The suite was mostly in darkness by the time that Jack returned from his check-in with the CO of SG3. He saw that Daniel had changed back into his BDU's and was sitting by the roaring fire writing in his journal. Looking around for Ariana, Jack noticed a small lump in the very center of the over-sized bed.
"Don't stay up too long, Daniel. You'll strain your eyes trying to write in this light," Jack cautioned as he shucked his Avaloran garments and hunted in his pack for a clean t-shirt.
Daniel frowned slightly at the 'mother hen' tone, but replied, "I just want to get my observations down on paper while they're still fresh in my mind, Jack. I'll go to bed as soon as I'm finished."
Jack grunted in response and stood by the bed, looking down at the still form of their companion. Ariana was curled up into a tiny ball, her knees almost touching her chin.
"How does she sleep like that?" Jack asked Daniel in amazement.
Daniel smiled as he glanced at his sleeping friend. "I think she's cold. I've put more wood on the fire, though, so we should be fine for the rest of the night."
Jack grunted and eased under the covers, trying not to wake the slumbering anthropologist. "You'd think that the Avalorans could drum up some central heating to go along with the hot water. These big stone castles are a little drafty for my taste."
Daniel chuckled softly. "Come on, Jack, where's your sense of romance?"
"Hey!" Jack protested, "I'm as romantic as the next guy, but I like to be warm, too."
"J'ck?" came a sleepy voice from the middle of the bed.
"Sorry, Farrell, go back to sleep," Jack murmured, chagrined that he'd woken Ariana.
"'s okay. I'm cold," she complained.
Jack patted his side of the bed. "Well, scoot over here then."
Ariana smiled sleepily and backed into Jack so that he could wrap his arms around her.
"Good god, woman!" Jack yelped, "Your feet are like icicles!"
Daniel snorted.
"I told you I was cold," Ariana yawned and lowered her face to rub her nose on Jack's forearm.
"Jeez, even your nose is cold. What's wrong with you?" Jack asked, "You're as bad as Daniel."
Ariana chuckled softly. "We're both from warm climates, Jack. Don't tell me that Daniel doesn't snuggle up to you when he gets cold on missions."
Jack felt the heat rise in his face and knew without having to look that Daniel was blushing, too. "Only when it's really cold," Daniel said quickly.
"Yeah, and most of the time he's asleep when he does it."
"Most of the time?"
"Well, we've been to a couple of planets where it was so cold we kinda had to sleep together. You know, to share body heat."
"Uh huh..."
"Teal'c and Sam do it, too," Daniel protested.
Ariana started giggling. "You guys are too easy! I'm teasing you – jeez!"
"Hmph," Jack grunted. "Well, stop the teasing and go to sleep, Farrell. That's an order."
Ariana snuggled deeper into his embrace and yawned. "Whatever you say, Fearless."
Jack rolled his eyes at the nickname and was about to reply when he heard a soft snore and realized that the anthropologist was already asleep.
Jack was awakened by the soft sounds of Daniel trying to slide under the covers on the other side of the bed. He raised his head and whispered, "Hey, Daniel."
"Yeah, Fearless?" came the quiet reply.
Jack snorted softly and said, "Help me roll Farrell back into the middle of the bed. She may have been a 'Nana-cicle' earlier, but now she's putting out more heat than a furnace."
Daniel leaned towards him and the two men repositioned the sleeping anthropologist so that she was in her former spot in the center of the bed.
"Sha're was the same way," he said softly, "I think it's a female thing."
"Sara used to put her feet on me when she was cold," Jack acknowledged with a whisper. He could hear Daniel settling himself on the other side of Ariana. Jack had almost fallen back to sleep when a sudden thought made him snort involuntarily.
"What?" Daniel whispered.
"Oh, how the rumors would fly if the folks back home could see us now..."
"Three in a bed?" Daniel asked with a chuckle.
"Oh, yeah."
"Well you better hope Ferretti never finds out then..."
Jack woke early the next morning, as was his habit. He glanced around the room and noticed that the sleeping arrangements had changed at some point during the night. It looked like Ariana had gotten cold again, Jack thought, or Daniel had, because his friend had wrapped himself around the anthropologist, her head tucked under Daniel's chin.
They looked good together, Jack realized. His friends deserved to find a little happiness – Jack hoped that they'd figure it out for themselves. He'd seen how Daniel had reacted the few times that Ariana had been injured on missions and suspected that his teammate felt more than friendship for the anthropologist. Jack knew that Ariana cared for Daniel, but was unsure if her feelings went deeper. Well, he'd just have to hope for the best, he thought, and see if Ferretti had already made book on the couple getting together...