And Upon This Tablet...

Posted on Wed Mar 20th, 2019 @ 8:56pm by Major Jacob Asher & Civillian Shae

Mission: Aftermath
Location: Cheyenne Mountain, Project New Dawn
Timeline: After Snow Day

Jake left the IT department and went back to the quarters he had on base. He found the wrapping paper he had purchased at the PX and used it to wrap the item he'd just picked up from IT. He'd made sure that they charged it so Shae could start using it immediately. Nathan agreed to issue her a USAF one because she might decide to take it with her when she went home for a visit or off world on a mission and it would need to survive rough treatment. IT set it up especially for her, with the idea that Shae would be using this for both professional and personal reasons. So she would be able to use it to interact with the world outside the base securely.

A short time later, Jake was walking through the corridors of the base over to where Shae's room was, whistling as he went. He finally arrived at Shae's door and rapped on it with his knuckles.

"Shae?" he said. "It's Asher."

He had been about to say Jake, Shae always called him by his family name, so he used that.

Shae was just putting away the new clothes from her time outside the mountain when she heard the rap at her door and then Asher's voice announcing himself. Her heart skipped a beat with excitement, although she tried to brush that feeling off; after all, they worked together, she would see him often, what was so exciting about seeing him now? That thought didn't stop her from looking down at herself to see if she looked alright. She wore a cute wrap top with a maroon and gold paisley print and belled sleeves, and a pair of green khaki cargo pants and mountain boots, proving that her style was somewhere between comfort-utility and flower child chic. The only thing that wasn't entirely comfortable was how much cleavage was showing! The neckline was quite modest for the cut of the shirt, but with the new bra-thing the ladies got her to wear, it felt like her 'goods' were 'on display'. She had been assured that not only did she look great, but that she would get used to the feel of the undergarment and the necklines of her new clothes. With a nervous sigh, she answered the door.

"Hello," she said shyly to Asher as she opened the door.

Jake grinned like a kid with a school boy crush. "Hi, Little Fox," he said. "Wow! You look...you look great! Can I come in? I have a present for you. Well, it's from me and the United States Air Force, but they made me work for it. Wanna see?" Jake held up the wrapped gift. The wrapping paper had foxes on it. They were red, and Shae was silver, but it was the closest he could find.

Shae took the gift and held it awkwardly; the little fox print was so cute, but what was she to do with it? "It is very pretty," Shae said, having no idea that the actual gift was underneath the pretty fox paper. She kept looking it over trying to figure out what she was to do with this paper-thing when she finally asked, "What is it?"

Jake chuckled. "The paper is what we call wrapping paper. It's used for exactly what it sounds like it's used for. To wrap presents. It's a way of surprising people with a gift, so that they don't know what's the gift is until they remove the paper. So...you can tear the paper off or use a knife to cut it off neatly. Your call. But, ah, can I come in? The gift is going to take some explaining."

"Oh, right," Shae said, then stepped aside to let him in. She sat down on her bed with the paper-wrapped present in her lap. "Must I tear it? Paper is so expensive, it seems so wasteful," she remarked, but turning the object over she found the seams and where it was taped down; she had seen this tape stuff before and understood that if she was careful then she could unwrap the gift without damaging the paper, which she proceeded to do, revealing the gift to be a tablet like he had, only the case looked bulkier, sturdier. Before trying to use this new tablet, she carefully folded the paper and lay it aside, then she held the tablet with both hands and tried to touch the screen like she had seen Jake do, but this did nothing and the screen remained dark. Shae pouted. "I think it is broken."

