A Very Different Date

Title: A Very Different Date
Author: Ladyholder
Fandom: NCIS, SGA
Relationships: OFC/Bates
Genre: AU
Wordcount: 3,802
Warnings: None
Summary: Bates takes Cooper out on a date. Atlantis style.
Author’s Note: So I decided to write about what a date on Atlantis might be like.
Beta: None

 

“So, I know we went over how this works before we left Atlantis, but it’s still a little weird to be lugging ingots of metal to the Market so we can buy stuff,” Beryl murmured as she waited in line with Eugene.

They were waiting in line to enter the Market the Teams had found. Teyla had taught them in Year One how the Markets worked in Pegasus. If you were trading directly with someone or selling a set of goods, you brought your stuff and set up shop. If you were at the Market to just buy stuff?

Well, that’s when things got more complicated. Coinage was rare in Pegasus and mostly restricted to the organized Market worlds. Buyers were required to bring a surety, which was assessed, and then coins were issued.

To make sure that the sellers got their correct surety, the coins were specific to match the buyer and related in some way to their culture. This meant that when the merchants went to get their surety, they got the right one. Atlantis, being one of the newest traders in the galaxy, had a unique coinage that resembled the Pegasus that was on their uniform patch.

It had taken time to find a trade item that they could use. They had tried salt since it had proven to be so useful in getting them grain. While that had gone well, when they had brought a load of metal ingots, they had pulled in enough coins to get everything on their shopping list and a ton of extras. After that, anyone who went to a Market brought metal ingots.

Thankfully, Atlantis processed the metals she pulled from the desalination process into stackable ingots that weighed in at around two kilos. While it was frequently awkward to pull a cart into the Market, it was better than carrying them in. And since Beryl wanted to do some actual shopping, they had brought a lot of ingots.

Most of the ingots in their cart were pure iron, and Beryl had rounded out their load with some copper and silver items for extra punch. She was determined to come home broke. Eugene had been amused when she’d informed him of her plans. When the line moved forward, Beryl pulled on her side of the hand cart. “So glad I’m not carrying this. But still, it’s a little weird.”

Eugene hummed softly as he walked. “It is a little weird, but with each of these trips, we build more trust in Atlantis. Each trade we do where our goods are solid shows we’re honorable. That we can be trusted. Right now, it’s known that any metals we trade in are of the highest quality and that we’re willing to trade in them often. I just hope we brought enough for your shopping.”

Beryl huffed once before she looked at the wheeled cart they were pulling. “I hope so too.”

From the snickers Eugene was trying to stifle, he found the whole thing to be amusing. Damn the man.

 

Eugene looked around the market and nodded once in satisfaction. The whole place was calm, and there were a lot of merchants with their wares set out in portable stalls. They had gotten a great return for their surety and had a respectable haul of coins to spend. He’d given most of it to Beryl for her to go shopping with and had tucked some away in his own pocket. He was going to keep an eye out for anything he couldn’t leave behind.

His girlfriend didn’t go off planet very often, so she was wandering around, taking in the sights. The colonel had agreed to the trip when Beryl had started asking questions about the Market at the last planning meeting. Eugene was sure that the colonel had turned the whole thing over to him as both a way for them to have a working ‘date’ and to get out of Beryl’s idea of shopping. He’d have to do something to show his appreciation for Sheppard’s actions. Later.

“What in the hell are you eating?” Eugene asked as Beryl walked up to him. She had a set of wooden skewers in her hand and was busily chewing on the meat she’d pulled off them.

“You…,” Cooper looked at the skewers and then shrugged. “You don’t want to know, Eugene.”

“Oh, God. You found a place that does all the various organ meats, didn’t you?” Eugene asked. He could, and had eaten some weird shit as a Marine, but Beryl had him beat. He ate to survive. She ate because she liked it.

“Yum,” Beryl said in agreement.

“You are so weird,” Eugene said softly.

“It tastes good, and honestly, I didn’t get any of the deeply gross stuff,” Beryl said with a shrug. “It was cheap, it smelled great, and the seller was willing to talk to me about it while I was waiting for my portion to cook. The sauce is great, and I’m hopeful I can reproduce it on Atlantis.”

“I’m sure we’ll enjoy it a lot. Just not on stuff that’s weird,” Eugene agreed. He pulled her along until they were standing in front of one of his favorite stalls. “What do you think?”

 

Beryl hummed softly as she stripped the skewers of their meat before she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and cleaned her fingers. Only once she was sauce-free did she reach out and pick up one of the knives before her. It was a heavy cleaver, obviously hand forged, and it looked sturdy enough to go through bone. “I’m wondering if I can get a dozen or so of the same weight and size,” Beryl said after several minutes of inspection. She looked up at the stall owner. “Well?”

