The Games People Play Chapter 3--Devil's Due
Title: Devil's Due
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: AU "You're still a fruitcake..."
Rating: G
Length: Around 1200 words
Category: Fluff
Pairings/Charaters: Daniel/Vala
A/N: Part 3 of The Games People Play. The series follows current cannon to the end of 10x09, Company of Thieves. I'm not exactly sure how far after the Pigtails fic this one takes place. I know it's around Halloween. Which will be relevant in the next few installments. Heh. Written for fic101.
Devil's Due
"How do I look?" Vala's voice sounded from the doorway.
Daniel jerked his head up from the notes he was scribbling and turned toward the office door. She stood with her arms out to either side and spun around to display the new winter coat, hat, scarf, and mittens that Sam had taken her shopping for. He fought his smile for a second, then remembered that he didn't have to anymore, and grinned as she held up her foot to show off the boots.
"It's great," he told her.
Vala bounded inside with a grin of her own and slid onto his lap. Her arms coiled around his neck, and Daniel closed his eyes as their lips met. "Did you miss me?" she asked teasingly.
He responded with a noncommittal noise and gave a shrug, glancing back at his half-written notes. Vala scowled, raising a hand to snatch the notebook away, but he quickly caught it and guided her palm to his lips. "Yes," he nodded.
"Good. Now, darling. There are two brand new, gorgeous feet of pristine snow on the ground outside, and you are going to come out and play with me," Vala announced.
"What?" Daniel's eyes widened.
Vala gave him a determined glare. "Daniel, you have been working since yesterday. You promised that when I got back from shopping, we could go and do something fun."
"Yeah, but I didn't say anything about playing in the snow, Vala!" he protested. "We--we can go watch a movie in your quarters or something--"
"I'm tired of watching movies in my quarters," Vala said, hopping off his lap in annoyance.
"Okay…" Daniel blinked in surprise.
"The only time I'm ever not shut in down here is when we're offworld. And then there's always the disturbing tendency for our lives to be in jeopardy. Just once I'd like to do something a little less hazardous to my health."
"You just went out shopping with Sam," he pointed out.
"With you?" she rolled her eyes, planting her hands on her hips.
"All right," Daniel scrubbed his face with his hand. "What if--what if we go to a movie tonight?"
"Uh-uh," Vala shook her head, walking over to the closet. She reached inside to pull out his coat and then turned, holding it open. "Come on, put this on. "
Daniel hung his head. After a long sigh, he trooped over to the closet and took the coat. "Okay. But absolutely no snowball fights. Do you understand me?"
***
They drove to a nearby park, where Vala contented herself with building a snowman for the first hour. When the body and head were complete, she plucked Daniel's glasses off his face and fixed them on the snowman.
"Hey!" he protested.
"You can have them back later, darling," she promised smoothly. Then, she took a step back and frowned, examining the results critically. Daniel shook his head, squinting for a better look at it, and tried to restrain a laugh.
"Something's missing," she decided.
"What?" frowned Daniel.
"I don't…" Vala started, then spun suddenly toward him.
Daniel took a wary step back. "What now?"
She grinned impishly and reached out, snatching his scarf before he could raise his hand to stop her. He sighed heavily as she wrapped it around the snowman's neck, but finally decided that it wouldn't do any good to suggest that they use her scarf anyway.
"Stop being so stuffy, darling. We're supposed to be having fun." she told him.
"Whaddaya mean, stuffy?" he demanded.
"I mean stuffy, Daniel Jackson," she replied, bending to scoop up a double handful of snow and pack it into a circle between her hands.
His eyes bulged. "Vala--we had a deal--"
"Did we?" she asked as she stepped closer. She pulled her arm back threateningly and grinned.
"No snowball fights!" Daniel cried, diving out of the way. He landed face first in the powdery white snow, but grabbed a double handful and rolled quickly to his feet again. His shot went wide, and Vala shrieked with pretended outrage. She scooped up more ammunition, but by the time she was ready to throw, Daniel had hurled a second snowball. It smacked her square in the face, and she stood there stunned for a moment, then raced toward him.
He took off running, but she leapt at his back, bowling him over into the snow again. They wrestled around in it until both were soaked to the skin and numb. Then Vala scrambled to her feet and the real pelting began. Daniel found it only slightly less intense than their fight aboard the Prometheus, but with the entire park to encompass this conflict, by the time they were through chasing and ducking, climbing the jungle gym, and crawling though the snow, he was ready to drop. Vala gave him the perfect opportunity to do so, ending the battle by swinging down out of a tree and landing on top of him.
