bliss_immunity | (no subject)

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Old habits are hard to break. Despite having had a long night giving the 'Welcome to the Island' speech, Joshua wakes up as the island shifts from night sounds to day sounds. Some birds defy the rain and sing while the frogs retire to hidden places. It's quiet in the hut apart from the rain, but it would be if Juliet is reading. He stretches and gets out of bed. The floor boards creak quietly as he walks to the bedroom door. He opens it to check on her and finds that she has fallen asleep. He shakes his head as he closes the door again quietly. There had been a reason he'd been willing to give up his bed. The couch is not very comfortable.

He quietly gets ready and then goes into the living room area to find a book to read. Once he's found something suitable, he goes outside to sit on the front porch and read while he waits for Carolyn. He's careful not to wake Juliet.

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She'd gotten up early, and as she always did she'd put a fresh pot of coffee on to brew while she got ready for her day. Her slacks, blouse and her boots were quickly put on, followed by her few pieces of jewelry. She quickly pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail and then she was ready to head over to Joshua's for their morning coffee.

With her lab-coat tossed over her arm and with two cups of freshly brewed coffee, she headed out of her hut and headed the short distance to Joshua's. Seeing him sitting on his front porch reading, a smile began to form on her lips. "Morning!" she called out as she approached him.

She didn't even wait for him to reply before handing him his cup and sank down beside him. Yawning, she took a sip from her own cup. "I'm beginning to really dislike this rain. I hardly slept at all last night."

For a minute, Juliet remembers the details of a dream that has her sleeping on a beach under a tarp stretched across tree limbs. As her eyes blink open she realizes that's ridiculous, she's never been on an island. Well, except for her honeymoon, but there was no beach sleeping involved.

The crick in her back wakes her up completely, and she sits up with a frown, suddenly remembering where she is. Or rather, where she isn't. Because she is on an island in a virtual stranger's home waking up on a couch that is largely uncomfortable. Running a hand through her hair she stands, looking around again as her heart beats a little faster. She's stuck, she remembers Joshua's explanation, and she goes to the door to check. She has to see this for herself now that it's daylight.

Walking outside still wearing his loaned undershirt and boxers she blinks at the island view, not quiet believing it. Too late she realizes she's not alone and she turns to look sheepishly between Joshua and the woman sitting next to him.

"Good morning. I'm sorry I didn't...mean to barge out here. I just can't believe I'm still here. That it wasn't a bad dream."

Before he can comment on the previous night, Juliet is walking out the front door. At which point, he gives up on telling the story and goes for introductions. "Carolyn, this is Juliet. Juliet, Carolyn."

He put down the book to take the coffee Carolyn had brought him and now he stands. "You probably need this more than I do." He hopes Carolyn won't mind.

Carolyn's eyes widened slightly as a woman walked out of Joshua's hut, obviously wearing his clothing. "Oh, um... Hi, Juliet," she manages and clears her throat. She couldn't help but feel a bit awkward and a little like a third wheel.

She quickly pushed herself up and looked between the two. "I.... Maybe I should go..."

Juliet takes the coffee gratefully but waves off Carolyn. "No, please stay. It's nice to meet you, and I should get dressed anyway. Try to figure out...things." She tries to reassure Carolyn with a little smile.

"I'm new and I sort of...showed up inside. I think Joshua can explain it better than I can, I'm still trying to catch up."

Joshua gives a smile, but it's an awkward one. It takes him a minute to get the implication. "Oh!" he replies finally getting it. "It's not like that."

His smile changes to one of embarrassment and his cheeks redden slightly. It's never occurred to him. Pretty much anything Carolyn might be thinking hadn't occurred to him at all.

Carolyn's not exactly sure what to think. The way things look make it appear to be... a more intimate moment that she just happened to wander upon. "Are you sure? I mean..." she looked over Juliet's attire and arched a brow.

She shrugs though and offers Juliet a smile. "It's nice to meet you too... And welcome to the island..." Yeah, it was still awkward, not as much as it had been, but still.

"Positive," Juliet says quickly as she looks down at herself. "I don't have any clothes yet and because of the rain and it being dark, I wasn't walking down to the..." She doesn't have the verbiage down yet, not completely. "Wherever the magic box is?" She's confused, still.

"Anyway, all I have are my work clothes and lab coat."

The awkward smile is back. He'd never imagined himself in a situation quite like this one. Ever.

"She just arrived last night. Opened my front door and found herself here. I'll take the rec room, the billiards table and the crazy jukebox to that any day."

"Um, ok..." The awkwardness of the situation was still there, but at least the situation was sort of making sense now. "Did you want some coffee, Joshua? I don't have another cup.. But if you had something..."