The man looked at the knife in her hand and shrugged. “I’ve got several more like that one. But not 12. I do, however, have one that is larger, and my people commonly use that size to break down the animals we butcher.”

“I want to see that, please?” Beryl asked. She carefully set her new cleaver to the side and smiled at the leather-sheathed knife the man held out. Using both hands, she carefully separated the blade from the leather and held it aloft. It was too big for her to handle with any true skill, but there were several of her people who likely could. And having a large knife on hand was never a bad thing. “This is beautiful,” she said, complimenting the owner. “I’ll take as many of the smaller cleaver I saw first as you have, and two of this monster. And if you have any slightly smaller cleavers or knives for fish? That would be great.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” the shopkeeper said. He rubbed his hands together and pulled out two more knife types. Beryl took them to inspect. “We use the thin one on fish. My name is Kerns. Do you haggle?”

“Cooper is my name,” Beryl said absently. She set the smaller cleaver down and handed the fish knife back. “This one won’t work for us, but I’ll take four of this type of cleaver, two of the large ones, and as many as you have of the first. And yes, I haggle.”

“Excellent!” Kerns exclaimed with a clap of his hands. He took the knife back and started naming prices for each knife.

Beryl hummed softly at the prices. They weren’t outrageous and left plenty of room to haggle. Grin firmly in place, she counteroffered a price for each knife. From the slightly offended look she got, her offer was a shade too low, but that was how the game was played.

By the time she finished haggling, she was hungry again, the proud owner of a dozen new knives, and very impressed with her opponent. Kerns was good at his craft, and she had enjoyed their haggling session. The final shake to confirm their deal was unforced on both their parts, and she handed over the fee without a qualm.

While Kerns wrapped up her purchases, Beryl looked around for Eugene.

Her boyfriend was leaning against one of the stall walls, munching on a skewer of grilled vegetables. When her eyes lit on him, he straightened up. “You done?”

“Yup!” Beryl agreed. She leaned forward and sniffed at the vegetables and sauce. “That smells good. Did you get the list of veggies?”

“Yup. I also got you a skewer of your own,” Eugene said as he handed over a fully loaded wooden skewer.

The first bite exploded across her tongue, and Beryl hummed softly as she enjoyed her treat. Sweet and spicy with just a hint of sourness, the sauce was rich and complex. “Damn, that’s good. And I think we grow all of these veggies.”

“Yup. And it doesn’t make me doubt my ability to eat meat.” Eugene said serenely.

“I’m not going to tell you what’s in the sausage I make then, okay?” Beryl said, amused.

“Good,” Eugene agreed. He shuddered slightly and took the package of knives from her hand to add it to her backpack. “Where to next?”

“Are there any seed vendors here?” Beryl asked. She finished her skewer and chewed happily, “And I want to go back to that stall so I can see about getting another serving and maybe the recipe.”

Eugene sighed and then laughed softly. “You’re pretty amazing, Beryl. Okay, let’s take a walk around and see what else is here.”

 

The walk around the market was pleasant, and Beryl explored each and every stall, adding little trinkets to her bag along the way. Thankfully, she had plenty of room in her backpack and a partner who was willing to carry stuff for her. They wouldn’t need to carry everything to the gate, so she wasn’t going to worry about the weight. They had an empty cart that could be filled.

It was late afternoon when they found a stall full of seeds. Beryl settled in with her notebook, camera, and a whole bunch of questions. The proprietor of the stall settled in to talk to her with as much enthusiasm as Kerns had. She spent almost an hour going over everything the woman had and what each plant was used for. The merchant had been amused at her enthusiasm and very happy when Beryl started setting aside packets of her product for purchase.

By the time she had acquired all the seeds she wanted, the light was going, and Eugene was making noises about getting back to Atlantis. Beryl sighed happily as she loaded the last of her haul into a canvas sack she’d brought as just in case item. Apparently, she was as bad at assessing her ability to shop off-planet as she was back on Earth.

“Did you get anything for yourself?” Beryl asked as they started walking back to the gate.

“Yeah, I’ve got some goodies for me in my pack, but honestly, this was mostly for you,” Eugene said.

“So, this was a work date?” Beryl asked as she sidestepped a running child.

