Please be Polite to the Man with the Gun

Title: Please be Polite to the Man with the Gun
Fandom: Leverage
Characters: Hardison, Eliot
Rating: PG
Concrit: Please, in comments
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, not yet, but they will be, once I've taken over the world. Bwah-ha-ha
Summary: Written for a prompt at Bite Sized Bits of Fic: Leverage, author's choice, 'Please be polite to the man with the gun'

Hardison took a step back, raising his hands slowly, as his eyes shifted left, looking at Eliot like he was completely nuts. “Please be polite to the man with the gun.”

In a flash that Hardison could barely follow, Eliot had gotten in close to the guy, done something that suggested he'd hit him since the guy staggered back, and then was standing next to Hardison again. He pulled a cartridge out of the gun and then tossed the two pieces, gun and ammo, off in opposite directions.

“Doesn't have a gun now.”

Bad Manners to Play with Your Food

Title: Bad Manners to Play with Your Food
Fandom: BtVS
Characters: Dru, Darla, Angelus
Rating: PG
Concrit: In comments please
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, not yet, but they will be, once I've taken over the world. Bwah-ha-ha
Summary: Written for a prompt at Bite Sized Bits of Fic: Buffy, Spike & Dru & Angel & Darla (or any combo thereof), it's bad manners to play with your food

Where she'd been tossed against the brick wall of the alley, the young girl didn't even notice the cold, mucky puddle she was sprawled across. Her ignored please for mercy had given way, as her doom sank in, to the Lord's Prayer repeated over and over again.

“But Mummy always taught me it's bad manners to play with your food.” As disgust descended down Darla's face, Dru dropped her eyes to the ground and added, in a small whisper, “Human Mummy.”

“Mummy is dead,” Darla replied with a stern whip crack to her voice. Dru, recently turned, was too strongly tied to her human values for Darla's tastes.

“Yes Grandmama,” Dru replied.

“Don't. Call. Me. That.” Angelus smirked at her response, fascinated how his Childe could get under his Sire's skin without even trying to.

Angry and choosing to be cruel, Darla added, almost playfully. “Even you should remember it. She screamed for, how long Angel?” she asked as she stepped into his arms. “Five hours?”

He kissed her, their tongues dancing together for a long moment while Dru gave them a baleful stare. Turning and catching Dru's gaze he replied, “Six.”

“If I recall correctly, you were wailing yourself, like a banshee, towards the end,” Darla told Dru dismissively.

Angel kissed his way up Darla's throat to her ear where he whispered, “Let me take care of this.”

Darla luxuriated in his kisses for another minute before flouncing back. “I'll be in our rooms,” she told him with a smile. “Don't keep me waiting too long.”

As Darla disappeared out into the street, Angelus held his arms out to Dru, who ran over and curled herself in them like a young child. Angelus held her silently as he worked out the best way to train her but she interrupted his thoughts. “Why does Grandmama care so? About me playing with my food?”

Smiling at Dru's continued use of the name that so irritated Darla, he kissed her on the top of her forehead and replied, “She just wants you to be the best Childe you can be.” She looked up at him, her eyes wide with trust but obviously not following his meaning. “How can you learn to hunt properly if you don't play at it?” he asked gently.

Her gaze turned inwards. “Like a cat toying with a mouse?” she asked. She'd hated that as a human, the casual cruelty of cats.

“Exactly,” he said, squeezing her in an approving hug. “Now, are you ready to play a game?”

“Is it a fun game?”

“The most fun game in the whole, wide world,” he told her, tapping the tip of her nose.

Grabbing the girl, he pulled her up off the ground. “You see that doorway?” he asked, pointing her towards the back end of the allye. “The exit to the Gentleman's Club? You make it that far and we'll let you go.” The girl glanced at him and then back down the alley, gaging the distance. She gave him a quick nod. Angelus released her and she tore away.

Dru paused and turned towards Angelus. “Do I really have to let her go if she gets that far?”

Angelus shook his head. No.

With a smile, Dru chased after the girl.