but i don't want to be favored [Lost Luau. Juliet, Dogen, Richard]
Title: but i don't want to be favored
Summary: Richard introduces Juliet to the Temple and its guardian.
Character(s): Juliet, Dogen, Richard
Rating: PG
A/N: Posted for that_evening at the 2010 lostsquee Luau for her prompt, "the Others and the Temple."
ETA: Added scene explaining Dogen's translator issue.
"…Did I just walked onto the set of Indiana Jones? Or the ride at Disneyland?"
Richard did his best not to react at all to Juliet's deadpan observation, neither sigh or roll his eyes--a task made more difficult by a 13-year-old Alex's giggle. (He'd forgotten the child had went to the Temple yesterday on some errand for Ben, and had slept over with a few of the older women whose company she enjoyed.)
Not long after Jacob had returned from healing Juliet's sister, he had told Richard he should bring their newest arrival by the Temple, show her around, introduce her to Dogen.
"The dark tunnel we just went through with skeletons lying around wasn't your first clue?" Was all Richard would allow in response, and he felt slightly gratified when Juliet just silently smirked.
"This was already here when I first arrived," said Richard as he led her into the courtyard, watching out of the corner of his eye how Juliet tried not to stare at his people, their different, more well-worn clothes here. She had done enough staring when he came to pick her up earlier that day. It had been weeks since Richard had last seen Juliet or Dharma's old village; he had been on business at the Temple, with Jacob in his broken statue, and even got into another ill-conceived quarrel with Esau--in that time, he had slipped into something more comfortable. Just a vest and shirt and trousers; dust colored and a little tattered at the edges, a little worn after wandering about the woods, but apparently that was enough to draw Juliet's stare. Then again, when he wracked his brain, he came up with memories of only ever meeting her before in suits, smooth dress shirts and button-ups.
Juliet asked innocently where he had come from, and he unthinkingly, bluntly replied the Canary Islands. The last time he said that to someone, they had irritably complimented his loss of accent, but Juliet thankfully didn't say anything about that.
"Do you know how long this has been here? Who built it?" They were entering the Temple now, and Juliet's eyes were half wondering, half calculating as she observed the stone walls.
Richard just shook his head; "No idea--perhaps Egyptian...we preserve it nonetheless. Look after it...."
His voice trailed off as Juliet strayed to the clear rectangular pool.
"That's for healing," he murmured softly, remembering the child Ben had been.
Juliet turned back to him with an arched brow, and he kept his face impassive (both wondered who would crack first).
But Juliet just shrugged, and Richard took her to meet Dogen and Lennon.
"And I presume you are Dr. Juliet Burke, yes?"
She nodded, unaware of the silent exchange between Richard and Lennon: the older man's dark eyes had widened slightly, while Lennon's had grown much larger, but neither said a word, nothing about how Dogen usually feigned ignorance of the English language.
Juliet calmly accepted the tea Dogen offered her in what seemed like an area that served as both his study and personal garden. (Richard had left the two alone, when a man that was called and looked like the Lennon asked for a private word with him.)
"There's been much gossip about you at the Temple."
Juliet resisted the urge to quickly down the rest of her drink. Despite the absurdity of it all, this little excursion had been rather nice so far--it felt sort of like getting away from it all, the pregnancy problems, all the people expecting her to fix it. (Except for Richard, who she learned didn't really seem to care that much about the issue after all, and the kids, Alex and Karl, who were too young to feel any concern or worry over it.) But it seemed like that unwanted attention and pressure had followed her even here--
"Suffice to say, everyone's rather…curious, over Jacob granting you a favor."
She kept back the somewhat relieved sigh that threatened to fall from her mouth, but still she babbled, "Oh, that? That's...." Juliet coughed, then asked instead, "Is--is this Temple for Jacob?"