“I’m pretty sure that was part of the thinking,” Eugene said. “But the colonel did want an assessment of how this Market planet works. It doesn’t seem to be any different than all the others we’ve been to, so we will add it to our rounds. Dr. Weir has wanted to confirm that our contribution of metals isn’t going to skew the galactic economy in some weird way, and you wanted to look for new foodstuffs. Win, win all around.”

“And we get to spend an enjoyable day out of the city, doing something utterly harmless,” Beryl mused. She nodded once and let the whole thing go.

They were walking past the stall with the meat kebabs, and Beryl stuck her hand in the pouch she was using to carry her portion of the coins they had gotten for their surety and felt something clink. Pulling her hand out, she confirmed that she still had a few small ones left. It was the work of only moments to pick up one last snack. She made sure that one of the meat skewers wasn’t organ meat for Eugene. “Try this.”

“It’s not going to gross me out?” Eugene asked as he took the treat.

“Best I can figure, this is the equivalent of thigh meat on a chicken,” Beryl said before she bit into hers.

“Excellent!” Eugene said happily. He bit into his and nodded as he chewed. “If you can reproduce this sauce, I’m sure everyone will be very happy. It’s delicious.”

“Great,” Beryl said. She finished her meal as they joined the line to pick up their cart. Thankfully, it was easy to pick up before they loaded their loot on it and headed for the gate. “You want to dial or me?”

“You need the experience. You get to dial,” Eugene said with a smile.

“Cool,” Beryl said. Since her job kept her in Atlantis, she figured it was to her advantage to dial a gate anytime she could. The address to the Beta site was easy to punch in, and she smiled when it went through. Like Atlantis, the Beta site had a shield, so she took the time to carefully punch in her code on the GDO strapped to her wrist. Only when it lit green did she look over at Eugene for a review of her actions. “Well?”

“Perfect,” he said.

“Great,” Beryl said happily. She slotted into her spot beside Eugene as they moved through the gate, pulling the cart behind them. The trip was as weird and wonderful as it was every time, and when she stepped through, she checked the cart to make sure her purchases had come with them.

“You know if you carry or push it through, it’s going to arrive with you,” Eugene reminded her.

Beryl shrugged. “I know, but habit is a thin,g and I don’t do that as often as you.”

“Fair,” Eugene said. He nodded at the team manning the Gateroom they had set up on the Beta site. “Anderson. We’re going to hit Medical here for a brief check before getting the in-depth exam on the city.”

“Gotcha, Sarge,” Anderson confirmed. His attention was firmly on the gate and the computers monitoring it. It was standard practice that while military personnel were off Atlantis, no one was to salute a superior officer, and that edict included the Beta site. So, she didn’t mention the lack.

Not that she minded. Her bump in rank into the officer corps was recent enough that it felt weird to get salutes from the men and women who had been her shipmates only months before. She’d been warned about that in class, but it hadn’t sunk in until she’d gotten back to Atlantis. This felt like a small return to her old normal.

 

Eugene watched as Beryl geeked out with Jones over all the things she’d found at the Market. It was cute how happy she was with everything she’d bought.

“From Cooper’s enthusiasm, I’m guessing that things went well,” Colonel Sheppard said as he stepped up next to him.

“They did, sir,” Eugene confirmed. He glanced at the colonel and smirked as he watched him watch Beryl. “She found a lot of things that her department can use, a bunch of seeds for Botany, and recipes for sauces that she plans on using on our food. It was good. Very calm, the exchange rate was good, and there was a lot of variety of goods for sale. The people were friendly, willing to haggle, and Cooper got a lot of relevant information from the people she bought stuff from.”

“I know Dr. Weir is concerned about us adding metals to the economy. How was what we sent over received?” the colonel asked.

“With enthusiasm,” Eugene admitted. He shifted slightly as he got more comfortable standing. “Most of the places we stopped at knew that Atlantis brings metal, and they were very happy at the thought of getting their hands on some. The merchant that Cooper bought some knives from asked me what we’d brought. When he heard that we brought iron and copper, he left his apprentice in charge of his stall and headed over to the Market offices to change our tokens in for ingots right after we completed our purchase. We also saw an actual blacksmith, and she bought about sixty skewers that looked like they were made from some type of steel. He was very happy to see us and do business with us. He also thanked us for providing consistently good quality metal.”

“Interesting,” the colonel said. He nodded at Beryl as she showed off the knives in question. “Do you think she noticed that you were gathering intelligence?”

“Not while I was doing it, but she didn’t mind when I explained what I was doing while she was shopping. She was respectful, appreciative, and didn’t try to cheat the merchants as she browsed. They liked her a lot,” Eugene said.

Colonel Sheppard nodded once. “Okay then. What else did you notice?”

