"Nice rock."
Sam Carter rolled her eyes and shifted large chunk of what appeared to be the alien equivalent to feltspar to her left hand, flexing the fingers of her right in an attempt to ease the ache in her joints from holding such a heavy object for so long. Her would have put it in the sample case, except for the fact that it was too large and steadfastly resisted Sam's attempts to break it into smaller pieces.
"It is, isn't it?" she said rhetorically to her CO, having nothing better to do than humour him. "I've decided to give him a name: Fred."
Jack O'Neill stared at her for a moment, like she'd just grown an extra head or at least started foaming at the mouth. "Fred?" he echoed.
Sam nodded, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Daniel was observing them with no small amount of amusement in his expression.
"Fred. After one of the great loves of my life, Frederick Newsham."
Jack looked uncomfortable, and was shifting his weight. He had an odd expression on his face that Sam tried not to laugh at. "Who was this... Frederick?" he asked, trying to sound extremely uninterested in the response.
Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "Jealous?"
Jack straightened self-consciously. "No, of course not. Just... curious."
Sam nodded and clutched the rock closer to her chest, eyes going misty in rememberence. "He was my first true love," she said, sappiness suffusing her voice. She saw Daniel fight not to smirk and turn his attention to Teal'c who was just looking politely confused. "I would have done anything for him, and he would have done anything for me."
She was stroking the rock like it was some sort of beloved pet. "The first time we kissed..." here she sighed and fell silent.
Jack was actually leaning forward so much that he was almost falling over. "Yes?" he prompted when the silence stretched beyond a few moments.
"It was so wonderful..." sighed Sam, sounding as if she were on drugs.
Jack shifted uncomfortably on the spot.
"He asked me to marry him..."
"Marry him?!" It was almost a squeak.
"I was so startled... I almost dropped my lollipop."
Jack frowned suddenly. "Lollipop?" Daniel actually made a noise that sounded like he was choking, but Jack ignored him. "Carter, how old were you?"
Sam turned an extremely innocent expression on him. "Six years old, sir."
Jack actually sagged physically, as if all the tension had suddenly escaped him. "Six?" he repeated weakly.
"Of course, sir." Sam blinked innocently. "Don't go telling me you're jealous of a little fling like that, are you?"
Jack cleared his throat. "No, of course not."
Sam grinned evilly and stepped close to him, deliberately invading his personal space. "Don't worry, Jack," she told him in a low voice so that Daniel couldn't hear. "I'd never let a rock," she held up Fred for emphasis. "Come between us."
-Fini
Story Notes: This started as a story for an entirely different series, but wound up as this. Serves me right for reading geology articles.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]