Chapter 211: A Brand New Year Part 1
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Chapter 211: A Brand New Year Part 1
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 31st, 2001
Catra studied her reflection in their quarters' mirror, turning her head slightly to check how she could present her best side without looking as if she were posing. They had barely made it back in time for the New Year's Party - and they had still beaten the Etherian delegation coming directly from Etheria. Catra was pretty sure someone had pulled some strings to make that happen, but Glimmer insisted it was just a coincidence.
"You're going with the suit?" Adora asked as she stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.
"I am not going to wear a dress uniform," Catra said, watching her love in the mirror. "Not unless I am forced to. And if I were, I'd pick one of Sea Hawk's designs," she added with a grin. "Probably with a cape. All the gold and silver would break the Alliance budget." Especially if they had to pay extra for immediate delivery.
"You wouldn't," Adora said as she sat down on the bed and fiddled with her hair.
"Is that a challenge?" Catra turned and raised her eyebrows.
"You wouldn't wear a cape. It would be messing with your tail." Adora matched her grin.
Catra frowned. That was true. But she had an answer. "A half-cape then. Hanging from one shoulder like those hussars of Earth." She stepped closer. "And as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, we'd stuff you in an even worse uniform."
"I'd simply come as She-Ra." Adora tried to look smug. "A princess's battle dress counts as a uniform according to Alliance regulations."
Because that was something the Princess Alliance had insisted on, of course.
Catra changed tacks. "You're not wearing a dress uniform either, I hope." Some idiot had tried to get 'dress or dress uniform' as a dress code for this year's party. That had been shot down, of course. And so it was 'formal wear or dress uniform', but 'formal wear' covered a lot more on Etheria than on Earth. Well, the Earth members were adapting at least - the Colonel from New Zealand they had spotted on the way in wore an outfit that could fit in on Etheria without any problem. At least indoors or in warmer climates.
"You know I am not wearing a uniform." Adora frowned. "You insisted on it."
"Just checking." Catra grinned and sat down next to her love. "Let me fix your hair."
"Sure. But use a brush, not your claws!"
Catra snorted. "That was a joke." Mostly. But even if she used her claws, she would be careful not to cut Adora's hair. "And you have to wear that dress you got. You look beautiful in it."
Adora blushed as expected, and Catra quickly finished brushing her hair. "Always leave that to someone who has to take care of much more hair than you'll ever have."
"I'm not sure if fur counts," Adora shot back as she got up.
"It's hair." Catra leaned back, hands on the back of her head, and watched Adora get dressed. The white dress really suited her - better than the red dress she had worn to Princess Prom, and that wasn't a low bar. One slit along the side exposed her long leg whenever she took a step, and the neck plunged to the middle of her chest and left both shoulders free. Jack would probably joke that it only stayed up thanks to magic.
And it would match her own, dark suit - with just a hint of red when the light hit just right - and burgundy shirt, buttons undone to match her love's cleavage, perfectly. "If there were a red carpet, we'd beat everyone else," she said as Adora put her shoes on.
"It's not a competition, Catra."
"Of course it's a competition. Like Princess Prom was."
"But…"
"It's about impressing people." Catra flashed her fangs as she took Adora's arm. "And we'll leave an impression so deep, people will think a meteor struck."
"I'm not sure that's how they say it."
"You got my meaning just fine." Cara grinned as she opened the door and led Adora out. "Let's see if Bow and Glimmer are ready already."
Bow and Glimmer were ready - and while Adora and Catra had picked their outfits from Earth, their friends had gone the other way.
"That's… a variant of your coronation outfit," Adora said.
"Yes. Traditionally, the actual coronation outfit is only worn for that occasion. But I like the style," Glimmer said.
"And it emphasises that you're a queen," Catra added with a grin.
Glimmer matched her grin. "Yes, it does."
Both to the Earth members and to the Etherians who would be watching the reports.
Bow was wearing a stylish white tunic and pants combo that - of course - left his midriff bare and used gold strips instead of buttons, with embroidery sporting Bright Moon's crest on the sleeves and the back.
"Right. Let's make an entrance." Catra grinned again.
"What about Entrapta and the others?" Glimmer asked.
"They'll meet us inside," Adora - who, of course, had memorised every detail of the party schedule - replied. "They don't have quarters here and didn't want to use the guest quarters."
"Why not?" Glimmer asked.
"Knowing Entrapta, she's working until the last minute," Catra said.
"Yeah, that fits." Glimmer nodded. "Any last-minute additions to the guest list we need to know about?"
"Uh…" Adora frowned. "No, you already know about the ambassadors from not-quite-allied states. And we don't have guests from Etheria who aren't members of the Alliance."
"Good! It's going to be annoying enough to deal with internal politics." Glimmer smiled.
"Ah… Speaking of politics, there's a protest outside." Adora smiled weakly. "But we don't have to go outside."
"It's actually a couple of protests," Catra explained. "The police are busier trying to keep them apart than trying to keep them out of the building. People who think we're warmongers for fighting the snakes, people who think we're not fighting them hard enough, people protesting the death of 'traditional industries', people protesting aliens, people protesting our sexual preferences…" She shrugged. "Lots of nutcases think this is the best way to spend New Year's Eve. Several travelled here from Europe and the US."
Glimmer cursed. "Great. At least, we won't hear them inside the ballroom."
Well, Catra probably would, if she tried. But she had learned to ignore background noise like that pretty quickly once she started living in the cadet quarters. She'd gone crazy otherwise.
"Let's go and have fun!"
"Yeah!"
Starting the tradition - well, continuing Stargate Command's tradition, to be precise - of having a New Year's Party at their Headquarters might have been, in hindsight, a mistake. At least in Jack O'Neill's opinion. It was one thing to have a New Year's Party in a highly-classified base deep under Mount Cheyenne, where only those assigned to Stargate Command could attend - with the possible exception of those higher-ups who both were read-in on the project and could afford to miss a more high-profile event without threatening the secrecy. It was another to have a New Year's Party at the most famous military location in the world, in the middle of what counted as the capital of the European Union, where NATO headquarters was located as well. Not only were journalists gathered outside as if this were some red carpet event in Hollywood, and enough protesters to topple a French minister. No, every damn member of the military or government of the Alliance member states seemed to have done their utmost to get an invitation to this party.
And it seemed that in the absence of Adora and the rest of the Best Friends Squad, every single damn one of those guests wanted to talk to him. Like this prick from the state department who had somehow managed to get an invitation. Probably from an ambitious officer who wanted to 'cultivate' contacts for his career.
"...and you know, I feel that the Etherians are on to something by turning their most important diplomatic meeting into a ball. There's just an entirely different feeling to the meeting when it's not a meeting but a party, General. Of course, we had the same customs in the past - at the Congress in Vienna, parties happened practically every day for the assembled notables to mingle."
The prick finally had to come up for air, and now Jack was expected to say something to keep the conversation going. Damn. Daniel would probably cut the guy's views apart - Jack knew for a fact that a hell of a lot of deals were made at mixers, dinners and parties instead of in the offices of the Capitol. Or the Pentagon, so this wasn't exactly a new thing. But unlike Daniel, Jack couldn't talk down to others and appear friendly and polite at the same time. So he nodded with the best politely bored smile he managed this side of yawning. "Yes. In my experience, Etherian customs aren't really as different from Earth's customs as people seem to think. Many countries have very different customs compared to the US."
"Oh, yes! I work at the State Department, and let me tell you, the number of faux pas and near-incidents we have to deal with because people just assume that everyone thinks like them - even in our department! - is staggering! I'd say I spent at least two years just smoothing things out - you should have seen my chocolate and liquor expenses!"
"You mean gifts, I hope." Jack smiled.
It was a weak joke - so weak, Teal'c would either ignore it or make fun of Jack - but the prick chuckled in the most obviously fake way. "Oh, yes, of course!"
