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A feelgood fic for all! :)
So, my day has been rushed and stressful and all sorts of annoying things that I'm trying to purge my mind of, and that I'm certainly not going to inflict on you. Instead I come bearing Christmas (or Holiday/Hanukkah/Solstice etc) fic: Something warm and snuggly to help you all de-stress.
This also happens to be the second part of 'Not Quite a Christmas Carol' (Part 1 here), but if anyone has actually read Dickens' marvellous tale, they might recall that the first ghost is melancholy, the second jolly and the third creepy. Soooo, this fic is all about the warm and happy (see icon) - a sort of stand-alone within a stand-alone. Or, more precisely, an interlude. All you need to know is that Spike and Buffy are dating, he's come to Rome for Christmas and the resident Watcher is called Johnson (and his wife's pregnant). Let the schmoop commence. :)
Many thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathyh for the beta and feedback is the best present there is! ;)
The Ghost of Christmas Present
By far the best Christmas, Buffy decided, was one she didn’t have to arrange herself. Not that it would ever be quite right without Mom, but this year was already way ahead of all the others. She snuggled deeper into Spike’s embrace and let the conversation wrap around her like a warm blanket. They were in Johnson’s cosy flat, having just finished a wonderful and very English Christmas dinner, complete with flaming pudding, and there was now a good natured argument going on over what they should watch. Spike and Johnson for some bizarre reason wanted to watch ‘The Great Escape’ which apparently was another one of those mystifying British traditions. Dawn wanted a comedy and was enthusiastically backed up by Kristina, the only Slayer to have stayed in Rome since her whole family had been killed by Bringers.
Johnson looked at his wife pleadingly: “Sarah - please explain to these dear young things that it is quite simply not a proper Christmas unless one watches ‘The Great Escape’. I despair of them - they need to be inspired by this heroic tale, and all they care about is some pretty boy movie star and his tepid tale of comical woes in the pursuit of so-called love!”
Sarah, a pretty woman in her late twenties with dark curly hair and a joyful nature, contemplated the wine bottle on the table. “You don’t think the baby would be harmed if I drank just a little, do you? And in answer to your question, I honestly couldn’t care less. A comedy sounds fine to me.”
This caused Spike to enter the conversation again. “But patriotism is important!”
“Says the vampire!” Dawn said, raising a quizzical eyebrow.
“Says the English vampire!” Spike corrected. “I’ll have you know I did my bit in the war-effort, eating as many German soldiers as I could find - I’d have got a medal for sure if I wasn’t dead! And um... was in the army.” He frowned slightly, worried that this might not have been the best thing to say, but Sarah burst out laughing. “Spike! What are you like? God, you’ll be the end of me... “
Spike smirked, and Buffy thought to herself that it would be impossible to find better people to spend Christmas with. She missed her friends of course, but there was no way things would have been as relaxed as this if everyone had come. Apart from Dawn, these people only knew Spike as ‘the big hero’ and had just accepted him - much like the Scoobies had accepted Angel to begin with.
Sarah, who had only recently moved to Rome after commuting back-and-forth for half a year after Johnson’s appointment, found Spike wonderfully fascinating. A ‘Watcher born and bred’ (“My dad used flash cards from when I was tiny, which is why I have such a good knowledge of demons - I could tell the difference between a Rishmak and an Arumah-ka age 4 just from the horns!”), she loved his perspective on various incidents, but what separated her from any other Watcher Buffy had ever met was her wonderful sense of humour and irreverence (“Dad always wanted me to do well - I think he had some crazy idea of beating the Wyndham-Pryce’s - but sadly I am hopeless at languages and then I discovered boys when I was fifteen, so only just scraped through college. I did excel at kissing though!”) and Buffy fervently hoped that she and Johnson would stay in Rome for years to come - although the baby might complicate things.
The arguments having finally been settled when everyone agreed to watch ‘Return of the King’, she cautiously asked Sarah what their plans were now - did she want to return to England when the baby arrived?
“We were actually just discussing this earlier on, before we argued over how long the turkey should cook,” she replied and Johnson tore his eyes off the screen for a moment to join in. “I still think it was undercooked dear - one has to be careful with birds!”
“I liked it!” Spike chimed in. “And I’m an expert on birds!” He gave Buffy a little squeeze and she giggled.
Johnson however looked at his wife pointedly. “See?”
“Oh shut up!” Sarah retaliated. “It was fine. And I got my information from my mother who has never been wrong on a cooking-related matter since she baked her first sponge cake aged 5!”
“Really? She was 5?” Buffy asked, thinking that this was rather young to let someone near an oven.
“Well granny helped of course, but honestly my mother is one of these scarily perfect housewives and I think you have to be born that way. She’ll have the house spick and span by 10.30 on a morning and then spend the rest of the day knitting and baking and sorting out the hundreds of organisations she’s a member of. Actually the knitting is the only thing I was ever any good at.” She pointed proudly at her husband’s festive jumper and then stopped and tilted her head with a frown. “What on earth did you ask me about?” Before Buffy could answer, she remembered herself. “Oh yes - if we were ‘going home’ so to speak. I think,” she cast a speculative glance at Johnson, “That we decided to stay here. It’s fairly easy to travel between here and England - as well I know - and if we went back my mother would not be able to stop herself from interfering all the time! Not that I know the first thing about babies mind you, so I guess I’ll just have to make it up as I go along.”
