Who: Vala and Samantha When: 2nd week of July Where: Supermarket What: Post-alien shopping Rating/Warning: Low/None Status: Complete
Sam was out shopping, now that the alien threat had been neutralised she could restock the cupboards with everything they needed. Sam was looking forward to coffee as her stash had run out a couple of days ago.
She was aimlessly pushing her trolley up and down the aisles letting herself pick up random items she wouldn’t normally give in to.
Vala looked up just as her trolley ran into someone elses and started apologising profusely. “I’m really sorry,” she held a hand up in her own defense. “I was totally off in my own world,” she told the blonde woman.
“That’s okay” Sam replied, “No harm done...Vala?” she said as she got a proper look at the other woman, who looked eerily like a woman from a new dream she had just a few days ago.
“Sam?” Vala asked cautiously as she cast her eyes over the other woman. “How are...but you’re...ok, so don’t take this the wrong way, but I dreamt about you the other day,” Vala quirked a nervous smile, surely this couldn’t be happening. “How are you now here?”
“I had a dream about you too” Sam admitted, “It ended rather worryingly so I am pleased to see you’re okay here” she offered, “I’m a teacher at UC Irvine, from what I have been able to gather some people share dreams”
“I...” Vala was still a little stunned to be honest. “Yeah...me too,” she winced a little. “Would that be the one where I kind of, almost, sorta got swallowed by a black hole?”
"Umm yeah, that would be the one" Sam nodded, "I'm sorry, glad you're alright though. I'm hoping that's a good sign dreamwise too"
Vala laughed, leaning forward on her trolley. “Yeah, here’s hoping,” she joked. “Let’s face it, on a scale of bad days, that would probably be up there with the worst,” she smiled.
“Well you say that” Sam told her, “But you’d be surprised. I swear half of my dreams are close to impossible in the survival stakes”
Vala grinned at that. She hadn’t dreamed much about that world, but she got the impression that near-death occurrences were a regular thing for the members of SG-1. “How much of that...world do you remember?” she asked quietly.
“A fair amount” Sam revealed, “Although things get jumbled as the dreams aren’t really coming in any sort of order. I’m jumping about a lot” Which she mostly view from her hair and their ranks.
“Well I’ve been sucked into a black hole in mine, what have you been upto in yours?” Vala joked, absurdly glad that there was someone else out there who shared her dreams and she wasn’t going crazy by herself.
“Oh you know, saving the world on a fairly regular basis” Sam replied only slightly joking, the team she was part of did seem to have a habit of coming to the rescue. “Finding new threats and the occasional ally”
"I remember having a less than friendly welcome by the team myself," Vala grinned. "But I think we got on ok," she shrugged.
“Well from what I remember being told you did pretty much kidnap Daniel the first time you met” Sam replied though she was grinning, “I think we did get on okay” she nodded.
“Oh yeah...” Vala nodded slowly, gazing off into nowhere as she recalled that dream. “That was a good day,” she grinned lasciviously as she recalled her first meeting with Daniel Jackson. “So how come we’re having the same dreams? I mean, I’m assuming that you’re as smart as you were in my dreams this is,” she teased the woman with a little smile.
Samantha laughed, “You need a moment there?” she joked. “Oh well I’m still an astrophysicist so dreams aren’t really my forte. If it wasn’t for the setting I’d be tempted to say they were past lives but best I can figure it’s maybe some kind of bleed through from an alternate reality but that is pushing it”
Vala looked at her, nodding blankly as Sam spoke. “Uh huh...that’s really interesting...but you do realise I have almost no idea what you just said,” she joked.
Sam blushed, “Oh, well basically I don’t really have any idea except for a couple of wild theories”
Vala laughed at that. “No, it sounded like you have an idea, just that I can’t fathom it is all,” she explained with a cheeky grin. “I trust you,” she told her without thinking. As she thought about it she realised it was true, having known this woman for all of five minutes, she trusted her from what she had experienced in her dreams. Very weird, she thought to herself.
“You’re a bright woman” Sam replied, “I’m sure you understood more than you claim” she smiled. “Thank you and I you, isn’t that strange?” thoughts and feelings from the dreams influenced more than people at first suspected, Sam believed. Possibly even things which were yet to come because Sam did trust this woman and based on her only dream with Vala in it she didn’t really have much reason to.
“So what do you think the odds are that we head home tonight and dream about something else from this alternate reality?” Vala grinned, she’d be ready for some of that action. Pretty sure I’ve got a ten dollar bill in my purse, she thought to herself, assuming Sam was a gambling sort.
Sam laughed, “You know what it wouldn’t surprise me. Especially now that we’ve met. It’s just another theory but I think meeting others from your dreams may increase the frequency of the dreaming or at least affect what dreams occur”
"Ah...some insider knowledge," Vala teased. "I see how you play the game," she grinned.
"Always use everything available to you, especially when betting" Sam smiled in return, "If you can lower the window of options then you improve your chances of winning"
“I like you,” Vala pointed at her with a grin. “You talk my kind of language. Remind me to take you via a casino sometime,” she grinned.
Sam smiled somewhat sheepishly, "Thanks I think" she replied before admitting, "I've never been to a casino"
“I take it you’re also a genius with numbers too? How about cards?” Vala asked cheekily, ideas of a short weekend away in Vegas with a friend who could count cards.
“I wouldn’t say genius but I’m good with them” Sam replied, “I can’t say I’ve tried counting cards before, but the principle is easy to understand”
“I’m sensing a road trip on the horizon,” Vala told her with a big grin.
“Oh um really? Well I guess while the students aren’t around I have time” Sam replied.
“Excellent! We’ll have to organise something!” Vala grinned. “And by that point we’ll probably have some more of those crazy dreams to talk about!”
“Okay, that sounds good” Did Sam really just let herself be talked into trying to count cards in Vegas? What was happening? “Oh, well I hope so it would be nice to see you in them again”
“Yeah, you too,” Vala chuckled back at her. “I wonder what shenanigans we’ll get up to tonight,” she joked. “Here’s my number,” she reached into her handbag and pulled a business card out of her card wallet. “We’ll have to talk more about Vegas, you’ll love it!” she grinned.
Sam laughed, “Thanks” she said taking the card, “Might as well try something new over the summer right? I’ll give you a call” she promised, "It was great to meet you"