His expression made Jack want to set Paris and Wilkinson on the guy's accounting information to see how many private expenses had been billed to the state. And he wanted to joke about that. But either would be petty and probably cause some incident that might, if not ruin, then affect the otherwise good mood - at least, most of the soldiers taking part here seemed to enjoy it. Of course, soldiers being soldiers, free food and, even more important, free booze, were usually enough to satisfy them. Add free entertainment - as Jack had heard it, the committee organising the part had had their pick of the stars when choosing the band for the evening, and Jack still wasn't sure that they had been joking about having to use a protection detail so their choice wouldn't be murdered by her rivals - and pretty much every soldier would be happy as a clam.
"So, do you think we'll see more princesses here than last year? Our contact has been mostly restricted to those princesses who are members of the Alliance - the Princess Alliance, I mean, not the Alliance - and I know several of my colleagues would be very interested in meeting other representatives of Etheria's ruling caste." And the prick wanted to be the one who managed it.
"I'm afraid that since this is the Alliance New Year's Party, the Etherians didn't invite non-members," Jack told him. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have proposed to use the party as an excuse to skip a lengthy debriefing after the mission.
"Ah, that's too bad. I've been telling my colleagues that we need to foster relations with all countries on Etheria, not just our allies. A country has interests, after all, and this war won't last forever."
Oh, one of those. "Well, I can ask Glimmer - sorry, Queen Glimmer - what she thinks about that." Jack offered his best innocent smile. "She's the expert on Etherian politics." Although at this point, Angella might have caught up on what she had missed while she was trapped in another dimension, and since she had centuries more experience in politics… But best to mention that, or the prick might think this meant he could try to play mother against daughter or something similarly stupid; Jack had experience with what kind of nonsense the state department could get up to. Nonsense that tended to get people killed, in many cases.
"Ah." That was now a very forced and almost painful smile.
Jack had to suppress a grin. And, in perfect timing, his friends were arriving - he saw Emily at the door, and that meant Entrapta was here, and since Carter had been helping her get ready, or had said so - they might have been working on something instead - that meant Carter had arrived as well.
Jack made an excuse and left the prick, whose name he had already forgotten, and made his way towards the bot. Usually, he'd be able to spot his friends in any crowd, but with several Etherians who were topping seven feet or more, it was a bit harder.
But as he slid past a gaggle of Colonels and their spouses, he spotted Entrapta in a pretty classic cocktail dress - likely Carter's choice. And that meant…
He blinked. Carter hadn't come in her dress uniform. She was wearing a dress. A dress that, in his opinion, would have better fit the singer on stage than his former Second-in-Command. Not that it didn't fit her, of course. Because it did. Like a glove. Which was a problem.
Damn.
It wasn't indecent, far from it. But much more… well, sexy was the right word, as much as he didn't want to use it, than he had expected.
Play it casually, Jack, he told himself. Don't act as if you're… whatever you are. "New Dress, Carter?" He asked and made a point of peering at her as he'd look at one of her inventions.
And pretended very hard that he didn't notice the slight blush on her cheek.
"Yes, sir." At least she sounded as usual. Professional. Controlled. "It's a new fabric. We're field testing the formula."
He blinked at that. "A field test?" he asked before he could help himself, but, at least, he managed not to grin but keep his expression to honest surprise. This wasn't the occasion for a teasing joke about thin excuses.
And it definitely wasn't the time to think about thin-anything, he reminded himself.
"It is built with advanced technology and structured on a molecular level and then sandwiched with different layers to offer much better insulation than anything else we have while also having variable ventilation controlled by microcircuits and tiny trickles of power!" Entrapta cut in. "We're still working on the tensile strength - currently, it's not feasible as armour, and it would not work against any kinetic projectile at all, though you could remedy that with padding or some sort of variable shock-resistant gel, although that would defeat the whole point of making the fabric thin. Though we might be able to boost the insulation so laser weapons would have their power reduced significantly, but that would probably only work against our own weapons, since the Goa'uld don't use laser weapons or thermic weapons. Well, sometimes they use fire bombs, but to defeat those you'd need to be fully covered, and they might still overwhelm the fabric's capacity."
That was… Jack blinked again. "It's alien Gore-Tex?"
"In a manner of speaking, sir," Carter replied. With a very familiar expression that said 'in your completely simplified layman terms' without a word.
It felt pretty comforting to Jack right now. "So, we could have ultra-light sleeping bags."
"And undersuits that keep you from overheating or freezing without adding significant weight to your gear, sir."
"Yes! Though we're still looking if we can make the fabric even better!" Entrapta nodded.
Now that he took a closer look at her, past the hair tendrils carrying plates with small finger food - when had she managed to grab those when she had just arrived and they hadn't gone near the buffet? - it was obvious that her dress was cut from the same material. "So, you've started sewing, Carter?"
"I would hardly call using CAD and an automated fabricator 'sewing', sir."
"Well, the results are impressive either way," he said, then suppressed a wince when he saw her hint of annoyance turn into a slight blush. He hadn't meant it like that!
"Indeed! The fabric has exceeded the estimated results."
Jack turned, frowning at himself. How had he missed Hordak walking up to him? The guy was almost seven feet tall! Jack must have gotten too used to being surrounded by all the Clones in the fleet.
The former warlord - and 'former' only fit as long as Hordak played nice, now that he had a fleet answering to him again - was wearing a suit in the same black colour as the dresses. He must have been involved in the whole project, Jack realised. And Jack didn't like that thought. "Yeah, material science is a fascinating subject," he said with a bit more sarcasm than he wanted.
"It is." Hordak must have missed the sarcasm - or ignored it. "Of course, the physical effects of the fabric are merely one part; one must not forget how the dresses enhance the wearer's attractiveness."
"Thank you, Hordak!"
Jack blinked again, then narrowed his eyes even while Hordak bowed his head to a blushing Entrapta. Was that a dig at Jack and whatever he didn't feel for Carter? Or just the way a Clone raised as a mind-controlled soldier for a megalomaniac warlord would flirt with a Princess who wasn't the best at getting social cues either? He glanced at Carter, but she was smiling at the couple.
Probably better that way, he reminded himself. If he had caught her glancing at him after Hordak's compliment, that would have been a bit awkward as well. Still… "Yeah, the dresses look great," he said.
Couldn't let Hordak outdo him, after all.
"Thank you, sir," Carter replied a bit stiltedly. If that was the right word. It was definitely un-Carterly.
Fortunately, a distraction appeared. Or several distractions. Like micro-spy bots carrying small plates of food.
"Oh, yes - Emily's got a new module, carrying a dozen of the cute little bots!" Entrapta explained. "That way, she can also help us in areas that are too narrow or small for her. She can control them directly or issue orders and have them act autonomously, say when faced with jamming, though their control matrices aren't really advanced enough to make decisions on their own. We've tried to make them form a composite matrix, but that would require forming a network, and if they can do that, Emily can control them directly anyway, so that felt a bit redundant. And Sam said that people are a bit worried about bots forming a hivemind even if that's irrational."
"Just a bit, yes." Jack nodded as he took a salmon roll from the plate in front of him. Best to get one before Catra arrived to lay waste to the seafood part of the buffet.
It said something about Carter's dress that he was relieved to hear about another invention Entrapta had been working on that could cause a disaster if it went out of control. And probably something about his own feelings that he didn't want to go into right now. Or ever.
"Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad."
"Hello, Glimmer. Good evening, everyone."
"Hi, Glimmer! Hi, everyone."
"Hello, Angella! Hi, Micah!" Adora wanted to wince - her greeting had come out far too forced. But there was still - or again? She couldn't keep up with all the gossip in Bright Moon while leading the Alliance - some tension between Glimmer and Angella. Nothing serious, or Glimmer would have told her, though.
"Angella."
"Catra."
Well, the tension there was far more obvious, of course. Nothing really bad, either, but… Angella blamed Catra for her dimensional exile, and Catra blamed Angella for what had happened in the dream world.
Adora cleared her throat. "We're sorry for asking you to come to the party in our stead, only for us to finish our mission early."
"Oh, don't worry!" Micah smiled. "The Alliance New Year's Party should be fun."
