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dragonyphoenixTaming the Muse is giving us a week off before making changes to how prompts and awards will work. But I didn't want to miss a week so I picked an old prompt, abacus, and included it in a scene from my Giles as the Big Bad fic. I'm not sure if I'll be using this scene though. It really doens't do much more than say where in the episode plotline we are.
Scene from In a Corner of My Soul
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 38 - abacus
Rating: PG
Word Count: 692
When Buffy’d interviewed drummer guy from Brett’s band - and what kind of a name was Vampire Hillboys anyway? - the guy hadn’t stopped tapping out rhythms against his locker for even a second. It’d been bad enough then, like he didn’t even know he was doing it, so why was she thinking of it now? As she walked along the empty hallway the only sound came from her heels clicking against the floor, beating out their own rhythm. Oh.
Everyone she’d talked to had come up with the same name: Morgan. Drummer guy thought Morgan might be in the auditorium which didn’t seem likely but Buffy didn’t have any other leads. They all said he was weird, Morgan that is, not drummer boy, and seemed to have headaches or something. Maybe he’d gone to the auditorium because it was quiet. If he had migraines then he’d have to hide out from light and noise.
The auditorium did seem empty but no, there was that box Morgan kept the dummy in. She heard voices from the stage. Ugh, and there was the dummy. At least it faced the other way. “Right now you and me gotta be on the lookout.
Figure out who's gonna be next.”
Okay, and hearing creepy dummy voice when Morgan was nowhere in sight, that wasn’t disturbing at all.
“How are we supposed to…” Oh, Morgan’d been behind the curtain. “Oh, hi.” And he’d seen her.
“Hello.”
“I was just working on throwing my voice.”
Uh huh. So, she couldn’t just come out and ask him if he’d killed Emily. “Uh, Morgan, did you notice anything weird going on around here yesterday?”
“Weird? What d'you mean?” Ugh, did he have to pick up the dummy? Well, maybe he did. It wasn’t like the thing could move around on its own or anything.
“With Emily. Did she say anything to you, was she arguing with anyone?” Arguing with you maybe?
“No. She was dancing.” Oh, good, opening the case meant putting the creepy dummy away, right? “Sid and I were talking.”
“Talking.”
“Rehearsing.”
“So, you didn't notice anything weird at …”
Oh, one of those headaches. Maybe she’d been too loud? But he could have said if he was having migraines or something. Before she could ask if he needed help, the dummy’s head swung around and boy did it look like it was glaring at her. “Look, sweetheart! He answered your question. Now leave him alone!”
Okay, and so much for migraines. Was that all just a put on? “Okay, Morgan, how 'bout you drop the abacus-cadabracus act and talk to me yourself?”
“He said all he's gonna say.” And way to completely ignore that talking for himself request.
“It's okay, Sid. We're done.”
At least Morgan was putting the dummy away. Right, maybe if she backed off a bit he’d be willing to talk. “I'm sorry. Look, I didn't mean to make you mad.”
“No! I’m… It’s him! He's... We have to go.”
Morgan and the dummy, well the dummy’s case anyway, vanished through the door. “So much for that interview.”
“Buffy.”
She fell into a fighting pose as she turned to face the stage. Oh, Miss Calendar. “Um, hi. I didn’t think anyone was here or anyone else I mean. So, I guess being the leader of this whole shindig you’re hanging around backstage?”
“Were you asking about Emily?”
Caught. “Um, well, we were thinking, uh, maybe a memorial thingy, um here in school that is. And so of course I’ve been talking to …”
“You were asking if she’d been arguing with anyone. Please tell me you’re not investigating her murder because if you were I’d have to take that to Principal Snyder.”
“No, no no no, no murder investigating here. Just a memorial. Honestly. Cross my heart and hope to … well, you know what I mean.”
Miss Calendar didn’t look convinced. “You should probably get on home now. And I don’t want to hear about you asking anyone else about Emily’s murder.”
