has_2ls | Valentine's Day

Entry tags:

sam,
tabula rasa

Valentine's Day

For the most part, it looks like a regular day. There's a couple people who seem to be talking in rhyme but, hey, that's not so bad considering Carter had acted like it might be the end of the world. Luckily for everyone involved, the Zimmermans seem to be nice and normal too so the kids are staying with them for a few hours while he and Carter have some time...alone.

He's decided to wear his dress blues since it's a date and they're the nicest thing he has but once he actually turns up on Carter's doorstep, he honestly thinks he's maybe overdressed. It's a freaking tropical island, after all, and this is just...two friends hanging out on a commercial holiday. Or something.

Still, as nervous as he is he still wants to spend some time with her so he knocks lightly at the door and tries to look like he's not fidgeting while he waits for her to answer.

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Sam can't decide whether to dress up or not. It's just Valentine's Day and it's a holiday that's always irritated her. But Jack's making the effort and she feels like she can't not make an effort in return, especially since neither one of them seem to have been affected by whatever's going around (and even then, it seems to be mostly harmless).

So the clothes box gives her a black dress and she takes it, even though it's a little lower-cut than she normally likes, and adds some strappy black heels and pins her hair back with a sparkly clip that reminds her a little of Vala. Even though she's dressed up, it's a little surprising when Jack turns up on her doorstep in his dress uniform. "Hi," she says, shifting awkwardly in her heels. It's been a while since she's worn them.

"You look...fantastic."

Jack is trying his damndest not to look at her cleavage because it's rude and he doesn't have a right to do that anyway but it's really hard. He decides that he'll only try to look if Carter's not paying attention and apologize profusely if he gets caught.

"So uh, I didn't really plan anything too fancy. I just thought we might hang out without the kids around?"

"Okay," she says. "I'm okay with not-fancy. Really." Maybe it will make her less nervous about this date and the day in general. "Did you want to go somewhere, or...?"

"Well, about that...I got a little gunshy when you said that Valentine's day was weird so I didn't want to plan anything...outside of the hut? So I was thinking we could just hang out. But then I dressed up, which implies we're going somewhere, so I feel kind of like an idiot."

He gives her his best smile. "Is that okay?"

She's a little irritated that she got all dressed up with nowhere to go, but she also can't resist Jack's smile, either. "Come on in, then," she says, stepping back. "I have beer in the fridge. Island-brewed stuff, of course, but it's not bad."

"Beer is beer," Jack agrees. "Look, Carter. You look amazing. If I end up putting my foot in my mouth before the night's out, I want you to know that, okay? You look...better than I could ever have imagined it was possible."

Sam never knows how to take a compliment from him anyway, especially about her looks, and even though she actually did go to some effort it still flusters her to hear him say it. Heat creeps up her neck and cheeks and she turns to the fridge. Maybe she can crawl in it and kill the blush. "I was lucky," she says, and gets a beer for each of them. "The box gave me a nice dress."

"Oh definitely. It uh, shows off your assets nicely," Jack says, hoping that's a compliment and doesn't just make him sound like an asshole. That's the last possible thing he wants where Carter's concerned.

"Jack," Sam says, and nearly drops her beer, she's so flustered. She doesn't know whether he's being like that on purpose or if it's because he's as nervous as she is and she hopes it's the latter, not because she wants him to be nervous, but because it's the better of the two options.

Jack holds up his hands and starts backtracking, hoping he can give the apologies fast enough.

"Okay, I'm sorry, that was way out of line," he says, stumbling over the words. It's true, sure, but there's no place in the world where it's okay that he said something like that.

"Don't apologize," Sam says quickly. "Seriously. Oh. Wow. This is awkward." Not that her saying that it's awkward helps at all, because it just makes it more awkward, but it's like she's lost all ability to have a normal conversation with Jack because she's afraid of screwing it up. Maybe she should just drink this beer and not talk so much.

Carter seems as nervous as he is and Jack finally takes a deep breath and tries to stop overthinking this and just be. He loves her, she loves him and they have a chance to make this work without any pressure.

"C'mere?" he asks softly, motioning her close. This, maybe, they can do.

