Author's Note: Nah, this shouldn't be a shippy story (at least I'm not planning on it being one)
OOOOOOOO
They sat in relative silence for a few moments, and a waitress came up to them, looking just as chipper as the Hostess had.
"Are you ready to order?"
Jack looked over at the boy, who hadn't even looked at his menu, really.
"My treat, Harry."
"Hot chocolate, please."
The waitress looked at Jack.
"Coffee."
She nodded and wrote both orders down, although she wouldn't be much of a waitress if she couldn't remember something that easy.
"I'll be right back."
"Thanks."
She left them alone, and the two of them fell silent once more, until Harry spoke up.
"So… what do you do for a living?"
"I'm in the Air Force."
"Really?"
Jack nodded.
"Are you a pilot?"
"I was."
"Too old now?"
Jack scowled.
"I'm not that old."
This time Harry simply smiled. He hadn't meant it quite like that, of course, but he could tell that Jack wasn't really all that annoyed – even though he'd acted like he was.
"Sorry."
"Uh huh."
He didn't look all that sorry.
"So what do you do in the Air Force, then, if you don't fly anymore?"
Jack shrugged.
"I work with deep space telemetry."
"What's that mean?"
"It's complicated."
"Try me."
He was rescued by the return of the waitress, who set a cup of coffee in front of him and a cup of hot chocolate in front of the boy.
"Thanks." Before Harry could ask about deep space telemetry again, Jack changed the subject. "What do you do?"
"What?"
"For fun. What do you do for fun?"
Harry shrugged.
"Spend time with-"
"Harry!"
Jack and the boy both turned – although Jack was surprised to find that the boy's name really was Harry. That was two in the last two days. Of course, Harry was a common name, but still…
A girl came up to them. She was probably a year or so younger than Harry, and had red hair and a friendly smile. And she was watching Jack, obviously wondering who he was.
"Hi, Ginny." Harry said, smiling.
"Who's your friend?"
"This is Jack. This is my friend Ginny."
The girl smiled, although it was obvious she was curious how Harry had managed to make friends with some old guy since the last time she'd seen him.
"Hi, Jack."
Now he was feeling even more out of his element. It was one thing to make conversation with a young boy – he'd been doing a fair job of that, even though it had been awkward – but he didn't know anything about little girls.
"Nice to meet you."
"Jack's in the Air Force," Harry said, moving over in the booth so that she could sit beside him.
"Really?" She looked over at him with a little more interest. "What do you do?"
"I-"
"He works with telemetry," Harry said. "Space stuff, or something. It's complicated."
"Oh."
Since Jack couldn't have described it any better, he simply nodded.
"Yup."
Yeah, it wasn't the most brilliant conversation, but what could you expect?
"Everyone-"
A sudden commotion at the doorway announced the arrival of the rest of Harry's friends – at least Jack assumed they were, since they all stopped only long enough to look around the room, and then made a beeline towards the booth Jack, Harry and Ginny were sitting at. There were five more people, and Jack decided instantly that they were all related to each other and to Ginny. Red hair and the same open expressions on all of them. A mother and father, obviously, and a pair of twins a couple years older than Harry probably was, and a boy about the same age – although taller. This boy was the first to reach them, and although he, too, gave Jack an odd look, he still was fairly friendly.
"Hi."
Harry smiled, knowing his friend was curious about Jack.
"Ron, this is Jack. Jack, this is my friend Ron."
"Jack's in the Air Force," Ginny added, pleased to know something that her brother didn't.
"Do you fly?" Ron asked, obviously impressed.
Before Jack could answer, the rest of the family reached the booth as well, and Jack suddenly felt way in over his head. Not that he didn't like strangers, but come on…
"Who's your friend, Harry?" The father asked.
Jack spoke up for himself, this time, offering the man his hand.
"Jack O'Neill."
"Good Lord…" the man said, his eyes widening slightly, his hand freezing even as he'd reached out to shake Jack's hand. "Colonel Jack O'Neill?"