She looked between them and then back at Juliet and offered a slight smile. "I might have something that you can wear. What size do you wear?" It was the least she could do, who knew what sort of clothing the clothing box would give her.

"I don't have anything," he replies with a shrug. "But I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He's already over the awkwardness, despite Juliet still standing there in his clothes.

Juliet takes a sip of the coffee when she realizes it's still in her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ambush your morning coffee," she apologizes before looking down at herself. "And I'm a ten. Shirts go about medium, depending."

She hands Joshua the coffee back. "I'll just...go put on the clothes I have, excuse me," she says with a little smile as she goes back inside.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Carolyn informed Juliet. "It's not like you asked to be brought here, so really... Please don't worry about it." She reached up with her free hand and swiped her bangs back into place.

She watched as Juliet headed back inside and let out long breath. She was silent for a moment as she ran a finger around the rim of her cup. "Well, seems like you had an interesting night," she finally said, breaking the silence.

Joshua doesn't notice the silence. He stands there holding the coffee cup until Juliet's return, quietly watching the rain. It's only when Carolyn says something that he realizes he's been so quiet.

"At least it wasn't Anna or a soldier breaking," he replies, not acknowledging the implication. He hadn't been concerned about it at the time, but now it seems like something he should consider. Trouble is that he's not sure what can be done to prevent such an event.

Leaning against the side of the hut, Carolyn's eyebrows perked up. She had no idea what he was talking about outside of Anna, and even then she didn't know much. From what she had gathered though she could understand why Joshua hadn't talked much about his time before the island.

Cradling her cup between her hands, she looked out at the drizzle of rain. "If you want to cancel breakfast this morning, I understand. I know that Juliet needs to go check in with the compound and I figure you'd want to make sure she gets there."

He realizes that he's left out an important piece to the puzzle when she mentions breaking breakfast plans. "No, I figure we all need to eat, right? And I'd rather eat whatever they're serving over fixing it myself."

"She looks like another person I know," he explains. "Like Erica." And for a moment, he loses himself in the rain and memories.

"Erica shot me." His voice is quiet as he says it. He's not thinking about it and once he's said it, he wishes he hadn't. The past is the past. He'd left it at that until he'd dealt with the present.

Juliet forgoes her high heels in favor of staying barefoot but she puts on the skirt, the blue shirt, and ties her hair back. Making her way back to the porch silently she listens for a moment before opening the door again.

And it's none of her business what Erica did, so Juliet doesn't bring it back up. Instead, she smiles softly and opens the door. "Did I hear something about breakfast?" she asks hopefully.

Turning to face Joshua, she reaches out and squeezes his arm softly. She hadn't known. Well she hadn't even known that he'd been shot in his world, though she had to admit she was surprised he was handling Juliet looking like Erica as well as he was. She was about to say something, try to reassure him and just let him know that she was there if he needed to talk, but Juliet pushed the door open and stepped outside.

Dropping her hand, Carolyn nodded and looked to Juliet. "Yes you did. Joshua and I have made a habit of eating breakfast together every day. Would you care to join us?"

He looks at Carolyn when she squeezes his arm and there's a moment where it looks like she's going to say something or like he might actually talk about this, but it's gone just as quickly when Juliet steps outside.

"Oh right. Breakfast," he says, pretending he hadn't said anything and like there hadn't just been a moment there. He hands Juliet back the cup of coffee. "Slickers!" And he walks inside for a moment to find adequate rain gear, leaving the two women alone.

Juliet ducks her head, a knowing little smile curving on her lips before it slips away and she clears her throat.

Looking back up at Carolyn, she suddenly feels even worse for intruding on whatever time the two of them spent together. "Joshua told me I could find someplace to squat, so I probably will soon."

Carolyn looked away for a moment until she felt the flush in her cheeks dying down. Talk about a completely awkward morning. Drawing in a deep breath, she looked back over at Juliet and smiled slightly. "Well I think there are some empty huts here in New Atlantis. I don't see why you can't take over one of them."

"I'll see about it later today, after I go to the Compound. Does it rain like this all day long? Something tells me the high heels I have won't cut it for the walk."

"Who knows," he says, answering her question about the rain. "Best to plan for it though."

He hands Juliet a rain coat. It's blue with pink lizards printed on it. The one he keeps for himself is similar, but in yellow with green lizards. He hands Carolyn an umbrella which has a similar pattern as well. Apparently the only thing the clothes box will give him though he doesn't mention it.

"This might work better than your lab coat," he says when he passes Carolyn the umbrella. "We can go get some breakfast when you're both ready." He gives them both a friendly smile.

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