"It is certainly one of the most anticipated events back home," Angella said with a slightly wry smile that Adora couldn't quite place. Was she annoyed that many Etherians were still crazy for anything from Earth? Or enjoying the fact that she was attending while other princesses weren't? Angella wasn't that petty, but if she'd had a meeting with Princess Sweet Bee recently…
"So, let's go in!" Glimmer spoke up.
"It's called making an entrance, dear."
"I was deliberately downplaying it, Mum."
"You shouldn't. Just treat it as a form of the All Princess Ball."
"I want to have fun, not do politics."
"You're the Queen. Everything you do is politics."
"Heard that, Bow?"
"Catra!" Adora hissed, but her love just grinned without any shame while Bow and Glimmer blushed, Micah tried not to laugh - Adora could see his lips behind the hand masking his fake cough - and Angella scowled.
"Oh, you…" Glimmer's scowl matched Angella's, and she walked ahead, fast enough to have the guards rush to open the doors to the ballroom.
"Catra!" Adora repeated herself in a whisper as they fell in line after Glimmer and before Angella and Micah.
"What?" Catra replied as they entered the ballroom. "It shut them up before all the salmon is gone from the buffet."
Adora rolled her eyes for a moment, then smiled as nicely as she could when all eyes turned on them, even though their entrance wasn't announced.
"Look! There are the others. Oh, Jack looks pissed!" Catra said, pulling on Adora's arm. "Let's go and find out what's annoying him."
Adora nodded. If there was a problem, maybe they could help - this was a party, after all, and everyone should have fun.
"Oh, that's great!" Catra whispered halfway to their friends.
"What?" Adora asked between smiling and nodding greetings at people she knew professionally or not at all. Everything seemed fine. Most of their friends were gathered there, and everyone looked great.
"Look at Sam."
Adora did. Sam looked great. That dress really fit her.
"Jack's being stupid about her again, duh!"
"Oh."
They had almost reached their friends. Entrapta was waving with both her free hand and a few hair tendrils.
"Now, I wonder why Sam decided to dress up instead of wearing her boring uniform," Catra whispered.
That was a good question, actually. Jack and Sam were both being stupid about their mutual attraction - Adora was pretty sure it was more than that, anyway - so Adora would have expected Sam to emphasise that she was a soldier even at the party. Had she changed her opinion?
"Hi, everyone!"
Catra's enthusiastic greeting interrupted Adora's thoughts, and she was quick to add her own. "Hello!"
While everyone greeted everyone, and then repeated it for Glimmer and Bow, who had made a slight detour to grab some drinks from a server, Adora looked at Jack and Sam. Jack looked tense. He didn't seem to have fun. Sam, though, seemed to be enjoying herself. Probably.
"Nice dress, Sam." Catra, as Adora should have expected, wasn't very subtle about getting to the bottom of this.
"Thank you."
"It's a field test!" Entrapta spoke up. "We're working on a new fabric for new suits."
"And a new fabricator and, I believe, a design program improved from the one used on the Alliance Uniforms," Hordak added. "The results are certainly very satisfying."
"Yes!" Entrapta hugged him, and Adora saw Hordak blush in an almost cute manner.
"Good evening, everyone. Hordak." Angella's tone grew cold from one word to the next.
"Angella." And Hordak wasn't blushing any more.
Adora winced. While there was some tension left between Catra and Angella, it paled in comparison to the tension left between those two. They had literally decades of war between them. And they hadn't gone through what had happened in the dream dimension between Catra and Angella to work somewhat through the whole thing. This made Jack look like the life of the party.
Adora was unashamedly happy when Swift Wind's loud arrival - he entered with his wings spread and a loud greeting - provided an excuse to leave the group again. She'd rather deal with the occasional politician unhappy about Swift Wind's Free the Horses campaign than Hordak and Angella. She could talk to Jack, Sam and the others once the group had split up a bit more.
She dragged Catra with her just to be on the safe side, though.
"It is a nice change to see you wearing something other than armour, Hordak."
Samantha Carter had to wonder if Angella was alluding to the fact that Hordak used to wear his armour because it also incorporated life support systems that helped with his health issues. Her tone certainly implied it, but would she be as rude as to say so?
"I would return the compliment in the spirit it was given, except I distinctly remember your outfit from my briefings in the past. This seems a little inappropriate."
Sam wanted to wince at Hordak's tone. If he was trying to hide a barb behind a fake mask of honest curiosity or concern, he was failing utterly.
"Inappropriate?" Angella's eyes narrowed.
"I was given to understand that wearing a dress twice for social events is considered a misstep on Earth. At least for those of sufficient means to buy a new one for such an occasion."
"Yes! It's a weird and irrational social convention!" Entrapta chimed. Sam could tell from her smile that she hadn't quite realised that her lover and her friend were not amiably discussing Earth customs. "If you find a dress you like, nice and comfortable, why wouldn't you wear it whenever you wanted? I first thought it was a concern about your appearance becoming stale and predictable, but Earth's social conventions are too conservative for such a progressive influence, so it's likely an attempt to stimulate the local fashion industry by making the rich spend money on clothes even though they already have enough. At least, that's my hypothesis."
Sam winced at the inadvertent insult to Angella as Hordak nodded in agreement. At least, trying to navigate this awkward situation helped with keeping her from dwelling on her own, in hindsight somewhat questionable, choice of dress. What had she been thinking? Well, apart from wanting to support Entrapta's idea of testing their new fabric, since her friend usually had trouble on such occasions. And, as much as she disliked admitting it, not wanting to go in dress uniform when all her friends from Etheria were picking dresses fit for princesses. And, of course, the challenge of producing two dresses in an afternoon, without any preliminary work other than creating the fabric itself, had been intriguing.
But she hadn't considered how the General's presence would affect this. Well, she had, but she had significantly miscalculated. He had been surprised, which she had expected, but instead of some low-key appreciation and perhaps some joking remarks about a future in the fashion industry, his reaction - and her reaction to his reaction - had left her feeling quite awkward. She wasn't looking forward to sorting out why this was the case and how to deal with it. Especially since she already knew the reasons for this.
"I don't see a need to follow the social conventions of Earth when they are clearly wrong," Angella said.
"Many people on Earth question the custom you mentioned," Micah cut in with a smile aimed at Entrapta - and a glance aimed at Sam.
Right. She'd better focus on dealing with this mess, and not her own. Someone had to, after Glimmer and Bow had fled. "Yes. A lot of criticism is based on the fact that it only applies to women; men could wear the same suit several times without facing any consequences."
"And it doesn't apply to uniforms!" Entrapta added. "Jack can wear - is actually expected to - wear his dress uniform whenever he wants on social occasions."
"Oh, I could even wear it on the battlefield," the General said. "But it wouldn't be very practical, and it would make me look like a fool."
Sam narrowed her eyes. Was that a criticism aimed at her choice of dress for this occasion? Did he want her to wear her uniform? Or was she misjudging or overanalysing his comments?
"That's only because your dress uniforms are not very practical for field combat," Hordak told him.
"Well, they're meant for social events, not combat. And people would frown if I came to a party wearing body armour."
"That seems to be a problem on their side." Hordak shrugged. "I believe that in some Earth cultures, wearing armour and weapons was socially accepted or even expected from members of the military."
"I think that was more of a ceremonial thing," the General said.
Sam looked around. Where was Daniel? He would be able to take this and run with it, turning it into an impromptu history lesson that would drive away both the hostility and awkwardness. And probably half the group. There! She couldn't help frowning when she saw that Daniel and Sha're were talking with Swift Wind, Adora, Catra, Teal'c and Drey'auc on the other end of the ballroom.
"One would hope so. On Etheria, the All Princess Ball had had a no-weapons rule since its inception," Angella said. "Everyone understood what breaking it meant," she added with another cold stare aimed at Hordak.
Sam winced again. In hindsight, she should have faked an emergency and locked herself up in her lab instead of attending the party.
