Let's Get Lost, You Can Take Me Home

The small waves advancing on the shore line tickled her feet as the ebb and flow pushed small gushes of water onto the sand, before dragging them slowly back out to sea once more. She smiled, bright eyes covered by sunglasses, hands resting behind her short, blonde hair to provide a sort of makeshift pillow on which her head could lean. The softest of sighs emanated from her thin lips as she allowed her shaded eyes to flutter shut, toes digging into the moist sand as the waves lapped at her feet. Seeing this girl in her blissful repose, one would hardly guess that she was on some remote island, deposited here after a horrific plane crash, and not at some luxurious beachside resort nearer to civilization. But Shannon Carlyle made do, she always did; wherever she was, she could find a way to relax, as though it were some civic duty she had to fulfill. She was, after all, an absolute prima donna, and she wore her badge with pride.

There were those, however, who would have it different. Suddenly feeling cooler about the facial area, Shannon quickly deduced that someone was now standing over her, blocking out the sun from gracefully bathing her face in warm yellow light. Opening her eyes to confirm this guess, her assumption was validated, as she looked up at her older brother, who was looking back down at her.

"Do something."

"No."

They had had this conversation several dozen times since arriving on the island, Boone constantly asking Shannon to do something, anything to assist the other castaway's efforts at building shelters, gathering food, and creating distress signals, and each time Shannon refusing. These conversations used to be longer, often resulting in loud, heated arguments that tended to make everyone within earshot somewhat uncomfortable, but over the course of the week they'd been there, these exchanges had gotten shorter and shorter, both realizing that, despite Boone's best efforts, her sister would never do anything physically strenuous or helpful. Now, a simple three-word discourse was enough to satisfy the two siblings, Boone content in knowing that he had at least tried, and Shannon complacent that he had failed.

The brunette sank down into the sand, a development that did anything but please his sister, who up until that moment had been rather enjoying her solitude. But she closed her eyes again, figuring she could easily block out his presence in this manner. Unless, of course, he started talking to her.

"Do you think we'll ever be found?"

Shannon stuck out her lower jaw in a demonstration of her annoyance, before taking off her sunglasses and looking up into her brother's eyes, which were looking back down at her somewhat worriedly. "Boone, don't ask that," she replied dismissively. "God, you're so morbid." With a bemused shake of her head, she replaced her sunglasses upon her nose and shut her eyes once more.

Boone nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. She did, after all, sort of have a point: it would be best not to think about the possibility of them remaining stranded in the middle of the Pacific forever, lest they descend into madness. He sighed, ignoring the more annoyed sigh he received in response from his sister, and laid himself down as well, resting his head in his hands much in the same style as Shannon was already doing.

An hour passed, the two siblings lying side by side, not uttering so much as another word to one another, the blonde female occasionally turning herself over to ensure an even tan. Now lying on her stomach, her head resting in the overlapping crooks of her elbows, Shannon had nearly fallen asleep when she began feeling a sensation more pressing than exhaustion: that of thirst.

"Boone, I'm thirsty," she said, her voice somewhat muffled; she raised her head to articulate her next thought more clearly: "Get us some water, will you?"

Boone shrugged; he supposed that was an easy enough task, and while he wasn't crazy about running errands for his sister, he knew that any response other than an affirmation would be received in a manner most impolite. "Sure," he added, vocalizing his aforementioned gesture. "Where is it?"

Shannon shook her head. "I don't know, I think Sawyer has it all," she mumbled in response, laying her head back down on her arms.

A worse response, Boone could not have imagined. He didn't know Sawyer particularly well - and in fact they had never made one another's acquaintance - but from what he had heard, the man was not particularly pleasant. This would be one of those tasks he would regret agreeing to do: he could tell already. But, figuring he would rather take his chances with Sawyer than get criticized by his sister, he stood himself up, and headed up the beach towards the little shack he knew to be Sawyer's. How Sawyer had already managed to put himself together an abode, Boone was not entirely sure, but it was a bit annoying that Sawyer wouldn't help with anyone else's now that his was already made. In fact, the brunette determined as he approached the wooden hut, Sawyer was just as lazy and selfish as Shannon was; perhaps they would make a good pair. But no, he loved his sister too much to make her go through something like that.

Having reached the entryway - there was no door, just a hollow space between logs - Boone knocked awkwardly on a piece of wood, poking his head gingerly inside, looking around. Spotting the other man, he gave him a polite smile, deciding he would try his best to get on the man's good side, so perhaps this endeavour would end with an accomplishment. And Lord knew he didn't feel like going back to Shannon empty-handed: his cheek still hurt from the last time he'd failed her.

