Ficlet Offerings
First couple of fills from this post. One is angsty, one is silly with a side-order of ominous.
Title: This is Permanent
Characters/Pairings: Spike, Dawn, (Spike/Buffy)
Rating: G
Length: ~600
Timeline: A day or two after the end of S5.
Summary: Cause if there's one thing that I mustn't face/ This is permanent
Notes: Written for kylathelurker’s prompt, which was Spike + this song (lyrics). This might be songfic, I’m not quite sure what the specs are these days. At any rate, angst alert!
Cause if there's one thing that I mustn't face
This is permanent
This is permanent
Spike came home in the morning. He stood for a moment in the kitchen, looking around blankly and dripping on the tile floor, before shrugging his duster off and limping for the stairs.
His leg was probably still broken from the fall. Felt like it. The Watcher had set it for him, and wrapped it up like a Christmas pressie, but he was a vampire, he could take the pain. Deserved the pain. Kept him focused on something else, at least, something that wasn't...
The pain served its purpose.
The house was empty except for one other, the only real occupant it had left. Hauling himself up the stairs he made his way round to her room. The door was ajar, curtains askew, and inside he could see Dawn sleeping in her bed, all twisted in her clothes.
He stood a while and watched her, absorbed her, the grief seeping from her pores.
The house was quiet, the rain drumming down in a rhythm like the niblet's heartbeat. It had been raining since... Not exactly normal weather for the summer, but Red said the portal had caused a meteorological disruption or some such. It suited him just fine.
Satisfied that the girl was resting, he turned and dragged himself to the room across the way. The door was closed, Dawn had closed it at some point, and that was probably for the best since he was floating through his grey fog of leg-induced agony quite happily without risking the kind of disruption seeing any of that would've brought. Still, he was bone-weary, soaked through, and in the end that seemed as good a place as any to rest - sitting on the carpet with his back against the door.
"Spike?" a quiet voice asked, and for a moment the hairs stood up on the back of his neck, but it was just the youngest Summers, waking from her slumber.
"Yeah, niblet," he said.
"Did you walk here? You're all soggy and... burnt?"
"Sun's still up, behind the clouds," he told her little frowning face. "It's nothing. Vampire, remember? Can take a little discomfort."
She said nothing, and he let his eyes fall closed, let everything in him fall still, because that was the only thing that really seemed to help at all. It was what he was, wasn't it? A corpse, and not so eager to be animated right now.
He’d shut down his senses so successfully that he didn't notice Dawn's return until she was right over him.
"You're an idiot," she said softly, the long curtain of her hair brushing his arms as she daubed his face with something cool, and when she was done, she curled up in his lap like she did it all the time, unaware that her slight weight was enough to jar his leg to torment.
"I'm all wet," he said faintly, summoning the energy to put his arms around her.
"You won't mind me crying on you, then," she replied, and he stroked her hair absently when she did.
A few minutes later, in a voice of quiet, choking sorrow, Dawn asked him, “You wanna know what she said, before she…?”
“No, platelet,” he said softly. “Not just yet.”
She sat back a little and looked at him, big blue eyes watery and shot with pink. Something passed between them, she nodded minutely, and he knew she understood. Tucking her back against him, he knew she understood. She’d closed the door for a reason, after all.
*
Title: Plucky Side-Kicks
Characters: Buffy, Willow, Xander
Rating: G
Length: ~550
Timeline: S2, not long after Reptile Boy
Summary: MST3k, Scooby-style.
Notes: Written for torrilin’s prompt, which was Willow + Star Wars.
"I can't believe you've never watched Star Wars before," Xander said for the seventeenth time as the three of them settled back on Buffy's bed with a bowl of Doritos between them and a juice box apiece.
"Yeah," Buffy said noncommittally. "Sci fi, not really my thing. But after last week's Bollywood confusion-fest, I'm pretty much ready to try anything from the English speaking world."
"You'll love it, I bet," Willow said. "Princess Leia is a total badass."
"Get Willow with the fruity language."
"You know, Han Solo was her first crush."
"Xander!"
They fell quiet for the introduction to scroll past, munching and happily engrossed.
"Huh," Xander said musingly a little while later. "The Force is kinda like magic. You know, now that I know that magic is a thing."
