I'm sure you all hate me for being so bad at updating this story (and I totally don't blame you). I'm really going to try and get some more chapters up in the next little while. I'm on vacation for a week next week and hope to get lots of writing done! I am so sorry - I got myself into too many stories at once, plus experienced a writers block on this one. I just hope you're still willing to read it.
This is a silly/fluffy chapter ... just because.
Sam watched as Jack entered the pen for the second day. She couldn't help but enjoy the sight of him as he worked, the sweat gleaming on his naked torso, showing off his well-defined muscles. He'd always been strong and fit, but now he was even more so. The sun and air and hard work had toned his body so that he looked like a man years younger than his age.
As she stood and looked at Jack working she thought about their time here in Thassos. They'd been here for a couple of weeks now and she felt like they were starting to be accepted. Alexios, the young shepherd boy they had first met, had brought them back with him to meet his parents. Sam remembered their first meeting with the older couple.
Alexios father was named Kleitos. He was a short, wirey man with leathered skin and with a dignity all his own. He had been suspicious of the strangers at first and had asked many questions about where they were from and what their reasons were for coming to his village.
It was Alexios mother Eugenia who finally stopped him and simply welcomed the strangers. She was as tall as her husband and about twice as big around. She had a jolly look to her – her graying hair pulled back in a bun and a constant smile on her face. Jack swore she looked like the Greek version of Mrs. Claus.
"Can you not see that they are good people Kleitos", she said to her husband. "They do not come for any bad purpose, but it is like they said, they come to find work and a new home because theirs was destroyed by the power of the gods. We must welcome them. It is what the gods tell us to do." She turned at that moment to the two newcomers. "Come, you must join us for our meal and then we will discuss what you can do."
"Thank you", Jack smiled. "We would be grateful." He then turned to the man of the house. "I promise you, we will not harm you or your family or your village. It is as I have said. Our land and home were destroyed and we come to find a new place to live. If you do not want us here, we will leave. All I ask is that we can remain here for a few days to rest."
Kleitos looked at him for a moment, but finally nodded. "My woman is correct. It is the will of the gods that we welcome strangers. You will join us for a meal, and you may sleep in our barn. We will talk more in a few days."
Sam was looking back and forth between the others in the room, frustrated because she couldn't understand anything. She was pretty sure Jack had forgotten that he was speaking Greek and that she didn't have a clue what was happening. It was only when he turned to her, a smile on his face, that he caught her frown and irritation.
"What?" he asked, suddenly frowning.
"What's going on – Sir?" she said softly. "I can't understand anything."
"Oh – geesh, I'm sorry Carter. Uh, we've been invited to stay for a few days until Kleitos is sure we're safe. He's a village elder and has to think about the safety of his people, which I respect. He's reserving judgment about us for now. His wife on the other hand, seems to like us -"
"You, you mean", she rolled her eyes. "She hasn't even looked at me."
"That's only because I explained you don't speak Greek. Anyway, as I was saying Carter, she likes us. We're going to eat dinner now and then we get to sleep in the barn."
"Goody", she scowled, feeling out of sorts, although she didn't know why. It wasn't Jack's fault that she couldn't understand.
"I'm sorry Sam", he said softly, noticing her expression. "I'll try and remember to translate. I wasn't ignoring you – I was just trying to make sure we had a place to stay and something to eat. I didn't want to anger them."
"I understand, Jack", she sighed. "I think I'm just hungry."
Well, the few days turned into a week, and then two. Jack had begun to help Kleitos around his small farm and the elder man soon appreciated having someone else to help with all the work. At first he continued to be suspicious, but as the days went by he began to relax.
Jack had been very careful to treat him with respect, understanding why the man was being cautious. It hadn't been until yesterday however, that the ice had finally broken and Kleitos accepted him.
Jack thought back to the day and still shook his head. He was glad it had changed the other man's opinion of him, but he could honestly say it hadn't been one of his finest moments. He suddenly snorted. At least Sam had enjoyed it.
Kleitos had informed him the other night at dinner that they were ready to start the shearing. The wool would be gathered and processed and then Eugenia and her maidservants would spin the wool and then weave it into colorful cloth. These were then taken to market in Nysa, where they were in high demand. Kleitos bragged that he had some of the best sheep in the land – as well as a wife who was accomplished in weaving.
