Thick As Thieves (Zoe)

[Sam O'Connor]

Happy, excited, ecstatic. That's how Sam had felt when he'd known that Zoe, his best friend, was going to be coming on board the Venia as its new Communications Officer. He hadn't seen her since he'd left over a month ago and he missed her like crazy, her beautiful smile and giggle that made his face light up like a Christmas tree.

The stupid thing was, she'd been on the Venia a week already and he hadn't seen her at all, he'd been so flustered with work, he'd basically been going work, sleep, work, sleep, maybe with some food and a toilet break here and there. Even though his last day off had been a catastrophe, he'd managed to snag another one, and this time he'd make sure that nothing went wrong.

Sam was sitting in the common room with his feet up, waiting for Zoe to put in an appearance. He'd suggested a movie or games session with some of his tasty snacks, but he was pretty sure they'd probably end up just talking for hours. The door slid open and she emerged. He immediately hopped up onto his feet, a grin on his face. "Zoeeeee!" he crooned, his accent as thick as ever. He scooped her up into a gigantic hug, spinning her round, "I missed you, girl."

[somerandomhippie4]

It was with a beam that Zoe watched as the clock hit the hour, and quite literally skipped out the door. One of the minor officers gave her a bit of a look, but she continued on past, as cheery as ever. She'd been on the Venia at least a week now, if she could remember, and in all that time she hadn't been able to get out and say hi to Sammy. Then again, there tended to be a lot of paperwork when you were the only translator on board, much less the Communications Officer. Still, she was certain chatting with Sam would make her feel better. He was always in such a great mood.

She could smell the food as she made her way to the commons room. Yumm... Seems he hadn't lost his touch. Knowing them, they'd end up goofing off and eating everything within an hour instead of actually doing whatever they'd planned. Peeking her head in, she saw Sam on the couch, and beamed.

"Sammy!" she squealed, jumping as soon as he came within distance. She laughed as he spun her around, picking her feet up, and bouncing as soon as she hit the floor. "Ooh, it's so good to see you! Your hair looks different..." Squinting, she played with the front experimentally. "If I'm right, that's hair gel. What happened to the hat? Did your new beau not like it? What's she like? Do I get to meet her? Oh, I bet she's gorgeous, you lucky duck!" She added on a quick huggle. Only with Sam would she go on such a silly chatter rant like that.

[Sam O'Connor]

Sam let out a loud laugh as he called her Sammy - she was the only person who he let get away with calling him that. "It's great seeing you! This ship is horrible for keeping us both so busy that we couldn't see each other, me playing with food, you talking goobledygook," he smirked, looking at her for a moment before hugging her again.

"That poor hat is probably choking under a layer of dust in my closet somewhere," he chuckled, "the hair gel is new, although I'm not sure it makes much of a difference, I still look like I've been sticking my fingers in sockets." He tugged gently at the ends of her hair, "how about you? I swear it gets shorter every time I see you, soon you'll be bald."

"Beau?" he snorted, "lest you forget, you are talking to the perpetual bachelor here." He propped up the collar on his jumper and crossed his arms, pretending to be cool. "I promise, if I ever meet anyone who likes me, you have my full permission to faint with shock," he poked his tongue out at her, seizing her hand and leading her over to the sofa.

"I made food, which I know you'll love," he grinned, "enough to stuff ourselves till we pop. And there are tonnes of games and stuff on the holo, whatever we want."

[somerandomhippie4]

Fluffing his hair gently, Zoe sighed. "Actually, it's more writing gobbledygock. Stacks and stacks of paperwork galore. Still, better than some jobs, I suppose." She poked his ribcage. "Now, just remember to be nice to your other chef friends, or I may have to come down there. My frying pan kung-fu has gotten much better, you know." She snickered, and beamed into his jacket as he hugged her again.

"Oh, the poor thing!" she pouted, before it curved back up into a smile. She was a horrible actor, she couldn't lie if her life depended on it. "Well, it's not so much a light socket as a toaster now, I suppose. At least it stays in one piece." Fixing up the spot she had ruffled, her snort almost messed it up again. "Me? Bald? Never in my life. Still, I'm kind of liking the short cut. Easy to brush."

