, but she was surprised by the way the other woman treated her. She was acting the same towards Sam as she always had; friendly and open. 'As if', Sam thought, 'I am no threat to her relationship with Jack. Or, perhaps she believes that there can be nothing between the two of us because of the regs and wants to stay on friendly terms with Jack's 2IC. Well, I guess I can act friendly towards her as well, after all, it's Jack's decision, not just Seria's, as to where he wants their...relationship to go.' Sam reasoned in the end, before tuning back into what the other women around the table were talking about.
"Liz, Maria; I thought for sure that your mothers would be here to eat dinner with us tonight." Sha're noted.
"They and Diane Evans have been with the Queen all day long." Liz answered.
"Again." Maria added.
"I wonder if we are going to have any input at all into our own weddings." Isabel pouted.
"We have input." Liz replied.
"Through our mothers." Maria added, also pouting
"Yeah, it's my wedding and I'm a princess for Pete's-sake, I should be able to have some direct control over what it's going to be like, when I walk down the aisle in three months." Isabel reiterated.
"But that's the point, Isabel; you are a princess and I am marrying a king, while Maria and Kyle are each marrying royal counselors. Your traditions and customs have royal weddings pretty much spelled out." Liz said calmly. "It's going to be the biggest ceremony this planet has seen since your parents' own royal wedding and nothing is going to change that, no matter how much Max and I would rather have a small, private wedding. All of our mothers, on the other hand, have always dreamed of their 'little girls' having big, flashy weddings, so they're perfectly happy to help Valaria carry out her plans. But I trust Mom to make any important changes that Max and I want made." Liz said before continuing. "And I have enough to do in learning all about your customs and laws; and how to be Max's queen, without also having to look out for the thousand-and-one details which are going to have to go into planning this group wedding of ours."
"And besides, Liz; you told me that you and Max had taken your vows years ago, before they had to return to Antar." Maria piped up.
"Maria, that was private!" Liz exclaimed.
"What; you're already married?" Isabel cried out as the other women all listened curiously.
"Well...in our hearts and souls we feel as though we are." Liz explained grudgingly, as her cheeks started to blush. "Before we...made love...for the first time, Max and I drove out to the desert one night and said our own wedding vows to each other and exchanged rings under the stars."
"You exchanged rings?" Isabel asked. "But I've never seen either of you wearing anything on your ring-fingers."
"That's because we don't wear them on our ring-fingers, Isabel." Liz said holding up her hand. "This is Max's ring." Liz pointed out the large silver band which she wore on her left thumb. "And Max is wearing mine..."
"...On his pinky-finger." Isabel finished for her. "I never really noticed the ring until we arrived here and figured that it was some sort of royal signet-ring."
"Nope." Liz shook her head. "After we said our vows, we wore our rings on chains around our necks; more like promise-rings. Since we were only eighteen, we figured that everyone would say that we were too young to marry, so we planned to be properly married after we graduated from college."
Liz's eyes filled with tears as she remembered how their plans were so drastically changed just a few days later, when Max and the others had received the urgent call from Antar.
"We exchanged rings again, right before you left and promised to always wear them, so that we'd have a part of each other with us." Liz said, wiping her eyes.
"Hey...better late than never!" Maria giggled, trying to break the sad mood.
"Yeah, I guess so." Liz replied, a smile breaking through the tears.
"I'm just curious; what changes have you asked your mother to make, Liz?" Sha're asked, sharing her husband's interest in other cultures.
"Well, Antarian wedding colors are pink for the bride and maroon for the groom, but I want to wear a white dress. So I want to have an underskirt of pink and a bodice and overskirt of white. The overskirt would then be drawn to the sides, to show off the pink underskirt. And since custom decrees that I wear these large hoops under my skirt, I thought that this design would look pretty."
"Sorta like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty!" Maria piped up with a grin.
"Hey I like that idea, Liz." Tess said. "I wasn't looking forward to wearing some great, frothy, pink monstrosity, but if we could all wear white dresses and accent them all a little differently with the expected pink, it wouldn't look too bad."
"As to wearing white...um, none of us are exactly virgins, you know." Isabel whispered; she had liked the idea of wearing pink.
"Um...this is sorta private, but had any of us ever had sex with someone else before our first times with our prospective grooms?" Maria asked and all four young women shook their heads, blushing. "I think that makes us virgins enough to wear white." Maria said.
There was a bit of tension between Isabel and Maria for a moment, but then Liz broke into it.
"And I was thinking our guys could wear the Antarian wedding outfit, but in white with maroon piping or embroidery, or something like that."
