his_sarah_jane | [Mixed Muses] Dinner with Simon and Luke

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[Mixed Muses] Dinner with Simon and Luke

She can't remember the last time she has really felt this nervous. It isn't been the first time Sarah Jane had brought Simon home to show him Ealing and her little world. But it is the first time she has brought him home to meet her son. It is, quite possibly, the first time that she has brought anyone of the male persuasion home to meet her son.

Sarah is, quite surprisingly to herself, a nervous wreck.

The dinner table is properly dressed with a table cloth. There are candles and flowers on the table and she has actually spent a good part of her day in the kitchen. Her best silverware and dishes aere out on the table. And, she thinks, the meal smells decent enough. She likes to cook, on occasion. But Sarah Jane knows that she is far from being the best cook in the world.

Now she only needs Luke to come home from Clyde's. She turns to smile at Simon, glancing quickly at her watch.

"He ought to be here any moment."

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Luke is home just a couple minutes late, not that it has anything to do with his actions. "I'm back," he announces and begins poking his head into rooms to find her location. "Mum?"

Sarah Jane kisses Simon quickly before walking out of the dining room to find Luke. She smiles when she finally sees him, trying her hardest not to look nervous.

"Hullo, Luke. Did you have a good day at school?"

"Good," he says, setting down a backpack. "And Clyde was teaching me about slang and jokes." Beat. Rather hopefully, "Knock-knock."

Sarah Jane resists the urge to laugh.

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"

:D?

Oh Luke.

Sarah Jane laughs for the sake of her son, placing an arm over his shoulder. "Oh, absolutely brilliant, Luke. Now, come on. I have a friend here I would like you to meet."

He glows a bit under the laughter and lets her guide him to the dining room. She hasn't had him meet any of her friends before, and he can't help but feel curious and a little bit excited about it.

Simon, meanwhile, is back in the dining room, looking towards the ground, shuffling his feet. He's a little too distracted with nervousness to notice anyone's joined him in the room.

Sarah smiles warmly at Simon as she enters with an arm still wrapped around Luke. She nods in his direction, feeling rather nervous all over again.

"Simon?" she says once to get his attention. "Simon, this is my son, Luke. Luke? This is Simon Skinner. We've been, ah, seeing each other recently."

Luke doesn't understand the intricacies of simple phrases like 'seeing each other recently'. He takes it at face value, with nothing to infer.

"Hello," he says to Simon, holding out his hand.

"Hi," he replies, taking Luke's hand in his for a handshake. In another life his grip would've been painfully tight. In this life, it's a rather timid grip. "It's very good to meet you."

He's read about people learning a lot about men because of their handshake, but he doesn't understand what there is to be learned except how firmly they can grip. "Are you from UNIT?" he asks, somewhat hopefully. He's always wanted to meet people from UNIT.

Sarah Jane laughs, walking over to her boys. If dinner is ever going to be eaten, they need to sit.

"No, he isn't," she interrupts with a smile. "I met him at a pub, Luke. Rather recently, in the scheme of things. He's... well, I guess you can say he's my boyfriend."

"You guess?"

He's quiet, because he's chewing on this information, processing it and fitting what he knows to his mum and Simon Skinner.

He sits. It's not fitting too well.

"Oh, not funny, Simon," she retorts, leading him over to the seat across from Luke.

She'll sit in between them at the head of the table. Probably for the best, Sarah Jane decides. She smiles - somewhat awkwardly - at both of them before looking at Luke in particular.

"Well, help yourselves."

Simon uncovers the plate for the main dish, looking up at Luke. "After you."

He thinks he's doing a bad job covering up how nervous he is--though the truth's quite the opposite. He's holding that cover rather steadily.

"Thanks," Luke says, not quite looking Simon in the face for reasons he can't quite work out himself. He takes a healthy portion. He's a growing boy, don'tchaknow.

Sarah Jane smiles warmly as she watches them. She sighs ever so much, reaching for the green beans to serve herself a portion.

"I know I should have told you sooner, Luke, but truth is, I really didn't know how. Simon's a wonderful man. He's been looking forward to meeting you."

"I have," he insists. "I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you."

Simon's an old pro at fake smiles that look genuine, but he can't quite seem to hide the falter in his expression when he notices Luke's failure to look him in the face. When he tries to broaden his grin, it only comes out looking slightly pained.

He's read about self-deprecating jokes. They're used to insert a bit of humour into a conversation at the speaker's own expense. It looked good to him, especially since his disastrous attempt at humour at another's expense, and Simon just gave him a good line.

"Are you sure you heard right?" he says in his joke voice. The one that somehow manages to skewer any chance of a laugh with its careful tone.

"Of course he heard right," Sarah replies, smiling at her son. "There's nothing but good things to say about you."

Beat.

"Or you, for that matter," she adds in, looking at Simon this time.

"So you say."

How's that for self-depreciation?

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