AN: I have avoided this for a while, since, as a common rule, I don't like Golden Compass fanfic. It's nothing personal, and I'm sure there's good stuff out there, I just am not a big fan of it. ;) But, I got this idea into my head, and I just had to write it. I'm not sure where it's going, and it might suck a lot, but ohwellz. XD Please R&R, but don't flame me please. Oh, and this is one of the first times I have written from a guy's perspective, so bear with me. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own anything plz, except Ben, Philip Pullman owns the lovely Lyra and everything else. Don't you wish you could write like that? I sure do XD Oh, and the lyrics in the title is "Dare You to Move" - Switchfoot
Ben scratched his fox daemon, Theona's ears absentmindedly, a thousand different thoughts whirling through his head. She didn't bother saying anything, she knew that he was in one of his 'moods' again. The twenty-year old stared out at the sheeting Oxford rain, absorbed into his own mind. For some reason, his books wouldn't occupy him, and he had finished his College homework, mainly due to a slow social life.
If someone was interested enough to look into his second story window, they would see a brunette young man, slightly pudgy with round glasses and a fox daemon at his feet. If even more interested, they would see the glazed, faraway look in his eyes. Suddenly, as if he had realized that he had just been sitting there, doing nothing, Ben jumped to his feet.
Mechanically, he took his raincoat off the hook, pulled it on, and jingled his keys in his pocket, to make sure that they were there. In a trance-like state, Ben and his daemon moved through the doorway of the apartment, Ben locking the door behind them. Ben walked past the lift, and down the stairs. The stairwell was strangely eerie, the anbaric lights casting his shadow on the wall. His feet squeaked in his slightly too big boots on the wet stairs, but it was barely discernible from the pounding rain.
The door from the stairwell slid open smoothly, and Ben stood at its threshold for innumerable minutes. What was he doing? It seemed as if there was some sort of outside force driving him. Theona growled distastefully at the dripping wet that was soaking her paws. "Where are we going?" she barked acerbically, nipping him in the leg lightly, to get his attention.
Ben aimed a kick at her, and ignored her question. Theona dodged, and growled, repeating her question, "No, really Ben, where are we going?" He shrugged, and stepped out into the sheeting rain. Theona followed reluctantly, muttering curses and threats under her breath.
For the next half an hour, they walked aimlessly in the cold rain, Theona complaining the whole way. Every time, Ben shushed her, and they continued walking.
Then he saw her. Even in the wet, her light hair shined, and the spring in her step left Ben breathless. On her shoulder sat her pine martin daemon, and they were chattering animatedly. A smile lit up her face, and under her arm she carried a stack of books.
Theona nudged Ben in the leg, and he took in a sharp breath, he had stopped breathing. Without thinking, he started walking across the street, toward her. "BEN!" Theona yelled, alarmed. He never acted like this. She nipped him again, but he shook her off, and continued weaving through the cars.
