Summary: Video games are fun.
Crossover: NWN, Thief: The Dark Project
Disclaimer: I own... lets see... the remainder of my glass of beer.
Feedback: Shure! Omake also welcome! I'd better get more reviews than I did for 'Betrayed', or I'll throw a hissy fit and go back to my assignment work. (Uh... joke! Joke!)
Pre-fic Comments:
Stupid frigging muse. Stupid durn idea. The 'hire two guys' joke is from Pterry.
"Hey, Xander," Buffy called out as she entered the Library. "How are you going with your Scythe of Fire game?"
"Neverwinter Nights?," Xander answered. "I think I finished that. I'm playing Thief right now."
"Oh, cool," Buffy said. She sat down by him at the computer. "Hey, there's a guard! Kill him!"
"I'm a thief in this game, Buff, not a murderer," Xander said, hurt. "And he'd waste me."
"Bummer," the Slayer said happily. "What are you trying to do?"
"Steal so much gold I'll have to hire two guys to make sure my pants don't fall down from the loot in my pockets."
"Really?," Buffy asked suspiciously.
"Not really. At the moment, I'm trying to frame a guard and get in in trouble."
"Ah, Buffy," Giles said, emerging from his office. "I had intended to talk to you about your patrol."
"Ah, yeah, patrol," Buffy nodded. "You know, I deserve a... holiday. Yeah. I mean, I just killed an evil snake dude."
"Ooo, diamond ring," Xander said, stealing it from the evidence vault in the game.
"Xander," Giles said, exasperated. "Kindly preserve your game, turn off that machine, and get to class."
"Okay," Xander shrugged, doing as he was told. As he walked out the door, he added, "G-man, no saving over my games again!"
"What? You're playing computer games, too?," Buffy asked her Watcher, incredulous.
"Perhaps," Giles allowed. "Now, as to patrols."
"Awwww, c'mon," Buffy whined. "I'm busy every night as it is with them!"
"For Halloween, you may have the night off," Giles said, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
"I want a night off--what did you say?," Buffy blinked.
"Traditionally, all vampires and demons stay at home for Halloween," Giles explained. "Given your dedication to your duties recently, it would not be amiss to reward you with a brief reprieve."
"All /right/!," Buffy cheered. She scooped up her bag. "/Later/, G-man!"
"Don't call me that," Giles said irritably to an empty room.
The next morning brought pain, and misery galore. Well, maybe not pain, but certainly misery.
"I can't believe he's making me go out on Halloween!," Buffy complained.
"Snyder said costumes are mandatory," Willow said. She didn't look thrilled either.
"Great. I was gonna stay in and veg," Buffy continued to moan. "The one night a year things are supposed to be quiet for me."
"Halloween quiet?," Xander asked. "Oh, I figured it'd be a big old vamp scare-apalooza."
"Not according to Giles," Buffy shrugged as they walked into the student lounge. "He swears that tomorrow night is, like, dead for the undead. They stay in."
"Those wacky vampires!," Xander grinned. "That's why I love 'em! They just keep you guessing! What costumes are you lovely ladies donning?"
"I dunno," Buffy shrugged. "Maybe... something medieval?"
"I'm willing to venture that you, Willow, will be... a... ghost!," Xander said, eyes closed, hands touching his forehead.
"Give the man a prize!," Willow smiled.
"Aw, c'mon, Willow," Buffy said disapprovingly. "Halloween is come as you /aren't/ night! You can be wild and adventurous!"
"Oh no," Willow said earnestly. "Wild on me equals spaz."
"No way," Xander said firmly. "You could never look like a spaz. It's just not possible."
"What are you going as, Xander?," Willow asked.
"A thief?," Xander ventured.
"Like in that game?," Buffy asked. "What does he wear, anyway?"
"Black clothes, a hood," Xander began. "I can probably get most of it from home. I just need to find a hood, a blackjack, a bow, and some arrows."
"Maybe this isn't gonna be so bad after all," Willow began to smile.
Xander crept along the hallway. Sneaky thief, sneaky thief... he spotted Larry, dressed in a garish piratical outfit. He snuck past him, weapons hidden under his clothes, bow under his cloak. The football player didn't notice Xander.
"Go one for the master thief!," Xander crowed as he got to the foyer unmolested.
"Sneak past all those mean and nasty bullies, did we?," Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow aristocratically in her fancy gown.
"Absolutely," Xander nodded.
"Silence," Snyder said, handing Buffy a clipboard and torch. "Summers, here's your group. No need to speak to them -- the last thing they need is /your/ influence. Bring them back in one piece and I'll consider not expelling you."
"Later, Princess Buffy," Xander called out.
"What on earth are you supposed to be, Harris?," Principal Snyder asked. "No, I'm probably better off not knowing. Here's your group of children. The same strictures apply to you."
With that, the diminuitive administrator scurried off.
"Okay," Xander said, eyeing up his group, "on stealing extra candy. Distract, distract, distract. While one of you has the old lady's attention, another has his hands in her bowl of goodies. Silence. Don't let her notice you taking extra candy. Hiding. Try to hide what you've taken until you've made a clean getaway. Any questions?"
All the kids shook their heads. The four boys looked at Xander with adoration in their eyes.
"Let's go, then!"
Post-fic Comments:
Thief 2 is very addictive.