On the second day of Christmas...
...my true love gave to me two changes of direction (because they can't read a map), and one protective shield.
Fandom: Bully
Rating: PG
Word Count: 211
Summary: Silly Jimmy/Pete fluffy rubbish
A year ago - hell six months ago - Jimmy would have said he was on a single-track route to juvie or if he were really lucky he might not get caught until he was old enough to go straight to adult prison.
A year ago he would have said if he didn’t even up well on his way to jail then he’d be lucky to survive the damn year. He had an unfortunate habit for pissing people off. Usually people bigger and stronger than him.
If neither of those happened then the best Jimmy figured he could hope for was to drop out of school with no grades and end up in a crappy dead-end job choking down his sorrows with drugs and alcohol until he rotted.
‘Course his plans (crap as they were) didn’t end up going that way - even though he was pretty damn sure at one point that he was going to go out after taking a dive off of some scaffolding - and now his life seemed remarkably bright and new.
What a friggin’ cliche that it was over a guy.
“Hey you getting up? You still gonna look at colleges with me?”, Pete called from the door and Jimmy pushed himself up on his elbows.
“Be right there”
Fandom: Malory Towers/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1409
Summary: Slaying is always much harder in practice than in theory.
Alicia couldn’t recall actually noticing the tree branch. She must have because she ducked under it, only realising that she had when there was the thud of an undead body colliding with the branch behind her. She widened the distance between her and the vampires, leading them back towards open ground.
Marie had tried to prepare her for the increase in speed, stamina and strength; of course Alicia had responded with flippant comments about superheroes and superpowers. Not that she knew much about superheroes but she’d seen Darrell’s comics (and teased her enough that Darrell hid them so well each term that Alicia had been unable to find them for the past few terms), so she had some ideas.
Clearly Slayers didn’t get quite the same advantages as Superman.
There was a crunch in front of her and Alicia quickly changed direction as she tried to keep track of how many vampires were in pursuit. If she weren’t careful then they would surround her. Deciding that she needed to find open space sooner rather than later, Alicia took another turn and ran straight.
There was something quite jarring about bursting out from trees and branches and foliage to wide open space, and it always made Alicia pause for just a moment as she tried to reorientate herself - no matter how many times Marie had told her how dangerous that distraction was.
The vampire that tackled her from behind certainly proved that point far better than Marie had done. All the air was knocked from Alicia’s lungs as she hit the floor but she only had a split second to gasp for breath before she threw the vampire off of her back and got back to her feet.
Four. She had miscounted. Marie had only let her fight unsupported against two vampires at a time.
She didn’t have time to consider her chances though because a second vampire was closing in. Alicia grabbed for the stake on her belt and felt a rush of panic when she grabbed at air. It must have fallen off amongst the trees. She grabbed the vampire by the shoulders and threw him, using his own momentum to propel him into the nearest bush. The disorientation gave her enough time to take off running again. She needed a weapon. She looped back in towards the tree line and snapped the most “stake like” branch she could find off a tree. She grimaced when she realised how blunt it was - it was going to take a lot more force to drive it through a chest.
She returned her attention to the vampires - staggered into two groups if she could kill the first pair quickly enough. Marie had drilled dodges and attacks and taking opportunities for kills into Alicia until she had been halfway tempted to throw everything on the floor like a child and tell Marie that was enough - she didn’t much fancy being a Slayer if this was what she had to sign up for. Right now though, she was grateful for it.
The first vampire side stepped her first attack but missed the sweeping leg that she used to knock him onto his backside. Alicia slammed that branch down as hard as she could - the chest crunched just as she’d dreaded - and the familiar sound of the vampire dusting followed. The time it took to do that had allowed the second vampire to close in and with little room to move, Alicia went for the inelegant but effective poke-them-in-the-eyes approach.
“That is disgusting”, Alicia pulled her hand back - leaving the vampire writhing in front of her and clutching at his eyes - as she quickly wiped her hand off on her trousers. Thankfully Marie had provided her with extra clothes for her new extra-curricular activities. Never mind the impracticalities of slaying in her school uniform, Alicia wasn’t quite sure how she would explain to Matron what all the strange substances were appearing on her clothes.
She side stepped forward and slammed the branch into the vampire’s chest, freezing him for a second before he too disappeared into a cloud of dust. Alicia couldn’t help but hold her breath, absolutely not wanting to inhale any particles of dead vampire. Or extra dead vampire, given that they were already dead before she re-killed them.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Alicia turned her attention to the two other vampires who had stopped their pursuit of her and were now doubling back on themselves. Alicia chased after them, closing in on them with each stride. The vampires disappeared over the brow of the hill and Alicia willed her legs to move faster before she lost sight of them.
The hand that grabbed her arm sent her off balance and she stumbled, barely saving herself with an undignified scrabble of her palms against the earth as she struggled to regain her balance. She turned to face her assailant and found Marie staring back at her.
