Foolish Heart
Disclaimer: Don't own Sailor Moon or the Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Inspired by Teresa Medeiros' After Midnight.
Chapter Four: Information
"Serena." Mina whispered near her sisters ear, "Serena, it's time to get up."
"You're too big to throw against the wall. Do you have a snooze button?" Serena grumbled out as she turned over in an attempt to get away from her sister.
"Sorry, didn't come with that. Come on, you gotta get up now." Mina said as she snatched away her sisters pillow.
"Not fair!" Serena moaned as she sat up.
"But it worked. Come on, we can't be late. Or rather, I can't be late which makes it that you have to get up now." Mina drawled out.
"Fine, fine. I'm up." Serena gave up as she rolled out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.
"You've got 45 minutes." Mina called after her sister.
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"Ok, I get out of class at 11:45, Darien's Shakespeare class gets out at 12:30. I have a lab for this class at 12:15 until 1:45. Darien's agreed to show you around after class until I get out of my lab; but just incase, here's the key to my place." Mina explained quickly as she handed Serena her key's as they walked up the stairs to the main campus.
"Right, hang out with Darien until we meet up again, but just in case go home. Got it." Serena simplified.
"Right. Here's your class. Have fun, I gotta go. See ya later." Mina said as she hugged her sister quickly, "Have fun."
"Bye." Serena laughed as she opened the lecture hall door.
Serena walked into the lecture hall still shaking her head, carrying two cups of coffee and a bag filled with a notepad and a couple of pens.
"Hey; good morning." Darien said as he looked up as Serena descended the stairs of the lecture hall, "I thought I heard you and your sister."
"Oh yeah, that was us, more her then me, but yeah. I guess half the campus heard her. Here's some coffee, by the way." Serena smiled as she set one of the coffee cups down on the table in the front of the hall.
"Thanks." Darien returned her smile, " It's very lucky of me that you brought this, I happened to forget my thermos this morning."
"Oh really? Are you normally this forgetful?" Serena asked, suddenly really curious about him again.
"No, not really actually. It's just, ah. Well. I got an interesting phone call this morning that sparked an old flame between Max and myself." Darien answered carefully.
"What kind of old flame?" Serena asked softly, afraid it was something that would break her sister's heart; and mine.
"It's something from my past; nothing to really worry about. And no, it's not a past love or anything like that, Serena." Darien answered, reading Serena's expression.
"Oh, I didn't mean that!" Serena said stunned that he was able to read her so easily.
"Hmm. Right." Darien scoffed as students began to come into the hall, "Please, take a seat. Oh, and would you help me with a scene later?" Darien asked.
"Um, sure." Serena smiled, acting as if the conversation before hadn't happen.
"Good." Darien smiled as he lifted his cup to her in gratitude.
Darien's class was a good one, Serena had to admit as she looked over the notes she had taken. He had covered a good portion of the plays, or at least the important ones; Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Macbeth, Julius Cesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, and King Lear; so far. They still had an hour before class was officially out.
"Ok, we've got one more play to cover before I let you go, as well as giving you your assignment." Darien added as a groan was let out from his class, "Oh it's not too bad, now the last play. Everyone has read this play or seen it, I'm sure of this. Can anyone guess it?" Darien then asked the class.
"Professor, is it Romeo and Juliet?" A student asked from the back of the class.
"Yes it is." Darien answered, "I also need help with this one. Unlike the other plays I won't just merely tell you about it, this has to do with the assignment I'm giving to you, I'll be acting a small part of it."
Serena paled as she heard him say that. She had agreed to help him out with one of the plays but didn't ask which one and he hasn't asked for help yet.
"Serena, I could use your help now." Darien said in her direction, flashing her a smile.
"I should have said no." Serena mumbled as she put her notebook down and joined him at the front of the hall.
"Yes, you should have." Darien smiled at her some more, "Ok now, We're going to read a small part of the play. I want you to watch and remember what you see and feel." Darien told the class.
"What are we going to act out?" Serena asked with an eyebrow raised in question.
"We're going to read Act One, Scene Five." Darien answered.
"We're going to read Act One, Scene Five... Wait, NO." Serena said sternly.
"Serena, we have to. It's the perfect scene for the assignment I'm giving." Darien convinced as he held out a copy of the part they were going to read.
"Fine, but no kissing." Serena whispered as she took the part, "I'm guessing I'm playing Juliet."
"Right, unless you want to play Romeo." Darien whispered back.
"No, I'm fine with the part." Serena said as she realized that if she was Romeo, she'd be kissing him, " You owe me." She then added.
"Ok, again. Watch the scene and make sure you remember what you see and feel." Darien reminded to the class, then he looked to Serena, "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Serena sighed as she looked down to the highlighted part of the page.
" 'If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.'" Darien read off the page, putting feeling into the reading as if he were truly acting it out.
Seeing how Darien did this reading, Serena took the hint and put in the same amount of enthusiasm,
" 'Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.'"
" 'Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?'" Darien responded with the lines, his eyes leaving the page to look at her.
