Work Text:
Lunchtime on Atlantis was less chaotic than Addison might have expected. She considered it more to be functional disorganization, but that could purely be the result of her own timetable which left only thirty minutes a day in which she could eat anything while she was on duty. Catching up on all their mission reports had left her with very few moments of spare time, and so the rare opportunity to sit outside on one of the balconies connected to the lunch room was fully embraced.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
Addison looked up, and smiled at Kate Heightmeyer. What had started as a once-off session with the expedition's psychologist to get things off her chest had turned into an easy friendship. She motioned for Kate to take a seat with her fork and replied, "Go ahead."
Seated opposite her, Addison watched as Kate poked tentatively at her meal. "How's it today?"
Shrugging Addison took another bite of her own food before replying. "The lasagne's passable," she replied, adding, "Of course my mother would have a fit at me for even implying that it was edible."
Kate smiled. "She liked to cook?"
She nodded. "Her parents were born in Italy and moved to Australia after they were married. She always seemed disappointed that I had no inclination to learn how to cook." Addison smiled at the memory of her mother threatening to chain her to the bench just so she could learn how not to boil water.
Testing her own food with a small sample bite, and determining it edible for herself, Kate laughed. "I think I can sympathise, although it was my grandmother who had designs on teaching me how to cook. She caught me at a good age, though, when I was more likely to listen long enough to learn something about it."
"Kate Heightmeyer? Master chef?"
"Only if you count cookies and desserts as worthy of being main courses."
Laughing, Addison nodded. "That's certainly better than me."
They ate in companionable silence for a time, breaking the quiet to talk about everyday things in Atlantis - the lack of major disasters recently, how the new crew seemed to be integrating, and the recent medical research that had been undertaken based on a rare plant one of the teams had brought back from M21-226.
It wasn't long before Kate brought up John, but Addison had known it would only be a matter of time. She hadn't meant for anyone else on Atlantis to know about her former relationship with the military commander of the city. Sam Carter and Jennifer Keller knew - it was in Addison's file - but the only other person who had access to it was John, and from the way he hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet, she knew he wasn't going to start spreading it around.
"How are you finding working with him?" Kate asked, sipping at her glass of water.
"Do we need to go into your office for this conversation?" Addison teased.
Kate smiled ruefully. "Only if you want."
"Oh, relax," Addison told her, "I was only joking. It's been fine, I guess. A lot less weird than I thought it would be, that's for sure." She lent back in her chair. "Then again, it's been over ten years, and it wasn't like we got divorced because we hated each other - it was a mutual agreement that neither of us were ready for marriage. Or suited for it." Rearranging her knife and fork on her plate the way she'd been drilled by her mother as child, Addison looked up at Kate and her smile turned curious. "Were you worried you were going to have to initiate marriage counseling or something?"
Across from her, Kate shook her head in silent laughter.
"Seriously," Addison continued, "we're good. I wouldn't be here if we weren't. Not that I've seen him much anyway. And besides, he has his own groupie fan club around here, so I daresay he's not lacking in company."
Kate smiled again, and in a voice that could only be associated with girls gossiping than counseling, she asked, "Jealous?"
"Hardly." Addison rolled her eyes and looked out over the balcony's edge.
As far as the eye could see, blue ocean surrounded the city. The was a light breeze today, and it reminded Addison of summers spent by the beach. Her childhood back home, in Australia, had consisted on regular trips up to Queensland for the summer to visit relatives. She'd always preferred her home state of Melbourne, the weather - while somewhat unpredictable - was far more agreeable than the humid summer months, but she couldn't fight tradition.
"You know," she said, turning back to Kate, "I've been wondering whether or not they've found any swimming pools in the city?" Somehow she couldn't quite picture the Ancients swimming, but it had been bugging her since she'd arrived there - one of those ridiculous ideas that served little purpose but to annoy.
Kate shook her head. "I don't think so. You could always go swimming off the mainland. Teyla said it was quite beautiful when they went to explore it with some of the other researchers."
Addison cringed. "No thanks. Too much sand. Gets everywhere."
Her answer raised a laugh out of the other woman, which coincided with the insistent beeping of Addison's comm. Responding and receiving a request to report to the infirmary, she sighed and shut it off.
Across from her, Kate raised an eyebrow.
"No rest for the wicked, hm?" Addison scrunched up her napkin and left it on the plate and picked up her tray. "We'll catch up later?"
Nodding, Kate smiled again. "If you finish early tonight, you should stop by Laura's quarters," she advised. "A few of us will be there."
It was Addison's turn to raise an eyebrow, but all she received in return was an enigmatic smile. Accepting defeat gracefully, due to lack of time, she nodded her head. "I'll see what happens. Thanks."
With that she headed back inside to work.