Test run/Spangel
So, I've been pondering a Spangel fic that takes places right after TGiQ, and involves a flashback to 1894. Muse is still reworking the flashback, and in fact, this part isn't even complete--it's all dialogue. Personally, I think it's possible that script writing is affecting (it is affect and not effect, right?) my fiction writing. Or maybe I'm just being lazy. Or maybe I'm just having a slight case of writer's block. Or, then again, maybe I'm just so excited to have gotten this little bit of fiction out finally, after this several month hiatus that I simply could not wait any longer!
Either way, I needed a few brief opinions on whether or not it's crap.
Also, I'll probably post a "sample" of the Dawn/William fic that's also on my mind, and some other stuff. So yeah, here's the first sample...
“Yeah, we’re moving on.”
“Moving.”
A beat.
“I mean, it’s not like being with her was all that great anyway. Put me through hell, she did.”
“She actually sent me there.”
“Somehow, I still think you got off easy,” Spike muttered.
“I mean, the Immortal? She doesn’t trust me, but can cozy up to him on the couch.”
“It took her over a sodden year for me to even be allowed to hold her. Pfft.”
“At least the others talked to you. I never realized how lonely I truly was until I came out to L.A.”
“You mean talked at me. I was everyone’s favorite fall guy. Yup. Whenever there’s trouble-oh, it must be Spike.”
“Well, usually it was, wasn’t it?”
“Ha, bloody ha mate. At least here, I have…I-”
“Real friends?”
“Yeah. It’s nice. Even you, though god knows you annoy the hell out of me. And on top of that, you've god awful taste in, well, everything.”
“Right back at ya-William.”
“Gee, thanks a bunch, Liam. You sure are swell.”
“You know, it’s always like this-women are just…”
“What? More trouble than they’re worth?”
”Well, some of them. Maybe.”
“Definitely some.”
“The good ones, though. The ones worth it all, don’t last. They worm their way inside, make you fall in love, and then leave you.”
“Hey, at least they loved you back, mate. Guess I was never really that special.”
“She…Buffy loved you, Spike.”
“What? There’s no way you could possibly-”
“I know. Sure, she struggled with admitting it, but…I could tell. Besides, didn’t she spend her potential last night on earth with you?”
“Well yeah, but-you don’t understand. The little that she did give…it took so long and it was all so hard.”
“Come on-you know love’s never easy.”
“Yeah, I know. Still, she didn’t love me for me. Had to go through all of these changes, bend over backwards and then some, and it still wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Had to be almost the end of the world, and be burning literally right in front of her face before she could ever…”
“Love’s a funny thing.”
“Bloody hilarious, it is. As long as you're on the outside looking in."
"The angst--the melodrama...Yeah, seeing Cordy and Wes that one time really put things in perspective."
"What's that?"
"I...this one time, I had just come back from seeing Buffy after, you know, she had come back."
"From the dead."
"Yeah. And as I was coming through the front door, I walked in on Cordy and Wes re-enacting my reunion with Buffy. It was completely off, but if it had been a few years ago...God, we must've looked ridiculous."
Spike smirked at him. "You know the first step is admitting you have a problem, Angel."
"Whatever, Spike. I'm sure we looked like the perfect couple compared to her relationship with you."
The remark sobered Spike. And though it was to the slightest degree, Angel saw Spike's shoulders slump. Angel instantly regretted the jab.
"You know, a part of her actually hated me cause I could love better than she could.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? She beat me down, beat me up good and proper one night.”
“And you didn’t stop her.”
“Yeah. Thought I was helping. Be the shoulder to cry on, the face to pound on and so forth. Anyway, her way of apologizing to me was days later, when we just so happened to be in the same space, was to say that she was really beating up herself. Then started talking about how this one time, she switched bodies with some chit-”
“With Faith. And Faith hated herself.”
“Right. They were fighting in each other’s bodies, and suddenly the fight wasn’t about the opponent anymore on the psycho slayer’s end.”
“Makes sense.”
“Oh, does it? Still a piss poor excuse to do that to do someone who loves you. Of course, I didn’t count then-I was just a thing after all.”
“A soulless demon that was capable of feeling more than she could. That’s why she hated you.”
Quietly, “Yeah.”
“Well, worst comes to worst, you’ll always have me, and I’ll unfortunately always have you.”
“We’re stuck with one another.”
“Looks like.”