“What are…”, Alicia started but Marie had started to move silently in a diagonal approach up the hill. Alicia swallowed her pride and followed her. Marie had obviously expected her to do so because she indicated where she wanted Alicia to go, and then continued on her way. Alicia kept low as she moved into position and waited for Marie’s next instruction. The sharp gesture prompted her into action and she rounded the curve of the hill and found herself staring at the back of a vampire. Another two stood opposite, their faces almost comedic in their shock. Alicia grabbed the vampire in front of her and wrestled it to the floor; she had no time to be elegant about her fighting. One punch to the face and a follow up elbow subdued the monster long enough for Alicia to drive her make-shift stake into it’s chest. A scream was silenced mid-expulsion and then nothing. Alicia immediately got up to assist Marie but found that she had already dealt with the others.
There was silence; Alicia knew it was so she could consider her actions, and eventually she spoke,
“I thought there were two of them”
“Even if there were, they were ready to ambush you”, Marie gave Alicia a moment to look around. The brow of the hill masked this abrupt drop. She would have stumbled right into it and likely have been overwhelmed before she had time to gather herself.
“I didn’t…”
“You didn’t think”, Marie finished for her, “And if I hadn’t been here there is a good chance you would have been killed”.
“I could have taken them”, Alicia stopped just short of stuffing her hands into her pockets when she realised how petulant she would look.
“Two? Perhaps”, Marie returned her weapon to her waistband, “Three? I have my doubts. Your stake might not have lasted the fight either”. Alicia glanced at the branch in her hand, splintering and split, leaving cuts across her palm.
“I improvised”, Alicia offered, surprised at the feeling of hurt that was surfacing in her chest. Something in her voice must have betrayed her because Marie’s face softened - just a little - and she nodded.
“You did, you also dealt with the first two well, but all that might have been undone because of a burst of over-enthusiasm”, Marie said, she let her words sink in and then continued, “Still, the nest is no more. I will return there in the morning to douse it in holy water to ensure no other vampires take up residence there. It is about time we returned to school”, Marie glanced at her watch, “Since it is nearly two in the morning and you are to be up again at seven”.
“I don’t get extra time in bed for being the Slayer?”, Alicia was grateful to find her voice had steadied, “Bit unfair”.
“How would you suggest I explain that to your classmates? The only thing I can offer you is going to the San”, Marie said as they began to walk back towards school. Alicia pulled a face,
“I don’t get ill”
“Of course, you have a reputation to protect - I forgot”, and Marie sounded almost like she were teasing her for a moment, and then her voice became serious again, “You will have to find a way to balance school and Slaying; many do not manage both and find something must give”.
“Most Slayers aren’t me”, Alicia shot back and grinned when she earned herself an eyeroll from her Watcher.
“No...no they are not”
Fandom: Bully
Rating: PG
Word Count: 211
Summary: Silly Jimmy/Pete fluffy rubbish
A year ago - hell six months ago - Jimmy would have said he was on a single-track route to juvie or if he were really lucky he might not get caught until he was old enough to go straight to adult prison.
A year ago he would have said if he didn’t even up well on his way to jail then he’d be lucky to survive the damn year. He had an unfortunate habit for pissing people off. Usually people bigger and stronger than him.
If neither of those happened then the best Jimmy figured he could hope for was to drop out of school with no grades and end up in a crappy dead-end job choking down his sorrows with drugs and alcohol until he rotted.
‘Course his plans (crap as they were) didn’t end up going that way - even though he was pretty damn sure at one point that he was going to go out after taking a dive off of some scaffolding - and now his life seemed remarkably bright and new.
What a friggin’ cliche that it was over a guy.
“Hey you getting up? You still gonna look at colleges with me?”, Pete called from the door and Jimmy pushed himself up on his elbows.
“Be right there”
Fandom: Malory Towers/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1409
Summary: Slaying is always much harder in practice than in theory.
Alicia couldn’t recall actually noticing the tree branch. She must have because she ducked under it, only realising that she had when there was the thud of an undead body colliding with the branch behind her. She widened the distance between her and the vampires, leading them back towards open ground.
Marie had tried to prepare her for the increase in speed, stamina and strength; of course Alicia had responded with flippant comments about superheroes and superpowers. Not that she knew much about superheroes but she’d seen Darrell’s comics (and teased her enough that Darrell hid them so well each term that Alicia had been unable to find them for the past few terms), so she had some ideas.
Clearly Slayers didn’t get quite the same advantages as Superman.
There was a crunch in front of her and Alicia quickly changed direction as she tried to keep track of how many vampires were in pursuit. If she weren’t careful then they would surround her. Deciding that she needed to find open space sooner rather than later, Alicia took another turn and ran straight.
There was something quite jarring about bursting out from trees and branches and foliage to wide open space, and it always made Alicia pause for just a moment as she tried to reorientate herself - no matter how many times Marie had told her how dangerous that distraction was.
The vampire that tackled her from behind certainly proved that point far better than Marie had done. All the air was knocked from Alicia’s lungs as she hit the floor but she only had a split second to gasp for breath before she threw the vampire off of her back and got back to her feet.
Four. She had miscounted. Marie had only let her fight unsupported against two vampires at a time.
