Fic: Chase the Morning {11/37}
Chapter Four: Date
Date: June 16, 5 A.I. [2005]
Location: Atlantis Base, Colorado
Clothes were strewn across their normally immaculate quarters, tossed aside after being rejected. She growled exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air.
‘I give up,’ Jess announced to the empty room. ‘I’ll never find something in time.’
Why don’t you let me try?
‘’Cause I know you. You’ll pick something that I’ll feel absolutely uncomfortable in.’
Trust me, Jess. I want this to go just as well as you do, remember?
Jess sighed. She was trying to get ready for her dinner date that night with Radek. The Tok’ra woman had been caught off guard when he had brought it up.
--
They were working on a secluded console in the Atrium when he had brought up the subject of dinner.
‘Jess?’ he had said as he worked on a laptop. Jess had been buried shoulder-deep in the console, testing out various crystals to see how they were holding up.
‘Yes?’ Jess replied, attaching a cable to the next crystal in the array.
‘What are your plans for tonight?’
‘I’m not sure. Why?’
‘I was just wondering if- Never mind.’ Radek trailed off and returned to his work. Jess paused and then extracted herself from the innards of the console.
‘What?’ she pressed, dusting herself off. ‘What were you going to say?’
‘It’s nothing.’ He focused once more on his laptop.
‘Radek…’ Jess got to her feet and gently closed the laptop’s lid. Radek sighed and looked up at her.
‘Would you and Anora like to have dinner with me tonight?’ he asked hesitantly, a somewhat hopeful look in his eyes.
Jess blinked, pleasantly surprised.
Say yes. Anora told her.
Hush, and I will. Jess shot back.
‘We would love to,’ she said finally, causing Radek to smile brightly.
Damn, he looks cute when he does that. Jess thought, and then blushed slightly when Anora agreed wholeheartedly with her. Luckily, any further embarrassment was curtailed when Rodney came bustling up, demanding to know if there had been any progress made. Radek opened his laptop and showed the Canadian the results so far, while Jess resumed her work within the console.
--
Why not just go with something simple? Anora suggested, taking control and picking up a button-down blouse Jess had discarded. A shirt and a nice skirt, perhaps? Or maybe-
She trailed off and dug around in the closet, pulling out an outfit that Jess had passed over. What about this? She asked, holding it up. This would work. As a matter of fact, this is what we will be wearing tonight, along with… these. Anora picked up a pair of shoes, and Jess let out a panicked yelp.
I can’t wear-
Ah! No complaining. We want to impress him, right? Anora asked, starting to get undressed.
Yes? Jess said tentatively.
Then we’re wearing this. Now, about our makeup…
Radek waited nervously on a balcony near the kitchens that had been set up with a table for two, his fingers tapping idly on the railing. He wasn’t nervous, merely… excited for the chance to have dinner with good friends. Radek snorted softly; who was he kidding, anyways? He was nervous as hell; there was no getting around that.
Resisting the urge to abandon the whole idea entirely, he smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in his plain black dress shirt, his nerves getting the better of him. Where were they? He had to admit, it was odd to think that he was essentially attempting to date two people at once, but he figured that it didn’t really matter in the long run. Quite a few Tok’ra-human relationships had worked out over the centuries, so there shouldn’t be much to worry about, logically. He checked his watch, and found it to be five to seven. He had said seven, right? Oh God, what if he was too early?
Before he could work himself into a further state of panic, the balcony door slid open and Jess walked out, a nervous smile on her face. Radek blinked in astonishment as the striking figure Jess cut, silhouetted against the multi-colored door. She wore a floaty dress that hit just below her knees; the skirt was a deep red with swirling black designs on it, and the bodice was a simple black halter-cut. High heels graced her feet, giving her an extra inch of height, and her hair was coiffed elegantly at the back of her head.
‘You look… beautiful.’ Radek breathed, unable to believe he was this lucky.
‘You look wonderful yourself,’ Jess replied, her smile widening. Her plain silver jewelry glimmered in the softly diffused light coming from inside, as well as in the candle light from the tapers on the table. A small bouquet of flowers in a slender vase sat in between the candles, throwing prisms of light onto the tablecloth.
‘Would you like to sit down?’ Radek asked, returning Jess’ smile and pulling out a chair for her. She sat, and he turned away for a moment, retrieving something from the shadows. Jess heard ice shifting and glass clinking as he fidgeted with whatever he had, which gave her a shrewd suspicion as to what it was.
