August 31 - Falling Into Place (BtVS/Loki)
Title: Falling Into Place
Author: Glitterangelem
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Loki
Rating: PG
Word Count: 976
Summary: After all the years in the Void, Buffy has finally found a place she won't be alone.
Buffy felt surprisingly empty as she and Giles slowly walked back their original makeshift meeting room. Perhaps it was the emotionally exhaustion of surviving so much, overcoming so much, and yet still coming up short that drained all her feelings away. Intellectually, she knew the people here, the family members here, weren’t actually hers but to it still hurt to find out Buffy’s mom has passed away years ago.
One more person lost to her forever.
Still, having Giles - the human Giles, not the robot named Giles - there to comfort her during her breakdown meant the world to her. He wasn’t her Watcher, she wasn’t his Buffy, and yet he offered the solace she so desperately needed. Years of repressed grief could only be held at bay for so long, and even the Giles she did not really know was there when the floodgates broke.
“Wait, so, Spike got a chip in his head that kept him from feeding, and you kept him tied up in your bathtub?” she asked in disbelief as they ambled slowly through the mansion. “And he made you watch soap operas?”
“Well, I…I didn’t watch much of it, really,” he stuttered slightly, breaking into a half grin when Buffy just gave him a look. “Only when drunk.”
Gasping in mock outrage, she said, “You got drunk? My watcher would never!”
“Since your watcher dealt with the same shenanigans I did, I call your bluff,” he teased, and a knot in her chest loosened, relaxing in his easy camaraderie.
They turned a corner and halted in their tracks, almost running into Older Buffy and Willow. All four stared at each other for a long moment, before Older Buffy broke a tension-building silence. Looking almost nervous, she said, “Sorry for disappearing, back there. Even with all the crazy stuff all of us have been through, I didn’t expect…that.”
“I get it,” Buffy nodded at her older counterpart. “If it didn’t happen to me, I’d have a hard time believe it myself.”
“You clearly don’t need training like all of our other new Slayers,” Older Buffy continued, “And it seems like you’ve got a potential Scooby Gang growing here, but if you ever want to visit, or talk, or…anything, I…I’d like that.”
Blinking at the offer, surprised by her older self’s quick handling of the situation, Buffy gave her a small smile, her throat growing tight with emotion. There were no tears left, not with her earlier outburst, but the feeling was there, at the small bit of hope still left for her.
“And there are a few people that would love to meet you,” Willow said with a smile of her own, adding, “If you want. We’ve created a family over the years, and since you are a Buffy, you’d always be welcome.”
Gratitude shone in her face as she nodded at Willow, hesitatingly stepping forward to give a brief hug to the redhead, before pulling her own older self into one as well. She did not have the words to thank them, not yet, not with the upheaval of her life so recent, but it would come. In time.
“In the meantime, we should probably attempt to find our way back to Dr. Strange,” Giles said, and the others agreed with nods of their own. “And Faith.”
“Oh, and the Lokis,” Buffy added helpfully before a sudden thought came to her head.
Her older self seemed to be having the same thought as Older Buffy looked at Willow and asked, “If you didn’t stay with Faith, and Giles didn’t stay with Faith, who did she end up with?”
A sudden crash from another room caught their attention and, as one, they all rushed to the source of the noise. Dr. Strange had them beat as he stood in the doorway of a room, looking up to the ceiling in utter despair. Peaking around them, Buffy covered her mouth in shock, Willow snorted a laugh, and Older Buffy and Giles just looked entirely amused.
The floor of the room was slick with some sort of liquid - beer, most likely, given the beer mugs in both Faith and Kid Loki’s hands - and the aforementioned individuals were currently spinning in circles, with Faith counting loudly down.
“3 - 2 - 1!” she shouted and both of them immediately stopped spinning and grabbed beer mugs off the table and took off towards the corner of the room where Alligator Loki lay. Tried to take off, at least. Faith stumbled errantly in the wrong direction before righting herself, almost tipping on her face as she fought to keep her balance. Beer sloshed over the edge of the mug, explaining the drenched floor. Kid Loki, on the other hand, created a train of doubles, almost none in the right direction as he too stumbled and leaned heavily against the table.
Alligator Loki merely growling, in what all of them clearly believed to be a laugh at the obviously drunk Slayer and God.
“I did not expect anyone to find the instant refilling mugs,” Dr. Strange said with a sign.
Raising his eyebrows, Giles said, “A word of advice from someone with a great deal of experience wrangling exceptional humans? Pretend they are all toddlers, and keep everything of value locked away.”
Dr. Strange couldn’t stifle his laugh. Willow and Older Buffy merely gave Giles a look of outrage.
“I suppose we’ll need a room or two for the night, if that is possible,” Giles continued, not even reacting when Faith toppled through one of the Kid Loki doubles, her face hitting the ground but still managing to keep the beer mug aloft.
Unable to hold it back any longer, Buffy dissolved into helplessly giggles, feeling free for the first time since killing Angel. Maybe, just maybe, this world was where she was truly meant to be.