"Yeah, how about a maroon stripe down the sides of their pant legs? That always looks great on guys; accentuates their long legs." Tess added and the previous tension was forgotten.
"Good idea, Tess." Liz said. "Back to changes; I also requested that we take different parts from the traditional Antarian and Earth wedding ceremonies and vows and combine them. And there are actually a lot of similarities, so I don't think that doing so will be a problem."
"In some ways it's a shame we can't have our weddings on Earth, but if we can make a few changes, I think it will be lovely." Maria agreed. "That woodland glade you guys use for your religious ceremonies is really beautiful! Michael showed it to me the last time I was here."
"Yeah, Mom was telling me about the flower garlands they've picked out, to hang from the trees and Max has assured me that the fruit trees should be blooming at their peak for our wedding; that's why it's being timed this way; that and a particular conjunction of stars." Liz said, excitedly.
"Wedding ceremonies at this time of year are very beautiful!" Tholla agreed. "Many of our young couples decide to get married now for that very reason."
The ladies enjoyed the rest of the evening; sharing the various wedding customs of their two peoples.
TBC
The next morning, after Jack mistakenly believed that he had seen Sam and Beneck...um...kissing, until the lights went out, Jack came into the kitchen where his hostess, Seria was sitting drinking cohna; Antar's version of a caffeinated beverage.
"Good morning, Jack; would you like some cohna?" Seria asked pleasantly.
"Sure, thanks." Jack replied, but without his usually half-smile.
"Uh oh, someone woke up under the bed this morning." Seria half-teased.
"Huh? Oh, I think you mean 'woke up on the wrong side of the bed'." Jack corrected, but then nodded his agreement with her assessment. "Yeah, I guess I didn't sleep too well."
"Is something troubling you? Perhaps I can help." Seria offered and Jack hesitated before answering.
"Nah, it'll be okay; nothing a little time off won't cure...Speaking of which, don't you guys have weekends on this planet? We've been working for nine days straight." Jack commented.
"Weekends? Oh yes, a week is seven of your Earth days and your custom is to work for five days and then rest for two." Seria reminded herself.
"Yeah, although I don't mean to imply that we aren't willing to work hard or longer than five days at a time...just like we have been doing...I was just wondering if we could maybe take a break today. Hey, do Antarians fish?" Jack asked.
"Well of course we have rest days here on Antar." Seria answered. "Actually, since our days are longer than Earth's we usually work only four days in a row before taking one or two days to rest...I guess we haven't organized our work schedules that well yet, have we?" She apologized.
"No problem." Jack assured her. "So...do Antarians fish?" He asked again.
"As in taking fish out of the water, so that we can eat them? Of course." Seria answered, puzzled.
"That sounds like you're referring to people who catch lots of fish for your entire community." Jack tried to clarify. "I was talking about taking your fishing pole, some lures, some beer, finding a quiet spot along a riverbank and...you know...fishing."
"Ahh, I see; yes we do have a few people here in the city who enjoy fishing for the fun of it." Seria nodded her understanding.
"There ya go." Jack grinned.
"I have never tried it, but perhaps I could find someone who would wish to go fishing with you." Seria offered.
"Yeah sure that would be great...and then you could do whatever you like to do, to relax while I'm out of your hair for a while." Jack agreed.
"Out of my hair?" Seria asked, confused as she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair. "Oh no, no; I did not mean to imply that I would not be...intrigued...by learning how to fish...I think that might be fun to give a try, but I do not have any of the proper equipment..." Seria told him.
Hey great!" Jack grinned. "As to equipment, do you think we could borrow someone's? Otherwise I'm sure we could jury-rig something."
"Let me see what I can find out after breakfast. Seria said.
"Sweet!" Jack agreed.
Two hours later, Seria had made contact with some of the community's fishermen, but they were all either out fishing, or otherwise unavailable. Jack was undeterred though and managed to MacGyver a couple of fishing poles for them as well as some lures by fan-folding a couple old aluminum gum wrappers. And Seria used her powers to create two hooks.
"Fishing poles, check; lures, check; drinks, check; pick-nick hamper, check. Okay let's go, I think I even know where we can find a great fishing spot." Jack said and Seria smiled as they walked out the door.
Half an hour later, the two of them had found a quiet spot on a riverbank not far outside of the city. Jack had shown Seria the basics of how to fish, using their home-made fishing poles and they were both lazily casting their gum-wrapper-lures into the water. Suddenly, Seria felt a pull on her line and she jumped up from her seat on an old log.
"Jack, I think I've caught something!" She cried, excitedly.
"Okay, just pull the line in slowly; you don't want to startle him and make him try to escape the hook." Jack urged her in a soft voice.
