Summary: What started out as pure fluff got a little dramatic, maybe even a bit angsty, but this one-shot still has dangerous amounts of cuteness, and a very happy ending to boot. So this one's for you eyeon, here's the dose of happy to make up for the angst I posted earlier! :D
Rated T for lovey dovey sexy content
Spoilers: It's Dharmaville time, season 5!
Blue-Eyed Kitten
"I miss death metal." said Miles. "And black metal. And symphonic power metal. Screw it, at this point I'd take New Wave. I'm sick of this hippy shit."
"So it's safe to say you're not a Geronimo Jackson fan." James stated, smirking as he lifted a beer can to his lips.
"Yeah, that is very safe to say." Miles agreed, shaking his head before he took a sip from his own beer.
James swallowed another warm gulp and turned to their other companion. "What about you, grease monkey?" he asked Juliet. "What are you missing most today?"
On the other end of the couch, just one cushion away from James, sat Juliet. She seemed lost in thought, staring beyond the coffee table in Jim LaFleur's little house in Dharmaville. The only sign that she'd heard the question at all was the slight upturn of the corners of her mouth. She was smiling, in her quiet way. Her mind came back to the room slowly, and her eyes focused on the mostly full can of beer cradled in her hands.
"Lemme guess," said Miles, putting the fingertips on one hand to his forehead, as if he were reading her mind. "Celine Dion."
"Wouldja let her answer?" James cut him off. "She ain't dead, you can't read her mind yet."
"I can always read a woman's mind, LaFleur." said Miles. He turned to Juliet, giving her a wink and a nod as if to say ...'sup. He was lucky to get even a smirk in response.
"No wonder you can't get a date." James teased him. "All you keep hearin' is Get lost, bozo." He turned back to Juliet. The only reason he invited them over was to hear her speak anyway. They didn't get to talk one on one nearly enough for his taste. "Only you can settle it. Please, prove once and for all that Miles is full of it."
Juliet shook her head softly, and her smile became almost apologetic.
"I learned a long time ago not to play this game." she said, placing her heavy drink on the coffee table and rising from her seat. Without another word, without farewell or reason for leaving, she made her way to the front door and let herself out. Quiet with the door and quiet with her body, her actions didn't come across as rude or dismissive; they were merely left unexplained. She was never the type to give polite excuses for her actions. James and Miles had grown accustomed to her distance, and respected it instinctively. It was the same with Jin. They knew that both of them had other things on their minds.
"Jeez." Miles muttered as she left anyway. "Thanks, Debbie Downer. Does she ever laugh?" he asked James.
"Do you?" James replied.
"...Touché."
It bugged him. It bugged James that Juliet had such a sad outlook on her life here. He understood why, but he still wished he could change it. It had been a year already, and Miles was right. She never laughed. Every smile was tinged with the shadow of another emotion; sadness, longing, contempt. On rare occassions James found a way to a genuine smile, but every time one appeared she'd remember she wasn't supposed to be happy, and the shadows would come to chase it away. A gesture was necessary, James decided, and a big one at that. He had to find a way to cheer her up, even if it was only temporary, and even if it was only a surface sort of happy that she felt. She needed something innocent to take care of, to distract her even if only for a few minutes each day.
So, how did one smuggle a kitten onto the island? It didn't matter how, not to James. It only mattered that it had to be done.
"Hey man," said Horace. "We're makin' a special supply run, you want anything?"
"Aside from a million bucks and a woman to spend it on?" James replied.
"No, I'm talkin' about very special supplies. Green supplies, if you know what I mean."
"Are you really telling a security officer about an intent to smuggle marijuana into this respectable scientific institution?"
"That's what being in the circle of trust is all about, my friend. And I have it on good authority - my own - that you'll be giving the orders in your department very soon."
"Well, in that case, there is one thing I was hoping you could find."
"What's that?"
"A kitten."
"A kitten?"
"For Juliet."
"Jim, there's a reason we don't keep pets here. Small animals haven't really fared well with the local wildlife..."
"We'd keep it inside.."
"And quiet?"
"No one will know about it, they won't hear a peep."
"Alright, but I'm only doing this once. It's not my fault if it gets eaten by a boar..."
The next day, Horace handed James an open shoe box. Inside, wrapped in a small cloth, was a ragdoll kitten, mewing softly. Its fur was white like puffy clouds, wispy on the ends, with smokey gray paws, gray ears, a gray tail and gray around its little black nose. Its eyes were a vibrant blue, and James almost laughed aloud at the sight of it. It was perfect.
