fan fiction: finding home chapter 9
Chapter Nine-Who Needs a Bookshelf Anyway?
The shelf was definitely not going up tonight.
They settled on the couch with their pie and coffee, and Daniel said, “So tell me about New York. I don’t have great memories of it, but I bet it was your kind of place, huh?”
“I loved it. A whole city full of interesting people and fun things to do. I never, ever got bored.” She hesitated, then said, “I’d love to take you--the whole team really--and show you the sights.”
“I’ve seen most of the sights, but yeah--I’d like to see them with you.” His eyes met hers, something soft and enigmatic in his expression. Vala felt the air almost crackle between them and swallowed hard.
Maybe they did need to put that shelf up. Because she needed a diversion, and fast.
But before Vala could even mention the tools and instructions waiting for them in the corner, Daniel was talking again, asking her about her favorite New York haunts, prodding her to share the details of the more than four years she’d spent in the city.
And for whatever crazy reason--she answered him. She talked about bars and nightclubs, about huge department stores and funky little shops, about fancy restaurants and fun cafes. She even admitted to visiting museums and filled him in on exhibits she loved. He was delighted. “We’ll definitely see those when we go.” When, he said. Not if.
What in the worlds was happening between them tonight?
More importantly, what did she want to do about it?
###
Daniel listened with pleasure to the lilt of Vala’s voice. It had worked. She was talking...really talking. Sure, it was about New York, but it was a start.
A start had been exactly what he was hoping for.
Really, he wanted a fresh start--a chance to try again. To do it right this time. He didn’t know if Vala was ready for that, but she was here and she was talking. For now, that was enough. They could figure out the rest later.
“Would you like more coffee?” Vala asked.
“Sure,” he replied. “But stay put; I’ll get it.” He headed toward her kitchen. The coffee supplies were still out, and he eyed the bottle of good whisky Mitchell had brought, also sitting on the counter. Tempting to add a splash to their cups, see if that loosened Vala up a little more. But no, that would backfire. Alcohol didn’t really affect her much anyway, and he’d probably fall asleep. He carried two cups of undoctored coffee back to the living room.
To his disappointment, Vala was rummaging through the toolbox. Maybe he should’ve refused the coffee or at least have let her get it.
But it was possible she’d just reached her limit of personal sharing and needed a bit of break. Knowing how often he’d pushed too hard in the past and wanting to do better now, he knelt next to her. “So what’s our first step?”
Without looking up from the tools, she handed him the instructions. “Find the piece that looks like that picture.”
They worked in silence for a few minutes then suddenly Vala said, “So tell me about Lauren. Muscles and Cameron didn’t seem to know much about her.”
Daniel stared at her in surprise, his eyebrows raised. “Uh, well, okay. She’s a linguist. Not on any off-world teams, so they really wouldn’t have reason to interact with her much, I guess. I haven’t worked with her a whole lot either; we specialize in different areas. But when SG-8 brought back part of a legal code from P5X-218, we were assigned to work together to translate it.” He hesitated then plowed ahead. “I’m sorry for bringing her to the restaurant that night then not even having the courtesy to introduce her. Mitchell and Teal’c both got on my case about that.”
“I didn’t tell them to.”
“No, I know. But they were right. And I’m sorry.”
She gave a little shrug, still refusing to look at him. There was another stretch of silence before she spoke again. “So were you ‘two friends and coworkers out to dinner’ that night or...more?”
“Oh, um...more like two associates and coworkers out to dinner, really. I don’t know her all that well. But we’d been working right up until it was time for me to leave, and then it just...seemed like a good idea to bring her.” He thought of the words he’d inadvertently overheard Bryce say. “A buffer, I guess.”
“And that’s why she came tonight as well?”
He felt his face heating up. “Well, no, not exactly. She, uh, asked to come tonight.”
“I see.”
Daniel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I don’t think you do.”
“It isn’t that hard to figure out, darling. You are rather attractive, you know. She’s clearly after you.”
“She clearly isn’t. I’m not her type.”