"...and they said our latest ad has broken records; people are copying it on the internet, and news agencies are reporting on it even in countries where it wasn't broadcast. Donations have picked up as well. Although there has been some criticism that comparing horses to Goa'uld slaves was 'inappropriate', but we can safely ignore that - it came from some of the same people who thought your and Catra's relationship was inappropriate, so it's actually a sign of approval.
"I don't think it works like that, Swift Wind."
Catra rolled her eyes. She should have stayed with the others. Sure, watching Angella and Hordak talking felt like an armistice meeting - or Princess Prom during the Horde War - and made her fur bristle, but it beat listening to Swift Wind tell everyone about his 'free the horses' campaign.
"The difference is that the Goa'uld would never use horses as hosts," Sha're said with a frown, and Daniel wrapped his arm around her waist.
Catra understood the notion. It was one thing to lose your freedom, another to have lost control of your own body and even mind.
"So, we're making progress with the crusade for freedom. Though, did you know that some barbaric kingdoms still let people eat horses? Not only do they condone the enslavement of my brothers and sisters, they butcher and eat them!"
Catra doubted anyone wasn't aware of that after the incident when the Headquarters cantina had put horse meat on the menu. Once. The French were still grumbling about the whole thing. But she was really not in the mood to listen to Swift Wind any longer. "So, what's new with you?" she asked Teal'c and Drey'auc. "How's Rya'c doing?" She wasn't that interested, but it was better than Swift Wind going on about his campaign or his special bond with Adora.
"Our son has acclimated well to Earth," Teal'c said. "Although we have had to take steps to ensure that his training will not suffer as a result of his attending a local school."
"Finding a teacher up to the task was a challenge," Drey'acu added. "Most are coddling their students far too much. Rya'c is a Jaffa, not a human, and he needs to be treated as such."
"Indeed."
"Well, since he can attend military close-quarters training thanks to Jack, that shouldn't be a problem," Daniel said.
"Could send him to a military academy," Catra said. "As a cadet." Earth cadet training wasn't quite as tough as Horde cadet training had been - and that was a good thing, she reminded herself; some instructors should have been shot instead of transferred to training commands - but it would probably suit the kid.
"We have looked into that, but the curriculum did not seem appropriate for his needs as a Jaffa warrior," Teal'c said. "But I remain confident that, as we liberate more worlds and more Jaffa are breaking with the False Gods, we will be able to organise the appropriate training programs. Until then, we will make do with what we have available."
"As long as Rya'c is happy, it's OK." Adora smiled.
"We do our best, of course," Drey'auc replied. "And we've been looking into having another child once we're settled in." She looked at Teal'c.
"Indeed."
"That's great!" Adora commented again.
"Yes." Daniel was smiling widely, as was Sha're.
"Are you planning to have a child as well?" Drey'auc asked.
And the smiles dimmed. Daniel looked at Sha're, who tensed a little as she said: "Once we are ready."
Catra nodded. Anyone could tell that this was a sensitive subject that they didn't want to discuss right now.
"And when will that be?" Anyone except for Swift Wind. "Children are great! I'm looking forward to having some myself! Though I am waiting for Adora to have children so they can grow up together as best friends!"
Catra froze for a moment, then glanced at Adora.
Her love wasn't really doing any better. "Children?"
"We don't really have the time, what with the war and all," Catra quickly said, glaring at the dumb horse.
"Oh." Swift Wind looked disappointed.
"Ah, have you looked into the genetics of the whole, ah, thing?" Daniel sounded as if he didn't want to know the answer, but couldn't stop himself from asking.
"Well, I would ask Alpha about that. She's the expert," Swift Wind told him.
That was… surprisingly sensible for him, Catra had to admit. But she really didn't want to know any details about his plans. Especially those involving Adora. "Oh, look, they opened the buffet!" she blurted out and grabbed Adora's arm.
"They opened it a while ago, I thought."
Catra ignored Adora's comment and dragged her away. She needed seafood and booze. And some distance to Swift Wind.
Jack O'Neill generally wasn't fond of politicians, whether they wore uniforms or not, but when he spotted the American Ambassador to Belgium headed their way, he didn't sarcastically wonder why the man was at the party when he wasn't involved with Alliance business in the first place, but smiled. Finally, a distraction! Between Carter looking far too attractive for a subordinate and Angella and Hordak currently doing a Horde War retrospective with so much passive-aggressiveness, even Entrapta had started to notice that something was off, he could use one.
"Mr Franklin!" he greeted the man.
"General O'Neill." Franklin seemed both surprised and a bit wary at the enthusiastic greeting, which meant he was smarter than the last US ambassador Jack had met. "Your Highness." He bowed his head to Angella. "King Micah. Princess Entrapta. Hordak. Major Carter." Yeah, the guy had done his homework. Or his assistants had. Probably the latter.
"How do you like the party?" Jack asked.
"Oh, it's great!" The guy seemed almost genuine. "It certainly deserves its reputation."
"The party has a reputation?" Angella asked.
"Oh, yes." Franklin nodded with an easy smile. "It's the biggest gathering of off-worlders on Earth, with a corresponding range in food, drinks and entertainment few other events could hope to match. I was very fortunate to secure an invitation."
Yeah, Jack could believe that. Priorities went to actual members of the Alliance Military. Unlike the old Stargate Command New Year's Parties, you couldn't even hope to fit the entire command into one room - Jack's command by itself would be far too large - but Jack had managed to get a mix of enlisted and junior officers in addition to the brass on the guestlist. Thanks to Adora and Catra, mostly; the princesses hadn't seen the problem, and the Generals had been torn since for every enlisted added, one of their protegés would have to be cut.
And this was the perfect opportunity to get away. "And speaking of drinks…" He grinned. "I think I'll check out the bar. I'm feeling a bit parched. Does anyone want anything?"
Carter raised her eyebrows and pointedly looked at the closest waiter amongst those circulating in the crowd, but he ignored that. He probably should have made his escape a while ago, but with Hordak and Angella doing their bit, he hadn't found the opportunity to smoothly slip away without making it look very obvious and awkward, or cowardly.
This, though, was fine, and after everyone else declined, Jack stepped away and started towards the bar.
Unlike at Stargate Command, the bar wasn't staffed by a corporal who had moonlighted as a bartender during an aborted attempt at college. The Alliance had the budget to splurge, and the committee organising this had shown not much restraint in using it, so Jack got his drink mixed by a professional bartender hired for the occasion. Probably at a premium, since they would be missing out on the tips they could earn at their regular job during one of the busiest nights of the year.
Of course, the selection available showed the impact of a high budget as well. And the effect of every member nation trying to show off their national drinks. Well, Jack didn't mind having his fill of single malts where a bottle cost as much as a casket of bourbon.
"We'll have two of what he has!"
Jack turned, silently berating himself for his lapse in situational awareness. "Hey, Catra. Adora." He nodded at the slightly embarrassed-looking Adora while Catra pointed at his drink for emphasis.
The bartender quickly filled two more glasses.
"So…" Jack grinned. "Seeking refuge from annoying conversations as well? Or just something to numb the brain?"
"Swift Wind is talking about having children," Catra said, then winced.
Jack nodded, ignoring the familiar pain as he thought of Charlie. And the frown on Adora's face aimed at Catra, who frowned right back. "Angella and Hordak are still at it," he said, changing the topic.
"She can hold a grudge. Glimmer got that from her," Catra said. Adora stared at her, and she shrugged. "Hey, I don't claim I don't."
"It's still hypocritical!"
"I never claimed I wasn't hypocritical!"
Jack snorted. That was the kind of bickering he could tolerate, or even enjoy, as long as it didn't involve him.
He glanced back at the others he had left and frowned. Angella and Hordak were still talking, with Franklin probably caught between them, and Micah and Entrapta flanking both, but… where was Carter?
He quickly started scanning the room. Just looking out for her, really. She probably was… He blinked. Who was that officer she was chatting with? That was a French uniform, so he wasn't some old friend from the Air Force Academy.
