The Very Heart of Me 3/8
Dec. 13th, 2009 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonyphoenixTitle: The Very Heart of Me
Fandom: BtVS
Characters/Pairing: Ethan/Giles, Xander
Rating: PG-13 overall
Concrit: Please, in comments
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, not yet, but the will be once I've taken over the world. Bwah-ha-ha.
Warnings/Squicks: None
Summary: With a sigh, Giles asked Xander to find Starfall's Index on Demonology. Xander staggered up the stairs, trying to walk and keep the three balls going at the same time until, two steps from the top, he stumbled. One of the balls disappeared into the stacks and landed with a high pitched squeal.
Series index is here.
“Willow, how's it going?” Rupert asked.
Looking up from her computer, Willow replied, “There's nothing about a demon that only eats a person's insides.”
Xander, standing at the bottom of the stairs and juggling three balls said, “Of course not. The skin's the best part.”
“Xander,” Giles shouted. As he startled in response, one ball flew onto the table, where it got lost in a pile of books, while the other two fell at Xander's feet. “Must you toss those infernal things around the room?”
“They're baseballs,” Xander said as he picked them back up. “And I'm not tossing, I'm juggling.”
With a sigh, Giles asked Xander to find Starfall's Index on Demonology. Xander staggered up the stairs, trying to walk and keep the three balls going at the same time until, two steps from the top, he stumbled. One of the balls disappeared into the stacks and landed with a high pitched squeal.
“What was that?” Buffy asked as all eyes turned towards the bookshelves.
“I'm going with something bad,” Oz said.
“Xander, did you see it?” Ethan asked. He didn't get up from his seat at the table but was looking alertly towards the stacks.
“Well, the one under my baseball is a big, yellow squish and can I say eww?” Xander said, making his way back down the stairs while never taking his eyes off the second floor.
“There are others?” Giles asked.
“Oh yeah, something scuttled off. A scorpion the size of a cat?”
Ethan bolted up from his chair. “Buffy, grab a weapon, something with a reach that you can slice and dice with. Everyone else, on top of the table.” Buffy grabbed a sword while everyone else, except Rupert, scrambled up onto the table.
“Mnetok demons, dear heart,” Ethan told him.
Rupert paled in response but only asked calmly, “Are you certain?”
“Based on Xander's description, they couldn't be anything else.”
“What can you tell me about these many tock demons?” Buffy asked.
“Demonic insects, unfortunately rather large, as you can see.” Giles gestured towards the stacks where a bug, with over a half dozen legs and a large, curved tail dripping venom, was crawling out. “They don't move quickly but the y do tend to swarm.”
“Swarm?” Willow gulped. “Like army ants.”
“Unfortunately all too accurate a description,” Giles replied. “Decimating everything in their path.”
“That sounds, not good,” Oz quipped.
“Giles, you get started on research while we keep them at bay,” Ethan ordered. As Giles climbed onto the center of the table, Ethan added, “Willow, have you been practicing that spell I taught you, creating energy balls?”
“Oh yeah,” she chirped happily. “Just last night, I got it too...”
“Time to see how well you've learned your lessons then,” Ethan interrupted. “Oz and Xander, we'll be feeding you, you throw them at the demons. It should be enough to kill them if you throw hard enough. Oz, you aim towards the left, trying to give Buffy as much room to work as you can. Xander, you keep them away from us at the right side of the stairs. Let's go,” he shouted as a dozen bugs started crawling out of the stacks.
About five minutes later, Willow looked up from her work to see that the bugs covered the second level and had worked their way down three steps of the staircase. “Ow,” she shouted as the energy ball she'd been creating dissolved against her, burning her skin.
“Focus, Willow,” Ethan said calmly.
“But, the demons, I didn't realize they'd gotten that far.”
“It's OK,” Oz told her. “Just breathe and we'll be fine.”
“Has anyone seen deLuarien's On the Demons of the Fourth Hyudrath?” Rupert asked.
“Oz,” Xander replied, not taking his eyes from his targets as Ethan continued to hand him energy balls. “There's a leather book, green and blue diamond pattern, near your left foot. Book Giles is looking for.”
“Huh,” Oz said as he found and handed the book over to Rupert.
As Willow struggled to regain her concentration, with nobody backing Buffy, the demon bugs were crawling down to her position mid-stairs. “Buffy,” Ethan shouted. “Those things are toxic, with no cure. If you're stung, we won't be able to save you.”
