A Head or Tail's fic for noxelementalist.
Title: Snuggles the Bear Must Die
Genre: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG
Prompt: Title
Requester: noxelementalist.
This was truly a great prompt and I had so much fun writing this! Thanks for playing along and to my beta, Sparky.
"It's so snuggly!”
Buffy glared over at the television that her little sister was watching as opposed to doing her geometry homework. Her back ached from breaking up a tussle between a vampire and a demon. They had been more than happy to turn their anger upon her. They were dead now.
“What?”
Just that one word got on her nerves and Buffy put it down to sibling manipulation. She was out every night, fighting the good fight, more often than not dragging herself home for a few hours of sleep before school. It was only with the help of her friends that she wasn’t farther behind in her classes than she was. And somehow she still managed to end up in the top percentile with her SAT scores. Buffy wasn’t sure what she hated more at the moment, school catalogues or that stupid commercial.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?” Buffy snapped as she dropped her gear by the door. All she wanted was a hot bath and bed.
“Mom said I could stay up until you got home.”
“Why?”
Dawn jumped to her feet, all arms and legs at this time in her adolescent years. She knocked over an empty glass and it clattered to the floor. She glanced at the glass, but didn’t bother to pick it up. “Something great has happened.”
“Something great?” Buffy needed something great in her life at the moment. “Lay it on me.”
“We’re going to Cornett University this weekend.”
“You and her?” Buffy was hopeful. A night alone would be a true gift… not that a Slayer was ever truly alone. She slowly hung up her jacket on the coat rack and dropped her gear bag on the bench seat there.
“No, stupid, us. She wants you to check it out.”
Buffy inwardly sighed. She knew her mother meant well, but the cold hard fact was that Buffy couldn’t get too far from the Hellmouth. Demon activity had picked up and that usually meant something was cooking. Buffy also knew that most Slayers didn’t live long enough to go to college. The fact that she had such a strong team backing her up, not to mention a vampire or two, gave her an edge, but. It was a regular Sword of Damo- somebody or other, but no Slayer ever got out of their role alive.
“Great.” She tried to muster up some enthusiasm.
“She’s always cleared it with Giles, so you are free.”
Buffy had forgotten the meaning of that word. “Terrific.”
“Even better than that, guess who’s going to be there?”
“Guy Lombardo?” The Powers that Be only knew where she’d pulled that name from… well, that and Yellow Submarine.
“Who?” Dawn waved her hands. “Come on, guess!”
“Dawnie, I’m really, really tired, can you just tell me?”
“Snuggles.”
“Snuggles? Who or what is Snuggles?”
“That cute little bear from the fabric softener commercials.”
Buffy slid down the hallway wall as if smashed in the stomach by a pile driver. “Oh, no…” she whined.
“Oh, yes! I love him so much.” Dawn spun in a circle, then raced up the stairs. “Mom, Buffy’s home!”
Buffy climbed to her feet and started to sleepwalk towards the kitchen. She wasn’t really hungry, but empty calories were calling her name. Her mother found her crouched over a bowl of ice cream.
“I take it Dawn told you.”
“She did.”
“I can see the happiness on your face. Buffy, the time away will do you good.”
She sighed. “I know…”
“And you might like this college.” Her mom sounded so hopeful and Buffy didn’t want to rehash an old argument. Not tonight.
“Yeah, maybe. I’m going to go get some sleep.” Buffy rinsed her bowl out and put it in the dishwasher. “Night, Mom.”
“Good night.”
Buffy had to hand it to her mom, Cornett University’s campus was lovely. The students they saw, looked happy and seemed really friendly, really, really friendly and that niggled Buffy’s Spidey senses. As soon as she had a moment, she found a phone.
“Hello?” Giles always sounded so afraid when he answered the phone.
“Giles, it’s me.”
“Buffy! How is Cornett University?” She could hear exciting chatter in the background, Willow and Zander, most likely.
“It’s great, but there’s nothing here I should be worried about, is there?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. Everyone here seems so, so… cheerful.”
“But that’s a good thing,” Willow half shouted. She was obviously listening over her watcher’s shoulder.
“Too much of a good thing. Plus my sister is making me crazy. All she can talk about is that stupid bear.”
