Getting Off The Griefmobile
By Annakovsky
See part 1 for all relevant info and disclaimer.
***********
CHAPTER TEN
***********
Buffy swung left and ducked under a low-hanging tree branch, having finally remembered that your average zombie has really poor eyesight. Because of the pre-zombification rotting, you know. As predicted, the zombie chasing her slammed right into the branch and was knocked flat. Two seconds later its head was celebrating its independence from its body and Buffy was looking around for where she'd dropped her duffel bag, so she could get out the old towel she used for cleaning her weapons. Giles had had a fit last time she'd left random goo on his best sword and even though he and Faith were somewhere in Central America at the moment, she still had the sneaking suspicion that somehow he'd *know* if she didn't wipe it off.
She'd run into a whole gang of zombies that night in Cave Hill Cemetery. Did zombies come in gangs? A herd of zombies? A flock of zombies? A pride of zombies? She should ask Willow when she got home.
Patrolling in Louisville had been really low-key until the last week - after the arrival of the blue grass demon things had kicked up a notch. Buffy was almost glad, though, because she had a serious case of pre-apocalypse twitchiness. She knew the First was amassing power, but there wasn't anything she could do – just wait on Angel and hope that they'd put a dent in the First's corporeal resources by getting rid of the uber-vamp army and the Harbingers and everything. So having something to do besides worrying was a definite plus. Bring on the zombies! Otherwise she'd sit at home and fidget, or yell at Dawn for stupid things.
She finished cleaning the sword and headed for the exit, where she'd left the car. Cave Hill was her favorite cemetery, and whenever she left it she always noticed the private school across the street. Maybe Dawn should go there in the fall. The Council could afford tuition, right? She should start investigating what schools in the area were good - that'd be a useful and distracting kind of thing to do during the day.
The house had felt pretty empty since Faith and Giles had been gone. All seven of them had turned into this tight group somehow over the course of the summer, and now there didn't seem to be enough people at the dinner table. Giles called every couple of days to let them know they were all right, though. They were picking up the pace, trying to talk to as many Slayers as possible every day so they could come back soon.
Tonight the house would be even more empty, as Dawn had begged for permission for her and Andrew to drive up to Cincinnati to see an Avril Lavigne concert. Buffy had grudgingly told her she could go, mostly because she knew she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't. While they were gone, Buffy, Willow and Xander were going to take advantage of the quiet to have a movie night.
"I thought Dawn and Andrew broke up last weekend and she was never speaking to him again," Willow had said when she heard about their concert trip. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"They did. In Dawn time, 'never' is around a day and a half."
"So if the kids are gone, we three can bond!" Xander said. "We can have a night of bondage fun." He snickered. To Buffy's surprise, Willow did too, though she stopped as soon as Buffy looked at her.
So Willow and Xander were renting a movie while Buffy did her quick patrol, and then they were all going to watch it on the new big-screen TV and the really comfortable new couches when she got back. It was extremely cool to be kind of almost rich. They could rent DVDs, now!
She drove down I-64 with the radio turned up loud, tapping on the steering wheel and going too fast. On her way to watch DVDs with her two best friends, fresh from slaughtering a gaggle of zombies, and "The Middle" playing on the radio. It was every girl's dream night, really.
She cheerfully bounced into the house and yelled that she was back. "In the TV room," called Willow.
"Hey, what're you watching?" she asked when she got up there.
"Um... The Real World," said Xander. Buffy noticed that he and Willow were sitting at the far opposite ends of the couch, looking sort of awkward. Willow was kind of red in the face.
"I haven't watched that in forever," Buffy said, plopping down on the couch. "Not since me and Riley used to watch it together. Or, well, not watch it... you know how it is." She laughed. Willow's eyes were huge.
"Making out in front of the Real World?" Willow asked, and giggled nervously. "Wow, that's funny. I'd sure never do anything like that, no siree, nope."
"What's with you?" Buffy asked. Willow turned redder, if that was possible.
"Huh? Nothing. Do you guys want popcorn? I'm gonna go make popcorn." She hurried out of the room. Buffy looked at Xander, who had a weird look on his face.
"Okay, so that was odd," she said. Xander nodded vaguely, playing with his shoelace.
