The First Victim
Apr. 13th, 2020 12:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerGood news; I actually figured out what the blank I was doing with this case! So we actually are going somewhere! Also I’m glad I waited because holy cow, I went from not knowing what I was doing to writing over 25000 words in a week, and I am sure without this kind of inspiration I would be having the blast writing it I am now. (Mission 1 is entirely written, in other words.)
Main Points:
Buffy/Devil May Cry
Chapter Summary: Buffy and Xander find another clue.
Word Count: 755
Rating: Teen
“No time for that. Leave now,” he insists, hurrying her along.
She’s seen some interesting things. A speech by the guy about finding a home that could’ve been sweet if her skin wasn’t continually crawling. The staff giving her the stink-eye. Which is extra weird, as surely the family newcomer wouldn’t be allowed to choose the entire staff for an occasion like this. Would they? Maybe he just chose the company which happened to be a bunch of nonhumans. Accidentally coming across two guests making out, which she would’ve thought would be too low-class for this group but apparently not.
It’s odd to realize she’s gotten used to the demon-feeling of her sort-of-housemate, but her supposed fellow servers don’t feel normal.
And then there are screams.
“The hell?” he mutters, and she can feel him go on full alert, power brimming beneath the skin ready to be unleashed. He’s stuck his hands in his pockets, and to the eye looks casual and laid-back, but he’s taut as a bowstring ready for an arrow.
“Are they making a move?” she asks quietly as his eyes flicker over to her. They look darker than normal.
“No clue. Not my specialty, remember?” There’s an edge to his words no matter how ordinary he tries to make them.
“We should probably see what’s going on, right?” she prompts, and watches him struggle with the choice. “What sort of investigators are we if we don’t go check it out?” she adds, and he chuckles, power focusing in a way that both feels relaxed and like a laser.
“You sure you’re not Murdoch, Miss Bored?” he teases, but nods. “Let’s go.”
It’s easy enough to join the crowd flowing in the direction of the ballroom. The architecture and vaulted ceilings don’t give her pause like they used to—living in a slowly-getting-fixed awesome old hotel will do that to you—but the number of people and the fancy lighting and the little treats she’s been sampling impress her at least a little. Mostly it’s the clothes. Even when she’d been popular, she’d never worn a ballgown like those. She’s pretty sure every woman has thought about it at least once, even when they’re not likely to ever wear one. Maybe she can get Xander to acquire one for her. It’s not very practical, but she’d still like to own at least one. Or maybe awesome boots would be a better choice; he clearly knows what he’s doing when it comes to footwear.
She smells it first. Once you’ve smelled that sharp metallic tang a few times, it’s impossible to mistake it for anything else. Xander gets sharper, more focused, even as he slouches just a little bit more.
Then she sees it. A quickly widening pool around a lady, staining her dress, and a man next to her, eyes wide and unseeing and uncaring about the fact he’s kneeling in the blood. There’s a mix of people having hysterics and trying to pretend that they are utterly unmoved.
“Xander,” she says, because she’s noticed something else—and Xander nods.
“I saw.” It looks like the lady’s date hasn’t made the same observation, and why would he? That amount of blood combined with the fact that she’s not visibly moving is usually enough to assume dead for most people. Both of them, though, seem to have noticed the fact that the woman is visibly breathing—very shallow breaths, of course, but breathing nonetheless.
They’ve probably seen all they’re going to see without obviously walking up to the body and examining it, and Buffy’s not sure if his power’s strong enough for doing all that unnoticed. “Are we good?”
“Yeah, I think we’ve seen what we’re going to.” She’s actually caught him sniffing the air, but then, he’s not fully human, is he?
They start back toward the doorway, and it gets hard to stay together against the surge of people coming to check it out. It’s only once they make it to the hallway that they get separated, though.
“Everyone stay where you are!” the butler yells, and Xander’s suddenly yanked back away from her.