Wine or champagne? Anora asked.
Probably wine, love. We haven’t had that in a long while, so be ready.
Her thoughts were confirmed when Radek returned to the table with two wine glasses and a bottle of nicely chilled white zinfandel.
‘Where did you get that?’ she asked, raising an amused eyebrow.
‘On our last trip to the mainland.’ Was his reply as he carefully uncorked the bottle and poured a half-glass for each of them. ‘I wasn’t sure if you drank red, so I picked white just in case.’
‘So that’s what you were doing in that shop.’ Jess said, laughing softly. She took a sip of her wine, enjoying the taste.
Radek nodded, taking a sip of his wine as well and then keying his radio. ‘Hetty, we’re ready.’ He said, and then signed off. A few minutes later, two of the cooking staff came out bearing two bowls of soup and some freshly baked bread. The two scientists thanked them and began eating.
By the time dinner was over and the last of the plates had been cleared, Jess was definitely ready for bed. It was a combination of the wine and good food, though mostly due to the wine, because even though Anora was negating most of the effects of the alcohol, there was still enough of a buzz to make Jess feel pleasantly drowsy. She yawned and blinked sleepily. Radek noticed and smiled slightly.
‘Shall we call it a night?’ he asked, setting his glass down.
‘Hmm?’ Jess shook her head, a lock of her hair managing to escape its confines.
God, it’s been a while since I’ve felt like this. She told Anora.
What, pleasantly full and happy? What about at lunch?
You know what I mean, ‘Nora.
‘Well, if you want to do something else, we can.’ Radek continued on.
‘Maybe. I don’t know. What did you have in mind?’ She yawned once more, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound and sight.
‘No, I think it would be best if you went to bed.’ Radek replied, getting up and pulling her to her feet. She swayed slightly and placed her hands against his chest to steady herself.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, intending to rest merely for a second while she regained her sense of balance. They stood like that for a moment, and then Radek gently tilted her head up and kissed her. Jess was pleasantly surprised and returned the kiss, one hand going to cradle the back of his head. They broke apart after a short length of time, a soft smile on Jess’ face. Radek seemed slightly apprehensive, as if afraid that Jess would start yelling at him, or worse, just walk away and never speak to him again.
You’d better put the poor man out of his misery, Jess. Anora said, sounding highly amused.
Good plan.
Radek looked relieved when Jess started kissing him again, though it was short lived when Rodney’s voice suddenly blossomed in Radek’s ear, causing him to jump and break away from what had seemed to be a very promising kiss indeed.
‘What, Rodney?’ he growled, annoyed at the interruption.
‘Get to the main atrium, right away.’ Rodney replied, his tone brisk.
‘Radek, what’s going on?’ Jess asked, having left her radio in her quarters.
‘Is that Connor I hear?’ Rodney asked, a vaguely interested note in his voice.
‘Yes,’ Radek said shortly. ‘What is so vital that you have to interrupt my date?’
‘A date? Well, the bet- No, forget that. I’ve got a laundry list of things that need to be done now, like-’
Jess took Radek’s radio gently from his ear and then put it on, speaking to override Rodney’s voice.
‘Rodney.’ She said, and when that didn’t work, shifted control over to Anora, who snapped, ‘Doctor McKay! Please be quiet.’
It worked; Rodney fell silent, since Anora wasn’t known for using sharp words or tones.
‘Thank you,’ Jess said after a beat. ‘Now, is it vitally important that Radek come right away?’
‘Well-’
‘Is the city going to blow up?’
‘What?’ Rodney seemed startled.
‘Is the city going to blow up?’ Jess repeated dryly, making sure to enunciate her words very clearly. ‘Or something of that imminent death and/or destructive nature?’
There was a pause, and then a slightly sheepish ‘No.’ from Rodney.
‘Then please, unless it is a dire emergency, leave us be for the time being.’ Jess requested, and, with a grumble or two, Rodney agreed, signing off. Jess smiled and handed Radek back his radio.
‘That was fantastic.’ He told her, slipping the radio back onto his ear.
Jess smirked. ‘Hmm. Now, what was it we were doing before we were interrupted? Ah, now I remember…’
Radek laughed and pulled her close, the artificially cool night air making the candle flames dance and flicker.