Author: Glitterangelem
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Loki
Rating: PG
Word Count: 976
Summary: After all the years in the Void, Buffy has finally found a place she won't be alone.
Buffy felt surprisingly empty as she and Giles slowly walked back their original makeshift meeting room. Perhaps it was the emotionally exhaustion of surviving so much, overcoming so much, and yet still coming up short that drained all her feelings away. Intellectually, she knew the people here, the family members here, weren’t actually hers but to it still hurt to find out Buffy’s mom has passed away years ago.
One more person lost to her forever.
Still, having Giles - the human Giles, not the robot named Giles - there to comfort her during her breakdown meant the world to her. He wasn’t her Watcher, she wasn’t his Buffy, and yet he offered the solace she so desperately needed. Years of repressed grief could only be held at bay for so long, and even the Giles she did not really know was there when the floodgates broke.
“Wait, so, Spike got a chip in his head that kept him from feeding, and you kept him tied up in your bathtub?” she asked in disbelief as they ambled slowly through the mansion. “And he made you watch soap operas?”
“Well, I…I didn’t watch much of it, really,” he stuttered slightly, breaking into a half grin when Buffy just gave him a look. “Only when drunk.”
Gasping in mock outrage, she said, “You got drunk? My watcher would never!”
“Since your watcher dealt with the same shenanigans I did, I call your bluff,” he teased, and a knot in her chest loosened, relaxing in his easy camaraderie.
They turned a corner and halted in their tracks, almost running into Older Buffy and Willow. All four stared at each other for a long moment, before Older Buffy broke a tension-building silence. Looking almost nervous, she said, “Sorry for disappearing, back there. Even with all the crazy stuff all of us have been through, I didn’t expect…that.”
“I get it,” Buffy nodded at her older counterpart. “If it didn’t happen to me, I’d have a hard time believe it myself.”
“You clearly don’t need training like all of our other new Slayers,” Older Buffy continued, “And it seems like you’ve got a potential Scooby Gang growing here, but if you ever want to visit, or talk, or…anything, I…I’d like that.”
Blinking at the offer, surprised by her older self’s quick handling of the situation, Buffy gave her a small smile, her throat growing tight with emotion. There were no tears left, not with her earlier outburst, but the feeling was there, at the small bit of hope still left for her.
“And there are a few people that would love to meet you,” Willow said with a smile of her own, adding, “If you want. We’ve created a family over the years, and since you are a Buffy, you’d always be welcome.”
Gratitude shone in her face as she nodded at Willow, hesitatingly stepping forward to give a brief hug to the redhead, before pulling her own older self into one as well. She did not have the words to thank them, not yet, not with the upheaval of her life so recent, but it would come. In time.
“In the meantime, we should probably attempt to find our way back to Dr. Strange,” Giles said, and the others agreed with nods of their own. “And Faith.”
“Oh, and the Lokis,” Buffy added helpfully before a sudden thought came to her head.
Her older self seemed to be having the same thought as Older Buffy looked at Willow and asked, “If you didn’t stay with Faith, and Giles didn’t stay with Faith, who did she end up with?”
A sudden crash from another room caught their attention and, as one, they all rushed to the source of the noise. Dr. Strange had them beat as he stood in the doorway of a room, looking up to the ceiling in utter despair. Peaking around them, Buffy covered her mouth in shock, Willow snorted a laugh, and Older Buffy and Giles just looked entirely amused.
The floor of the room was slick with some sort of liquid - beer, most likely, given the beer mugs in both Faith and Kid Loki’s hands - and the aforementioned individuals were currently spinning in circles, with Faith counting loudly down.
“3 - 2 - 1!” she shouted and both of them immediately stopped spinning and grabbed beer mugs off the table and took off towards the corner of the room where Alligator Loki lay. Tried to take off, at least. Faith stumbled errantly in the wrong direction before righting herself, almost tipping on her face as she fought to keep her balance. Beer sloshed over the edge of the mug, explaining the drenched floor. Kid Loki, on the other hand, created a train of doubles, almost none in the right direction as he too stumbled and leaned heavily against the table.
Alligator Loki merely growling, in what all of them clearly believed to be a laugh at the obviously drunk Slayer and God.
“I did not expect anyone to find the instant refilling mugs,” Dr. Strange said with a sign.
Raising his eyebrows, Giles said, “A word of advice from someone with a great deal of experience wrangling exceptional humans? Pretend they are all toddlers, and keep everything of value locked away.”
Dr. Strange couldn’t stifle his laugh. Willow and Older Buffy merely gave Giles a look of outrage.
“I suppose we’ll need a room or two for the night, if that is possible,” Giles continued, not even reacting when Faith toppled through one of the Kid Loki doubles, her face hitting the ground but still managing to keep the beer mug aloft.
Unable to hold it back any longer, Buffy dissolved into helplessly giggles, feeling free for the first time since killing Angel. Maybe, just maybe, this world was where she was truly meant to be.