Twirling Loopholes - Lost - Esau/Jacob
Title: Twirling Loopholes
Pairing: Esau/Jacob (hints of Jacob/Richard?)
Word Count: 773
Rating: PG
A/N: At the lostsquee luau, emiliglia asked for S6 speculation. While I very much doubt that this would actually happen, it is what I would want to happen because I thought that Esau was totally hot and was very disappointed when he turned into not!Locke.
Summary: Esau and Jacob find themselves alone on the island again.
Nothing works the way that he wants it to - not when it comes to Jacob.
It should have been over. Everything should have been over after he'd found his loophole and looked down, watching, as Jacob burned in the flames. The scent of burning hair and flesh had been working its way through the chamber; Esau had felt no regret. Watching Jacob burn, he had felt the sting of triumph and a burst of pride.
He had not felt lonely, or lost, or doubt. Jacob's death had been what he had been working towards for centuries, since before pretty Richard had come to distract Jacob from his presence.
But then the world went white and the ground trembled and he had enough time to think, Damn it, Jacob, before the stone beneath his feet turned to sand. From behind his closed eyes, Esau can feel hot sunshine on his face. It had been night moments ago, but now the sunlight is bright and warm. Tropical. He doesn't want to open his eyes and see what his work has accomplished; this had not been in the plan. This, whatever it is, had never even entered the plan.
He opens his eyes, reluctantly, and finds himself on an empty beach. There are no signs of life, not anywhere, until he spots movement from the corner of his eye and -
There is Jacob, sitting with his eyes squinted against the sun. His legs are bent and his arms are looped around them. He doesn't look towards Esau, though there is no doubt that he is aware that he is there.
"What did you do?" Esau asks; there is very little anger left to fill his voice. The defeat has drained him.
Jacob opens his eyes, finally, and looks up at Esau with his perfectly lazy smile. "I found a loophole," he answers.
Esau wonders just how long he's had that line scripted. Centuries, probably.
The world has changed, that much is certain. Esau doesn't know whether it's a question of time-travel, alternate universes or some other quirk of Jacob's genius. In a way, it doesn't even matter.
He walks forward, the sand shifting beneath his feet, until he is able to sit down close to Jacob. He looks at his profile as Jacob looks out to sea. He looks perfectly alive, his chest rising and falling. Two seconds ago he was burning away; Esau had won. Now, he knows, they are back at their old stalemate. He thinks that perhaps it is better this way; this time, he may not upset the balance.
"Did it hurt?" he asks once a beat has passed. "When you died... Did it hurt?"
"Yes," Jacob answers. "Of course it hurt." He smiles, even though Esau is sure that he shouldn't. Jacob should be angry. It is his permanent state of peacefulness that is so infuriating about him. Jacob could kill him, or anyone on his island, with the barest thought, but he never does. It's part of what Esau hates most about him. "I had hoped things might be reset before we got to that part."
"Reset. Is that what this is?" Esau looks around; the island is deserted.
"Burke, Faraday and the others. They changed everything." Jacob smiles. He rests his chin against his knee. "It's 2007 and the island was evacuated in 1977. Everyone who remained behind was killed in the blast." He pauses as if considering that for a moment, before he nods in concession. "Almost everyone."
That means that Richard is still around, then. Esau tries not to allow his old anger to take control over that. Even now, Jacob has his favourites. His love is not equal for all; that much is for certain.
Neither of them speaks for a while, falling into the long silence of the immortal. Minutes are nothing and seconds are less than that. The sun will fall, eventually.
There is a point in the afternoon when Esau reaches out for Jacob and finds that his hand is already there, waiting.
It is another hour before he speaks. "I'm glad you aren't dead," he admits, the words sticking on his tongue.
Jacob smiles, wide and slow, as if he already knew exactly what Esau was going to say. Knowing him, he probably did. "No more loopholes?" he asks.
"No more loopholes," Esau agrees - and he thinks that he will stick with that promise for a human's version of eternity. Two centuries, perhaps. He may even make it to three, on the island with Jacob at his side.
It won't be forever, but their stalemate will last for long enough for them both to grasp a handful of peaceful happiness.
