Teal'c's excitement about his first apartment is infectious, and Jack can't not be keyed up about the thrill and opportunity for his friend. Years of living on base with only short trips out of the mountain is not a way to thrive, so this weekend is a big fuckin' deal, and Jack will make sure it is observed as such.

It's Saturday, and the team is set to descend on Teal'c's new digs at 1200 to start painting the plain white living room a more interesting color. Jack takes a quick inventory of his supplies as he hears Sam's car pull into his driveway. He turns and smiles, waving. "Carter! Hello!" He does his best not to react strongly as her long leg stretches out from the door, followed by the other. Good god is she wearing jorts? She smiles back at him and glides up to the front of his garage, surveying his supplies.

"Ready for a day of painting, Sir?"

He glances down at the pile of rollers, trays, and primer. "Ready to get this shit out of my garage, for sure, Carter."

She laughs. "Do you know what color he picked?"

"No, not yet. Daniel went with him when they did that. They've been guarding the secret like it's the Stargate."

"Daniel has terrible taste."

"Right?" Jack pushes the box of supplies into the bed of his truck and slams the door shut. "That's what I was thinking."

They hop into the cab of the truck, buckle up, and he starts the engine. "Wanna stop for coffee?" he asks.

"Sounds great."

The trip between Jack's house and Teal'c's new apartment is only about 20 minutes with a coffee run, and they pull into the parking lot with excited grins. Daniel and Teal'c are waiting outside to help carry the painting supplies up. Sam falls in line with Jack as they walk down the halls and up the stairs to get to his door. "Are you excited, Teal'c?" she asks.

"Indeed, Major Carter; it is quite thrilling to finally live away from the base."

"It's about time," Jack says, patting the larger man on the back. "I'm happy for you. We all are."

When they enter the apartment, Sam and Jack immediately notice that it is already taped off and tarped for painting in the main living space. There are several Ikea boxes piled up, unopened, which will require their attention. But the main draw is the open can of extremely orange paint in the middle of the room.

"Oh," Jack says. "Is that the color?"

"Indeed."

"It's… bright," Sam says, flicking her eyes to Jack and then Daniel, who is shaking his head to warn her not to continue. "Very, uh, cheerful."

"I find it soothing," Teal'c says.

Jack lifts a roller and taps it into Sam's hand. "Well then this is our color. Shall we?"

The afternoon passes with no shortage of laughter during their productivity as they coat the walls in paint and eventually turn their attention to boxes of Ikea furniture before going back for the second coat of paint. Daniel and Teal'c have nearly finished putting together a chest of drawers as Jack and Sam work on a dining table with hinged ends and room for added leaves. Their hands graze each other as they flutter over the hinges on one side and she hands him the alan wrench to tighten a screw. His fingers squeeze hers briefly before taking the wrench, his eyes staring into hers long enough to secure a smile from her. She has the smallest speck of paint on the tip of her nose, but he doesn't say anything.

"What do you think of the orange, Sir?" she whispers.

"It's less aggressive than I thought it would be when I saw it in the can," he admits, gesturing in a swirling motion with the wrench. "But it's still very orange."

Sam nods and smiles, fingers carefully helping to hold the table steady for him as he works. Their job completed, they turn it upright on its legs and smile excitedly. "We did it," she shouts, surprising them both by wrapping her arms around him and squealing.

Jack gasps and holds her tight against him, thrilled by this surprise. He squeezes her and presses his nose against her hair, breathing her in as deep as he can before the moment ends. She is at once out of his arms and taunting Daniel and Teal'c about having finished before they did. Daniel objects, claiming chests of drawers are more complicated than tables and then Sam escalates the feud by betting she and Jack can build all four dining chairs and the two end tables before the dresser is finished. Jack agrees because he's hoping for another victory hug and also because he loves taking the piss out of Daniel.

The motivational combination of winning against Teal'c and Daniel and potentially getting another bouncy Carter hug is powerful enough that Jack focuses on building the chairs and tables so quickly it's almost a joke when he flips the last chair over onto its padded feet and drops it on the ground in victory. "Finished." He hauls his long body up off the ground with a little help from Sam and glances over at their competition, still at work assembling the final drawer. Sam high fives him before giving him another hug, albeit a quick one.

"Winners buy dinner if it's going to be this showy," Daniel says.

Jack shrugs. "Fine. Carter? Wanna go pick up some pizzas and stuff?" He holds his arm out to her, for some reason.

She then for some reason accepts his arm by looping hers through his elbow. "Love to, Sir," she says, positively beaming. She reaches across to the mantle and grabs Jack's keys for him, happily dropping them into his hand. "Any requests, boys?"

Teal'c looks up at them with his regular passive expression. "Major Carter, the usual order will suffice, but perhaps with less victory banter upon your return."

Daniel mumbles something more profane in agreement.

"Tut, tut, lads. That kind of attitude isn't going to get us to stop for ice cream, too," Jack says, tugging on Sam to follow him out the door. In the hall, he turns on his heels almost immediately, licks the pad of his right thumb, and rubs it gently over the tip of her nose to rid her of that paint drop. "Can't have you out in public with that dreadful color on your face, Carter," he whispers.

Sam laughs quietly and nods. "Very thoughtful of you, Sir."

"It's part of my charm, Carter."