" 'Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.'" Serena looked up as well, getting caught in the moment of the play. Feeling as Juliet would feel. Even striding away from Darien in a pissed off kind of way
" 'O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.'" Darien acted out, not even looking at his page. Bringing the words out of his memory following her across the room
" 'Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.'" Serena also stopped looking at her sheet, caught in Darien's gaze as he continued the part, matching her step for step around the room; though giving her space as if he enjoyed the chase.
" 'Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged'" Darien said the final line as he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers.
There was a few surprised gasps, one single whoop and Serena's heart pounding in her ears as Darien kissed her. As he broke away Serena remembered they were doing a reading and turned away from him to read her line off the page.
" 'Then have my lips the sin that they have took.'" Serena whispered out, though she knew the class knew what she was saying.
" 'Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again.'" Darien said the line smoothly and quickly as he turned Serena around and kissed her again.
Again, the class reacted, this time a few claps had appeared in the crowd. A loud cough had Darien drawing back from Serena.
"Uh." Serena breathed as she realized she had closed her eyes and moved to put her hands on his chest, " 'You kiss by the book.'" She then said softly as she glanced down at her page, finishing the highlighted portion of the reading.
The two of them stood like that for a while after she finished her line, facing each other. Serena looking up to Darien, forgetting about the class that sat watching them.
"Professor?" One student cautiously said.
"Right, thank you Serena." Darien said a little hoarsely, "Now, your assignment is to write a one page paper on the emotions Shakespeare was trying to get you to feel in this and his other plays; and I won't accept 'I don't know' or 'love' or any other obvious answer. See you on Wednesday." Darien dismissed the class as Serena blushed and started walking back to her belongings.
"Serena, thank you, for playing the scene with me." Darien thanked as the hall emptied.
"No problem. Really, it was nothing." Serena responded softly, not meeting his eyes.
"Serena, I uh, I know you said no kissing; but I, uh, got swept up in the part." Darien tried excusing his actions.
"I, um, I understand. I think I was too. If anything I'm as guilty as you are, I didn't stop you." Serena told him.
"Right, well, Mina has lab until 2; would you like to get some lunch with me?" Darien asked.
"I, um." Serena thought it over, 'just in case, here's the key to my place'
"There's this little Thai place I've been wanting to try, but Max isn't all that into exotic food; though I don't believe Thai is exotic." Darien said temptingly, "Do you like Thai?" He then asked after a thought.
"Yeah, I love Thai." Serena answered his second question.
"Ok, so would you like to join me?" Darien asked again, noticing she had avoided his first question.
Serena flipped the pages of her notebook over to close it properly and gathered up her pen and highlighter while she thought about her answer to Darien's question. She did want to go out to lunch with him. But they had just kissed; not once but twice. And it didn't feel like a because-we're-acting-out- a- play kiss, it was a full on kiss. As if it could have come after a second or third date kiss. And she wanted another one. A third one. When she really shouldn't have done the first two.
"Come on, my treat. As a thank you, for acting out that scene." Darien said, trying to lure her into going.
"I don't know. I mean, I want to but you did assign a paper for the next class." Serena pointed out.
"That was for the students. For the ones who want the credit from this class. Not for you, Serena. Though I'd love to read what you think about emotion in Shakespears' plays." Darien commented, "Come on, it's only lunch; and Mina made it very clear to me that she wanted you to have fun."
"She could never understand that I'm happy with a book and cup of coffee." Serena laughed a little, even though her head and heart were in turmoil.
"I'm the same way. Come on, don't make me beg. Anyways, Mina could be calling the house making sure you're not there." Darien pointed out.
"Ok, let's go eat." Serena caved in to her heart.
"Good. And now we're off." Darien said as he picked up his jacket and walked back to her to escort her out of the hall.
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Serena and Darien walked to the restaurant; Darien leading them through the maze of staircases and building that made up the campus.
"I know this seems a little confusing and we're going up and down a lot, but this is the fastest way there." Darien smiled.
"I bet. So what were you doing before you started here?" Serena asked as the walked.
"I was, uh. I was abroad. Max and I were, abroad." Darien answered.
"You and Max?" Serena questioned, finding it odd that these two men seemed to do everything together.
"He's my best friend. We've been through a lot together. He's helped me through a lot of stuff in my life. I know I can trust him with my life and with anything I tell him." Darien answered.
"I completely understand. That's how my friends back home and Mina are to me." Serena agreed, knowing what he meant.
"Well, it's nothing like what you've been through; but it has been a lot. He's more like a brother to me then a friend." Darien said as they walked thorough one of the gates of the campus.
"Yeah." Serena smiled as she thought of her friends and how close they were.
"Well, here we are." Darien said as he stopped in front of a small building with about 10 tables in it.
"This is nice." Serena smiled as she looked into the restaurant, "I like these small places."
"So do I. Come on, we better get going if we want to meet Mina at the right time." Darien smiled as he held the door open for her.
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"So has Mina told you about the Mid-Summer's Night social that's being held on campus this weekend?" Darien asked as they ate their lunch.
"No, she hasn't. She told me to being some, how should I put this, 'dreamish' clothing." Serena said as she twirled some pan-thai on to her fork.
"'Dreamish'?" Darien raised one eye brow, needing an explanation.
