Day 15 - As Below, So Above
Title: As Below, So Above
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR7
Crossover: Neverwhere
Disclaimer: Buffy belongs to Joss. The Marquis, Door, and all else London Below belong to Mr. Neil Gaiman. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: It's surprising how many people owe the Marquis de Carabas favors.
Word Count: 550
“Oh dear lord,” Giles murmured.
The rest of the breakfast table looked up in various states of horror. Several people scrabbled for weapons, scanning the room for the threat.
“Giles,” Dawn said in a tone of deadly calm. “It’s just gone nine AM. Everyone who is not you is still on their first cup of tea.”
Seeing an incipient objection, she quickly amended her statement.
“Everyone except you and Xander, who has just poured his Cocoa Krispies,” she paused glancing around for any other challenges before continuing. “The very nice lady who runs the building just brought the mail, which I will even indulge you by calling ‘post’. So, on behalf of all of us, what can possibly warrant an ‘oh dear lord’ this early in the day?”
The rest of the senior staff of the newly reformed Watchers’ Council - which mostly consisted of Buffy, the surviving Scoobies, Faith, and Rona, who was so far the only newly empowered Slayer aside from Kennedy to take any interest in what she called the ‘management side’ - nervously waited for the answer.
Giles waved a surprisingly elegant looking parchment envelope at them.
Dawn blinked. The calligraphy on the outside was in a practiced hand, but not one she recognized. She looked around to see if it meant something dire to anyone else. Her sister’s face showed complete bemusement, and the other expressions ranged from confusion (Faith) to focusing on Cocoa Krispies because fancy correspondence was not an immediate danger (Xander.)
“This,” Giles explained, “is from the Marquis de Carabas. And if he’s taken the trouble of writing, it almost certainly means he’s calling in a favor.”
“And this is bad because…?” Faith said, exchanging a glance with Buffy that asked if she was missing something.
“The Marquis never asks for small or simple things,” Giles sighed. “Trifling matters would be a waste of a favor. And it’s not unusual when ostensibly settling a debt owed to him to somehow wind up owing him another favor before all is said and done.”
He paused, frowning.
“I hope this doesn’t signal another major upheaval Below. We lost nearly all the London Watchers in the explosion, and they were the ones who had the most reliable contacts with that group.”
“Wait, who owes this Carabas guy a favor?” Dawn demanded. “You?”
“Sadly, no,” Giles replied, opening the envelope with the air of a bomb disposal expert unsure if he’s about to clip the correct wire. “The Council owe him the favor. And unless we wish to abandon our claim to the Council’s assets, we are obliged to also take on their debts.”
That was greeted with a round of groans. They’d had that conversation several times. It had been very tempting to throw it all out and start over, but Giles’ argument that they would be foolish to walk away from the Council’s considerable resources - financial and otherwise - had swayed Willow and Faith to the point that they’d convinced the others.
“Ok, so we do whatever this favor is for him and then we’re even,” Faith shrugged. “What’s so bad about that?”
“It’s always safer to know the terms before agreeing,” Giles said grimly. “The Marquis is indeed calling in his favor. It seems he knows a Lady Door who urgently needs the advice of Lady Key.”
Author: Grundy (jerseyfabulous)
Rating: FR7
Crossover: Neverwhere
Disclaimer: Buffy belongs to Joss. The Marquis, Door, and all else London Below belong to Mr. Neil Gaiman. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: It's surprising how many people owe the Marquis de Carabas favors.
Word Count: 550
“Oh dear lord,” Giles murmured.
The rest of the breakfast table looked up in various states of horror. Several people scrabbled for weapons, scanning the room for the threat.
“Giles,” Dawn said in a tone of deadly calm. “It’s just gone nine AM. Everyone who is not you is still on their first cup of tea.”
Seeing an incipient objection, she quickly amended her statement.
“Everyone except you and Xander, who has just poured his Cocoa Krispies,” she paused glancing around for any other challenges before continuing. “The very nice lady who runs the building just brought the mail, which I will even indulge you by calling ‘post’. So, on behalf of all of us, what can possibly warrant an ‘oh dear lord’ this early in the day?”
The rest of the senior staff of the newly reformed Watchers’ Council - which mostly consisted of Buffy, the surviving Scoobies, Faith, and Rona, who was so far the only newly empowered Slayer aside from Kennedy to take any interest in what she called the ‘management side’ - nervously waited for the answer.
Giles waved a surprisingly elegant looking parchment envelope at them.
Dawn blinked. The calligraphy on the outside was in a practiced hand, but not one she recognized. She looked around to see if it meant something dire to anyone else. Her sister’s face showed complete bemusement, and the other expressions ranged from confusion (Faith) to focusing on Cocoa Krispies because fancy correspondence was not an immediate danger (Xander.)
“This,” Giles explained, “is from the Marquis de Carabas. And if he’s taken the trouble of writing, it almost certainly means he’s calling in a favor.”
“And this is bad because…?” Faith said, exchanging a glance with Buffy that asked if she was missing something.
“The Marquis never asks for small or simple things,” Giles sighed. “Trifling matters would be a waste of a favor. And it’s not unusual when ostensibly settling a debt owed to him to somehow wind up owing him another favor before all is said and done.”
He paused, frowning.
“I hope this doesn’t signal another major upheaval Below. We lost nearly all the London Watchers in the explosion, and they were the ones who had the most reliable contacts with that group.”
“Wait, who owes this Carabas guy a favor?” Dawn demanded. “You?”
“Sadly, no,” Giles replied, opening the envelope with the air of a bomb disposal expert unsure if he’s about to clip the correct wire. “The Council owe him the favor. And unless we wish to abandon our claim to the Council’s assets, we are obliged to also take on their debts.”
That was greeted with a round of groans. They’d had that conversation several times. It had been very tempting to throw it all out and start over, but Giles’ argument that they would be foolish to walk away from the Council’s considerable resources - financial and otherwise - had swayed Willow and Faith to the point that they’d convinced the others.
“Ok, so we do whatever this favor is for him and then we’re even,” Faith shrugged. “What’s so bad about that?”
“It’s always safer to know the terms before agreeing,” Giles said grimly. “The Marquis is indeed calling in his favor. It seems he knows a Lady Door who urgently needs the advice of Lady Key.”