The Graveyard: Wednesday Evening
Another night. Another patrol but this time Mel is more alert and determined than usual. As she walks with her watcher through the graveyard she inspects every grave and every patch of ground for any recent signs of digging or a hole where a body used to be.
"Guess this feels like old times for you, huh?" Mel asked.
"Not all that old; vampires all over the world, not just Sunnydale," Xander answered, the habitual left-right swing of his head as he walked a little more pronounced in a setting where his blind-side could lose him precious reaction time if he didn't cover it. "But...yeah. Brings back memories. Except if this were Sunnydale, we'd be on the first of twelve
"Is this going to be one of those stories where you had to patrol uphill in a raging snowstorm?" Mel asked. "Because we still have the preserve, the rocky bits, the beach and then the park to go through. I don't want you to tell me all your stories in one spot."
"California; the worst we ever got was raging smog alerts," Xander told her. "Oh wait, I'm supposed to be holding up ancient Watcher tradition, and the word 'youngster' didn't appear anywhere in that sentence. I am made of fail."
"I'll let it slide this time," Mel said continuing to carefully inspect each gravesite. "Especially since you seem to be lacking the required tweed."
"As far as you can see," Xander pointed out, glancing down at his jeans and flannel shirt.
Mel paused giving Xander a slightly disturbed look before going back to the grave stones.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."
"Well, you got the Slayer tradition thing down, anyway."
"I do?" Mel asked. "Which part is that?"
"Trying to ignore your Watcher!"
"Sorry," Mel teased. "I got distracted by that clump of dirt. What did you say?"
"Oh no - you missed it, and someday you'll wish you'd been listening!"
"Gosh and somehow I'll just have to find a way-"
From the shadows a hissing noise was heard and two vampires appeared.
"Time to go to work," Mel said pulling out her scythe.
Xander yanked a stake from his pocket - no really, he wasn't all that happy to see them - and fell into a defensive stance. "Didn't anybody tell you guys that vampires are only allowed on the island during Homecoming?"
The vampires obviously missed the posters as they snarled and leapt at their prey.
Mel lashed out with her blunt side of her axe. "So tell me? What brings you to fandom? The desert air? The beaches?"
"The high probability of randomly turning into a kitten?" Xander brought his stake up, but he could see even as he did so that he wouldn't get in a good strike - at best, he'd knock the vampire back for a moment.
Mel ducked down as her vamp swung a punch at her head. "Our interrogation tactics aren't working Harris!
Xander was busy pushing his vamp off him and grappling for another chance at a clear shot with the stake, so it took him a few seconds to answer. "Apparently we got the dumb ones. Ba-dum-ching."
He was starting to wish he'd brought an axe instead.
Mel kicked her vamp and slammed him into a tree. "Dammit! Who made you?"
The vampire hissed and tried to tackle Mel. Out of reflex Mel shoved the wooden end of her scythe into the vampire's chest and dusted him.
"One down! Need help?"
Considering that Xander's stake just went flying through the air to land behind RIP Beloved Sister And Mother (Hopefully Not Of The Same Person), and Xander just hit the ground on his back? "Wouldn't say no!"
He punched upward into the vampire's gut, managing to at least keep it from his throat for a moment.
Mel ran towards Xander and attempted to tackle the lurk.
"Trying to make a snack on my watcher? I don't think so!"
The vampire rolled off him and kicked at Mel, snarling, while Xander
tried to scramble to his feet
Mel had pulled out a stake and was already going for the kill. "You all right, Harris?!"
"I'm--" He paused to cough, now that he was upright and had wind in
him. "--good."
Mel's stake struck home and the vampire turned to dust.
She sighed partially in relief. "I think we need to work on our interrogation technique. At this rate we'll never know where they are coming from."
Xander brushed vampire dust off his jacket and graveyard leaves off
his jeans. "We could start carrying chains around, but we'd clank when we walked and fail at stealth."
"Not that it matters," Mel grumbled. "They always seem to get the drop on us anyway."
"Well, they cheat. They get supernatural sneaky powers."
"Shouldn't I get something like that? Or is that part of that whole psychic link stuff that I don't get to play with?"
"I...dunno." Xander grimaced. "I mean yeah, most Slayers eventually get wicked good at spotting vamps, but no way to tell how much of that is the stuff you didn't get, since you're the only one who..." He spread his fingers to gesture in apologetic frustration. "Didn't get stuff."
"Yeah. I love being special that way," Mel replied quietly. "Though from what Buffy told it sometimes isn't a good thing to have."
"Yeah, it hasn't always been--" He stopped. "Which Buffy? You met Dawn's too, didn't you." Which was pretty close to his. In which case yeah. She'd know a hell of a lot about how some parts of it weren't so great.
"The one here," Mel replied. "Apparently the whole seeing the past lives of slayers is not a fun trip."
Xander thought about it, and nodded. "Not many of 'em died of old age. We're working on upping the percentage a bit, these days."
Mel shivered a little bit at that. "Yeah. Still not a comforting thought. Ice cream on the other hand sounds like a really good idea."
"Ice cream never sounds like a bad idea. Except that time with the...y'know, ice cream sounds like a really good idea, so I'm not gonna finish that sentence." Xander glanced in the direction of Chilly Boulder. "They might still be open."
"Think we've done enough patrolling tonight?" Mel asked hopefully.
"You mean as soon as we finish the preserve, the rocky bits, the beach, and the park?"
Mel sighed. "Right. Them first."
The rest of the night was mostly patrolling, bantering and Mel whining about ice cream and Xander being the responsible watcher and making sure that she ate all her vegetabales and finishing the rocky bits before she got her dessert.
Damn him.
