Challenges # 35, 55, 36, 56, 37
Title: Time Travel
Word count: 198
Fandom: Arthur
Challenge: #35
Characters: Giles
Disclaimer: I own nothing and this is the only time I shall be saying that for the following however-many-there-are chapters, capiche? Started this out of a demented idea to get JediButtercup to write for me, but now i am challenging myself to see how many I can get done before midnight... I am a sucker for punishment...
He landed with a soft 'oomph' as joints stiff from nights poring over musty books were unceremoniously dumped onto hard, cold ground. He blinked up at stars too bright and clear to belong in the sky he was used to, in fact the oft-dreary London sky was currently covered with a blanket of cloud.
Oh, dear.
Groaning softly, he sat up and sighed. Trees to his left, open field to his right, not a sign of his comfortable leather chair or his fire-lit study. What on earth had he been doing to invite this mess? He tried to think back, absently cleaning his glasses as his brow furrowed with concentration.
There'd been a few odd run-ins over the last few weeks, blokes in chain mail and whatnot waving swords about. All rather traumatic for Dawn and, by extension, Buffy. He'd been researching orders of old, all the way back to the Arthurian legends and -
SSTHUNK
A quivering shaft of wood vibrated between his knees. Giles gulped, why did it have to be the Woads? This sort of things happened to Xander or Dawn, not him! He was the one who suffered from concussions, not accidental portal-travel!
"Bugger."
-||-
Title: Music
Word count: 112
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy
Challenge: #55
Characters: Buffy, Xander
"Yo."
"Xander? It's Buffy, turn on channel 236."
Curious, but obliging, he did as instructed. Across the bottom of the screen ran the title for this portion of the news program: Seattle's Singing Hospital? The reporter, a harried-looking woman, was gesturing towards several dancing nurses wheeling gurneys about in large, well-choreographed patterns. Beyond them he could see a few EMTs doing handstands and dancing on ambulances... uh-oh.
Xander gulped nervously, "It wasn't me, Buff, I swear!"
"I know, but we have to figure out who and soon!"
"Look on the bright side, if they start overheating, they're already at the hospital!"
"..."
"Ok, not funny. Sorry... Buff? I said I was sorry!"
-||-
Title: Family Values
Word count: 190
Fandom: Harry Potter
Challenge: #36
Characters: Hermione, Xander
"Relax, Hermione. I've faced down hellbeasts galore, a couple of wannabe-gods and even a few rampaging slayers. I think I can handle meeting your parents." He smiled indulgently at his girlfriend of six months as she fussed and fidgeted over his outfit.
She paused in her ministrations and looked up at him, eyes troubled. "Honey, one last thing... they're dentists..."
"You mean those quirky doctor-types who're obsessed with teeth?"
She glared at him, "Yes. Exactly. Don't, under any circumstances, mention what your favorite food is. My father practically wrote a book on the unhealthy diet of Americans and the decay of their tooth health."
Xander started to look a little nervous, "So no Twi - "
Her hand on his mouth muffled the rest of his words, "Don't say that word." He nodded, cowed, as she rang the doorbell. Though there was no wind, not even a light breeze, yet he shivered.
Hellbeasts? No problem.
Wannabe-gods? Well, they had hammers for that.
Rampaging Slayers? Just pass the chocolate and shiny weapons.
The Twinkie-hating dentist-parents of his girlfriend? Xander pasted a big smile on his face and hoped for the best.
-||-
Title: Proverbs
Word count: 197
Fandom: InuYasha
Challenge: #56
Characters: Faith, InuYasha
She had no clue where the fuck she was. The demon-thing had made a grab for her, jumped into a freakin' hole in the ground, and now she was here, in the middle of nowhere, with no fucking clue how to get back home.
Frickin' wonderful.
At least her kidnapper was still here to provide a nice distraction. She was having the time of her life kicking the shit out of it, whatever it was. It looked sort of humanish, except for the huge teeth and tail, and the scales - did she mention the scales? Green and shiny, they covered almost every inch of skin and protected it from the worst of her blows.
Damn, what she wouldn't give for a sword, knife, something.
Suddenly a red-and-white blur came crashing through the trees, slamming into the snake-demon-thing. It leapt back from the creature's return blow, and was abruptly beside her. Faith got a glimpse of golden eyes and a feral, sharp-toothed grin before the battle was joined again.
Ah well, the enemy of her enemy and all that philosophical crap.
She smiled, an expression almost as fierce as her new ally's, and jumped into the fray.
-||-
Title: Plunder
Word count: 200
Fandom: PotC
Challenge: #37
Characters: Spike
Spike rooted through the refuse of yet another abandoned crypt, looking for something he might salvage. He smirked. The Slayer would hate to hear it but she was the one who kept him in beer and wheatabix, more often than not. Those she slew frequently had little nests of their own, and he was a master scavenger.
He sorted the leftovers into three piles: trash, merchandise, and keeps. A few of the local pawnshop owners knew him by sight now, no longer alarmed when he popped up after hours. What he couldn't sell and wouldn't keep, he burned. No reason to give someone else reason to plunk their useless arses down.
Something fell out of the pants he was inspecting. Quirking a brow, Spike bent to look it over. It was a small, wooden box faintly carved with a flying sparrow. He flipped it open and was surprised to see it was a compass.
Under his watchful blue gaze the needle of the compass began to spin. Faster and faster it went until it was a blur, even to his enhanced gaze. At last with a shuddering whirr, it slowed and stopped. He scowled, bloody thing didn't even point north.
