(no subject)

[diehard_daniel]

The hand that's not clutched in Eris' closes the door behind them as Daniel follows the goddess into his apartment. The place is empty except for his fish, and if they're surprised to see a beautiful blonde precede him into the living room, it's impossible to tell from their faces.

"Uh, this is my apartment...kitchen, living room, dining room of sorts...bathroom..." Daniel points out all the rooms as he speaks their name, then blushes faintly, pointing behind them. "And that would be my bedroom we just came out of, if it wasn't the bar instead."

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[diehard_daniel]

Daniel clings for a few more minutes, then straightens abruptly, wiping his eyes, looking embarassed. "I'm sorry...you must think I'm such a weakling..." He musters a smile, wide and utterly false. "I'm fine now."

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She looks at him wordlessly, her eyes very green, and passes him the glass of brandy.

"Don't lie to me, Daniel. You know I know."

The harps are still playing faintly in the background.

Maybe he'll think it's just the stereo.

[diehard_daniel]

Daniel draws in a breath and nods, accepting the glass. "Yes, I do. I'm sorry. It's a habit. Not a good one, I realize, but a habit nonetheless." He sips from the brandy, seeming not even to notice the music. "I'm not fine. I won't be fine until he's thawed out and annoying me again." He smiles wryly at her, shrugging. "It's a weird kind of friendship, but it works for us."

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

"Apology accepted." She leans over and kisses him lightly on the cheek, lacing her fingers through his at the same time.

"I don't think you're a weakling, either. And thank you for telling me the truth."

[diehard_daniel]

"Welcome." Daniel smiles, squeezing her hand...then yawns, somewhat rudely, in her face.

"...sorry."

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry, my Daniel. Sleep."

Maybe it's the brandy, or maybe it's the long day, but he's feeling tired, isn't he? She pulls the glass out of his hand, letting it sit on the table, and tugs lightly on his hand, leaning back on the couch and pulling his head to rest on her shoulder.

"I'm here, Daniel, rest."

[diehard_daniel]

He puts up a token protest, because time is moving again now that they're in his world and shouldn't he be helping Jack? But he is feeling tired, and oddly warm (partly from the brandy and partly from his proximity to Eris' breasts), so in the end it's easier for him to lean into her, allowing himself to be lulled to sleep by a woman's embrace for the first time in quite a while.

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She smiles when, not long after, he's fallen asleep against her shoulder, as she thought he might; and it's the work of but a moment to arrange things so that she can carry him to bed.

It's a rather amusing picture, really, as he's got a good eight or nine inches height on her... but that doesn't bother her.

She tucks him into bed, smoothing back his hair and pressing a kiss to his forehead, and watches him for a moment as he settles more deeply into sleep. She smiles.

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

And then she leaves his bedroom and goes back to studying his bookshelves and the contents therein. She grins at the unfamiliar titles and starts to read.

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

At some point in the small hours of the morning, Eris gets an idea. He's still asleep, she sees, but...

She doesn't waste time on her quick trip to San Francisco to have a few Words with Mal-2, even if he is calling himself Dexter Sinister these days. Not much more than an hour has passed before she returns to Daniel's apartment, a small thin black-bound book with the image of a golden apple on the cover.

She moves quietly over to his "dining room of sorts" - read "office" - and looks around on his desk before finding an open spot next to an old-fashioned typewriter. She tucks the book next to it, and then shrugs and adds a golden apple of a paperweight on top of it as well.






And then she goes back to the couch, grabbing a handbound book that appears to be an Abydonian language primer, and settles in to read until he wakes.

[diehard_daniel]

Daniel finally staggers out of bed several hours later, rubbing his eyes and making incomprehensible grunting sounds. As he is Daniel, he makes a beeline for the coffeepot. He doesn't quite notice that somebody's on his living room sofa, though that won't last.

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She looks up, watching him with a faint smile, but doesn't speak yet.

She closes the book, though, as she's finished it and three others like it.

[diehard_daniel]

It isn't until the smell of coffee starts to fill the room that Daniel really begins to wake up. When this happens, he remembers that Eris came home with him last night, and he spins around, looking frantic for a second. When he sees her he smiles, then looks embarassed. "Good morning. I'm sorry, I...ah...forgot you were with me."

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

Her smile widens.

"Good morning, Daniel. At least you remembered eventually. How did you sleep?"

[diehard_daniel]

Daniel's answering smile is decidely sheepish. "I don't do very well before I have coffee...I slept pretty well, actually, thanks for asking." He looks around, then back at her. "Did you...what did you do all night?"

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She chuckles quietly. "I'm glad you slept well. Mostly... mostly I read. And learned a new language."

[diehard_daniel]

Daniel looks interested by this; despite the early hour, scholastic achievement is always a source of fascination to him. "Really? Which language is that?"

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

"Abydonian... from the handbound books? It's a beautiful language. It's been a long time since I've had one to learn."

She stands up, slowly, stretching a little, and gathers the books up.

"I hope you don't mind my going through your library like that."

[diehard_daniel]

Daniel freezes up a little at the mention of Abydonian. "Yes...it was a beautiful language."

She's a goddess, she should notice the tense change.

"Of course I don't mind. It's fine." Daniel tries to smile at her, and manages a little. "Are you hungry? Do you eat at all?"

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She walks over to him slowly, setting the books carefully on the kitchen table. "Are you offering to cook? Because you probably do a better job than I do, if you are."

She reaches over and takes his hand for a moment, squeezing it lightly and then dropping it.

"What happened to the people who spoke Abydonian, Daniel?"

[diehard_daniel]

"Yes, I can cook." Daniel grins at her. "I don't spread it around because my friends would be coming over asking for food all the time...but if you'd like something, I'd be happy to make you breakfast."

His grin turns into a sad smile at the question. "The entire planet was destroyed last year."

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She blinks, a little, processing the two very different bits of news. "I... don't think anyone's ever offered to cook me breakfast before, actually... heh."

She smiles up at him a little, shyly, then looks away again, glancing at the books.

"Was it those alien parasites you fight, the ones that pretend to be gods?"

[diehard_daniel]

"Then it's past time. Do you eat?" Daniel turns to the refrigerator, opening the door. "I have food without fur, for a change."

He doesn't look away from the refrigerator when he answers. "No. Well...sort of. It was one, but he wasn't...it's...uhm, complicated."

[to-the-fairest1.livejournal.com]

She grins, a little.

"Yes... I eat, Daniel. I can eat anything you can, and maybe a few things you can't, although I might not want to. Family characteristic, really. Most everything humans can do, and a few other things besides."

She sinks onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table, to watch him cook while probably not being completely in his way.

"I like complicated stories... tell me?"

[diehard_daniel]

"OK then."

Daniel starts getting things out, while trying to decide where exactly to tell this story. Eventually, he settles on, "I told you about the Stargate, right?"

From there he tells her about the Ancients, how they were wiped out by a plague and some of them learned to Ascend. He tells her about Shifu, his wife's son, and how Oma Desala took the boy in. Then, as the eggs are just starting to make that pleasant sizzly noise, he says, almost calmly, "Two years ago I died."