RETURN
Summery: Future fic, slash. Bright's job introduces him to a old friend, and they try to start what was impossible before. Bright/Ephram.
1.
Bright sat in front of a classroom of bored sophomores, last period Friday. "Why did the Romans not like Christianity?" he asked them, looking out into the sea of blank faces. "Well, I shouldn't say Christianity. What were they?"
Mia grinned from the corner of the room. "Jew's for Jesus?"
The class laughed, Bright smiling as well. "Close enough. Why did they make the Roman's nervous?"
Mia raised her hand. "Because of the thing about the lambs rising up?"
Bright jumped up. "Right! Who can find that in their packet?" he looked around as his class diligently began rooting through their binders. "Alex," he pointed at a bored boy unaware of the surrounding class, "Where does Jesus talk about overthrowing the people in power?"
Alex looked up, surprised. "Uh... in the gospels. He said the meek will overcome the powerful and own the world."
Bright clapped. "Right. And who were those in power?"
"The Romans."
"And who were the meek?"
Alex paused for a second. "The... Jews?"
"Right. Okay, go back to sleep." Bright smiled at the titters that went through the class as Alex straightened up and started to take notes. "And who did Jesus claim to be?"
Mia's hand shot back up, followed quickly by Hannah's. "The son of God!" Mia called.
Bright sat back on his stool in the front of the small classroom. "And...."
"The messiah," Hannah deadpanned.
Bright held back a chuckle at her boredom. "And what is a messiah?"
"Someone to save the Jews and remove them from the Roman's power, and to bring about the end of the world where the righteous will be given power." Genna spoke from the corner. Bright swung around to face her.
"And what does that mean, not looking at the study sheet?"
Genna looked back down. "Um... someone to save them?"
"From..." Bright prompted.
"The Roman oppression," Hannah muttered loudly, looking up from her sketches.
"Right." Bright smiled. "Okay, guys, final five minutes of class. If someone can tell me what we just covered, I'll let you guys go before I head out to the game."
James looked up from the comic strip he was drawing with Mike. "Jesus claimed to be the messiah, but he was criminalized by both the Romans, who thought he was leading a rebellion, and the Jews, who thought he was preaching heresy."
"Good. Okay, you can go. My soccer girls, I'm timing you. Get everyone to the bus in ten minutes, or you don't get cookies."
As his students packed up and rushed out of the classroom, he watched them leave with a faint smile. Bright never thought he would be a teacher, but he found it fulfilling. He taught Ancient Civilizations to sophomores at a private school in downtown Philadelphia, and the school board loved him. His enthusiasm for his subject and his experience with it first-hand as an archeologist made his class a favorite, and students who couldn't care less about most things actually listened.
He'd been teaching for a few years now, and he loved it. He turned around to collect his things and go find the bus to take his Varsity Soccer team to their game. He bent over to find his sports bag under his desk, when the door closed behind him.
Bright spun around, unsure who it was. Recognizing the smirk of the person in the doorway, he bit his lip and walked towards the door. "Hey."
"Hey." There was a deep smile reflected in the voice, as arms reached out to rest on Bright's chest. "Game?"
"Yeah." Bright stepped away, squeezing himself up against his visitor as he moved towards the door. He turned to his lover as he clicked the door locked. "Wanna play?"
Ephram groaned. "God, yes." He wrapped his hands around Bright's waist, pushing down his turtleneck from behind and sucking on his neck. "But I have a class."
Bright smiled, spinning around. "You love your little music prodigies more than me," he pouted.
Ephram stuck his lower lip out teasingly. "And you love your little scantily-clad soccer team more than me."
Bright grinned and bit the offending lip. "Guilty. We're going down to Florida this spring break for the Girl's Tournament." He smiled at the thought of his enthusiastic team. "The school board wants me in a different hotel room, of course. I think the whole male-coach-for-girl's-teams makes them nervous." He shrugged. "But hey, we're winning. What else matters?"
Ephram pulled back to sit on a table. "You and I do. Tonight. Bar."
Bright smiled. "Better plan. You, me, tonight, my place. Better things to do than be drunk."
Ephram smirked. "Not drunk. I need to go dancing. You're coming, to help me fend off all my ex-lovers."
Bright snorted, knowing all to well the player Ephram had been before their run-in a few years ago. His trysts with his music students, parents, alumni, and anything with a pulse made the school board annoyed, but his talent as a music teacher made him worth it.
He sighed and grabbed his bag as Ephram's hands started to wander. "Nothing at school, babe. You know that. Discretion." He walked over the door before turning back to Ephram and stealing a quick kiss before he headed out to meet his team. The kiss deepened against Bright's better intentions, and Ephram pulled Bright up against the table, between his legs.
Bright pulled Ephram to the edge of the table, grinding against him as he slipped his hands beneath Ephram's loose shirt. Ephram chuckled and went back to marking Bright, but the sound of someone opening a door across the hall brought Bright to his senses. Shoving away from the table, Bright took off into the hall, leaving a smirking music teacher behind.
A/N: So, that's that. Tell me what you think: I've got plans for this to be pretty long. Next chapter will be mostly back story, but I don't know how far I should go with this. Review if you think I should continue...