"Nope," Jake said. "There's a button the side, no, yes, that one. Press it and hold it for a moment and...there." The screen turned on and Shae's new tablet came to life. Jake helped her select a pin and set up her thumbprint access. "I had it set to use both to access it. I'm assuming you might be taking it with you, either on trade missions so you can show people pictures of possible trade items, take pictures of items we might want to trade for, or refer to information stored on it, or even just take it for a visit to Lethuan, maybe bring music or videos you might want to watch. Anyway, if you have it in the field, I wanted to make sure that if someone else gets their hands on it, they'll have a hard time accessing it. Go ahead, explore around! I had them put some Japanese music in it, traditional and things like Babymetal. There's an English Language program in there. That one there, there red, green, and yellow circle with the blue dot in the middle, if you click that one you can access all kinds of information. Careful with that, though. I'll see if I can show you how to use that."

There wasn't just an English language program, the program he showed her had access to many languages, but for now English and Japanese were loaded onto the tablet, the English so she could learn to read and write in it and perfect her conversational skills, and the Japanese so she could modernize what she already knew, and she was free to load in even more languages to do the same with them. The colorful circle button he then directed her to brought her to a search screen with all the text in Japanese, and he showed her how to search for things she might want to see. The little keyboard that popped up required a whole explanation in and of itself, she spelled out words phonetically in Romanji and then as she typed the suggested Kanji popped up, and if she was ever truly having trouble doing this, the tablet could listen to her speak and fill in the right words for her; this option would be a little hit or miss considering her pronunciation was a little bit different than what the tablet was able recognize, but at least the feature was there once she could speak the Japanese language from Earth.

"Waa! Sugoi ne!" she exclaimed with excitement as her first search, Japan, returned with a long list of entries and pictures of Japan. She had access to information from around the world sitting in her hands! Well, for as long as she was within range of the base... Jake selected a picture of a woman in a fancy kimono, and then he showed her how to save it to the tablet and how to access it. And then there was music! She had a program to let her listen to new music using the base's network, and then she could download it and listen to it anywhere, and the same for an ebook program, and both of these were already loaded with a selection to get her started. And most importantly, she could send and receive messages with this wonderful device! Jake pulled out his phone and sent her a message, then showed her how to check her notifications and see his little greeting of 'Hello, Little Fox' and have it either translated into Japanese text or read aloud, and then she replied with the Hiragana of 'Konnichiwa', which then appeared on his phone.

"This is amazing, Asher, thank you!" Shae said with unbridled excitement once she remembered her manners, then continued to explore her new tablet.

"Dōitashimashite," Jake said. He'd been trying to pick up more Japanese since meeting Shae. Soon they were sitting on her bed, close together. Occasionally their fingers or hands would touch and Jake's heart would skip a beat. "So, there's an old internet achievement box you need to check off: cat videos and pet videos in general. Pets can do some very strange things with each other, with their humans, and even with human babies. They some how know the babies are young humans and tend to treat them accordingly. People record images of this and share them...I guess just to show off how cute their pets are. Here let me...there. Click that one."

A video of a kitten playing tag with a big Newfoundland, who was patiently indulging the little thing. The kitten kept running around the room and then jumping on the Newfoundland's back, or running up and jumping and bopping the dog on the nose. The dog would bark in a friendly manner, play a little (like trying to shake the kitten off of it's back), and would occasionally make a move forward at it, but made no move to actually chase the little thing or to harm it.

Shae squealed happily, exclaiming "KAWAII! as she watched the little kitten and the big dog play. And when that video ended, a new video began automatically, evoking a round of giggles as a chubby Scottish Fold tried to fit into boxes he had no way of fitting inside and sliding across the floor in boxes he ran into. Needless to say, when the next video queued up started to play, she was hopelessly addicted!

Jake laughed with Shae as she watched the silly videos. "Just remember, Little Fox, you can't spend your whole day watching pet videos...but they are damned fun to watch." They were sitting very close together now, and when she laughed, Shae would frequently lean into him. The weren't quite cuddling, but there was a closeness reminded Jake of spending the night with her, how much he wanted to do that again, and, someday, much more...but only when Shae was ready. He knew Shae had dealt with many men who wanted to take advantage of her, even when she was only just starting to develop, and that was over and above the Goa'uld wanting her as a host. Most men in her life who had shown an interest in her only intended to use her and discard her. Jake knew that he would need to earn her trust. He was earning her trust, slowly, step by careful step, but all of that trust and closeness could disappear in a heartbeat if he pushed to hard...or if he hesitated too much. So he did his best to strike a balance. It wasn't easy.

