First Date by Mandarax

Rating - T

Disclaimer – same old.

Summary – Daniel is the biggest gossip around.

Author's note – This came out when my Muse stopped agreeing to write another story I'm working on. Thanks to SamFan9 for giving me a push in this direction.

**

"Oh, for crying out loud, Daniel. What are you, 16?"

Daniel smiled at his friend's outburst and propped his legs on the deck railings, sipping a beer slowly.

Jack stood a few feet away from him, trying to light the grill evenly. It was early Saturday afternoon; the team was meeting at Jack's for a barbeque. Daniel showed up early, supposedly to help him set up for everyone. Jack didn't buy the act for a second.

"Where'd you take her?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm not doing this… sharing thing."

Daniel didn't care. "Did you take her to a nice place? Not O'Mally's?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Of course not." He pushed and prodded at the grill.

"That's a good start," Daniel took another swig of his beer. "What did you wear?"

Jack snorted. "Seriously, Daniel. I don't know what I'm wearing right now, you want me to think about what I wore last night?"

Daniel had to agree Jack had a point there. "What was she wearing?"

"A black skirt and a black shirt and a blue necklace thing."

Daniel chuckled as he tipped the bottle to his lips again. "So what did you eat?"

Jack sighed, resigned to his fate. "Chinese."

"That nice place up on Main Street? Because I've been dying to try it out."

Jack grunted.

Daniel glanced at him over his shoulder. "You shaved."

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "I always shave. It's an Air Force thing."

"But you shaved extra close for last night."

Jack stared at him, waving his arms in front of him, his beer nearly tipping over. "What?"

Daniel sighed. "Who drove?"

"She did."

"How liberal of you!" Daniel muttered. "Did you open doors for her?"

"Yes, Daniel." Jack rolled his eyes again.

"Okay, so what did you talk about?"

"Daniel!" Jack gave him a warning look.

"A little bit about work," Daniel suggested. "A little about your DC stint."

Jack made a noise deep in his throat. Daniel took that as a yes.

"A little bit about Cameron and Teal'c and me. A little bit of nostalgia, old missions, General Hammond… About the President… About your apartment in DC and how it lacks that homey feel."

Jack kept prodding at the grill.

"And you talked about how weird this must be… And what you two expect of this relationship. And you talked about her family and about yours. And you talked about why you both joined the Air Force."

"Hmph" was the only response he got.

Daniel grinned into his beer, staring into the wild of Jack's back yard.

"Did you see a movie?"

"Yeah."

"Anything good in theatres these days?"

Jack gave him a pointed look. As if the movie was what mattered.

Daniel shook his head. "Did you at least kiss her?"

"Yes, Daniel. I kissed her." Jack sipped his beer. "Are we done yet?"

Daniel shook his head. "Are you going to see her again?"

"She's going to be here in an hour. You know, barbeque and all."

Daniel aimed the beer bottle at his friend. "That's not what I meant."

Jack stared at him for a moment, eyeing the bottle. Finally, he sighed. "Yes, Daniel, of course I am."

Smiling, Daniel pulled the beer back to his lips. "Now we're done."

Jack turned to the grill.

Someone flushed a toilet inside the house.

Daniel's smile faltered. "She came here?"

"Yes."

"And you had Chinese?"

"Ordered in."

"From that little place on Main?"

"No, they wouldn't deliver at three in the morning."

"And you talked."

"Yes."

"About us, and work, and DC, and family and nostalgia, and old missions, and your feelings and the future of this relationship."

"There was talking."

"You opened doors?"

"The front door."

"And the movie?"

"The first 10 minutes of Gladiator on DVD. It's still in the player."

"You kissed?"

"And then some."

"Are you going to see her again?"

"Sam's in my shower, Daniel."

"You never made it out of the house, did you."

"No. No we did not."

Daniel sighed. Jack grinned.