He tumbled backward and lay there for a moment, then slowly raised his hands to brush her hair back from her face. Her cheeks were bright red with cold, and damp from the snow. She grinned down at him, blue eyes shining playful excitement. She'd lost her mittens by then, and one finger came up to trace along his lips.
"Are we done?" she asked teasingly.
"You're still a fruitcake," Daniel replied with a breathless laugh.
She responded by lowering her head to meet his lips, and this time he didn't pull away. His arms tightened reflexively around her, and for a while, he was aware of nothing but the heat of her body and the fullness of her mouth on his. Then the wind picked up, and he felt her shiver. Reluctantly breaking the kiss, he smiled again.
"How 'bout we pick this up at my apartment?" he suggested.
"Only if you promise we can pick up right where we left off," Vala winked.
"Deal," Daniel agreed.
As they climbed out of the snow, he realized that the sky had taken on the deep red of sunset, and his eyes widened. "I didn't realize it was so late," he murmured as he slid an arm around Vala and drew her against him.
"Time flies when you're having a good time?" she asked.
"Fun," Daniel corrected lightly as they walked.
"What?" she frowned.
"Time flies when you're having fun," he said.
"Isn't that what I said?" Vala asked.
He closed his eyes, giving his head a fond shake, and didn't reply. When they reached the snowman, he paused to retrieve his scarf and glasses. The scarf was stiff in places and soaked in others, completely beyond being able to offer him protection from the cold. He stuffed it absently into a pocket and focused on cleaning the snow from his glasses. Vala wandered on ahead of him, but he was too preoccupied to notice where she was going until he reached the park entrance and looked up to realize that she had veered off and was watching a group of children who were gathered around one of the few remaining patches of unbroken snow.
Daniel smiled slightly and turned to join her, reaching the group just as the kids began to drop backwards into the powder. Vala frowned curiously, and he resisted the urge to grin at her puzzlement. Then the kids began to scissor their arms and legs, and she turned to him with wide eyes.
"What are they doing?" she whispered.
"Watch," Daniel said mysteriously,
A few of the group who'd remained standing helped the angel-makers up and Vala's face transformed with delight. Then, slowly, that innocence turned markedly devilish, and she grabbed Daniel's arm.
"Hey! What--no--!"
"Our turn!" she declared gleefully.
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: AU "You're still a fruitcake..."
Rating: G
Length: Around 1200 words
Category: Fluff
Pairings/Charaters: Daniel/Vala
A/N: Part 3 of The Games People Play. The series follows current cannon to the end of 10x09, Company of Thieves. I'm not exactly sure how far after the Pigtails fic this one takes place. I know it's around Halloween. Which will be relevant in the next few installments. Heh. Written for fic101.
Devil's Due
"How do I look?" Vala's voice sounded from the doorway.
Daniel jerked his head up from the notes he was scribbling and turned toward the office door. She stood with her arms out to either side and spun around to display the new winter coat, hat, scarf, and mittens that Sam had taken her shopping for. He fought his smile for a second, then remembered that he didn't have to anymore, and grinned as she held up her foot to show off the boots.
"It's great," he told her.
Vala bounded inside with a grin of her own and slid onto his lap. Her arms coiled around his neck, and Daniel closed his eyes as their lips met. "Did you miss me?" she asked teasingly.
He responded with a noncommittal noise and gave a shrug, glancing back at his half-written notes. Vala scowled, raising a hand to snatch the notebook away, but he quickly caught it and guided her palm to his lips. "Yes," he nodded.
"Good. Now, darling. There are two brand new, gorgeous feet of pristine snow on the ground outside, and you are going to come out and play with me," Vala announced.
"What?" Daniel's eyes widened.
Vala gave him a determined glare. "Daniel, you have been working since yesterday. You promised that when I got back from shopping, we could go and do something fun."
"Yeah, but I didn't say anything about playing in the snow, Vala!" he protested. "We--we can go watch a movie in your quarters or something--"
"I'm tired of watching movies in my quarters," Vala said, hopping off his lap in annoyance.
"Okay…" Daniel blinked in surprise.
"The only time I'm ever not shut in down here is when we're offworld. And then there's always the disturbing tendency for our lives to be in jeopardy. Just once I'd like to do something a little less hazardous to my health."
"You just went out shopping with Sam," he pointed out.
"With you?" she rolled her eyes, planting her hands on her hips.
"All right," Daniel scrubbed his face with his hand. "What if--what if we go to a movie tonight?"