"Uhh, hi," he said, taking a small step inside, his eyes blinking to adjust themselves to the sudden shade. "Do you, umm..." He realized there wasn't really any way to ask without seeming accusatory, so he tried to put it as delicately as possible. "Do you know where all the bottled water is?" There had been several cases of Poland Spring that had been salvaged from the wreckage, but a few days later it had all disappeared. Boone didn't pay much attention to island gossip, but judging by what Shannon had said, apparently it was generally believed that Sawyer had taken it, along with pretty much everything else. If he was really that greedy, then something told Boone Sawyer probably wouldn't be willing to give it up out of the goodness of his heart. But perhaps his assumptions would be proven incorrect.

But probably not.

James Ford was never one for planning much, but he had never once imagined that his trip back to L.A.X. would end like this. He had been fully expecting to go back to the States, and find a way to forget his excursion Down Under. However, this place…well, it wasn’t ideal, but the con-man known as ‘Sawyer’ to these people found it to be almost like paradise. Sure, there were crazy monsters, polar bears, and boars that seemed to enjoy tormenting people, but those were just a few negatives to this life. Sawyer had managed to make a pretty good life for himself here.

Of course that meant that he had not been much help to anyone else, but in situations like this a guy has to fend for himself. These people just didn’t know how to really survive out here. This was the wild, and all those rules that ‘civilized’ people lived by didn’t apply here no matter how much people wanted them to. Sawyer was just waiting for the day when people turned on each other. He’d be prepared for it, too. He had enough in his stash to live pretty well, and he’d find a way to get whatever else he needed from others by trading if it came down to it. Sawyer was a tough bargainer…Freckles found that out already. ‘Freckles’ being Kate, of course, but Sawyer rarely called anyone by their actual name. Hell, he didn’t call himself by his actual name, so why should he call other people by theirs?

Sawyer was itching for a cigarette as he had ran out a couple of days ago, but he figured now was as good a time to quit as ever. Not that he hadn’t looked for more cigarettes…Oh, no. That had been near the top of his list along with the alcohol stash on the plane. No such luck. If he didn’t know any better, he’d guess that he was the only smoker in the group. Pity, really. Out of his huge stash he didn’t have what he really craved at the moment.

The southerner looked up from his book at the one standing in his doorway. Blue eyes narrowed on the younger male who spoke, but he remained silent. He’d learned a little about everyone on their little island, and he knew this was ‘Sticks’ brother. Not that he would tell anyone this, but he was having a hard time thinking of a new name for this kid…other than ‘kid’ or ‘boy’. Those just weren’t fun though, and probably not annoying. He knew that he’d come up with something though. No need to reciprocate a greeting because he didn’t really want to talk to this guy. However, a question was asked which would just create an awkward situation if he left that question unanswered. It was easy to answer the question about the water as well. A simple, “Yes.” was all he said. Of course he knew where the water was. In fact he had dug a hole in the sand in order to cover it up to keep it at least a little bit cooler than the stifling air around them, and he was sitting only about a foot away from the water. Easy access and all that.

ooc: Yea, this is short. I'm so sorry! I've been quite sick the past week, but I didn't want to leave you hanging forever. Sorry this isn't how I wanted my intro to look.

((I'm not a stickler for length so you don't have to worry about that: I care more about the interaction between characters.))

Boone knew very little about Sawyer, apart from the smattering he had learned of him by way of overhearing what other people on the island were saying about him behind his back. He knew he was selfish - that was evident by the fact that he had his own shelter and wasn't helping anyone with their's. He knew he could be obnoxious, which was evident for the same reason. He had also seen him, from afar, getting into arguments with other castaways. One in particular, who Boone knew to be named Kate, would usually end up storming off from the encounter looking somewhat flustered - why, the brunette could not tell, although it was entirely possible that this Sawyer character was a womanizer and was saying things unbecoming of a gentleman. He had seen him interacting with his own sister once before, although he had only caught the tail-end of the conversation, which had involved Shannon scoffing at the blonde-haired man and then turning over to tan her back. But apart from what he had seen, Boone knew next to nothing about the man he was now facing, asking about the whereabouts of the remaining supply of water. He didn't know where he had come from, or where he had been going. He didn't know that his real name wasn't even Sawyer. He didn't know that he had come up with nicknames for everyone else on the island, save for him. And he surely didn't know that, as he stood there, the water was only a few feet away from him, just underground.

