Life is a Dance
Oct. 1st, 2018 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Bleach
Summary: Alex is...weird. (So is Urahara tbh)
Word Count: 605
Rating: Gen
Buffy opened the door and blinked. A strange man in green and black robes with weird white triangles and a sword at his side was standing at the door. He was grinning stupidly. She hesitated for a moment, then smiled just about as broadly.
“Sorry, did we accidentally order a cultist with my last pair of boots?”
Instantly, the man looked pouty. “I look like a cultist?”
Buffy nodded. “Especially with that weird sword.”
He slumped down further. “Well, shoot. That wasn’t the point at all.”
They both stood there awkwardly for a moment. Then Buffy cocked her head. “Excuse me, but can I help you?”
The guy laughed, chargrined, and rubbed at the back of his head. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”
“You…go to Sunnydale High?” she guessed. Either that, or this was a weirdo she’d saved at one time or another, come to thank her. Whatever that entailed. She wasn’t altogether thrilled about that idea.
The guy laughed again, eyes delighted. “You could say that. You really don’t recognize me, do you?” He seemed thrilled, rather than put out, by the idea.
Buffy thought she’d be apologetic about it anyway. “Umm…no. Sorry.”
The guy waved it off, grinning as if he’d won the lottery. “Don’t worry about it. Just means I chose a really good costume this year.” He bowed. “It’s Alex.”
“A-Alex?” she stammered, staring, trying to find the signs of her friend within this…man?
In the end, the mischievous glint in the eye, the grin…she could see it. A little. “How did you…?”
Alex grinned sheepishly. “Bound them.”
Buffy found herself both horrified and in sympathetic pain. “Doesn’t it…?”
“It’s not as bad as you might think. ‘Course, I’ll probably be changing my mind later, but at the moment it’s really not that bad. I could get used to this.”
Buffy winced. “You realize you’re completely insane, right?”
That just made the smile grow. “Probably,” she agreed cheerfully.
The smile grew wider. “Well? Can I come in?”
“Oh.” Buffy couldn’t believe she’d forgotten that. “Right. Sorry.” She stepped out of the way-no invites from this Slayer, thank you very much.
“Oh, would you want any candy? Free of charge, of course.” She held out a hand full with mostly gumballs.
“…” This was really weird. Yeah, Alex could kind of get into character, but this was kind of creepy, even for her. “You realize you come off as one of those creepy people offering candy to kids, right?”
“Yare yare daze,” she laughed, fluttering a fan she’d gotten from somewhere. She was scarily smiley about it.
Great, now she was speaking foreign languages at Buffy. And she really didn’t seem to get what was going on. “Just…don’t hand any candy to the kids while Snyder is watching, or he’ll make sure you’re arrested.” She anticipated what Alex would say and shook her head. “And yeah, I know candy is good. Acting like some kind of child predator isn’t.”
She pouted a little. “Where’s Willow?”
“Upstairs. She’s getting into her costume.”
A door opened, and a blanket-covered ghost came out. “….Alex?”
Buffy stared at the two of them. “Uh…I get the feeling I don’t actually want an answer to this, but…How did you know it was her?”
“I saw her staring at that hat,” the ghost answered absently. “It…is Alex, isn’t it?”
Alex grinned and bowed. “Yes, though not at the moment.” She paused for effect, fan fluttering in her hand. “At the moment, it’s Urahara. I was told the character’s Japanese, and looked at last names until I saw something I liked.”
“The ‘character’?” Buffy asked, but she was ignored.