"Why do you call me that?" Shae asked curiously as she looked up at him, only then noticing how close they were. Her cheeks flushed at this startling realization, and she looked into his eyes, mesmerized by the intensity of his gaze; why did he look at her this way, and why did it make her shiver in anticipation?

"I..." Jake wasn't the only one affected by their closeness. His voice caught in his throat. "Because I care for you, and using that name for you is a way for me show you my affection for you. So is this." Jake brought his hand to Shae's cheek and caressed it, then leaned in, slowly as not to startle her, and kissed Shae gently on the lips, a kiss that communicated the same intensity she'd seen in his eyes, but demanded nothing of her in return but what she wanted to give. And then prayed she wouldn't throw him out.

Shae didn't know how to react or feel about the press of his lips against hers. The kiss made her heart do all sorts of wonderful things, but when it was done, she simply did not know how to process what was happening between them, so she simply smiled meekly and then shifted a little on the bed so they were not so close, doing her best to return her attention to her new tablet.

"Can you-" she started to say, but then her voice broke slightly, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "Can you show me the music?"

Jake would be the first to admit that he was hoping for a different reaction, but he did his best not to take it personally. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and he didn't seem to have lost anything. Jake shrugged Shae's reaction off (he didn't really think of it as a rejection) and showed her the music. "This is more traditional music here. I'm going to be honest, some of it sort of sounds like stray domestic cats mating to me, but that might be because I'm not used to it. There are also some videos in there of two styles of Japanese theatre that utilize music and mask work. Kabuki and Noh. I've seen those done in Japan. Very interesting stuff, both visually and aurally entertaining. Maybe I'll see if I can take you to see one some time. I think there's actually a group not too far from here that does Kabuki performances, two or three times a year...okay, I don't think. I know. I looked it up because I thought you'd like to see it and I was hoping I could take you...if I haven't offended you, that is. I certainly didn't mean to."

"Why would you think you've offended me?" Shae asked, partially because she was still trying to pretend that the kiss hadn't happened, but even with the kiss in mind, she didn't really see what the problem was; he'd shared her feelings and she just wasn't ready to deal with that, hardly anything 'offensive'. "I do not know what Kabuki is; it must be something that has developed only on your world, but I think I know of Noh. It is performance? I remember seeing something at my village's temple, with masks and dancing and music."

Jake grinned. "I'll take that as a win, then," he said. "And yes, it is performance. Really, it's just like you described it. And Kabuki is more of a modernized version of Noh. Now, if you want a fairly recent kind of Japanese entertainment, see Ree about sharing her anime collection with you. I told her to start you off with the less sexually explicit stuff so you don't decide we're all a bunch of perverts and run back through the gate. I've watched anime, but I'm not as into it as she is. I'm more a fan of Chinese period dramas and wuxia. Those can be amazing. We can watch some of those together sometime if you'd like."

"If it is anything like the Metal-Baby music you showed me, I will wait to watch this anime," Shae declared; not that she didn't like BabyMetal, but there was only so much culture shock she could manage in such a short time span. "And I think for now I just want to figure out what to do with myself and how I fit in with your people when I am not doing mission things with the team. The past few days have been active, but I get the feeling that it is not always this way, and I do not want to seem like a waste of space sitting in this mountain waiting for something to do," she continued.