Dogen simply shrugged, toyed with an old baseball. "I've no idea of this structure's original purpose, but today…it's our haven, our stronghold. And as Jacob is in charge of the Island, so too does his control stretch here." He smiled grimly as he bounced the ball lightly in his hand. "But I would not say we worship the man here, despite the nature of the place."
Juliet felt slightly reassured when the Temple's guardian had addressed the Island's apparent deity as another human.
Dogen gently placed the baseball down, and refilled his cup and hers with more tea. "They say that Jacob's favor to you, and your prolonged stay, are not mere coincidence," he said in a very measured voice, his eyes watching her with a slight sadness.
Unbidden, her own small smile was sad too; "I'm afraid so."
It seemed too much for Dogen to ignore however; the man stiffened, and said, "Please excuse my curiosity." He placed one finger back on the baseball, slowly rolled it back and forth. "Jacob has done me a favor too, and I've not learned of anyone else who's been granted his help."
"Until now," Juliet replied quietly, and Dogen nodded.
When Richard returned, he accepted Dogen's offer of tea, but Juliet and he didn't stay long after that.
Before the two departed, Richard told Dogen that he had left something for him with Lennon.
After Dogen saw Juliet and Richard off (nodding to Juliet when she waved and smiled to him over her shoulder), he went to find Lennon. Dogen arched a brow when his translator said not a word as he handed over the envelope, and the bespectacled man looked unusually solemn. Returning to his study, Dogen slit the envelope open with a small knife.
He sighed, as photos of his son fluttered out.
Juliet saw nothing unusual in Richard's silence on the way back; she had grown used to it.
Finally, he said, "You and Dogen seemed to get on well."
She shrugged. "He was nice. Polite."
Juliet did not wish to think of Dogen's talk of Jacob and favors--but Richard's mind was full of that.
Full of that envelope heavy with a child Dogen would never meet again.
Full of the knowledge that Juliet would travel far, far away from her sister and nephew, all the way to his past.
("They all have a job to do, Ricardus," Jacob had told him, and he believed, for to think otherwise would render everything so pointless, and that was almost too much to accept.)
Summary: Richard introduces Juliet to the Temple and its guardian.
Character(s): Juliet, Dogen, Richard
Rating: PG
A/N: Posted for that_evening at the 2010 lostsquee Luau for her prompt, "the Others and the Temple."
ETA: Added scene explaining Dogen's translator issue.
"…Did I just walked onto the set of Indiana Jones? Or the ride at Disneyland?"
Richard did his best not to react at all to Juliet's deadpan observation, neither sigh or roll his eyes--a task made more difficult by a 13-year-old Alex's giggle. (He'd forgotten the child had went to the Temple yesterday on some errand for Ben, and had slept over with a few of the older women whose company she enjoyed.)
Not long after Jacob had returned from healing Juliet's sister, he had told Richard he should bring their newest arrival by the Temple, show her around, introduce her to Dogen.
"The dark tunnel we just went through with skeletons lying around wasn't your first clue?" Was all Richard would allow in response, and he felt slightly gratified when Juliet just silently smirked.
"This was already here when I first arrived," said Richard as he led her into the courtyard, watching out of the corner of his eye how Juliet tried not to stare at his people, their different, more well-worn clothes here. She had done enough staring when he came to pick her up earlier that day. It had been weeks since Richard had last seen Juliet or Dharma's old village; he had been on business at the Temple, with Jacob in his broken statue, and even got into another ill-conceived quarrel with Esau--in that time, he had slipped into something more comfortable. Just a vest and shirt and trousers; dust colored and a little tattered at the edges, a little worn after wandering about the woods, but apparently that was enough to draw Juliet's stare. Then again, when he wracked his brain, he came up with memories of only ever meeting her before in suits, smooth dress shirts and button-ups.
Juliet asked innocently where he had come from, and he unthinkingly, bluntly replied the Canary Islands. The last time he said that to someone, they had irritably complimented his loss of accent, but Juliet thankfully didn't say anything about that.