“We saw a few different cultures that I could identify, and I did get some discrete pictures. None of them seemed to have any problems with us. Most of the stalls seemed to be finished goods, like the knives and the blacksmith with the skewers and farming equipment. It was calm, there was a watch on the gate, and the stewards were keeping watch over everything else. I think we can add this Market to our rotation,” Eugene said.

“Sounds good. Make sure to write your report and have Cooper write hers up as well. I’m curious to see what she got out of it,” the colonel directed before he walked off

Eugene hummed softly to himself before he walked forward to get Beryl moving. They needed to clear Medical before too much longer, and she knew it. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to hit up Medical, Beryl. Let Jones head down to your domain with all the stuff you bought today, and you can unpack it once you’ve been cleared.”

“Ugh. Needles,” Beryl muttered before she turned back to Jones. “I’ll be down after my check-in. I got recipes.”

“Cooper, go!” Jones said after laughing at her. He cheerfully waved his hand towards the doors. “Stop delaying it. Unless you want your Marine to play doctor with you?”

“Not our thing, Jones!” Beryl said before glancing at Eugene. “Gonna escort me, Marine?”

Eugene smirked at her before he held an arm out for her. “Sure will, Ma’am. Is there anything you’d like to talk about on our way down to Medical?”

Jones looked grossed out at them flirting with each other, and Eugene turned the smirk on him. If he didn’t want to deal with them getting him back, he shouldn’t have teased them

“Gross,” Jones muttered before picking up the handles of the cart and pushing it towards a transporter.

From the quiet giggles shaking Beryl’s frame, she was enjoying Jones’ discomfort. “He knows better.”

“He does. He’s still going to push because he’s your friend,” Eugene said comfortably.

“Oh. I know. Anyway. Did the colonel have any concerns?” Beryl asked as they stepped into their own transporter.

Eugene shook his head before touching the symbol for Medical. “No. I gave him a brief rundown of what happened while we were at the Market, and he does want a written report from both of us, but that’s about it.”

“I can do that,” Beryl agreed. “I’ll get it done by the morning.”

Medical was Medical, and Eugene powered through it without complaint. Neither of them had picked up anything, and they were clean. Once they had gotten cleared, Eugene steered them towards their room. “Now that we’re clear, let’s get out of all our extra gear.”

“Good idea,” Beryl agreed.

As soon as they entered their room, she reached out and pushed the shower to turn on to the temp they both liked. Eugene made sure to store his personal arms in the box he’d commissioned from one of the Athosian artisans not long after they’d resettled them on the mainland. As soon as he dropped the last knife in the box, he started stripping out of his uniform.

Beryl had less to store, so she was already in the shower when he entered the bathroom. Eugene sighed in relief as the hot water hit his skin. “I love the showers here.”

“They are pretty damn amazing,” Beryl agreed. She turned around to face him. “Today was lovely. Thank you for taking me out shopping, even when I grossed you out.”

Eugene leaned down and brushed a light kiss against Beryl’s lips. “It was fun. And I wasn’t that grossed out.”

“Liar,” Beryl said with a laugh before she pressed another kiss to his lips and then turned back around to start washing her hair.

“Mean,” Eugene protested. He snagged his own shampoo to suds up and got to work on his own hair. His cleaning routine was simple, and he was able to get through it quickly so he could step out of the shower and start drying before Beryl finished her hair.

It took him only moments to climb into a clean uniform, and he snagged a set of blue coveralls and a t-shirt for Beryl. When she came out, he handed them over. “Shall we go down to the Mess to talk to Jones?”

“Yup!” Beryl agreed. She pulled her uniform on and slipped on the boots she used only in the city. “How do I look?”

Eugene checked her over and nodded. Beryl kept her hair short and rarely wore makeup, so there was very little she needed to do to get ready. Her coveralls had her rank insignia already in place, and since it was all in one piece, she didn’t have to worry about her t-shirt showing. “You look good. All officery.”

“Funny guy,” Beryl said with a smirk. She headed for the door. “Shall we?”

Eugene stepped into place beside her as they started walking towards the transporter at the end of their hallway. “After we finish our meeting with Jones, Warrant, I would like to have a one-on-one meeting with you in our rooms.”

“I would be happy to have that meeting with you, Master Sergeant,” Beryl agreed with a grin up at him.

“Great. It’s a date,” Eugene said. He grinned as she laughed. Yeah, he loved it when he could make her happy. He thought about the small box in his underwear drawer and the question he wanted to ask.

Since Marines didn’t run, he was going to have to man up. Something to look forward to then.