"Oh-ka-y..." Seria whispered as she slowly drew the line in, hand over hand. "Uh oh, it's starting to fight me." She groaned and then stepped forward into the shallow water as she fought the struggling fish; the warm water lapping around her bare feet and ankles.
"Easy, easy..." Jack said coming over to help her.
They were both stepping into and then out of the shallows as they tried to pull the fish in, making the footing slippery.
"This must be one big fish; it's really putting up a fight!" Seria exclaimed.
"Could be..." Jack said as he felt the tug on her line. "If we were on Earth I'd have to warn you that this could be an old mud-filled boot or some other trash...it just doesn't feel quite...right." Jack warned.
"No, here it comes!" Seria exclaimed, but then the mud beneath her bare feet gave way and she started to slip. "Jack!" She cried out.
"I've got ya!" Jack said, dropping the line and grabbing Seria around the waist, but then the riverbank under his bare feet gave way as well and they both went sliding.
Jack tried to catch his balance and succeeded for a few seconds, but then he lost it again and they both fell headfirst into the river.
"Jack!"
Seria!" They both cried out before they hit the water.
A moment later they both surfaced and tried to stand in the shifting goo of the streambed.
"Here, take my hand." Jack reached out to Seria.
"Thanks." Seria said grinning. "Well...I guess...the fish got away...but I'd swear it was this big!" She said while lifting her hands up before her and holding them three feet apart.
"Atta girl; you've just passed the first test in becoming a master-fisherman...learning how to tell whopping fish-tales!" Jack grinned back at her.
"Oh you!" Seria giggled and then surreptitiously leaned down to dip her hand in the water...before quickly hitting Jack with a giant splash of water.
"Oh ho, you want to play, do you?" Jack laughed threateningly, before splashing her back.
"Aack!" Seria cried out as water hit her in the face. "I'm going to get you for that, Jack!" But then she cried out in pain.
"What?" Jack yelled, wary that this was a trick, but also worried that Seria had truly hurt herself.
"I stepped into a hole just as I turned towards you, but my foot couldn't turn with the rest of me." Seria said through clenched teeth.
"Come on; let me help you to the bank." Jack said as he came close enough to put his arm around her and help her out of the water.
Seria was breathing quickly, but trying to suppress any sounds of pain.
"We're not in battle, you know; it is okay to cry out if you need to." Jack reminded her kindly while respecting her strength.
"It's, it's okay...I think it's just a sprain." Seria replied as they made their way towards the bank where Jack helped her sit down and then squatted down near her feet.
"Let me take a look." Jack said as he picked up her foot. "This may hurt, but can you move it?" Jack asked as he gently palpated the joint and tried to move Seria's foot just a little.
"Ssst!" Seria hissed out between her clenched teeth.
"Okay, sorry; enough with the exam, let's get you home and then I'll call Max." Jack said and Seria nodded.
"Oh, but you don't need to carry me, Jack; I'm sure I could walk..." Seria argued as Jack bent over to pick her up in his arms.
"No you can't, so just settle down and let me play the gallant gentleman for once in my misspent life." Jack told her.
"Oh Colonel, with a request like that, how could any girl refuse!" Seria teased as Jack slowly made his way up the muddy riverbank towards her home.
~*~*~*~*~
Earlier that morning, Sam and Beneck had been glancing over their list of tasks to be completed when Sam realized that she had never retrieved any soil samples for the lab techs back at the SGC, to analyze. So, the two friends decided to make a day of it, by hiking out into the countryside at a comfortable pace, take their samples, eat a pick-nick lunch and perhaps gather some foliage samples on the way back. By mid-morning, they had made their way out of the city and were leisurely hiking beside a stream when they decided to take a break in the shade of what Beneck called a kao tree.
"It is beautiful out here." Sam said as she squatted down and took a swig from her canteen.
"Nature is an important part of our spirituality and our lives in general." Beneck agreed as he also drank from his flask.
Just then, the sound of a man and a woman speaking floated to them from upstream.
"Sounds like someone else had the same idea as we did, to get out of the city and enjoy the countryside." Beneck noted.
But then they heard the voices more distinctly.
"Jack! Seria!"
"Sounds like the Colonel convinced Seria to go fishing with him." Sam said and tried to smile as she remembered the invitations to go fishing, which she had declined in the past.
Next, a lot of laughter and splashing could be heard; Sam stood up and walked down to the water's edge before looking upstream, where she spotted them, standing in the dappled shade. They had been playing in the water, splashing each other, but as she watched, Jack's silhouette paused in the action of scooping up another handful of water and instead, straightened, to walk over to Seria and put his arm around her; holding her close. And from what she could see of their shadowed forms, Seria was returning Jack's embrace, as she tilted her head up to speak to him. Then slowly, the two people upstream walked towards the bank and out of view...
