Linings of Silver, Linings of Black
Jul. 23rd, 2006 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alliecat8Since there's no ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
lostsquee Queen for today, I vote to extend ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
southernbeauty5's reign by one day...since my muse was on hiatus and I didn't fulfill her request yesterday. ;) I don't know if she'll want to claim this fic or not -- there's no slash, no pairings at all, no lickage, BUT, Jack and Sun and Sawyer DO all appear. Then it gets a little depressing. So, feel free to disown this if you want, but it's the best I could do with Jack and Sawyer and Sun together. I tried! ♥
Title:Linings of Silver, Linings of Black
Characters: Ensemble
Rating:PG
Spoilers:General and vague, timeline's completely wonky, dead people aren't dead, etc., so, none
Disclaimer:Only mine in my dreams
Linings of Silver, Linings of Black
“Pedicures,” Shannon sighed, scowling at her scoured toenails. “That's what I miss most. It’s easy to keep your fingernails touched up, just stay away from, you know, digging in the dirt and stuff, and you can keep your hands looking civilized.” She held them up, crimson nails gleaming and sleek in the firelight. “But how am I supposed to keep my toes shiny, walking in sand all the time? All I brought with me were sandals.”
“Gardens are good for the soul,” Sun mused. “They are our hope for the future.” Absently, she ran her hand over her distended abdomen. “I only wish we had the proper nutrients to make things grow as they should.”
Rose looked around at the morose faces circling the bonfire. “You’re looking at it all wrong,” she scolded them gently. “You’re thinking about all the good things we’re missing. What about all the bad things we’ve left behind? What about snowstorms, and being stranded in a blizzard on a cold winter night?”
"And mowing the lawn," Bernard agreed randomly. "And stringing the Christmas lights from rafters two stories high."
“Money,” Boone grumbled. “I miss money. And tennis at the country club. And driving through Napa Valley with the top down and a pretty girl beside me with her hair blowing in the wind.”
Shannon eyed him bitterly. “You miss your mother.”
“I do not miss my mother. Or the corporate rat-race. Or,” he shuddered, “brides to be…and their mothers..” Shannon snorted.
“Styrofoam containers,” Hurley piped up. “When I worked at Mr. Cluck’s, we got protested by an environmentalist group that said that Styrofoam containers were going to overflow the landfills and eat the world. We don’t have to worry about the attack of the killer take-out boxes here, dude.”
“Or school,” Walt said. “Right dad? I don’t need all those teachers telling me stuff I don’t need to know, and other kids picking on me for being different. I’ve got you now, and you can teach me all the important stuff.”
Michael gave him a long, thoughtful look, and rubbed his leg. “I guess you’re right. We don’t have to worry about getting run down by speeding traffic and being kept apart anymore.”
Claire held Aaron up so that they were nose-to-nose, and he giggled when she tickled him with an Eskimo kiss. “If we weren’t here, I wouldn’t have you.”
The look on Charlie’s face as he gazed at Claire said that he echoed the sentiment exactly.
“Telemarketers,” Locke said shortly, averting his eyes. “They’re scams and frauds, the lot of them. Good riddance.”
“Running away.” Kate’s voice was wistful. “I ran and ran, but all I ever wanted to do was go home. There just wasn’t any home to go to.”
“Amen, sister,” Sawyer drawled, raising his whiskey bottle to his mouth and taking a long swallow. Jack held out his hand and Sawyer passed it to him. Jack lifted the bottle in a bitter salute. “Welcome home, everybody.”
Sayid had been absently drawing patterns in the sand with a stick. He looked at the drawings now, and realized they were maps. Maps of the island. Maps of his homeland. Maps to the front door of his house, a house which no longer existed. It was now a pile of rubble, the work of an enemy’s bomb.
He tried to tell himself that he was changing on the island. That he was becoming a better person. And yet. His hands had tortured. People had died due to his own failure to protect. He was, even now, forming a plan of attack against a new enemy. He tried to think of a single thing he’d left behind in his old life, something that hadn’t followed him here to his new one. Try as he might, he couldn’t. He stood and turned to leave, the firelight and conversation warm at his back, the empty darkness stretching cold before him.
Wherever you go, there you are.