"Do you know how long this has been here? Who built it?" They were entering the Temple now, and Juliet's eyes were half wondering, half calculating as she observed the stone walls.
Richard just shook his head; "No idea--perhaps Egyptian...we preserve it nonetheless. Look after it...."
His voice trailed off as Juliet strayed to the clear rectangular pool.
"That's for healing," he murmured softly, remembering the child Ben had been.
Juliet turned back to him with an arched brow, and he kept his face impassive (both wondered who would crack first).
But Juliet just shrugged, and Richard took her to meet Dogen and Lennon.
"And I presume you are Dr. Juliet Burke, yes?"
She nodded, unaware of the silent exchange between Richard and Lennon: the older man's dark eyes had widened slightly, while Lennon's had grown much larger, but neither said a word, nothing about how Dogen usually feigned ignorance of the English language.
Juliet calmly accepted the tea Dogen offered her in what seemed like an area that served as both his study and personal garden. (Richard had left the two alone, when a man that was called and looked like the Lennon asked for a private word with him.)
"There's been much gossip about you at the Temple."
Juliet resisted the urge to quickly down the rest of her drink. Despite the absurdity of it all, this little excursion had been rather nice so far--it felt sort of like getting away from it all, the pregnancy problems, all the people expecting her to fix it. (Except for Richard, who she learned didn't really seem to care that much about the issue after all, and the kids, Alex and Karl, who were too young to feel any concern or worry over it.) But it seemed like that unwanted attention and pressure had followed her even here--
"Suffice to say, everyone's rather…curious, over Jacob granting you a favor."
She kept back the somewhat relieved sigh that threatened to fall from her mouth, but still she babbled, "Oh, that? That's...." Juliet coughed, then asked instead, "Is--is this Temple for Jacob?"
Dogen simply shrugged, toyed with an old baseball. "I've no idea of this structure's original purpose, but today…it's our haven, our stronghold. And as Jacob is in charge of the Island, so too does his control stretch here." He smiled grimly as he bounced the ball lightly in his hand. "But I would not say we worship the man here, despite the nature of the place."
Juliet felt slightly reassured when the Temple's guardian had addressed the Island's apparent deity as another human.
Dogen gently placed the baseball down, and refilled his cup and hers with more tea. "They say that Jacob's favor to you, and your prolonged stay, are not mere coincidence," he said in a very measured voice, his eyes watching her with a slight sadness.
Unbidden, her own small smile was sad too; "I'm afraid so."
It seemed too much for Dogen to ignore however; the man stiffened, and said, "Please excuse my curiosity." He placed one finger back on the baseball, slowly rolled it back and forth. "Jacob has done me a favor too, and I've not learned of anyone else who's been granted his help."
"Until now," Juliet replied quietly, and Dogen nodded.
When Richard returned, he accepted Dogen's offer of tea, but Juliet and he didn't stay long after that.
Before the two departed, Richard told Dogen that he had left something for him with Lennon.
After Dogen saw Juliet and Richard off (nodding to Juliet when she waved and smiled to him over her shoulder), he went to find Lennon. Dogen arched a brow when his translator said not a word as he handed over the envelope, and the bespectacled man looked unusually solemn. Returning to his study, Dogen slit the envelope open with a small knife.
He sighed, as photos of his son fluttered out.
Juliet saw nothing unusual in Richard's silence on the way back; she had grown used to it.
Finally, he said, "You and Dogen seemed to get on well."
She shrugged. "He was nice. Polite."
Juliet did not wish to think of Dogen's talk of Jacob and favors--but Richard's mind was full of that.
Full of that envelope heavy with a child Dogen would never meet again.
Full of the knowledge that Juliet would travel far, far away from her sister and nephew, all the way to his past.
("They all have a job to do, Ricardus," Jacob had told him, and he believed, for to think otherwise would render everything so pointless, and that was almost too much to accept.)