Jack had listed to all of this, not thinking much of it, until he realized that he was expected to take part in the shearing. He'd informed Kleitos that it was something he'd never done – and the man had looked at him in surprise.
"Did you not have sheep in your village?"
"Uh – yeah, but – I mean, not me personally. Other people had them but I – ah – never had to shear them."
The older man shook his head. He was growing to like this stranger, who was hard-working – but strangely unskilled. He sighed. "You shall learn. It is an important skill and our village of Thassos is known for it's fine wool and exquisite workmanship in spinning and weaving. If you plan to stay here you must learn how to do it."
Jack had agreed since he couldn't really refuse as they were guests of Kleitos. He didn't think it could be too hard – they were just dumb sheep after all.
About the tenth time Jack fell on his ass he realized that while sheep might be dumb, they were smart enough to make his life hell. He pushed himself to his feet again and tried to grab another sheep so he could shave the damn thing.
He'd also had no idea the stupid animals were so strong. He'd been head butted and knocked over and trampled and stampeded at all day and he was sore and tired and really, really irritated. He also discovered that he was pretty much the world's worst sheep shearer.
All he had to do to confirm that was to glance over the fence at Ralph. Ralph was the first sheep he'd ever sheared and he was pretty sure that the reason Ralph was sticking in the corner of the pen was because he was so humiliated. He had little tufts of hair sticking up all over his body, from where Jack has missed shaving him – or shearing him to be more accurate.
The poor sheep looked like something that had been chewed up in a lawn mower. Jack winced when he recalled the laughter that had erupted when he released poor Ralph. Even Sam had giggled, although he'd glared at her and challenged her to try. She apologized although he was pretty sure that she'd gone around to the back of the house and laughed where he couldn't see her.
His shearing had gotten a little better as the day wore on, but his backside, hell, every side was bruised and battered by the little furry buggers. He decided that he hated sheep. They were evil little beasts and he was positive they were first cousins to the Goa'uld.
It was as he got to his last sheep (he'd wanted to fall on his knees and thank every god anywhere that this was the last) that disaster struck. He'd finally managed to get the technique down to where he would grab the animal and then begin to shear it. It wasn't fast – he did one for every three or four that the other men did – but at least he had, sort of, gotten the hang of it.
He wondered later if Kleitos, or maybe one of the other men, had thought it would be a great joke to give him Marvin as his last sheep of the day. All names were his, of course, as he didn't think the Thassians actually named their sheep. But back to Marvin. It turned out he was an old, cantankerous Ram known to be both mean and stubborn.
He'd walked up to Marvin like the proverbial lamb to the slaughter (him, not the sheep). He'd taken one look at the placid-seeming old animal, and had gone up to him and put his arm around his neck like he'd been taught, ready to wrestle him to the ground to begin shearing him.
He didn't know what happened next. One moment he was standing beside the old sheep, the next he was flying through the air, to land ass-first in a pile of sheep crap. That wasn't the worst of it, however, as Marvin came racing over to him and butted him in the back. Since Jack had been trying to push himself to his feet at that precise moment, the force of the animal hitting him had caused him to flail about crazily for a few seconds, and then fly, this time face-first, into an entirely different pile of crap.
He was sure that there wouldn't have been anything left of him if Marvin had been allowed to continue. He could tell that the old Ram was enjoying himself immensely and had figured he'd found the perfect victim for his old cantankerous, vicious ways.
Fortunately Kleitos, and one of his hired hands rescued him. They did that by unceremoniously grabbing his feet and pulling him out of the pen. Marvin followed him and all Jack could think, at that time, was that he had had no idea sheep could laugh.
But the sheep wasn't the only one. Kleitos could barely stand up he was laughing so hard. As Jack forced himself – all filthy, muddy, shitty self – to his feet, he couldn't help but notice that there were a lot of people around, and all of them were laughing.
Just great. He'd just made a honkin' big fool of himself in front of the entire village. Of course it didn't dawn on him – not then at any rate – why the entire town was there. It was only later that he found out that the whole thing had been a set-up and Alexios had spread the word and Jack wouldn't have been surprised if the kid had sold tickets.
"Come on Jack, just let me look", Sam said a bit later when he'd gone to the barn to change out of his rank clothes. "You could have some real injuries."
"The only thing that's injured", he fumed, "is my pride. I'm fine Sam – stop hovering."