"Word gets out I did this for you-" Horace warned.
"It won't, boss." said James, chuckling because he couldn't get over how cute the kitten was. "It won't."
Juliet was done for the day, but she couldn't relax. She couldn't relax, because she'd been let off early. Work distracted her, making it easier to ignore the emotions that tried to surface the second she stopped moving. She was still cold; calm, and not so much on the defensive anymore since the DI seemed to trust her, but she was still cold. She had to be. If she wasn't, she thought she might cry non-stop. How unattractive would that be? She'd remind herself. And how painful...
She was drawing the imaginary line between feeling and emotion, reaching for the handle on the front door of her new house when she heard someone speak her name.
"Juliet."
It was James's voice, calling to her in a hushed tone across the yard. She was in plain sight, and unsure why he didn't call to her in a normal shout the way everyone else did, the way he did now that they were comfortable with each other. Horace said they shouted because they were family. Dr. Chang didn't like that.
"What's going on?" Juliet asked as he approached, taking note of the small shoebox in his hands but not mentioning it. He'd given no indication yet that it had anything to do with her, so why bother asking? Remain detached, never get hurt. Juliet's motto, not that it ever helped.
"I got something for ya." said James. So it was for her after all. "But," James continued. "Before I give it to you, you have to promise you're not gonna run away."
Juliet's thin brow furrowed. "What is it?"
"You gotta promise."
"Why would I run away, James." said Juliet, with a period instead of a question mark so he would know she didn't have the humor or patience for games. If there was a snake or a spider in that box, he'd do best to prepare for a body slam.
"I don't mean it literally," he began, but before he could continue, a tiny mew came from the box, and the gift gave itself away. Juliet's expression softened at the sudden realization. You didn't. he could hear her thinking when she gave him that look. With a soft smile, James opened the box, moving slowly so as not to harm the little critter. The kitten's head bobbed up and down, trying to see over the edge. James watched Juliet's reaction, her softer expression transforming into one of instant, absolute love. As if by reflex she reached out to touch the fur on its head.
"How did you get this?" she asked, her voice suddenly higher-pitched. Baby animals had that effect on even the most weary of time-space travelers.
"Jim LaFleur, future head of security on Mystery Island, has connections. Don't worry about how I got it, just worry about how friggin' cute it is."
The kitten mewed, and Juliet made a face like it pained her to feel that much love. "Ohh..." she cooed. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"Boy. It's been neutered, got all his shots. It's technically against policy to keep pets, so we'll have to keep it a secret from the Dharma folks."
James walkie chirped, and Phil's voice came over the line.
"Base to LaFleur."
"You take it inside and welcome it home." James said tenderly, turning to go.
"James - "
"Thank me later, Blondie." he said with a wink. "I gotta go."
That afternoon...
"Anybody home?" James called out as he let himself in to Juliet's house.
"I'm in here!" Juliet called back. James found her in the bedroom, laying on her back with the still unnamed kitten standing on top of her, pawing at her breasts and mewing as loud as a tiny thing could. James wondered for a moment if it was unmanly, pathetic or both to be jealous of a baby cat. Juliet was smiling down at the little guy, content for the moment but still sad deep in her heart. James could see that much in her eyes. "Ow." Juliet said softly, chuckling as she pulled kitten claws out of her t-shirt. She held a front paw in each hand, making him dance. Then she chuckled again, freeing the kitten's paws and letting him stand on his own. James sauntered in slowly, wondering if she'd noticed him. She didn't always look up when he arrived. He wished she did.
"Hey." she said quietly, an invitation to James. The puffball on her chest mewed in response, and she covered its tiny head with one hand.
"Hey." said James, sitting on the edge of the bed. They watched the kitten struggle to free itself. Juliet let him win, and he gave her pinky a victory bite.
"I love him." Juliet said plainly. She pet her kitten until it purred, and then turned to look at James. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"I know I'm not allowed to ask how, but can I ask why?"
James shrugged. "I thought you could use something cute. Something warm. Something pretty."
"It's a boy kitten, James. It's not pretty, it's handsome." Juliet corrected him, acting as if the kitten himself would be offended. James chuckled. It had obviously blown by her that he'd really been talking about Juliet, but at least she was cracking jokes. That was always a good sign.
"Talking Heads." she said out of the blue.
It sounded like two random words to James. "What about 'em?" he asked her.
"Talking Heads." she said again. "I miss Talking Heads. They were my favorite band."
