Sleight of Hand
Jul. 8th, 2006 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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eponine119 and arabella_hope's wonderful idea for "Comment Porn Day" inspired so many great ficlets, I feel like it's Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one. I couldn't come up with any ideas yesterday and I started to panic, then I remembered all the aborted plot bunnies left over from my three-month dry spell. I re-worked some of them into ficlets, and, voila! Well, voila later, when I've compiled a list of them all. ;) This one actually turned into a fic of sorts (though it didn't turn into pr0n, darn it) and since it fits prompts for a couple of my challenges, I'm gonna go ahead and post it.Title:Sleight of Hand
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Jack, Sawyer
Word Count: 472
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Lockdown
Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams
For
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psych_30's prompt #13, Delusion, and philosophy_20's prompt #3, The Ends Justify the MeansAuthor's Notes: What that poker game might have really been about. ;)
You don’t know it, but I always give you what you want.
“So, where'd you learn to play cards, Doc?”
I hold the deck in my left hand, pull up the cards and begin to randomly drop them back in.
“Phuket.”
I drop my eyes to the cards in my hand, watching as your gaze follows mine. I turn the deck on its side and curl my fingers around it, careful that the cards face my thumb.
“What the hell were you doing in Thailand?”
You glance up and I hold your gaze with a flash of dimples. Keeping the fingertips of my left hand on the top card, I pull the cards up from the middle of the deck with my right, pressing slightly with my thumb to move a few of the thumb-side cards to the finger side. I shuffle the cards from my right hand to my left. Casually, way too casually, I say, “What, you don't think I know where Phuket is? Just because I dropped out in ninth grade don't make me an idiot.” Giving you what you want, one more reason to feel superior. Hero-doctor-leader. Probably went to Harvard. I deal, tossing out cards with my right hand. “Far East, huh? I wouldn't have taken you for a world traveler. That where you got the art on your shoulder?”
Your eyes drop to your shoulder, then lower, to the cards in my hand. My right hand. Harvard boy knows when something ain’t right. “How about you deal again?”
“What?”
“This time from the top of the deck.”
You look so self-righteous it’s all I can do not to laugh. Instead I grin slowly as time hesitates for an instant. “Well, I had to try.”
It’s easier after that, after you think that the cards are all on the table…so to speak. I cheated, just like you expected me to. Happy to oblige, Doc. You called me on it, just like I wanted you to. Now I’m free to deal from the stacked top of the deck, and you don’t have a clue. And so it goes, until I let you goad me into calling. Your smirk could rival one of mine as you get up to leave.
“I'll come get the meds later.”
And I’ll give them to you, because I always give you what you want, though you don’t know it.
But I’m not quite through with you yet. “Hey, when I asked you what you wanted for stakes -- why didn't you ask for the guns?”
”When I need the guns, I’ll get the guns.”
You don’t so much walk away as swagger. Full of confidence. Full of yourself. Winner. No ruler needed. Because, deep down, you know that I always give you what you want.
Even if it’s the last thing you need.
End
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 01:35 am (UTC)I can't wait to see your complied list o' fun. *bounces*
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Date: 2006-07-09 08:32 pm (UTC)I might randomly comment-porn some more in the next few days. Be afraid. Be very afraid. *giggles*
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Date: 2006-07-09 08:40 pm (UTC)random comment porn
Date: 2006-07-10 01:43 am (UTC)“If something happens out there –“
I know what you’re trying to do, you’re trying to justify being here. Tomorrow we might die, and that’s your excuse. Like you need an excuse. I shut you up with a kiss, and push you down on the bed.
Nothing will happen to you out there. Everything’s different, now. There’s no scared little boy under this bed. Under this bed are guns. And the man on the bed, the one who’s kissing you like there’s no tomorrow, isn’t James, the coward. It’s Sawyer, the man who shot a bear. The man who has your back. James hid under the bed. He didn’t watch her back. But under my bed are guns. This time, I’ll get it right.
*winks*
Date: 2006-07-10 09:52 am (UTC)right from Jack's mouth,
swallows the moans, sucks
on his tongue capturing
the faint hitches
of breath.
Though territorial,
This is not
about possession;
it’s preservation.
Sawyer’s heart
has a root cellar
and each kiss, each shudder
and thrust of hips
has its own
canning jar.
Re: random comment porn
Date: 2006-07-18 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 08:45 pm (UTC)And to have the person who's giving be Sawyer, who is so often seen as selfish...amazing.
They see him as selfish and I think he sees himself as selfish, but we see him being helpful so often, and he gives things to people whenever they ask, once he's put on a sufficient show of selfishness. I have a feeling he knew all along he'd eventually give the guns back, he just had to prove something first. And I've been feeling all along that Sawyer knows Jack + guns is not necessarily a good equation, and him wanting to be in control of them was his way of trying to protect Jack. 'Course, that might just be the starry-eyed romantic in me talking, but it's a nice thought, anyway. :)
Thank you again for the GREAT idea! Comment Porn Day was great medicine for my ailing muse! ♥
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Date: 2006-07-09 02:46 am (UTC)Wow, I don't remember the last time I read a Lost fic in first person. But this was so wonderful, seriously. I can hear him in my head. Great job, hon!