"Wouldn't that make these Jedi people wizards?" Buffy asked skeptically, watching as that Obi guy fooled the minions in the improbable armor into letting them pass. "They've got the robes down I guess, but most magic users I've met aren't even aware it's the twentieth century, let alone the..." she waved vaguely, "whatever this is supposed to be."
"Well the aliens could totally be demons," Willow suggested as they watched Obi and Luke enter a bar full of faces only a mother could love. "Ooh, watch this bit," she said, squirming like an excited puppy."
"Let me guess," Buffy said wryly as the admittedly very attractive space rogue was introduced. "That's Han Solo. Hm, not bad," she said judiciously with a teasing grin at Willow. "But if he's shooting the demons, that would make him the slayer." She didn't like that thought.
"Nah, Leia's a total slayer," Xander said. "Just wait, you'll see."
"So go on," Buffy said to Xander, "who's your favorite?"
"You mean aside from the s-leia -- from Leia." Willow coughed, smothering a grin.
"I always liked Luke, myself," Xander said airily, ignoring her. "Probably something to do with the lack of parents."
"Aw, poor Xand." Willow patted his hand sympathetically without taking her eyes off the screen. Leaning over to Buffy, she confided, "He might have actually cried the first time we found out that Luke and Leia were-"
"Hey!" Xander butted in a little too sharply. "No spoiling the Buffster."
"The tin man is pretty Giles-like, I guess," Buffy said idly. "But if I'm Leia and Xander's Luke, who does that make you, Willow?"
Just then the scene changed and Darth Vader swept onto the screen in a flurry of black cape and dramatic music.
"Ooh, I could be the baddy!" she said with a grin. "What? It's not all bad. I wouldn't mind all the public speaking so much if I got to wear a helmet and he's pretty awesome at the Force."
"Darth Willow?" Xander said laughing.
"Yeah, sorry, Wills," Buffy added, "I'm just not seeing it."
"How about Haaaan?" Xander said, drawing it out in a he's-so-dreamy kind of way.
Willow poked him in the ribs a little sulkily. "Well at least I'd get the girl." She sighed. "No, it's okay, I can admit it. I'm R2D2."
"The little robot?" Buffy asked, before breaking out into a gale of laughter. "That's actually realy cute."
"Plucky side-kicks come in many forms," Willow told her archly, and ate the last Dorito.
Title: This is Permanent
Characters/Pairings: Spike, Dawn, (Spike/Buffy)
Rating: G
Length: ~600
Timeline: A day or two after the end of S5.
Summary: Cause if there's one thing that I mustn't face/ This is permanent
Notes: Written for kylathelurker’s prompt, which was Spike + this song (lyrics). This might be songfic, I’m not quite sure what the specs are these days. At any rate, angst alert!
Cause if there's one thing that I mustn't face
This is permanent
This is permanent
Spike came home in the morning. He stood for a moment in the kitchen, looking around blankly and dripping on the tile floor, before shrugging his duster off and limping for the stairs.
His leg was probably still broken from the fall. Felt like it. The Watcher had set it for him, and wrapped it up like a Christmas pressie, but he was a vampire, he could take the pain. Deserved the pain. Kept him focused on something else, at least, something that wasn't...
The pain served its purpose.
The house was empty except for one other, the only real occupant it had left. Hauling himself up the stairs he made his way round to her room. The door was ajar, curtains askew, and inside he could see Dawn sleeping in her bed, all twisted in her clothes.
He stood a while and watched her, absorbed her, the grief seeping from her pores.
The house was quiet, the rain drumming down in a rhythm like the niblet's heartbeat. It had been raining since... Not exactly normal weather for the summer, but Red said the portal had caused a meteorological disruption or some such. It suited him just fine.
Satisfied that the girl was resting, he turned and dragged himself to the room across the way. The door was closed, Dawn had closed it at some point, and that was probably for the best since he was floating through his grey fog of leg-induced agony quite happily without risking the kind of disruption seeing any of that would've brought. Still, he was bone-weary, soaked through, and in the end that seemed as good a place as any to rest - sitting on the carpet with his back against the door.
"Spike?" a quiet voice asked, and for a moment the hairs stood up on the back of his neck, but it was just the youngest Summers, waking from her slumber.
"Yeah, niblet," he said.
"Did you walk here? You're all soggy and... burnt?"
"Sun's still up, behind the clouds," he told her little frowning face. "It's nothing. Vampire, remember? Can take a little discomfort."
