Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 16, 2007 15:23:01 GMT
Desmond shifted where he sat. He lay back, then sat up again, leaned on his elbows and even tried lying on his side. It might have been the drink that had made him restless. He hadn't had that much, just enough to make him a little dizzy. The bottle was half buried in the sand next to him. He had no idea what it might have been, as the label has been washed off, or scratched away. A laugh escaped his throat. It was a short, sharp laugh. It could have been mistaken for choking if someone was far enough away from him. Does life go on, away from here? Are we the last? Was I dreaming, is this the reality and my past the vision? Stuck in a bloody snowglobe...
"Go on, make the snow fall! Turn us upside down! I dare you!" he exclaimed, picking up the bottle by it's neck and holding it at arm's length. Desmond stared at the light filtering through the green-tinted glass, reflecting from the surface of the liquid that remained inside. It was half-empty. It used to be half-full, his time on the island, however, had changed the way he looked at things now.
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Post by Jane on May 16, 2007 17:04:10 GMT
Jane was walking along the beach and heard Desmond going off on the island in what sounded like another half drunken stupor. She was probably wrong. Desmond was always somewhat cynical, she thought, though Jane had to admit to spending very little time with him. He was sitting alone staring at a bottle that looked kind of old. Jane walked over to him quietly and sat down. Having heard what he had said, she formulated a small response.
"It's already upside down, ya know. It's been waiting that way for a long time. Now someone just needs to turn it right side up so the snow will fall and everything can be right again."
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 16, 2007 17:25:15 GMT
"You're pretty good at mysterious lines, tell me something, is there any chance of snow falling with the weather like this?" Desmond replied, not looking up when Jane came to sit with him. That must have been a bit of a chore, for Jane to gather enough boredom to sit down and actually talk to him. it seemed to be for a lot of people nowadays. He'd keep that to himself though. He might drive her off if he mentioned it.
He let the bottle slip from his fingers and embed itself into the sand once again. Could everything be right, as she said? Was there any way their fate could be changed?
Desmond inhaled deeply and then looked to Jane next to him. "You probably think I'm stone drunk, again," he said with a laugh. He wished he was stone drunk all of the time. That way he could stumble in and out of consciousness without a care in the world.
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Post by Jane on May 16, 2007 18:06:26 GMT
The man wasn't look at her. It was like Desmond wanted to keep his distance from everyone. "Nah, I'd only think you were drunk if you thought it really could snow," Jane replied. "You seem to just be about as depressed as ... some others I've met. That's all."
Jane stopped herself from admitted she was depressed. She wasn't allowed to be depressed. She was the cheerful one on the island after all. Kate looked to her to find the bright side of island life all the time. It's just that being here for so long and having her friends disappear around her was beginning to get to the woman.
"I was actually thinking it was too bad that wasn't a good bottle of scotch. I think a little drink would do us both some good," Jane grinned slightly as she looked out to sea.
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 16, 2007 18:24:07 GMT
"You know what? I have absolutely no idea what that stuff is. It's alright, but considering my...ah...experience, if ya like, with drink, it doesn't rank very high in my books!" Desmond answered with a light laugh, throwing sand at the bottle, burying it a little more.
Was he depressed? He had never thought of it as a type of depression. More like a permanent downer. Everyone had their little problems, though, and their demons have to be faced sooner or later. It was that most wanted it to be later. A lot later. He couldn't complain. The last thing Jane would want to hear was him raving and ranting on the things that had gone wrong with his life.
It must have been hard for Jane and the others. They had lost so many people. Desmond had been to the graves and seen all of the headstones, only sticks tied together in a rough cross shape and stuck into the earth. There were so many. Desmond had only directly experienced the death of Kevin, by his own hand. That was nowhere near as traumatizing as losing a close friend. Of course he had lost friends, but he had never felt attached to anyone in particular, other than Charlie and Hurley.
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Post by Jane on May 16, 2007 18:33:54 GMT
Jane smiled a bit more at Desmond. He was actually talking to her. From what she could tell, that was different from what he normally did. Aside from Charlie and sometimes Hurley, Desmond didn't speak to many of the other survivors. She must have caught him at an opportune moment - or inopportune, depending on a person's viewpoint.
"Considering the accent, I wouldn't doubt you've had a taste of lots of the good stuff. Considering mine, you know I only like cold beer and possibly the occasional scotch," Jane mused and raised her eyebrow at Desmond. She grinned and looked back at the bottle in the sand. "Personally, I'd rather just have a soda. An ice cold Pepsi. Heck, anything with ice. I think I miss having that more than most things."
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 17, 2007 14:46:45 GMT
"I'm sure we could find you some ice somewhere, take some water up the mountains or something...wait for it to snow, maybe," he replied with a sly smile. They were eventually going run out of anything with flavour. Unless there was another of those food drops, or maybe the unearthing of more flat, warm beer, he was going to have to look forward to water from the caves.