End
lostsquee Queen for today, I vote to extend southernbeauty5's reign by one day...since my muse was on hiatus and I didn't fulfill her request yesterday. ;) I don't know if she'll want to claim this fic or not -- there's no slash, no pairings at all, no lickage, BUT, Jack and Sun and Sawyer DO all appear. Then it gets a little depressing. So, feel free to disown this if you want, but it's the best I could do with Jack and Sawyer and Sun together. I tried! ♥ Title:Linings of Silver, Linings of Black
Characters: Ensemble
Rating:PG
Spoilers:General and vague, timeline's completely wonky, dead people aren't dead, etc., so, none
Disclaimer:Only mine in my dreams
Linings of Silver, Linings of Black
“Pedicures,” Shannon sighed, scowling at her scoured toenails. “That's what I miss most. It’s easy to keep your fingernails touched up, just stay away from, you know, digging in the dirt and stuff, and you can keep your hands looking civilized.” She held them up, crimson nails gleaming and sleek in the firelight. “But how am I supposed to keep my toes shiny, walking in sand all the time? All I brought with me were sandals.”
“Gardens are good for the soul,” Sun mused. “They are our hope for the future.” Absently, she ran her hand over her distended abdomen. “I only wish we had the proper nutrients to make things grow as they should.”
Rose looked around at the morose faces circling the bonfire. “You’re looking at it all wrong,” she scolded them gently. “You’re thinking about all the good things we’re missing. What about all the bad things we’ve left behind? What about snowstorms, and being stranded in a blizzard on a cold winter night?”
"And mowing the lawn," Bernard agreed randomly. "And stringing the Christmas lights from rafters two stories high."
“Money,” Boone grumbled. “I miss money. And tennis at the country club. And driving through Napa Valley with the top down and a pretty girl beside me with her hair blowing in the wind.”
Shannon eyed him bitterly. “You miss your mother.”
“I do not miss my mother. Or the corporate rat-race. Or,” he shuddered, “brides to be…and their mothers..” Shannon snorted.
“Styrofoam containers,” Hurley piped up. “When I worked at Mr. Cluck’s, we got protested by an environmentalist group that said that Styrofoam containers were going to overflow the landfills and eat the world. We don’t have to worry about the attack of the killer take-out boxes here, dude.”
“Or school,” Walt said. “Right dad? I don’t need all those teachers telling me stuff I don’t need to know, and other kids picking on me for being different. I’ve got you now, and you can teach me all the important stuff.”
Michael gave him a long, thoughtful look, and rubbed his leg. “I guess you’re right. We don’t have to worry about getting run down by speeding traffic and being kept apart anymore.”
Claire held Aaron up so that they were nose-to-nose, and he giggled when she tickled him with an Eskimo kiss. “If we weren’t here, I wouldn’t have you.”
The look on Charlie’s face as he gazed at Claire said that he echoed the sentiment exactly.
“Telemarketers,” Locke said shortly, averting his eyes. “They’re scams and frauds, the lot of them. Good riddance.”
“Running away.” Kate’s voice was wistful. “I ran and ran, but all I ever wanted to do was go home. There just wasn’t any home to go to.”
“Amen, sister,” Sawyer drawled, raising his whiskey bottle to his mouth and taking a long swallow. Jack held out his hand and Sawyer passed it to him. Jack lifted the bottle in a bitter salute. “Welcome home, everybody.”
Sayid had been absently drawing patterns in the sand with a stick. He looked at the drawings now, and realized they were maps. Maps of the island. Maps of his homeland. Maps to the front door of his house, a house which no longer existed. It was now a pile of rubble, the work of an enemy’s bomb.
He tried to tell himself that he was changing on the island. That he was becoming a better person. And yet. His hands had tortured. People had died due to his own failure to protect. He was, even now, forming a plan of attack against a new enemy. He tried to think of a single thing he’d left behind in his old life, something that hadn’t followed him here to his new one. Try as he might, he couldn’t. He stood and turned to leave, the firelight and conversation warm at his back, the empty darkness stretching cold before him.
Wherever you go, there you are.
End
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 06:58 pm (UTC)He's horning in on Jack's leader/martyr complex and that simply will not do. ;D
Seriously: it's so easy to concentrate on Jack, and how he struggles to be present, responsible and hold everything together, that Sayid's own struggle can get lost or overlooked. Does being stranded on a tropical island *really* give you the opportunity to start over? Perhaps it depends on the person...but your last line really wraps up the core dilemma well.