Jack downed the rest of his drink and ordered another while he thought of a good excuse to join them. Just out of curiosity, of course.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 31st, 2001
Catra studied her reflection in their quarters' mirror, turning her head slightly to check how she could present her best side without looking as if she were posing. They had barely made it back in time for the New Year's Party - and they had still beaten the Etherian delegation coming directly from Etheria. Catra was pretty sure someone had pulled some strings to make that happen, but Glimmer insisted it was just a coincidence.
"You're going with the suit?" Adora asked as she stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.
"I am not going to wear a dress uniform," Catra said, watching her love in the mirror. "Not unless I am forced to. And if I were, I'd pick one of Sea Hawk's designs," she added with a grin. "Probably with a cape. All the gold and silver would break the Alliance budget." Especially if they had to pay extra for immediate delivery.
"You wouldn't," Adora said as she sat down on the bed and fiddled with her hair.
"Is that a challenge?" Catra turned and raised her eyebrows.
"You wouldn't wear a cape. It would be messing with your tail." Adora matched her grin.
Catra frowned. That was true. But she had an answer. "A half-cape then. Hanging from one shoulder like those hussars of Earth." She stepped closer. "And as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, we'd stuff you in an even worse uniform."
"I'd simply come as She-Ra." Adora tried to look smug. "A princess's battle dress counts as a uniform according to Alliance regulations."
Because that was something the Princess Alliance had insisted on, of course.
Catra changed tacks. "You're not wearing a dress uniform either, I hope." Some idiot had tried to get 'dress or dress uniform' as a dress code for this year's party. That had been shot down, of course. And so it was 'formal wear or dress uniform', but 'formal wear' covered a lot more on Etheria than on Earth. Well, the Earth members were adapting at least - the Colonel from New Zealand they had spotted on the way in wore an outfit that could fit in on Etheria without any problem. At least indoors or in warmer climates.
"You know I am not wearing a uniform." Adora frowned. "You insisted on it."
"Just checking." Catra grinned and sat down next to her love. "Let me fix your hair."
"Sure. But use a brush, not your claws!"
Catra snorted. "That was a joke." Mostly. But even if she used her claws, she would be careful not to cut Adora's hair. "And you have to wear that dress you got. You look beautiful in it."
Adora blushed as expected, and Catra quickly finished brushing her hair. "Always leave that to someone who has to take care of much more hair than you'll ever have."
"I'm not sure if fur counts," Adora shot back as she got up.
"It's hair." Catra leaned back, hands on the back of her head, and watched Adora get dressed. The white dress really suited her - better than the red dress she had worn to Princess Prom, and that wasn't a low bar. One slit along the side exposed her long leg whenever she took a step, and the neck plunged to the middle of her chest and left both shoulders free. Jack would probably joke that it only stayed up thanks to magic.
And it would match her own, dark suit - with just a hint of red when the light hit just right - and burgundy shirt, buttons undone to match her love's cleavage, perfectly. "If there were a red carpet, we'd beat everyone else," she said as Adora put her shoes on.
"It's not a competition, Catra."
"Of course it's a competition. Like Princess Prom was."
"But…"
"It's about impressing people." Catra flashed her fangs as she took Adora's arm. "And we'll leave an impression so deep, people will think a meteor struck."
"I'm not sure that's how they say it."
"You got my meaning just fine." Cara grinned as she opened the door and led Adora out. "Let's see if Bow and Glimmer are ready already."
*****
Bow and Glimmer were ready - and while Adora and Catra had picked their outfits from Earth, their friends had gone the other way.
"That's… a variant of your coronation outfit," Adora said.
"Yes. Traditionally, the actual coronation outfit is only worn for that occasion. But I like the style," Glimmer said.
"And it emphasises that you're a queen," Catra added with a grin.
Glimmer matched her grin. "Yes, it does."
Both to the Earth members and to the Etherians who would be watching the reports.
Bow was wearing a stylish white tunic and pants combo that - of course - left his midriff bare and used gold strips instead of buttons, with embroidery sporting Bright Moon's crest on the sleeves and the back.
"Right. Let's make an entrance." Catra grinned again.
"What about Entrapta and the others?" Glimmer asked.
"They'll meet us inside," Adora - who, of course, had memorised every detail of the party schedule - replied. "They don't have quarters here and didn't want to use the guest quarters."
"Why not?" Glimmer asked.
"Knowing Entrapta, she's working until the last minute," Catra said.
"Yeah, that fits." Glimmer nodded. "Any last-minute additions to the guest list we need to know about?"
"Uh…" Adora frowned. "No, you already know about the ambassadors from not-quite-allied states. And we don't have guests from Etheria who aren't members of the Alliance."
"Good! It's going to be annoying enough to deal with internal politics." Glimmer smiled.
"Ah… Speaking of politics, there's a protest outside." Adora smiled weakly. "But we don't have to go outside."
"It's actually a couple of protests," Catra explained. "The police are busier trying to keep them apart than trying to keep them out of the building. People who think we're warmongers for fighting the snakes, people who think we're not fighting them hard enough, people protesting the death of 'traditional industries', people protesting aliens, people protesting our sexual preferences…" She shrugged. "Lots of nutcases think this is the best way to spend New Year's Eve. Several travelled here from Europe and the US."
Glimmer cursed. "Great. At least, we won't hear them inside the ballroom."
Well, Catra probably would, if she tried. But she had learned to ignore background noise like that pretty quickly once she started living in the cadet quarters. She'd gone crazy otherwise.
"Let's go and have fun!"
"Yeah!"
*****
Starting the tradition - well, continuing Stargate Command's tradition, to be precise - of having a New Year's Party at their Headquarters might have been, in hindsight, a mistake. At least in Jack O'Neill's opinion. It was one thing to have a New Year's Party in a highly-classified base deep under Mount Cheyenne, where only those assigned to Stargate Command could attend - with the possible exception of those higher-ups who both were read-in on the project and could afford to miss a more high-profile event without threatening the secrecy. It was another to have a New Year's Party at the most famous military location in the world, in the middle of what counted as the capital of the European Union, where NATO headquarters was located as well. Not only were journalists gathered outside as if this were some red carpet event in Hollywood, and enough protesters to topple a French minister. No, every damn member of the military or government of the Alliance member states seemed to have done their utmost to get an invitation to this party.
And it seemed that in the absence of Adora and the rest of the Best Friends Squad, every single damn one of those guests wanted to talk to him. Like this prick from the state department who had somehow managed to get an invitation. Probably from an ambitious officer who wanted to 'cultivate' contacts for his career.
"...and you know, I feel that the Etherians are on to something by turning their most important diplomatic meeting into a ball. There's just an entirely different feeling to the meeting when it's not a meeting but a party, General. Of course, we had the same customs in the past - at the Congress in Vienna, parties happened practically every day for the assembled notables to mingle."
The prick finally had to come up for air, and now Jack was expected to say something to keep the conversation going. Damn. Daniel would probably cut the guy's views apart - Jack knew for a fact that a hell of a lot of deals were made at mixers, dinners and parties instead of in the offices of the Capitol. Or the Pentagon, so this wasn't exactly a new thing. But unlike Daniel, Jack couldn't talk down to others and appear friendly and polite at the same time. So he nodded with the best politely bored smile he managed this side of yawning. "Yes. In my experience, Etherian customs aren't really as different from Earth's customs as people seem to think. Many countries have very different customs compared to the US."
"Oh, yes! I work at the State Department, and let me tell you, the number of faux pas and near-incidents we have to deal with because people just assume that everyone thinks like them - even in our department! - is staggering! I'd say I spent at least two years just smoothing things out - you should have seen my chocolate and liquor expenses!"
"You mean gifts, I hope." Jack smiled.
It was a weak joke - so weak, Teal'c would either ignore it or make fun of Jack - but the prick chuckled in the most obviously fake way. "Oh, yes, of course!"