“Find Giles,” he instructs tersely and allows himself to be dragged away. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.”
Main Points:
Buffy/Devil May Cry
Chapter Summary: Buffy and Xander find another clue.
Word Count: 755
Rating: Teen
Buffy’s first reaction, when Xander appears at her elbow and mutters “We should be going now,” is “What did you do?” Because while she’s not blaming him for everything irrationally like Giles, he had been talking about poking the hornet’s nest, so it’s an obvious thing to conclude.
“No time for that. Leave now,” he insists, hurrying her along.
She’s seen some interesting things. A speech by the guy about finding a home that could’ve been sweet if her skin wasn’t continually crawling. The staff giving her the stink-eye. Which is extra weird, as surely the family newcomer wouldn’t be allowed to choose the entire staff for an occasion like this. Would they? Maybe he just chose the company which happened to be a bunch of nonhumans. Accidentally coming across two guests making out, which she would’ve thought would be too low-class for this group but apparently not.
It’s odd to realize she’s gotten used to the demon-feeling of her sort-of-housemate, but her supposed fellow servers don’t feel normal.
And then there are screams.
“The hell?” he mutters, and she can feel him go on full alert, power brimming beneath the skin ready to be unleashed. He’s stuck his hands in his pockets, and to the eye looks casual and laid-back, but he’s taut as a bowstring ready for an arrow.
“Are they making a move?” she asks quietly as his eyes flicker over to her. They look darker than normal.
“No clue. Not my specialty, remember?” There’s an edge to his words no matter how ordinary he tries to make them.
“We should probably see what’s going on, right?” she prompts, and watches him struggle with the choice. “What sort of investigators are we if we don’t go check it out?” she adds, and he chuckles, power focusing in a way that both feels relaxed and like a laser.
“You sure you’re not Murdoch, Miss Bored?” he teases, but nods. “Let’s go.”
It’s easy enough to join the crowd flowing in the direction of the ballroom. The architecture and vaulted ceilings don’t give her pause like they used to—living in a slowly-getting-fixed awesome old hotel will do that to you—but the number of people and the fancy lighting and the little treats she’s been sampling impress her at least a little. Mostly it’s the clothes. Even when she’d been popular, she’d never worn a ballgown like those. She’s pretty sure every woman has thought about it at least once, even when they’re not likely to ever wear one. Maybe she can get Xander to acquire one for her. It’s not very practical, but she’d still like to own at least one. Or maybe awesome boots would be a better choice; he clearly knows what he’s doing when it comes to footwear.
She smells it first. Once you’ve smelled that sharp metallic tang a few times, it’s impossible to mistake it for anything else. Xander gets sharper, more focused, even as he slouches just a little bit more.
Then she sees it. A quickly widening pool around a lady, staining her dress, and a man next to her, eyes wide and unseeing and uncaring about the fact he’s kneeling in the blood. There’s a mix of people having hysterics and trying to pretend that they are utterly unmoved.
“Xander,” she says, because she’s noticed something else—and Xander nods.
“I saw.” It looks like the lady’s date hasn’t made the same observation, and why would he? That amount of blood combined with the fact that she’s not visibly moving is usually enough to assume dead for most people. Both of them, though, seem to have noticed the fact that the woman is visibly breathing—very shallow breaths, of course, but breathing nonetheless.
They’ve probably seen all they’re going to see without obviously walking up to the body and examining it, and Buffy’s not sure if his power’s strong enough for doing all that unnoticed. “Are we good?”
“Yeah, I think we’ve seen what we’re going to.” She’s actually caught him sniffing the air, but then, he’s not fully human, is he?
They start back toward the doorway, and it gets hard to stay together against the surge of people coming to check it out. It’s only once they make it to the hallway that they get separated, though.
“Everyone stay where you are!” the butler yells, and Xander’s suddenly yanked back away from her.
“Find Giles,” he instructs tersely and allows himself to be dragged away. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.”