“Right, no murder questions here,” Buffy said as she backed toward the exit. Great, now they really were going to have to organize a memorial.
Scene from In a Corner of My Soul
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 38 - abacus
Rating: PG
Word Count: 692
When Buffy’d interviewed drummer guy from Brett’s band - and what kind of a name was Vampire Hillboys anyway? - the guy hadn’t stopped tapping out rhythms against his locker for even a second. It’d been bad enough then, like he didn’t even know he was doing it, so why was she thinking of it now? As she walked along the empty hallway the only sound came from her heels clicking against the floor, beating out their own rhythm. Oh.
Everyone she’d talked to had come up with the same name: Morgan. Drummer guy thought Morgan might be in the auditorium which didn’t seem likely but Buffy didn’t have any other leads. They all said he was weird, Morgan that is, not drummer boy, and seemed to have headaches or something. Maybe he’d gone to the auditorium because it was quiet. If he had migraines then he’d have to hide out from light and noise.
The auditorium did seem empty but no, there was that box Morgan kept the dummy in. She heard voices from the stage. Ugh, and there was the dummy. At least it faced the other way. “Right now you and me gotta be on the lookout.
Figure out who's gonna be next.”
Okay, and hearing creepy dummy voice when Morgan was nowhere in sight, that wasn’t disturbing at all.
“How are we supposed to…” Oh, Morgan’d been behind the curtain. “Oh, hi.” And he’d seen her.
“Hello.”
“I was just working on throwing my voice.”
Uh huh. So, she couldn’t just come out and ask him if he’d killed Emily. “Uh, Morgan, did you notice anything weird going on around here yesterday?”
“Weird? What d'you mean?” Ugh, did he have to pick up the dummy? Well, maybe he did. It wasn’t like the thing could move around on its own or anything.
“With Emily. Did she say anything to you, was she arguing with anyone?” Arguing with you maybe?
“No. She was dancing.” Oh, good, opening the case meant putting the creepy dummy away, right? “Sid and I were talking.”
“Talking.”
“Rehearsing.”
“So, you didn't notice anything weird at …”
Oh, one of those headaches. Maybe she’d been too loud? But he could have said if he was having migraines or something. Before she could ask if he needed help, the dummy’s head swung around and boy did it look like it was glaring at her. “Look, sweetheart! He answered your question. Now leave him alone!”
Okay, and so much for migraines. Was that all just a put on? “Okay, Morgan, how 'bout you drop the abacus-cadabracus act and talk to me yourself?”
“He said all he's gonna say.” And way to completely ignore that talking for himself request.
“It's okay, Sid. We're done.”
At least Morgan was putting the dummy away. Right, maybe if she backed off a bit he’d be willing to talk. “I'm sorry. Look, I didn't mean to make you mad.”
“No! I’m… It’s him! He's... We have to go.”
Morgan and the dummy, well the dummy’s case anyway, vanished through the door. “So much for that interview.”
“Buffy.”
She fell into a fighting pose as she turned to face the stage. Oh, Miss Calendar. “Um, hi. I didn’t think anyone was here or anyone else I mean. So, I guess being the leader of this whole shindig you’re hanging around backstage?”
“Were you asking about Emily?”
Caught. “Um, well, we were thinking, uh, maybe a memorial thingy, um here in school that is. And so of course I’ve been talking to …”
“You were asking if she’d been arguing with anyone. Please tell me you’re not investigating her murder because if you were I’d have to take that to Principal Snyder.”
“No, no no no, no murder investigating here. Just a memorial. Honestly. Cross my heart and hope to … well, you know what I mean.”
Miss Calendar didn’t look convinced. “You should probably get on home now. And I don’t want to hear about you asking anyone else about Emily’s murder.”
“Right, no murder questions here,” Buffy said as she backed toward the exit. Great, now they really were going to have to organize a memorial.