She giggled, then her face suddenly turned sombre. “You’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, won’t you?” she asked Buffy. “I know that the risks are not as big as they used to be for active Watchers, what with all the new slayers, but I do worry - it just takes a demon to flick its wrist to make mincemeat of someone. I’m still not sure that ordinary humans should be involved in the fighting side of the business at all! Especially those who like to practically walk into the lion’s mouth.”
Buffy reassured her as much as she could, knowing that Johnson had a thing for wanting to try out new weapons for himself in the field. Noticing that Spike had become unusually quiet, she asked him what the matter was. “’S nothing pet.” He said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Just got to thinking about... something.”
She didn’t feel like prying, since she could tell that he wasn’t going to spill easily. Instead she leaned back against her vampire cushion and tried to focus on the movie. Another fight scene began and she glanced up at Spike. “Y’know, this really makes me want to try out my present!” “Does it now?” he replied. “You’re going to have to get it off your Watcher first!” She laughed, since her fabulous collapsible sword was still nestled in Johnson’s lap and she’d probably have to threaten him with violence to get it back.
Sarah shook her head. “I still can’t believe that I fell for a weapon’s geek!”
Kristina, who had appeared completely absorbed in the movie, turned around. “Are there any Watchers who don’t love weapons? Well apart from you Sarah?”
“And books!” Dawn added, “Don’t forget books - if you don’t love books with all your heart you can’t become a Watcher. It’s in their secret oath!”
Sarah laughed again. “I really hope this baby is a girl, because I’ll bring her up to love pink frilly things and despise all this fighting business.”
“Hear, hear!” Dawn cheered before turning back to the tv. “Oh - this is one of my favourite bits - Faramir is just so hot!”
Buffy sighed happily. This year’s Christmas was very, very good indeed.
Continued in The Ghost of Christmas Future.
This also happens to be the second part of 'Not Quite a Christmas Carol' (Part 1 here), but if anyone has actually read Dickens' marvellous tale, they might recall that the first ghost is melancholy, the second jolly and the third creepy. Soooo, this fic is all about the warm and happy (see icon) - a sort of stand-alone within a stand-alone. Or, more precisely, an interlude. All you need to know is that Spike and Buffy are dating, he's come to Rome for Christmas and the resident Watcher is called Johnson (and his wife's pregnant). Let the schmoop commence. :)
Many thanks to
kathyh for the beta and feedback is the best present there is! ;)By far the best Christmas, Buffy decided, was one she didn’t have to arrange herself. Not that it would ever be quite right without Mom, but this year was already way ahead of all the others. She snuggled deeper into Spike’s embrace and let the conversation wrap around her like a warm blanket. They were in Johnson’s cosy flat, having just finished a wonderful and very English Christmas dinner, complete with flaming pudding, and there was now a good natured argument going on over what they should watch. Spike and Johnson for some bizarre reason wanted to watch ‘The Great Escape’ which apparently was another one of those mystifying British traditions. Dawn wanted a comedy and was enthusiastically backed up by Kristina, the only Slayer to have stayed in Rome since her whole family had been killed by Bringers.
Johnson looked at his wife pleadingly: “Sarah - please explain to these dear young things that it is quite simply not a proper Christmas unless one watches ‘The Great Escape’. I despair of them - they need to be inspired by this heroic tale, and all they care about is some pretty boy movie star and his tepid tale of comical woes in the pursuit of so-called love!”
Sarah, a pretty woman in her late twenties with dark curly hair and a joyful nature, contemplated the wine bottle on the table. “You don’t think the baby would be harmed if I drank just a little, do you? And in answer to your question, I honestly couldn’t care less. A comedy sounds fine to me.”
This caused Spike to enter the conversation again. “But patriotism is important!”
“Says the vampire!” Dawn said, raising a quizzical eyebrow.
“Says the English vampire!” Spike corrected. “I’ll have you know I did my bit in the war-effort, eating as many German soldiers as I could find - I’d have got a medal for sure if I wasn’t dead! And um... was in the army.” He frowned slightly, worried that this might not have been the best thing to say, but Sarah burst out laughing. “Spike! What are you like? God, you’ll be the end of me... “
Spike smirked, and Buffy thought to herself that it would be impossible to find better people to spend Christmas with. She missed her friends of course, but there was no way things would have been as relaxed as this if everyone had come. Apart from Dawn, these people only knew Spike as ‘the big hero’ and had just accepted him - much like the Scoobies had accepted Angel to begin with.
Sarah, who had only recently moved to Rome after commuting back-and-forth for half a year after Johnson’s appointment, found Spike wonderfully fascinating. A ‘Watcher born and bred’ (“My dad used flash cards from when I was tiny, which is why I have such a good knowledge of demons - I could tell the difference between a Rishmak and an Arumah-ka age 4 just from the horns!”), she loved his perspective on various incidents, but what separated her from any other Watcher Buffy had ever met was her wonderful sense of humour and irreverence (“Dad always wanted me to do well - I think he had some crazy idea of beating the Wyndham-Pryce’s - but sadly I am hopeless at languages and then I discovered boys when I was fifteen, so only just scraped through college. I did excel at kissing though!”) and Buffy fervently hoped that she and Johnson would stay in Rome for years to come - although the baby might complicate things.
