Prompt 162/3 A drabble and a ficlet

[gillo]

LJ went down just as I posted this yesterday, turning it into an illegible load of tripe which the mod could not in all conscience let through. If it was my fault, I'm sorry. If it was LJ's, I think I want to set a demon on them.

Fortunately it's free-for-all week now, so I can still post these. Both post-Chosen and linked by theme to some extent.

Author: gillo
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Prompt: 162, recent Oscars
Characters/Pairing (if any): Xander


The Persistence of Memory

Even now, at times memory caught Xander round the throat, always unexpected. Moving on was a good theory; in many ways he had. Two years was a long while in Xanderworld.

When Dawn expressed a desire to go see a movie she’d heard of, he had no worries. It was pretty much a kids’ thing, about clay puppets, for Cripes sake. A cute dog and a strange Brit inventor. Funny, right? He’d seen some of the shorts, even.

He never expected the floods of tears that hit him when they walked into the lobby and he read the full title.







The film? Yes:

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)


Title: Terms of Endearment
Author: gillo
Rating: PG 13 for rude words
Word Count: 407
Prompt: 162, recent Oscars
Characters/Pairing (if any): Ensemble


Terms of Endearment

The school bus was possibly less comfortable than even Giles had predicted. There was very little noise after the first hour; a few moans from the less-injured, occasional quiet murmurs, but most slept the sleep of the terminally exhausted.

Dawn sprawled across the back seat, drifting in and out of a doze. Right in front of her, Buffy hunched, alone in a double seat. Xander had ventured a word, but soon drifted forward to hear more about Anya’s heroic fight to defend Andrew. Several elements of the narrative were vaguely familiar; Xander had read almost as many comics as the nerd. For the moment he didn’t need to challenge the details, just accept the comfort. There would be time to find the truth, feel the remorse, expiate the guilt. Not now. His girl, his sweet, demonic capitalist, she deserved to be celebrated just now.

Faith sat across the aisle from Principal Wood. She kept glancing across at him, muttering, “Don’t die, you bastard. Don’t you dare fucking die on me.”

Vi found she couldn’t rest, couldn’t sit still. She twisted round in her seat, saw Buffy on her own. Par for the course. No doubt planning another motivating speech. Still, this time Hero Girl had the right to say what she damned well wanted. Funny she’d been so quiet so far.

Giles was driving. Stupid bloody vehicle had rough suspension, no acceleration to speak of, and sod all comfort for the driver. That was exactly what he needed just now. Sooner or later he would have to think and plan. What would they do, these girls with new strength and powers? What would his own Slayer do? His girl, so bright, that fake smile pasted on her face, was stumbling about in darkness. Would his Buffy ever trust him again after the last few weeks? He had his doubts. He sighed. There was, as he’d said, always Cleveland.

Buffy saw and heard none of this. Running through her mind was a slow litany. Pet. Goldilocks. Insufferable. The One. She hadn’t wanted to be that, but she had her cross to bear. She didn’t pay much attention to the occasional tear that dripped down her nose, except a flashing thought that he would mock it. Her bad, rude vampire rarely passed up a chance to do that. Her dirty, boneheaded, shirty dope. The peroxided pest who’d saved the world. A lot.

The bus trundled on through the desert.

Comments

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Ugh, posting issues. Grr.

But I'm glad these got through. Very poignant pairing of post-Sunnydale memories. All those horrid nicknames transformed into mementoes, especially.

[gillo]

Well, nicknames are very often terms of endearment, aren't they?

Thanks for reading and commenting.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

These are lovely. Sad, but lovely. I especially like the stillness of the second one; it's like the lights are out on the bus and we only see the people on board in the headlights of occasional oncoming cars. Impressions.

[gillo]

Thank you. What a wonderful, thoughtful comment.

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

Both of these are lovely and poignant. I can imagine bunnies have been ruined for Xander forever. Somewhere Anya would feel vindicated.

The second is vivid and moving. The image of Buffy quietly mourning with even the insulting nicknames becoming part of the memorial is wonderful.

[gillo]

Thank you for a wonderfully detailed comment!

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

He never expected the floods of tears that hit him when they walked into the lobby and he read the full title. Oh. My. Goddess. That's amazing. It's the little things that set you off.

I'm also writing about Anya and rabbits... ;-) Although mine's not nearly as good as yours is. ;-(

In the second, I love that Andrew is taking comic book elements and putting them into his tale. That's just so true to character and really sweet too. And Xander just accepting it because it's the right thing for that moment. Amazing.

[gillo]

Thank you for reading, and for such a lovely comment.

[buffyangellvr23.livejournal.com]

nice work :) Well captured.

[gillo]

Thank you.

[ahigheroctave.livejournal.com]

Must for words for how much I love that last drabble... can't do it. I think this is my new favorite directly post-Chosen drabble. It's just so perfect for all the characters in it, and to be able to make me cry in so few words.

[gillo]

Thank you so much for reading and for such a lovely, kind comment.

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Both so heartbreaking, poor Xander in the first one, my heart twisted for him.

[gillo]

Grief's like that, isn't it? Glad it worked for you - thank you for reading and commenting.

[angelus2hot]

So sad but both so beautifully written!

And the Oscar goes to you for such wonderfully sad fics!

[gillo]

Thank you for reading - and what a lovely thing to say!

[cmk418]

These are incredible. Heartbreakingly well done!

[gillo]

Thank you for reading and leaving such a kind comment.

[mierke.livejournal.com]

These were both very gripping. I don't know the words to describe it, but I'm stitting here with tears in my eyes. Very beautiful.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I love the flickering snapshots into everybody's thoughts while they are coming down from the fight. Some are looking forward, some can't. Not yet. Very moody and effective. Great job.