"But Sir – Jack, let me at least see", she begged, not meeting his eyes.
"Why Carter?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I'm perfectly fine. Or is it that you're looking for an opportunity to get me outta my pants?"
She choked at that and turned bright red. Jack wanted to grin, but immediately afterward wanted to curse himself instead.
They'd been here with Kleitos' family for two weeks – and as far as everyone was concerned, they were married. However, although they had acknowledged their feelings for one another, nothing had happened yet. In fact they'd reached a bit of a stalemate.
Jack wasn't quite sure what had happened. When they'd first arrived they'd both been tired and more worried about trying to appear non-threatening than anything else. They had mutually, if silently agreed to hold off on any discussions or actions that were more personal.
But somehow, the longer they went not saying anything, the harder it became. Jack was feeling uncomfortable and he could tell that Sam was as well. She'd even started to flinch anytime he touched her, even if accidently.
And now he'd gone and stuck his foot in it! He sighed. He was achy and tired and feeling rather humiliated by the whole day. And now he'd gone and embarrassed Sam. He sighed again and rubbed his hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry Sam", he said. "I didn't mean anything by that. Just tired I guess."
"It's okay", she told him, still looking embarrassed, but fortunately not angry. "And the truth is that yes, I would like the opportunity. I've wanted to do that for a long time."
It took him a few seconds to realize what she'd said. At first he figured he'd misunderstood her, but when he replayed her words in his head he knew hadn't. "What?" he said, swallowing convulsively. "Did you – Sam?"
She was looking even redder than she had a moment ago, but she continued to look him right in the eye. "Yes, that's what I said. Jack, I told you I loved you, but we've been going around like brother and sister and frankly – I'm tired of it."
"You are?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes, I am. Aren't you?"
"Oh yeah", he whispered, taking a step towards her. "Very, very tired."
"Well then, maybe we should stop ignoring it and just -"
"And just what Sam?" he grinned.
"You know what Jack", she said, her eyes narrowed menacingly.
"Mmm, I guess I do", he took another step closer and reached out for her.
"Oooh!" Sam stepped back, her nose wrinkled. "I'm sorry Jack but – uh – you have a rather strong -"
"What?"
"Scent." She looked at him a moment, real regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry but you smell like sheep – uh - poop. You stink." He was pretty sure he could see a grin trying to surface on her face.
Jack sighed, running his hand's again through his hair. Yup, it had been that kind of day. He turned and grabbed a few of his things and then headed out of the barn knowing that now was definitely not the time to get romantic. He was too tired, too sore and definitely too stinky.
"I'm going to go have a bath", he informed Sam quietly as he stood by the open door.
"Uh – a bath? Where?" They didn't have hot and cold running water and baths were a lot of work and usually a long-drawn out process.
"In the ocean. I hope the salt water will get rid of the stench. Don't wait up for me."
With that he was gone and Sam was left. "Damn!" she said, shaking her head. But then slowly her lips turned up in a smile. "At least now we know where we stand." A second later her smile had turned into a chuckle as the memories of Jack shearing sheep – and especially that last one – popped into her mind. Within a few more seconds she was laughing so hard she was crying.
Jack limped down to the water, feeling shitty (literally and figuratively) but strangely happy at the same time. Anything romantic was going to have to wait, but at least now he was pretty confident that Sam was still interested.
He got to the beach and looked around. It was early evening and everyone was probably home having dinner after a long, hard day of shearing. With a snort he shook his head. He was not cut out to work with sheep that was obvious. The next moment saw him stripping off his clothes until he was stark naked. He grabbed a bar of soap and headed into the ocean.
It took him a few minutes before he felt like he was sufficiently cleaned and didn't smell like sheep poop or anything else. Of course now he'd have to go for a dip in the river, which was much colder, to rinse off the salt.
It was almost an hour later before he returned to the barn. At least he was clean, if also a bit cold. When he got there Sam was gone and he figured was at dinner. He dropped his dirty clothes in the basket that Eugenia had given them and put away his soap and hung his towel on a nail. He then turned around and headed to the house. He felt like he was about ready to collapse.
"Well here he is!" Kleitos toasted him with a glass as he walked in the door (or limped in). "How are you my friend? I hope that Plato did not hurt you?"
"Plato?"
"Yes", Alexios grinned. "He is our ram. He's daddy to a good portion of our herd. He also does not like strangers."