He leaned back and balanced on his elbows, legs crossed at the ankles. He managed to kick up some sand whilst doing so, but he'd got used to the sand. Nothing like a floor underfoot though. The Swan was like nothing else on the island. Better than the Pearl, better than the beach. If it wasn't for that 104 minute break between the beeping and the rushing to the old computer, it would have been perfect. It would have also been very easy to make ice.
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Post by Jane on May 17, 2007 18:07:13 GMT
Jane snickered slightly at the idea of the mountains getting snow. Not likely in her estimation, and honestly she hoped not. That would mean it got colder down here as well, and she doubted anyone had warmer clothing. They'd all be dying if it only got to 50 degrees because they'd all get sick.
She glanced at the man beside her. She wondered about him, being here on the island for so long. Even in his boat, Desmond couldn't seem to leave (which bothered Jane a great deal, but she chose not to dwell on it). Could someone even still be sane after all that time here, pushing that damn button for that long? Jane was sure she'd have gone crazy. Heck, she wasn't sure that wasn't happening now.
"So, tell me something. You've been here for a few years now, ever seen it snow?" Jane asked, trying to keep the conversation shallow and nonthreatening so he wouldn't leave.
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 17, 2007 18:42:07 GMT
"Aye once. Though if I recall I was under heavy alcohol influences at the time, so it might not have been real snow. Looked pretty real at the time...maybe I'd just found a video game on that computer that simulated "weather you'll never see again," that's probably what it was," Desmond replied with a laugh, wrenching the bottle from the sand and staring at it again before taking another gulp. He blinked a few times and then looked to Jane, holding the bottle out to her. He had no idea why he was offering it to her. Another drunkenly action to add to the list.
He was ambling along with the conversation now. He was glad she hadn't said anything serious. God knows how he would have responded to one of those serious-type questions. He hated being serious. Being serious meant one had to think deeply for an answer, and he always went a little too deep to look for it, disturbing emotions on his way down most of the time. Thanks to the visions, he could now officially label himself, "crazy island-dwelling drunkard that can see into the future." It suited him, he mused.
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Post by Jane on May 17, 2007 20:01:30 GMT
Jane accepted the offered bottle and took a drink. It sent her into coughing at the harshness of the liquid. She would call it moonshine on a good day... but this must not have been a good day.
"Oh my gosh," Jane gasped as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed. "This has got to be some of the worst tasting stuff I've ever had." She didn't release the bottle back to Desmond however and took another drink, choking on it again but laughing, too.
"As long as it has kick, that's all that matters," Jane said and gave Desmond back the bottle. "And if I can judge by the looks of you, I think it'll do the trick." Jane teased and smiled at Desmond, then lay back in the sand. She stared into the deep blue sky and was grateful for the burn in her throat. She needed the buzz it was bound to give her to distract her from this dismal excuse for a life she was living.
"If you promise to share more, I promise not to talk too much."
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 19, 2007 12:39:11 GMT
"I don't think I can argue wi' that!" Desmond laughed, watching Jane take a drink and cough. He had to agree with her, it had the kick, but it was pretty foul compared to other drinks he'd had. He took it from her and took another gulp, hoping to join her, or catch up with her.
"I'll share it, aye, I wouldn't want to drink it all by myself anyway. We have to finish it before anyone else has to taste it and recoil in disgust. We could call it, "a mercy drinking," eh?" he said to her, waving the bottle about a bit. It may have been utterly vile, but it was fast-acting.
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Post by Jane on May 19, 2007 22:11:28 GMT
"Mercy drinking. That has a nice ring to it, mate. Thanks," Jane smirked.
She chuckled at herself for the thought of getting drunk on this nasty stuff. The last time Jane got drunk was on some wine in the hatch and she had become very melancholic and talked too much with one of the teens on while they were on button duty. Jane had to admit that was really superb wine compared to this stuff, though Jane had a feeling she was not going to have to have the entire bottle this time to knock her on her butt.
"All right, pass it back," Jane teased. "If I'm going to keep my mouth shut for you, then I need to fill my system with a bit more."
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 20, 2007 13:40:10 GMT
Desmond raised his eyebrows at her, a wide grin across his features. He laughed and passed the bottle back to her. It felt heavy in his hand all of a sudden, and so he waved it at her, making sure that he didn't give it back straight away.
"Y'don't need to keep your mouth shut if y'don't want to! I hear, the more y'drink, the more y'talk!" he answered her, pretending to be awfully serious. He didn't know if she wanted to talk or not, as being drunk really brings out the inner emotions, it had happened several times with himself, ranting on about life and events that should or shouldn't have taken place. Sometimes he'd let things slip, and now he was desperately begging the visions to leave him alone, to have them flash around while he was indulging in a bit of fun would be Hell.
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Post by Jane on May 21, 2007 0:37:13 GMT
Jane gave a playful smirk but acted offended. "I see someone's been spilling my secrets," she answered and took the bottle from Desmond's hand.
"While that is normally true of me Sir Desmond, I have to be honest when I tell you that was the old me. These days, the new me sits around and mulls over the tragedies and shortcomings of her life in a snow globe." Jane gave a sarcastic grin and took a long drink from the bottle, She swallowed and felt it burn her all the way down.
