(Due to request, this story ends with a second date. Thank you, Stoko. Telboriel, I hope you had a good Christmas as well. Thanks. Isha, yes, that would be suspicious, wouldn't it, lol. ::watches Isha check to see what she wrote in her review:: Happy New Year everyone.)

Part 12, Second Date

--Lantash--

Next date, we pick out our own clothes.

Is there something wrong with this? Narim thinks he looks in the mirror. We are wearing a dark blue polo shirt, black slacks, and black dress shoes. He starts combing his hair.

Your hair is fine. Stop combing it. I hear a mental chuckle in return.

There is a knock on the door. "Are you two ready?"

Narim sets the comb down. "We are ready." He opens the door, and sees a very beautiful Samantha. Not that she isn't always beautiful. Samantha is wearing a blue strapless dress. Now it the time to tell her how beautiful she looks, not the time to stare.

Sorry. "You look beautiful Samantha."

She smiles. "You look good yourself."

Narim smiles more, and I take control. "Thank you. He is correct. You are more beautiful as a Lillirian sunset over the ocean." I grin. "I'll have to take you to Lillirian someday, and show you their sunset." I take her arm, and give Narim control again.

She drives us to a movie theater, and we pass people standing in line. "I bought the tickets online," Samantha says as we enter the building. She approaches a booth, and gets tickets from them. "We have to get popcorn," she says after passing a man who ripped our tickets in half.

Narim and I are both confused. "But we are going to eat after the movies," Narim says, and then looks to the man who is ripping someone else's ticket. "Why did he rip our tickets?"

"That way we cannot try to give the tickets to someone outside. If the tickets weren't ripped then they could get in on the same tickets." She brings us to a line. "We have to have at least popcorn at the movies. It's kind of a tradition. What do you want to drink?"

"I am not thirsty."

"You will be once you start eating the popcorn."

Narim looks over the choice of beverages. Any preferences?

Not Sprite. That was nasty.

Root Beer?

Sure.

He turns to Sam. "Root Beer."

After getting to the front Sam orders Root Beer, Diet Coke, and a large popcorn. That is a lot of popcorn. After she leads us into a dark room with a huge screen and several seats. As I follow her down one of the aisles I notice this part of the floor is a little sticky. Ew. We sit in what Samantha says are the best seats. After eating some popcorn Narim learns it does make him thirsty. I bet they put something in the popcorn to make you thirsty so you buy their drinks.

I watch picture after picture show on the big screen. Most of it seems to be advertisement, but sometimes there is a question I do not know the answer to. "They should have easier questions," Narim says.

"Well, they are easier if you watch more movies," Samantha says.

Several other people come in, and find places to sit. Eventually I'm seeing the same trivia questions on the screen again. Narim whispers the answers to Samantha, since we memorized the answers from before.

"That's cheating," she laughs lightly.

"It does not say those who saw the question before cannot answer."

The theater darkens, and Narim glances around wondering who turned them off. No one is reacting, so this appears to be normal. It also gets very loud as we watch previews for movies. "It's a bit of a tease to get you interested in movies you cannot watch yet," Narim says.

After the previews the big screen asks us not to make any extra noise, so Narim and I refrain from doing so. We switch control back and forth while watching The Incredibles. Narim jokingly keeps telling me to shush as I predict what will happen in the movie, and makes a few predictions himself. We decide whoever predicts the most correct gets to be in control the most during the rest of the date.

I win by two predictions, that is, I made two correct predictions, and his were all wrong.

Maybe we should watch more earth movies so we can predict better, Narim thinks as he gives me control.

Tau'ri movies do tend to be unrealistic.

"How did you like the movie?" Samantha asks as we walk to her car.

"I predicted two things, " I reply. I tell her what I predicted, using "host voice" since "symbiote voice" would draw attention.

"That's great. What did Narim predict?"

"Several things, but none correctly."

Samantha smiles, and then drives us to a restaurant.

"As much as I enjoyed our first day, I believe I do prefer this one," I say.