His expression made Jack want to set Paris and Wilkinson on the guy's accounting information to see how many private expenses had been billed to the state. And he wanted to joke about that. But either would be petty and probably cause some incident that might, if not ruin, then affect the otherwise good mood - at least, most of the soldiers taking part here seemed to enjoy it. Of course, soldiers being soldiers, free food and, even more important, free booze, were usually enough to satisfy them. Add free entertainment - as Jack had heard it, the committee organising the part had had their pick of the stars when choosing the band for the evening, and Jack still wasn't sure that they had been joking about having to use a protection detail so their choice wouldn't be murdered by her rivals - and pretty much every soldier would be happy as a clam.
"So, do you think we'll see more princesses here than last year? Our contact has been mostly restricted to those princesses who are members of the Alliance - the Princess Alliance, I mean, not the Alliance - and I know several of my colleagues would be very interested in meeting other representatives of Etheria's ruling caste." And the prick wanted to be the one who managed it.
"I'm afraid that since this is the Alliance New Year's Party, the Etherians didn't invite non-members," Jack told him. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have proposed to use the party as an excuse to skip a lengthy debriefing after the mission.
"Ah, that's too bad. I've been telling my colleagues that we need to foster relations with all countries on Etheria, not just our allies. A country has interests, after all, and this war won't last forever."
Oh, one of those. "Well, I can ask Glimmer - sorry, Queen Glimmer - what she thinks about that." Jack offered his best innocent smile. "She's the expert on Etherian politics." Although at this point, Angella might have caught up on what she had missed while she was trapped in another dimension, and since she had centuries more experience in politics… But best to mention that, or the prick might think this meant he could try to play mother against daughter or something similarly stupid; Jack had experience with what kind of nonsense the state department could get up to. Nonsense that tended to get people killed, in many cases.
"Ah." That was now a very forced and almost painful smile.
Jack had to suppress a grin. And, in perfect timing, his friends were arriving - he saw Emily at the door, and that meant Entrapta was here, and since Carter had been helping her get ready, or had said so - they might have been working on something instead - that meant Carter had arrived as well.
Jack made an excuse and left the prick, whose name he had already forgotten, and made his way towards the bot. Usually, he'd be able to spot his friends in any crowd, but with several Etherians who were topping seven feet or more, it was a bit harder.
But as he slid past a gaggle of Colonels and their spouses, he spotted Entrapta in a pretty classic cocktail dress - likely Carter's choice. And that meant…
He blinked. Carter hadn't come in her dress uniform. She was wearing a dress. A dress that, in his opinion, would have better fit the singer on stage than his former Second-in-Command. Not that it didn't fit her, of course. Because it did. Like a glove. Which was a problem.
Damn.
It wasn't indecent, far from it. But much more… well, sexy was the right word, as much as he didn't want to use it, than he had expected.
Play it casually, Jack, he told himself. Don't act as if you're… whatever you are. "New Dress, Carter?" He asked and made a point of peering at her as he'd look at one of her inventions.
And pretended very hard that he didn't notice the slight blush on her cheek.
"Yes, sir." At least she sounded as usual. Professional. Controlled. "It's a new fabric. We're field testing the formula."
He blinked at that. "A field test?" he asked before he could help himself, but, at least, he managed not to grin but keep his expression to honest surprise. This wasn't the occasion for a teasing joke about thin excuses.
And it definitely wasn't the time to think about thin-anything, he reminded himself.
"It is built with advanced technology and structured on a molecular level and then sandwiched with different layers to offer much better insulation than anything else we have while also having variable ventilation controlled by microcircuits and tiny trickles of power!" Entrapta cut in. "We're still working on the tensile strength - currently, it's not feasible as armour, and it would not work against any kinetic projectile at all, though you could remedy that with padding or some sort of variable shock-resistant gel, although that would defeat the whole point of making the fabric thin. Though we might be able to boost the insulation so laser weapons would have their power reduced significantly, but that would probably only work against our own weapons, since the Goa'uld don't use laser weapons or thermic weapons. Well, sometimes they use fire bombs, but to defeat those you'd need to be fully covered, and they might still overwhelm the fabric's capacity."
That was… Jack blinked again. "It's alien Gore-Tex?"
"In a manner of speaking, sir," Carter replied. With a very familiar expression that said 'in your completely simplified layman terms' without a word.
It felt pretty comforting to Jack right now. "So, we could have ultra-light sleeping bags."
"And undersuits that keep you from overheating or freezing without adding significant weight to your gear, sir."
"Yes! Though we're still looking if we can make the fabric even better!" Entrapta nodded.
Now that he took a closer look at her, past the hair tendrils carrying plates with small finger food - when had she managed to grab those when she had just arrived and they hadn't gone near the buffet? - it was obvious that her dress was cut from the same material. "So, you've started sewing, Carter?"
"I would hardly call using CAD and an automated fabricator 'sewing', sir."
"Well, the results are impressive either way," he said, then suppressed a wince when he saw her hint of annoyance turn into a slight blush. He hadn't meant it like that!
"Indeed! The fabric has exceeded the estimated results."
Jack turned, frowning at himself. How had he missed Hordak walking up to him? The guy was almost seven feet tall! Jack must have gotten too used to being surrounded by all the Clones in the fleet.
The former warlord - and 'former' only fit as long as Hordak played nice, now that he had a fleet answering to him again - was wearing a suit in the same black colour as the dresses. He must have been involved in the whole project, Jack realised. And Jack didn't like that thought. "Yeah, material science is a fascinating subject," he said with a bit more sarcasm than he wanted.
"It is." Hordak must have missed the sarcasm - or ignored it. "Of course, the physical effects of the fabric are merely one part; one must not forget how the dresses enhance the wearer's attractiveness."
"Thank you, Hordak!"
Jack blinked again, then narrowed his eyes even while Hordak bowed his head to a blushing Entrapta. Was that a dig at Jack and whatever he didn't feel for Carter? Or just the way a Clone raised as a mind-controlled soldier for a megalomaniac warlord would flirt with a Princess who wasn't the best at getting social cues either? He glanced at Carter, but she was smiling at the couple.
Probably better that way, he reminded himself. If he had caught her glancing at him after Hordak's compliment, that would have been a bit awkward as well. Still… "Yeah, the dresses look great," he said.
Couldn't let Hordak outdo him, after all.
"Thank you, sir," Carter replied a bit stiltedly. If that was the right word. It was definitely un-Carterly.
Fortunately, a distraction appeared. Or several distractions. Like micro-spy bots carrying small plates of food.
"Oh, yes - Emily's got a new module, carrying a dozen of the cute little bots!" Entrapta explained. "That way, she can also help us in areas that are too narrow or small for her. She can control them directly or issue orders and have them act autonomously, say when faced with jamming, though their control matrices aren't really advanced enough to make decisions on their own. We've tried to make them form a composite matrix, but that would require forming a network, and if they can do that, Emily can control them directly anyway, so that felt a bit redundant. And Sam said that people are a bit worried about bots forming a hivemind even if that's irrational."
"Just a bit, yes." Jack nodded as he took a salmon roll from the plate in front of him. Best to get one before Catra arrived to lay waste to the seafood part of the buffet.
It said something about Carter's dress that he was relieved to hear about another invention Entrapta had been working on that could cause a disaster if it went out of control. And probably something about his own feelings that he didn't want to go into right now. Or ever.
*****
"Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad."
"Hello, Glimmer. Good evening, everyone."
"Hi, Glimmer! Hi, everyone."
"Hello, Angella! Hi, Micah!" Adora wanted to wince - her greeting had come out far too forced. But there was still - or again? She couldn't keep up with all the gossip in Bright Moon while leading the Alliance - some tension between Glimmer and Angella. Nothing serious, or Glimmer would have told her, though.
"Angella."
"Catra."
Well, the tension there was far more obvious, of course. Nothing really bad, either, but… Angella blamed Catra for her dimensional exile, and Catra blamed Angella for what had happened in the dream world.
Adora cleared her throat. "We're sorry for asking you to come to the party in our stead, only for us to finish our mission early."
"Oh, don't worry!" Micah smiled. "The Alliance New Year's Party should be fun."
