Fic: The Occupant
Title: The Occupant
Creator: drizzlydaze
Rating: PG
Setting: Post-series
Word count: 280
Prompt: Lenore
A/N: First, read Awake and This Is How It Works. After this - Deep in Earth; Me, By Myself
Illyria, she learned, needed to breathe. That was probably the only downgrade from vamp to god-king.
“Theoretically,” Wesley said, “he could die of asphyxiation. But only after a thousand years or so.”
It was not particularly useful information. She tried a different tack. “But all the other stuff, that’s Old One, then?”
“Not at all. Illyria was deposited into the vessel and there he must stay. There might be a way to restore him to his primordial form, but for now it is a non-issue. If you are asking about his exact physical parameters and abilities, there is a very boring file with his stats. If, however, you are trying to turn the conversation to the question of the former occupant, which I believe you’ve been beating around the bush for since you arrived-”
“ ‘Former occupant’?” she said in disbelief. “Is that what you’re going with?”
“I-it was a poor way of putting it. I apologise.”
“I’ve seen him. There’s nothing ‘former’ about it,” Buffy said. “You know, all my life, the Watchers have tried to feed me that same spiel about vamps. Human moves out, demon moves in. Meat sack, occupant.”
Wesley said, softly, sympathetically, “It’s different, Buffy. His soul perished.”
“He’s been without one before,” she said. “Soul or less, he’s in there. I’ve seen him.”
“The resurfacing, yes,” Wesley said. “But those are-well, I believe they’re only echoes of personality. The generation of appearance, a surface impression only, based on the memories Illyria possesses. Not his soul-or, if you prefer, not Spike’s consciousness.”
“You can’t know that.”
“It’s my best guess. It’s the most probable explanation.”
She said, “Spike doesn’t do probable.”
Creator: drizzlydaze
Rating: PG
Setting: Post-series
Word count: 280
Prompt: Lenore
A/N: First, read Awake and This Is How It Works. After this - Deep in Earth; Me, By Myself
Illyria, she learned, needed to breathe. That was probably the only downgrade from vamp to god-king.
“Theoretically,” Wesley said, “he could die of asphyxiation. But only after a thousand years or so.”
It was not particularly useful information. She tried a different tack. “But all the other stuff, that’s Old One, then?”
“Not at all. Illyria was deposited into the vessel and there he must stay. There might be a way to restore him to his primordial form, but for now it is a non-issue. If you are asking about his exact physical parameters and abilities, there is a very boring file with his stats. If, however, you are trying to turn the conversation to the question of the former occupant, which I believe you’ve been beating around the bush for since you arrived-”
“ ‘Former occupant’?” she said in disbelief. “Is that what you’re going with?”
“I-it was a poor way of putting it. I apologise.”
“I’ve seen him. There’s nothing ‘former’ about it,” Buffy said. “You know, all my life, the Watchers have tried to feed me that same spiel about vamps. Human moves out, demon moves in. Meat sack, occupant.”
Wesley said, softly, sympathetically, “It’s different, Buffy. His soul perished.”
“He’s been without one before,” she said. “Soul or less, he’s in there. I’ve seen him.”
“The resurfacing, yes,” Wesley said. “But those are-well, I believe they’re only echoes of personality. The generation of appearance, a surface impression only, based on the memories Illyria possesses. Not his soul-or, if you prefer, not Spike’s consciousness.”
“You can’t know that.”
“It’s my best guess. It’s the most probable explanation.”
She said, “Spike doesn’t do probable.”