![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladynorbertTitle: Something There
Fandom: Beyond Evolution — RPG
Character/Pairing: Samuel Bennett/Arielle Baines
Rating: G
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Word Count: 1,423
Notes: For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soraslight, who owns Sam; I hope I've done him justice. There's a bit of mention of Jack Shaw, who belongs to clez. Obviously I do not own Beauty and the Beast. The title, summary, and ending line are lyrics from different songs in the Broadway musical. Many thanks to nentikobe for all her editing help.
Summary: Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong...
Samuel Bennett, although an English teacher, was not prone to flowery expressions of sentiment. Shakespeare is all well and good, and the sonnets have their proper place. But after his divorce, his approval of such things diminished considerably. It would be hard to blame him, really; his wife had their marriage dissolved because he'd never told her he was a mutant. The fact that they'd shared a life and love and had a child together didn't seem to mean anything compared to that almighty sin, so it wasn't exactly a shock that Sam would take a dim view of romance. His students knew him to be gruff, though kind, and firm, though fair, but hardly what one would call...affectionate.
To some extent, it now seemed like he had lost his mind.
Even the students had started to notice the change in the school's resident ex-Marine. More than once he'd been caught humming under his breath. And the day he'd actually assigned them to choose a favorite sonnet and write about how it made them feel, well, they'd been pretty well convinced that Professor Bennett had gone off his rocker.
Sam knew he wasn't mad. Or at least he was pretty certain he wasn't. He was, however, rather stunned. Against his own will, and to his complete surprise, he was falling in love again, harder and faster than he'd ever thought possible.
He recalled, with almost disturbing crystal clarity, the first moment he'd seen her. She was sitting in the school's library, curled in a chair with The Once and Future King in her hands. He recalled her look of perfect concentration, the way the words seemed to hold her in thrall, the way her eyes were gently lit. Her face held too much to be a student, but had few signs of age - she was still young. He'd felt, rather than consciously thought, how lovely she was.
Ironically, his initial impulse had been to matchmake her with Jack. The phys ed teacher, with his messy dark hair and striking green eyes, was almost like a son to Sam. So when she'd mentioned that Jack had been the one to show her around the school, it seemed like the perfect setup. He put his mind to the possibility of getting the two of them together, because damn if Jack didn't deserve someone special.
That plan had lasted perhaps a week. What it was that brought on the change, even Sam didn't entirely know. He just seemed to shift, without warning, from wanting this to work for Jack to...wanting. In a way, he regarded the new feeling as the folly of an old man, even though at forty he wasn't exactly old. Still, forty to twenty-seven seemed like a light year's leap to him, and he doubted this had a prayer of success.
Arielle was a sweet girl, but withdrawn and, Sam sensed, lonely. She'd walled herself in very neatly, and he'd made it his mission to draw her out again. He couldn't have known what she would be when she at last revealed herself. The things he'd most loved in his ex-wife were there, but there was so much more than that. It wasn't the traits that reminded him of Yanet that had awoken this in him; it was the others - the things that were uniquely Arielle - which had been his undoing. He'd decided that if the impossible came to pass, he'd be grateful, but even if it didn't, so long as he had her in his life in some way, he would be content. She was a good friend, if nothing more, and to simply have her around gave him joy, and a kind of quiet peace he thought he'd never know again. She would be the comfort of his advancing age, even if she didn't love him as he loved her.
Without a doubt, he enjoyed her company, and he was delighted to find she enjoyed his as well. They had many discussions about literature, about his students, about her karate. There was no one he preferred to have with him on the occasions when he left the school, and so they were here now, in the city. He'd sprung for tickets to see Beauty and the Beast, knowing that it was the one Broadway show she most wanted to see, and they were killing time in a little restaurant until the show.
Sam excused himself to the men's room, his hands trembling slightly as he washed them. So far, so good. She was having a good time, as far as he could tell; he'd even managed to get her to stop worrying about how much money he might be spending. He straightened his dinner jacket, took a steadying breath, and headed back out into the restaurant...where he could see that Arielle was no longer alone.
The young man who had taken his place at their small table looked to be around Ari's age, possibly even a year or two younger. Sam was relieved to see that the animation in their talk was one-sided; the lady was clearly annoyed at the intrusion, but the interloper appeared oblivious to her lack of interest. "Excuse me," he said in his best military voice, approaching the table.
"Mind your own business, Grandpa," snapped the youth.