“And you're just telling me this now because?” she asked as she picked up the pace with her sword, sending demon guts everywhere.
“My bad,” Ethan lied, covering for Rupert who hadn't mentioned it. “I should have mentioned it early.” Rupert raised his eyes from his research, giving Ethan a sharp glance before returning back to the books.
“Um, guys? Do those things have to stay on the floor?” Xander asked, finally sounding frightened. All eyes moved up to the walls where the bugs were crawling outward... and up.
“Rupert,” Ethan said. “Now or never. Another minute or two and they'll be directly above us.”
“I need sweetgrass, sage, and a crystal,” Rupert replied.
Ethan ripped off his necklace and dropped it into Rupert's hand. “This do?”
“The rose quartz I gave you our first Christmas together,” Rupert replied. “Perfectly. And the rest?”
“Can't help you there I'm afraid.”
“Oz, do you have that bag I gave you?” Willow asked.
“You mean this?” he asked, pulling a small leather pouch out of his pocket.
“It's a protective spell,” she told Rupert. “It's got sage and sweetgrass but some other herbs as well.”
“That should be fine,” Rupert replied. He poured the herbs out and lit them, chanting in a language that only Willow and Ethan recognized. As he spun the crystal through the smoke, a flash of light shot out, brightening even the darkest corners of the library. When it had dissipated, all the demons bugs were gone.
From behind, they heard clapping. “Good job everyone. I wasn't sure you'd survive but I was rooting for you, I really was.” Even before their heads had turned, they all recognized the voice. Angelus.
“What do you want?” Buffy asked, striding past the table to put herself between her friends and danger.
“Want? You mean I can't come over to make sure my lover is all right? Got any wounds you need looking after? Got a little place we can go,” he said, walking towards her.
She raised her blade until it was directly between them, just inches away from his chest. “Whoa,” he laughed, raising his arms and stepping back. “No need to get contrary. I was concerned for you. I really was.”
“Get out.”
“Great defenses you've got here,” he added in a parting shot. “Completely open. Two ways in, not including window access. No way to keep vampires out. I'm loving this place.”
After Angelus had left, Rupert said, “Perhaps he's right.”
“Right?” Buffy asked, sounding appalled.
“This isn't a safe place for research, at least at night. I think Ethan and I should drive you home and we'll pick up again in the morning.”
Everyone stood and stared for a moment until Oz nodded and replied, “Good point.”
“I call shotgun,” Xander shouted as he bounced towards the door.
“Rupert is driving and I am sitting up front next to him,” Ethan called after him as they all headed into the hallway.
* * *
It was very late by the time they'd gotten home. Ethan, knowing Rupert would be distracted by both exhaustion and concern, felt it was a perfect time to start putting his plan in action. “So, dear heart, what did you think?”
“Think?” Rupert replied absentmindedly as he removed his jacket.
“About how Xander handled himself today. We wouldn't have known the Mnetok demons were there in time if he hadn't found them.”
“Accidentally throwing a baseball on a demon is not a special ability,” Rupert replied with real irritation.
You really don't like talking about him, do you? Can't imagine why, Ethan thought with a twitch of jealousy. “He had more situational awareness than the rest of us and he found the book you needed.”
“Do we have to be having this conversation now? Come to be love,” Rupert replied reaching his hands out to Ethan.
Ethan placed his hands in Rupert's but continued. “I want to start training him.”
“Training? He has no magical potential and, even if he does have these other abilities you keep postulating, they are elusive enough that I can't begin to imagine what training could exist for them.”
“In fighting,” Ethan replied.
“What about Willow's training?” Rupert asked.
“You know all my more advanced magics are chaotic.” Ethan replied. “She's past the basics and needs someone grounded in ceremonial magics as an instructor.”
“More work for me, you mean,” Rupert replied.
“Or Miss Calendar,” he answered. He didn't like invoking her name, knowing she'd once meant something to Rupert, but he did want Rupert distracted from why he really wanted to train Xander, and from what he wanted to train him him in.
“I'm not sure asking Jenny would be a good idea, not after he people restored Angelus' soul.”
“Which they paid for,” Ethan replied, referring to the scores of gypsies who'd converged on Sunnydale only to be killed by Angelus. “Willow really is past what I can teach her, unless you want her learning chaos magics.”
“No, I'll do it.”