Vala snorted. “Well, I think she decided to make an exception.”
“No. I mean I’m really not her type.” Daniel sheepishly met her gaze. “You are.”
“What?”
“She’s after you, Vala. Not me.” He mimicked her words. “You are rather attractive, you know.”
Daniel could almost see her brain trying to assimilate this new information…and failing. “She didn’t leave your side the whole evening!”
“Oh, she did. Whenever she saw an opportunity to get by yours. Which, granted, wasn’t as often as she’d have liked because of Bryce.” He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice when he spoke the name; he really did.
He didn’t think he was all that successful.
Thankfully Vala didn’t seem to notice. She was muttering to herself. “How odd. Usually I’m so much better at picking up on these things.”
Daniel took his biggest gamble of the evening. This could backfire so badly. But he had to try. “Maybe your perception was...clouded? By your own feelings?” He held his breath.
Shocked gray eyes flew to his. He could almost see her temptation to bolt. She was going to explode, tell him he was an ass, and kick him out. He braced himself.
And then her shoulders sagged a bit, and she looked away. “Perhaps.”
“It’s okay,” he told her softly. “Mine was too. For the same reason.”
That brought her back around. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, Vala. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how I feel about Bryce.”
“No. I can’t tell you that. You’ve been fairly obvious about it.”
“Haven’t you wondered why that is?”
She swallowed hard. “Because you thought he was after me?”
“After you? No. I thought he had you. Done deal. I thought you two were together.”
“Even when I left him to come back here?”
Well, when she put it like that… “Yes. Long distance relationships aren’t uncommon in the military. Look at Jack and Sam.”
“Mm.”
Silence descended again, heavy and awkward. But neither of them even pretended to work on the bookshelf; they just sat, staring at the floor.
Finally Vala spoke. “I don’t understand. You don’t want me with Bryce, but Lauren’s okay?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“You brought Lauren tonight because she asked to come. Because she’s ‘after’ me. And apparently you’re okay with that. Why?”
“Oh, that. Well, I didn’t figure it out right away. I mean, I already told you I don’t know her well. Until that night at dinner, we’d never talked about anything more than the translation work we were doing.” He shrugged. “When she asked to come along tonight, I didn’t think much of it. We got along well enough at the restaurant.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Then she dragged me shopping with her, wanting help picking out stuff you’d like.”
Vala stared at him for a long moment, then burst out laughing. “Oh, darling. She actually wanted your help to hit on me? The poor girl. I mean, you picked out fabulous stuff, don’t get me wrong, but other than that…”
“I know. I’m lousy at this sort of thing.”
“A bit, yeah.” But Vala was smiling, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Daniel felt himself smile in response.
He’d always thought a real Vala smile was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.
Unable to resist, he reached out to cup her face. She leaned into his touch, still smiling. And he was a goner.
There were a hundred reasons this was a bad a idea. And there were a hundred things they needed to talk over, straighten out. But Daniel found he just did not care at the moment, not with that look in her eyes and that soft smile on her face. He was capable of talking a problem to death anyway; he’d done so many times over the years. Maybe that wasn’t what they needed right now.
So running a thumb along her cheekbone, he leaned forward. She inhaled sharply but met him halfway, wrapping an arm around his neck as their lips came together. The kiss was tentative at first, but heat quickly sprang between them. Vala made that noise he loved in the back of her throat as he deepened the kiss.
And then Vala took control, pulling him closer as she tangled her tongue with his. He ran his hands down her back and then lower, massaging her ass as he pulled her closer still. She growled again, and it went straight to his groin-a fact not unnoticed by Vala. She ground herself into him.
He left her lips to trail hot kisses down her throat then blaze a path along her collarbone. He felt her hands moving under his shirt and groaned with pleasure as her palm rubbed across his chest.
And then her mouth was attacking his again. And she was pushing him backward to the floor. Daniel had a brief thought that perhaps the couch or her bed would be more comfortable, but then Vala’s hand found its way inside his pants, and he decided it really didn’t matter much.
Chapter 10 is here.