Title: Want Take Have
Author: Dea Brynhild
Ensomhet
Pairing: Spike-Xander, Buffy-Faith, Oz-Lindsey...
and possibly a mixing of partners...
Timeline: AU, with
bits of canon details to spice things up.
Feedback: Is
cherished. Like a bronzed family heirloom. I would bronze a printed
page of feedback but you probably wouldn't be able to read it
anymore. Maybe you could, I don't know much about bronzing. It's not
like skiing. I don't know much about skiing, but I know more about
skiing than bronzing. Really I do. I swear.
Archival: Just
ask and ye shall recieve.
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the
Buffy or Angel cast, crew, characters, plotlines, etc. D'Oblique is a
club from "Lonely Hearts", As1. I don't own Velvet
Goldmine, or the play "The Night of January 16th" by Ayn
Rand. I also don't own "Habibi ya nour al ain", the song Oz
dances to. I don't own "Round Baby Round" either, it's from
the movie "When Love Comes" staring Dean O'Gorman.
Author's
Notes: This is a sequel to my fic "Gotta Get It", and
probably will be all sorts of confusing if you didn't read that
first. There're also two GGI prequels: "Behind the Scenes"
and "Facade". Lindsey and Oz are a bit OOC, with Lindsey
being a bit more insecure and docile (at least around Oz), and Oz
being kinda a jerk. Perhaps a bit more than kinda. I'm not
intentionally bashing them - I like them as characters in the
Buffyverse - but this is an AU and this is how my muses are making me
write.
"""
Chapter 1: I saw your book at a Borders in Kentucky under a sign that said New and Recommended. I stole a look at your picture on the inside sleeve and then I couldn't leave...
I saw your book at a Borders in Kentucky
under a sign that
said "New and Reccomended".
I stole a look at your
picture on the inside sleeve
and then I couldn't leave.
Richard,
who was with me, got uncharacteristically quiet,
Then
he said, "All things considered, I guess
you don't have to
buy it." So I smile like
Mona Lisa and I lay my Visa down! He
wants me,
he wants me, But he ain't gonna get me!
I've found my
guiding light--
I tell the stars each night:
"Look at me!
Look at him! Son-of-a-bitch!
I guess I'm doing something right!
I
finally got something right!"
- "A Summer In Ohio",
The Last 5 Years
It was a surprisingly nice day for this late in the year, and he'd decided to take a bit of a walk to clear his head. The town hadn't changed much in the years he'd been gone; a few of the stores and clubs wore different names, but for the most part everything was so familiar it hurt. He'd been thinking and worrying about this trip for a while, and now that he was actually here, his apprehension kicked up a notch. He'd thought about stopping by the apartment, but he wanted to get his bearings before the big confrontation.
His gaze passed over the couples frolicking in the park, but it was the sound of his voice that made him stop and turn. The brunette in the cowboy outfit was a stranger, but the other guy was the owner of the voice that still haunted his dreams. "Spike? Is that you?"
The guy looked up, and sure enough, it was him. "Oz? It's been a while." Spike said, pulling a pair of cheap white plastic vampire teeth out of his mouth so that he could talk easier.
"Yeah." Oz couldn't stop the grin from forming, as Spike and the new boyfriend got to their feet, along with the two girls. "Got a gig over at the D'Oblique, thought I'd look you up. Hey, Buffy."
"Hey, Oz." Buffy nodded, an arm wrapped around the other girl. Spike wasn't as PDA with his boy toy, but Oz noticed they were holding hands. "Black?"
Oz ran a hand through his tousled dark locks. "Yeah."
"It looks good on you." Spike offered.
"Thanks. Nice scalp, by the way. It's different."
"Thanks." Spike replied. "So, the D'Oblique? Haven't been there in a while. It's probably changed a lot."
"Hardly recognized it myself. They probably still completely redesign it every few months, just 'cause they can. It's not as if Nabbit can't afford it. I'm just surprised they haven't changed their name."
"Yeah."
An awkward pause almost erupted, but Oz gestured toward the entrance to the park. "Well, I should be going. We've gotta scout out the space, set up the band and stuff." He took a step away, and then turned back. "We're playing at the Halloween party tonight, if you wanna come."
Spike glanced at the guy he was with before turning back to Oz. "Thanks for the invite." He didn't say yes or no, Oz noted with some curiosity. Obviously their relationship was new if Spike couldn't give any definitive answer without consulting his new fling.
"Guess I'll see you around." Oz said, deciding to leave before the awkwardness got too heavy. He walked away without turning back, letting a small smile cross his face as the foursome watched him go.