"He's trying to tell you," Arielle said mildly, "that you're in his seat."
The younger man looked from one to the other with some incredulity. "Okay. Got it," he said, standing up. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt your father-daughter outing."
"Oh, he's not my father," Ari assured him, her eyes hard as she looked up at him. "He's my date."
Sam suddenly felt about ten feet tall. He tried not to look too smug as he regarded the younger man, who glowered at him before stalking off. "Thanks for that," he told her, resuming his seat.
"My pleasure. Is it time for the show yet?" The hardness in her eyes had been almost instantly replaced by an expression of anticipation, and she smiled.
He checked his watch. "About half an hour. We should head over to the theater now." He flagged down the waiter and paid their check. "My lady," he said with a grin and a flourish, offering her his arm.
Sam was as interested in Arielle's reaction to the play as in the play itself. He knew she knew the story perfectly well; she'd watched the movie many times since her arrival at Xavier's, and in truth, he took some comfort from her love of it. Beauty and the Beast, of course, preached the message that true love has nothing to do with surface beauty, and the fact that it resonated so with her gave him hope. False hope, maybe, but hope nonetheless. He stole glances at her often out of the corner of his eye, smiling at her unrestrained gasps and laughter.
At intermission, they stayed in their seats, and he wondered if his smile was growing remotely dopey as he listened to her chatter. The play was gorgeous. The music was even better than in the movie, and the performances were perfect, and everything was splendid, and did she remember to thank him for this outing?
Then came the inevitable heartache in every fairy tale before the wonderful ending - the Beast lay dying in Belle's arms. Of course it wouldn't end there, this was a fairy tale; Belle would say the magic words in the nick of time and save him from destruction and the spell alike. Still, to his right there was a sniffling sound, and when Sam turned his head, he could see the lights of the stage reflected in the tears coursing down Arielle's cheeks. Thinking only to comfort her, he reached over to take her hand. Almost at once she pressed her face into his shoulder for a minute, then turned to watch the marvelous transformation taking place onstage. She was still nestled against him, and he tilted his head to rest on her soft hair as the final song rang through the theater.
Two lives have begun now...Two hearts become one now...One passion, one dream...
Fandom: Beyond Evolution — RPG
Character/Pairing: Samuel Bennett/Arielle Baines
Rating: G
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Word Count: 1,423
Notes: For
soraslight, who owns Sam; I hope I've done him justice. There's a bit of mention of Jack Shaw, who belongs to clez. Obviously I do not own Beauty and the Beast. The title, summary, and ending line are lyrics from different songs in the Broadway musical. Many thanks to nentikobe for all her editing help.Summary: Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong...
Samuel Bennett, although an English teacher, was not prone to flowery expressions of sentiment. Shakespeare is all well and good, and the sonnets have their proper place. But after his divorce, his approval of such things diminished considerably. It would be hard to blame him, really; his wife had their marriage dissolved because he'd never told her he was a mutant. The fact that they'd shared a life and love and had a child together didn't seem to mean anything compared to that almighty sin, so it wasn't exactly a shock that Sam would take a dim view of romance. His students knew him to be gruff, though kind, and firm, though fair, but hardly what one would call...affectionate.
To some extent, it now seemed like he had lost his mind.
Even the students had started to notice the change in the school's resident ex-Marine. More than once he'd been caught humming under his breath. And the day he'd actually assigned them to choose a favorite sonnet and write about how it made them feel, well, they'd been pretty well convinced that Professor Bennett had gone off his rocker.
Sam knew he wasn't mad. Or at least he was pretty certain he wasn't. He was, however, rather stunned. Against his own will, and to his complete surprise, he was falling in love again, harder and faster than he'd ever thought possible.
He recalled, with almost disturbing crystal clarity, the first moment he'd seen her. She was sitting in the school's library, curled in a chair with The Once and Future King in her hands. He recalled her look of perfect concentration, the way the words seemed to hold her in thrall, the way her eyes were gently lit. Her face held too much to be a student, but had few signs of age - she was still young. He'd felt, rather than consciously thought, how lovely she was.
Ironically, his initial impulse had been to matchmake her with Jack. The phys ed teacher, with his messy dark hair and striking green eyes, was almost like a son to Sam. So when she'd mentioned that Jack had been the one to show her around the school, it seemed like the perfect setup. He put his mind to the possibility of getting the two of them together, because damn if Jack didn't deserve someone special.
