Christmas fic!
Hello there! So, despite having next to no time I decided to write a Christmas fic. Well it's tiny, so more of a ficlet. Anyway, I also felt bad for the long gap in My Immortal updates (have not even *begun* the next chapter), so this story is set in that 'verse... However, it is a total STANDALONE and you need no knowledge of that story (except that Captain Jack is The Immortal, obviously). Also this takes place 'now' (it is set post the sequel that I already have planned out... Afraid my plotbunnies are multiplying at warp speed). It is very tricky writing future!fic without any spoilers, trust me.
Am going out later and won't be back until tomorrow, but will certainly get back to you then. :)
Title: Secret Santa.
Setting: Christmas 2008, Buffy's house.
Summary: A Christmas card brings trouble...
Genre: Humour, crossover.
Characters: Buffy, Dawn.
Word count: 725.
Rating: PG-13.
Secret Santa.
“Dawn! You came early just like I asked!”
Finding herself wrapped in a crushing Slayer-sister hug, Dawn waited patiently and then raised an eyebrow as Buffy let go. “Of course. So... what’s the emergency?”
Buffy bit her lip, then ushered her in, taking her coat and bags before guiding her upstairs.
“It’s not an emergency. It’s just...” she stopped halfway up the stairs and turned, the look on her face unreadable. “The Immortal sent me a Christmas card and I have to show it to someone. And you’re the only someone there is.”
Dawn frowned at this, since most of their friends had been fine with the man in question, but Buffy shook her head and walked on. “You’ll understand when you see it.”
This was puzzling in the extreme. She recalled Buffy saying that she’d run into The Immortal earlier in the year, but there had been no hint of anything except nostalgic affection... What could he possibly have written?
Watching Buffy pull out an envelope from a box under the bed, she tried to prepare herself for anything, and took the card with some trepidation. But the image on the front was surprisingly tasteful and low key, a standard Christmas tree with ‘Merry Christmas’ emblazoned in gold letters.
Then she opened it, and her jaw dropped.
“Holy crap!”
Slowly, unable to truly take in what she was seeing, she looked up at Buffy to see her sister shaking with laughter.
Dawn stared at the card again, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Because what could she say?
‘I can’t believe he sent his ex-girlfriend a picture of himself wearing only a Santa hat?’
Firstly, clearly he had, and secondly - she could most definitely believe it of him. Especially since...
“Is it...” she started, and Buffy nodded firmly. “Oh yes. No photoshopping.”
“Wow.”
Buffy smiled smugly, and Dawn felt very tempted to make sure Big Sis got nothing in her stocking except coal. (Although fuel was an expensive commodity these days. Maybe rocks would be better. Or demon eggs. With gremlins in.)
Why did Buffy always get the best guys? Even her exes were incredible. (Not that Dawn’s current boyfriend was in any way lacking, but...)
Idly turning the card over, Dawn discovered a PS on the back. She didn’t get further than ‘Thank you so much for the list. Number 17 was new to me, which is something I rarely get to say! And, since you asked so nicely-’ before Buffy snatched the card from her, the laughter overtaken with panic.
“Don’t read that!” she snapped, and Dawn’s eyes narrowed.
“Why? What is it? What’s the thing about a list?”
“Nothing! Just... it’s nothing.”
At that moment the phone rang and Buffy walked off to answer it, the card clutched in her hand.
*
It took Dawn almost 24 hours’ worth of stealth-search before she found the card again - Buffy’s hiding skills had improved quite spectacularly.
But instead of more info about the mysterious list, the PS contained something far more surprising... The rules to a game called Naked Hide-and-Seek.
As she took in all the incredible and exciting possibilities that opened up, Dawn decided that Buffy’s problem wasn’t unfair luck - it was an unwillingness to share. Then she glanced at her watch and grabbed her coat, praying that the shops were still open.
*
“Dawn - where have you been? Everyone’s here, the food is on the table, and you took off without a word!”
No hug this time, only glares.
“Sorry - had to run out and get a last minute present for my boyfriend.”
“But you told me you’d bought his present weeks ago!” There really was no need for that tone, Dawn thought - just because she was organised, and Buffy wasn’t. OK, so maybe she’d rubbed it in a little...
“Well this is more of a shared present...” She grinned and pulled out the gift box, before lifting the lid a fraction allowing Buffy to glimpse the stopwatch inside.
Buffy’s mouth fell open, but before she could speak Willow called out from the dining room.
“Are you coming yet? The food is getting cold!”
“You are so going to pay for this! I told you not to read it!” Buffy finally managed in a hissed whisper, and Dawn laughed. Family feuds were supposed to be a holiday staple, right?