"Just checking," she defended, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm surprised a lovely lady hasn't tried to fall for you yet. Or did you just not catch them?" She sent an eye his way, then smiled. She knew better than that, Sam was such a sweet boy. "More like I'll hug them and show them embarrassing pictures," she chuckled. Skipping over to the sofa, she plopped onto the couch, letting herself bounce into place before snatching some food of the table.

"Mmm... It's delicious," she cooed, taking another bite. "What do you call it?" She'd given up trying to get the recipes from him-- either they called for some weird, specialty chef ingredient, or they just didn't taste the same. So, she simply mooched of him. "Did you have something planned, or are we just going to wing it?" She polished off her treat, licking her fingers satisfactorily.

[Sam O'Connor]

"Your poor hands," he said, petting both her hands gently, "they must be screaming, not to mention that brain of yours. I know mine would be having a sob fest if I had that much paperwork to do." He rolled with the poke and laughed out loud when she said about her frying pan kung-fu. "It still can't match my utensil fencing skills," he nodded, "not to mention I have an unfair advantage." Zoe was one of the few people that knew everything about him; that he was half alien and a telekinetic.

Sam couldn't help but laugh at her comment, even if they were insulting his hair. "Nice that you noticed the difference," he said, "and that's true. You could stick me in a wind tunnel and not a hair would be out of place." The snort was adorable, "surely it doesn't need brushing," he smirked, "you could just roll out of bed and it'd already be perfect." He picked up a stray hair and brushed it out of her face.

"No, I just let them fall to floor, it adds to the effect," he snorted, "nah, what sort of gentleman would I be if I actually let that happen?" he said rhetorically, grabbing her hands and dipping her before pulling her back up again with a grin. "Noooooo, not the embarrassing pictures!!" he cried dramatically, "however will I survive such embarrassment?"

Falling onto the sofa next to her, he snickered as he saw that she'd already gone for the food. "Glad you think so." He always appreciated it when she enjoyed his food. "I have absolutely no idea, which isn't a very good name, but still," he smirked, picking up one for himself, eating it whole. "Wing it," he grinned, "it's what we're good at, right?"

[somerandomhippie4]

Zoe patted his hands gently. "They're doing OK," she assured him. "Did lots of super-quiet notating to the computer, and you know I can talk for hours." She stuck her tongue out teasingly, then nodded sagely. "Ooh, I'd be buried under pots and pans before I could grab my weapon of choice. You'd have to clean up, though. You have the unfair advantage, after all."

"Remember, I was the one that had to live with that light-socket hair for however long," she pointed out. "Though the wind tunnel might be a improvement. More natural-looking and what-not." She huffed at his fingers, but managed to smile during it. "Well, yeah, but it also means fifty-million clips, plus a braid or two. I might have to grow it out again if they put me on morning shifts." She was definitely not a morning person-- sleeping in was a guilty pleasure of hers.

She beamed across at him. "I'm surprised the people aren't taking doggie bags into work for snacks," she admitted, picking up another. "I might have to start a trend." Rolling her eyes, she gave him a tap on the back of the head. "Try not to choke yourself," she snickered, her mouth full. She swallowed, and continued. "This is so good, it needs a name. Perhaps... Spanish. It tastes kind of Spanish. Like... se nombra la comida que el cocinero no tiene ninguna idea." She raised a brow, and reached for another.

[Sam O'Connor]

"Oh, I do," he nodded fervently, "I'm surprised you haven't managed to talk my ears off yet. It's still a thing on your to-do list left unmarked, I'm sure," he grinned at her, letting her know that he was teasing - not that he needed to, he was pretty much always teasing her, and vice versa. "I could clean everything up and unbury you in about two seconds flat," he said with a nod, "then I'd carry you to the medibay, like a gentleman should." He would neglect the fact that a gentleman probably shouldn't subject a woman to utensil fencing or frying pan kung-fu in the first place.