"So how was the slaying, Buffster?" he asked. "Get anything good?"
"Bunch of zombies. No big deal. Don't know if anyone raised them specifically or if they're just getting stirred up because of general First Evil activity. I guess we'll figure it out if anything else happens. So what'd you guys rent?" She reached over to the coffee table, where a couple of Blockbuster DVD cases rested.
"Willow insisted on 'The Sound of Music', and I got 'The Fast and the Furious' to assert my heterosexuality."
"Cool. You know we're going to watch 'The Sound of Music', though, right?" Xander gave a beleaguered sigh.
"Yes."
"Good," Buffy laughed. She got up to put the movie in the DVD player. After she'd returned to the couch, Willow reappeared with popcorn, handing the bowl to Buffy and again sitting on the far side of the couch from Xander, without looking at him.
The phone rang when Maria, flustered by her feelings for Captain Von Trapp, was packing her bags to leave. Buffy groaned and leaned over Xander to grab at the portable phone on the side table. Xander picked up the enormous remote control and paused the movie.
"Angel? Hey!" Buffy said. She got up and took the phone out of the room to talk in private. A few minutes later she popped her head back in the room, holding a hand over the phone's mouthpiece.
"Hey, you guys up for a mission? The guy Angel got in touch with won't talk to Slayers."
"Why not?"
"Demon. Has an aversion to being poked with pointy things."
"Ah." Willow and Xander looked at each other.
"Yeah, okay," said Xander, and shrugged. "We'll talk to the guy if you need us to."
"Great," Buffy said, and popped her head back out again to find out the details.
Willow glanced towards Xander, but whipped her head away again when she caught his eye.
**************************
TBC...
NOTES: Cave Hill Cemetery is really beautiful – my grandmother's buried there. Though to my knowledge she is not now, nor has she ever been, part of a zombie gang.
I feel a little bad for Buffy – everybody's making out except for her (and Faith and Giles, but they're having intense conversations in Panama or wherever at the moment). I guess you can imagine that Buffy's pining after Angel or Spike or, you know, Riley - whatever your 'ship of choice is. Personally, I think she's saving herself for Justin Timberlake.
By Annakovsky
See part 1 for all relevant info and disclaimer.
***********
CHAPTER TEN
***********
Buffy swung left and ducked under a low-hanging tree branch, having finally remembered that your average zombie has really poor eyesight. Because of the pre-zombification rotting, you know. As predicted, the zombie chasing her slammed right into the branch and was knocked flat. Two seconds later its head was celebrating its independence from its body and Buffy was looking around for where she'd dropped her duffel bag, so she could get out the old towel she used for cleaning her weapons. Giles had had a fit last time she'd left random goo on his best sword and even though he and Faith were somewhere in Central America at the moment, she still had the sneaking suspicion that somehow he'd *know* if she didn't wipe it off.
She'd run into a whole gang of zombies that night in Cave Hill Cemetery. Did zombies come in gangs? A herd of zombies? A flock of zombies? A pride of zombies? She should ask Willow when she got home.
Patrolling in Louisville had been really low-key until the last week - after the arrival of the blue grass demon things had kicked up a notch. Buffy was almost glad, though, because she had a serious case of pre-apocalypse twitchiness. She knew the First was amassing power, but there wasn't anything she could do – just wait on Angel and hope that they'd put a dent in the First's corporeal resources by getting rid of the uber-vamp army and the Harbingers and everything. So having something to do besides worrying was a definite plus. Bring on the zombies! Otherwise she'd sit at home and fidget, or yell at Dawn for stupid things.
She finished cleaning the sword and headed for the exit, where she'd left the car. Cave Hill was her favorite cemetery, and whenever she left it she always noticed the private school across the street. Maybe Dawn should go there in the fall. The Council could afford tuition, right? She should start investigating what schools in the area were good - that'd be a useful and distracting kind of thing to do during the day.
The house had felt pretty empty since Faith and Giles had been gone. All seven of them had turned into this tight group somehow over the course of the summer, and now there didn't seem to be enough people at the dinner table. Giles called every couple of days to let them know they were all right, though. They were picking up the pace, trying to talk to as many Slayers as possible every day so they could come back soon.
