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Fic: Softly

  • Apr. 11th, 2007 at 12:30 PM
pepper: Pepperpot (Schmoop)
Title: Softly
Wordcount: 635
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Spoilers: None
Category: Sam/Jack
Rating/Warning: Thank god [profile] schmoop_ageis a prerequisite...
Prompt: Fishing leaves out of a lover's hair.
A/N: For anyone more expert than me on arboriculture, I should confess: I have no idea what trees these are. They grow in my head. And look, I did an icon, too!
 
---
 
The leaves were tiny, about the size of a fingertip - silvery on the top, dark green underneath, and perfectly symmetrical, so that when they fell they spun rapidly in the air, the pale side catching the light in flashes of brilliance. It was impossible to focus on the path of just one leaf. From the ground, gazing up, it looked as though the sky was a constant, restless mass of shimmering green sparks.
 
Perhaps this hadn't been the best place to stop. Jack had a suspicion they were getting covered. But at the moment he was perfectly happy to sit idly fishing the leaves out of Sam's hair, one by one – fruitlessly, because no sooner had he snagged one then another would land.
 
"We could move if you want," she said drowsily, making no effort to get up. Her head was heavy against his chest.
 
"Nah. I'm good." And he really meant that. He could happily sit here, his back against the rough bark of the tree and her warm in his arms, for all eternity. Or at least until his ass went numb and his legs dropped off.
 
She hmm'd in reply, too relaxed to talk.
 
He picked a tiny leaf from her hair and trailed it along her forehead, making her screw her face up and swat vaguely at him. Then he rolled it between finger and thumb, the resilient bit of greenery curling into a loose cylinder. A tuft of her currently-quite-short hair was sticking up, so he carefully threaded the leaf onto it, and leaned his head back to admire the effect. He was admittedly no color expert, but the green looked pretty against the pale gold of her hair. He picked out another leaf, and threaded it onto the same hair, like beads on a necklace. And then another, and another. The leaves were very light, so he was able to make quite a stack before the hair bent and scattered curled leaves over her ear and onto her shoulder.
 
"What're you doing?" she asked – and it said a lot for how lazy she was feeling that she didn't make any attempt to move away or check for herself.
 
"Nothin'," he said, casually brushing them away. They both fell silent, as a gust of wind made the glittering leaves spin and dance in the air, and skitter through the grass with a whispering noise. He stroked a hand through her hair, making her sigh comfortably, and leaving more of her hair sticking upright, ruffled. Another leaf alighted.
 
"We should probably go back soon," she murmured. He was pleased by the evident reluctance in her voice, and the fact that – despite her strong sense of duty - she still made no move to get up.
 
"Yeah," he said, non-committally. He picked up the leaf and rolled it, threading it into her hair. Then he picked up another leaf, and threaded it onto a different piece of hair.
 
Hmmm...
 
Her breathing slowed and deepened as, slowly and delicately, he threaded leaf after leaf into her hair, until she had a carpet of leaf-beads across her head, and she seemed to have fallen asleep on him. He grinned at his handiwork, wondering how long it would take her to notice, and how exactly she would punish him. He gathered her closer - gently so as not to wake her - and brushed his lips against the tips of her hair.
 
"Sam," he breathed into the warm shadows, his voice no louder than the leaves. She stirred and mumbled something unintelligible. She'd definitely dozed off, and didn't appear to intend to wake up any time soon. Well, he didn't mind.
 
He leaned his head back against the tree to watch the dance of the leaves, and held her all through the golden afternoon.
 
---
 
END.
 
 

Comments

[identity profile] katcorvi.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 11:40 am (UTC)
Oh, how lovely! What excellent schmoop and a nice thing to read before I head off for work.
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 11:48 am (UTC)
Aw, thank you! *g*
[identity profile] crazedturkey.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 12:54 pm (UTC)
Oh how darling. They're so cute..

You do the schmoop so well Pepper!
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 01:26 pm (UTC)
<--- The icon says it all. Schmoop, schmoop, schmoop (what an incredibly un-typeable word). Love the schmoop.
[identity profile] aoife-hime.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 01:28 pm (UTC)
That is exactly the kind of story I need to start off every day! Thank you, it was absolutely sweet and lovely. Love the schmoop!!!
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 01:38 pm (UTC)
Awwww, thank you! I couldn't resist the schmoop challenge. *g*
[identity profile] ayiana2.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 02:33 pm (UTC)
"Nah. I'm good." And he really meant that. He could happily sit here, his back against the rough bark of the tree and her warm in his arms, for all eternity. Or at least until his ass went numb and his legs dropped off.

Which, yeah...big happy schmoopy sigh from me, because I can so see Jack feeling exactly this way about the whole thing.

Lovely.
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 02:42 pm (UTC)
Ah, he finds pleasure in the simple things, methinks. :) Thank you! Glad you liked.

(Did Jack say to someone, once, in a somewhat threatening tone, "I'm a simple man."? I vaguely remember... What was that from?)
[identity profile] ayiana2.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 02:48 pm (UTC)
Well...he did say "Carter, I'm not that complicated." in Grace. Is that what you're thinking of?

And as for simple things...beer, yo-yos, and burned meat. Yeah. I'd think that qualifies. ;-)
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 02:55 pm (UTC)
"I'm a simple man. Explain it to me."

I swear he said that, at some point. I can't think in what context. It might have been to Kinsey, or someone of that ilk... That's going to bug me, dammit.

Going to google it...
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 02:57 pm (UTC)
Aha. 'Desperate Measures'. Talking to Simmons about what the NID does.

