This is my first Lost fic! Woo! I just started watching it from the beginning this year and finished series six last week and it's possibly the best series I've ever watched :D. I hope you enjoy this, I know not everyone will warm to the idea of Richard/Ben but I think it's cute so I HAD to write this :). I hope I haven't made them seem out of character, it was not at all my intention and very much hope I haven't, but I didn't realise how hard it is to write for Richard! Reviews much appreciated everyone and I will take all suggestions onboard! xxxx
It was growing dark as Ben prepared to read his favourite book before he settled down and went to bed. He'd read it so many times that the spine had become frail and a page or two had fallen out, much to Ben's annoyance. He sat at the sofa of his living room and pushed his circular glasses back up his nose as they had an annoying habit of sliding down. Just as he was about to get to the exciting climax of this particular paragraph, there was a thumping knock at his front door which startled him slightly. Sighing, he took off his glasses and lay the book face down on the table. He made his way over to the door and opened it just as whoever it was began knocking again. Ben stood face to face with a rather excited looking Richard Alpert.
"What is it now Richard?" Ben asked the black haired man in his doorway "You caught me at a rather bad time. I was just about to go to bed actually."
"Oh," Richard's happy expression faltered slightly, but he regained it almost instantly "I was just wondering if you wanted to come on a walk with me, apparently there's meant to be a meteor shower tonight which I am quite looking forward to. I thought you may like to watch it as you've never seen one before."
The corners of Ben's mouth twitched upwards slightly, but he kept his normal expression and raised one eyebrow at Richard.
"No thank you Richard," Ben addressed him "I think I'd rather be in bed then waste my time watching some shooting stars."
"Come on Ben, it'll be fun," Ben didn't respond for a few moments but before he did Richard added "You're my friend Ben and probably the only one who'll come with me. I don't particularly want to go by myself, everyone will end up thinking I'm even stranger than just a man who never ages."
Ben looked back inside for a moment to the very inviting fire and the thought of his warm bed, then looked back to Richard standing in his doorway while wind coursed past him and the sky had gotten so dark it was black with pinpricks of stars. Sighing again, Ben stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Richard smiled and the two men walked up the garden path together.
"You do realise that if we don't see any comets within the first five minutes I'm leaving," Ben told Richard "I am the leader, I need to catch up on my sleep if Jacob wants me to lead properly."
"Of course," Richard replied "But if we go away from the houses where there's no light pollution, we'll be able to see them more clearly."
"I didn't come out so we'd have to trek halfway up a mountain Richard," Ben gave the man quite an annoyed look.
"I know, I know," Richard held his hands up defensively "If we don't see anything in the first five minutes, you can leave. But I promise you, if we go further away we'll be able to see a lot."
The men walked on in silence for a while until they'd left the barracks. Ben looked up and saw that he could see much more stars than he usually could as there were no lights shining out and into the sky, obscuring the stars. Of course, this view was nothing new. He'd lived on the island for nearly all of his life and had on many an occasion just come away from the houses to see the stars. When he was younger though, not so much now. Ben had forgotten how much he had missed them until then. The two of them trudged on for a while before Richard suggested that they climb up a hill so they could get an even better view.
"All of this and we're probably not going to see anything," Ben said to Richard as they began their ascent up the hill.
"I assure you, we are. I'm positive," Richard laughed in response.
Ben rolled his eyes as they reached the top of the hill. The grass on this hill had grown incredibly long and many small daisies and buttercups had sprouted on top of it. Ben and Richard sat down and looked up at the sky, waiting for the meteors.
"I suppose you're going to make a wish when you see one?" Ben raised one eyebrow and smirked slightly as he turned to speak to his friend.
"Perhaps," Richard nodded, then turned his attention back to the sky.
The minutes rolled by as Ben and Richard sat staring at the sky. Richard swore he saw one but Ben hadn't, so he told him it was probably just a trick of the light. Richard insisted that he had genuinely seen a meteor, but Ben just rolled his eyes at this comment. Ben checked his watch, the five minutes he was going to stay there were up and he stood up to leave.
"I told you we wouldn't see any sh-"
Ben stopped short as he saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye. He turned and looked up at the dark sky. A streak of glowing white cut across the black, then another and another. Shooting stars. Richard had promised him that they'd see them, and he had kept his promise. Ben sat back down on the long grass next to Richard and looked up at the clear starry sky.
"I told you we would," Richard almost whispered as a particularly bright comet whizzed across the sky.
"Thank you for convincing me to stay Richard," Ben grinned watching as another one struck the sky.
Ben had never seen a single meteor before, but now he had seen many. It was a truly beautiful sight, perhaps one of the most beautiful things Ben had seen since he'd been on the island. He could sit and watch them for hours on end and not get bored for a second. He was aware of some movement next to him then realised that Richard had put his arm around him.
"Whoa, did you see that one!" Richard exclaimed, pointing to an illuminating shooting star.
Ben just smiled.