"Dude, yes, yes, yes, I can't believe it." Hurley abandoned his search for fruit and began picking buds from the plants around him, excitement shining from his round face. Muttering to himself, "This is so freaking sweet," he stuffed his pockets and headed toward the beach.
"Hey, Sawyer, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second." Hurley knew he was taking a chance even approaching the redneck with his request, but the guy was basically the general store of the island.
Sawyer turned to see who it was. A faint smile started cracking his face, but as he turned to face Hurley, he said "Screw off, Staypuft."
Hurley looked at him, a little hurt. At the wounded look, Sawyer was unable to keep a straight face. His mouth broke into a wide grin and he started chuckling. Hurley's face went a little pink. "You never say 'screw off', do you?"
"Well, I hadn't until I heard you say it. I decided it sounds like me. What can I do for you?" Sawyer was curious what brought Hurley to his tent. The 'cave people' tended to avoid him. Actually, everyone tended to avoid him.
"Dude, are you cool?" Hurley asked.
Sawyer knew what most people meant by that statement, but asking it in this setting made no sense. He decided to play dumb. "What do you mean?"
"Look, dude, I need something, but I'm not gonna ask unless I know you're cool." Hurley thought how stupid the statement was, given their situation, but he thought it better to be safe than sorry. There was no "authority" to speak of on the island, but it just felt right to keep his discovery on the down low.
Sawyer was pretty sure what the big guy was driving at, but he decided to have a little fun. "What do you need, Staypuft? This cryptic bullshit is wasting my time." He couldn't help his slight grin, though. He wondered if Hurley noticed how amused he was.
"Dude, do you . . . you know, 'smoke'?" Hurley then lifted his right hand and made the universal signal for weed-smoking by bringing his thumb and forefinger together and lifting them to his lips.
At this gesture, Sawyer broke into a wide grin. "I knew what you meant, Big Boy, and yes, I have been known to partake on occasion. Why, you build a bong outta a coconut or something, 'cause I ain't got no smoke. People tend not to take drugs on airplanes."
"But they might take papers, or a cigar, right?" Hurley asked with a grin.
"Something you wanna tell me, Slim?"
"Well, I need some rolling papers, 'cause I don't have anything to smoke this with." At that, Hurley pulled a bud out of his pocket.
Sawyer's eyes widened. He reached for the bud and Hurley handed it over without a word. He wanted to see what Sawyer would do. Sawyer ran it under his nose, inhaling deeply. He examined it closely, noting the fine crystals and orange hairs. "This is good shit, Big Boy, where'd you get it?"
"Well, that's my secret. I might feel like opening up a bit if I could smoke some of it, but I have this little problem of no papers. I really could use a smoking buddy, too. I wonder who could solve these problems for me?" He mused, almost to himself.
Never one to give in easily, Sawyer said "So, say I had papers and say I gave them to you in trade for some of this stinky stuff, what you gonna do when the papers run out?"
"Well, I'm sure I'll come up with something. Divine inspiration has a way of striking when you're high. I've made bongs out of many things."
"Well, pull up a sit down, my friend, 'cause I got a blunt right here. I also have three packs of papers, so take your time on that bong. I'll give you a hand with it. I've been known as a MacGyver-smoker myself. Let's put our two heads together, whatcha say?"
"Sounds good to me, dude. You wanna roll or should I?"
Sawyer smiled. "Your weed, you just sick back and relax. I'm happy to do it."
Hurley leaned back and closed his eyes. Things were looking up.
"I'm gonna roach it, man. It's done and I'm high." Hurley leaned over and stubbed the remains of the blunt out on the sand. Settling back against the plane seat again, he looked over at Sawyer out of the corner of his eye. "Nice blunt-rollin', man. Smoked pretty good."
"Well, considerin' what we got to work with, I think it got the job done."
"I'd have to agree, dude, and thank god. I think this is the first time I've relaxed since we got here."
"You always seem fairly mellow, Staypuft. I thought you were the happy-go-lucky sort."