She didn’t have time to consider her chances though because a second vampire was closing in. Alicia grabbed for the stake on her belt and felt a rush of panic when she grabbed at air. It must have fallen off amongst the trees. She grabbed the vampire by the shoulders and threw him, using his own momentum to propel him into the nearest bush. The disorientation gave her enough time to take off running again. She needed a weapon. She looped back in towards the tree line and snapped the most “stake like” branch she could find off a tree. She grimaced when she realised how blunt it was - it was going to take a lot more force to drive it through a chest.
She returned her attention to the vampires - staggered into two groups if she could kill the first pair quickly enough. Marie had drilled dodges and attacks and taking opportunities for kills into Alicia until she had been halfway tempted to throw everything on the floor like a child and tell Marie that was enough - she didn’t much fancy being a Slayer if this was what she had to sign up for. Right now though, she was grateful for it.
The first vampire side stepped her first attack but missed the sweeping leg that she used to knock him onto his backside. Alicia slammed that branch down as hard as she could - the chest crunched just as she’d dreaded - and the familiar sound of the vampire dusting followed. The time it took to do that had allowed the second vampire to close in and with little room to move, Alicia went for the inelegant but effective poke-them-in-the-eyes approach.
“That is disgusting”, Alicia pulled her hand back - leaving the vampire writhing in front of her and clutching at his eyes - as she quickly wiped her hand off on her trousers. Thankfully Marie had provided her with extra clothes for her new extra-curricular activities. Never mind the impracticalities of slaying in her school uniform, Alicia wasn’t quite sure how she would explain to Matron what all the strange substances were appearing on her clothes.
She side stepped forward and slammed the branch into the vampire’s chest, freezing him for a second before he too disappeared into a cloud of dust. Alicia couldn’t help but hold her breath, absolutely not wanting to inhale any particles of dead vampire. Or extra dead vampire, given that they were already dead before she re-killed them.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Alicia turned her attention to the two other vampires who had stopped their pursuit of her and were now doubling back on themselves. Alicia chased after them, closing in on them with each stride. The vampires disappeared over the brow of the hill and Alicia willed her legs to move faster before she lost sight of them.
The hand that grabbed her arm sent her off balance and she stumbled, barely saving herself with an undignified scrabble of her palms against the earth as she struggled to regain her balance. She turned to face her assailant and found Marie staring back at her.
“What are…”, Alicia started but Marie had started to move silently in a diagonal approach up the hill. Alicia swallowed her pride and followed her. Marie had obviously expected her to do so because she indicated where she wanted Alicia to go, and then continued on her way. Alicia kept low as she moved into position and waited for Marie’s next instruction. The sharp gesture prompted her into action and she rounded the curve of the hill and found herself staring at the back of a vampire. Another two stood opposite, their faces almost comedic in their shock. Alicia grabbed the vampire in front of her and wrestled it to the floor; she had no time to be elegant about her fighting. One punch to the face and a follow up elbow subdued the monster long enough for Alicia to drive her make-shift stake into it’s chest. A scream was silenced mid-expulsion and then nothing. Alicia immediately got up to assist Marie but found that she had already dealt with the others.
There was silence; Alicia knew it was so she could consider her actions, and eventually she spoke,
“I thought there were two of them”
“Even if there were, they were ready to ambush you”, Marie gave Alicia a moment to look around. The brow of the hill masked this abrupt drop. She would have stumbled right into it and likely have been overwhelmed before she had time to gather herself.
“I didn’t…”
“You didn’t think”, Marie finished for her, “And if I hadn’t been here there is a good chance you would have been killed”.
“I could have taken them”, Alicia stopped just short of stuffing her hands into her pockets when she realised how petulant she would look.
“Two? Perhaps”, Marie returned her weapon to her waistband, “Three? I have my doubts. Your stake might not have lasted the fight either”. Alicia glanced at the branch in her hand, splintering and split, leaving cuts across her palm.
“I improvised”, Alicia offered, surprised at the feeling of hurt that was surfacing in her chest. Something in her voice must have betrayed her because Marie’s face softened - just a little - and she nodded.
“You did, you also dealt with the first two well, but all that might have been undone because of a burst of over-enthusiasm”, Marie said, she let her words sink in and then continued, “Still, the nest is no more. I will return there in the morning to douse it in holy water to ensure no other vampires take up residence there. It is about time we returned to school”, Marie glanced at her watch, “Since it is nearly two in the morning and you are to be up again at seven”.
“I don’t get extra time in bed for being the Slayer?”, Alicia was grateful to find her voice had steadied, “Bit unfair”.
“How would you suggest I explain that to your classmates? The only thing I can offer you is going to the San”, Marie said as they began to walk back towards school. Alicia pulled a face,
“I don’t get ill”
“Of course, you have a reputation to protect - I forgot”, and Marie sounded almost like she were teasing her for a moment, and then her voice became serious again, “You will have to find a way to balance school and Slaying; many do not manage both and find something must give”.
“Most Slayers aren’t me”, Alicia shot back and grinned when she earned herself an eyeroll from her Watcher.
“No...no they are not”