Fault lines

Chapter 6: One of Us

"My idea of good company… is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company."

"You are mistaken," said he gently, "that is not good company; that is the best."

Jane Austen, Persuasion

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Chapter 6: One of Us

"Don't y'all dare sing to me," James commanded, pushing away his plate with the remnants of his pizza crust on it with one hand and rubbing his stomach absentmindedly with the other. "I mean it." He sat at the dining room table, groaning from the over-indulgence. Juliet grinned, remembering how he'd been the one to challenge Miles and Jin to a pizza-eating contest and kept going, even though they'd both quit 2 slices ago.

"James, I worked hard on that cake. You better eat it," Juliet warned, pushing down the smile rising to her cheeks at the way James ran his palm over his face, clearly pained. "No one asked you to eat that much pizza." The round, two-tiered double chocolate cake sat on the countertop, leaning a little to one side but otherwise looking pristine with its whipped chocolate frosting and a smattering of chocolate sprinkles.

"I will, I will. Later. Christ…"

"Why'd you keep goin', man?" Miles shook his head and scoffed, picking up the plates and depositing them in the sink. Juliet, needing something to do, decided to start washing them. Jin rose from his seat on the couch to help her dry.

"I dunno… it was just good," James moaned and rose to take Jin's vacant seat on the couch. He laid down and moaned louder. "Went almost four months without pizza and now it's like my kryptonite or somethin'..." Juliet chuckled at James's shameless complaining.

"If you lay down, you'll get indigestion!" she called over her shoulder as she scrubbed.

She heard James grumble, and she checked over her shoulder once more to see him sit up and burp quietly. "I fuckin' hate bein' old," he said under his breath.

"Better you than me," Miles added. "By the way, how old are you, grampa?"

James considered. He'd had his birthday two months before they'd crashed. He'd turned 36. But that hadn't been a whole year ago, thanks to the time jumps; more like a little under eight months. "I don't really know," he answered honestly. "Time travel's a bitch." That earned him a laugh from all three of his friends. Truer words had perhaps never been spoken amongst the four of them.

Looking around the room, James swelled with happiness as he watched them from his vantage point on the couch. Juliet and Jin finished the dishes (and Jin shrieked as Juliet flicked water at him), and Miles wiped down the table to get ready for poker and (eventually) cake. Things felt peaceful, and he was happy to be in their company. He'd slept in, taken a long, hot shower, and spent the day reading in the hammock Jin and Miles had gotten for him (Jerry had lost it to Miles in a bet, but Jin had set it up). The weather was warm, but not hot, and James had napped for a good portion of the day, rocked like a baby by the steady island breeze. Miles grabbed pizzas from the cafeteria, Jin got the beer from the general store, and Juliet had brought James's favorite cake. He didn't know how she knew that (it couldn't have been in his file) but he was impressed nonetheless. It occurred to him that this was likely the best birthday he'd had in many, many years - if not ever.