"You're not a waste of space," Jake said. "Not ever." Realizing that statement might have come across as a little intense, he grinned to take the edge off. "There are things you can do here when we're not out on missions. Our Intelligence people would love to talk to you about just about everything you can tell them about what's out there. Eventually, some diplomats will be assigned here and they'll want to know everything you can tell them, too. And just when you think they don't have anymore questions they need answers to, they'll come looking for you again. And you can train with us. We haven't done much of that in our current stretch of downtime, but we will soon. We need to get used to working together as a team so everyone knows their job. I know some of what we do between missions seems boring, but it usually pays off when we prep for missions properly. When we don't, well, you've seen what happens when we don't. So if it's work you want, there's plenty. If you're looking for things to do when you're not working, well, you've got friends now, and we enjoy your company. You're not alone anymore, Little Fox. That may take some getting used to, but there it is."

"I had a long talk with your Wolf General about worlds I have been to, with addresses and contacts, but I suppose there is always more to tell," Shae replied with a shrug. "It just seems like everyone has something that they are doing when we are here, except for me; I guess I'm still trying to figure things out. Although now that you mention it, I would like to see this training you do."

"Deal," Jake said. "I need to get the team together for tactical training soon, especially to integrate the non-combatants so they know how to move with us without getting themselves killed. I'll let you know exactly when that is and you can join us. Oh, and I can get you trained off on firearms as well, if you want. They're not terribly difficult to use, but the recoil and the noise take some getting used to. And I'll...actually, can I borrow your tablet for a moment?" When she handed it to him, Jake looked up the website of a local sporting goods store. He called up a page for archery equipment and supplies. Shae had a pretty powerful bow, but her arrows and arrowheads could use some improvement. "I'd like to take you here, if you're willing to go, or at least have you look at some of this and see if you could use any of it. If you're going to stick to your bow, perhaps these arrows might be more effective for you?"

"I can learn to use your weapons, but they are noisy and I prefer my bow," Shae replied, looking over the information on the site he brought up. Between being unable to read English and just not understanding some of the terminology on the bow and arrow specs, all she could do was rely on the pictures. "What is that? That doesn't look like wood. And those flights look unusual," she remarked, pointing to a carbon fiber arrow with synthetic flight feathers. But at least it seemed that there were wood arrows with real feathers, and the arrows looked perfectly straight, which was hard to achieve when she made her own arrows out of reeds which were often slightly curved from bowing to the wind.

"It's a special material called carbon fiber, and these are metal called aluminum," Jake said. "They're light and strong and fly straight. The metal tips might be useful to you, as well. If you bring your bow, they could fit the arrows specifically to your size and build and draw length. Those would do for the moment. I spoke to my friend who tried to teach me to make arrows. I told him I couldn't tell him why, but I needed arrows designed to punch through armor. He asked around, and there's someone up here who can make custom arrowheads and arrows, including period arrows, um, arrows from a period when then were a weapon of war, but with modern materials. I think I can get you the kind of arrow made that will have a really good chance of punching through Goa'uld armor. If you think that would be useful to you."

"I can get through leather and chainmail pretty well already, it's the plate armor I can't get through, but that's not usually a problem with the way Jaffa stand to fire their staff weapons, they often turn in and expose their side which is only covered in the mail," Shae stated. "I do not know if I should use those special materials, for the arrow or the fletching, it will confuse most who come across arrows I cannot retrieve. I have seen a wide variety of arrowheads across many worlds, so I think the arrowheads you suggest would be fine so long as they can be used on the wooden shafts." Although talking about punching through the armor, she did start looking at the bows, wondering if they were any better than her own.

"Okay," Jake said. "I think your bow is fine, Shae," he said when he saw her looking at the bows. "The only bows we have that might, and I say might, be better might be a Korean bow or maybe a Mongolian horse bow. They are closest to old war bows, and you could use them effectively in combat. They can have a pretty heavy draw weight, but I'm betting your bow isn't that light either. But most of our modern bows are designed for hunting or competition, where you can take your time. They'd be pretty difficult to use as combat weapons."