“Good,” Ethan replied as he leaned in for a kiss. Another distraction but a more pleasant one.
Fandom: BtVS
Characters/Pairing: Ethan/Giles, Xander
Rating: PG-13 overall
Concrit: Please, in comments
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, not yet, but the will be once I've taken over the world. Bwah-ha-ha.
Warnings/Squicks: None
Summary: With a sigh, Giles asked Xander to find Starfall's Index on Demonology. Xander staggered up the stairs, trying to walk and keep the three balls going at the same time until, two steps from the top, he stumbled. One of the balls disappeared into the stacks and landed with a high pitched squeal.
Series index is here.
“Willow, how's it going?” Rupert asked.
Looking up from her computer, Willow replied, “There's nothing about a demon that only eats a person's insides.”
Xander, standing at the bottom of the stairs and juggling three balls said, “Of course not. The skin's the best part.”
“Xander,” Giles shouted. As he startled in response, one ball flew onto the table, where it got lost in a pile of books, while the other two fell at Xander's feet. “Must you toss those infernal things around the room?”
“They're baseballs,” Xander said as he picked them back up. “And I'm not tossing, I'm juggling.”
With a sigh, Giles asked Xander to find Starfall's Index on Demonology. Xander staggered up the stairs, trying to walk and keep the three balls going at the same time until, two steps from the top, he stumbled. One of the balls disappeared into the stacks and landed with a high pitched squeal.
“What was that?” Buffy asked as all eyes turned towards the bookshelves.
“I'm going with something bad,” Oz said.
“Xander, did you see it?” Ethan asked. He didn't get up from his seat at the table but was looking alertly towards the stacks.
“Well, the one under my baseball is a big, yellow squish and can I say eww?” Xander said, making his way back down the stairs while never taking his eyes off the second floor.
“There are others?” Giles asked.
“Oh yeah, something scuttled off. A scorpion the size of a cat?”
Ethan bolted up from his chair. “Buffy, grab a weapon, something with a reach that you can slice and dice with. Everyone else, on top of the table.” Buffy grabbed a sword while everyone else, except Rupert, scrambled up onto the table.
“Mnetok demons, dear heart,” Ethan told him.
Rupert paled in response but only asked calmly, “Are you certain?”
“Based on Xander's description, they couldn't be anything else.”
“What can you tell me about these many tock demons?” Buffy asked.
“Demonic insects, unfortunately rather large, as you can see.” Giles gestured towards the stacks where a bug, with over a half dozen legs and a large, curved tail dripping venom, was crawling out. “They don't move quickly but the y do tend to swarm.”
“Swarm?” Willow gulped. “Like army ants.”
“Unfortunately all too accurate a description,” Giles replied. “Decimating everything in their path.”
“That sounds, not good,” Oz quipped.
“Giles, you get started on research while we keep them at bay,” Ethan ordered. As Giles climbed onto the center of the table, Ethan added, “Willow, have you been practicing that spell I taught you, creating energy balls?”
“Oh yeah,” she chirped happily. “Just last night, I got it too...”
“Time to see how well you've learned your lessons then,” Ethan interrupted. “Oz and Xander, we'll be feeding you, you throw them at the demons. It should be enough to kill them if you throw hard enough. Oz, you aim towards the left, trying to give Buffy as much room to work as you can. Xander, you keep them away from us at the right side of the stairs. Let's go,” he shouted as a dozen bugs started crawling out of the stacks.
About five minutes later, Willow looked up from her work to see that the bugs covered the second level and had worked their way down three steps of the staircase. “Ow,” she shouted as the energy ball she'd been creating dissolved against her, burning her skin.
“Focus, Willow,” Ethan said calmly.
“But, the demons, I didn't realize they'd gotten that far.”
“It's OK,” Oz told her. “Just breathe and we'll be fine.”
“Has anyone seen deLuarien's On the Demons of the Fourth Hyudrath?” Rupert asked.
“Oz,” Xander replied, not taking his eyes from his targets as Ethan continued to hand him energy balls. “There's a leather book, green and blue diamond pattern, near your left foot. Book Giles is looking for.”
“Huh,” Oz said as he found and handed the book over to Rupert.
As Willow struggled to regain her concentration, with nobody backing Buffy, the demon bugs were crawling down to her position mid-stairs. “Buffy,” Ethan shouted. “Those things are toxic, with no cure. If you're stung, we won't be able to save you.”