"It is certainly one of the most anticipated events back home," Angella said with a slightly wry smile that Adora couldn't quite place. Was she annoyed that many Etherians were still crazy for anything from Earth? Or enjoying the fact that she was attending while other princesses weren't? Angella wasn't that petty, but if she'd had a meeting with Princess Sweet Bee recently…
"So, let's go in!" Glimmer spoke up.
"It's called making an entrance, dear."
"I was deliberately downplaying it, Mum."
"You shouldn't. Just treat it as a form of the All Princess Ball."
"I want to have fun, not do politics."
"You're the Queen. Everything you do is politics."
"Heard that, Bow?"
"Catra!" Adora hissed, but her love just grinned without any shame while Bow and Glimmer blushed, Micah tried not to laugh - Adora could see his lips behind the hand masking his fake cough - and Angella scowled.
"Oh, you…" Glimmer's scowl matched Angella's, and she walked ahead, fast enough to have the guards rush to open the doors to the ballroom.
"Catra!" Adora repeated herself in a whisper as they fell in line after Glimmer and before Angella and Micah.
"What?" Catra replied as they entered the ballroom. "It shut them up before all the salmon is gone from the buffet."
Adora rolled her eyes for a moment, then smiled as nicely as she could when all eyes turned on them, even though their entrance wasn't announced.
"Look! There are the others. Oh, Jack looks pissed!" Catra said, pulling on Adora's arm. "Let's go and find out what's annoying him."
Adora nodded. If there was a problem, maybe they could help - this was a party, after all, and everyone should have fun.
"Oh, that's great!" Catra whispered halfway to their friends.
"What?" Adora asked between smiling and nodding greetings at people she knew professionally or not at all. Everything seemed fine. Most of their friends were gathered there, and everyone looked great.
"Look at Sam."
Adora did. Sam looked great. That dress really fit her.
"Jack's being stupid about her again, duh!"
"Oh."
They had almost reached their friends. Entrapta was waving with both her free hand and a few hair tendrils.
"Now, I wonder why Sam decided to dress up instead of wearing her boring uniform," Catra whispered.
That was a good question, actually. Jack and Sam were both being stupid about their mutual attraction - Adora was pretty sure it was more than that, anyway - so Adora would have expected Sam to emphasise that she was a soldier even at the party. Had she changed her opinion?
"Hi, everyone!"
Catra's enthusiastic greeting interrupted Adora's thoughts, and she was quick to add her own. "Hello!"
While everyone greeted everyone, and then repeated it for Glimmer and Bow, who had made a slight detour to grab some drinks from a server, Adora looked at Jack and Sam. Jack looked tense. He didn't seem to have fun. Sam, though, seemed to be enjoying herself. Probably.
"Nice dress, Sam." Catra, as Adora should have expected, wasn't very subtle about getting to the bottom of this.
"Thank you."
"It's a field test!" Entrapta spoke up. "We're working on a new fabric for new suits."
"And a new fabricator and, I believe, a design program improved from the one used on the Alliance Uniforms," Hordak added. "The results are certainly very satisfying."
"Yes!" Entrapta hugged him, and Adora saw Hordak blush in an almost cute manner.
"Good evening, everyone. Hordak." Angella's tone grew cold from one word to the next.
"Angella." And Hordak wasn't blushing any more.
Adora winced. While there was some tension left between Catra and Angella, it paled in comparison to the tension left between those two. They had literally decades of war between them. And they hadn't gone through what had happened in the dream dimension between Catra and Angella to work somewhat through the whole thing. This made Jack look like the life of the party.
Adora was unashamedly happy when Swift Wind's loud arrival - he entered with his wings spread and a loud greeting - provided an excuse to leave the group again. She'd rather deal with the occasional politician unhappy about Swift Wind's Free the Horses campaign than Hordak and Angella. She could talk to Jack, Sam and the others once the group had split up a bit more.
She dragged Catra with her just to be on the safe side, though.
*****
"It is a nice change to see you wearing something other than armour, Hordak."
Samantha Carter had to wonder if Angella was alluding to the fact that Hordak used to wear his armour because it also incorporated life support systems that helped with his health issues. Her tone certainly implied it, but would she be as rude as to say so?
"I would return the compliment in the spirit it was given, except I distinctly remember your outfit from my briefings in the past. This seems a little inappropriate."
Sam wanted to wince at Hordak's tone. If he was trying to hide a barb behind a fake mask of honest curiosity or concern, he was failing utterly.
"Inappropriate?" Angella's eyes narrowed.
"I was given to understand that wearing a dress twice for social events is considered a misstep on Earth. At least for those of sufficient means to buy a new one for such an occasion."
"Yes! It's a weird and irrational social convention!" Entrapta chimed. Sam could tell from her smile that she hadn't quite realised that her lover and her friend were not amiably discussing Earth customs. "If you find a dress you like, nice and comfortable, why wouldn't you wear it whenever you wanted? I first thought it was a concern about your appearance becoming stale and predictable, but Earth's social conventions are too conservative for such a progressive influence, so it's likely an attempt to stimulate the local fashion industry by making the rich spend money on clothes even though they already have enough. At least, that's my hypothesis."
Sam winced at the inadvertent insult to Angella as Hordak nodded in agreement. At least, trying to navigate this awkward situation helped with keeping her from dwelling on her own, in hindsight somewhat questionable, choice of dress. What had she been thinking? Well, apart from wanting to support Entrapta's idea of testing their new fabric, since her friend usually had trouble on such occasions. And, as much as she disliked admitting it, not wanting to go in dress uniform when all her friends from Etheria were picking dresses fit for princesses. And, of course, the challenge of producing two dresses in an afternoon, without any preliminary work other than creating the fabric itself, had been intriguing.
But she hadn't considered how the General's presence would affect this. Well, she had, but she had significantly miscalculated. He had been surprised, which she had expected, but instead of some low-key appreciation and perhaps some joking remarks about a future in the fashion industry, his reaction - and her reaction to his reaction - had left her feeling quite awkward. She wasn't looking forward to sorting out why this was the case and how to deal with it. Especially since she already knew the reasons for this.
"I don't see a need to follow the social conventions of Earth when they are clearly wrong," Angella said.
"Many people on Earth question the custom you mentioned," Micah cut in with a smile aimed at Entrapta - and a glance aimed at Sam.
Right. She'd better focus on dealing with this mess, and not her own. Someone had to, after Glimmer and Bow had fled. "Yes. A lot of criticism is based on the fact that it only applies to women; men could wear the same suit several times without facing any consequences."
"And it doesn't apply to uniforms!" Entrapta added. "Jack can wear - is actually expected to - wear his dress uniform whenever he wants on social occasions."
"Oh, I could even wear it on the battlefield," the General said. "But it wouldn't be very practical, and it would make me look like a fool."
Sam narrowed her eyes. Was that a criticism aimed at her choice of dress for this occasion? Did he want her to wear her uniform? Or was she misjudging or overanalysing his comments?
"That's only because your dress uniforms are not very practical for field combat," Hordak told him.
"Well, they're meant for social events, not combat. And people would frown if I came to a party wearing body armour."
"That seems to be a problem on their side." Hordak shrugged. "I believe that in some Earth cultures, wearing armour and weapons was socially accepted or even expected from members of the military."
"I think that was more of a ceremonial thing," the General said.
Sam looked around. Where was Daniel? He would be able to take this and run with it, turning it into an impromptu history lesson that would drive away both the hostility and awkwardness. And probably half the group. There! She couldn't help frowning when she saw that Daniel and Sha're were talking with Swift Wind, Adora, Catra, Teal'c and Drey'auc on the other end of the ballroom.
"One would hope so. On Etheria, the All Princess Ball had had a no-weapons rule since its inception," Angella said. "Everyone understood what breaking it meant," she added with another cold stare aimed at Hordak.
Sam winced again. In hindsight, she should have faked an emergency and locked herself up in her lab instead of attending the party.
