Fanfic 100 - 048, Diamond
Jan. 22nd, 2007 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolevalanTitle: Moon on a String, part one
Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Characters: Lucy, Judge Turpin
Prompt: 048, Diamond
Word Count: 684
Rating: PG for implied badness of various types
Summary: Lucy receives an unexpected visitor.
Author's Notes: Part one of four. An A.U. story that was done half on a dare, actually. Due to a long, involved conversation with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mousling, I started writing a fic about a possible version of the story in which the Judge attempts to rape Lucy, but she gets away from him. I can't decide what I think of this fic, but I'll let you all decide for yourselves.
Lucy Barker thought she would never stop crying. There was some absent part of her mind that knew this was absurd, that no one had literally ever cried themselves to death. But the sobs that kept rising from what felt like the very core of her being showed no signs of abating. She muffled them into the pillow, so as not to wake her daughter, letting them shake her slender frame without resistance.
When she had lost Benjamin, she had thought that her life had hit its low point. But she had tried to pull herself together, to be brave in the face of such loss for their daughter’s sake. What would he think of her, after all, if she had simply left their daughter to the charity of others because she wasn’t strong enough to go on without him? And perhaps, just perhaps, someday he would get a pardon. After all, it wasn’t utterly impossible, however unlikely it might seem.
She should have run away, but Mrs. Lovett had been so indulgent about the rent while Benjamin was on trial, that Lucy could hardly image packing it up and starting all over. But it had also meant Judge Turpin knew exactly where to send his Beadle. Knew where to keep coming back. And there was the silver clinking of the bell.
He didn’t even bother speaking to Mrs. Lovett anymore. They both know what he was there for. So Lucy only had a few moments to splash a tiny bit of water on her face and rearrange her dress before there was a knock on the door to her small flat.
It wasn’t the Beadle, however. She could tell by his knock. Lucy took a moment to keep herself from trembling. She had a momentary mad thought of hurling herself out the window. Instead, however, she moved calmly to answer the door.
The Judge stood there, in her doorway. He somehow seemed much smaller than he had, when she had seen him last. He was dressed impeccably in one of his fine suits, but his expression was sober. “Mrs. Barker. I will understand utterly if you do not let me in. But I would beg indulgence to speak with you.”
She just… stared at him, for a long moment. However rude it was, she could not help herself. She wasn’t sure if he was mad, or if he was simply that arrogant. Finally, she said quietly, surprising herself with the steadiness of her own voice, “I think, sir, you might appreciate why I would hesitate to invite you into my home. What is it?”
He shook his head. “After what almost happened last night, I do not expect forgiveness of any sort, though I am sincerely penitent. I…” He hesitated on the verge of saying something and then shook his head once more, his small eyes closing for a moment before returning to her face. “There is no excuse for my behavior. But I beg you, allow me to make you some reparation -”
Lucy cut him off, feeling the color rise to her cheeks. “How dare you, sir. I am not a common whore, for you to take liberties and then to simply –”
“Listen to me, girl.” His voice raised, and she involuntarily shrank back a bit. “You escaped with your virtue, my dear, such as it is. Be grateful. And think of your child.” He withdrew a purse from within his greatcoat. “This isn’t a bribe, and it’s not a payment. It’s an apology, without strings. Do what you will with it.” He dropped it at her feet and turned to walk down the stairs without a word.
Lucy stood on the threshold, trembling and pale, watching him retreat. Johanna began to cry, apparently woken by the shouting. Finally, Lucy reached down to retrieve the purse. It was heavy, bulging with what she quickly, to her shock, identified as guineas. Suddenly, Lucy Barker found herself a rich woman, and all she could do was sink down to sit in the doorway and listen to her daughter sob in the next room.
Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Characters: Lucy, Judge Turpin
Prompt: 048, Diamond
Word Count: 684
Rating: PG for implied badness of various types
Summary: Lucy receives an unexpected visitor.
Author's Notes: Part one of four. An A.U. story that was done half on a dare, actually. Due to a long, involved conversation with
mousling, I started writing a fic about a possible version of the story in which the Judge attempts to rape Lucy, but she gets away from him. I can't decide what I think of this fic, but I'll let you all decide for yourselves.Lucy Barker thought she would never stop crying. There was some absent part of her mind that knew this was absurd, that no one had literally ever cried themselves to death. But the sobs that kept rising from what felt like the very core of her being showed no signs of abating. She muffled them into the pillow, so as not to wake her daughter, letting them shake her slender frame without resistance.
When she had lost Benjamin, she had thought that her life had hit its low point. But she had tried to pull herself together, to be brave in the face of such loss for their daughter’s sake. What would he think of her, after all, if she had simply left their daughter to the charity of others because she wasn’t strong enough to go on without him? And perhaps, just perhaps, someday he would get a pardon. After all, it wasn’t utterly impossible, however unlikely it might seem.
She should have run away, but Mrs. Lovett had been so indulgent about the rent while Benjamin was on trial, that Lucy could hardly image packing it up and starting all over. But it had also meant Judge Turpin knew exactly where to send his Beadle. Knew where to keep coming back. And there was the silver clinking of the bell.
He didn’t even bother speaking to Mrs. Lovett anymore. They both know what he was there for. So Lucy only had a few moments to splash a tiny bit of water on her face and rearrange her dress before there was a knock on the door to her small flat.
It wasn’t the Beadle, however. She could tell by his knock. Lucy took a moment to keep herself from trembling. She had a momentary mad thought of hurling herself out the window. Instead, however, she moved calmly to answer the door.
The Judge stood there, in her doorway. He somehow seemed much smaller than he had, when she had seen him last. He was dressed impeccably in one of his fine suits, but his expression was sober. “Mrs. Barker. I will understand utterly if you do not let me in. But I would beg indulgence to speak with you.”
She just… stared at him, for a long moment. However rude it was, she could not help herself. She wasn’t sure if he was mad, or if he was simply that arrogant. Finally, she said quietly, surprising herself with the steadiness of her own voice, “I think, sir, you might appreciate why I would hesitate to invite you into my home. What is it?”
He shook his head. “After what almost happened last night, I do not expect forgiveness of any sort, though I am sincerely penitent. I…” He hesitated on the verge of saying something and then shook his head once more, his small eyes closing for a moment before returning to her face. “There is no excuse for my behavior. But I beg you, allow me to make you some reparation -”
Lucy cut him off, feeling the color rise to her cheeks. “How dare you, sir. I am not a common whore, for you to take liberties and then to simply –”
“Listen to me, girl.” His voice raised, and she involuntarily shrank back a bit. “You escaped with your virtue, my dear, such as it is. Be grateful. And think of your child.” He withdrew a purse from within his greatcoat. “This isn’t a bribe, and it’s not a payment. It’s an apology, without strings. Do what you will with it.” He dropped it at her feet and turned to walk down the stairs without a word.
Lucy stood on the threshold, trembling and pale, watching him retreat. Johanna began to cry, apparently woken by the shouting. Finally, Lucy reached down to retrieve the purse. It was heavy, bulging with what she quickly, to her shock, identified as guineas. Suddenly, Lucy Barker found herself a rich woman, and all she could do was sink down to sit in the doorway and listen to her daughter sob in the next room.
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Date: 2007-01-23 03:21 am (UTC)