Drawn to the Rhythm

Janet Frasier walked into the locker room, knowing it was the designated time for the female members of the SGC to use it. She heard the showers running, and assumed that it was very likely Capt. Carter who was using the facilities. SG-1 had recently returned from a mission and she knew that Sam often liked to shower afterward. Especially after longer missions. 

She had come in to change out of her scrubs and into her uniform before heading home, but the idea of showering here seemed suddenly more appealing. Cassie was used to her long hours by now, and what was an extra half hour, really? She'd pick up a pizza on the way home to make up for it.

She quickly stripped out of her scrubs and underwear and grabbed her toiletry kit and a towel, wrapping it around herself for the brief walk to the showers. As she was about to enter the shower area, she stopped short, her attempt at greeting the other woman dying before she managed to utter a sound.

There, in all her glory, was Samantha Carter: naked, eyes closed, dancing around under the shower-spray to some music that apparently only she could hear. Janet leaned up against the wall for support, caught between hilarity and something else she wasn't quite ready to name. She watched, transfixed, a smile curling at her lips, while Sam moved with the sensual grace of some big jungle cat. Well, a jungle cat in a particularly playful mood, anyway... It was movement for the sake of movement; though there did almost seem to be some pattern to the dance, clearly much of it was improvised. And Janet was captivated by the sheer, unselfconscious, joyfulness of the display. It came from a side of herself that Sam kept hidden behind her soldier's, and scientist's, masks. Janet felt so privileged to have been given a glimpse of it, intruder though she was.

When Sam finally opened her eyes and spotted her observer, she nearly jumped out of her skin. "JANET!" she all but screeched. "I, uh... I..." Sam looked down at her feet as though salvation could be found in the floor tiles. "I--didn'tknowyouwerehere."

"So I gathered," Janet said with gentle humor. "Don't stop on my account. You seemed to be having so much fun."

Janet waited until Sam looked up at her again before removing her towel and walking over to the showerhead nearest Sam and turning on the water, adjusting it for temperature before stepping under.

Sam remained speechless, though Janet could feel the other woman watching her. She found she wasn't bothered by that; it seemed only fair, after all. And she felt warmed by the attention.

"So, is that some new dance going around the club scene?" Janet joked, knowing full well that Sam didn't allow herself those kinds of indulgences. Or if so, only rarely.

"What? Um, no. It... On the planet, P8X-927. There was kind of a celebration our last night there."

Sam's voice sounded almost normal again, so Janet ventured a sideways glance at her friend, who was washing her hair as she spoke. Janet poured some shampoo into her own hand, preparing to do the same.

Sam continued, "The villagers demonstrated some of their traditional dances..."

"Uh-hum. And they taught them to you?" Janet asked as she reached for the soap and started lathering up. She noticed Sam blushing under her own layer of suds.

"Well, one of the women tried to, but I was kind of hopeless, actually."

"Oh, I don't know about that. You looked pretty good to me." Janet stopped short as she recognized the double entendre implicit in her words.

Sam's blush seemed to darken, at that--whether from the compliment, or the other implication, Janet wasn't sure. "Um, thanks. Really, I was mostly just...moving, I guess. But their music ... Well, there was just something about it that made you want to dance, you know? And I haven't been able to get it out of my head since."

"Mm-hm. Wish I could have heard it myself..."

"Well, it was kind of like... DUM-dum-DUM-dum-dum, DUM-dum-DUM-dum-dum..." Sam attempted to hum the rhythm that was even now running through her mind.

Janet watched as Sam unconsciously swayed along with her own humming. She was right, though, it had a pretty catchy rhythm to it, and it did kind of make you want to move to the beat. "Hmm. I like it. Now I really wish I could hear it myself."

"Actually, I think Daniel may have made a recording of it. I'll ask him to make a copy for you." Sam hesitated a moment, suddenly shy again. "Um... Janet?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for not... Well, for not laughing at me." The blonde's sheepish grin was adorable.

Janet reached out and grasped Sam's soap-slick shoulder a moment in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "You're welcome, Sam. It's good to see you really cut loose and have fun, once in awhile! We're just lucky there are no security cameras in here."

"Thanks, Jan--Um...'we?'" Sam asked, confused.

Janet smiled broadly. "Yeah. We. How'd that go again? DUM-dum-DUM-dum-dum, DUM-dum-DUM-dum-dum..." she tried to hum the still-unfamiliar tune as she started to dance along under the shower spray herself.

"Janet?!?" Sam was incredulous at her friend's behavior, but utterly intrigued by it, at the same time.

Janet watched the smile spread across Sam's face while watching her. "Oh, come on, Sam! Have fun. Live a little! Your secret's safe with me. As I'm sure mine is with you." Janet really started throwing her hips into it then, feeling a little like a jungle cat herself, and making the most of this chance to 'play.' Her hands moved through her hair and over her body to help rinse away the soap and shampoo, but their movements were still somehow in time with the rhythm that Sam had again begun quietly humming.

Janet happily noticed that Sam had begun to move again--tentatively, at first, but she quickly grew more and more bold, just as she had herself. "There ya go. That's more like it," she offered Sam further encouragement, while she continued to gyrate under the hot water and covertly watch her friend's movements.

Sam's laughter echoed around the walls of the locker room, soon followed by Janet's, as both continued to revel in the rhythms going through their minds, their own movements, and each other's company. 

The end.

© July 2001