"I think we're all a lot more stressed than we let on, man. I think everyone could do with a good smokin' session." Hurley lapsed into thought.
Sawyer looked over him. "I know what you're thinking. Your wondering who else is cool. You think there are other smokers around?"
"You don't?" Hurley asked.
"I didn't say that, I'm just wondering who you think they are." Sawyer thought to himself, 'this should be good.'
"Well, number one on my list would be Kate." Hurley looked at Sawyer, trying to gauge his reaction. Bringing up Kate in front him was playing with loaded dice and Hurley knew it.
"Freckles? Yeah, I can see that." For a moment, Sawyer let his mind wander and Hurley stayed quiet, left him with his thoughts. After a minute, Hurley took a chance.
"She freaking hot, you know." He smiled, wondering what kind of reaction he was going to get.
Sawyer looked over at Hurley. For a moment, Hurley didn't know what he was going to say, then he broke into a grin. "She is definitely hot. I've noticed."
"I've noticed that you've noticed. I think she has too." Hurley's grin was a mild wide, now.
"Well, she seems a little hot for the Doc, if you ask me." Sawyer's grin wasn't as wide.
'At least he's still smiling,' Hurley thought. He decided to let it go, but he couldn't resist one more little push. "We've only been here a month. I doubt she's made up her mind yet, dude."
Sawyer gave him a smile. "You might be right, Big Boy, you might be right."
"Worth thinking about, at least, right?"
"Well, you know what helps me think . . ?"
"Sweet, I'll roll this time. Any of those papers orange zigzags?"
"You're one lucky son of a bitch. I've got two packs." Sawyer tossed them over and sat back against his chair. "Roll two, man. We could each use one."
"Right you are, dude, right you are."
Kate was walking one of the two paths back to the beach. She subconsciously always seemed to end up on the one that went past Sawyer's tent. Hefting her backpack full of fruit to a more comfortable spot on her back, she emerged from the trees and headed past Sawyer's. Kate was surprised to hear laughter coming from the tent. Not just giggles or chuckles, but the bellowing laughs of two people who are having fun. That just didn't gel with the circumstances they were all in. Wondering if she was making a mistake, she headed toward his tent.
Formulating excuses for approaching him in her mind, she pulled his flap aside. Her jaw dropped as she saw that Sawyer and . . . Hurley? Sawyer and Hurley were laughing uncontrollably.
"What's going on here?" Kate asked.
"Hey, Freckles, me and Staypuft here are just having a laugh." Sawyer said, flashing Hurley an unreadable look.
Kate put on her best 'don't be an ass' face. "He has a name, Sawyer and it's Hurley."
To Kate's surprise, Hurley spoke up in Sawyer's defense. "No, don't worry about it, Freckles. Me and Redneck here have been talking and we decided nicknames are wicked cool." After calling her Freckles, Hurley seemed to lose himself in a fit of laughter once again.
Sawyer was studying Kate closely. Was she cool? The big guy thought she was. She wasn't smiling, but she seemed on the verge of doing so.
Kate was on the verge of smiling. She wasn't quite sure what to think, but it was good to see two people who weren't stressed, two people who were just having fun, even if it was an unexplainable pairing like Hurley and Sawyer. Also, she thought she smelled something, actually, hoped she smelled something familiar.
Sawyer saw the slight flair of her nostrils and the way the corners of her mouth were turning up. Wondering if he should say something about what they'd been doing, he looked over at Hurley. Technically, it was Hurley's weed.
Hurley was, and always had been, of the opinion that with smoke, the principal of 'share and share alike' was the best way to go. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching Kate as closely as Sawyer was and he wasn't sure if he should let the cat out of the bag.
Kate solved the problem for both of them. "Puff, puff, pass, gentleman. If I'm gonna think nicknames are 'wicked cool', you're gonna have to share." She then broke into a broad smile, which they both returned.
"Lovely lady, have a seat, and our circle will be complete." Hurley laughed. "Whoa, dude, I'm rhyming. Someone stop me." The three of them burst out laughing as Kate sat down.
"So," she said, "I bet you could make a great bong out of a coconut."