Martouf settled himself into their bed and watched as Saffran brushed her hair. His thoughts began to wander and he found himself comparing her to his Saffran. So alike and yet so different. Her temperament was not so fiery and yet he could imagine she was not a pleasant person to cross. She seemed more able to logicate her own actions and emotions and yet seemed less able to allow herself time to come to terms with them. Sometimes she was indeed a walking contradiction. It was something that he felt drawn to. A particular trait in her personality that he was unused to and yet he loved her for it.

"You seem distracted."

Martouf snapped back to the moment and realised he had not even seen her walk to the table and switch off the light and had not felt her climb into bed beside him. "I am sorry. I was just thinking of all the differences between you and… her."

"Martouf… I want to talk to you about Sam."

"I will not discontinue my friendship with Samantha for you or anyone Saffran." He winced internally as he realised how short he sounded. "You make it sound like there is something more to your friendship with her than there is!"

Saffran sighed. "Martouf, there really is no need to jump onto the defensive every time I mention her name. Jacob and I talked of your relationship with Samantha at great length a few days after I arrived here. I understand the bond you have with her and I do not wish you to neglect that friendship at any cost and I would never ask that of you."

Martouf moved onto his back and sighed heavily. "I am sorry. I think this situation is causing me more stress than I first thought it would."

"We have led very different lives than our counterparts up until the point that we met. It is understandable." She moved onto her side so that she could look at him. "It is good that you have a close friend with whom you can share things with. Sometimes you need a female perspective and I believe that would not be easy with most of the female Tok'ra here."

Martouf chuckled. "You assume correctly."

"I do not know why you did not pursue a more personal relationship with her…" She held up her hand as he opened his mouth. "…nor do I wish to know at this moment. We have more important things that we need to discuss first."

"You are correct." He gazed at her softly. "I have been taking a back seat emotionally for a while now, and I have forgotten that whilst I have Lantash as company, you have lost the ability to have that relationship with your symbiote. By allowing Lantash so much control I have just reminded you of what you do not have. I cannot apologise enough for the strain this has put on our relationship and I feel that I need to explain something to you." Martouf sighed softly. "As a person, I am not so good at expressing myself. I have spent the last 30 years relying on Lantash to fill in those blanks in my personality. When I do express myself, they are more than often not my words, but those of Lantash's. If we are to succeed in making some progress in our personal relationship, then I need to pay more attention and learn to express my own emotions and thoughts. I need to learn to separate myself and Lantash more. To make our personalities distinct instead of allowing them to blend quite so much."

"And I need to be slightly firmer with you when I need to speak with you regarding any problems I may be having. It is partly my fault as well as I have been easily swayed by Lantash and have not voiced my preference to speaking with you." She smiled softly. "I know you can hear me Lantash and believe me I mean no disrespect. It's just… as I enter into the final stages of this pregnancy; I need to know that I can rely on you as well as Lantash."

"I understand." Martouf pulled her into his arms gently and kissed her forehead. "You, Jolinar and the baby are as important to me as they are to Lantash. I need to remind you of that more."

Saffran snaked her arms around his warm body and rested her head on his bare chest. "We both just need to make our feelings known more often. We need to remember that if we do not talk to each other, we can't know how the other feels. This is how misunderstanding occurs. And if our relationship fails, I do not wish it to be on such an occurrence."

Martouf chuckled softly. "You know… you have made a great assumption." He noted her confused look and sighed. "Careful." He ignored Lantash's warning. "You assume that we want to deepen this relationship."

Saffran raised her head and looked deep into his eyes. "It is not an assumption. It is a well educated guess."

Martouf smiled as he looked up at her. "You read me well."

"No…" She laid back down and turned so that he could snuggle against her back and hold her close. "…you just need to be more careful with whom you entrust such information to."

Martouf frowned softly and then smiled; putting on the most indignant tone he could muster. "None of my friends would tell you of my thoughts unless you tortured them immensely."

Saffran bit back a laugh. "Or bribed them with Jell-O."

Martouf suppressed his own laugh. "Why you little…" He moved his hand to her side and began to tickle her.

She collapsed against him in a fit of giggles.

"You bribed Jacob?"

She shook her head. "I'm not that brave. I bribed Samantha."