Whatever did I do before the interweb? I had to rely on memory, shock horror.
[identity profile] ayiana2.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 03:28 pm (UTC)
Ahh... thanks. My brain wasn't happy with not knowing. :-)
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 03:30 pm (UTC)
My brain is a random quote generator at times. It was a complete nightmare before they invented Google.
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Default)
[identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 03:09 pm (UTC)
So schmoop-y! *Squees in delight*

And the colors are so pretty--the gold and green. Yum! (I know I've seen these leaves before...but I'm no expert, either).

And what a great idea--indulging our schmoopiness without fear of anyone mocking us--Look! it was a prerequisite!
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 03:25 pm (UTC)
I saw trees sort of like that when I went to Greece... *counts*... thirteen years ago now - leaves that were dark green underneath and silver on top, but bigger than in my story. When the wind blew it looked like the tree was glittering in the sun. Utterly lovely, but I never asked what they were. They stuck in my imagination.

And, glad you liked! Yeah, the schmoopage thing was a fantastic idea - I leapt at the chance to embrace my inner schmoopiness (which is cleverly hidden under an outer layer of... schmoopiness). *g*
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Default)
[identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 07:07 pm (UTC)
I know exactly what you mean about cleverly disguising your schmoopiness--I felt exactly the same way. I didn't know about schmoop_age until it started popping up on people's journals, and then I was like, "An opportunity to write...fluff?" Then I looked at my fics, and then I kinda shrugged.

I have one for it, though. Theoretically.

:-D
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 12th, 2007 09:43 am (UTC)
You know, I honestly thought you'd done a schmoop_age fic - then I went and checked your recent fics, and realised that I'd been reading extra, bonus fluff! There's more to come? Yay!
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Default)
[identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 12th, 2007 02:56 pm (UTC)
In my world, there's always more fluff to come. I really don't understand how this happened--when I first started writing fanfic, I wrote angsty, teenage fic-poems.

Yeah, we're all glad I moved on from there.
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 12th, 2007 03:05 pm (UTC)
*g* We all start thereabouts, I think.

More fluff! *claps hands delightedly*

Funnily enough, yesterday I was re-reading a thing I wrote a while back - someone interviewed me about my X-Men fic (!), and asked which I found easier, fluff or angst. I said "Angst, definitely."

Really surprised me that I'd written that. It so totally wouldn't be my answer now. And that was only, oh, about a year ago. Funny. I don't know how or when that changed.
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Default)
[identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 13th, 2007 01:20 am (UTC)
I know! Where does the angst go?

...

Actually, I finally tracked mine down. It seems I acquired a pack of the Fluffly Love Tribbles of Doom, and they ate my angst.

But I like them and want to keep them.
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 13th, 2007 08:53 am (UTC)
But I like them and want to keep them.

That's the trouble with Fluffy Love Tribbles of Doom. They're like Replicators - in that, first, they attack the part of your brain that might get rid of them quickly, and then they settle in to thoroughly take over your world.

*g*
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Default)
[identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 14th, 2007 11:49 pm (UTC)
Considering the kind of fic written about Replicators and the Mind-probing stuff...I'm not sure I want to equate Fluffly Love Tribbles of Doom with them.

;-)

It would explain a lot, though.
[identity profile] sulien77.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 04:36 pm (UTC)
Such lovely imagery. The description of the leaves reminded me somewhat of the leaves of Telperion, and I loved Jack weaving them into her hair. Thanks for sharing this!
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 12th, 2007 09:30 am (UTC)
Had to go look up Telperion - ooh, Tolkien trees! *is very flattered* I've got a thing for putting trees into stories about as much as he did, so that's very, very pleasing. Thank you! Glad you liked!

(And I suspect Sam won't be so pleased with Jack weaving leaves into her hair... *g*)
[identity profile] sulien77.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 13th, 2007 07:28 am (UTC)
Yay for trees and tree loving people! *grins* No, I'm sure Jack will get glowered at by Sam, then he'll just give her that smug little smile of his that is so exasperating but so cute that you just can't stay mad at him.

If you enjoy putting trees into stories (particularly if you enjoy tree metaphors), you might enjoy "Leaf by Niggle", by Tolkien (yeah, I am a huge Tolkien geek).
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 13th, 2007 08:24 am (UTC)
Oh, I'll check that out - thank you!
ext_1836: (Default)
[identity profile] rigel-7.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 11th, 2007 04:52 pm (UTC)
Aww! Lovely!

As your resident botanist it sounds like a Tamarisk tree to me from your description - they're native to the meditteranean, have a soft silvered foliage and look absolutely breathtaking when in flower, or when shedding leaves.
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 12th, 2007 09:36 am (UTC)
Ooh! *looks it up in Wikipedia* Mmm, could be - it was certainly that sort of dry soil area, and that sounds like the right sort of height, from what I recall.

Heh. I never would have thought I'd be talking about that tree, years later. Funny what stays in your mind, isn't it?
ext_962: (Default)
[identity profile] surreallis.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 20th, 2007 01:39 am (UTC)
Thank God for [livejournal.com profile] sg1_debrief or I would have missed this one.

Beautiful. Great imagery and such a small, simple moment, and yet it says so much. What an excellent little fic. :)
ext_3314: Woman writing (Default)
[identity profile] pepper-field.livejournal.com wrote:
Apr. 20th, 2007 01:27 pm (UTC)
Aw, thank you. I like to write these sometimes, but I hesitate before posting because I wonder if they're a bit... pretentious. :)

(And yeah, sg1_debrief is brilliant - and I'm always so excited to be on there. *g*)
paian: blank white (Default)
[personal profile] paian wrote:
Apr. 26th, 2007 04:26 pm (UTC)
So warmly lazily lovely, sweetly paced and observed. Really enjoyed. :-)
[identity profile] sharp2799.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 26th, 2008 08:46 pm (UTC)
I love the imagery of this.

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