'Oh man!' Sam exclaimed silently to herself. 'Are they going to..? The Colonel...My Colonel and Seria?' Sam continued to think to herself as a mist of green jealousy floated up in front of her eyes. She looked over to Beneck who had also walked to the water's edge and saw a troubled frown mar his forehead. 'Ah, so he sees it too; their attraction for each other.' Sam thought sadly, before Beneck interrupted her thoughts.
"Maybe we'd better be heading back, Samantha. Didn't you say that you were having dinner with Liz and some of the other ladies tonight?"
"Yes I am...yeah; we might as well head on back." Sam agreed and the two friends started hiking back, but took a different route from Jack and Seria, who were taking the shortest path possible back to the city and help.
An hour later, Sam had showered, changed and rested for a while before heading over to the Royal Manor, where she was to meet up with Liz, Sha're, Isabel, Tholla, Maria; who was visiting over another weekend and...Seria. Sam frowned to herself as she walked through the gardens; how was she going to handle seeing that woman, this evening? Sam felt that she wanted to scream at Seria...or at Jack, but she knew that she had no one to blame for her situation but herself...and those dammed regulations. But mostly herself; how many times had she turned the Colonel down when he had invited her to go "fishing", or to attend a hockey game. How many times had she passed over the opportunity to transfer to another SG-team, so that Jack would no longer be her direct superior? Instead, Sam had believed it more important that they remain friends and teammates so that she could at least see Jack every day.
These thoughts and justifications were on her mind as Sam walked up the few steps to the Manor's patio and saw Max and Liz in a passionate clinch, while sitting on the porch swing made-for-two. She recoiled as if she had been slapped. 'Oh man, I have the jealousy-thing big-time if I can't even stand to see my friends, who are madly in love with each other, kissing.' Sam thought to herself and then looked around her. 'What do I do now; leave and come back or pretend I didn't see anything while I make a lot of noise, walking across the patio to the Manor?' But then the decision was taken out of her hands, when Maria and Michael came out the Manor themselves. Sam had her emotions more under control, so that she was able to smile at the way their hands were clasped tightly together as they walked towards their friends.
"Maxwell, do I have to find a surgeon to physically separate you two, for Pete's-sake? Come on man, the ladies are starting to arrive and we'll be late arriving at Mardall and Tholla's house, for our men's-night, if we don't get going now." Michael gruffly teased his best friend.
"Hey, you two are even worse than we are, by my count." Max retorted after reluctantly pulling away from Liz to glance up at his friends.
"That's 'cause we don't get to see each other every single day, like you two do, so we have to make the best use our time together when we are!" Maria giggled.
"You're right, Maria, but what can I say...I'm hooked on Liz's sweet kisses...and may I never find a cure for my addiction." Max said as he stood up, but then bent back down to give his fiancé one more lingering kiss.
"See ya later, Pixy-girl." Michael said as she drew Maria's hand up, to kiss her knuckles; his eyes never leaving hers' as he did so.
"Now who's making us late, Michael?" Max teased his friend before heading off towards Mardall and Tholla's; the host-couple for Teal'c and Jim Valenti. "Hey, Sam; how was your day?" Max asked her as he and Michael passed by.
"Fine; Beneck and I took a hike out into the countryside." Sam replied.
"Good, see you later." Max replied with his gentle smile.
"'Bye." Sam called after them, before turning back toward the patio and the other women who were gathering there.
The talkativeness of the group allowed Sam to stay in the background where she would not have to say much to Seria, but she was surprised by the way the other woman treated her. She was acting the same towards Sam as she always had; friendly and open. 'As if', Sam thought, 'I am no threat to her relationship with Jack. Or, perhaps she believes that there can be nothing between the two of us because of the regs and wants to stay on friendly terms with Jack's 2IC. Well, I guess I can act friendly towards her as well, after all, it's Jack's decision, not just Seria's, as to where he wants their...relationship to go.' Sam reasoned in the end, before tuning back into what the other women around the table were talking about.
"Liz, Maria; I thought for sure that your mothers would be here to eat dinner with us tonight." Sha're noted.
"They and Diane Evans have been with the Queen all day long." Liz answered.
"Again." Maria added.
"I wonder if we are going to have any input at all into our own weddings." Isabel pouted.
"We have input." Liz replied.
"Through our mothers." Maria added, also pouting
"Yeah, it's my wedding and I'm a princess for Pete's-sake, I should be able to have some direct control over what it's going to be like, when I walk down the aisle in three months." Isabel reiterated.
