They finished their food in relative silence – although any time Sam caught sight of the dark writing on Ian's hands it would cause her to smile, and then hide the smile – which Cassie would see and that would set her off into giggles. Which would make Ian sigh, or Jack smile. Which would make Janet smile. It was quite the chain reaction, and there wasn't anything any of them could do to stop it once it started.

It could have backfired; Jack knew it when he'd done it. Ian had a hot temper and would not like anyone making fun of him. But Jack also knew that the young man had a sense of humor – he'd seen it come out earlier. He simply gambled on the sense of humor being able to win out over the embarrassment caused by being singled out and treated so much like an errant child. And he'd gambled right, of course. Ian never showed a sign of that temper that Jack knew was so close to the surface all the time. He simply suffered in relative silence; every now and then casting a look at Jack that plainly said someday he'd think of something equally embarrassing to do to him to get him back.

And Jack would grin. He wasn't worried.

"So, Ian," Janet said, looking up from her Parfait. "What are you majoring in at the academy?"

Ian shook his head.

"Right now our courses are set – for this year. We have to take prescribed courses so they can feel us out and see where our strengths lie. So I don't get to choose until next year what I'm going to do."

"What are you going to do?" Janet asked, curiously.

"I was thinking I'd take Public Relations."

He was only joking, of course, but he couldn't have timed that worse. On his left Jack had just tipped his beer bottle to finish the last of it, and on his right Sam had just swigged the last of her coffee. Both of them were so startled by his answer – which was as far fetched as any they could have imagined – that they did a classic spit-take. And Ian found himself sprayed from both sides. Cold beer on one side of his face, warm coffee on the other.

Sam was mortified. She grabbed a napkin and reached for his face, but Jack was choking so hard on the other side that Janet had to pound on his back a few times. Ian took the napkin from Sam.

"I'm so sorry, Ian..."

"It's all right, Sam," he said, his smile clearly telling her that he was just as amused as Jack was. Well, maybe not that amused, since Jack was now laughing so hard that his eyes were watering. Of course, that might have something to do with spitting beer from his nose.

"So..." Janet was smiling just as broadly. "Not taking Public Relations, I presume?"

He shook his head, feeling coffee trickle into his ear.

"Not a chance."

He used the napkins to dry his face off as well as he could, and told Sam she didn't need to bring him a towel that he was fine. Jack finally managed to get himself under control once more, and handed Ian his napkins as well, pointing out that he had beer in his hair. Ian snorted, and did the best he could to dry it, glad that he'd taken the brunt of the shower instead of his lunch – since he was still hungry and didn't want coffee or beer all over it.

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do, Doctor Fraiser," Ian finally told her, coming back to the question that had started it all. "I've got time to decide, though. And I'm not in any hurry." He was smart enough he'd be able to catch up on any class once he decided what he was going to take.

"Jack?" Janet looked at O'Neill. "Where's that pen of yours? I'm going to write my name on his forearm so he doesn't keep calling me Doctor Fraiser all week."

Ian covered his food, but neither Sam nor Jack had anything in their mouths this time, and Janet smiled.

"Call me Janet, Ian. Okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Cassie giggled, and they went back to eating.

OOOOO

Predictably, Jack finished first. He was feeding half of his food to Jaffer under the table, after all. He leaned back in his chair and watched as Sam worked on a bowl of the vanilla ice cream – Jaffer had finished his share of that ice cream far more quickly.

"You want anything else?"

Sam shook her head.

"Janet?"

"No." She was pretty close to being done – all she had left in her plastic parfait cup was an oozing mess of chocolate fudge, melted ice cream and peanuts.

"Cass?"

Cassie pulled her attention from clandestine Ian watching to shake her head.

"No, Jack."

Jack didn't miss what she was doing, but he didn't comment on it. For one thing, Ian showed absolutely no sign of noticing, so he couldn't be annoyed or encouraged by her attentions (depending on how he, himself, felt about Cassie). For another, Ian didn't show any interest towards Cassie in any way. He was polite, but nothing more. He hadn't sent her any looks – as far as Jack could tell – that were seductive or inappropriate, and he was definitely more interested in his lunch than he was her. Of course, he was probably pretty hungry, too, Jack knew.

"Ian?"

The cadet looked up.

"Jack?"

Jack smiled, pleased with himself.

"You need anything?"

"I'm good, thanks."

Jack nodded, and stood up, putting his garbage in one of the DQ bags.

"Then I'm going to take Jaffer outside for a bit while you guys finish eating."

He headed for the back door, and Jaffer was right behind him. He'd go out with Jack, sure!

Jack opened the door, and he and Jaffer slipped through it quickly, to keep the cold air out of the house. Janet looked at Sam.

"So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

Sam shrugged.

"Relax, I think. I'm ready to."

"You looked a little tired."

"It's been a busy day."

"It's only three o'clock." Cassie said, taking a final bite of her own ice cream.

"Yeah, but I was up early."

"And you've been baking in a warm kitchen," Janet pointed out. "That heat can make you sleepy."

"I'm done baking – for now," Sam said, smiling. "All that's left are the cakes, and I might not make them. Sally's bringing a dessert and we have a few pies already. We probably don't need anything else."

"You can decide how you feel later, and make them if you decide you need them," Janet told her.

"True."

"Or you can let Ian make the cakes," Cassie said.

Ian looked up from his fries; suddenly in a conversation he'd had no intention of joining. Sam smiled, because even though she had felt a slight stab of worry that he might offer to make those cakes like Cassie had suggested, Ian clearly looked a bit panicked that Sam would ask him to.

"Only if he wants to," Sam said, reaching out and stealing a few of his French fries. How come he had so many left and she'd finished all hers?

"I think I should limit myself to being the can and bottle opener," Ian told her, pushing his fries closer to her. "My mother never really let me all that close to the kitchen."

And with good reason, Sam decided, taking him up on his unvoiced offer and stealing a few more fries. She loved fries from DQ.

"We're going to relax," Sam decided. "No more cooking. No more cleaning – well maybe a little," she amended as she watched coffee trickle down Ian's neck from his hair and vanish under his shirt. "But nothing strenuous."

"Sounds boring." Cassie said. "Ian? Why don't you come home with us? We can find you something entertaining to do."

He shook his head.

"A day hanging out doing nothing sounds like just the thing," he said. "It'll be nice to not have any schedule that I have to stick to. Thanks, though."

Sam had suspected he'd feel that way. She remembered how structured academy life was, after all.

"Then we're going to go home," Janet said, sticking her garbage in the paper DQ bag as well. "I have a few things that I need to do, and Cassie needs to clean her room."

Cassie scowled, but stood up as well.

"We'll be here in the morning, though, right?"

Janet nodded, pretty sure that Cassie wasn't so eager to return and help with the cooking. She was eager to see a certain dark-eyed, dark-haired cadet again.

"We'll be here, yes."