baby baby baby

[notcooldude]

See, the first time he'd needed new clothes on the new island (the one that wasn't his) Sawyer'd gone for him. For his own good, or at least that's what he'd said. Given how messy his first couple hours had been, he'd basically needed new clothes immediately, so when he was told to stay where he was and don't get in any more trouble, he did what he

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[notcooldude]

He doesn't jump at the feel of a small hand on his arm, but he does suck in a breath and move his head to get a good look at who, or what, it is. There's just been too much uncertainty and violence. Too much uncertainty in his life in the last month. He's not exactly some sort of traumatized war vet, but it is enough to make him look twice when he thinks he sees something out of the corner of his eye. It's enough to make him ask more questions than are necessarily polite sometimes.

It's just a kid, though. A tiny girl, blonde, cute as a button, should be doing commercials for tons of money and earning a college fund, but she's here. On a magical island, Like him.

"Hey," he says, quickly trying to mask his startle and his confusion with a broad smile. "I think your shoes are awesome. They didn't really make shoes like that when I was your age, but if they did I'd have wanted like, sixteen pairs. Did they come from--" He points a large finger toward the box. "--in there? Is there a trick?"

Except he quickly realizes there's someone else with the girl, who might not be too keen on Hurley's ... Hurley-ness. Though he's not yelling. Yet. And actually seems to be pretty chill, so Hurley turns to look at him almost apologetically.

"That's okay," he says, "People tell me so do I sometimes."

[little_moons]

"A trick?" she asks, peering into the box like something magical's going to come out. To us, the box itself still seems pretty fuckin' bizarre, but to the ones that were born here, it's all they've ever known. No shopping malls or catalogs. Just a box that dispenses weird clothes of its own free will.

Ruffling a hand over her hair and dropping down to sit on the other side of her, I tell him, "Yeah, me too." My boundaries have never really matched anybody else's.

"You must be new," I say to him, pulling the fuzzy socks over Mack's hands which sends her into a fit of shrill giggles. "It always seems to give the worst stuff to the newbies. Either that, or the rest of us are just used to it."

[notcooldude]

"Yeah, like," he says to her, distracted as he moves to peer into the box again. "A magic word or something, you know, to get it to give you what you--"

But before Hurley can finish, the dark-haired guy is answering that question for him, and all he can do is listen intently. All he should do, really. If they've been here for a while, they know better than him, and Hurley's learned by now that it usually pays to listen to the natives. They have a good idea of how stuff works, even if they don't always want to share those ideas. Everyone here so far seems friendly enough, though.

He smiles at how happy the girl seems to be. He never knew he missed the sound of kids laughing until hearing it wasn't an option for a while. "You can't tell?" he quips, before adding, more seriously, "I've been here, like, a week. And the last time I needed more clothes, Sawyer went to go get them for me, sooo ... this is probably where I say something like 'they finally decided it was okay to let me wander around on my own on the crazy magic island.'"

[little_moons]

Mack stomps around in a circle, making her shoes lights up -- all I can do is hope that eventually the batteries'll run out -- then she starts kicking at my shin to see if that'll work, too.

"Quit it," I tell her, splaying a hand out on her chest and gently shoving her back a step. With a put upon sigh, she turns around and goes back to riffling through the box.

"Sawyer?" I say with a quiet huff of laughter. "He's been keepin' you on a short leash, huh?"

[notcooldude]

Weird kid, Hurley thinks with a soft snort, wondering if she's, you know, his or something. On an island like this, you never know. Maybe, maybe not - that, at least, Hugo knows is none of his business to ask about. People'll share if they feel comfortable. And they won't share what they don't feel comfortable sharing.

Finally deciding to stand, he hauls himself up off the ground and out of his discard piles with a soft grunt of effort. And then gives the dark-hair guy a look that's not quite weirded out, but only by a hair.

"Ew, no, he's not keeping me on any kind of leash. Not even, like, metaphorical leashes. Sawyer's not the boss of me or anything. We're just friends from ... before here, so. I listen to his advice." He pauses, looking at the girl again, at the box he's just given up on. "He usually gives okay advice. Why? You know him?"

[little_moons]

"No leashes. I got it," I laugh, wincing when I get hit in the face with a lacy, neon pink bra that Mack decides to throw over her shoulder. Curling a hand around one of her pigtails, I give it a playful tug, which draws out a whined, "Neeeeil," from her, but apparently isn't enough to distract her from the box.

"Met him on his first day here. I'm Neil, by the way. This little monster's name is Mack."

Turning to look up at him, she says, "Mack Pin-o-ch-io," enunciating every syllable, not because she has a hard time pronouncing it, but just 'cause she likes how it sounds.

[notcooldude]

She's calling him Neil - his first name. So maybe he's not the kid's father, which is somehow relieving to Hurley. Well, maybe she is, but maybe not; he just likes the idea that she's got someone looking out for her, even if it's not her dad. At least some dudes manage to stick around for kids. Just not, you know ...

Hurley shrugs it off, and hesitates for a second, chewing his lower lip, before holding out a hand to the guy (Neil) for a shake.

"Hurley," he says, the white shirt slung over one shoulder. "And yeah, if he was a jerk to you or Mack when you met him, I apologize for him. 'Caaause he's never gonna apologize for himself." Even if maybe he wants to, Hurley thinks. That's just how he knows Sawyer to be.

Then again, things change. On islands and stuff.