[ooc: Preplayed with needsaparrot. NFI. That Mel and Xander went on patrol is okay for broadcast but anything else is NFB.]
"Guess this feels like old times for you, huh?" Mel asked.
"Not all that old; vampires all over the world, not just Sunnydale," Xander answered, the habitual left-right swing of his head as he walked a little more pronounced in a setting where his blind-side could lose him precious reaction time if he didn't cover it. "But...yeah. Brings back memories. Except if this were Sunnydale, we'd be on the first of twelve
"Is this going to be one of those stories where you had to patrol uphill in a raging snowstorm?" Mel asked. "Because we still have the preserve, the rocky bits, the beach and then the park to go through. I don't want you to tell me all your stories in one spot."
"California; the worst we ever got was raging smog alerts," Xander told her. "Oh wait, I'm supposed to be holding up ancient Watcher tradition, and the word 'youngster' didn't appear anywhere in that sentence. I am made of fail."
"I'll let it slide this time," Mel said continuing to carefully inspect each gravesite. "Especially since you seem to be lacking the required tweed."
"As far as you can see," Xander pointed out, glancing down at his jeans and flannel shirt.
Mel paused giving Xander a slightly disturbed look before going back to the grave stones.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."
"Well, you got the Slayer tradition thing down, anyway."
"I do?" Mel asked. "Which part is that?"
"Trying to ignore your Watcher!"
"Sorry," Mel teased. "I got distracted by that clump of dirt. What did you say?"
"Oh no - you missed it, and someday you'll wish you'd been listening!"
"Gosh and somehow I'll just have to find a way-"
From the shadows a hissing noise was heard and two vampires appeared.
"Time to go to work," Mel said pulling out her scythe.
Xander yanked a stake from his pocket - no really, he wasn't all that happy to see them - and fell into a defensive stance. "Didn't anybody tell you guys that vampires are only allowed on the island during Homecoming?"
The vampires obviously missed the posters as they snarled and leapt at their prey.
Mel lashed out with her blunt side of her axe. "So tell me? What brings you to fandom? The desert air? The beaches?"
"The high probability of randomly turning into a kitten?" Xander brought his stake up, but he could see even as he did so that he wouldn't get in a good strike - at best, he'd knock the vampire back for a moment.
Mel ducked down as her vamp swung a punch at her head. "Our interrogation tactics aren't working Harris!
Xander was busy pushing his vamp off him and grappling for another chance at a clear shot with the stake, so it took him a few seconds to answer. "Apparently we got the dumb ones. Ba-dum-ching."
He was starting to wish he'd brought an axe instead.
Mel kicked her vamp and slammed him into a tree. "Dammit! Who made you?"
The vampire hissed and tried to tackle Mel. Out of reflex Mel shoved the wooden end of her scythe into the vampire's chest and dusted him.
"One down! Need help?"
Considering that Xander's stake just went flying through the air to land behind RIP Beloved Sister And Mother (Hopefully Not Of The Same Person), and Xander just hit the ground on his back? "Wouldn't say no!"
He punched upward into the vampire's gut, managing to at least keep it from his throat for a moment.
Mel ran towards Xander and attempted to tackle the lurk.
"Trying to make a snack on my watcher? I don't think so!"
The vampire rolled off him and kicked at Mel, snarling, while Xander
tried to scramble to his feet
Mel had pulled out a stake and was already going for the kill. "You all right, Harris?!"
"I'm--" He paused to cough, now that he was upright and had wind in
him. "--good."
Mel's stake struck home and the vampire turned to dust.
She sighed partially in relief. "I think we need to work on our interrogation technique. At this rate we'll never know where they are coming from."
Xander brushed vampire dust off his jacket and graveyard leaves off
his jeans. "We could start carrying chains around, but we'd clank when we walked and fail at stealth."
"Not that it matters," Mel grumbled. "They always seem to get the drop on us anyway."
"Well, they cheat. They get supernatural sneaky powers."
"Shouldn't I get something like that? Or is that part of that whole psychic link stuff that I don't get to play with?"
"I...dunno." Xander grimaced. "I mean yeah, most Slayers eventually get wicked good at spotting vamps, but no way to tell how much of that is the stuff you didn't get, since you're the only one who..." He spread his fingers to gesture in apologetic frustration. "Didn't get stuff."
"Yeah. I love being special that way," Mel replied quietly. "Though from what Buffy told it sometimes isn't a good thing to have."
"Yeah, it hasn't always been--" He stopped. "Which Buffy? You met Dawn's too, didn't you." Which was pretty close to his. In which case yeah. She'd know a hell of a lot about how some parts of it weren't so great.
"The one here," Mel replied. "Apparently the whole seeing the past lives of slayers is not a fun trip."
Xander thought about it, and nodded. "Not many of 'em died of old age. We're working on upping the percentage a bit, these days."
Mel shivered a little bit at that. "Yeah. Still not a comforting thought. Ice cream on the other hand sounds like a really good idea."
"Ice cream never sounds like a bad idea. Except that time with the...y'know, ice cream sounds like a really good idea, so I'm not gonna finish that sentence." Xander glanced in the direction of Chilly Boulder. "They might still be open."
"Think we've done enough patrolling tonight?" Mel asked hopefully.
"You mean as soon as we finish the preserve, the rocky bits, the beach, and the park?"
Mel sighed. "Right. Them first."
The rest of the night was mostly patrolling, bantering and Mel whining about ice cream and Xander being the responsible watcher and making sure that she ate all her vegetabales and finishing the rocky bits before she got her dessert.
Damn him.
[ooc: Preplayed with needsaparrot. NFI. That Mel and Xander went on patrol is okay for broadcast but anything else is NFB.]