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calic0catYeesh. I can hardly wait for winter to get here; summer's just too darn busy. :P Every time that I think things are due to settle down, something else comes up and I end up even more swamped than before. Ugh. Aquafit classes three times a week, lawn & garden work at home, horse shows, half of the annual computer budget's worth of new server and workstation hardware to be set up and installed at work, annual software upgrades that involve weeks of phone-tag and nagging support staff... Restoring and patching my website after a spate of hacking attacks against sites running on the eFiction script, like mine... *groan*
The list just keeps on growing. Oh yeah, mustn't forget testing out eFiction 3.0beta and trying to get my website ready for that upgrade sometime in the next month or two (including finally moving the last stories over from my old site, before I end up paying for yet another year of hosting there as well...) *sigh* I need a vacation - and the extra-long weekend I'm taking this weekend doesn't count, since that's time taken off for a horse show. :P
As far as writing goes, I've been pretty non-productive in the limited time I've spent trying to get something done. However, I did get a little more polishing done on the next chunk of the last bit of random scribbling that I posted, so...
***
One surprisingly short argument - Dawn had jumped at the suggestion, going so far as to confess that she'd been considering asking Spike to take her away and, after a fierce but brief debate, everyone else had been forced to admit to the benefits of getting her out of the combat zone - followed by several insanely busy days later, Xander was disembarking from a plane at Heathrow in the company of Dawn, who was squealing in delight about visiting another *country*, and Spike, who kept wandering into patches of sunlight, grinning wildly and laughing like a loon. It would be getting damned annoying if it weren't for the fact that they were both so... cute.
And he *so* had not just thought that. It was fine to think of his 'little sis' as cute, but there would be absolutely, positively, no thinking of the vampire and the c-word. Nope, no way, no how. The Not-so-Evil Undead was not cute. Definitely not attractive in any way, shape, or form. Not at all. Nuh-uh.
Really.
Xander snuck another peek out of the corner of his eye.
The gleeful look on Spike's face abruptly changed to an alert one, and Xander automatically grabbed Dawn's arm and put her between them for protection. "Spike?" he queried as Dawn clutched anxiously at his arm.
Tensed for action, the vampire drew in several testing sniffs as he scanned the waiting area ahead of them. After a moment, he gave a disbelieving snort and shook his head, relaxing slightly. "Bloody 'ell, Harris, only you would fly clear across the bloomin' Atlantic and be met at the airport by a soddin' werewolf. Think we need t'ask a few questions, mate."
Following Spike's gaze to the pale, thin man holding up a sign labelled 'Alexander Harris', Xander groaned quietly. "You're sure?"
Spike tilted his head and raised one eyebrow, looking rather insulted by the question. "Oi, Master Vampire here! Chip bollixed up the maimin' and killin', not everythin' else. 'Course I'm bloody well sure," he exclaimed indignantly.
Xander heaved a resigned sigh - why did the weirdness have to follow him wherever he went? - before apologizing. Spike was helping them of his own free will; he deserved better treatment than that. "Sorry, Spike. It's nothing personal; I just really wi... err, would like things to *not* be complicated for once." He wasn't sure whether the w-word was as dangerous away from the Hellmouth, but better safe than sorry. So - no wishing. Best not to get in the habit anyway; sooner or later they *would* have to go back to Sunnyhell, after all.
For a moment, Spike looked startled and rather pleased by the apology, but the expression was quickly replaced by a smirk. "Harris, you lot can't go t' the loo at the bloody Bronze without things gettin' complicated."
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Xander protested, flashing Dawn a grin as she relaxed, giggling at the good-natured banter between her two protectors. "Uh, Spike, will he know about you?"
"In here? Nah, too much background noise t'pick up on a missin' heartbeat. Might once we get in th' car, though, 'less the sunlight thing confuses him too much to trust his own senses." Spike cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmm, not too close t' the full moon, come t' think of it, so his senses might not be quite so sharp... Might be best t' hold off a bit, see what happens 'fore givin' too much away."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Xander agreed. "Okay by you, Dawnie?"
"Okay by me." Bouncing with excitement, she continued, "So can we please just *go* now? I want to see London!"
Xander and Spike exchanged an amused look. "Yeah, sure," Xander responded. Dawn squealed in delight and they both winced from the pitch and volume.
"Stay close, Nibblet," Spike warned, grabbing her wrist as she prepared to dash off ahead of them. "Least till we figure out what's goin' on."
"You heard the vamp, Dawnster."
Giving Xander a pointed look, Spike added firmly, "Oi! Goes for you, too, Harris! Don't want t' be the one callin' Red t' tell 'er you've gone missin' or worse." He gave an exaggerated shudder and Xander laughed. "That girl's one scary witch. Threatened me with a shovel if I let anythin' hurt you, she did!"
