Day Three: Is It Really Caroling If You Have to Do It?

"What are you doing, Jackson?" Cam asked when he found Daniel staring at his computer screen instead of at a dusty old book or artifact.

"Trying to research how to give yourself laryngitis," he replied as if that were a normal thing to say. He sighed when Cam opened and closed his mouth three times. "Didn't they ask you yet?"

He raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the lab table. "Didn't who ask me what?"

Daniel shook his head. "SG-13. Did Dixon ask you to be part of a Christmas carol fundraiser thing his wife is organizing?"

Cam shook his head. "Not, like, going caroling or something?"

"Exactly like that."

"You sound so… horrified," he chuckled. "I"ve never heard you sound so afraid of anything as you do about singing Christmas songs."

"I am horrified by the idea," Daniel protested, not even a little bit willing to pretend to be anything different. "He's got Vala bothering me about it too and it's just not fair. Ooh, you kind of outrank him, don't you? Can you order him to leave me alone?"

"I don't outrank him, not really."

He furrowed his brow over that. "Everybody acts like you do."

"Because I lead SG-1?" Cam replied with a shrug. "But he's been a colonel longer. And more importantly, I'm not giving anybody an order about Christmas carols. So just man up and either agree or don't."

"That's rude, especially coming from someone who whined for days about Secret Santa."

"I still manned up and did it. And no," he said, pulling open the drawer he knew held Daniel's secret stash of candy bars, "I'm not telling you who got you or what you're getting."

Daniel rolled his eyes. And then swore under his breath when Dixon turned up at his office door again. "Did you get a chance to think about it, Dr. Jackson? It'll be f…"

"It won't be fun, I won't miss out, and I'm not doing it," Daniel blurted out. "Random people sang at me when I was a kid once and I didn't like it. Call me the bastard lovechild of Scrooge and the Grinch but the answer is no. Sorry."

Crickets would've created a symphony if there'd been any in the room.

Dixon blinked. "Okay… I was going to say it'll be fine if you don't want to. Not that it'll be fun."

Daniel felt his cheeks flush. "Right. Sorry. I just…"

He waved off the explanation. "You said to check back and you'd let me know. We're good. I've got plenty of people." He nodded at Cam, saying he'd talk to him later, and left.

"I'm sorry," Cam said when they were alone again. "I was too harsh before. You gotta do what you gotta do for yourself, and do it your way. It's the only right way."

"Nothing to apologize for, you were right. Just saying no, perhaps I could have said it a little more… calmly, was a lot easier than giving myself laryngitis. Are you going to say yes?"

"Oh hell, no," he said with a shiver of distaste. "Besides, he said he has plenty of people."