“And you're just telling me this now because?” she asked as she picked up the pace with her sword, sending demon guts everywhere.
“My bad,” Ethan lied, covering for Rupert who hadn't mentioned it. “I should have mentioned it early.” Rupert raised his eyes from his research, giving Ethan a sharp glance before returning back to the books.
“Um, guys? Do those things have to stay on the floor?” Xander asked, finally sounding frightened. All eyes moved up to the walls where the bugs were crawling outward... and up.
“Rupert,” Ethan said. “Now or never. Another minute or two and they'll be directly above us.”
“I need sweetgrass, sage, and a crystal,” Rupert replied.
Ethan ripped off his necklace and dropped it into Rupert's hand. “This do?”
“The rose quartz I gave you our first Christmas together,” Rupert replied. “Perfectly. And the rest?”
“Can't help you there I'm afraid.”
“Oz, do you have that bag I gave you?” Willow asked.
“You mean this?” he asked, pulling a small leather pouch out of his pocket.
“It's a protective spell,” she told Rupert. “It's got sage and sweetgrass but some other herbs as well.”
“That should be fine,” Rupert replied. He poured the herbs out and lit them, chanting in a language that only Willow and Ethan recognized. As he spun the crystal through the smoke, a flash of light shot out, brightening even the darkest corners of the library. When it had dissipated, all the demons bugs were gone.
From behind, they heard clapping. “Good job everyone. I wasn't sure you'd survive but I was rooting for you, I really was.” Even before their heads had turned, they all recognized the voice. Angelus.
“What do you want?” Buffy asked, striding past the table to put herself between her friends and danger.
“Want? You mean I can't come over to make sure my lover is all right? Got any wounds you need looking after? Got a little place we can go,” he said, walking towards her.
She raised her blade until it was directly between them, just inches away from his chest. “Whoa,” he laughed, raising his arms and stepping back. “No need to get contrary. I was concerned for you. I really was.”
“Get out.”
“Great defenses you've got here,” he added in a parting shot. “Completely open. Two ways in, not including window access. No way to keep vampires out. I'm loving this place.”
After Angelus had left, Rupert said, “Perhaps he's right.”
“Right?” Buffy asked, sounding appalled.
“This isn't a safe place for research, at least at night. I think Ethan and I should drive you home and we'll pick up again in the morning.”
Everyone stood and stared for a moment until Oz nodded and replied, “Good point.”
“I call shotgun,” Xander shouted as he bounced towards the door.
“Rupert is driving and I am sitting up front next to him,” Ethan called after him as they all headed into the hallway.
* * *
It was very late by the time they'd gotten home. Ethan, knowing Rupert would be distracted by both exhaustion and concern, felt it was a perfect time to start putting his plan in action. “So, dear heart, what did you think?”
“Think?” Rupert replied absentmindedly as he removed his jacket.
“About how Xander handled himself today. We wouldn't have known the Mnetok demons were there in time if he hadn't found them.”
“Accidentally throwing a baseball on a demon is not a special ability,” Rupert replied with real irritation.
You really don't like talking about him, do you? Can't imagine why, Ethan thought with a twitch of jealousy. “He had more situational awareness than the rest of us and he found the book you needed.”
“Do we have to be having this conversation now? Come to be love,” Rupert replied reaching his hands out to Ethan.
Ethan placed his hands in Rupert's but continued. “I want to start training him.”
“Training? He has no magical potential and, even if he does have these other abilities you keep postulating, they are elusive enough that I can't begin to imagine what training could exist for them.”
“In fighting,” Ethan replied.
“What about Willow's training?” Rupert asked.
“You know all my more advanced magics are chaotic.” Ethan replied. “She's past the basics and needs someone grounded in ceremonial magics as an instructor.”
“More work for me, you mean,” Rupert replied.
“Or Miss Calendar,” he answered. He didn't like invoking her name, knowing she'd once meant something to Rupert, but he did want Rupert distracted from why he really wanted to train Xander, and from what he wanted to train him him in.
“I'm not sure asking Jenny would be a good idea, not after he people restored Angelus' soul.”
“Which they paid for,” Ethan replied, referring to the scores of gypsies who'd converged on Sunnydale only to be killed by Angelus. “Willow really is past what I can teach her, unless you want her learning chaos magics.”
“No, I'll do it.”
“Good,” Ethan replied as he leaned in for a kiss. Another distraction but a more pleasant one.