Celebrating VD

"I have it!" Vala announced triumphantly as she marched into Daniel's office, waving a piece of paper about like a flag. Daniel glanced up from his translation with a look of dazed stupefaction. He had been lost deep in a world of tangled syntax and wasn't quite up to dealing with untangling Vala's way of thinking.

"I have it!" she exclaimed again, "Undeniable proof that we are meant to be together!" And with that said, she tossed the sheet of paper in front of him, over his carefully constructed notes and very nearly sending his mug of coffee flying. He grabbed up the coffee in a defensive, almost unconscious gesture, noting distractedly that he had let it go cold, before turning a wary eye on whatever it was Vala had decided to inflict upon him now. It was a small piece of paper, a memo by the look of it. In bold lettering it stated 'VD Celebration, commissary, 14.00'

"See!" Vala exclaimed gleefully, once he had a chance to read it, "Everyone agrees! They're celebrating us!"

"Huh?" Daniel said, not following her or the memo. Vala sighed patiently.

"Like all those messages encrypted within the men's room that say SJ and TC," she explained, "We're VD! Vala Daniel! And they're celebrating us!"

"Where does it say SJ?" Daniel asked, blinking, and then, "Men's room?"

"Who wouldn't go into a room that advertises men?" she asked innocently, "Though I must say, it was a severe disappointment."

"Vala…" Daniel began, trailing off because he really didn't know what to say. He knew, emphatically, that the base was not celebrating him and Vala, but he was at a loss to explain the memo properly. One second he had been discovering an incredible new angle to a symbol that normally meant 'strength of a horse' and the next he was fending off Vala's exuberant advances. For a genius, he found himself quite often floundering when it came to deciphering her.

"Ok, ok, I knew what it was," she admitted, her mouth running on while Daniel was trying to catch up, "But the line to the woman's room was so long and I really had to go! And you military men are such babies, I mean, it's not like I've never seen…"

"Vala!" Daniel exclaimed, interrupting her at last. She closed her mouth, looking affronted and vaguely hurt and Daniel rubbed at his head knowing a headache was coming on.

"Ooh, want me to massage you?" Vala asked, making a galactic leap from pouting to exuberant in the space of a second, "Now that we're a couple and all."

"We are not a couple!" Daniel cried quickly, "This isn't a Vala Daniel celebration!"

"Then what is it?" Vala demanded, but Daniel drew a blank. Able to easily translate between nearly thirty languages, he was at a loss to recall any sort of celebration that might be taking place.

"It is Vala Daniel, you just are afraid to admit it!" Vala insisted, when Daniel couldn't answer. Suppressing a groan, Daniel set his coffee mug carefully on the desk as far from Vala as he could manage. At that moment, a knock announced someone in his doorway.

"Hey, Daniel, come on or we'll be late!"

"Jack?" Daniel asked, blinking in confusion, "Aren't you in Washington?" Jack looked back at him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

"Carter, Teal'c, and Mitchell are already there," he said by way of explanation, "Even Carter left her gizmos for today."

"Right," Daniel answered, looking between where Vala was bouncing with excitement and where Jack leaned in the doorway expectantly, "And why is that exactly?" Jack raised an eyebrow, glancing towards the calendar hanging on the wall. It featured hockey players in a brutal collision surrounding the word 'January'. With a sigh, he walked up to the calendar and tore off the page, leaving February in its place.

"Daniel," he called in an almost sing-song voice, "What day is it?"

"Um…Wednesday?" Daniel offered, not entirely certain of this.

"Here's a hint. February the…"

"Ooh, ooh I know this one!" Vala exclaimed, "It's the fourteenth!"

"Right," Jack answered, glancing towards her before turning all his attention back on the baffled cultural expert, "And what does that mean?" This time both Vala and Daniel gave him blank stares.

"For crying out loud!" Jack exclaimed, "Come on Daniel, it happens every year. The reason all the girls on base start going all googly-eyed. The reason your inbox is filled with little hearts!" Daniel glanced towards his inbox, and belatedly noting the basket placed next to it, filled to the brim with pink cards and boxes.

"Do you mean the Vala Daniel celebration?" Vala asked, and it was Jack's turn to look blank. Only now Daniel's eyes were widening with dawning comprehension.

"February fourteenth, VD. Valentine's Day!"

"So not Vala Daniel?" Vala asked, looking slightly put out when both Jack and Daniel exclaimed "No!" in tandem. Daniel grinned in relief, his elation clear at solving the mystery, until the meaning of the day finally hit him and he was filled with horror.

"You want us to go to this thing!" he exclaimed, waving Vala's memo about in agitation.

"Come on, it isn't that bad," Jack answered, while Vala watched with curiosity. With the patience and skill learned from years of dragging Daniel from his artifacts offworld, Jack pulled Daniel away from his desk. Daniel moved reluctantly towards the door with the appearance of a man being lead to his death.

"There will be women there," Daniel muttered, "Without dates. Women who want dates. It's a barbaric ritual sacrifice of bleeding hearts."

"Yeah yeah," Jack answered, "At least there'll be punch." Vala took Daniel's other arm as they finally left his office behind.

"So…" she said as they walked, "If VD really means this 'Valentine's Day', then what celebration does SJ stand for?"

"Erm," Jack answered intelligently, drowning out Daniel's response muttered under his breath.

"Happy Valentines Day, Danny. And Vala," Jack said at last and they went to join the rest of SG1. Vala grinned in response, still hanging onto Daniel's arm as she twisted around him bodily to respond to Jack.

"Happy VD!"