Tonight the house would be even more empty, as Dawn had begged for permission for her and Andrew to drive up to Cincinnati to see an Avril Lavigne concert. Buffy had grudgingly told her she could go, mostly because she knew she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't. While they were gone, Buffy, Willow and Xander were going to take advantage of the quiet to have a movie night.
"I thought Dawn and Andrew broke up last weekend and she was never speaking to him again," Willow had said when she heard about their concert trip. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"They did. In Dawn time, 'never' is around a day and a half."
"So if the kids are gone, we three can bond!" Xander said. "We can have a night of bondage fun." He snickered. To Buffy's surprise, Willow did too, though she stopped as soon as Buffy looked at her.
So Willow and Xander were renting a movie while Buffy did her quick patrol, and then they were all going to watch it on the new big-screen TV and the really comfortable new couches when she got back. It was extremely cool to be kind of almost rich. They could rent DVDs, now!
She drove down I-64 with the radio turned up loud, tapping on the steering wheel and going too fast. On her way to watch DVDs with her two best friends, fresh from slaughtering a gaggle of zombies, and "The Middle" playing on the radio. It was every girl's dream night, really.
She cheerfully bounced into the house and yelled that she was back. "In the TV room," called Willow.
"Hey, what're you watching?" she asked when she got up there.
"Um... The Real World," said Xander. Buffy noticed that he and Willow were sitting at the far opposite ends of the couch, looking sort of awkward. Willow was kind of red in the face.
"I haven't watched that in forever," Buffy said, plopping down on the couch. "Not since me and Riley used to watch it together. Or, well, not watch it... you know how it is." She laughed. Willow's eyes were huge.
"Making out in front of the Real World?" Willow asked, and giggled nervously. "Wow, that's funny. I'd sure never do anything like that, no siree, nope."
"What's with you?" Buffy asked. Willow turned redder, if that was possible.
"Huh? Nothing. Do you guys want popcorn? I'm gonna go make popcorn." She hurried out of the room. Buffy looked at Xander, who had a weird look on his face.
"Okay, so that was odd," she said. Xander nodded vaguely, playing with his shoelace.
"So how was the slaying, Buffster?" he asked. "Get anything good?"
"Bunch of zombies. No big deal. Don't know if anyone raised them specifically or if they're just getting stirred up because of general First Evil activity. I guess we'll figure it out if anything else happens. So what'd you guys rent?" She reached over to the coffee table, where a couple of Blockbuster DVD cases rested.
"Willow insisted on 'The Sound of Music', and I got 'The Fast and the Furious' to assert my heterosexuality."
"Cool. You know we're going to watch 'The Sound of Music', though, right?" Xander gave a beleaguered sigh.
"Yes."
"Good," Buffy laughed. She got up to put the movie in the DVD player. After she'd returned to the couch, Willow reappeared with popcorn, handing the bowl to Buffy and again sitting on the far side of the couch from Xander, without looking at him.
The phone rang when Maria, flustered by her feelings for Captain Von Trapp, was packing her bags to leave. Buffy groaned and leaned over Xander to grab at the portable phone on the side table. Xander picked up the enormous remote control and paused the movie.
"Angel? Hey!" Buffy said. She got up and took the phone out of the room to talk in private. A few minutes later she popped her head back in the room, holding a hand over the phone's mouthpiece.
"Hey, you guys up for a mission? The guy Angel got in touch with won't talk to Slayers."
"Why not?"
"Demon. Has an aversion to being poked with pointy things."
"Ah." Willow and Xander looked at each other.
"Yeah, okay," said Xander, and shrugged. "We'll talk to the guy if you need us to."
"Great," Buffy said, and popped her head back out again to find out the details.
Willow glanced towards Xander, but whipped her head away again when she caught his eye.
**************************
TBC...
NOTES: Cave Hill Cemetery is really beautiful – my grandmother's buried there. Though to my knowledge she is not now, nor has she ever been, part of a zombie gang.
I feel a little bad for Buffy – everybody's making out except for her (and Faith and Giles, but they're having intense conversations in Panama or wherever at the moment). I guess you can imagine that Buffy's pining after Angel or Spike or, you know, Riley - whatever your 'ship of choice is. Personally, I think she's saving herself for Justin Timberlake.