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Date: 2006-07-09 08:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 02:47 am (UTC)And yay for the end of writer's block!!
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Date: 2006-07-09 08:54 pm (UTC)Comment Porn Day was a great cure for writers' block. I hope it becomes a regular feature around here. :)
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Date: 2006-07-09 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 08:58 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you loved it! ♥
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Date: 2006-07-09 04:07 am (UTC)You know I loved that scene, but then again, who didn't.
Sawyer's POV, very very nicely done, in a way, I can see that Jack could win that game, I kind of liked that, that he has that mystery, that he's holding something back, but having Sawyer let him, to step down, giving up some of that power, I like that too.
In a way, it's almost as if Sawyer is intimidated by him, meaning, Jack has the book smarts, whereas Sawyer has the street smarts, but he doesn't realize, both are valid levels of intelligence.
Okay, that went into character study, sorry about that.
Just very very nice!!
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Date: 2006-07-09 09:02 pm (UTC)Don't ever apologize for writing a character study in my journal. I LOVE it! I like the contrast of street smarts with book smarts, and I think you're totally right. That's why it was surprising that Jack could out-smart Sawyer at poker, of all things. I guess when they tell us about Phuket it will shed more light on things, but until then it's fun just to imagine different scenarios.
Thank you for reading and liking! :D
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Date: 2006-07-09 07:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 12:39 pm (UTC)I'm right with you in the belief that Sawyer manipulated the big win for Jack, just as I believe he never says or does anything that he doesn't mean to. Watch The Long Con again - the details of both jobs were beautiful to behold.
The card playing scenes were among my favorite of all time, and you have done a fantastic job of supplying Sawyer's behind-the-mask insight as to what was really going on.
On a technical level, your descriptions of the 'shuffle' supplied me with the best visuals I have read in a very long time, and the internal dialog was so Sawyer that I heard the ficlet in his voice. But, of course, you are an ET girl, so you have that connection.
"You look so self-righteous it’s all I can do not to laugh. " And there in an ever so precise nutshell, you have Jack.
"You don’t so much walk away as swagger. Full of confidence. Full of yourself. Winner. No ruler needed. Because, deep down, you know that I always give you what you want.
Even if it’s the last thing you need." Beautiful.
Perfectly written, with a gentle hint of the softest shadow of prOn - an atmosphere more than an act - which makes me, all in all, the happiest of campers on your list!
's you.
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Date: 2006-07-09 09:13 pm (UTC)I agree, it's kind of hard to believe that Sawyer could be "played," though I guess if anybody could do it, it would be Jack...seeing as how he's in Sawyer's head and all. ;) Inside Sawyer's head is SUCH a fascinating place to be; I think I just want to live there. It can get dark and twisted sometimes, but at least it's never boring!
Thanks so much for reading, and for liking! :D
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Date: 2006-07-09 04:59 pm (UTC)I just wish every day would start and end like this *bookmarks for future Sundays*
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Date: 2006-07-09 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 07:16 pm (UTC)fab piece of writing ... Sawyer captured in all his glory ...
You look so self-righteous it’s all I can do not to laugh. Instead I grin slowly as time hesitates for an instant. “Well, I had to try.”
happy, happy me ... thank you and goodnight ♥
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Date: 2006-07-09 09:20 pm (UTC)Thank you for saying that! That scene was just so saturated with UST in canon, I wasn't sure I could do it justice in fic. I'm so glad you think I did. Thanks so much for reading! ♥
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Date: 2006-07-09 07:50 pm (UTC)As much as I absolutely loved smug Jack and him owning the game and winning and being uberconfident,I always wondered about what Sawyer was thinking at the moment.Nice take on his thoughts and always giving Jack what he wants.
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Date: 2006-07-09 09:26 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for the fic-luv! Here's some
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Date: 2006-07-10 03:37 pm (UTC)*dreams of porny meeting*
:D
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Date: 2006-07-09 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-09 11:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-10 12:08 am (UTC)*Loved* the last two lines.
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Date: 2006-07-10 01:15 am (UTC)The thing about that scene, and the thing that inspired this fic, is that Sawyer really does deal with his right hand...and he's left-handed. It made me wonder if he was trying to make Jack look at his hands and think something was up, as a way of misdirecting Jack's attention away from what he was really doing. It was a fun idea to play with, anyway.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for liking! :D
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Date: 2006-07-10 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-10 05:40 pm (UTC)It does seem odd, doesn't it? But I agree, it seems like something Sawyer would do -- he can be a giver, but only in his own twisted way. I'd like to re-write a lot of S2, but that card game was just too slashy to resist. Thanks so much for reading and for liking, and it's so good to have you back. ♥
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Date: 2006-07-27 01:36 pm (UTC)loved the 1st person.... I used to write like that a lot, but I never do in the Lost world, since no one is doing it...
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Date: 2006-07-27 03:18 pm (UTC)And the first person just seemed to work for this, for some reason. I guess we REALLY needed to see what was inside Sawyer's hearl ;)
(A place I'd love to visit sometime, btw)