“Bear? What bear?” Giles was openly confused. “There’s a bear there?”
“Um… Snuggles.”
“He’s so cute!” Willow squealed in delight. “He’s there?”
“Well, several of them are here, one for each change. I guess he’s non bendable. They are filming a commercial.”
“I… I don’t know what that is…”
“A commercial, Giles? Surely they had then back in England.” Buffy glared at the phone.
“I know what a commercial is, but what is a snuggle?”
“It’s like a hug. This… cute but annoying bear likes to hug clean laundry.”
“And that makes everyone happy?”
“Everyone here is gaga over him. I don’t get it. Even my own mother and she hates laundry more than anyone I know.”
“Buffy… you don’t suppose?”
“Suppose what? That Snuggles is a demon?” She paused and realized it answered a lot of questions. “There are happiness demons?”
“They are the worst. They lure people in with good feelings. When people are happy, they are willing to commit all sorts of otherwise unspeakable acts.”
“Well, that math class we sat in on this morning was pretty evil and my Spidey sense has been going off since we got here…”
“Buffy, you know what you must do. Investigate and if the bear is really a demon, you have to take the necessary actions.”
“You mean?”
“Yes, Snuggles the bear must die.”
Which was why several hours later found her slipping out of the dorm where the college guests were staying and heading across the campus. She surprised a few couple who were making out in bushes and shadows, but none of them seemed very upset about it. If there was one thing she knew, it was how angry people got when their make out plans were ruined. Not here, though.
The company’s trailers were parked in a corner of the main lot. Buffy walked casually along, as if just out enjoying the night air, in case a security guard came upon them.
Surprisingly, there were no guards or even locks on the trailer doors. She opened a storage compartment and came face-to-face with a wall of bears, all happy, all smiling, all staring out with a vacant look. All, except one… as she drew closer, it turned its head.
“What are you lookin’ at, sister?”
“Ooo, and you’re rude, too. I’m impressed.”
“No, I’m impressed. Why ain’t I botherin’ you? Everyone was as happy as a dog taking a sh…”
“Enough,” Buffy ordered. “Who are you?”
“I’m Snuggles.”
“What are you really?”
“Ain’t you figured it out, yet?”
“You’re a demon and you are making all these people happy. Why?”
“Why not? Ain’t there enough sorrow in the world? What’s wrong with people being happy?”
“Nothing, if it’s their own free will and not the doing of a demon.”
“What you gonna do about it, little girl?”
“Buffy.”
“What?”
“My name is Buffy.”
“Oooo, I’m scared.”
“The Slayer.”
If it were possible, the beige bear would have paled. He took a step back against the pegboard where the other stuffed toys hung and growled, “Get her, boys!”
The toys launched themselves at Buffy and she knocked them aside easily. One tried biting her ankle, but since it had no teeth, all she got was a major gumming. Still, it was enough to slow her down and permit the demon to waddle to the door.
Just when it seemed he would escape, Buffy grabbed him. “Not so fast.”
The toy struggled in her grasp. “Let me go.”
“No.” Buffy kicked aside the last of the stuffed bears. “Word to the wise, next time you inhabit an inanimate object, you should pick something with a bit more umph.” She tore the head from the body and a giant wail exploded, not just from the demon, but seemingly everywhere.”
“There. That’s better.” Buffy dropped the toy and stepped over the destruction. “Now everyone can be miserable, just like me.”
“Buffy, wake up!” Her shoulder was being shaken roughly and she longed to bat the hand away.
“I’m sleeping.”
“Buffy, it’s awful.”
“What’s awful?”
“Someone vandalized the Snuggles set last night. They destroyed all the bears. Who could do that?”
A bit of stuffing had gotten caught Buffy’s bracelet and she quickly tucked the hand under her pillow. “Someone in a really bad mood who hated that stupid bear?” she suggested.
Dawn’s eyes narrowed. “You’re just mean. Mom said to get up. We’re going home.”
“But we still have another day here.”
“Not anymore. The campus cancelled the rest of the weekend.”
“No good deed,” Buffy muttered and drifted back to sleep, happily chasing and ripping the heads off of giggling stuffed bears. Life was good.