Okay. This is something she thinks she can do without being stupid, and when he puts his arms around her all the weird and awkward starts to melt away a little. "I'm sorry," she says. "That everything's so..." It's less so, like this, but still.

"Shh. Just as much my fault," Jack promises her. "I don't want to screw this up with you, Carter. I love you so damn much."

More than he ever thought possible.

She sighs against his shoulder and then straightens, looking at him, even though it's easier when they're not making eye contact. Easier for her, at least. "It's nobody's fault," she says. "There are no rules for this."

He looks good in his uniform, really good. Sam thinks maybe that's part of her jitters; she's over the military-forbids-it part of their relationship, and got over that some time ago, but it's still a little reminder.

Carter's only a little shorter than him but it's enough that Jack can cup her chin and tip her face up to his before leaning in to kiss her. Her skin is so soft. This is only the second time he's done this (he's not counting the time loops) and it still sets his stomach to doing dizzy loop-de-loops; Jack isn't sure he'll ever get used to kissing Carter.

Okay, this works. This always seems to work, and Sam forgets to be awkward or weird while she's kissing him. Kissing always works better than talking between them. She presses her hands against his chest and her fingers curl into the lapels of his jacket and right then, nothing else matters.

When Jack feels her ease into the kiss, he relaxes and pulls her closer so he can deepen it. Her mouth is so soft against his and kissing Carter is everything he's ever dreamed of - and then some.

Dreams just can't compare to the reality of having something he's wanted as long as he's wanted her.

For the next few minutes, Sam just stops thinking. It's not really a conscious decision; it's more like a little switch flicks off when Jack holds her closer and she's so wrapped up in the business of kissing him that she forgets that it's a day she ought to be wary of, forgets that she dressed up to not actually go anywhere, and just loses herself in Jack. Her hands slide under his jacket and his heartbeat thuds against her palm.

Edited 2013-02-13 00:40 (UTC)

Jack knows that he needs to be careful. While he and Carter have always had too much at stake to be careless with one another, there's the kids to consider now even if the stumbling block of their careers is out of the way.

Still, being careful can't shy him away when he wants this much and when he feels her hands slide under his jacket, Jack slides one of his down where it's cupping her face to palm her breast instead. It's a risk, sure, but he doesn't think it's too far out of line.

Only Carter knows for sure.

It's a surprise, in a way, because she's been nursing a baby for so long that there are parts of her that haven't felt at all sexual in seems like forever--but it's not an unwelcome one, at all, and right now it's definitely not the baby she's thinking about. She makes a desperate little sound and nudges him back till he's against the table and she's pressed against him and there's not much inhibition to any of it because she's not thinking. She wants her husband back, she wants all the little intimacies that come from knowing someone that well and at the moment it's almost like she has that again.

Jack actually hadn't expected her to take to it that well and he's a little thrown off guard. Maybe he's been a little too careful with Carter over the past two months and he could have pushed this before now but he'd rather just err on the side of caution.

For right now, he isn't thinking about much of anything and he slides his mouth from hers down her jaw and neck, kissing and nipping at all the skin he's only been able to steal glances at and not touch before now.

Sam tugs at his tie, loosening it, and her fingers curl between the buttons of his shirt. It's been a year since Jack, her Jack, disappeared, and it's been so long since she's had this that it's intoxicating and she feels like she needs to hold on for dear life. Which is crazy, but there it is. This Jack doesn't quite know all the ways to push her buttons yet, but he's figuring them out very quickly. Very quickly.

The dress Carter's wearing is low cut and Jack brushes his thumb against her skin where it's bare, drawing his fingers down between her cleavage even as he kisses up along her neck and scrapes his teeth lightly just beneath her ear. It's been a long time since he's just kissed someone like this and damn, it feels good.

"Jack," she murmurs on an exhale, and it's a little shaky because his touch is bringing out a whole-body shiver that she can't entirely suppress because it feels good and it feels good to want it. This is territory she hasn't felt comfortable with before now, and at the moment it's not so much comfort as it is trust. She has to trust that they'll figure out where they do or don't need to go when they get there and for the moment she can just let herself enjoy being with him.

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