It's a sickness
Apr. 12th, 2007 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmatonakThere is no way in hell I'm going to be able to get 22 fics, each with a beginning, middle and end, out of this premise. So this will be an abbreviated "season" of things.
I'm going to be more or less forced to write about some Forn Parts to which I have never been. If I make a risible error, please tell me.
Chapter Three: Offices of the Sunnydale Reclamation Authority, Santa Barbara, California
Xander had a bad habit of making up his mind about some things before they actually happened, and this was one of them: night meetings were the pits. To be fair, experience had borne out his initial conclusion.
There was something absurdist, he thought, in the idea of having a meeting until midnight to discuss "unauthorized nocturnal incursions" into some of the work sites. Everyone talked around it, but Xander was pretty sure "nocturnal incursion" was Army Corps of Engineers for good old "gangs on PCP." On the other hand, there were no reported fatalities among the crews, so maybe not.
The glass cases in the main lobby still attracted his attention from time to time. Photographs of Main Street, City Hall, and the Sun marquee shared space with the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign and some other bric-a-brac someone had unaccountably decided was worth keeping. Xander was convinced all that stuff was saturated with some kind of weird rays from the Hellmouth, but Giles and Willow said it was clean. I really ought to give her a call sometime. His phone whirred in his pocket.
"Xander Harris."
A long pause.
"Hello?"
"Xander? I'm sorry to call so late. It's good you still have the same number."
Xander sagged against the display case.
"Xander?"
"...Ahn?"
Chapter Four: Dublin
Willow sat in her bedroom and checked her e-mail while the tea steeped. Nothing of any consequence, for once. There was a muffled thump from the closet, but the tea wasn't done steeping, so she ignored it. She reflected idly that she'd gotten used to hearing from her friends in the last few weeks. After Kennedy left, Xander and Giles had written her at least once a day, not doing as well as they thought at concealing their undertone... worked anything major, Willow? Any will-be-done stuff, any memory alterations? But there hadn't been. There hadn't even been any guilt-induced baking.
Buffy understood. Buffy knew Willow had seen this one coming. So she didn't bother with the barely-concealed apprehension. There was really nothing to be apprehensive about. That thought sometimes made Willow want to bake something.
There was another thump from the closet as Willow poured her tea. She brought the cup with her to open the closet, and took a meditative sip as she examined the contents. Thin, grey, seven foot or thereabouts (and the customary mental note that she had to work harder on thinking in meters) with pointy chin and elbows. Name something like Zachary. Oh, yeah, Zscherai. A Zscherai demon, assassin most likely, bound head to foot in what looked like translucent spiderwebs and (she assumed) none too happy about it.
"Hi. In case you're wondering, you're in my closet because you entered my flat uninvited. I want you to picture someplace away from here that you might like to go." Remembering what had happened with the last Zscherai, she added, "Oh, and it should be someplace far away from here. The second time the webs catch you..." She'd been practicing her Vampire Willow smile, and to judge by his body language, she was getting good at it. Yay!
Oh, the phone's going to ring in a second, she thought. She sent the demon away and put down her tea.
The phone rang, and she picked up.
"Oh, hey, Xander! What's... hey, are you... slow down... what?" Her desk chair rolled up behind her as she sat. "No way..." It was a long trip, but there had to be something she could do.
"I'll be right there."
to be continued
This little subsection was going to be longer, but I have a doctor thing. I'm not in love with these phone conversation scenes...
I'm going to be more or less forced to write about some Forn Parts to which I have never been. If I make a risible error, please tell me.
Chapter Three: Offices of the Sunnydale Reclamation Authority, Santa Barbara, California
Xander had a bad habit of making up his mind about some things before they actually happened, and this was one of them: night meetings were the pits. To be fair, experience had borne out his initial conclusion.
There was something absurdist, he thought, in the idea of having a meeting until midnight to discuss "unauthorized nocturnal incursions" into some of the work sites. Everyone talked around it, but Xander was pretty sure "nocturnal incursion" was Army Corps of Engineers for good old "gangs on PCP." On the other hand, there were no reported fatalities among the crews, so maybe not.
The glass cases in the main lobby still attracted his attention from time to time. Photographs of Main Street, City Hall, and the Sun marquee shared space with the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign and some other bric-a-brac someone had unaccountably decided was worth keeping. Xander was convinced all that stuff was saturated with some kind of weird rays from the Hellmouth, but Giles and Willow said it was clean. I really ought to give her a call sometime. His phone whirred in his pocket.
"Xander Harris."
A long pause.
"Hello?"
"Xander? I'm sorry to call so late. It's good you still have the same number."
Xander sagged against the display case.
"Xander?"
"...Ahn?"
Chapter Four: Dublin
Willow sat in her bedroom and checked her e-mail while the tea steeped. Nothing of any consequence, for once. There was a muffled thump from the closet, but the tea wasn't done steeping, so she ignored it. She reflected idly that she'd gotten used to hearing from her friends in the last few weeks. After Kennedy left, Xander and Giles had written her at least once a day, not doing as well as they thought at concealing their undertone... worked anything major, Willow? Any will-be-done stuff, any memory alterations? But there hadn't been. There hadn't even been any guilt-induced baking.
Buffy understood. Buffy knew Willow had seen this one coming. So she didn't bother with the barely-concealed apprehension. There was really nothing to be apprehensive about. That thought sometimes made Willow want to bake something.
There was another thump from the closet as Willow poured her tea. She brought the cup with her to open the closet, and took a meditative sip as she examined the contents. Thin, grey, seven foot or thereabouts (and the customary mental note that she had to work harder on thinking in meters) with pointy chin and elbows. Name something like Zachary. Oh, yeah, Zscherai. A Zscherai demon, assassin most likely, bound head to foot in what looked like translucent spiderwebs and (she assumed) none too happy about it.
"Hi. In case you're wondering, you're in my closet because you entered my flat uninvited. I want you to picture someplace away from here that you might like to go." Remembering what had happened with the last Zscherai, she added, "Oh, and it should be someplace far away from here. The second time the webs catch you..." She'd been practicing her Vampire Willow smile, and to judge by his body language, she was getting good at it. Yay!
Oh, the phone's going to ring in a second, she thought. She sent the demon away and put down her tea.
The phone rang, and she picked up.
"Oh, hey, Xander! What's... hey, are you... slow down... what?" Her desk chair rolled up behind her as she sat. "No way..." It was a long trip, but there had to be something she could do.
"I'll be right there."
to be continued
This little subsection was going to be longer, but I have a doctor thing. I'm not in love with these phone conversation scenes...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-04-12 05:58 pm (UTC)As far as I remember, people in Dublin have bedrooms, closets, email, and tea. So you're good so far. :)
Editorial note: You left in a "to be continued" 6 lines too early.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-12 07:15 pm (UTC)