"""
"Who was that guy?" Faith asked as they stepped into her apartment.
"He's an old friend, and Spike's ex." Buffy replied, on her way to the bedroom to change out of her Halloween costume. She still paid rent on the apartment that she shared with Spike, but most of her clothes and belongings had migrated to Faith's place. She rarely stayed at her own place anymore, and she made a mental note to look into selling it since Spike spent every waking non-working moment with Xander anyway.
"Seemed like you guys hadn't seen him recently." Faith commented, helping Buffy with her zipper.
Buffy shrugged out of her clothes, opening up the closet door to browse for another outfit. "He hasn't been around for years, busy touring around the country with his band. Last I heard he was in Texas for a while. Didn't know he was back in town." She pulled out a navy blouse with silver studs embroidered in it. "What do you think?"
Faith scrunched up her nose as she stepped out of her miniskirt and tried to keep the attached strips of gossamer cloth from getting hopelessly tangled. "No. The club's usually dark enough that it'll look black - mineswell just wear black to begin with. What about that silvery thing you got last week?" She reached past Buffy to pull out a glittery silver halter top and a black leather miniskirt. "Here. Wear this."
Buffy put back the navy blouse, and pulled out a hip-length silver mesh dress. "Only if you wear this," she smirked, handing it to Faith.
Faith traded hangers and held the dress against her body, glancing down to approximate the fit. "I guess I can be convinced," she decided, laying the dress out on the bed, before suddenly sprinting out of the bedroom. "Last one to the shower has to eat a whole plate-full of the guys' cooking!"
"Eww! Not fair!" Buffy exclaimed, tossing the halter and skirt on the bed and taking off after Faith.
"""
Oz pulled into the parking lot of the Sunnydale Motor Lodge and parked. Janal, Nakoi, and Modiv jerked back into their shells as the van's engine died. Oz grinned at the three little hermit crabs in the glass cruet on the dashboard before reaching under his seat for a battered paperback.
The Collected Poems of William Barstow. Astounded, he had briefly stopped breathing when he first saw it, lying plain as day on a table in a Barnes and Noble in Texas. From the moment he picked it up, he knew he had to come back and see Spike again. The picture of William on the back cover had been an older snapshot, taken right before William had begrudgingly agreed to let Andrew cut his hair short and dye it blond. William had wanted a good picture of himself before he'd agreed to the debacle, sure that the blond hair would look so dreadful he'd be wearing a paper bag over his head for the years it would take for his hair to grow back again. He couldn't stop wondering what Spike looked like now, if he was even still calling himself Spike or if he'd gone back to William after Oz had left.
The door of room 107 swung open and a man stepped into the doorway and stopped, wearing only a pair of blue jeans. Oz slid the book back under his seat and grabbed the cruet, sliding out of the van.
"Did you find him okay?" Lindsey said carefully, watching Oz.
"Yeah." Oz replied, walking towards him. Lindsey opened his arms to embrace Oz, but Oz slid past him and into the hotel room. Lindsey sighed and closed the door, leaning back on it and crossing his arms as he watched Oz silently. There was a small plastic aquarium sitting on the bureau next to the television, and Oz opened the lid and carefully transferred the hermit crabs from the cruet into their home. He touched the sponge to make sure Lindsey had soaked it with water before replacing the lid of the aquarium. Still not talking, Oz lay down on his stomach on one of the twin beds and began flipping through the TV Guide.
Lindsey cradled his forehead with one hand. "God, Oz, I don't know what to do. I told you I love you and you didn't kick me out of the band, so I kind of figured that was a good sign."
Oz glanced over his shoulder at Lindsey. "I'm sorry, Linds." Oz said, his face completely expressionless. Usually Lindsey got a little flutter in his stomach when Oz called him nicknames, but this time all he could feel was cold. "But I love someone else."
"That Spike guy?" Lindsey said bitterly as he pushed away from the door, anger twining with the cold. "Then why the hell aren't you with him right now? That is why you came here, right?"
"Unforeseen circumstances," Oz replied. "He got someone else while I was away."
"Then that's it, then." Lindsey said, allowing himself a small bit of satisfaction at the shitty position Oz was in. "So sorry you wasted your time." That small pleasure vanished at Oz's next words.
"Unlike some people, I don't give up." Oz said, casting a cutting glance at Lindsey before turning back to the TV Guide, effectively cutting short the conversation.
"Fuck you." Lindsey spat, storming into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. If Oz heard any muffled crying coming from the closed door he ignored it, and was fast asleep long before the door opened again.