"Uh-uh," Vala shook her head, walking over to the closet. She reached inside to pull out his coat and then turned, holding it open. "Come on, put this on. "
Daniel hung his head. After a long sigh, he trooped over to the closet and took the coat. "Okay. But absolutely no snowball fights. Do you understand me?"
***
They drove to a nearby park, where Vala contented herself with building a snowman for the first hour. When the body and head were complete, she plucked Daniel's glasses off his face and fixed them on the snowman.
"Hey!" he protested.
"You can have them back later, darling," she promised smoothly. Then, she took a step back and frowned, examining the results critically. Daniel shook his head, squinting for a better look at it, and tried to restrain a laugh.
"Something's missing," she decided.
"What?" frowned Daniel.
"I don't…" Vala started, then spun suddenly toward him.
Daniel took a wary step back. "What now?"
She grinned impishly and reached out, snatching his scarf before he could raise his hand to stop her. He sighed heavily as she wrapped it around the snowman's neck, but finally decided that it wouldn't do any good to suggest that they use her scarf anyway.
"Stop being so stuffy, darling. We're supposed to be having fun." she told him.
"Whaddaya mean, stuffy?" he demanded.
"I mean stuffy, Daniel Jackson," she replied, bending to scoop up a double handful of snow and pack it into a circle between her hands.
His eyes bulged. "Vala--we had a deal--"
"Did we?" she asked as she stepped closer. She pulled her arm back threateningly and grinned.
"No snowball fights!" Daniel cried, diving out of the way. He landed face first in the powdery white snow, but grabbed a double handful and rolled quickly to his feet again. His shot went wide, and Vala shrieked with pretended outrage. She scooped up more ammunition, but by the time she was ready to throw, Daniel had hurled a second snowball. It smacked her square in the face, and she stood there stunned for a moment, then raced toward him.
He took off running, but she leapt at his back, bowling him over into the snow again. They wrestled around in it until both were soaked to the skin and numb. Then Vala scrambled to her feet and the real pelting began. Daniel found it only slightly less intense than their fight aboard the Prometheus, but with the entire park to encompass this conflict, by the time they were through chasing and ducking, climbing the jungle gym, and crawling though the snow, he was ready to drop. Vala gave him the perfect opportunity to do so, ending the battle by swinging down out of a tree and landing on top of him.
He tumbled backward and lay there for a moment, then slowly raised his hands to brush her hair back from her face. Her cheeks were bright red with cold, and damp from the snow. She grinned down at him, blue eyes shining playful excitement. She'd lost her mittens by then, and one finger came up to trace along his lips.
"Are we done?" she asked teasingly.
"You're still a fruitcake," Daniel replied with a breathless laugh.
She responded by lowering her head to meet his lips, and this time he didn't pull away. His arms tightened reflexively around her, and for a while, he was aware of nothing but the heat of her body and the fullness of her mouth on his. Then the wind picked up, and he felt her shiver. Reluctantly breaking the kiss, he smiled again.
"How 'bout we pick this up at my apartment?" he suggested.
"Only if you promise we can pick up right where we left off," Vala winked.
"Deal," Daniel agreed.
As they climbed out of the snow, he realized that the sky had taken on the deep red of sunset, and his eyes widened. "I didn't realize it was so late," he murmured as he slid an arm around Vala and drew her against him.
"Time flies when you're having a good time?" she asked.
"Fun," Daniel corrected lightly as they walked.
"What?" she frowned.
"Time flies when you're having fun," he said.
"Isn't that what I said?" Vala asked.
He closed his eyes, giving his head a fond shake, and didn't reply. When they reached the snowman, he paused to retrieve his scarf and glasses. The scarf was stiff in places and soaked in others, completely beyond being able to offer him protection from the cold. He stuffed it absently into a pocket and focused on cleaning the snow from his glasses. Vala wandered on ahead of him, but he was too preoccupied to notice where she was going until he reached the park entrance and looked up to realize that she had veered off and was watching a group of children who were gathered around one of the few remaining patches of unbroken snow.
Daniel smiled slightly and turned to join her, reaching the group just as the kids began to drop backwards into the powder. Vala frowned curiously, and he resisted the urge to grin at her puzzlement. Then the kids began to scissor their arms and legs, and she turned to him with wide eyes.
"What are they doing?" she whispered.
"Watch," Daniel said mysteriously,
A few of the group who'd remained standing helped the angel-makers up and Vala's face transformed with delight. Then, slowly, that innocence turned markedly devilish, and she grabbed Daniel's arm.
"Hey! What--no--!"
"Our turn!" she declared gleefully.