Fic: An Education [dS, AU]
Here begins the posting of the various little au_bingo fics I've been writing (and hoarding).
Title: An Education
Summary: “Benton reached for the piece of paper secured in his hat-band, and checked the address. Yes, this appeared to be Chicago Public High School #27, the school that he was now enrolled in.” Due South HS AU silliness. Gen, FRT.
Wordcount: ~900
au_bingo prompt: other: high school
Benton Fraser knew his eyes were wide, but he couldn’t seem to stop gazing at the sweep of the large building in front of him. Behind his back, the asthmatic city bus wheezed its way away from the curb. “Move it, buddy,” someone said behind him. He stepped to the side to let those behind him - fellow students from the look of them - past. “Terribly sorry,” he apologized, as a startlingly-clad mass of teenagers walked past.
“Whatever,” one of them said, rolling his eyes as he passed.
Benton reached for the piece of paper secured in his hat-band, and checked the address. Yes, this appeared to be Chicago Public High School #27, the school that he was now enrolled in, thanks to his aunt’s residence about a mile away, in an apartment block that probably held more residents than the whole of Nunavut.
“Just grab the number 13 bus,” she’d said earlier that morning, “it should drop you off right there,” and she’d been gone to her job as a paralegal downtown, leaving Benton to make a quick meal of porridge in her tiny kitchen before resigning himself to his first day of high school in Chicago. He’d tried to tell his aunt that he’d already completed all the compulsory schooling available in Inuvik, and furthermore had been trained in tracking, hunting and survival skills by his father as well as several local native Canadian experts. But she’d remained unconvinced. “You’re seventeen, Ben, and you’re living with me now, so you need to go to school.” He’d given up trying to get her to call him Benton.
He was pulled out of his woolgathering with a push against his back, and suddenly there was a girl cuddled up to him, taking the opportunity to feel some rather private parts of his anatomy. “My my, what do we have here?,” she purred, as he turned to face her. The girl in question was short, brown hair and brown eyes in a sweetheart-shaped face.
“Off, Frannie,” a boy grumbled, and grabbed the girl’s arm so that she was thrown off balance. Benton automatically steadied her, dropping his father’s hat in the process.
“Thanks,” the girl said, smiling at him before she slanted a glare at her companion. “Are you new? I’m Francesca.”
“Pleased to meet you, Francesca,” Benton said, and bowed - or tried to, but all he did was smack his and Francesca’s foreheads together. “Oh dear. Terribly sorry.” He could feel his blush rising despite his attempts to restrain it.
“No problem,” Francesca chirped, staring at him in an unnerving manner that put him in mind of Diefenbaker eyeing a frozen-motionless rabbit.
“OK,” the boy said, looking equal parts amused and frustrated. “So that’s my little sister Frannie, and I’m Ray. Hands off, capiche?” He scowled briefly as if to make his point, and then smiled. “So, you new?” The siblings shared dark eyes and the same nose, Benton noted, as well as the same mercurial turn of conversation.
“Yes. Benton Fraser. I’ve come to Chicago, and for reasons that do not need to be explored at this juncture, have remained to live with my aunt.”
“Nice to meet you, Fraser,” the other boy, Roy, said. Well, at least ‘Fraser’ is better than ‘Ben’.
A bell rang in the building behind them. “We better get going or we’ll be late for homeroom. You got your schedule yet?”, Ray asked.
Benton looked down at the paper in his hands. “‘Homeroom: Mr. Walsh’,” he read.
“Me too,” Ray said. “Shove off, Frannie, go play with the other freshmen.”
She kicked her brother daintily. “See you later, Benton,” she said, fluttering her lashes.
Benton smiled politely as he was tugged in the opposite direction by Ray, who picked up his father’s hat and handed it back to him as they walked. “Nice hat.”
So Fraser settles in as well as he can, although he misses the North and his father (who died in a distinctly suspicious hunting accident, by the way, but Benton can’t get anyone to take his misgivings seriously, despite his years of experience in the wild patrolling with his father). But when he comes back from Christmas break, there’s a rangy blond answering to Ray’s name, and everyone calls him Vecchio like nothing’s changed, which leads Benton to wonder if he’s finally lost his marbles due to the stress of city living. After a comedy of errors including a chase around the campus and an AV cart that catches on fire and has to be thrown into the indoor pool, Benton learns that the new Ray is there as a ringer for the basketball team, and can’t be found out or the school would lose its subsidy from the school district. He reluctantly agrees to play along and finds that the new Ray, while definitely different from the old one, has his own charms and they become friends. Then there’s probably something with Benton insisting on going back to Canada for the summer to investigate his father’s death, and perhaps one or more of the Rays tag along. *jazz hands*
Title: An Education
Summary: “Benton reached for the piece of paper secured in his hat-band, and checked the address. Yes, this appeared to be Chicago Public High School #27, the school that he was now enrolled in.” Due South HS AU silliness. Gen, FRT.