I enjoyed this piece a lot. The overall quiet, weaving nostalgia and normalcy around Sayid's unspoken sorrows...it's melancholy yet quite marvelous. I also like how you began with the superfical [pedicures] and ended with the profound [can you leave the past behind?]. But basically, I love these wistful glimmers around the fire.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:04 am (UTC)Thank you for reading, and for the lovely feedback! ♥
just talking....
Date: 2006-07-23 07:26 pm (UTC)I think that may have been why some people thought season 1 was better than season 2....people actually spoke to everyone else in S1, not just fragmented groups of people, like in S2.
Oh well, enough rambles....I enjoyed this, except poor Sayid. He's kinda turning into Jack isn't he?
~C~
Re: just talking....
Date: 2006-07-24 02:07 am (UTC)I'm so glad you enjoyed it! *hug*
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 07:39 pm (UTC)And Sayid, he's a planner, he reacts, so I can totally see him doing that, plus, no matter how relaxed they are, they still seem to be on guard, so I can totally see him doing that.
Very nice!!! I loved all the characters voices, because you know that Rose would totally make them realize the bad things that people totally forget when they remember something fondly.
Excellent!!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:14 am (UTC)But Sayid, like Jack, might have a really hard time with the concept. They both seem to bear the weight of the world on their shoulders.
I'm glad you think I got the voices right. I worry about that when I try to write several of them in one fic. You made me feel lots better!
Thank you so much for reading, and can I just say again how nice it is to have you around outside of working hours? I used to miss you so much in the evenings and on the weekends! ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:58 am (UTC)But forget about that cable company..we can all chat now!!!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 11:15 pm (UTC)Thanks for writing this its amazing!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 11:16 pm (UTC):smooches:
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 12:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:29 am (UTC)I'm so glad you loved it! Thank you! ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:32 am (UTC)Poor Sayid is sort of on the outside looking in, isn't he? I don't think he feels like he's adapted to his new life at all, he's just found himself in, so to speak, the "same song, different verse." I felt terribly sorry for him as I was writing this. I hope he will find peace eventually.
I'm so glad you liked it! *still grinning over that icon* ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:48 am (UTC)I'm glad you're home. You weren't gone long, but I missed you anyway! *smooch!*
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 09:51 am (UTC)And I love the last sentence. Even though or maybe especially because it makes me melancholic.
*snuggles closer to you and the alcohol and throws another log on the fire*
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:58 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for reading and liking! :D
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 02:31 pm (UTC)love the title by the way, fits perfectly
♥ (on to try and read everything I missed!)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 03:04 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you liked it, Your Majesty! Now back to writing Jack and Sawyer, for the Queen's pleasure. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 07:29 pm (UTC)“Telemarketers,” Locke said shortly,averting his eyes.“They’re scams and frauds,the lot of them.Good riddance.”
LMAO!I was a telemarketer for a year,before the promotion (remember the dreaded job I was always crying about?)....the most horrible job.And they're all frauds and scams!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 07:57 pm (UTC)I worried that someone would get offended by Locke's "telemarketer" comment. He was talking about phone-sex-Helen, you know. Not telemarketers in general. He has telephone issues. ;) Glad it make you laugh, instead of want to smack me! ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 09:02 pm (UTC)Not telemarketers in general. He has telephone issues. ;)
So,now it's official-the only character I can actually relate to is Locke,lol.I have telephone issues too-hate the phone!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 09:43 pm (UTC)No, darn it, it's not, but it should be. Maybe "catharsis" would work. Sorry, I'm rambling. ;) Thanks for making me think!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 10:30 pm (UTC)And Sayid would want to explore the island,I think-he is a control freak as much as Jack is,but he would use his knowledge of military strategy and would do a lot to protect the survivors and also to gain more control.Sayid is the only one who is not in panic,have you noticed?
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 02:46 am (UTC):)
I like the *gasp*Het!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 04:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-26 03:51 am (UTC)Liked it a lot -- good conversation, there. And BOONE! I love him more and more the further away his death gets. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-07-26 02:37 pm (UTC)*hugs YOU*
no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 05:07 pm (UTC)But Sayid, so sad. Alone amongst all of them, he was not able to leave behind the detritus of his past. It sets him apart, makes him different from the others, and that sense of loneliness and alienation comes through very clearly in the end.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-10 01:57 am (UTC)