The arguments having finally been settled when everyone agreed to watch ‘Return of the King’, she cautiously asked Sarah what their plans were now - did she want to return to England when the baby arrived?
“We were actually just discussing this earlier on, before we argued over how long the turkey should cook,” she replied and Johnson tore his eyes off the screen for a moment to join in. “I still think it was undercooked dear - one has to be careful with birds!”
“I liked it!” Spike chimed in. “And I’m an expert on birds!” He gave Buffy a little squeeze and she giggled.
Johnson however looked at his wife pointedly. “See?”
“Oh shut up!” Sarah retaliated. “It was fine. And I got my information from my mother who has never been wrong on a cooking-related matter since she baked her first sponge cake aged 5!”
“Really? She was 5?” Buffy asked, thinking that this was rather young to let someone near an oven.
“Well granny helped of course, but honestly my mother is one of these scarily perfect housewives and I think you have to be born that way. She’ll have the house spick and span by 10.30 on a morning and then spend the rest of the day knitting and baking and sorting out the hundreds of organisations she’s a member of. Actually the knitting is the only thing I was ever any good at.” She pointed proudly at her husband’s festive jumper and then stopped and tilted her head with a frown. “What on earth did you ask me about?” Before Buffy could answer, she remembered herself. “Oh yes - if we were ‘going home’ so to speak. I think,” she cast a speculative glance at Johnson, “That we decided to stay here. It’s fairly easy to travel between here and England - as well I know - and if we went back my mother would not be able to stop herself from interfering all the time! Not that I know the first thing about babies mind you, so I guess I’ll just have to make it up as I go along.”
She giggled, then her face suddenly turned sombre. “You’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, won’t you?” she asked Buffy. “I know that the risks are not as big as they used to be for active Watchers, what with all the new slayers, but I do worry - it just takes a demon to flick its wrist to make mincemeat of someone. I’m still not sure that ordinary humans should be involved in the fighting side of the business at all! Especially those who like to practically walk into the lion’s mouth.”
Buffy reassured her as much as she could, knowing that Johnson had a thing for wanting to try out new weapons for himself in the field. Noticing that Spike had become unusually quiet, she asked him what the matter was. “’S nothing pet.” He said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Just got to thinking about... something.”
She didn’t feel like prying, since she could tell that he wasn’t going to spill easily. Instead she leaned back against her vampire cushion and tried to focus on the movie. Another fight scene began and she glanced up at Spike. “Y’know, this really makes me want to try out my present!” “Does it now?” he replied. “You’re going to have to get it off your Watcher first!” She laughed, since her fabulous collapsible sword was still nestled in Johnson’s lap and she’d probably have to threaten him with violence to get it back.
Sarah shook her head. “I still can’t believe that I fell for a weapon’s geek!”
Kristina, who had appeared completely absorbed in the movie, turned around. “Are there any Watchers who don’t love weapons? Well apart from you Sarah?”
“And books!” Dawn added, “Don’t forget books - if you don’t love books with all your heart you can’t become a Watcher. It’s in their secret oath!”
Sarah laughed again. “I really hope this baby is a girl, because I’ll bring her up to love pink frilly things and despise all this fighting business.”
“Hear, hear!” Dawn cheered before turning back to the tv. “Oh - this is one of my favourite bits - Faramir is just so hot!”
Buffy sighed happily. This year’s Christmas was very, very good indeed.
Continued in The Ghost of Christmas Future.
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I really enjoyed the first part that you posted the other day too. I feel bad because I don't think I commented on it.
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Oh good, that's what it was supposed to be. :)
And *please* don't worry about not commenting - I've only skimmed my flist for weeks, leaving a stray comment here and there... this Christmas thing is time consuming!
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“I’ll have you know I did my bit in the war-effort, eating as many German soldiers as I could find - I’d have got a medal for sure if I wasn’t dead! And um... was in the army.” Hee! I guess the events on the sub made him all patriotic.
Very nice and a lovely Christmas indeed.
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I can assure you that Sarah's father used beautiful and very realisstic pitures. :)
I just thought about Spike burning the papers singing 'God save the King' and figured he waould probably make a point of killing Nazi's after that.
Thank you for the feedback. :)
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Cute update; and I'm enjoying this story. And I realized I need to watch the copy of Great Escape I bough recently-- now I have a seasonal excuse, not just a Steve McQueen moment!
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Thank for reading - and I had to stop myself from getting into all sorts of discussions of motorbikes and tunnels etc. *g*
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“I liked it!” Spike chimed in. “And I’m an expert on birds!” He gave Buffy a little squeeze and she giggled.
Heeeeeee! :D
And it pleased me inordinately the name you gave to the watcher's wife ;) ;)
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And I thought the name very fitting! *g*
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