Genre: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG
Prompt: Title
Requester: noxelementalist.
This was truly a great prompt and I had so much fun writing this! Thanks for playing along and to my beta, Sparky.
"It's so snuggly!”
Buffy glared over at the television that her little sister was watching as opposed to doing her geometry homework. Her back ached from breaking up a tussle between a vampire and a demon. They had been more than happy to turn their anger upon her. They were dead now.
“What?”
Just that one word got on her nerves and Buffy put it down to sibling manipulation. She was out every night, fighting the good fight, more often than not dragging herself home for a few hours of sleep before school. It was only with the help of her friends that she wasn’t farther behind in her classes than she was. And somehow she still managed to end up in the top percentile with her SAT scores. Buffy wasn’t sure what she hated more at the moment, school catalogues or that stupid commercial.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?” Buffy snapped as she dropped her gear by the door. All she wanted was a hot bath and bed.
“Mom said I could stay up until you got home.”
“Why?”
Dawn jumped to her feet, all arms and legs at this time in her adolescent years. She knocked over an empty glass and it clattered to the floor. She glanced at the glass, but didn’t bother to pick it up. “Something great has happened.”
“Something great?” Buffy needed something great in her life at the moment. “Lay it on me.”
“We’re going to Cornett University this weekend.”
“You and her?” Buffy was hopeful. A night alone would be a true gift… not that a Slayer was ever truly alone. She slowly hung up her jacket on the coat rack and dropped her gear bag on the bench seat there.
“No, stupid, us. She wants you to check it out.”
Buffy inwardly sighed. She knew her mother meant well, but the cold hard fact was that Buffy couldn’t get too far from the Hellmouth. Demon activity had picked up and that usually meant something was cooking. Buffy also knew that most Slayers didn’t live long enough to go to college. The fact that she had such a strong team backing her up, not to mention a vampire or two, gave her an edge, but. It was a regular Sword of Damo- somebody or other, but no Slayer ever got out of their role alive.
“Great.” She tried to muster up some enthusiasm.
“She’s always cleared it with Giles, so you are free.”
Buffy had forgotten the meaning of that word. “Terrific.”
“Even better than that, guess who’s going to be there?”
“Guy Lombardo?” The Powers that Be only knew where she’d pulled that name from… well, that and Yellow Submarine.
“Who?” Dawn waved her hands. “Come on, guess!”
“Dawnie, I’m really, really tired, can you just tell me?”
“Snuggles.”
“Snuggles? Who or what is Snuggles?”
“That cute little bear from the fabric softener commercials.”
Buffy slid down the hallway wall as if smashed in the stomach by a pile driver. “Oh, no…” she whined.
“Oh, yes! I love him so much.” Dawn spun in a circle, then raced up the stairs. “Mom, Buffy’s home!”
Buffy climbed to her feet and started to sleepwalk towards the kitchen. She wasn’t really hungry, but empty calories were calling her name. Her mother found her crouched over a bowl of ice cream.
“I take it Dawn told you.”
“She did.”
“I can see the happiness on your face. Buffy, the time away will do you good.”
She sighed. “I know…”
“And you might like this college.” Her mom sounded so hopeful and Buffy didn’t want to rehash an old argument. Not tonight.
“Yeah, maybe. I’m going to go get some sleep.” Buffy rinsed her bowl out and put it in the dishwasher. “Night, Mom.”
“Good night.”
Buffy had to hand it to her mom, Cornett University’s campus was lovely. The students they saw, looked happy and seemed really friendly, really, really friendly and that niggled Buffy’s Spidey senses. As soon as she had a moment, she found a phone.
“Hello?” Giles always sounded so afraid when he answered the phone.
“Giles, it’s me.”
“Buffy! How is Cornett University?” She could hear exciting chatter in the background, Willow and Zander, most likely.
“It’s great, but there’s nothing here I should be worried about, is there?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. Everyone here seems so, so… cheerful.”
“But that’s a good thing,” Willow half shouted. She was obviously listening over her watcher’s shoulder.
“Too much of a good thing. Plus my sister is making me crazy. All she can talk about is that stupid bear.”