Jake paused for a moment. "You know, I could teach you to use the pistol I carry. Just as a back up to your bow, if something got close before you could use your bow or if you ran out of arrows and needed something quick. It's small, relatively lightweight, and you could conceal it fairly easily if you were somewhere you didn't want people to see that you had it. Anyway, I don't mean to tell you how to fight. You're really good at that on your own, or you'd be dead. I guess...I guess I just want to give you an edge. Sorry if it feels like I was trying to take over."

"No need to apologize," Shae said with a gentle shake of her head. "You are just trying to help, and I appreciate the suggestion to learn how to use the pistol; using a bow is a complex skill and certainly not a perfect one, and I do not have much skill in more physical combat for when I cannot pick off my targets at range, so knowing how to use one of your weapons is incredibly useful. But I would still like to look at the bows of your people, because it's always a good idea to have a spare in case my bow breaks. The bow I use was my spare, I broke my last one taking down a rabbit on Lethuan and I wasn't looking forward to the 5-day trek south of the gate to trade with the Nords to get another bow made."

"You broke your bow...taking down a rabbit?" Jake said. Then he laughed. "Okay, next time I go to Lethuan, I'm bringing a bigger damn gun! Oh, and I can teach you physical combat, to use your knife effectively in combat, and even to use what a basically long knives to someone my size, but you're closer to the height of the people whose martial skills I learned growing up. In fact, I have some time now if you want. And that's definitely something you could and should spend a bunch of your downtime doing."

"The rabbits are huge, how else do you think the bears got so big!" Shae replied with a laugh. "And I would very much enjoy training with you, but when Ree and Jess took me out shopping, they helped me find this stuff called Henna for my hair so I do not stand out here or on other worlds, and it takes a while to work." At that, she got up and walked over to the dresser where there was a large bowl covered with a towel, and she lifted the towel to reveal what looked to be green mud in the bowl. They had stocked up on a lot of this and she mixed up a batch that she intended to use after she finished putting away her clothes. "Maybe after the next mission?" she suggested instead.

"Sure," Jake said. "But don't put me off too long. Both as your friend and your team commander, I'd feel a lot better if I knew you were learning other ways to defend yourself besides the bow. Um, I guess I should let you get to dyeing your hair then?"

"Unless there was something else you wanted to show me on the tablet?" Shae said with a shrug. She still had some tidying to do, the girls had gone a little crazy getting things for Shae that she didn't even know she needed!

"Oh, there is one thing," Jake quickly showed Shae how the charge cord worked. "And I'll get you a headset...don't worry, I'll explain everything, just enjoy the tablet for now. I...ah...yeah, so I guess I'll see you soon, Little Fox."

"Jaa ne!" Shae said without realizing that she was giving him the same smile that she had given him back at her hut, so small but so full of emotion, but when it did finally occur to her what she was doing, she blushed and then quickly shut the door behind Asher as he left, hoping to hide some of her embarrassment. Ussou! Was she getting all dreamy-eyed over Asher?! Impossible, he was human, he wouldn't be able to understand what it meant to be Kitsune, and even if she entertained the notion of them being a 'them', the relationship would always be one sided because she could never be free to be herself outside the safety of this mountain, they would have to lie to everyone about who she was and where she came from! Not to mention that he was her boss, not that she even knew the military rules regarding fraternization, she was completely clueless in that regard, but she had enough sense to know that it probably wasn't a good idea to get emotionally invested with someone she worked with! Although, he did kiss her, that made it alright, right? No, that was utter ridiculousness, they were simply too different, a human could not be with a fox, it just wasn't right! She wasn't ready to deal with all those pesky emotions anyway, so best to pretend that none of this happened...

As Jake walked away, all of the doubts he wouldn't let form in his mind earlier came out. Should he have kissed her? Should he have tried to talk about the kiss with her? Or was he right to respect her clear desire to pretend it didn't happen? And what about being her immediate supervisor? Hmm...maybe he could have her shifted to SG-2 when it was officially formed? That would solve that problem. Nate was already talking about restructuring the teams. Jake shook his head. He really liked Shae and he really hoped he hadn't just screwed everything up.