"Three years," he told her how long they'd known each other, it had been a long while since that fateful day when Sam had stumbled onto campus and bumped into the languages student who now stood before him. She'd happened across the restaurant he worked in that evening and voila, a friendship was born. "You think it's looks fake?" his mouth fell open as he twisted what she'd said back on her, patting his poor hair. "That shouldn't take you too long," he commented, "and whatever length, and whatever state of bed head it is in, you know you always look gorgeous." Once again with the wide grin.

He looked at her incredulously, "you want to give me more work to do?!?!?!" You could practically hear the amount of punctuation on the end of that sentence, he was overexaggerating so much. "They can just stick with the delicious meals I make them, thank you very much." He started when she tapped him on the back of the head, his food almost popping back out of his mouth. Swallowing hard, he gave her a faux glare, "do that again while I'm eating and I might just choke." He started at her wide eyed for a moment before saying, "you know I'm still utterly hopeless at languages, nothing has changed in the past month or so."

"... other than my hair."

[somerandomhippie4]

Zoe raised her brows and gave a broad grin. "I hadn't quite got to that yet," she insisted. "Give me a little time." She nodded along with him. "A right proper gentleman. Seems you haven't lost that." She poked him, then plopped her head on his shoulder. Just like old times.

"Of course not," she gasped, patting the hair. "It's gorgeous, like a puppy dog. I imagine all the girls are secretly longing to just fluff it up." She stuck her hands through it and made it stick up a little more. "Luckily, I get privileges." Tilting her head, she cooed, "Oh, you flatterer, you."

She rolled her eyes teasingly, shoving him across the couch. "You said so yourself, all you do is play in your kitchen all day. Give them a little hope, you frugal meanie." She gave a fake pout, putting her head back on it's shoulder spot. "That would be horrible. What a loss." Snickering, she explained, "It means 'the food which the chef has no idea is named', pardon my bad grammar. Fancy enough to compete with your new hair." She popped another snack in her mouth.

[Sam O'Connor]

Sam chuckled, no doubt jiggling the head on his shoulder around a little. "If all those women followed through on their imaginative desires, I'd never get anywhere as they'd keep stopping me in the hallway to stuff their hands in my hair." Unless he walked along with several women dangling from his head of course. "Of course you get privileges," he smiled, "bestie of mine." It was hard not to make 'bestie' sound like 'beastie'.

With a laugh, he conceded, as he almost fell off the sofa, "fine, I did. But most of that time is spent doing actually working. I don't jabber for a living like some people," he looked pointedly at her before gazing off towards the ceiling innocently, a smirk creeping onto his face. Her head found his shoulder again, and he patted her knee gently, "I'll try and stay alive, for your sake, dearest." He nodded in an overexaggerated fashion, "ohhhhhhhhhh! Right, I get it now. You may have to come down to the mess hall and teach everybody how to say it. I know I can't."

Looking down at her, he couldn't imagine how he'd survived this last month without her. "Sooooo," he said, "what did you get up to in that month we didn't see each other? Work? Play? New friends? New boyfriend you've neglected to tell me about?" Part of him, deep down, didn't really want to hear about the last part if the answer was a 'yes', but his conscious ignored it, like it always did.

[somerandomhippie4]

With a slightly evil snicker, Zoe quipped, "Well, you'll have one, at least," tussling his hair yet again. It was such a habit, she had no idea how she hadn't caught herself subconsciously doing it while he was gone. Then again, his hair was special. "Ooh, so I'm the timorous beastie, now am I?" Her face probably looked more stupid than it did comedic. "You Irish folk."

She raised her eyebrows, pursing her lips. "I'll have you know that this jibber-jabber is vital to our political and economical well-being. And I get a dental plan, which you probably need. How many sweets have you been eating?" She had probably eaten more than him, come to think of it. She had a sweet tooth, which was why it was useful to know a world-class chef.

Beaming up at him, she cooed, "Aww, I feel so loved." He was such a sweetheart-- just like a little, teetering puppy. "You could make exotic food, and I could devise long-winded names for them. Your menu would be at least ten pages long, maybe more. And if they didn't get the name right, no food for them." She nibbled on another snack, and offered him the other half.

