Work Text:
June 2005
There had always been that something about Jack’s spare room which made it so comfortable and inviting to adult Daniel. It wasn’t, by any means, a luxurious room, but rather on the compact side of functionality. Perfect for the ocassional stay by someone needing a clean bed, some space for a few clothing items and a small desk with an adjoining bookshelf. These days, however, the room was slowly becoming a source of frustration for little Daniel, and he was not sure how he felt about that. He was sure, though, that the once friendly furniture had turned against him.
Damn his small body.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, legs swinging back and forth, eyes boring holes in the wardrobe sitting along the opposite wall. All of his stuff, all the things he owned and used as the kid, had to be placed on lower shelves and in bottom drawers. Even the bed seemed too big, not like a warm cacoon anymore. The only new item was the comfortable desk chair, a gift from Janet from the beginning of his “little adventure”. Looking around the room now, Daniel concluded it was time for a change. A thorough change. It annoyed the hell out of him and at the same time brought him on the verge of tears, but he realized he had to make this concession for his own sake and comfort in the upcoming days, weeks...months.... Swallowing hard, he blinked away the threatening moisture and took a deep breath. Jumping down from the bed, he grabbed a thick catalogue from the nightstand and went on a Jack-hunt.
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Jack was weeding the rose garden.
Not many people knew that General O’Neill (retired) had a rose garden. What’s more, he also had a small pond (no fish, though), a decorative bridge across the miniature stream winding its way from and into the said pond, and a nearby fountain with one of those big stone balls rolling merrily on the water which had been circulating endlessly through the intricate contraption. Nestled in Jack’s backyard, the tranquil oasis had received some additions lately: two swings (Jack said the other one was for Cassie, but Daniel knew better), a sand pit (admittedly, building sand pyramids was fun), and a special gift from Lou - a tree house (of course, Jack had to add a safety net below it).
At first, as the items appeared one by one over the last couple of months, Daniel had been growling at the well meaning people that he was not a kid, and he did not need such childish stuff, thank you very much. Now, though, he’d sneak out and enjoy the feel of flying on a swing, dig naquadah mines in the sand, or sit reading for hours in the tree house. He had to grudginly admit that being little had some advantages. But only some.
So Jack was weeding in the rose garden, preparing it for the full blooming season, and Daniel watched him destroying the shrubbery with military precision.
“Jack?”
“Yep?” The older man didn’t look up or around, but continued his self-appointed chore.
“I want to do some redecorating.” It was said with all the innocence of a seven-year old, and Daniel could sense that it set off a pair of quiet alarm bells in Jack’s head. He liked messing with him.
“Yee-ah?” Now Jack did turn around and looked at Daniel who wiggled a thick catalogue like it was a cat’s toy.
“Furniture shopping.” He kept looking at Jack, and shrugged “Might be fun”.
Jack pursed his lips, cocked his head, and, wiping his hands on the loose shirt, he started to cross a few feet that separated him from his friend. “Okay. Furniture shopping it is then. Online or...?”
“Online.” Daniel looked almost spooked by the mere suggestion they go shopping for real. “If anyone else gets even a whiff of this, I’m gonna end up with girls, spending days ooohing and aaahing over sofas and massage armchairs and whatnots.”
Jack grinned, then slapped the small shoulder gently and showed Daniel inside. “Let me freshen up, and in the meantime you find the stores you want to look at”, he said, pointing backwards in the general direction of his office and the computer-monster Carter installed recently.
Daniel smiled and thought how this might not be bad at all.
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A couple of hours later they were both sitting on the couch, nursing cups of juice and coffee, satisfied with the shopping excursion’s outcome. Okay, so it wasn’t a real hike-though-a-store shopping thing, but it was even more fun, took less time, and with no annoying shop clerks flocking around them and watching their every move. Although Jack let Daniel choose the items by himself, he still set the foot down when Daniel’s ingrained financial modesty came forth. It was to be quality, solid wood furniture; nothing less was acceptable to the raised-in-the-log-cabin-O’Neill or so he liked to say, though Daniel probably knew it was a bunch of BS.
Daniel finished his juice and was watching the glass like it held all the answers to the meaning-of life questions. “I just wish it would arrive today already”.
“Even if we went to the real store, it would take time for the stuff to get delivered. A week is actually hyper fast and not that long to wait. After all, you need time to put your things temporarily in boxes, or in that chest”, Jack said, pointing at the elongated wodden piece half hidden underneath magazines and books, “and then we have to call Teal’c to help us out with moving furniture out of the room. And we have to decide what to do with it.”
There was silence, Daniel fiddling with the droplets of condensated moisture on his glass. The next words were said very slowly, carefully balanced, “I think you should keep it. We could put it in storage at my place... you... or someone else might still need that stuff...”