That plan had lasted perhaps a week. What it was that brought on the change, even Sam didn't entirely know. He just seemed to shift, without warning, from wanting this to work for Jack to...wanting. In a way, he regarded the new feeling as the folly of an old man, even though at forty he wasn't exactly old. Still, forty to twenty-seven seemed like a light year's leap to him, and he doubted this had a prayer of success.
Arielle was a sweet girl, but withdrawn and, Sam sensed, lonely. She'd walled herself in very neatly, and he'd made it his mission to draw her out again. He couldn't have known what she would be when she at last revealed herself. The things he'd most loved in his ex-wife were there, but there was so much more than that. It wasn't the traits that reminded him of Yanet that had awoken this in him; it was the others - the things that were uniquely Arielle - which had been his undoing. He'd decided that if the impossible came to pass, he'd be grateful, but even if it didn't, so long as he had her in his life in some way, he would be content. She was a good friend, if nothing more, and to simply have her around gave him joy, and a kind of quiet peace he thought he'd never know again. She would be the comfort of his advancing age, even if she didn't love him as he loved her.
Without a doubt, he enjoyed her company, and he was delighted to find she enjoyed his as well. They had many discussions about literature, about his students, about her karate. There was no one he preferred to have with him on the occasions when he left the school, and so they were here now, in the city. He'd sprung for tickets to see Beauty and the Beast, knowing that it was the one Broadway show she most wanted to see, and they were killing time in a little restaurant until the show.
Sam excused himself to the men's room, his hands trembling slightly as he washed them. So far, so good. She was having a good time, as far as he could tell; he'd even managed to get her to stop worrying about how much money he might be spending. He straightened his dinner jacket, took a steadying breath, and headed back out into the restaurant...where he could see that Arielle was no longer alone.
The young man who had taken his place at their small table looked to be around Ari's age, possibly even a year or two younger. Sam was relieved to see that the animation in their talk was one-sided; the lady was clearly annoyed at the intrusion, but the interloper appeared oblivious to her lack of interest. "Excuse me," he said in his best military voice, approaching the table.
"Mind your own business, Grandpa," snapped the youth.
"He's trying to tell you," Arielle said mildly, "that you're in his seat."
The younger man looked from one to the other with some incredulity. "Okay. Got it," he said, standing up. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt your father-daughter outing."
"Oh, he's not my father," Ari assured him, her eyes hard as she looked up at him. "He's my date."
Sam suddenly felt about ten feet tall. He tried not to look too smug as he regarded the younger man, who glowered at him before stalking off. "Thanks for that," he told her, resuming his seat.
"My pleasure. Is it time for the show yet?" The hardness in her eyes had been almost instantly replaced by an expression of anticipation, and she smiled.
He checked his watch. "About half an hour. We should head over to the theater now." He flagged down the waiter and paid their check. "My lady," he said with a grin and a flourish, offering her his arm.
Sam was as interested in Arielle's reaction to the play as in the play itself. He knew she knew the story perfectly well; she'd watched the movie many times since her arrival at Xavier's, and in truth, he took some comfort from her love of it. Beauty and the Beast, of course, preached the message that true love has nothing to do with surface beauty, and the fact that it resonated so with her gave him hope. False hope, maybe, but hope nonetheless. He stole glances at her often out of the corner of his eye, smiling at her unrestrained gasps and laughter.
At intermission, they stayed in their seats, and he wondered if his smile was growing remotely dopey as he listened to her chatter. The play was gorgeous. The music was even better than in the movie, and the performances were perfect, and everything was splendid, and did she remember to thank him for this outing?
Then came the inevitable heartache in every fairy tale before the wonderful ending - the Beast lay dying in Belle's arms. Of course it wouldn't end there, this was a fairy tale; Belle would say the magic words in the nick of time and save him from destruction and the spell alike. Still, to his right there was a sniffling sound, and when Sam turned his head, he could see the lights of the stage reflected in the tears coursing down Arielle's cheeks. Thinking only to comfort her, he reached over to take her hand. Almost at once she pressed her face into his shoulder for a minute, then turned to watch the marvelous transformation taking place onstage. She was still nestled against him, and he tilted his head to rest on her soft hair as the final song rang through the theater.
Two lives have begun now...Two hearts become one now...One passion, one dream...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2006-12-14 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 05:01 am (UTC)*flails*
GREAT JOB!!!
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Date: 2006-12-14 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-15 03:13 pm (UTC)