Xander's laughter turned to a choked cough. Oh shit. Sometimes, Willow knew him just a little *too* well. His best friend obviously thought that it was time for him to stop sailing blithely up a certain river in Egypt. Somehow, he wasn't exactly surprised that Wills had figured out the direction he was heading almost before *he* had. Not that he'd exactly came right out and admitted it to himself till now. But... well, the shovel-talk was reserved for romantic interests, and if he was going to acknowledge the fact that Wills had apparently given Spike some version of the shovel talk with regards to him, then he might as well admit that, yeah, Spike could be cute sometimes. And damned sexy. And sensual. And loyal in a fiercely possessive way that made him kinda hot just to think about it. Spike was a passionate kind of vamp; a real all-or-nothing kind of guy.
And yeah, okay, Xander had to admit that he would sort of like to have all that intensity pointed in *his* direction. He was a demon magnet anyhow; at least this time he would be knowingly going into a relationship with a demon instead of finding out the hard way. And, hey, he'd already survived the murder-attempt part of a typical Xander-Harris-relationship; he was pretty sure that Spike was past the trying-to-eat-him stage - well, at least in the non-fun sense of 'eating', anyway, since he actually hoped that Spike *was* interested in the mutually-fun kind of 'eating' - at any rate, he *did* think Spike was past that stage, so - bonus!
Dawn's pointy elbow making contact with his ribs abruptly brought Xander's attention back to his surroundings. They'd arrived in front of their escort and he hadn't even noticed. Oops. Way to make a first impression, Zeppo. Xander flashed a sheepish grin at the solemn man. "Sorry, jetlag. Hi, I'm Alexander Harris, but my friends just call me Xander. Remus Lupin, right?"
"Yes, I'm Remus Lupin. Please, call me Remus."
"Glad to meet you, Remus." Xander shook his hand before continuing. "This lovely young lady is Dawn..."
"A pleasure to meet you," Remus acknowledged politely, taking her hand.
The hazards of the werewolf shaking hands with someone with no pulse or natural body heat abruptly occurred to Xander. Catching Spike's eye while Remus was still exchanging greetings with Dawn, he silently mouthed, "Ixnay on the shaking-ay." Out loud, he continued, "...and, of course, the Billy Idol wannabe over there is Spike."
"Oi! This from the bloke wot thinks pineapple shirts 'n' khakis are a fashion statement? Wanker."
Xander snickered, managing to duck Spike's first playful swat before being caught and thoroughly noogied. By the time that their horseplay was over, the moment for shaking hands was safely past and forgotten.
***
Oh yeah, previous part of this is here.
*sigh* Only one more bit of this that's even close to ready for posting, and the next installment of pretty much every one of my WIPs is stalled at the half-finished stage. Might have to resort to posting half-chapters, just to keep myself going... *crosses fingers and hopes to find a little free time to write this weekend*
The list just keeps on growing. Oh yeah, mustn't forget testing out eFiction 3.0beta and trying to get my website ready for that upgrade sometime in the next month or two (including finally moving the last stories over from my old site, before I end up paying for yet another year of hosting there as well...) *sigh* I need a vacation - and the extra-long weekend I'm taking this weekend doesn't count, since that's time taken off for a horse show. :P
As far as writing goes, I've been pretty non-productive in the limited time I've spent trying to get something done. However, I did get a little more polishing done on the next chunk of the last bit of random scribbling that I posted, so...
***
One surprisingly short argument - Dawn had jumped at the suggestion, going so far as to confess that she'd been considering asking Spike to take her away and, after a fierce but brief debate, everyone else had been forced to admit to the benefits of getting her out of the combat zone - followed by several insanely busy days later, Xander was disembarking from a plane at Heathrow in the company of Dawn, who was squealing in delight about visiting another *country*, and Spike, who kept wandering into patches of sunlight, grinning wildly and laughing like a loon. It would be getting damned annoying if it weren't for the fact that they were both so... cute.
And he *so* had not just thought that. It was fine to think of his 'little sis' as cute, but there would be absolutely, positively, no thinking of the vampire and the c-word. Nope, no way, no how. The Not-so-Evil Undead was not cute. Definitely not attractive in any way, shape, or form. Not at all. Nuh-uh.
Really.
Xander snuck another peek out of the corner of his eye.
The gleeful look on Spike's face abruptly changed to an alert one, and Xander automatically grabbed Dawn's arm and put her between them for protection. "Spike?" he queried as Dawn clutched anxiously at his arm.
Tensed for action, the vampire drew in several testing sniffs as he scanned the waiting area ahead of them. After a moment, he gave a disbelieving snort and shook his head, relaxing slightly. "Bloody 'ell, Harris, only you would fly clear across the bloomin' Atlantic and be met at the airport by a soddin' werewolf. Think we need t'ask a few questions, mate."
Following Spike's gaze to the pale, thin man holding up a sign labelled 'Alexander Harris', Xander groaned quietly. "You're sure?"
Spike tilted his head and raised one eyebrow, looking rather insulted by the question. "Oi, Master Vampire here! Chip bollixed up the maimin' and killin', not everythin' else. 'Course I'm bloody well sure," he exclaimed indignantly.