“Like old times.” A beat. “You know, after all of this…I can deal with that.”
“Actually, Harmony’s-”
“A dim bulb. Next.”
Another beat.
“We have to get out more, Spike.”
“No truer words have ever been spoken.”
“Drinks then?”
“God, yes.”
Either way, I needed a few brief opinions on whether or not it's crap.
Also, I'll probably post a "sample" of the Dawn/William fic that's also on my mind, and some other stuff. So yeah, here's the first sample...
“Yeah, we’re moving on.”
“Moving.”
A beat.
“I mean, it’s not like being with her was all that great anyway. Put me through hell, she did.”
“She actually sent me there.”
“Somehow, I still think you got off easy,” Spike muttered.
“I mean, the Immortal? She doesn’t trust me, but can cozy up to him on the couch.”
“It took her over a sodden year for me to even be allowed to hold her. Pfft.”
“At least the others talked to you. I never realized how lonely I truly was until I came out to L.A.”
“You mean talked at me. I was everyone’s favorite fall guy. Yup. Whenever there’s trouble-oh, it must be Spike.”
“Well, usually it was, wasn’t it?”
“Ha, bloody ha mate. At least here, I have…I-”
“Real friends?”
“Yeah. It’s nice. Even you, though god knows you annoy the hell out of me. And on top of that, you've god awful taste in, well, everything.”
“Right back at ya-William.”
“Gee, thanks a bunch, Liam. You sure are swell.”
“You know, it’s always like this-women are just…”
“What? More trouble than they’re worth?”
”Well, some of them. Maybe.”
“Definitely some.”
“The good ones, though. The ones worth it all, don’t last. They worm their way inside, make you fall in love, and then leave you.”
“Hey, at least they loved you back, mate. Guess I was never really that special.”
“She…Buffy loved you, Spike.”
“What? There’s no way you could possibly-”
“I know. Sure, she struggled with admitting it, but…I could tell. Besides, didn’t she spend her potential last night on earth with you?”
“Well yeah, but-you don’t understand. The little that she did give…it took so long and it was all so hard.”
“Come on-you know love’s never easy.”
“Yeah, I know. Still, she didn’t love me for me. Had to go through all of these changes, bend over backwards and then some, and it still wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Had to be almost the end of the world, and be burning literally right in front of her face before she could ever…”
“Love’s a funny thing.”
“Bloody hilarious, it is. As long as you're on the outside looking in."
"The angst--the melodrama...Yeah, seeing Cordy and Wes that one time really put things in perspective."
"What's that?"
"I...this one time, I had just come back from seeing Buffy after, you know, she had come back."
"From the dead."
"Yeah. And as I was coming through the front door, I walked in on Cordy and Wes re-enacting my reunion with Buffy. It was completely off, but if it had been a few years ago...God, we must've looked ridiculous."
Spike smirked at him. "You know the first step is admitting you have a problem, Angel."
"Whatever, Spike. I'm sure we looked like the perfect couple compared to her relationship with you."
The remark sobered Spike. And though it was to the slightest degree, Angel saw Spike's shoulders slump. Angel instantly regretted the jab.
"You know, a part of her actually hated me cause I could love better than she could.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? She beat me down, beat me up good and proper one night.”
“And you didn’t stop her.”
“Yeah. Thought I was helping. Be the shoulder to cry on, the face to pound on and so forth. Anyway, her way of apologizing to me was days later, when we just so happened to be in the same space, was to say that she was really beating up herself. Then started talking about how this one time, she switched bodies with some chit-”
“With Faith. And Faith hated herself.”
“Right. They were fighting in each other’s bodies, and suddenly the fight wasn’t about the opponent anymore on the psycho slayer’s end.”
“Makes sense.”
“Oh, does it? Still a piss poor excuse to do that to do someone who loves you. Of course, I didn’t count then-I was just a thing after all.”
“A soulless demon that was capable of feeling more than she could. That’s why she hated you.”
Quietly, “Yeah.”
“Well, worst comes to worst, you’ll always have me, and I’ll unfortunately always have you.”
“We’re stuck with one another.”
“Looks like.”
“Like old times.” A beat. “You know, after all of this…I can deal with that.”
“Actually, Harmony’s-”
“A dim bulb. Next.”
Another beat.
“We have to get out more, Spike.”
“No truer words have ever been spoken.”
“Drinks then?”
“God, yes.”