MegYn (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} pengyn) wrote,@ 2009-07-05 19:02:00 |
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| Entry tags: | days of dharma, fanfic: sawyer/juliet, fanfiction, sawyer and juliet |
Days of Dharma - "Bad Blood" 2/9
Title: Bad Blood Ch 2 - "Morning Side of the Mountain"
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Sawyer/Juliet
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1, 350
Spoilers: Up to 'La Fleur'
Summary: Circumstance forces James and Juliet to confront, and come to terms with, their pasts.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just playin' on their jungle-gym.
A/N: 'Morning Side of the Mountain is a 1975 hit by Donny and Marie Osmond.
Part 1
Chapter Two - Morning Side of the Mountain
If they had met they might have found a world of joy
But he lived on the morning side of the mountain
And she lived on the twilight side of the hill
He’d been up a full hour before he heard her stir. He was sitting back on one of the dining room chairs, his feet propped up on the table and a book in his hand. He knew it would annoy her, and he knew it would annoy her even more if he did it with his boots on which is why he’d made extra sure to walk through the flower beds that morning. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to release the banshee again. He just didn’t like it all that much when someone walked out on him and slammed the door in his face. So he was making a point, even if he didn’t quite know what it was just yet.
Juliet walked through sometime later. She paused when she saw him – sitting there with his chair swung back and his boots soiled. His nose pretended to be fascinated by his book, but he could almost hear her jaw working. She stood there for almost a minute, and he imagined she was either chewing the lining of her cheeks raw, or she was biting the hell out of her lip. Eventually she stalked off to the kitchen to make her breakfast, releasing her frustration by banging cupboard doors and setting things down with a clunk. James felt his point had been made, and he took his feet off the table.
Juliet came back in with a bowl of cereal in hand and sat down opposite him. She chewed in silence, pretending that the dark bits of sand now decorating the table weren’t bothering her. He knew they were, because every now and then she shot dirty looks at the table cloth. When she was finished she got up without a word, took her bowl and his discarded plate of toast back to the kitchen. James smiled a little, and got up to go and brush his teeth. He heard the front door open and then after a minute close again. He could hear her coming back down the hallway and watched through the mirror as Juliet walked into the bathroom, took her own toothbrush and squeezed at the tube of toothpaste. They stood, in silence, brushing their teeth as if they were in competition to see who could do it the fastest. James rinsed his mouth out and dropped his toothbrush into the holder. He threw her a sarcastic smile, and went off to get his jumpsuit.
A minute later he popped his head around the bathroom door. “Hey. Where’s my jumpsuit?”
She looked at him, her toothbrush hanging loosely out of her mouth and uttered one word. “Flower-bed.” She turned away from him and rinsed. He stared at her until she had no choice but to turn around again. He studied her and decided that the twinkle in her eye was her way of fighting off a smile. Sure enough, the corners of her mouth were twitching. He was still angry with her for the words she’d thrown at him the night before, but petty squabbling aside; he didn’t want to exacerbate the situation even further. He lowered his eyes at her before heading for the front door. He walked round the outside of their house, searching the ground for his uniform. He found it moments later and sighed. “Son of a bitch.” The woman had only gone and buried the damn thing!
By lunchtime, James was feeling guilty for deliberately trying to goad a reaction out of her. He knew she liked to keep the house clean for the simple fact she spent all day knee-deep in motor oil. She was also particular about her things. He remembered the day he used her razor to trim his beard - they hadn’t been living together very long and he hadn’t had time to learn all the general do’s and don’ts. Apparently using her razor was a “don’t”. She didn’t speak to him for a week.
As Head of Security he was technically always on call. But as Head of Security he could also take certain liberties – like giving himself the afternoon off every once in a while, especially given he was going to have a bitch of a day tomorrow.
He drove the jeep over to the motor-pool, parking it right where he knew she’d be working and thus ensuring that none of the other grease monkeys came over to investigate.
Juliet was sitting on the work top biting into a sandwich, and raised an eyebrow at his approach. She was sure she’d had this fight before. But James just hopped out of the vehicle and raised one hand in a wave, before opening up the hood. Juliet jumped down and headed over. She stood next to him, hands on hips and gave an uncanny impression of him. “What didja do?”
He couldn’t contain the grin. “I think I broke it, or somethin’.”
Juliet rolled her eyes, trying not to feel too guilty about the dark spots on his uniform. “Go make yourself useful and get me a toolbox.”
James complied, leaving her to dig inside the engine. He watched as she moved back and forth, wrench in one hand, oil in the other. Rather than risk eating the rest of her sandwich, he thought it’d be safe if he checked the pressure in the tires.
“You got a license for handling that?” Juliet asked, poking the wrench in his direction.
“Darlin’ I’m a country boy. I grew up on bad roads.” He told her.
“Uh huh.” She replied. She sounded amused, even though he couldn’t see her expression.
He started on the third tire and from his new vantage point watched as she frowned at the engine. “You up for a boat trip?”
“What?” she called.
“Zodiac’s motor’s havin’ PMS, an’ I don’t wanna be caught out there tomorrow with a bunch of kids.” He replied.
“Out where?”
“On the water… y’know… where boats usually go?”
Juliet gave an exasperated sigh. “No. Where are you going?”
“Oh.” He amended. “Field trip to Hydra Island. Looks like Uncle Jim gets to babysit. Just wanna make sure we got a mechanic around.”
Juliet smiled and accepted the olive branch. “Sure.”
James smiled as if she’d just promised him pie, causing Juliet to grin even more. She lowered the hood back down and wiped her hands on the cloth hanging from the pocket of her jumpsuit.
“You find the problem?” James asked.
“There’s nothing wrong with the jeep, James. But you already know that.”
He gave her a sheepish look. “So why were you diggin’ around so long?”
“I gave it a service.” She shrugged.
It was his turn to roll his eyes. He helped her return the tools, and toss the empty cans of motor oil. She walked back with him, and waited while he climbed into the vehicle and closed the door. Leaning on the door frame she cocked her head and smirked. “Any other parts you want servicin’ sugar?”
His shoulders shook in silent laughter as the dimples in his cheeks worked overtime. “You wanna rephrase that?” He watched as her face took on a slightly darker shade of pink.
She stood up and placed her hands casually on her hips. “I was talking about the jeep. Don’t know what you were thinking about.” She teased.
“Uh huh.” He replied.
He put the stick into reverse and backed up, giving him room to turn. He glanced through the rearview mirror as he drove off and she was still standing there, watching him go. He watched as she ran a hand through her hair and then brought it down to cover her face. He grinned and decided that even though folks could come from two different worlds, flirting was universal.