Xander heaved a resigned sigh - why did the weirdness have to follow him wherever he went? - before apologizing. Spike was helping them of his own free will; he deserved better treatment than that. "Sorry, Spike. It's nothing personal; I just really wi... err, would like things to *not* be complicated for once." He wasn't sure whether the w-word was as dangerous away from the Hellmouth, but better safe than sorry. So - no wishing. Best not to get in the habit anyway; sooner or later they *would* have to go back to Sunnyhell, after all.
For a moment, Spike looked startled and rather pleased by the apology, but the expression was quickly replaced by a smirk. "Harris, you lot can't go t' the loo at the bloody Bronze without things gettin' complicated."
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Xander protested, flashing Dawn a grin as she relaxed, giggling at the good-natured banter between her two protectors. "Uh, Spike, will he know about you?"
"In here? Nah, too much background noise t'pick up on a missin' heartbeat. Might once we get in th' car, though, 'less the sunlight thing confuses him too much to trust his own senses." Spike cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmm, not too close t' the full moon, come t' think of it, so his senses might not be quite so sharp... Might be best t' hold off a bit, see what happens 'fore givin' too much away."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Xander agreed. "Okay by you, Dawnie?"
"Okay by me." Bouncing with excitement, she continued, "So can we please just *go* now? I want to see London!"
Xander and Spike exchanged an amused look. "Yeah, sure," Xander responded. Dawn squealed in delight and they both winced from the pitch and volume.
"Stay close, Nibblet," Spike warned, grabbing her wrist as she prepared to dash off ahead of them. "Least till we figure out what's goin' on."
"You heard the vamp, Dawnster."
Giving Xander a pointed look, Spike added firmly, "Oi! Goes for you, too, Harris! Don't want t' be the one callin' Red t' tell 'er you've gone missin' or worse." He gave an exaggerated shudder and Xander laughed. "That girl's one scary witch. Threatened me with a shovel if I let anythin' hurt you, she did!"
Xander's laughter turned to a choked cough. Oh shit. Sometimes, Willow knew him just a little *too* well. His best friend obviously thought that it was time for him to stop sailing blithely up a certain river in Egypt. Somehow, he wasn't exactly surprised that Wills had figured out the direction he was heading almost before *he* had. Not that he'd exactly came right out and admitted it to himself till now. But... well, the shovel-talk was reserved for romantic interests, and if he was going to acknowledge the fact that Wills had apparently given Spike some version of the shovel talk with regards to him, then he might as well admit that, yeah, Spike could be cute sometimes. And damned sexy. And sensual. And loyal in a fiercely possessive way that made him kinda hot just to think about it. Spike was a passionate kind of vamp; a real all-or-nothing kind of guy.
And yeah, okay, Xander had to admit that he would sort of like to have all that intensity pointed in *his* direction. He was a demon magnet anyhow; at least this time he would be knowingly going into a relationship with a demon instead of finding out the hard way. And, hey, he'd already survived the murder-attempt part of a typical Xander-Harris-relationship; he was pretty sure that Spike was past the trying-to-eat-him stage - well, at least in the non-fun sense of 'eating', anyway, since he actually hoped that Spike *was* interested in the mutually-fun kind of 'eating' - at any rate, he *did* think Spike was past that stage, so - bonus!
Dawn's pointy elbow making contact with his ribs abruptly brought Xander's attention back to his surroundings. They'd arrived in front of their escort and he hadn't even noticed. Oops. Way to make a first impression, Zeppo. Xander flashed a sheepish grin at the solemn man. "Sorry, jetlag. Hi, I'm Alexander Harris, but my friends just call me Xander. Remus Lupin, right?"
"Yes, I'm Remus Lupin. Please, call me Remus."
"Glad to meet you, Remus." Xander shook his hand before continuing. "This lovely young lady is Dawn..."
"A pleasure to meet you," Remus acknowledged politely, taking her hand.
The hazards of the werewolf shaking hands with someone with no pulse or natural body heat abruptly occurred to Xander. Catching Spike's eye while Remus was still exchanging greetings with Dawn, he silently mouthed, "Ixnay on the shaking-ay." Out loud, he continued, "...and, of course, the Billy Idol wannabe over there is Spike."
"Oi! This from the bloke wot thinks pineapple shirts 'n' khakis are a fashion statement? Wanker."
Xander snickered, managing to duck Spike's first playful swat before being caught and thoroughly noogied. By the time that their horseplay was over, the moment for shaking hands was safely past and forgotten.
***
Oh yeah, previous part of this is here.
*sigh* Only one more bit of this that's even close to ready for posting, and the next installment of pretty much every one of my WIPs is stalled at the half-finished stage. Might have to resort to posting half-chapters, just to keep myself going... *crosses fingers and hopes to find a little free time to write this weekend*
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Date: 2006-08-31 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 06:27 pm (UTC)