197 Ficlet: Come and Get It

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Title: Come and Get It
Author: Rebcake
Rating: PG
Word Count: 360
Prompt: 197 — Dinner
Characters: Giles, Spike, Anya, Joyce, Buffy, Xander, and a flock of Oden Tal refugees (from She)
Summary: A night of celebration on the Hellmouth leads to its inevitable conclusion.
A/N: A very short installment in the AU begun in Stay Frosty and continued in Packed With Fiber and Double Scoop of Oden Tal. Can be read separately or together!


Everyone was tired but happy after a successful opening day of the Cold 'n' Tall Creamery. A buffet table in the loading dock was laden with pizza for the Scoobies and friends — and with ice cream cake for the Oden Tal girls. The girls had changed out of their Swiss Miss uniforms and into their standard shorts and halter sets.

Giles was attempting to balance his plate and a cup, with no more success than usual. Spike grinned at him, but seemed less prone than usual to throw verbal darts. Giles noticed that he was walking oddly as he prowled around the perimeter sipping blood from a mug. Giles felt he should investigate to assure himself the vampire hadn’t stirred up any trouble.

He would do so right after he had a few words with the charming young lady that was having difficulty at the drink station. He sidled up to her, just as she turned around holding a perfectly blended margarita (virgin). Up close, she looked to be 17 at most. Get a grip, man, he told himself, and made a business of helping himself to another unwanted beverage while she wandered off. He spied Joyce sitting in a stairwell, listening to Anya, and decided that the least dangerous path lay with the women from his own dimension.

“Oden Tal was a terrible place for vengeance,” Anya was explaining. “The women had excellent grounds, of course, but by the time you got to them, all they would wish was, ‘To please my master.’ Extremely unrewarding work.” She glanced shrewdly at Jhiera. “I wonder if I could get a finder’s fee for referring her. I’ll bet her wish would blow the whole place wide open.”

Giles opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a commotion by the rollup doors. Buffy and Xander were there, propping Riley up between them. He was very bad off, but still managed to look shocked at the appearance of a flock of demon women before him.

“We got the 411 on 314,” announced Buffy to the room. “It’s ugly and it’s going to get uglier. Everybody is a target. I was hoping not to say this, ever, but it looks like the party’s over.”

FIN

Comments

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Giles just barely stopping himself from reflexively hitting on the teenage demon girl is great characterization. Hee!

And as always I love Anya. She makes everything better!

I'm so glad this weird crossover is inspiring you. I'm enjoying the heck out of this series!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I glad you are enjoying this! It's rife with comedic potential, although I suppose it could turn serious as any point. I don't really have a plan; I just keep jotting down scenes as they occur to me.

I'm pleased that Giles and Anya were amusing in this. Giles brings the rational adult male perspective, and Anya brings the weird. Both are totally necessary.

Thanks for commenting!

[gigi-tastic.livejournal.com]

oh anya. i love you. you could set up a wish referral business. i bet you could get loads of business. i'm sure the oden tal girls arent the only ones who could use the help.


giles.... bwahahaha

cannot wait for more. i'm completely addicted to this!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I often wonder what the Arashmaharr demons are getting out of the "wish" transaction. They don't seem to gain food, or souls, at least not directly. Do they perhaps convert the frisson between alternate dimensions into energy, sort of like in The Matrix? Or maybe the greater grief of the wisher is like the screams in Monster's Inc.? *shrugs*

Anyway, I'm glad you are getting a kick out of this. It's quite silly, which means I'm having a blast! Thanks for commenting.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Ahaha at Giles! Yeah, I always want one of those things that clip onto the plate to hold stuff together. They say it makes you look like a little kid, but still!

Yeah, I was just thinking about there needs to be a plausible explanation as to why some vengeance demon hasn't wreaked havoc in Oden Tal already. I mean, you'd think that in a society characterized to us by the enslavement of its women, some prepubescent girl would have ample grounds for vengeance even before it came time for Oden Tal men to decide to remove her ko. I'm thinking Halfrek ("justice" demon for children) if Anya can't grant wishes to girls before they hit puberty. I guess I'd have to fall back on the canonical theme that the Lower Beings for which vengeance demons work aren't interested in justice so much as increasing the radius/degree of suffering post-wish.

And cliffhanger!!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

At this point, looking like a kid is the least of Giles' worries.

I have thoughts about the business of Arashmaharr. Anya always refers to it as a career path, but it's hard to see what profit the wish incurs for the demons. Still, it's fun to keep up the metaphor, by discussing quotas and incentives and all that jazz.

I have no idea what will happen next, though in the end, our heroes are sure to prevail! After suffering from a certain amount of indignity first. Heh.

[angelus2hot]

Hee! Don't ya just love Giles!?

Great work as always!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Why, yes! I do love Giles! I'm very pleased you are having fun with this. Thanks for commenting!

[il_mio_capitano]

Lovely. Looking forward to reading more of this verse.

The world needs more Giles. Not less.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

The world does indeed need more Giles. I wrote this pre-39, and I suspect it would have been quite different post-39. :(

I'm glad you like this verse enough to want more. Thanks for the encouraging comment.

[consumedly.livejournal.com]

I got to say I'm with Anya on this one! Let's have some vengeance!!! :-D and oh yeah Giles can be a very naughty boy when he wants to };-)*rofl* I loved the Giles/Joyce episode, although it's a little well... weird. Anyway.... yey Giles *snickers*

I'm just luuuving this!!!

RYL

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly certain that Giles would prefer a satisfying relationship with an adult woman who wouldn't burn him to cinders, but the demands of his calling make it difficult. I once read a story that explained that he couldn't pursue a relationship with Joyce (as he'd like) because as Buffy's watcher he is constantly putting her in harm's way, and might even be responsible for Joyce's daughter's death someday. Made sense to me. :(

Thanks for the very nice comments!