[little_moons]

"You're assumin' I wasn't a jerk right back," I point out with a smirk, hooking a finger in one of Mack's little blue jean belt-loops when she tries climbing into the box to reach an ugly knit hat. He lets out a grunt of frustrations, wiggling against my hold on her with a desperate whine, and I murmur at her to be quiet, leaning forward to grab the hat for her before she goes tumbling face first into a box that I don't completely trust doesn't open up into another fuckin' dimension or something.

"He was locked in a cage. I kinda doubt it was his best day ever."

[notcooldude]

"I don't like to assume people are jerks," Hurley says, not to be contrary, but just because it's the simple truth. He doesn't like it when people are jerks either, of course, but then ... Sawyer's not really a jerk, and he hopes Neil isn't, either. He gives Mack a worried look, but Neil seems to have her in hand pretty well. It's not Hurley's business to be worrying about other people's kids anyway, when they're right there.

"Yeah, well," he says. "It happens. Probably not his worst day ever, either." He squirms a little, before finally giving in and asking at least one of the questions he really wants to ask. "So I guess you've been here a while if you were here when he got here."

[little_moons]

Pulling the hat down over her head-- it's got little fish fins and googly eyes, I push to my feet, wandering over to hop up onto the table people fold their clothes on and watching while Mack wades through the piles of clothes he's left out on the floor.

"Five years, this June. Honestly, I don't think there are a whole lotta folks left who've been here as long as me."

[notcooldude]

Hurley folds his hands into his pockets, watching Mack with a shy grin again. It fades quickly, when Neil mentions how long he's been on this island. Five years. He hadn't been on the other island even half that long, if he remembers right - and he's not sure he does, given all the freaking time travel and the everything else.

But it's a sobering thing, standing here and thinking about it. Sawyer's already told him about this island. About how it makes people normal again. But somewhere out there, Hugo thinks, is a Hurley that's going to be stuck on his island for ... probably forever. He finds it hard to meet Neil's eyes after that, somehow.

"So basically, you're like, one of the experts? What do people here do for fun? Because digging through this stupid box? Yeah, not so fun."

[little_moons]

"Nobody's an expert," I admit with a snort of laughter, 'cause I might be used to the little things, but when it comes to the big stuff... to watching this place fuck with our lives and having the people we love just vanish, leaving nothing behind... I doubt I'll ever get used to that.

"Fun? Well, uh... There's a hell of a lotta beach, but you came from another island, right? That's probably not too excitin'. Lot of people surf. They go out on boats and hang glide and play sports and do all that outdoor kind of shit," I say, murmuring a contrite sorry when Mack huffs out an offended sigh at my language, "There's a strip club, 'cause apparently every new society needs one of those, and a bar just outside, and a school. You can take classes or whatever. There's video games and radio and books and all kinds of stuff upstairs, but a lot of that has the same kind of sense of humor as that box. It takes a while, at first, but you figure out ways to keep busy. And barrin' all that, people smoke a lotta weed and have a whole lot of sex."

[notcooldude]

"I'm sure somebody's an expert," he says, "But nobody's just met him yet. Or her. Or ... it." Beyond that, though, Hurley doesn't show any curiosity, or outrage, or bitterness, or anything else. He doesn't show any empathy or sympathy toward what Neil is saying. He isn't sure he has a right. To comment about the island like that.

Instead, he finally raises his eyes to meet Neil's again, and dismisses that first subject with, "I like the beach. I like walking on it. Buuut I'm not too huge on sports except, like, ping-pong, and tennis. And if my mom ever found out I went into a strip club, she'd have a heart attack."

Hugo shakes his head. And then, though he isn't sure what it is about this person and this place and everything, he adds, "Not sure I'm the sort of person who's meant for smoking a lot of weed and having a lot of sex, either ... you know what I mean. Don't really need the munchies." Can't really get a date.

[little_moons]

"Could be the Easter Bunny, for all any of us know," I shrug, and it'd be easy to feel resentment for whatever's in charge -- 'cause there has to be something, more than just a goddamn island, like we all claim, but there's nothing we can do about it. Nothin' I can do about it. I spent enough of my life bein' angry at somebody who wasn't even around, I don't need to start that shit all over again.

Mack has pulled on an army green tutu and a pair of bright yellow galoshes she's found. I wonder if I was that weird at three and a half. Probably.

"I uh, kinda own a pub, as much as anybody can own anything around here. It's like, halfway across the island, so it's kind of a hike," I say, pointing in the general direction. "So, there's that. If you ever wanna come by and hang out or whatever."

[notcooldude]

Is he giving Hurley an invite to visit? Like, seriously trying to make friends? He's sort of stunned for a second, before getting the hell over it, Jesus, Hugo, what's your problem, and shooting Neil a broad, very broad smile, warming his face straight up to the corners of his eyes.

"I'm sorta used to hiking. So maybe I'll stop in sometime soon? If I have nothing better to do, which ... I'm also sorta used to. I can come in for a soda. You have soda, right?" Rubbing at his chin, he clarifies, in the way he best thinks to with a kid as little as Mack chilling in listening range.

"I got kind of an addictive personality. You might be able to tell."

[little_moons]

"Juice, coffee and tea, mostly. Soda's kinda hard to come by, 'round here," I say, huffing out a laugh at how fuckin' bright his smile is, all the sudden.

"Either way, we'll find you somethin'. Sawyer comes by sometimes, too, but he probably hangs out more at the Hub. I think I flirted with him one too many times, he's probably all uncomfortable."