The younger man's eyes lit up upon hearing an answer in the affirmative. "Oh, great," he said sincerely, genuinely happy that Sawyer would be able to help him find some water to quench his sister's thirst (of course, he would not inform the blonde that this was the reason why he had asked, for he already had a feeling that the others found him to be a bit whipped, which he was, but he wanted to dispel the myth if possible). Perhaps this man wasn't so bad after all. He shifted his weight from his right hip to his left, slowly coming to the realization that Sawyer had finished speaking. "Uh, umm," he chewed on his bottom lip, it having seemed obvious to him that Sawyer would continue talking, for the sake of informing him of where the water was, but apparently what was obvious to him wasn't so obvious to another. "Where is it?" While he waited for an answer, Boone took that opportunity to look around the makeshift hut. It was a heck of a lot nicer where he had slept for the past week, that being either on the sand when it was warm enough, or some ways into the forest when it was cold or raining (the canopy, however, providing no real relief from the elements). Perhaps he could convince this nice man to help him and his sister build their own place. Or, even better, perhaps he would be so kind as to allow them to stay with him for a time. They could be roommates, the three of them, and Boone would be endlessly grateful for the hospitality.

Boone knew very little about Sawyer.

This kid was most likely one of those innocent people...also way too trusting, and gullible. Either Boone would get annoying, or he'd be useful. The happy look in Boone's eyes was enough to make Sawyer give a little smirk of his own. Yes, this could be entertaining. Sawyer enjoyed messing with people immensely. It was a great pastime here on the island, and helped to chase away boredom during the long days they spent doing virtually nothing.

Where is it?

Sawyer laughed just a little at Boone's question, "Well, son, that depends on what water you're talking about. I know there were still some in that fuselage that sunk into the ocean with the tide, so I imagine those are still out there. I wouldn't doubt that there would be some out in the Jungle of Mystery either in that cockpit. There's probably others around too...if you know where to look." he said with a grin. "But you have to know that even on this island...nothin's free."

If Sawyer had known Boone's thoughts at the moment, he would have done one of two things: 1) he would have just punched the kid for thinking him soft, or 2) he would have just laughed at him in his face and told him that he had a really naive view of the world.

That smirk that grew across Sawyer's facial features was enough to lift the hopes of the younger man who stood in the entryway. A smile was always a good thing, always - this according to a pampered upper-class metrosexual who had never encountered nuance - and so this gesture alone made Boone virtually certain that water was within reach.

Maybe Boone was naive. Maybe he had an overly optimistic view of the world. Maybe he just assumed there was some good in Sawyer, that there was some small trace of humanity in all people, that if someone was really thirsty on a remote desert island and one person knew where the water was, that one person would divulge the information for the benefit of the group. Sure, Boone might have been naive. But he was not stupid. So as Sawyer began to snarkily tell him about where he might be able to find some water, his smile turned into a frown, which turned into a deeper frown. This man, clearly, had no interest in helping him (although, truth be told - which it wouldn't - he was technically not helping Shannon, for it was his sister, as opposed to himself, who wanted the water so badly). Perhaps everyone else was right about him.

He sighed heavily once the older male had finished his little repartee, shifting his weight from one hip to the other and folding his arms across his chest. "Nothing's free, huh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, I don't have time for this." He turned away from Sawyer for a moment, looking out onto the beach. How much brighter it was out there than in the dark, dank shelter Sawyer had created for himself. Here and there, people - many of whom Boone still did not know well - wandered about the beach, some carrying wood to build walls, some looking for dry sticks with which to create fire, others perhaps also looking for water, and some just walking aimlessly this way and that to occupy the time. His eyes returned to the blonde, narrowing themselves slightly. "What do you want?" He asked at length. "I don't have anything to give you, anyway." How quickly his temperament had changed, having been so hopeful at first, and now so dejected and bemused.

Sawyer's smirk remained as Boone's dissipated. Maybe this kid wasn't as dumb as he thought he was. At least he could tell sarcasm from reality. "Actually, I think we've got all the time in the world...unless you have some meeting or prior arrangement here on the island." he said and sat up just a little and rested his forearms on his knees as he watched Boone. His smile grew at Boone's next question and he pointed at the young man, "Now, that...is a much better question." he said and leaned back in order to give himself a bit more momentum to stand up.

"I know you don't have anything. I don't think anyone out there really has much, do they? I mean, that's why you're over here asking me for water." Sawyer said simply and moved some of his hair out of his eyes. "But I want anything valuable, and if you find some smokes then I'll trade you for some water." he said and still seemed to be all business. He motioned out with one arm as if he were showing Boone the way back out of his house to the beach, "Have a nice day." he said with a large, charming smile.