She shrugged, stretching her legs a little, then crossing them. "Not much," she admitted. "Chatting with people, trying to get someone to take my position when I got here... Oh, and a whole lot of jibber-jabber." Her tongue stuck out at him, she beamed. "Your life's probably a whole lot more exciting. Cooking for geniuses, out in space, saving the universe... You're getting skinnier." She patted his gut affectionately.

[Sam O'Connor]

"That's all I need," he said, poking his tongue out at her, "but, I can't fathom just who it could be." He caught the hand that ruffled his hair, and licked it, which the intention of crying revenge! But instead, all he got was a mouthful of his hair gel. "Oh crap, ugh, ew!" he said, desperately trying to scrap the gel from his tongue, "ugh, oh my God, that's horrible! Why the hell do we put this stuff in our hair?!" Once he was (pretty much) done gagging, he said, "in hindsight, that probably wasn't my brightest idea."

Sam held his hands up high in surrender, "no need to bring out the big words on me," he grinned. "I get a dental plan too. It's one the UGAP's main selling points. As for the sugar, there had been a distinct lack of it my life since I came on board. I have to stand and watch, my heart wrenching, as all the sugar I possess flows into the food I'm making, then into peoples' stomachs." He pouted hard, his large brown eyes shining.

"And so you should," he said with a nod, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. He couldn't ask for a better best friend. The sweet moment dissolved into laughter at her suggestion about his menu. "It's a good thing you're not the Captain of this ship, otherwise everyone would be slaving away, solving riddles in order to live," he poked her teasingly, still chuckling. "You, of course, would get them right every time. And soon we'd be rolling you around the ship." That would never happen, it really wasn't possible for her to get fat, at all, not matter how much she seemed to eat.

"Aww, but jibber-jabber is what you're good at," he said, patting her on the top of her head. "Exciting?" he laughed, "you could definitely say that. Fighting shapeshifters and bumping into old acquaintences, it's rather random if anything." He stretched himself out, patting his own stomach; she was right, he was surprised there was anything there any more. "Looks like I'm doomed to waste away into nothingness," he said, dramatically, casting his gaze towards the ceiling with a huff.

((I keep staring at that gif xD))

[somerandomhippie4]

Zoe made a lunge for Sam's tongue, but missed. Bad reflexes. Her face twisted as he licked her hand, but suddenly snickered as he went into hysterics. "Seems karma likes me today," she laughed, her stomach heaving, eyes threatening to water. "I get to meet you, eat snacks, and watch you spaz on about eating hair gel. You crazy chef." She grabbed his wrist and wiped his hand off on his pants. He was always trying to eat something.

She high-fived his hands jokingly, then conceded. "Ooh, Mister Hot-Shot now, are we? Guess I'm proven wrong. Touchee, you win this round." She bowed dramatically-- or, as well as she could whist sitting cross-legged. "You poor thing!" she pouted, handing him a snack comfortingly. "Still, with great power comes great responsibility and whatnot. Gotta keep the officers fed."

Plopping her head back down on his shoulder, Zoe beamed up at her friend. He could always make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Pulling away from the poke, she giggled, "I'll get to be like the Cheshire Cat. Round and orange."

"When I'm allowed to," she pointed out. "And I just have to repeat whatever anyone else says. If not, they get mad and yell and rip papers and such. Then I don't get paid." She raised a brow, ooh-ing. "You're turning into an all-out superhero," she teased, even if she was impressed. "Did you have to go save the day, reunited with your acquaintance once again?" She poked his stomach. "Must be the sugar withdrawal."

[Sam O'Connor]

"And doesn't like me in return," he moaned, her treating him like a baby, wiping his hand off for him using his own trousers. "Thanks, Mum," he snickered, the taste of the gel still on his tongue. It was beyond gross. "Well, crazy chef is my middle name," he waggled his eyebrows then broke down into a fit of giggles. Her own laughing didn't help, they tended to get into this perpetual state of hysterics, both setting the other off over and over again. It was terrible.