“Bear? What bear?” Giles was openly confused. “There’s a bear there?”
“Um… Snuggles.”
“He’s so cute!” Willow squealed in delight. “He’s there?”
“Well, several of them are here, one for each change. I guess he’s non bendable. They are filming a commercial.”
“I… I don’t know what that is…”
“A commercial, Giles? Surely they had then back in England.” Buffy glared at the phone.
“I know what a commercial is, but what is a snuggle?”
“It’s like a hug. This… cute but annoying bear likes to hug clean laundry.”
“And that makes everyone happy?”
“Everyone here is gaga over him. I don’t get it. Even my own mother and she hates laundry more than anyone I know.”
“Buffy… you don’t suppose?”
“Suppose what? That Snuggles is a demon?” She paused and realized it answered a lot of questions. “There are happiness demons?”
“They are the worst. They lure people in with good feelings. When people are happy, they are willing to commit all sorts of otherwise unspeakable acts.”
“Well, that math class we sat in on this morning was pretty evil and my Spidey sense has been going off since we got here…”
“Buffy, you know what you must do. Investigate and if the bear is really a demon, you have to take the necessary actions.”
“You mean?”
“Yes, Snuggles the bear must die.”
Which was why several hours later found her slipping out of the dorm where the college guests were staying and heading across the campus. She surprised a few couple who were making out in bushes and shadows, but none of them seemed very upset about it. If there was one thing she knew, it was how angry people got when their make out plans were ruined. Not here, though.
The company’s trailers were parked in a corner of the main lot. Buffy walked casually along, as if just out enjoying the night air, in case a security guard came upon them.
Surprisingly, there were no guards or even locks on the trailer doors. She opened a storage compartment and came face-to-face with a wall of bears, all happy, all smiling, all staring out with a vacant look. All, except one… as she drew closer, it turned its head.
“What are you lookin’ at, sister?”
“Ooo, and you’re rude, too. I’m impressed.”
“No, I’m impressed. Why ain’t I botherin’ you? Everyone was as happy as a dog taking a sh…”
“Enough,” Buffy ordered. “Who are you?”
“I’m Snuggles.”
“What are you really?”
“Ain’t you figured it out, yet?”
“You’re a demon and you are making all these people happy. Why?”
“Why not? Ain’t there enough sorrow in the world? What’s wrong with people being happy?”
“Nothing, if it’s their own free will and not the doing of a demon.”
“What you gonna do about it, little girl?”
“Buffy.”
“What?”
“My name is Buffy.”
“Oooo, I’m scared.”
“The Slayer.”
If it were possible, the beige bear would have paled. He took a step back against the pegboard where the other stuffed toys hung and growled, “Get her, boys!”
The toys launched themselves at Buffy and she knocked them aside easily. One tried biting her ankle, but since it had no teeth, all she got was a major gumming. Still, it was enough to slow her down and permit the demon to waddle to the door.
Just when it seemed he would escape, Buffy grabbed him. “Not so fast.”
The toy struggled in her grasp. “Let me go.”
“No.” Buffy kicked aside the last of the stuffed bears. “Word to the wise, next time you inhabit an inanimate object, you should pick something with a bit more umph.” She tore the head from the body and a giant wail exploded, not just from the demon, but seemingly everywhere.”
“There. That’s better.” Buffy dropped the toy and stepped over the destruction. “Now everyone can be miserable, just like me.”
“Buffy, wake up!” Her shoulder was being shaken roughly and she longed to bat the hand away.
“I’m sleeping.”
“Buffy, it’s awful.”
“What’s awful?”
“Someone vandalized the Snuggles set last night. They destroyed all the bears. Who could do that?”
A bit of stuffing had gotten caught Buffy’s bracelet and she quickly tucked the hand under her pillow. “Someone in a really bad mood who hated that stupid bear?” she suggested.
Dawn’s eyes narrowed. “You’re just mean. Mom said to get up. We’re going home.”
“But we still have another day here.”
“Not anymore. The campus cancelled the rest of the weekend.”
“No good deed,” Buffy muttered and drifted back to sleep, happily chasing and ripping the heads off of giggling stuffed bears. Life was good.