Their guide's name turned out to be Tara, and she explained to them as they walked down the stairs that they would be formally introduced to her people – the crowd that was gathered for the community meal anyways – and then they would be free to mingle with her people as they made their way to the dining room.

"We were already introduced," Daniel said.

"To the elders," she agreed, nodding. "But not to our people. They will not eat with strangers – it's a long standing tradition that goes so far back we're not even sure what brought it around…"

Daniel had a couple of ideas about what might have, but before he could say anything, they were already at the bottom of the stairs and heading in the opposite direction that they'd come from earlier.

The sound of a large crowd of people emerged from a wide doorway at the end of this hall, so none of them were surprised to see that everyone that had been in the first room were now in this one. There was one major difference, however. This room was filled with several long tables that were set with plates, tableware and glasses. And the room smelled wonderful.

All conversation stopped as Tara led SG-1 into the room, and the crowd watched as they were guided to the front of the room – near what Daniel decided was the head table.

"Is there any particular form of greeting you wish to be known as?" She asked them. "Any title?"

"Jack." Jack said.

The others followed along with that. There was no sense in using a military rank when there weren't – apparently – any other military officers around, and Daniel preferred to be just Daniel when he could.

"Daniel."

"Sam."

She looked at Teal'c, expectantly.

"Teal'c will suffice."

Tara nodded, and faced the gathered crowd, who were watching expectantly.

"My friends. I have the honor of introducing to you our visitors. This is Jack, Sam and Daniel of the Tau'ri. And Teal'c, of the Jaffa."

There were murmurs of greetings, and many smiles of welcome, and feeling very much like the center of attention – something he didn't enjoy all that much – Jack gave a half-hearted wave in return, while Sam and Daniel were a little more enthusiastic.

Tara turned to her guests and gestured towards the crowd.

"Please, feel free to make yourselves at home."

Daniel was the first to step into the welcoming group, and promptly vanished into the crowd of people who stepped forward to introduce themselves to him. Sam looked over at Jack, questioningly, and he shrugged.

"Just don't let them pick your pockets…"

She smiled, and stepped into the crowd as well, and a moment later also vanished. Teal'c hesitated an instant, mainly because he wasn't used to having a lot of people glad to see him – he was a Jaffa after all. The crowd didn't seem to mind, however. Several of them were already coming forward, and many would undoubtedly ask him why he was allied with the Tau'ri.

Jack waited until he was gone as well, and then looked around.

"You are uncomfortable…"

He turned and saw Jamal had reappeared at his side.

"Not uncomfortable…" Jack corrected. "Just…"

"Wary?"

"Maybe a little," he admitted. "I'm not used to crowds."

Which wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't all that far off. He wasn't fond of being the center of attention. If he wanted that, he'd have become a politician. Besides, he didn't want to be here, and he wasn't all that great at hiding the fact.

"Come with me," Jamal offered. "I will introduce you to some people."

Since it was better than standing around – marginally – Jack nodded and followed him into the crowd as well.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next twenty minutes the members of SG-1 were engulfed (literally) in the crowd. Fortunately, they were a friendly bunch of people, and while they did ask them questions about their home, they were unobtrusive as they did so, catching any hesitation that might come up and changing the subject with a different question as soon as it could be politely done. Even Jack managed to relax among the people Jamal introduced him to, and he had to admit that as far as hosts went, these people were as good as they came.

Especially when dinner was served.

SG-1 didn't sit together, but they did sit close enough that they could see each other. When Jack made a check on the members of his team, he found Sam and Daniel both immersed in conversations with different groups, and even Teal'c seemed to be enjoying himself. Well, maybe not enjoying himself, but he didn't seem too uptight about anything, so O'Neill decided he was doing fine.

"Sam is a beautiful woman…" one of the men sitting beside him said, softly, noticing that Jack was watching her.

O'Neill nodded.

"Yes."

"Is she your mate?"

When Jack hesitated – that was about as personal a question as he'd been asked so far that night, and had taken him completely by surprise – the man smiled.

"I did not mean to embarrass you, Jack," he said, apologizing. "I was just curious."

"Officially, she isn't," he said. "But unofficially, yes. We're definitely seeing each other."

"How do your people make it official?" a woman sitting on his other side asked, curiously.

"We get married."

"Married?"

"We have a ceremony where the man and woman pledge themselves to each other."

"Ah."

It looked like the man was going to ask another question, but he was interrupted by the arrival of the first course of their dinner, and the conversation switched over to telling Jack about what he was about to eat, and reminding him that if he didn't like something to let them know and they'd give him something else.

Which was completely unnecessary, Jack discovered. He didn't recognize many of the dishes set before him – including the meat, which almost looked like roast beef, but was flaky like fish – but everything they put in front of him was delicious, and he ate everything they offered him.

For the first time, he decided that this place wasn't quite so bad, after all.