(Shades of Grey) Rupert's flat, the other night...
I considered going downstairs just as I was (in the altogether), but I thought that might be just a bit much, depending on who Rupert's other visitor was. There was a time he would have found someone else's discomfiture as hysterically funny as I would, but his sense of humour seems to have atrophied... well, thank goodness that's the only thing that did, apparently.
I didn't suppose we'd get lucky, and have someone turn up who might want to join in. With a sigh I went into the upstairs loo and grabbed Rupert's (quite nice) silk robe off the hanger on the inside of the door, threw it on, and started to make my way downstairs.
I was probably almost as shocked to see who it was as they probably were to see me. I knew Rupert had a Slayer but this was, what, the Vampire Slayer and the Slayerettes? 'Three underage girls, Ripper? Is there something you're not telling me?' I asked him, highly amused.
*****
Despite myself, I laughed out loud...
At least someone had the good sense to take all this the way it ought to be, I thought approvingly. It really was quite hilarious, if someone let down his guard enough to let it be.
"Hey, don't you stay at the Inn just outside of town? The one run by Grant Douglas?"
Not quite so underage as I thought, but rather well preserved, I assessed after the woman said that. 'Yes, yes I do, as a matter of fact,' I replied politely. 'Lovely, lovely place. I thought I recognised you from somewhere, although you do tend to keep to yourself, I've noticed.'
The redhead was babbling. Quite discomfited. Entirely the opposite of... Darla, yes that was it.
"...And... and... that guy. Who is that guy?"
Rupert practically knocked me down on his way back up, presumably to get more respectably dressed. I couldn't have cared less. I just wanted him back into nothing at all as soon as possible.
'It's rather rude to discuss people who are in the room in the third person, you know,' I commented, raising one eyebrow at Red. 'The name is Rayne. Ethan Rayne.' I was going to go into the kitchen to put the kettle on, but noticed that Rupert already had done.
It wasn't an entirely wasted trip. I'd left my fags on the bar space between the ktichen and the living room, along with my lighter. (I thought they were upstairs, in my pocket, until I'd looked for them and discovered they weren't there.) I lit one, walked into the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets for Ruperts tea, and his cups.
It was all so amusing. Rupert looked almost as embarassed as the youngsters. If they had any idea of some of the things we did, I'm sure he'd be absolutely mortified.
*****
'Only vaguely acquainted,' I replied to the Slayer's question. 'We both currently reside at the Talisker Inn, outside of town.'
Yes, I could tell which was which. I was curious enough to read the girls' places in the patterns while I waited for the kettle to boil. And I'd just discovered somethng quite interesting about Darla, as wel, by doing that. Wondered if the Inn's owner knew it...
I turned away from the sitting room, ostensibly to drop a sachet into each of two cups, which would make tea for Rupert and myself. 'So, you're Rupert's Slayer,' I said in a low voice, and took a drag on my cigarette.
*****
'Rupert didn't have to tell me anything, dear girl,' I told her, amused. 'It's as easy to see as the colour of your hair, if you look for it in the right way.'
I chuckled as she went on about someone named "Xander" (for Alexander? I wondered). 'It wouldn't be a bad thing for you if I could get Ripper to loosen up just a little bit, would it?' I asked her with a conspiratorial grin, drawing on the cigarette. I couldn't resist making pretty patterns with the smoke as it rose.
'But I'm not going to complain too strenuously about the spell,' I said, giving no hint that I was the one responsible for it in the first place. What I would say was truth enough for the present, I expect, and most likely more than Rupert would want me telling.
His life was so wrapped up in hers right now that if I could get her on my side, it would be all to the good. My good. It would also make things so much more interesting, later...
'It allowed Rupert and I to say things to one another that have needed to be said for a very long time.' Certainly longer than I'd care to admit to someone who hadn't even been born when he broke my heart and tore my life apart the first time.
*****
She obviously hadn't heard what I said quite right, but that was fine. I chuckled quietly to myself as she retreated to the other room and her friends... although what a Slayer was doing making friends with a vampire was beyond me, and I wonder if Rupert realised just what Darla was...
I hummed to myself a bit as the kettle boiled, and thinking better of it, I plucked the sachets out of the cups to scald them before I put hot water over the tea.
'You still take yours one and white, don't you?' I asked Rupert, finishing his tea before I prepared my own. He nodded a bit grimly at me, even though he still had that heavy-lidded just-fucked look in his eyes. 'Thought I remembered.'
I stroked the back of his hand with my fingertips as I handed the mug to him. I could give myself shivers touching him that innocently. 'I'll make someone a wonderful wife one day,' I commented, off-hand. I was trying to get him to stop being quite so serious. Rupert barely cracked a smile. Being a Watcher is robbing him of his sense of humour, more's the pity.
When he had a firm grip on the mug, Rupert grabbed me by the wrist, hard. (I would be, too [again], if he persisted in that for very long.) He always did know just how to get, and keep, my full attention. 'Some sort of problem? Other than one of Buffy's friends being a vampire,' I added mischievously, leaning closer to whisper the last into his ear (and trace the outline of it with my tongue after I did).
