(Untitled)

[man_offaith]

The island didn't speak to him.

He knew every corner of her. Every mountain. Every valley. He stood under the waterfall, listening to the falls beat down on the rocks, echoing in the hidden chamber below, the dull roar pressing on his ear drums. Dizzying. He stood and listened. Listened for voices, for signs, but he heard nothing.

Tell me what

Comments

[unextrordinary]

I had just walked into the laundry room, a canvas bag of dirty clothes in my hands when I heard the old man in the room speak. Okay, that was weird, and I frown a bit in confusion. I've met people who are a bit beyond the norm, but I've never had someone just tell me to talk.

"Okay, I'll talk to you. If that's what you want."

[man_offaith]

John Locke wasn't easily startled, but at the sound of a female voice -- young and audibly confused -- he froze, his smile sheepish. The bumbling old man.

"I didn't see you there, I apologize."

[unextrordinary]

I shrug and walk over to the table in the centre of the room, heaving my bag on top of it.

"It's all right. I mean, if you were talking to yourself I'm really okay with it."

It's not like I don't do the same thing from time to time.

[man_offaith]

"I suppose I was," he admitted, nodding to the large sack the girl was lugging around, "Would you like some help with that?"

[too_lazy_not_to]

"I don't think it will. It's just a washing machine." Johnny had been sitting in a corner with a comic book while he waited for his uniform to finish washing. He didn't think he'd ever wear it again, he just wanted it clean. He was fairly certain the man hadn't been talking to him either. People tended to not notice Johnny most of the time. He was quite used to it by now.

"And even if it wasn't it probably wouldn't talk to you. Things are very quiet here." And Johnny was starting to enjoy it.

[man_offaith]

He'd seen the boy earlier, but somewhere in his frustration, he'd forgotten he wasn't alone.

"Yes, it is. I suppose I'm not used to it."

[too_lazy_not_to]

Johnny nodded. "Neither am I. But it's a nice holiday. Nothing too strange goes on here. It seems to me like the sort of place where you can actually figure everything out for once."

Whenever Johnny thought he'd had life completely sorted and figured out at home something new always happened to him. Like seeing the dead. Or traveling in time. Or arriving on a mysterious island. But with no way off the island and several people's assurances that strange powers didn't work maybe life could be normal and straightforward.

[man_offaith]

"I seem to be having a more difficult time figuring things out than I'd like," he admitted, honestly, feeling no need to hide the truth from the boy. As frustrating as the previous island had been, it made sense to him. At times.

At times, it felt like home.

[longcon]

Sawyer was damned observant. Had to be on account of his particular career choice. Couldn't be a con if you didn't watch folks like a hawk and get to know their idiosyncrasies, be they small or large.

John Locke had some damned large ones because that was just how he rolled. Now, this wasn't to say Sawyer and Johnny Boy had been BFFs back in Jungle of Mystery or nothin', but Sawyer had spent plenty of damned time with him, enough to know that this? He'd been expectin'.

"Don't think a washin' machine's good for much conversation, John."

[man_offaith]

"No, of course not," he said, distracted. If he was surprised by Sawyer's presence, he didn't show it. The man seemed to show up at the strangest times, when Locke wanted nothing more than to be alone...

Or perhaps right at the moment he wouldn't have minded a little company. "But, you never know. I've never tried it."

[longcon]

"Well, hell, why dontcha give it a whirl right now?" Sawyer asked, hopping up on top of the nearby dryer. "It doesn't look too busy right now. Maybe it's got time for a little chat. Don't know until you try, right?"

[man_offaith]

"That's funny," he murmured, the corner of his lips twitching, maybe a little spark in his eyes. "I think I'll spare myself the wasted time, just this once."

[not_a_flaw]

"I don't believe you'll get much in the way of deep, meaningful conversations from a washer." D'Anna said, taking a moment out of rummaging through the clothing box. It seemed adamant on giving her a lot of black today. "All it does is wash." Nothing more. Nothing less.

"That would be asking it to perform a task well beyond the calls of its original purpose, unfortunately." Or fortunately, for some. If washing machines started talking, the Colonials on the island might start panicking. They were good at that.

[man_offaith]

He froze, startled, but he pulled himself together within a matter of moments, patting the washer as if asking for forgiveness.

"Oh, I don't know. Things have a way of surprising you," he said, offering a sheepish smile.

[not_a_flaw]

"Hm. True enough," she said with a short nod. She'd had her fill of surprises for quite some time now, though, and would have appreciated the washing machines bearing that in mind. "Anything in particular you're hoping to hear from them?"

[man_offaith]

"Hm? Oh, I wasn't talking to the washers," he said, scrubbing a tired hand over his face. All these gestures of frustration he'd kept in check for so many months.

"I'm... I'd like to hear from the island. It isn't quite as forthcoming as I'd hoped."

[saikamai]

Cuthbert had turned the corner at just that moment, heading into the laundry room to retrieve a bundle of drying clothes. He saw the frustrated looking fellow and winced slightly. Why, he'd been in the same position not so long ago.

"It's a washing machine," Bert offered. "It can wash clothes but so far as I know, it's not enchanted to speak. But you can give it orders just... by pressing buttons." He smiled, walked over and examined the washer that the man was standing at. "Do you need a hand?"

[man_offaith]

Startled, maybe even a little embarrassed, Locke turned, offering a sheepish smile that was a little more genuine than the others he'd managed the last few days.

"No, I think I'm alright, as far as washers go. But thank you."

[saikamai]

"All right," Cuthbert said, but he didn't sound terribly convinced. He bent and swung open the door to one of the washers and retrieved a warm ball of clothing, gathering it up into his arms.

"Is everything all right? I mean, I don't mean to pry, and in any other place I'd likely mind my own business, but here, folk have to hold palaver." He shrugged. "We all come from our own worlds and that's enough of a thing to have in common." Cuthbert watched him and wondered if he had been praying, either speaking to angels or a loved on (either back from his home-place or dead, it was six to one, half dozen to the other here). "If it's a spot of talk thee wants, I've nothing to do but fold."

[I'm an irresponsible tagger; I dropped this and somehow managed to forget all about it. I'm sorry- if it's too late and you'd rather drop it, it's fine!]

[man_offaith]

"Oh, no, I'm fine," he said, and it wasn't so much a lie as it was protecting the truth, "I suppose you could call it cabin fever."

The people were more open than any other place he'd been, which John found that he liked, and was wary of at the same time. Honesty was one thing, but full disclosure, to the wrong people, could be dangerous for anyone.

"But I wouldn't say no to some company."