Forfeit (Spike/Xander)

[baudown]

Title:  Forfeit
Author:  baudown
Pairing:  Spike/Xander
Disclaimer:  Don't own, just love
Prompt:  Tow, 100 words, open_on_sunday
Note:  I have a weird feeling this is the seed of my fall for S/X piece.  Hmmm.


Forfeit

Spike's known vamps who kept pets.  Angelus did, once -- a tow-headed virgin, snatched straight from the seminary.  Mooned over him, to Darla's disgust, until Dru snapped his neck in a fit of jealous temper.

 

A weakness, keeping humans.  Anyway, it never lasted.  Demon's nature, always wanting more.  So the humans wound up drained and dead, or worse, turned and tossed away, because afterward, they weren't the same.  Not what was wanted, but merely what was left.  Nobody needed that sort of dirty reminder hanging about. 

 

Just one last look at his sleeping boy.

 

Spike's gone before Xander wakes up.

 

 

Comments

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

"Not what was wanted, but merely what was left." Gorgeous line.

Goes to get the watering can so that I can see your lovely seeds grow into something even prettier.

[baudown.livejournal.com]

Thank you! But I think it may require lawn sprinklers. And fertilizer.

[raynejelly.livejournal.com]

... First you get the agonized, inarticulate squeaky noise because... Ouch!

Then you get the actual thinking response, which is also "ouch" but with a healthy side of "How... interesting. Totally unique perspective."

The detail that you manage in 100 words is spectacular - rooting it in history, giving us philosophy, an image of the present, and then leaving us hanging wondering what Xander _thought_ when he woke up. Spectacular and cruel, and really neat because no one takes the perspective that vampires in this mythos are transient, or willing to let go. Move around, yes, want more, yes, but more without letting go of what they've got. I like the reversal.

And again... ouch!

[baudown.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I'm really thinking of this as a part of Spike's thought process in a larger story. But it does pose some challenges, because while I think the transience is probably sufficiently supported by canon, the letting go -- not so much. And even if Spike is anomalous in many ways, he's certainly not a consequential thinker, and if anything, he holds on tighter and longer than anyone else. Plus, I was envisioning a pre-chip time frame, which makes it even more difficult.

Must -- make -- brain -- work.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Good drabble!
"because afterward, they weren't the same" - very true!

[baudown.livejournal.com]

Really happy you like it! Thanks!

[laazikaat.livejournal.com]

I do hope this grows, but even so, it is very very good just as it is.

[baudown.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And I've started writing something around this idea. We'll see where it goes!