I didn't suppose we'd get lucky, and have someone turn up who might want to join in. With a sigh I went into the upstairs loo and grabbed Rupert's (quite nice) silk robe off the hanger on the inside of the door, threw it on, and started to make my way downstairs.
I was probably almost as shocked to see who it was as they probably were to see me. I knew Rupert had a Slayer but this was, what, the Vampire Slayer and the Slayerettes? 'Three underage girls, Ripper? Is there something you're not telling me?' I asked him, highly amused.
*****
Despite myself, I laughed out loud...
At least someone had the good sense to take all this the way it ought to be, I thought approvingly. It really was quite hilarious, if someone let down his guard enough to let it be.
"Hey, don't you stay at the Inn just outside of town? The one run by Grant Douglas?"
Not quite so underage as I thought, but rather well preserved, I assessed after the woman said that. 'Yes, yes I do, as a matter of fact,' I replied politely. 'Lovely, lovely place. I thought I recognised you from somewhere, although you do tend to keep to yourself, I've noticed.'
The redhead was babbling. Quite discomfited. Entirely the opposite of... Darla, yes that was it.
"...And... and... that guy. Who is that guy?"
Rupert practically knocked me down on his way back up, presumably to get more respectably dressed. I couldn't have cared less. I just wanted him back into nothing at all as soon as possible.
'It's rather rude to discuss people who are in the room in the third person, you know,' I commented, raising one eyebrow at Red. 'The name is Rayne. Ethan Rayne.' I was going to go into the kitchen to put the kettle on, but noticed that Rupert already had done.
It wasn't an entirely wasted trip. I'd left my fags on the bar space between the ktichen and the living room, along with my lighter. (I thought they were upstairs, in my pocket, until I'd looked for them and discovered they weren't there.) I lit one, walked into the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets for Ruperts tea, and his cups.
It was all so amusing. Rupert looked almost as embarassed as the youngsters. If they had any idea of some of the things we did, I'm sure he'd be absolutely mortified.
*****
'Only vaguely acquainted,' I replied to the Slayer's question. 'We both currently reside at the Talisker Inn, outside of town.'
Yes, I could tell which was which. I was curious enough to read the girls' places in the patterns while I waited for the kettle to boil. And I'd just discovered somethng quite interesting about Darla, as wel, by doing that. Wondered if the Inn's owner knew it...
I turned away from the sitting room, ostensibly to drop a sachet into each of two cups, which would make tea for Rupert and myself. 'So, you're Rupert's Slayer,' I said in a low voice, and took a drag on my cigarette.
*****
'Rupert didn't have to tell me anything, dear girl,' I told her, amused. 'It's as easy to see as the colour of your hair, if you look for it in the right way.'
I chuckled as she went on about someone named "Xander" (for Alexander? I wondered). 'It wouldn't be a bad thing for you if I could get Ripper to loosen up just a little bit, would it?' I asked her with a conspiratorial grin, drawing on the cigarette. I couldn't resist making pretty patterns with the smoke as it rose.
'But I'm not going to complain too strenuously about the spell,' I said, giving no hint that I was the one responsible for it in the first place. What I would say was truth enough for the present, I expect, and most likely more than Rupert would want me telling.
His life was so wrapped up in hers right now that if I could get her on my side, it would be all to the good. My good. It would also make things so much more interesting, later...
'It allowed Rupert and I to say things to one another that have needed to be said for a very long time.' Certainly longer than I'd care to admit to someone who hadn't even been born when he broke my heart and tore my life apart the first time.
*****
She obviously hadn't heard what I said quite right, but that was fine. I chuckled quietly to myself as she retreated to the other room and her friends... although what a Slayer was doing making friends with a vampire was beyond me, and I wonder if Rupert realised just what Darla was...
I hummed to myself a bit as the kettle boiled, and thinking better of it, I plucked the sachets out of the cups to scald them before I put hot water over the tea.
'You still take yours one and white, don't you?' I asked Rupert, finishing his tea before I prepared my own. He nodded a bit grimly at me, even though he still had that heavy-lidded just-fucked look in his eyes. 'Thought I remembered.'
I stroked the back of his hand with my fingertips as I handed the mug to him. I could give myself shivers touching him that innocently. 'I'll make someone a wonderful wife one day,' I commented, off-hand. I was trying to get him to stop being quite so serious. Rupert barely cracked a smile. Being a Watcher is robbing him of his sense of humour, more's the pity.
When he had a firm grip on the mug, Rupert grabbed me by the wrist, hard. (I would be, too [again], if he persisted in that for very long.) He always did know just how to get, and keep, my full attention. 'Some sort of problem? Other than one of Buffy's friends being a vampire,' I added mischievously, leaning closer to whisper the last into his ear (and trace the outline of it with my tongue after I did).