semby
in
ficofsemby
Empty Beer Bottle
Title: Empty Beer Bottle
Summary: Faith and Connor reacting to Angel's death.
Setting: Post-NFA
Disclaimer: I'm nothing but a lowly, non-profiting fan.
A/N: For moviequoteminis, and the quote: "That's life. If nothing else, it's life. It's real, and sometimes it fucking hurts, but it's sort of all we have." - Sam in Garden State.
Words: 507
When Faith heard about Angel’s death, her first reaction was anger. It was probably directed at the wrong people, and was energy that was better spent in other forms of release, but it was instinct. She was angry at Angel and Wesley for going into a battle that they knew they couldn’t win, and for not calling her so she could fight and die by their sides. She was angry that she didn’t hear details about what had happened from Buffy, or Willow, or the Watcher’s Council, but from a skinny, pale, broken-looking kid who just showed up at her door.
After taking out her frustrations on the punching bag in her study (why Robin insisted on calling the room the study when the odds of her ever opening a book in there were impossibly small, she didn’t know), she headed back into the living room and was surprised to find the kid still there.
“I knew you wouldn’t remember me,” he said, expressionless. He was absently picking at the fabric of her couch. “It was just important for me to be around someone else who knew him too.”
She wasn’t bothered about questioning him about the fact that they’d met and why she couldn’t remember it. It was her life, Angel’s life, and the life of this kid who was buzzing with some supernatural vibe as well, and none of those things seemed to lead to anything normal or easy to explain. She’d rather not know.
They were quiet for a long, long while. It was awkward, but she didn’t feel the need to ask him to leave rather than taking up space on her couch. She gave him a beer without first asking if he wanted one, or if he was of legal age. He accepted and drank it silently.
After another long while, when his beer was half empty and put aside, he suddenly declared, “It just all seems so meaningless. Fucking pointless. The fight, his sacrifice, his whole existence, me being here when he’s not; all of it.”
Faith thought he might have been accidentally thinking aloud, rather than talking to her at all, but she responded anyway. “That's life. If nothing else, it's life. It's real, and sometimes it fucking hurts, but it's sort of all we have. And sometimes it makes no fucking sense at all.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything more. She wasn’t sure he’d actually heard her at all, but didn’t think it particularly mattered. She moved to sit next to him on the couch. Another period of silence stretched on. She finished his forgotten beer. He eventually stood, thanked her, and left her apartment.
He just walked out, no further explanation of who he was, how they knew each other, what Angel meant to him, or whether she could expect him to show up out of the blue again at some point. He just walked out, and the only sign that he’d ever been there at all was the empty beer bottle in her hand.
Fucking pointless.
Originally posted here on October 16, 2005
Summary: Faith and Connor reacting to Angel's death.
Setting: Post-NFA
Disclaimer: I'm nothing but a lowly, non-profiting fan.
A/N: For moviequoteminis, and the quote: "That's life. If nothing else, it's life. It's real, and sometimes it fucking hurts, but it's sort of all we have." - Sam in Garden State.
Words: 507
When Faith heard about Angel’s death, her first reaction was anger. It was probably directed at the wrong people, and was energy that was better spent in other forms of release, but it was instinct. She was angry at Angel and Wesley for going into a battle that they knew they couldn’t win, and for not calling her so she could fight and die by their sides. She was angry that she didn’t hear details about what had happened from Buffy, or Willow, or the Watcher’s Council, but from a skinny, pale, broken-looking kid who just showed up at her door.
After taking out her frustrations on the punching bag in her study (why Robin insisted on calling the room the study when the odds of her ever opening a book in there were impossibly small, she didn’t know), she headed back into the living room and was surprised to find the kid still there.
“I knew you wouldn’t remember me,” he said, expressionless. He was absently picking at the fabric of her couch. “It was just important for me to be around someone else who knew him too.”
She wasn’t bothered about questioning him about the fact that they’d met and why she couldn’t remember it. It was her life, Angel’s life, and the life of this kid who was buzzing with some supernatural vibe as well, and none of those things seemed to lead to anything normal or easy to explain. She’d rather not know.
They were quiet for a long, long while. It was awkward, but she didn’t feel the need to ask him to leave rather than taking up space on her couch. She gave him a beer without first asking if he wanted one, or if he was of legal age. He accepted and drank it silently.
After another long while, when his beer was half empty and put aside, he suddenly declared, “It just all seems so meaningless. Fucking pointless. The fight, his sacrifice, his whole existence, me being here when he’s not; all of it.”
Faith thought he might have been accidentally thinking aloud, rather than talking to her at all, but she responded anyway. “That's life. If nothing else, it's life. It's real, and sometimes it fucking hurts, but it's sort of all we have. And sometimes it makes no fucking sense at all.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything more. She wasn’t sure he’d actually heard her at all, but didn’t think it particularly mattered. She moved to sit next to him on the couch. Another period of silence stretched on. She finished his forgotten beer. He eventually stood, thanked her, and left her apartment.
He just walked out, no further explanation of who he was, how they knew each other, what Angel meant to him, or whether she could expect him to show up out of the blue again at some point. He just walked out, and the only sign that he’d ever been there at all was the empty beer bottle in her hand.
Fucking pointless.
Originally posted here on October 16, 2005