*****
"...and they said our latest ad has broken records; people are copying it on the internet, and news agencies are reporting on it even in countries where it wasn't broadcast. Donations have picked up as well. Although there has been some criticism that comparing horses to Goa'uld slaves was 'inappropriate', but we can safely ignore that - it came from some of the same people who thought your and Catra's relationship was inappropriate, so it's actually a sign of approval.
"I don't think it works like that, Swift Wind."
Catra rolled her eyes. She should have stayed with the others. Sure, watching Angella and Hordak talking felt like an armistice meeting - or Princess Prom during the Horde War - and made her fur bristle, but it beat listening to Swift Wind tell everyone about his 'free the horses' campaign.
"The difference is that the Goa'uld would never use horses as hosts," Sha're said with a frown, and Daniel wrapped his arm around her waist.
Catra understood the notion. It was one thing to lose your freedom, another to have lost control of your own body and even mind.
"So, we're making progress with the crusade for freedom. Though, did you know that some barbaric kingdoms still let people eat horses? Not only do they condone the enslavement of my brothers and sisters, they butcher and eat them!"
Catra doubted anyone wasn't aware of that after the incident when the Headquarters cantina had put horse meat on the menu. Once. The French were still grumbling about the whole thing. But she was really not in the mood to listen to Swift Wind any longer. "So, what's new with you?" she asked Teal'c and Drey'auc. "How's Rya'c doing?" She wasn't that interested, but it was better than Swift Wind going on about his campaign or his special bond with Adora.
"Our son has acclimated well to Earth," Teal'c said. "Although we have had to take steps to ensure that his training will not suffer as a result of his attending a local school."
"Finding a teacher up to the task was a challenge," Drey'acu added. "Most are coddling their students far too much. Rya'c is a Jaffa, not a human, and he needs to be treated as such."
"Indeed."
"Well, since he can attend military close-quarters training thanks to Jack, that shouldn't be a problem," Daniel said.
"Could send him to a military academy," Catra said. "As a cadet." Earth cadet training wasn't quite as tough as Horde cadet training had been - and that was a good thing, she reminded herself; some instructors should have been shot instead of transferred to training commands - but it would probably suit the kid.
"We have looked into that, but the curriculum did not seem appropriate for his needs as a Jaffa warrior," Teal'c said. "But I remain confident that, as we liberate more worlds and more Jaffa are breaking with the False Gods, we will be able to organise the appropriate training programs. Until then, we will make do with what we have available."
"As long as Rya'c is happy, it's OK." Adora smiled.
"We do our best, of course," Drey'auc replied. "And we've been looking into having another child once we're settled in." She looked at Teal'c.
"Indeed."
"That's great!" Adora commented again.
"Yes." Daniel was smiling widely, as was Sha're.
"Are you planning to have a child as well?" Drey'auc asked.
And the smiles dimmed. Daniel looked at Sha're, who tensed a little as she said: "Once we are ready."
Catra nodded. Anyone could tell that this was a sensitive subject that they didn't want to discuss right now.
"And when will that be?" Anyone except for Swift Wind. "Children are great! I'm looking forward to having some myself! Though I am waiting for Adora to have children so they can grow up together as best friends!"
Catra froze for a moment, then glanced at Adora.
Her love wasn't really doing any better. "Children?"
"We don't really have the time, what with the war and all," Catra quickly said, glaring at the dumb horse.
"Oh." Swift Wind looked disappointed.
"Ah, have you looked into the genetics of the whole, ah, thing?" Daniel sounded as if he didn't want to know the answer, but couldn't stop himself from asking.
"Well, I would ask Alpha about that. She's the expert," Swift Wind told him.
That was… surprisingly sensible for him, Catra had to admit. But she really didn't want to know any details about his plans. Especially those involving Adora. "Oh, look, they opened the buffet!" she blurted out and grabbed Adora's arm.
"They opened it a while ago, I thought."
Catra ignored Adora's comment and dragged her away. She needed seafood and booze. And some distance to Swift Wind.
*****
Jack O'Neill generally wasn't fond of politicians, whether they wore uniforms or not, but when he spotted the American Ambassador to Belgium headed their way, he didn't sarcastically wonder why the man was at the party when he wasn't involved with Alliance business in the first place, but smiled. Finally, a distraction! Between Carter looking far too attractive for a subordinate and Angella and Hordak currently doing a Horde War retrospective with so much passive-aggressiveness, even Entrapta had started to notice that something was off, he could use one.
"Mr Franklin!" he greeted the man.
"General O'Neill." Franklin seemed both surprised and a bit wary at the enthusiastic greeting, which meant he was smarter than the last US ambassador Jack had met. "Your Highness." He bowed his head to Angella. "King Micah. Princess Entrapta. Hordak. Major Carter." Yeah, the guy had done his homework. Or his assistants had. Probably the latter.
"How do you like the party?" Jack asked.
"Oh, it's great!" The guy seemed almost genuine. "It certainly deserves its reputation."
"The party has a reputation?" Angella asked.
"Oh, yes." Franklin nodded with an easy smile. "It's the biggest gathering of off-worlders on Earth, with a corresponding range in food, drinks and entertainment few other events could hope to match. I was very fortunate to secure an invitation."
Yeah, Jack could believe that. Priorities went to actual members of the Alliance Military. Unlike the old Stargate Command New Year's Parties, you couldn't even hope to fit the entire command into one room - Jack's command by itself would be far too large - but Jack had managed to get a mix of enlisted and junior officers in addition to the brass on the guestlist. Thanks to Adora and Catra, mostly; the princesses hadn't seen the problem, and the Generals had been torn since for every enlisted added, one of their protegés would have to be cut.
And this was the perfect opportunity to get away. "And speaking of drinks…" He grinned. "I think I'll check out the bar. I'm feeling a bit parched. Does anyone want anything?"
Carter raised her eyebrows and pointedly looked at the closest waiter amongst those circulating in the crowd, but he ignored that. He probably should have made his escape a while ago, but with Hordak and Angella doing their bit, he hadn't found the opportunity to smoothly slip away without making it look very obvious and awkward, or cowardly.
This, though, was fine, and after everyone else declined, Jack stepped away and started towards the bar.
Unlike at Stargate Command, the bar wasn't staffed by a corporal who had moonlighted as a bartender during an aborted attempt at college. The Alliance had the budget to splurge, and the committee organising this had shown not much restraint in using it, so Jack got his drink mixed by a professional bartender hired for the occasion. Probably at a premium, since they would be missing out on the tips they could earn at their regular job during one of the busiest nights of the year.
Of course, the selection available showed the impact of a high budget as well. And the effect of every member nation trying to show off their national drinks. Well, Jack didn't mind having his fill of single malts where a bottle cost as much as a casket of bourbon.
"We'll have two of what he has!"
Jack turned, silently berating himself for his lapse in situational awareness. "Hey, Catra. Adora." He nodded at the slightly embarrassed-looking Adora while Catra pointed at his drink for emphasis.
The bartender quickly filled two more glasses.
"So…" Jack grinned. "Seeking refuge from annoying conversations as well? Or just something to numb the brain?"
"Swift Wind is talking about having children," Catra said, then winced.
Jack nodded, ignoring the familiar pain as he thought of Charlie. And the frown on Adora's face aimed at Catra, who frowned right back. "Angella and Hordak are still at it," he said, changing the topic.
"She can hold a grudge. Glimmer got that from her," Catra said. Adora stared at her, and she shrugged. "Hey, I don't claim I don't."
"It's still hypocritical!"
"I never claimed I wasn't hypocritical!"
Jack snorted. That was the kind of bickering he could tolerate, or even enjoy, as long as it didn't involve him.
He glanced back at the others he had left and frowned. Angella and Hordak were still talking, with Franklin probably caught between them, and Micah and Entrapta flanking both, but… where was Carter?
He quickly started scanning the room. Just looking out for her, really. She probably was… He blinked. Who was that officer she was chatting with? That was a French uniform, so he wasn't some old friend from the Air Force Academy.
Jack downed the rest of his drink and ordered another while he thought of a good excuse to join them. Just out of curiosity, of course.
*****