"But that's the point, Isabel; you are a princess and I am marrying a king, while Maria and Kyle are each marrying royal counselors. Your traditions and customs have royal weddings pretty much spelled out." Liz said calmly. "It's going to be the biggest ceremony this planet has seen since your parents' own royal wedding and nothing is going to change that, no matter how much Max and I would rather have a small, private wedding. All of our mothers, on the other hand, have always dreamed of their 'little girls' having big, flashy weddings, so they're perfectly happy to help Valaria carry out her plans. But I trust Mom to make any important changes that Max and I want made." Liz said before continuing. "And I have enough to do in learning all about your customs and laws; and how to be Max's queen, without also having to look out for the thousand-and-one details which are going to have to go into planning this group wedding of ours."
"And besides, Liz; you told me that you and Max had taken your vows years ago, before they had to return to Antar." Maria piped up.
"Maria, that was private!" Liz exclaimed.
"What; you're already married?" Isabel cried out as the other women all listened curiously.
"Well...in our hearts and souls we feel as though we are." Liz explained grudgingly, as her cheeks started to blush. "Before we...made love...for the first time, Max and I drove out to the desert one night and said our own wedding vows to each other and exchanged rings under the stars."
"You exchanged rings?" Isabel asked. "But I've never seen either of you wearing anything on your ring-fingers."
"That's because we don't wear them on our ring-fingers, Isabel." Liz said holding up her hand. "This is Max's ring." Liz pointed out the large silver band which she wore on her left thumb. "And Max is wearing mine..."
"...On his pinky-finger." Isabel finished for her. "I never really noticed the ring until we arrived here and figured that it was some sort of royal signet-ring."
"Nope." Liz shook her head. "After we said our vows, we wore our rings on chains around our necks; more like promise-rings. Since we were only eighteen, we figured that everyone would say that we were too young to marry, so we planned to be properly married after we graduated from college."
Liz's eyes filled with tears as she remembered how their plans were so drastically changed just a few days later, when Max and the others had received the urgent call from Antar.
"We exchanged rings again, right before you left and promised to always wear them, so that we'd have a part of each other with us." Liz said, wiping her eyes.
"Hey...better late than never!" Maria giggled, trying to break the sad mood.
"Yeah, I guess so." Liz replied, a smile breaking through the tears.
"I'm just curious; what changes have you asked your mother to make, Liz?" Sha're asked, sharing her husband's interest in other cultures.
"Well, Antarian wedding colors are pink for the bride and maroon for the groom, but I want to wear a white dress. So I want to have an underskirt of pink and a bodice and overskirt of white. The overskirt would then be drawn to the sides, to show off the pink underskirt. And since custom decrees that I wear these large hoops under my skirt, I thought that this design would look pretty."
"Sorta like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty!" Maria piped up with a grin.
"Hey I like that idea, Liz." Tess said. "I wasn't looking forward to wearing some great, frothy, pink monstrosity, but if we could all wear white dresses and accent them all a little differently with the expected pink, it wouldn't look too bad."
"As to wearing white...um, none of us are exactly virgins, you know." Isabel whispered; she had liked the idea of wearing pink.
"Um...this is sorta private, but had any of us ever had sex with someone else before our first times with our prospective grooms?" Maria asked and all four young women shook their heads, blushing. "I think that makes us virgins enough to wear white." Maria said.
There was a bit of tension between Isabel and Maria for a moment, but then Liz broke into it.
"And I was thinking our guys could wear the Antarian wedding outfit, but in white with maroon piping or embroidery, or something like that."
"Yeah, how about a maroon stripe down the sides of their pant legs? That always looks great on guys; accentuates their long legs." Tess added and the previous tension was forgotten.
"Good idea, Tess." Liz said. "Back to changes; I also requested that we take different parts from the traditional Antarian and Earth wedding ceremonies and vows and combine them. And there are actually a lot of similarities, so I don't think that doing so will be a problem."
"In some ways it's a shame we can't have our weddings on Earth, but if we can make a few changes, I think it will be lovely." Maria agreed. "That woodland glade you guys use for your religious ceremonies is really beautiful! Michael showed it to me the last time I was here."
"Yeah, Mom was telling me about the flower garlands they've picked out, to hang from the trees and Max has assured me that the fruit trees should be blooming at their peak for our wedding; that's why it's being timed this way; that and a particular conjunction of stars." Liz said, excitedly.
"Wedding ceremonies at this time of year are very beautiful!" Tholla agreed. "Many of our young couples decide to get married now for that very reason."
The ladies enjoyed the rest of the evening; sharing the various wedding customs of their two peoples.
TBC
