[Daniel] Embracing the Quiet

[fikgirl]

Who: Daniel
When: Day 46, late morning (one week after the luau)
Where: Camp Crash, the cook fire
Invited: Everyone!
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[Chloe] Nightmares, pt. 2

[sinanju]

It was Clark, wearing the same near-uniform he always wore. Jeans, a red shirt and a blue jacket. He was as gorgeous as ever. Even after all the months on the island among all those other gorgeous men, Clark stood out. He was beautiful and sexy and perfect--and he looked at her like she was a ghost.

"Chloe? Is it really you? They said...." Clark swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on hers. "But it's been so long. We--I--had given up hope...." His voice failed him then, or maybe words failed him. All Chloe knew was that in an instant he'd snatched her off her feet and was hugging her close. Not with all his strength, god knows--but forcefully enough that she was left with no doubt about how badly he'd missed her.

Chloe returned the embrace with equal passion. She did use all of her strength. She shuddered with the sudden impulse to bawl, feeling like her heart would burst. They both babbled, long-buried emotions spilling out at last. It had taken months of grieving for Clark to accept the truth but now he knew he loved her the way she'd

[Daniel]

[fikgirl]

Daniel was halfway to a defensive position, the P-90 brought up to a ready position and his fingers on the safety before he registered that the scream was both localized and not related to any threat creeping in from the outer corners of the beach. His attention, like everyone else's, riveted to and centered on Chloe, the source of the fear filled shriek

[Chloe]

[sinanju]

Chloe reached up and clutched Daniel's hand, where it was stroking her hair. "No," she said, hoping she didn't sound as desperate as she felt. His touch was a comfort. "No, I don't want to be alone."

She rolled over to face Daniel, resting a hand on his knee. They didn't speak at first. Chloe just accepted the comfort of his presence. She didn't stop crying immediately, but the tears slowed and then stopped. Chloe sniffled a little, then sat up and turned 'round again to pull a handkerchief from the small bag at her side.

After drying her eyes and blowing her nose, Chloe looked at Daniel again. She felt a little embarrassed now by her behavior, and wasn't sure what to say. What she finally did was ask, "How'd you know it was a nightmare?"

Daniel smiled in faint amusement. " You sat up and screamed, then started crying. It wasn't a big leap." Chloe glanced away, feeling her face warm. It was a dumb question, wasn't it

[Daniel]

[fikgirl]

Experience was a bitch of a teacher. It never occurred to Daniel to question or challenge Chloe's assertion, and that alone told him just how spectacularly weird and unsettling his life was, both pre- and post-island. Chloe's island-assisted transformation was not a secret. She wasn't the same woman who first crashed on the island, not that any of them hadn't been changed by their experiences here. But Chloe had been attacked by the Wraith, left in an aged shell and then somehow, rejuvenated. Daniel's mind could jump to a million theories and suppositions, all of them possibly wrong, but every single one of them hinging on that haunting color of her eyes

[Chloe]

[sinanju]

Chloe smiled, though she suspected it wasn't a very convincing smile

[Daniel]

[fikgirl]

Daniel would have been worried if Chloe had shook off what upset her so throughly so easily, but he didn't comment. Chloe had enough on her mind, and he didn't need to point out the obvious to her.

"Hmm, tonight," Daniel frowned, pretending to seriously ponder her proposition. He scratched his temple thoughtfully and skimmed his free hand down her back playfully. "I think that I might be able to free some time up in my schedule." Then he grinned down at her, "I'd have to be a complete idiot to turn down that offer."

Another thought occurred to him and Daniel sobered a bit, "Chloe, you know I didn't come down here with any ulterior motives, right? This wasn't a ploy to get in your pants. Again."

[Chloe]

[sinanju]

Chloe grinned, and if it wasn't her usual sunny smile it was close. "Yeah, like I'd believe that. That is so your M.O. I mean--clearly turning Faith down again and again for weeks on end was just part of your cunning plan to seduce her."

"It's not like you could have just said yes. Or just not said no. Or just walked up to her and said 'gimme some lovin'," Chloe added.

The smile faded a little and Chloe rested her head on Daniel's shoulder again. "Seriously, I know that. I asked because I want to get into your pants. Again."

She placed one hand on Daniel's inner thigh. Her desire was mostly theoretical at the moment. "Or I will by tonight, anyhow, when I'm feeling better. So don't worry that I'm feeling pressured or obliged or...whatever. I want to do this."

Now she looked at him again. "So bring your A-Game, bunky."

[Daniel]

[fikgirl]

"Bring your A-Game, bunky?" Daniel echoed. "I must be so out of touch with the under thirty crowd. Do you really talk like that? I mean, I speak over thirty languages and I don't even think that I can translate that." A smile twinkled in his eyes and tugged at his lips the entire time he 'complained' to Chloe

[Chloe]

[sinanju]

"I'm going to miss being able to talk to anyone anywhere when the TARDIS isn't around any longer," Chloe said.

"But anyway," Chloe said, looking at Daniel with a mischevious smile, "let me translate my incomprehensible slang."

"When I say, 'Bring your A-Game,'" Chloe said, pressing a fingertip into Daniel's stomach and running it up his shirt to his chest, "I mean I want your best efforts. Make it worth my while to make it worth your while."

"Not," Chloe added, just to see him blush, "that I have any complaints, mind you. You've been amazing so far."

[Daniel]

[fikgirl]

Daniel chuckled, feeling his face warm which he suspected was Chloe's intention all along. He smoothed his hand and over the smooth skin of her leg and thigh, giving the latter a light pat. Ever cognizant of Chloe's current unbalanced, if recovering, state of mind, his hands and actions didn't stray beyond the unwritten boundaries between playful touching and outright seduction. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Miss Sullivan.

"Not that it's been so terribly hard when," his opposite hand rubbed idle circles on her back, "I have such good inspiration."

One good compliment deserved another, though Daniel doubted that his would make Chloe blush. Still he had to try.

[Chloe]

[sinanju]

Chloe's smile broadened until she giggled. "I can't believe you walked into that one," she said. "If Faith were here she'd have made a very obvious double entendre about how terribly hard things could be."

She looked at Daniel. "But I would never."

"Of course not," Daniel said drily. "Perish the thought."

Chloe laughed and unwrapped herself from Daniel. She leaned back, propping herself up on her outstretched arms, and tilted her face up to the sun. It shone brightly even through her closed eyelids.

"Thanks for coming over here," she said to Daniel. "It helped. A lot. But if I'm going to...entertain you properly tonight, I need to get back to my sun worship. I'll catch up to you after dinner tonight?"

[Daniel]

[fikgirl]

"Far be it from me to distract you from your sun worship," Daniel threw her a wink. He climbed to his feet, his eyes raking over Chloe's body. The censor bars hid all the more interesting parts, but he had a damn good memory. He grinned in open appreciation, "I'll see you later, then."

Daniel turned and headed back toward the cookfire, only once or twice glancing back over his shoulder at Chloe.