Pairing: Esau/Jacob (hints of Jacob/Richard?)
Word Count: 773
Rating: PG
A/N: At the lostsquee luau, emiliglia asked for S6 speculation. While I very much doubt that this would actually happen, it is what I would want to happen because I thought that Esau was totally hot and was very disappointed when he turned into not!Locke.
Summary: Esau and Jacob find themselves alone on the island again.
Nothing works the way that he wants it to - not when it comes to Jacob.
It should have been over. Everything should have been over after he'd found his loophole and looked down, watching, as Jacob burned in the flames. The scent of burning hair and flesh had been working its way through the chamber; Esau had felt no regret. Watching Jacob burn, he had felt the sting of triumph and a burst of pride.
He had not felt lonely, or lost, or doubt. Jacob's death had been what he had been working towards for centuries, since before pretty Richard had come to distract Jacob from his presence.
But then the world went white and the ground trembled and he had enough time to think, Damn it, Jacob, before the stone beneath his feet turned to sand. From behind his closed eyes, Esau can feel hot sunshine on his face. It had been night moments ago, but now the sunlight is bright and warm. Tropical. He doesn't want to open his eyes and see what his work has accomplished; this had not been in the plan. This, whatever it is, had never even entered the plan.
He opens his eyes, reluctantly, and finds himself on an empty beach. There are no signs of life, not anywhere, until he spots movement from the corner of his eye and -
There is Jacob, sitting with his eyes squinted against the sun. His legs are bent and his arms are looped around them. He doesn't look towards Esau, though there is no doubt that he is aware that he is there.
"What did you do?" Esau asks; there is very little anger left to fill his voice. The defeat has drained him.
Jacob opens his eyes, finally, and looks up at Esau with his perfectly lazy smile. "I found a loophole," he answers.
Esau wonders just how long he's had that line scripted. Centuries, probably.
The world has changed, that much is certain. Esau doesn't know whether it's a question of time-travel, alternate universes or some other quirk of Jacob's genius. In a way, it doesn't even matter.
He walks forward, the sand shifting beneath his feet, until he is able to sit down close to Jacob. He looks at his profile as Jacob looks out to sea. He looks perfectly alive, his chest rising and falling. Two seconds ago he was burning away; Esau had won. Now, he knows, they are back at their old stalemate. He thinks that perhaps it is better this way; this time, he may not upset the balance.
"Did it hurt?" he asks once a beat has passed. "When you died... Did it hurt?"
"Yes," Jacob answers. "Of course it hurt." He smiles, even though Esau is sure that he shouldn't. Jacob should be angry. It is his permanent state of peacefulness that is so infuriating about him. Jacob could kill him, or anyone on his island, with the barest thought, but he never does. It's part of what Esau hates most about him. "I had hoped things might be reset before we got to that part."
"Reset. Is that what this is?" Esau looks around; the island is deserted.
"Burke, Faraday and the others. They changed everything." Jacob smiles. He rests his chin against his knee. "It's 2007 and the island was evacuated in 1977. Everyone who remained behind was killed in the blast." He pauses as if considering that for a moment, before he nods in concession. "Almost everyone."
That means that Richard is still around, then. Esau tries not to allow his old anger to take control over that. Even now, Jacob has his favourites. His love is not equal for all; that much is for certain.
Neither of them speaks for a while, falling into the long silence of the immortal. Minutes are nothing and seconds are less than that. The sun will fall, eventually.
There is a point in the afternoon when Esau reaches out for Jacob and finds that his hand is already there, waiting.
It is another hour before he speaks. "I'm glad you aren't dead," he admits, the words sticking on his tongue.
Jacob smiles, wide and slow, as if he already knew exactly what Esau was going to say. Knowing him, he probably did. "No more loopholes?" he asks.
"No more loopholes," Esau agrees - and he thinks that he will stick with that promise for a human's version of eternity. Two centuries, perhaps. He may even make it to three, on the island with Jacob at his side.
It won't be forever, but their stalemate will last for long enough for them both to grasp a handful of peaceful happiness.