“Merry Christmas!”
End.
(If anyone's curious about the rules to Naked Hide-and-Seek, sam_storyteller wrote a *genius* fic: Not What You're Thinking. Minor spoilers for 'Adrift'.)
Am going out later and won't be back until tomorrow, but will certainly get back to you then. :)
Title: Secret Santa.
Setting: Christmas 2008, Buffy's house.
Summary: A Christmas card brings trouble...
Genre: Humour, crossover.
Characters: Buffy, Dawn.
Word count: 725.
Rating: PG-13.
Secret Santa.
“Dawn! You came early just like I asked!”
Finding herself wrapped in a crushing Slayer-sister hug, Dawn waited patiently and then raised an eyebrow as Buffy let go. “Of course. So... what’s the emergency?”
Buffy bit her lip, then ushered her in, taking her coat and bags before guiding her upstairs.
“It’s not an emergency. It’s just...” she stopped halfway up the stairs and turned, the look on her face unreadable. “The Immortal sent me a Christmas card and I have to show it to someone. And you’re the only someone there is.”
Dawn frowned at this, since most of their friends had been fine with the man in question, but Buffy shook her head and walked on. “You’ll understand when you see it.”
This was puzzling in the extreme. She recalled Buffy saying that she’d run into The Immortal earlier in the year, but there had been no hint of anything except nostalgic affection... What could he possibly have written?
Watching Buffy pull out an envelope from a box under the bed, she tried to prepare herself for anything, and took the card with some trepidation. But the image on the front was surprisingly tasteful and low key, a standard Christmas tree with ‘Merry Christmas’ emblazoned in gold letters.
Then she opened it, and her jaw dropped.
“Holy crap!”
Slowly, unable to truly take in what she was seeing, she looked up at Buffy to see her sister shaking with laughter.
Dawn stared at the card again, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Because what could she say?
‘I can’t believe he sent his ex-girlfriend a picture of himself wearing only a Santa hat?’
Firstly, clearly he had, and secondly - she could most definitely believe it of him. Especially since...
“Is it...” she started, and Buffy nodded firmly. “Oh yes. No photoshopping.”
“Wow.”
Buffy smiled smugly, and Dawn felt very tempted to make sure Big Sis got nothing in her stocking except coal. (Although fuel was an expensive commodity these days. Maybe rocks would be better. Or demon eggs. With gremlins in.)
Why did Buffy always get the best guys? Even her exes were incredible. (Not that Dawn’s current boyfriend was in any way lacking, but...)
Idly turning the card over, Dawn discovered a PS on the back. She didn’t get further than ‘Thank you so much for the list. Number 17 was new to me, which is something I rarely get to say! And, since you asked so nicely-’ before Buffy snatched the card from her, the laughter overtaken with panic.
“Don’t read that!” she snapped, and Dawn’s eyes narrowed.
“Why? What is it? What’s the thing about a list?”
“Nothing! Just... it’s nothing.”
At that moment the phone rang and Buffy walked off to answer it, the card clutched in her hand.
*
It took Dawn almost 24 hours’ worth of stealth-search before she found the card again - Buffy’s hiding skills had improved quite spectacularly.
But instead of more info about the mysterious list, the PS contained something far more surprising... The rules to a game called Naked Hide-and-Seek.
As she took in all the incredible and exciting possibilities that opened up, Dawn decided that Buffy’s problem wasn’t unfair luck - it was an unwillingness to share. Then she glanced at her watch and grabbed her coat, praying that the shops were still open.
*
“Dawn - where have you been? Everyone’s here, the food is on the table, and you took off without a word!”
No hug this time, only glares.
“Sorry - had to run out and get a last minute present for my boyfriend.”
“But you told me you’d bought his present weeks ago!” There really was no need for that tone, Dawn thought - just because she was organised, and Buffy wasn’t. OK, so maybe she’d rubbed it in a little...
“Well this is more of a shared present...” She grinned and pulled out the gift box, before lifting the lid a fraction allowing Buffy to glimpse the stopwatch inside.
Buffy’s mouth fell open, but before she could speak Willow called out from the dining room.
“Are you coming yet? The food is getting cold!”
“You are so going to pay for this! I told you not to read it!” Buffy finally managed in a hissed whisper, and Dawn laughed. Family feuds were supposed to be a holiday staple, right?
“Merry Christmas!”
End.
(If anyone's curious about the rules to Naked Hide-and-Seek, sam_storyteller wrote a *genius* fic: Not What You're Thinking. Minor spoilers for 'Adrift'.)