The last part was mumbled and said to the glass, but it was obvious to Jack that they just stepped over one more stone. Despite all the reassurances of the geek-team back at the SGC, Daniel was aware of the possibity that the “upsizing” wouldn’t work, that they might never find out how the machine actually did what it had done to him, and how to reverse it. The newly ordered furniture could remain his for several years, and the adult furniture might come back into his room once he reached 15 again... Oy. Teen. Hormones. Jack quickly chased away those disturbing thoughts and turned his attention back to his little friend.
“You know, we could call T now. See when he could swing by. And you could start relocating your stuff. T helps us with the moving - and I’ll get Carter organize some transport - and then we have fun painting the room in something freshly looking... I’m thinking....lavander?” Jack smirked at the sudden look of horror on Daniel’s face.
“Um...noo-o. How ‘bout... sand?”, Daniel drew out, his thoughts removed from the “upsized or not upsized” to color schemes.
“Oh, for cryin’out loud! Like we don’t see sand enough. You have to have sandy walls, too!”, Jack groused, but with a smile trying to break out. Sometimes Daniel was so easy. He got up from the couch, Daniel following suit, and they strolled towards the room in question, Jack looking around for his cell-phone along the way. “How ‘bout green with pink stripes? It would be like that wall on PXC-345 where they had....”
“Jaa-ack! That was a bathroom wall! Well...whatever passed for bathrooms there... There’s no way I’ll...”
“Bathroom! We should paint the bathroom, too! So, stripes for the bathroom and sandy pyramides for the room?”
The outrageous ideas were followed by a snort and then tension-reliving giggling.
“Hey, T, my man! You got some time for muscle work?... Yeah, burgers and hot dogs included...whatcha think of me?...Furniture moving... Daniel’s room... Yeah...Great... Sure... Tomorrow at oh-five hundred? ... “
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After all the packing, and furniture-moving, and painting, and unpacking, and dusting, and vaccuming, Daniel finally found himself sitting on his new bed, in a newly decorated and furnished room, in a relative quiet of a Saturday afternoon. The working crew had gone to their respective homes, the mess had been cleared away, and Jack was in the backyard cleaning the overworked grill, while Daniel found himself enjoying the smell of the just unpacked wood and the feel of clean, smooth sheets and surfaces. Oh, and paint! Don’t forget the shiny new walls!
He had to admit that Jack was right. Solid wood, while pricey and slightly more massive than other modern products, had that something to it. And once he overgrew it - whether by upsizing or by growing up - it’ll still be in a resonably good condition for him to sell it. Running a hand over the smooth, one and half inch thick desktop, Daniel smiled and moved over to the nightstand. From its drawer he pulled out his journal and placed it on the desk. The leather-bound notebook fit nicely on the ash surface. He sat down and started a new entry.
Today my new furniture got unpacked and placed in position, thanks to the crew consisting of Teal’c, Lou, Reynolds (I never knew he had a heart-shaped tattoo on his left bicep), Sam, Janet and, of course, Jack. I thought I’ll get depressed with the entire thing, but now I ... I think I’m actually happy. Thing is, I’ve never really had my own, personal, mine-to-own room while I had been a kid ... before. With Mom and Dad it was always digs and tents and hotels and other people’s rooms and appartments. With foster care and children’s homes it was always, well ... foster home rooms and furniture, and Home rooms and furniture. Even later it was student dorm, and then rented appartments, but by then I was already an adult. So, having a real, perfectly sized room, with the furniture I chose, is cool. And Jack was right (again - he keeps doing that lately) - I wanted a plain ol’bed, but he insisted I’d like the Captain’s Bed. And you know what? I love it. It has several spacey drawers under the matress, on both sides of the bed, and I can keep all kinds of stuff in there. And it sorta looks really neat (Oy. Have I just used the word “neat”?). Oh, and there’s a wardrobe, a five-drawer chest, simple but sturdy bookshelves and a huge, full length mirror on the wall next to the bathroom door. And this desk, which is the only piece that’s not from that furniture series, but is close enough (I didn’t like the compact size of their Youth Hutch desk-type of thing with that uncomfortable looking chair). All in all, a nice collection. And there’s still free space in the room for ... playing drawing and reading on the carpet. I’ve also managed to get my sandy walls. Okay, they’re more beige than sand, but fit nicely with the furniture. And I’ve had fun sticking a triangular piece of sponge, full of golden brown wall paint, randomly in a foot-wide stripe that follows all the walls at my shoulder height. Jack had to add a touch of green, though. So a slightly wavy grassy green line underlines the pyramids. It looks...different, that’s for sure. Like it’s a whole new room. And it’s not a “spare” room anymore (Jack was very clear on that issue), it’s all mine.
Sometimes ... sometimes it’s not that bad.