"Why's that?"

"Well, already it is longer, and also I am not as nervous. My only preference with the first date was that Narim and I were truly able to be ourselves."

Sam nodded lightly. "I am not an alien here, but I know the feeling of hiding. The hardest was having to lie to Dad."

"That after he found a way for you to be an astronaut?"

"Yeah, he mentioned that?"

"A few times."

Samantha parked the car, and we followed her into the restaurants. "We have a reservation under Carter."

The man looked it up, and then showed us to a table.

"I like these chairs," I say as I sit. "Some chairs in restaurants are very uncomfortable."

That's pretty odd to hear from a Tok'ra, Narim thinks. I've seen your chairs. I've sat in it one once, and it's like an instant backache.

"Some places do that so you won't sit there longer than needed, taking up space."

"Well, that's very rude." I give Narim control so he may speak. He continues with what I am saying. "On Tol-"

In Tollana. Make it sound like a city, I think.

He pauses briefly. "In Tollana the...restaurants are much kinder to the customers. All the chairs are designed so one can be comfortable while eating." He gives me control again, and we start looking at the menu.

We soon give our orders, and then start discussing the movie.

The service is faster on Tollana too, Narim thinks after we waited several minutes for the food.

Yes, but here the food is prepared and cooked by actual people, I think back, not computers.

Computer are-ooh, drinks. I'm thirsty.

That's because you ate so much popcorn.

It was strangely addicting.

After discussing the movie, we discuss the previews, which Samantha seems to find amusing.

"Most people don't have discussions about the previews they saw," Samantha says.

"I still believe that if they are going to get you interested in something, then you should be able to watch it sooner. A month later at the most, not a year later."

"By then you will have heard about the movie already. I enjoy movie previews because usually it's shows a movie I don't know about. Besides you enjoy a movie more if you have been waiting longer for it."

"What if you are waiting longer, and the movie is not good."

"Then you are that much more disappointed. I don't watch much movies anyway, so I make sure I only watch the good ones."

"So you let others watch it first, and they tell you if you'll like it or not."

"Something like that."

Our dinner comes, and Narim is now nervous about which fork to use. Which one do I use?

I don't know.

He picks up the slightly larger fork after seeing Samantha do so. As we eat, we wait to see when she starts using the other fork. I ask her a bit about her military career pre-SGC. Narim tells her a bit more about his job while trying to make it sound like a job on earth. After dinner is done we see she never did use that second fork. Strange.

Afterwards we look at the dessert menu, but decide not to order anything from it.

"That was a interesting meal. Thank you," I say as we get into the car.

"You didn't like it?" she asks, judging from my tone.

"I enjoyed the tastes. Narim did not like chicken. He said 'I don't know what they did with it, but it tastes funny.' So I blocked his perception of taste while I enjoyed it." Narim takes control. "Well, it did taste funny. I enjoyed the rice and vegetables, but the chicken tasted funny."

"Probably whatever spice they added to it."

We arrive at her house, and go inside. "May I walk you to your room?" I ask.

She smiles. "For the good night kiss?"

I control the reaction to slightly blush. "Yes."

"How about I walk you to your room?"

"Do I still get a kiss?"

She laughs lightly. "Yes."

"All right then, you may walk me to my room."

On the way to the room I give Narim control since I was the one who started the kiss last time. He takes her hands as he starts to kiss her. All his movements are more gentle than mine. His eyes remain closed after the kiss, and he enjoys the shivery warmth moving through him. His hands are still holding hers as I take control, and kiss her again. I let go of one hand and touch her lower back. I smile afterwards. "Good night, Samantha."

She is smiling as well. "Good night Lantash." She lets go of my hand, and her fingers move up my arm, lightly touching skin. "Good night, Narim."

I smile more, trying to think of something to extend the date a few seconds more. "Sweet dreams, Samantha."

"Sweet dreams." Her hand pulls away, seeming to take warmth with her. Funny how the lack of her touch always does that. I watch her walk away before going into my room.

The End