Wordcount: ~900
au_bingo prompt: other: high school
Benton Fraser knew his eyes were wide, but he couldn’t seem to stop gazing at the sweep of the large building in front of him. Behind his back, the asthmatic city bus wheezed its way away from the curb. “Move it, buddy,” someone said behind him. He stepped to the side to let those behind him - fellow students from the look of them - past. “Terribly sorry,” he apologized, as a startlingly-clad mass of teenagers walked past.
“Whatever,” one of them said, rolling his eyes as he passed.
Benton reached for the piece of paper secured in his hat-band, and checked the address. Yes, this appeared to be Chicago Public High School #27, the school that he was now enrolled in, thanks to his aunt’s residence about a mile away, in an apartment block that probably held more residents than the whole of Nunavut.
“Just grab the number 13 bus,” she’d said earlier that morning, “it should drop you off right there,” and she’d been gone to her job as a paralegal downtown, leaving Benton to make a quick meal of porridge in her tiny kitchen before resigning himself to his first day of high school in Chicago. He’d tried to tell his aunt that he’d already completed all the compulsory schooling available in Inuvik, and furthermore had been trained in tracking, hunting and survival skills by his father as well as several local native Canadian experts. But she’d remained unconvinced. “You’re seventeen, Ben, and you’re living with me now, so you need to go to school.” He’d given up trying to get her to call him Benton.
He was pulled out of his woolgathering with a push against his back, and suddenly there was a girl cuddled up to him, taking the opportunity to feel some rather private parts of his anatomy. “My my, what do we have here?,” she purred, as he turned to face her. The girl in question was short, brown hair and brown eyes in a sweetheart-shaped face.
“Off, Frannie,” a boy grumbled, and grabbed the girl’s arm so that she was thrown off balance. Benton automatically steadied her, dropping his father’s hat in the process.
“Thanks,” the girl said, smiling at him before she slanted a glare at her companion. “Are you new? I’m Francesca.”
“Pleased to meet you, Francesca,” Benton said, and bowed - or tried to, but all he did was smack his and Francesca’s foreheads together. “Oh dear. Terribly sorry.” He could feel his blush rising despite his attempts to restrain it.
“No problem,” Francesca chirped, staring at him in an unnerving manner that put him in mind of Diefenbaker eyeing a frozen-motionless rabbit.
“OK,” the boy said, looking equal parts amused and frustrated. “So that’s my little sister Frannie, and I’m Ray. Hands off, capiche?” He scowled briefly as if to make his point, and then smiled. “So, you new?” The siblings shared dark eyes and the same nose, Benton noted, as well as the same mercurial turn of conversation.
“Yes. Benton Fraser. I’ve come to Chicago, and for reasons that do not need to be explored at this juncture, have remained to live with my aunt.”
“Nice to meet you, Fraser,” the other boy, Roy, said. Well, at least ‘Fraser’ is better than ‘Ben’.
A bell rang in the building behind them. “We better get going or we’ll be late for homeroom. You got your schedule yet?”, Ray asked.
Benton looked down at the paper in his hands. “‘Homeroom: Mr. Walsh’,” he read.
“Me too,” Ray said. “Shove off, Frannie, go play with the other freshmen.”
She kicked her brother daintily. “See you later, Benton,” she said, fluttering her lashes.
Benton smiled politely as he was tugged in the opposite direction by Ray, who picked up his father’s hat and handed it back to him as they walked. “Nice hat.”
So Fraser settles in as well as he can, although he misses the North and his father (who died in a distinctly suspicious hunting accident, by the way, but Benton can’t get anyone to take his misgivings seriously, despite his years of experience in the wild patrolling with his father). But when he comes back from Christmas break, there’s a rangy blond answering to Ray’s name, and everyone calls him Vecchio like nothing’s changed, which leads Benton to wonder if he’s finally lost his marbles due to the stress of city living. After a comedy of errors including a chase around the campus and an AV cart that catches on fire and has to be thrown into the indoor pool, Benton learns that the new Ray is there as a ringer for the basketball team, and can’t be found out or the school would lose its subsidy from the school district. He reluctantly agrees to play along and finds that the new Ray, while definitely different from the old one, has his own charms and they become friends. Then there’s probably something with Benton insisting on going back to Canada for the summer to investigate his father’s death, and perhaps one or more of the Rays tag along. *jazz hands*