"Ah. They don't exist yet, huh?"
"They do. Just not on vinyl. Not yet."
James felt a little funny, like he'd forced her to admit something private to him. It was silly to feel that way, he knew. She'd volunteered the information herself, without any prodding from him. It was just the way she said it. Like it was payment for the kitten.
He watched Juliet sit up, scooping one hand under the cat's belly so she could lift him up and set him in the shoe box on the bedside table. She hesitated for just a moment after that, before leaning over to kiss James on the lips. He didn't react much at first; he had to wait and see if it was just a thank you kiss. They'd been here before, at the start of something they'd ended up regretting, but Juliet kept kissing him, and he gave in, unable to resist that type of attention from her. Even if it ended at first base this time, it was something to cherish.
James kissed back, and they made out on the edge of her bed. The room stayed quiet, with just the sound of their soft french kisses, and the kitten on the table mewing in protest for having been put aside. There were people walking around outside, gathering after the work day, but none of them mattered. A few minutes into it, they took a pause. James waited for her to say something, but Juliet's lips lingered near his, and he felt her fingers playing with the zipper pull on his jumpsuit. He let her pull it down part way, and she slipped her hand underneath the fabric, laying it flat against the white t-shirt underneath. Now it was his turn to make a move, he realized.
"So we're doing this again?" he asked gently.
Juliet took her hand away, a bit stung by his reluctance. She looked up and into his eyes.
"If you want to." she said, trying to make the offer simple.
"You know I want to." said James. "But this," He nodded toward the kitten. "Was a gift. Not a bribe. I don't want it to end the way it did last time."
"Me crying, and you feeling guilty?"
"Yeah, that way."
Juliet's faint smile was an apology. "I can't promise it won't." she said. "But is that really going to stop you?"
James stared into her eyes, wondering how she could do that, to admit her faults and her issues so readily, yet be able at the same time to set them aside when there was something she wanted. Another woman might have pulled a one-eighty and pushed him away in defense, but there was no denial in what she said. James looked down at her lips. He reached up with one hand, just barely running his thumb along the lower. The way her lips trembled after a climax was a sight he'd been desperate to see again, but he'd been put off by the price they paid after that first time. Three weeks of silence and awkwardness, broken only by Miles finding out what happened and telling them both to get over it. Would it stop him, the chance that making love to her might hurt more than it helped? When she looked at him with her 'pretty please, but I'll understand if you don't' eyes, he knew it wouldn't. He knew then that he'd do anything she ever asked him to.
James ran a hand through her hair and caressed the back of her head. "I guess not." he answered her.
They made love, and Juliet didn't cry a single tear. After they finished, she didn't even look away or frown. She stayed in James' arms, cuddling naked with him under the blankets, and the feel of his body and the sound of their kitten still mewing at them from the table made her smile. It had been a hot and muggy day, but they didn't mind the heat of each other's bodies. It was a comfort, getting sweaty together and laying all over each other while they napped the afternoon away.
Juliet was on her side, gazing at the box on the table, watching the kitten's ears appear and disappear as it moved around its temporary playpen. James had his arm draped over her waist, spooning her and listening to her breathe.
"You name it yet?" asked James. He kissed her shoulder, and she chuckled. He'd asked her five minutes ago, and they'd been laying in comfortable silence since then.
"Not since the last time you asked, no. Though, for a minute there, I was thinking about naming him James." she admitted.
James chuckled, preparing himself for a clever punchline. "Why's that?"
Juliet hesitated, but with her back to him it was easier to make the confession.
"So I could pretend it was you when I cuddle with him."
James kissed her shoulder again, longer this time, and hugged her closer.
"You know you don't have to pretend with a kitten, Juliet. You got me anytime you want me."
"I know." said Juliet. "But you understand why I push you away, don't you?"
"Absolutely. I'm just not gonna let you do it anymore."
Juliet smiled softly, and it grew slowly into a grin the more she thought about it. She moved, the upper half of her naked body exposed when she reached for Jim Jr. She laid back down on her stomach, placing the kitten on the pillow in front of her and resting her weight on her elbows so she could watch him. He poked the air with his nose, exploring his immediate surroundings, happy to have company again. Juliet leaned her face toward him, and the kitten reacted to the motion. They touched noses, and Juliet didn't just chuckle - she giggled. It was as sweet a sound as the kitten itself. James smiled, silently congratulating himself on a job well done, and watched them play; his blue-eyed kitten, and her ragdoll too.