She said nothing, and he let his eyes fall closed, let everything in him fall still, because that was the only thing that really seemed to help at all. It was what he was, wasn't it? A corpse, and not so eager to be animated right now.
He’d shut down his senses so successfully that he didn't notice Dawn's return until she was right over him.
"You're an idiot," she said softly, the long curtain of her hair brushing his arms as she daubed his face with something cool, and when she was done, she curled up in his lap like she did it all the time, unaware that her slight weight was enough to jar his leg to torment.
"I'm all wet," he said faintly, summoning the energy to put his arms around her.
"You won't mind me crying on you, then," she replied, and he stroked her hair absently when she did.
A few minutes later, in a voice of quiet, choking sorrow, Dawn asked him, “You wanna know what she said, before she…?”
“No, platelet,” he said softly. “Not just yet.”
She sat back a little and looked at him, big blue eyes watery and shot with pink. Something passed between them, she nodded minutely, and he knew she understood. Tucking her back against him, he knew she understood. She’d closed the door for a reason, after all.
*
Title: Plucky Side-Kicks
Characters: Buffy, Willow, Xander
Rating: G
Length: ~550
Timeline: S2, not long after Reptile Boy
Summary: MST3k, Scooby-style.
Notes: Written for torrilin’s prompt, which was Willow + Star Wars.
"I can't believe you've never watched Star Wars before," Xander said for the seventeenth time as the three of them settled back on Buffy's bed with a bowl of Doritos between them and a juice box apiece.
"Yeah," Buffy said noncommittally. "Sci fi, not really my thing. But after last week's Bollywood confusion-fest, I'm pretty much ready to try anything from the English speaking world."
"You'll love it, I bet," Willow said. "Princess Leia is a total badass."
"Get Willow with the fruity language."
"You know, Han Solo was her first crush."
"Xander!"
They fell quiet for the introduction to scroll past, munching and happily engrossed.
"Huh," Xander said musingly a little while later. "The Force is kinda like magic. You know, now that I know that magic is a thing."
"Wouldn't that make these Jedi people wizards?" Buffy asked skeptically, watching as that Obi guy fooled the minions in the improbable armor into letting them pass. "They've got the robes down I guess, but most magic users I've met aren't even aware it's the twentieth century, let alone the..." she waved vaguely, "whatever this is supposed to be."
"Well the aliens could totally be demons," Willow suggested as they watched Obi and Luke enter a bar full of faces only a mother could love. "Ooh, watch this bit," she said, squirming like an excited puppy."
"Let me guess," Buffy said wryly as the admittedly very attractive space rogue was introduced. "That's Han Solo. Hm, not bad," she said judiciously with a teasing grin at Willow. "But if he's shooting the demons, that would make him the slayer." She didn't like that thought.
"Nah, Leia's a total slayer," Xander said. "Just wait, you'll see."
"So go on," Buffy said to Xander, "who's your favorite?"
"You mean aside from the s-leia -- from Leia." Willow coughed, smothering a grin.
"I always liked Luke, myself," Xander said airily, ignoring her. "Probably something to do with the lack of parents."
"Aw, poor Xand." Willow patted his hand sympathetically without taking her eyes off the screen. Leaning over to Buffy, she confided, "He might have actually cried the first time we found out that Luke and Leia were-"
"Hey!" Xander butted in a little too sharply. "No spoiling the Buffster."
"The tin man is pretty Giles-like, I guess," Buffy said idly. "But if I'm Leia and Xander's Luke, who does that make you, Willow?"
Just then the scene changed and Darth Vader swept onto the screen in a flurry of black cape and dramatic music.
"Ooh, I could be the baddy!" she said with a grin. "What? It's not all bad. I wouldn't mind all the public speaking so much if I got to wear a helmet and he's pretty awesome at the Force."
"Darth Willow?" Xander said laughing.
"Yeah, sorry, Wills," Buffy added, "I'm just not seeing it."
"How about Haaaan?" Xander said, drawing it out in a he's-so-dreamy kind of way.
Willow poked him in the ribs a little sulkily. "Well at least I'd get the girl." She sighed. "No, it's okay, I can admit it. I'm R2D2."
"The little robot?" Buffy asked, before breaking out into a gale of laughter. "That's actually realy cute."
"Plucky side-kicks come in many forms," Willow told her archly, and ate the last Dorito.