"Well, she didn't flat out tell me that something was going on, but she did say that we may go out dancing and the theme to the place was foresty/fantasy." Serena tried to explain, " In fact she had to explain it to me too."
"I bet, 'Dreamish'. Never heard that before." Darien commented as he ate some of his panang-gai.
"She likes to make up words; uses the 'if I use it in a sentence then it's a word' logic." Serena laughed.
"What else can I learn about you? I see now that you like Thai food; what other kids of food do you like?." Darien asked as he sipped his Thai ice tea.
"I like a lot of food, a lot of different food. I, of course, love sushi. Greek. I want to try Indian food and possibly Indonesian. I love burgers. Most German and Swedish/Danish food I like. And I absolutely love Mexican food." Serena answered his question with enthusiasm.
"Wow, a woman after my own heart." Darien muttered to himself, though taking in Serena's shocked expression, he gathered she heard it too.
"Mina is about the same; except she doesn't want to try Indian and Indonesian food." Serena quickly added.
"You two are more alike then I thought." Darien observed.
"Well, yeah. I mean, just because we were born so far apart doesn't mean we have to be different; though we are in many ways."
"I've seen that too." Darien smiled at her the waiter came by to clear they're now empty dishes, "So, what do you think about emotion in Shakespeare's' plays?" Darien asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"You really want to know what I would write, don't you?" Serena asked with a laugh as he smiled back at her, "Well, the emotions he uses are very human; love, anger, hatred. All are still apart of life today. He also likes to add a lot of loyalty into his plays. A trait many people hope is still in today's society." Serena answered, "Of course that wouldn't be all I'd write, but that's the main point of it."
"I see, and I completely agree with you."Darien smiled.
"Really?" Serena asked, a little shocked he agreed so whole heartedly and quickly just off the little she said.
"Yeah. And that's what I would be looking for when my students turn in their papers tomorrow. Those are the main traits Shakespeare shows and those are the ones we went over in class. If we had time, we could have kept going with the scene and they would have seen Juliet's predicament about being in love with Romeo and wanting to honor her family." Darien answered.
"I now know a class I'd do well in." Serena smiled.
"I have no doubt that you'd do well in any class you take." Darien responded softly, "We'd better get going. " He then added.
"There are some classes I don't do well in. So, please don't think I'm perfect." Serena smiled as they stood from the table and she put on her coat.
"What classes?" Darien asked as he put on his jacket.
"Though I like math, I have some problems there. I definitely stay away from physics. And most Geology classes bore me to death." Serena answered.
"How can you not like physics?" Darien asked surprised as they walked out of the restaurant.
"I just don't get it. I also think that I dislike it because I had a bad teacher in high school. It just never stuck." Serena shrugged off her dislike easily.
"Physics is actually one of the subjects I like most." Darien commented quietly.
"Well, I can see that we'd never be in the same class. You were probably one of those AP or honors physics students, weren't you?" Serena asked with a smile.
"Oh yeah, the biggest." Darien answered with a smile as well. There was something about her smile that was contagious; even when she was mocking you.
"If you like physics so much and you're good at it; why are you an English professor?" Serena asked.
"As I said last night, I just kind of fell into it and liked it. So I stayed with it; though I may have to end my career soon." Darien answered honestly.
"Why do you have to stop being a professor?"
"Family obligations. That was the phone call I got. It was from my sister; she still lives with my parents. In a way." Darien answered.
"Is everything alright at home?" Serena asked, worried something was wrong.
"Oh no. It's nothing like that. Everything's fine. She was just reminding me of a few things." Darien assured her.
"Ok. That's good." Serena sighed as they came up to the classroom Darien was teaching in.
"Hey guys." Mina waved at them from a bench near the classroom door.
"Hey, I thought you were in till 1:45." Serena said as she checked her watch, it was 1:30
"Got out early. How was class?" Mina asked.
"Good, I actually learned some stuff about Shakespeare." Serena commented.
"Well, what do you know? Darien, you should take that as a great compliment. I swear, Serena knows everything about Shakespeare." Mina babbled
"I was wondering how you knew exactly what was going to happen during the reading we did." Darien commented, reminding Serena of her sins of the day.
"You did a reading? What play did you guys do?" Mina asked curiously.
Serena tried to hide her blush before anyone could catch it. Luckily Mina was distracted by someone waving to her to notice; but Darien didn't.
"We read from Romeo and Juliet. The scene when Tybalt kills Mercutio." Darien answered, choosing to describe the scene to Mina then giving her the scene number.
"Oh. So who played who?" Mina asked as they began walking to the parking structure.
"I played Mercutio and Serena played Tybalt." Darien answered.
"Fun. So Sere, what do you want to do tonight?" Mina asked.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to just hang out; just the two of us." Serena said as nicely as she could.
"I don't mind. In fact that works out best. I have some papers to grade and stuff." Darien answered; the look on his face made Serena believe the stuff was his family.
"Perfect. I guess we'll see you tomorrow then." Mina chirped.
"Yeah, I learned a lot in class today. See you tomorrow." Serena added.
"Bye girls." Darien said as the separated at the elevator of the parking structure.