"Preferably with a bit of drink to make it all go down easier, though I must admit good drink is a lot harder to come by since the hatch went boom." Jane waved the bottle a bit and stared at the swirling liquid fire inside.
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 21, 2007 16:17:46 GMT
"Ha yeah...sorry, tha' was partly my fault. The hatch explodin', tha' is...I turned the key, flicked the switch, pulled the trigger, set off the trap...and then BANG, there it goes...flying ping-pong tables, lid, the lot..." Desmond said exaggeratedly, waving his arms about a bit to add extra emphasis.
"You drink tha' too fast, Lady Jane, there's gonna be one more good drink ter miss!" Desmond suddenly said, though only out of a selfish act of not being able to have another gulp of it. He wondered slightly what rash acts she would perform, but he had no idea how other people acted under the influence. He was always too far gone to remember. He smiled at the thought, and looked at Jane expectantly.
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Post by Jane on May 21, 2007 16:33:00 GMT
"Don't worry about me," Jane smirked at his Lady Jane comment. "In another life I was the belle of the bar scene, and a right good pool shark at that. Too bad that I won't be showing my skills around here anymore."
Jane took one last drink and held the bottle out to Desmond. That was certainly a whole 'nother life in Australia. Some of it Jane missed greatly, but not so much the playing billiards or drinking at bars. That was a hollow thrill that had lasted only as long as one of her relationships.
"I've a feeling I'm going to be missing this drink as soon as I hand it back to you anyway, Des, but you've earned it being here longer."
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 21, 2007 16:57:28 GMT
Desmond looked at the bottle in her hand, and was seconds away from taking it from her, but something stopped him. He leaned back with a sincere smile, staring at the sand briefly before glancing up again, the smile still across his face. If he was to be a "Sir," then he had to be chivalrous to the Lady.
"You keep it, Jane. I've been here longer, so I've had more than enough good drink. You deserve it," he said, the smile widening to a grin. It was about time he had carried out what he considered a good deed. He didn't intend to get her drunk, just inviting her to have the rest of it. He lay down completely on his back, hands behind his head, and watched the clouds. It was dizzying after the drink, but it was peaceful at the same time. He'd spent so long hating the island, that he had forgotten how nice it could be on a clear day.
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Post by Jane on May 21, 2007 17:14:47 GMT
Jane gave the man a second look and smiled lightly as he refused the bottle. Not that she necessarily wanted to drink the rest of the stuff, but she was certainly impressed he didn't retrieve it from her at the first chance. He wasn't a true drunk deep down. No, there was still something chivalrous laying generally dormant inside him but obviously chose to show itself to her. Jane wondered about this quiet Scotsman and what it was that drove him even as she downed a little more before setting it aside.
"We'll save some for later," Jane replied, her voice a little raspy from the fire in her throat. "I only need enough right now to be numb."
After making sure the bottle was secure in the sand and wouldn't fall over, Jane followed suit and lay back to watch the clouds go by. It had become her favorite pass time lately. "There's a dragon," she said absently making shapes from the clouds as her head began to swim.
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Desmond
Castaway
"See you in another life, brother..."
Posts: 75
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Post by Desmond on May 21, 2007 17:26:19 GMT
"I see a white rabbit...not tha' I'd rather see a grey, ominous looking one, mind you..." he said with a laugh, joining her in the game. He was glad that he had begun talking to her, and not walked away with his hands in his pockets as he sometimes did. Jane was one of the interesting type of people that he wished he knew better. She was good-humoured, yet subtle, and she didn't press matters that didn't want any attention. She reminded him of Penny, but the thought of her made his stomach knot in several different places, so he pushed the memory of her visage away to the back of his mind.
Still, it made him turn over and lie on his side, his shoulder digging uncomfortably into the sand. He looked down the beach, but there was nothing interesting to see. Just the same tents, the same people, the same trees, the same bloody twigs scattered across the floor. The weather may have been warm, but to Desmond it was as cold as snow. Like the snow in a snow globe.
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Post by Jane on May 21, 2007 17:40:49 GMT
"A white rabbit... like Alice in Wonderland," Jane mused thinking of following the rabbit down the hole into the unknown abyss. Jane was sure if there ever was such a hole it would have ended up here on this strange island of no return. She searched for the rabbit in the sky to see what Desmond saw, but could only see ominous looking creatures with eyes staring at her hungrily.
As Desmond turned in the sand, it pulled Jane from the fearful images her slightly tainted mind was creating. He had turned away from her and Jane wondered what she had done to prompt it. Not that she didn't get it. If Desmond were a smart man, he would be running from her right now not merely turning away. Perhaps he's too drunk to run, she mused. Taking her eyes to see what Desmond was looking at, Jane saw nothing of interest and assumed she was right in her assumptions and again lay flat on her back.
"If ya want to take the bottle and run, I wouldn't blame you," Jane spoke into the air, knowing Desmond would hear her regardless of his back being to her.
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