If Only Angels Could Prevail
By: After Words
He followed her, stiff-backed, through the shop and up the stairs. She glanced back at him once or twice, reaffirming that she hadn't imagined him, that Benjamin Barker was back. He's finally home, Nellie reassured herself.
The heavy brass keys clinked together as she unlocked the barbershop door and pushed it open. The hinges squealed from years of disuse, a stark contrast to the merry tinkling of a little bell above. Nellie stepped inside, feeling the oppressive dreariness of the place seeping into her.
Benja—no... Sweeney paused on the threshold, his eyes panning the room; it had once been bright and cheery, full of flowers and the scent of shaving lather... Now, all was grey and dull and utterly beyond his memories.
"Come in." Mrs. Lovett's soft voice called him back. He looked up at her, his dark eyes shining. "Nothing to be afraid of, dearie."
He looked away, his gaze falling on the elaborate framework of a rusting bassinet, Johanna's bed. Sweeney's footsteps were light, soundless as he made his way over to it. Slowly, he lifted a dingy drop-cloth away, revealing the cracked and peeling face of a porcelain doll. Sweeney remembered that doll. He had bought it for Johanna on her first birthday. She had liked to chew on it's lace bonnet...
Nellie left him to his moment of remembrance and scanned the floorboards, counting. She stood at the vanity, visually measuring the distance. Ah. There, below the window. She knelt down and swept her hand back and forth across a floorboard. Yes, she said to herself as the dust cleared. This is the one. I remember that knot.
She smacked it to loosen it further and pried it up. The resulting creaks and crunches drew Mr. Todd's attention and he hurried over to her as she removed a long-hidden object, wrapped protectively in a swath of crimson velvet. She set it down between them as he knelt across from her, patting the dust from it's fold before unwrapping it for him.
"When they come for the girl," she said, handing him a rectangular leather box. "I hid them. Could've sold 'em... but I didn't." She looked up at him, her eyes earnest. She wanted to convey to him all that that meant. She had saved them for him. For fifteen years.
But he wasn't looking at her. He was opening the box, revealing seven shining straight razors. "Those handles is chase silver, ain't they?" she asked, her voice breathless. I know they're silver! she shouted at him in her head. And silver is valuable. But I saved them for you! All for you!
"Silver..." He was far away, barely aware of her anymore. "Yes... These are my friends. See how they glisten? See this one shine, how he smiles in the light?" He held one up in the meager light filtering through the window and smiled. "My friend, my faithful friend!
"Speak to me, friend," he said, standing and turning away from her as though she weren't there anymore. "Whisper - I'll listen. I know, I know; you've been locked out of sight all these years! Like me, my friend! Well I've come home to find you waiting!" he gloated, gesturing grandly to the room at large. "Home - and we're together... And we'll do wonders, won't we?"
Nellie stood and slowly approached him, watching as he spoke to his razors.
"You there, my friend," he said, addressing a second razor that she hadn't seen him pick up.
"I'm your friend too, Mr. Todd," she told him, close to his shoulder now.
"Come let me hold you," he continued, not hearing her.
If you only knew, Mr. Todd, she thought to herself, wishing that he were speaking to her and only her. She reached out and touched his shoulder, drawing herself closer. Ooh, Mr. Todd, you're warm in my hand.
"You've come home," she said, the feel of him under her hand making her realize his return all over again. Always had a fondness for you, I did, she confessed in her head. He stepped away from her, unmindful of her touch, and returned to the leather casing on the floor. "Never you fear, Mr. Todd," she told him, pretending that he heard her, that he was listening. "You can move in here, Mr. Todd."
"My lucky friends!" he stated, his breath hot on the razor's surface.
"I'm your friend," she said again, following him. And now you're mine...She crouched behind him, marveling at his reflection in the razor, leaning as close as she could without disturbing him. She didn't want him to move away again.
"'Till now your shine was merely silver!"
Silver's good enough for me, she thought as he turned his prize this way and that in the light. She caught the scent of his hair, sharp and salty like the sea. Mr. T...
"Friends, you shall drip rubies." His lips twisted, eyes alighting with gleeful purpose. "You'll soon drip precious rubies..." Her reflection appeared in the razor he held and he finally became aware of her closeness, her face perched right above his shoulder. He turned to her, slowly, suddenly feeling her breath upon his neck. She looked at him expectantly. "Leave me," he growled, ignoring the way her face fell at his words.
She straightened and he counted her steps toward the door. The bell jingled, the latch caught, and Sweeney stood, the razor clutched comfortably, familiarly, in his hand. He brandished it before him.
"At last!" He informed the empty room. "My arm is complete again!"
A/N: Okie-doke. I know it's a slow start (I'm totally ripping off the movie still) but the next chapter is where it starts to veer off into my little world! So bear with me, please. :)
Anyhoo, many thanks to those who Reviewed; Scarecrow (you got my puns! Sweet!) & SweeneyToddRocksMySocks. Your encouragment and enthusiasm (STRMS) is very much appreciated!