(no subject)
Title: A Touch Of Civility
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairings: Juliet, Ben, mentions of other characters
Word Count: 708
Prompt: #93 - Thanksgiving for
fanfic100
Rating: PG-13
Awards: Third Place for Challenge #60 - Free For All at
lostfichallenge
Summary: Pre-pilot. This was just another mind game, disguised by turkey and pumpkin pie.
A little touch of civility, Ben would say, is what everyone needs.
Like he was doing them a favor.
That’s why they celebrated holidays. Christmas, Easter, and, especially, Thanksgiving. That was the one he pushed the most. He said it was humbling and that it promoted unity. Ben was all about unity because it kept people from fractioning off and figuring out that he didn’t have to be the boss of them if they didn’t want him to be. For the most part, people were unaware of the mind games he was playing with them, the ways he kept them all under lock and key and his control.
This was just another mind game, disguised by turkey and pumpkin pie.
She thinks it would be fine if she didn’t have to see him on these days. She would be fine if she didn’t have to match his false smiles and pretend that she wasn’t counting down the holidays she could be spending with her sister, with her niece. With people she cared about.
Somehow, she thinks, he must know this; he must know that to hide from him, to stay inside behind locked doors, would make it so much easier for her. Ben doesn’t believe in easy.
She thinks this because she can’t find any other reason for him to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner like she’s an old friend, or even a sister.
And he doesn’t take no for an answer, so it’s not like she can turn him down.
Sitting around the table in his dining room, surrounded by familiar smells that remind her of Rachel’s favorite holiday she can almost close her eyes and forget that she’s here.
That is, until he goes and says something like, “I think we should go around in a circle and everyone should say something they’re thankful for.”
It’s almost sickening the way people comply. Alex, young Alex who’s far more mature than anyone gives her credit for, is the only one who has the guts to send a confused expression Juliet’s way, from across the table. It’s one she returns, followed by a ‘this is ridiculous’ one. Once again, Ben is trying to come off as a much better man than he really is. The patriarch of this utopia he claims to have created.
But they do, comply that is. One by one Tom (the only one who’s ever genuine), and then Richard (who’s faking just as much as Ben is but for very different reasons), Ethan, Goodwin, and then all eyes fall on her.
She raises her eyes to find his, almost asking if he really expects her to answer that. He does, and this she knows, she’s really only buying herself time to think up a suitable answer, a suitable lie.
She could have all the time in the world and she still wouldn’t be able to think of an answer.
“I don’t have a whole lot to be thankful for.”
It catches him off guard, if only for a moment, calm features giving way to something darker before reverting back again. She’s fairly sure no one’s ever had the guts to speak their mind like that before but, really, she doesn’t have a whole lot to lose.
His voice is perfectly steady as he says, “I’m sure you can think of something.”
It’s a stand off. Someone has to give in and all who are present know that. He can either concede, let her have her moment, or she can lie, give in, and let it be forgotten. The latter is probably the safer option. That’s precisely why she doesn’t choose it. At least, not exactly.
Matching his tone and demeanor, she replies. “I’m thankful for each day that passes because it means I’m closer to going home and never coming back here.”
It pisses him off. He doesn’t show it but she knows. She knows that smile is more forced than ever as he tries to shift the focus on to Alex as he asks her the very same question. Too late for that, the damage is already done.
It ends up being worth all the looks she got and all the awkwardness that ensued afterwards.
He never invites her to Thanksgiving dinner again.
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairings: Juliet, Ben, mentions of other characters
Word Count: 708
Prompt: #93 - Thanksgiving for
fanfic100
Rating: PG-13
Awards: Third Place for Challenge #60 - Free For All at
lostfichallenge
Summary: Pre-pilot. This was just another mind game, disguised by turkey and pumpkin pie.
A little touch of civility, Ben would say, is what everyone needs.
Like he was doing them a favor.
That’s why they celebrated holidays. Christmas, Easter, and, especially, Thanksgiving. That was the one he pushed the most. He said it was humbling and that it promoted unity. Ben was all about unity because it kept people from fractioning off and figuring out that he didn’t have to be the boss of them if they didn’t want him to be. For the most part, people were unaware of the mind games he was playing with them, the ways he kept them all under lock and key and his control.
This was just another mind game, disguised by turkey and pumpkin pie.
She thinks it would be fine if she didn’t have to see him on these days. She would be fine if she didn’t have to match his false smiles and pretend that she wasn’t counting down the holidays she could be spending with her sister, with her niece. With people she cared about.
Somehow, she thinks, he must know this; he must know that to hide from him, to stay inside behind locked doors, would make it so much easier for her. Ben doesn’t believe in easy.
She thinks this because she can’t find any other reason for him to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner like she’s an old friend, or even a sister.
And he doesn’t take no for an answer, so it’s not like she can turn him down.
Sitting around the table in his dining room, surrounded by familiar smells that remind her of Rachel’s favorite holiday she can almost close her eyes and forget that she’s here.
That is, until he goes and says something like, “I think we should go around in a circle and everyone should say something they’re thankful for.”
It’s almost sickening the way people comply. Alex, young Alex who’s far more mature than anyone gives her credit for, is the only one who has the guts to send a confused expression Juliet’s way, from across the table. It’s one she returns, followed by a ‘this is ridiculous’ one. Once again, Ben is trying to come off as a much better man than he really is. The patriarch of this utopia he claims to have created.
But they do, comply that is. One by one Tom (the only one who’s ever genuine), and then Richard (who’s faking just as much as Ben is but for very different reasons), Ethan, Goodwin, and then all eyes fall on her.
She raises her eyes to find his, almost asking if he really expects her to answer that. He does, and this she knows, she’s really only buying herself time to think up a suitable answer, a suitable lie.
She could have all the time in the world and she still wouldn’t be able to think of an answer.
“I don’t have a whole lot to be thankful for.”
It catches him off guard, if only for a moment, calm features giving way to something darker before reverting back again. She’s fairly sure no one’s ever had the guts to speak their mind like that before but, really, she doesn’t have a whole lot to lose.
His voice is perfectly steady as he says, “I’m sure you can think of something.”
It’s a stand off. Someone has to give in and all who are present know that. He can either concede, let her have her moment, or she can lie, give in, and let it be forgotten. The latter is probably the safer option. That’s precisely why she doesn’t choose it. At least, not exactly.
Matching his tone and demeanor, she replies. “I’m thankful for each day that passes because it means I’m closer to going home and never coming back here.”
It pisses him off. He doesn’t show it but she knows. She knows that smile is more forced than ever as he tries to shift the focus on to Alex as he asks her the very same question. Too late for that, the damage is already done.
It ends up being worth all the looks she got and all the awkwardness that ensued afterwards.
He never invites her to Thanksgiving dinner again.