-||-
Word count: 198
Fandom: Arthur
Challenge: #35
Characters: Giles
Disclaimer: I own nothing and this is the only time I shall be saying that for the following however-many-there-are chapters, capiche? Started this out of a demented idea to get JediButtercup to write for me, but now i am challenging myself to see how many I can get done before midnight... I am a sucker for punishment...
He landed with a soft 'oomph' as joints stiff from nights poring over musty books were unceremoniously dumped onto hard, cold ground. He blinked up at stars too bright and clear to belong in the sky he was used to, in fact the oft-dreary London sky was currently covered with a blanket of cloud.
Oh, dear.
Groaning softly, he sat up and sighed. Trees to his left, open field to his right, not a sign of his comfortable leather chair or his fire-lit study. What on earth had he been doing to invite this mess? He tried to think back, absently cleaning his glasses as his brow furrowed with concentration.
There'd been a few odd run-ins over the last few weeks, blokes in chain mail and whatnot waving swords about. All rather traumatic for Dawn and, by extension, Buffy. He'd been researching orders of old, all the way back to the Arthurian legends and -
SSTHUNK
A quivering shaft of wood vibrated between his knees. Giles gulped, why did it have to be the Woads? This sort of things happened to Xander or Dawn, not him! He was the one who suffered from concussions, not accidental portal-travel!
"Bugger."
-||-
Title: Music
Word count: 112
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy
Challenge: #55
Characters: Buffy, Xander
"Yo."
"Xander? It's Buffy, turn on channel 236."
Curious, but obliging, he did as instructed. Across the bottom of the screen ran the title for this portion of the news program: Seattle's Singing Hospital? The reporter, a harried-looking woman, was gesturing towards several dancing nurses wheeling gurneys about in large, well-choreographed patterns. Beyond them he could see a few EMTs doing handstands and dancing on ambulances... uh-oh.
Xander gulped nervously, "It wasn't me, Buff, I swear!"
"I know, but we have to figure out who and soon!"
"Look on the bright side, if they start overheating, they're already at the hospital!"
"..."
"Ok, not funny. Sorry... Buff? I said I was sorry!"
-||-
Title: Family Values
Word count: 190
Fandom: Harry Potter
Challenge: #36
Characters: Hermione, Xander
"Relax, Hermione. I've faced down hellbeasts galore, a couple of wannabe-gods and even a few rampaging slayers. I think I can handle meeting your parents." He smiled indulgently at his girlfriend of six months as she fussed and fidgeted over his outfit.
She paused in her ministrations and looked up at him, eyes troubled. "Honey, one last thing... they're dentists..."
"You mean those quirky doctor-types who're obsessed with teeth?"
She glared at him, "Yes. Exactly. Don't, under any circumstances, mention what your favorite food is. My father practically wrote a book on the unhealthy diet of Americans and the decay of their tooth health."
Xander started to look a little nervous, "So no Twi - "
Her hand on his mouth muffled the rest of his words, "Don't say that word." He nodded, cowed, as she rang the doorbell. Though there was no wind, not even a light breeze, yet he shivered.
Hellbeasts? No problem.
Wannabe-gods? Well, they had hammers for that.
Rampaging Slayers? Just pass the chocolate and shiny weapons.
The Twinkie-hating dentist-parents of his girlfriend? Xander pasted a big smile on his face and hoped for the best.
-||-
Title: Proverbs
Word count: 197
Fandom: InuYasha
Challenge: #56
Characters: Faith, InuYasha
She had no clue where the fuck she was. The demon-thing had made a grab for her, jumped into a freakin' hole in the ground, and now she was here, in the middle of nowhere, with no fucking clue how to get back home.
Frickin' wonderful.
At least her kidnapper was still here to provide a nice distraction. She was having the time of her life kicking the shit out of it, whatever it was. It looked sort of humanish, except for the huge teeth and tail, and the scales - did she mention the scales? Green and shiny, they covered almost every inch of skin and protected it from the worst of her blows.
Damn, what she wouldn't give for a sword, knife, something.
Suddenly a red-and-white blur came crashing through the trees, slamming into the snake-demon-thing. It leapt back from the creature's return blow, and was abruptly beside her. Faith got a glimpse of golden eyes and a feral, sharp-toothed grin before the battle was joined again.
Ah well, the enemy of her enemy and all that philosophical crap.
She smiled, an expression almost as fierce as her new ally's, and jumped into the fray.
-||-
Title: Plunder
Word count: 200
Fandom: PotC
Challenge: #37
Characters: Spike
Spike rooted through the refuse of yet another abandoned crypt, looking for something he might salvage. He smirked. The Slayer would hate to hear it but she was the one who kept him in beer and wheatabix, more often than not. Those she slew frequently had little nests of their own, and he was a master scavenger.
He sorted the leftovers into three piles: trash, merchandise, and keeps. A few of the local pawnshop owners knew him by sight now, no longer alarmed when he popped up after hours. What he couldn't sell and wouldn't keep, he burned. No reason to give someone else reason to plunk their useless arses down.
Something fell out of the pants he was inspecting. Quirking a brow, Spike bent to look it over. It was a small, wooden box faintly carved with a flying sparrow. He flipped it open and was surprised to see it was a compass.
Under his watchful blue gaze the needle of the compass began to spin. Faster and faster it went until it was a blur, even to his enhanced gaze. At last with a shuddering whirr, it slowed and stopped. He scowled, bloody thing didn't even point north.
-||-