He looked at himself and raised an eyebrow, "Mr Hot-Shot in plaid and a jumper, yeah, I'm super cool," he said sarcastically, tickling the back of her neck with his fingers - it was a lot easier to get at now her hair was so short. "Ah comfort eating, in that, I need no encouragement," he said, sticking the snack in his mouth, chewing before swallowing. He had out done himself, truly. "Don't forget the wide grin," he said with a nod and a smile, "round, orange, and grinning like there's no tomorrow. Describes you perfectly," he teased.

Sam chuckled when she called him a superhero, "I'm secretly Spiderman," he said with a suggestive raise of a brow, "but shusssssh, don't tell anyone!" Thinking about it for a moment, Sam couldn't recall ever telling Zoe about Eva... "Of course," he said, "I used my super-awesome powers. And by that I mean, I hid in a corner with Hollie and Eva kicked ass." It was a half truth, he had been pretty redundant having refused to use the gun he'd been given, but his telekinesis had come in handy eventually.

[somerandomhippie4]

Zoe patted her friend's shoulder reassuringly. "You know fortune, it's so fickle. It'll be sitting contentedly in your hair before you know it." Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Yeah, yeah." It still made her smile, and she couldn't help but follow as he broke into a giggle fit. His laugh was probably the most hilarious thing she had ever heard. "We'll have to change that on your birth certificate," she managed to say clearly. "Or the government might get mad."

"Well, you're certainly quite modern," she teased, poking him gently. "Okay, maybe more sophisticated than cool, but I-aaah!" she suddenly squealed, hunching her shoulders up as Sam got the back of her neck. "That tickles!" Her voice was slightly higher now. Taking another snack, she beamed, "Seems to be a bad habit of ours. Good thing we're so skinny." With a snort, she couldn't help but grin. "Next thing you know, I'll be talking in riddles and disappearing randomly. You, though..." She considered, plopping her chin on a hand. "The Rabbit. Yes, you never show up on time." She giggled teasingly.

Zoe's face opened in surprise, and she zipped her lips shut. "Then again, you do look quite a bit like Peter Parker..." Biting her tongue, she squinted, then nodded again. She snickered. "No utensil fencing? I'm surprised, Sir Sammy." She poked him, a little harder this time. "I'm sure your lady friends defended your honor well." Inside, she was quite curious who these 'lady friends' were.

[Sam O'Connor]

"Like a bird," he nodded, "until it flies the coop again, then it's all burnt fingers and tripping over shoelaces for me." Their repartee nearly always include these crazy conversations, Zoe made him laugh harder than anyone else. Still chuckling hard, he said, "it's a good thing I already have a job. If I put that on my CV, they'd probably reject me before I could say spaghetti hoops." Not that he would ever say spaghetti hoops - processed food was vile in his world of the kitchen.

"It was supposed to," Sam smirked, doing it again, shifting away from her poke, "hmmm, sophisticated, huh? That works," he nodded, smiling as he reached over to grab himself another snack, he really needed to get the taste of the gel out of his mouth. "Well, when your best friend is a chef, it's hard not to want to eat full stop." He let out a snort of indignance at her next comment, "excuse me, who was here first, hmm? And who brought the food?" He snatched the tray of food away from her, holding it an arms length, "no more food for you, madam."

Sam grinned when she said he did look a bit like Peter Parker, "all I need to do is dig those old glasses out, and it'd be perfect." The climbing the walls part might be interesting, but he was sure he could figure out a way. "I didn't have any to hand at the time, unless I used some of the medical equipment," he snapped his fingers and shook his head, "why didn't I think of that at the time?!" Her poke this time was fairly hard, and it was accompanied with the words 'lady friends'. "I was quite the damsel in distress," he admitted with a solemn nod.

"Hollie, by the way, is one of the ship's computer technicians. She's blind, but amazing, you'd probably get on well actually, both have a random sense of humour," he patted her knee, "and Eva is someone I met once on a holiday with my Nan and Pa when I was," he had to think about this one, "twelve. She's cool," he said with a nod. An afterthought to that was, he seemed to have a thing for attracting blondes... how weird.