"I kind of figured that", Jack answered, his tone dry but not angry.
"Yes" Kleitos laughed heartily. "You fly very well through the air Ioannes, although the landing didn't look too pleasant."
"No", Jack shook his head. "Not too pleasant."
"You were very funny", Alexios told him. "My friends laughed hard when Plato pushed you over."
"I'm glad I was able to amuse them", he said sarcastically.
Kleitos slapped him hard on the back. "Do not worry, you did quite well today although I am afraid that Zenobia will want to hide for a few days."
"Zenobia?"
"Mmm – she was the ewe you sheared – the first one."
"Oh. I didn't know you named your sheep. I named her – uh Ralph."
"Rrrr", Kleitos and his son both tried to say the name, but failed miserably. While they were doing that Jack was thinking back to that morning. How in hell did he mistake a she-sheep for a he-sheep? The other ones had all been pretty obvious (some of those Rams were quite well endowed). All he could think was that Zenobia had been his first and he wasn't thinking of looking at the sheep's physiology when he was trying to learn how to shave her wool.
"Yes, Zenobia was a bit – roughly shorn – but you got better my friend. By the end of the day the sheep you had sheered could almost pass as being done by one of us. Soon you too shall be an expert."
"Soon? An expert?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, after practicing more. Tomorrow will be a whole new opportunity for you to try your hand at it again."
"Tomorrow? We have to keep shearing the damn things?"
"Why yes", Kleitos said, sounding surprised. "The shearing goes on all week."
Jack groaned and laid his head on the table. He couldn't do this again.
"Yes", Kleistos was speaking, "I was very proud of how you handled today. You are going to be a natural. You should have seen me my first time in the shearing pen. I thought for sure my father was going to laugh me right off the farm. But he didn't and I learned and now I am one of the best in the country. I think you will be as well."
Great! Just what Jack wanted, to be a sheep shearer.
As Jack walked back with Sam he took a deep breath. Through all the aches and pains, humiliation and tiredness, today had been a good day after all. Kleistos had told him that he and Sam were welcome to stay and live in Thassos – all the elders had agreed. He told them that watching Jack – or Ioannes as they called him – willingly try to shear the sheep, had confirmed in their mind that he would be a good addition to the village. They didn't know Sam as well, but since it was somewhat of a male-dominated society they figured that if Jack was good enough, his wife would be too.
And that was the part that Jack was thinking about the most. Oh, not about the chauvinism of the locals – but about the fact that everyone thought Sam was his wife – and she had indicated she was definitely still interested in him in a non-sibling manner. Yes, it had been a good day.
They arrived at the barn and Jack decided that they had to look for somewhere else to live pretty soon. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life sleeping on hay and sharing a room with animals. He went to say as much to Sam when his words were interrupted by a huge yawn. God, he was tired.
"You need to lie down and go to sleep Jack", Sam said softly. "You had a rough day."
"Mmm – and it sounds like it's going to be another rough one tomorrow."
"Even more reason for you to get to sleep. Come on, I'll tuck you in."
"Really?" he stopped and grinned at her. "Will you tell me a story?"
"If you want", she grinned back at him.
"Will you kiss me goodnight?"
"Mmm, I think that can be arranged."
"Will you snuggle with me?"
"I'm sure I can do that", she giggled softly.
"Good – then I'm definitely ready for bed."
It was as they were snuggled up together that Jack suddenly wondered if she'd been expecting something more. He would have loved to be able to make love with her, but knew he was just too sore and tired. He wanted to be at his best when that happened.
"Uh Sam?"
"What?" she murmured into his neck. She was wrapped around him tightly and seemed to be almost asleep.
"I'm sorry if -"
"If what?" she said, moving slightly.
"That – I hope – I really want to, but I'm just really tired. I don't want you to think it's you, because it's not. I -"
A hand suddenly covered his mouth. "Shh", she told him softly. She propped herself up slightly and looked down at him. "I know. You spent a day shaving a bunch of furry sheep. Right now you need to rest and sleep. There's lots of time. For now I'm just happy being able to snuggle with you."
"Good", he told her softly, feeling relieved and happy. He gave her a soft kiss, thinking for perhaps the hundredth time how lucky he was to have her. A few minutes later he was asleep – and he hadn't had to count even one sheep.