Two Guise from Lost | That Bar

[mmdaisies]

The first, a young man, is staring at the Observation Window. He has a glass and a bottle of MacCutcheon whisky. He looks as if he isn't sure whether to be pleased or confused.

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[justdidntseeit]

Fresh from a sunrise walk by the lake, Kate comes in the back door, cheeks red from the cold.

Approaching the counter, she unwinds her scarf and requests a mug of hot cider. (The whipped cream and caramel sauce are Bar's idea. Really.)

She's removing her gloves when the rustling of a newspaper catches her attention; glancing at the man a couple of stools away, her polite smile is replaced by surprised disbelief.

Dad?

She'll find her voice in a second.

[onhisbehalf]

Christian, meanwhile, will continue to read about the Oceanic 6, his mouth tugged down into a frown.

[justdidntseeit]

Her eyes flick to the newspaper and back to his face.

She hates to break his concentration when he's engrossed (always has), but --

"How long have you been here?"

[onhisbehalf]

"Hmm?" he replies, looking from his newspaper to her.

He doesn't seem to recognize her.

[justdidntseeit]

"How long've you -- "

There's an unfamiliar coolness in his expression.

"I'm sorry -- I think I may've mistaken you for someone else."

[onhisbehalf]

He grins. "Maybe." Extending his hand: "My name is Christian."

[justdidntseeit]

He looks so much like her father when he grins, her stomach twists.

(Her dad hasn't smiled like that -- hasn't had reason to smile like that -- for weeks in L.A.)

"Christian," she echoes, returning the smile and taking his hand, "I'm Kate."

[onhisbehalf]

Something's added to the grin, then -- a touch of amusement.

"It's nice to meet you, Kate. Who'd you mistake me for?"

[justdidntseeit]

Her smile is tinged with embarrassment as she takes back her hand.

"Would you believe me if I said you look just like my father?"

[onhisbehalf]

"I would."

You don't even want to know what made him get to that point.

[justdidntseeit]

"Not exactly new to the place, then?"

[onhisbehalf]

"No." But that's not the reason why he doesn't find it odd. "I take it you're not new, either."

[justdidntseeit]

"I'm not," she says with a small shake of her head. "I've been coming here for a little more than a year."

One hand curls around her mug.

"My dad doesn't know about this place, and seeing you sitting here -- I'm sorry, it threw me a little."

[onhisbehalf]

"Your father won't disapprove of your being here, would he?" he asks wryly.

[justdidntseeit]

"I think it's more that he wouldn't believe his daughter frequents a bar at the end of the universe."

[onhisbehalf]

"Take away a year and I would've thought the same. Only I have a son as well as a daughter."

And take away a year and Christian wouldn't have thought his daughter and son would ever be in the same country together, much less the same plane, the same island.