sayid, paulo
sayid, paulo
PG-13
appx 450 words
"Just what is your problem?"
Sayid was surprised to see Paulo start at those words, as though the man had been drifting along, not paying attention to what he was doing-or more importantly, the way he was doing it-and this was all news to him. Sayid wasn't surprised to see his face clamp down on that emotion so fast he might be tempted to think he'd imagined the confusion. But he hadn't.
Paulo's brows furrowed and his eyes went small and pinched. Then his very posture bowed in right before he turned around and picked up the axe again. His swing was sloppy-wasted effort, just as it had been as Sayid came up to watch him. But there was no doubting the power he'd given it, now fueled by irritation, maybe even anger. Sayid could imagine it hurt him; those narrow shoulders were not made for this sort of work. Yet he did it anyway, because Sayid asked him to.
Sayid stood there, not knowing why he hadn't drifted away yet. It was probably because Paulo was doing his level best to ignore him, which made Sayid want to stay. Paulo had the surprising power to make him irrationally stubborn. He watched Paulo bring that axe up and down in a vicious arc, and it made him extraordinarily nervous, as if the man were likely to pitch forward onto the split wood with each repetition.
Finally, Paulo turned, wiped his eyes, sighed, and then spat out: "What?"
"I am just watching."
"No, you're not. You're never 'just watching' anything. Look, I did what you told me to do. I don't know what you're talking about, me having a problem."
Sayid didn't know either. Paulo was clueless and not horribly useful, and Sayid had no idea why he even bothered.
"The problem is I had to tell you," Sayid said wearily, then he walked off toward the jungle, back toward the path to their civilization.
He was two more clumsy, angry chops of wood into the jungle when he heard footsteps and shallow breaths coming toward him. He stopped but he didn't turn around.
Paulo said, "You should know… It wasn't about you telling us. It was about you letting us."
His voice was so carefully modulated it amazed Sayid, and he was glad he didn't have to make the decision to turn and look Paulo in the eye, because the man was already walking away from him, back to a job he had no business doing.
He should have recognized that face right away; he should have remembered how to handle it.
PG-13
appx 450 words
"Just what is your problem?"
Sayid was surprised to see Paulo start at those words, as though the man had been drifting along, not paying attention to what he was doing-or more importantly, the way he was doing it-and this was all news to him. Sayid wasn't surprised to see his face clamp down on that emotion so fast he might be tempted to think he'd imagined the confusion. But he hadn't.
Paulo's brows furrowed and his eyes went small and pinched. Then his very posture bowed in right before he turned around and picked up the axe again. His swing was sloppy-wasted effort, just as it had been as Sayid came up to watch him. But there was no doubting the power he'd given it, now fueled by irritation, maybe even anger. Sayid could imagine it hurt him; those narrow shoulders were not made for this sort of work. Yet he did it anyway, because Sayid asked him to.
Sayid stood there, not knowing why he hadn't drifted away yet. It was probably because Paulo was doing his level best to ignore him, which made Sayid want to stay. Paulo had the surprising power to make him irrationally stubborn. He watched Paulo bring that axe up and down in a vicious arc, and it made him extraordinarily nervous, as if the man were likely to pitch forward onto the split wood with each repetition.
Finally, Paulo turned, wiped his eyes, sighed, and then spat out: "What?"
"I am just watching."
"No, you're not. You're never 'just watching' anything. Look, I did what you told me to do. I don't know what you're talking about, me having a problem."
Sayid didn't know either. Paulo was clueless and not horribly useful, and Sayid had no idea why he even bothered.
"The problem is I had to tell you," Sayid said wearily, then he walked off toward the jungle, back toward the path to their civilization.
He was two more clumsy, angry chops of wood into the jungle when he heard footsteps and shallow breaths coming toward him. He stopped but he didn't turn around.
Paulo said, "You should know… It wasn't about you telling us. It was about you letting us."
His voice was so carefully modulated it amazed Sayid, and he was glad he didn't have to make the decision to turn and look Paulo in the eye, because the man was already walking away from him, back to a job he had no business doing.
He should have recognized that face right away; he should have remembered how to handle it.