A Vacation Deserved
Sep. 17th, 2024 01:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Assassin's Creed (Beginning's End)
Summary: Willow figures out what's going on with Shaun.
Word Count: 1176
Rating: Teen
pre-Shaun/Xander
But Shaun’s actually shaking, and it’s not just the exertion. He’s even showing a bit of the whites of his eyes like a dog.
“I’ve never seen a werewolf this scared,” Oz remarks, staying at a distance. So he’s probably part of it.
“Oz isn’t like the other werewolves,” Xander tries to coax, voice low and gentle. “He’s not going to hurt you.”
Shaun whimpers and inches his head a little closer to where Xander’s crouching, hand outstretched, but only getting close enough to sniff. It’s not entirely clear if he’s entirely frozen in fear or not.
“I, um. I want you to know that I’m not going to trap you. I’ve been friends with Willow for a long time, and I know what she was thinking, and this is for you.” He slowly pushes an extra hoodie—the one he’d been wearing the first day—across on the ground. “Sorry about—you can probably smell the blood. I didn’t manage to get all of it out, but I hand-scrubbed it. But, uh, it should definitely smell of me, and you like me, so.” He doesn’t actually sound all that convinced of that, and Rebecca wants to wrap them both up in blankets and shove hot drinks in their hands and keep them safe.
Willow runs in, causing Shaun to shiver uncontrollably, and hands over the food and water bowls that Shaun has been using, and he slides those across too.
“I just...you can come out when you’re ready, and until you are, I want you to be fine, okay?” Xander looks so defeated, perking up only slightly when Shaun finally decides to pull the hoodie to him with one shaking paw. He doesn’t even touch the bowls or even look at them.
“I think I can do the spell without him. It’ll be a lot harder, obviously, but the poor guy’s already scared half to death,” Willow whispers as they’re leaving the room, and a low whimper interrupts them.
Very, very slowly, Shaun moves out, tail still firmly tucked, and plasters himself between Xander and Rebecca. Still shaking.
“You…don’t have to come with us, buddy,” Xander tells him, voice still low and carefully gentle, and Shaun deliberately shakes his head.
She’d already read about how rare this kind of control or understanding is, but to see Oz’s and Willow’s startled glances kind of underlines the point. Maybe adds that sparkle you used to be able to get in Microsoft Word. (Okay, yeah, she might have used that one a few too many times, but hey, it was good at making sure people actually bothered to pay attention.)
They’re being led to a new room, one of the locked ones, and as it turns out there isn’t even a key (for this one, anyway) because Willow just waves a hand and it opens.
It’s...not exactly what Rebecca had been expecting, honestly. Okay, there’s a little bit of it—a few books and crystals and such, but it’s a lot more sparse than she would’ve thought.
A carpet with a fancy star covers the bare wooden floor, and Xander goes and sits in the center, and Shaun edges a little closer to her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” Xander tries to reassure Shaun. Who shakes his head again, and Xander’s not quick enough to hide his hurt expression.
“Don’t take that personally,” Oz insists, and follows that up with a question to his fellow werewolf. “Do you want Xander to leave?”
Another shake of the head.
“Is shaking your head the only thing you know how to do?” one of the Slayers asks from the doorway, retreating at the glare and then very deliberate nod in her direction, his fangs neatly bared.
“Hmm. That gives me an idea, but we’ll need to confirm…” Willow trails off, muttering.
Magic is...honestly, shockingly, pop-culture accurate. There’s some chanting, crystals, and strange glows, Shaun practically flattening himself in the center of the star between them. And then Willow announces her findings. “This isn’t a natural part of his type of lycanthropy, or anything. I think he’s doing this himself, actually.”
Xander doesn’t honestly sound all that surprised. “No, that makes sense. I think...I think he’s scared of us sending him away and never seeing me again, and maybe he’s just enjoying getting to relax and have a vacation. So, I…” he pauses and looks away from them both. “Shaun, you asshole, I was going to give this to you and Rebecca when you were human again and could understand everything I was telling you, but I guess we gotta do this now. Willow, the stage is thine.”
Willow nods, pulling out a wicked-looking glowing key. “Xander asked me to make this, and by the way we are trusting that you’re not going to abuse this, or the entire wrath of the Council will come crashing down on your heads, and you don’t want that. Anyway, this key is a magical portal, okay?”
“You’ve read Hellblazer or something, right? The House of Mystery? Same thing,” Xander elaborates.
That’s really cool. “Hell yeah.”
Willow continues smoothly as she hands it over. “Doesn’t matter what lock. Insert it, turn it, and you can go to where Xander is. Don’t lose it, don’t abuse it.”
“And you don’t even have to go back, not right away, but. I want you around, even if we can’t exactly just throw away all of the work we’re doing. But I’m…” Xander clenches his hands. “I’m scared, Shaun. Because not even the mercs were staying wolfy for days straight, and what Willow’s helpfully not saying is that the longer you stay like that, the less likely you’ll get to change back, and I.” He swallows. “I wanna make out with Shaun the man, okay? Again, not the way I was planning on asking you out, but I’m scared that if I don’t do it now, I won’t get the chance. I don’t want to lose you now to some stubborn decision on your part.”
On a whim, he leans forward and presses a kiss to Shaun’s snout like this is some fairytale, only nothing happens.
And then a Slayer runs in. “There was another attack.”
Xander stands reluctantly, still not meeting their eyes as Shaun starts to whine again. “I just...I’m needed. And I don’t think I’m helping, because as long as I’m here and giving you attention, what else do you need? And I don’t want to be holding you back like…”
He can’t even finish the sentence. It’s his turn to flee.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Assassin's Creed (Beginning's End)
Summary: Willow figures out what's going on with Shaun.
Word Count: 1176
Rating: Teen
pre-Shaun/Xander
After a long, long round of hide-and-seek, Xander finally manages to corner Shaun behind a chair, and it’s obvious at this point that for whatever reason he’s actually terrified. He shouldn’t be. They’re trying to help, and she’d have thought he’d want to actually be human again so that he can read all these old books and flirt with (or insult, although she’s not sure he knows the difference) Xander, and maybe get a little farther than flirting. Maybe it’s wolfy instincts, or something.
But Shaun’s actually shaking, and it’s not just the exertion. He’s even showing a bit of the whites of his eyes like a dog.
“I’ve never seen a werewolf this scared,” Oz remarks, staying at a distance. So he’s probably part of it.
“Oz isn’t like the other werewolves,” Xander tries to coax, voice low and gentle. “He’s not going to hurt you.”
Shaun whimpers and inches his head a little closer to where Xander’s crouching, hand outstretched, but only getting close enough to sniff. It’s not entirely clear if he’s entirely frozen in fear or not.
“I, um. I want you to know that I’m not going to trap you. I’ve been friends with Willow for a long time, and I know what she was thinking, and this is for you.” He slowly pushes an extra hoodie—the one he’d been wearing the first day—across on the ground. “Sorry about—you can probably smell the blood. I didn’t manage to get all of it out, but I hand-scrubbed it. But, uh, it should definitely smell of me, and you like me, so.” He doesn’t actually sound all that convinced of that, and Rebecca wants to wrap them both up in blankets and shove hot drinks in their hands and keep them safe.
Willow runs in, causing Shaun to shiver uncontrollably, and hands over the food and water bowls that Shaun has been using, and he slides those across too.
“I just...you can come out when you’re ready, and until you are, I want you to be fine, okay?” Xander looks so defeated, perking up only slightly when Shaun finally decides to pull the hoodie to him with one shaking paw. He doesn’t even touch the bowls or even look at them.
“I think I can do the spell without him. It’ll be a lot harder, obviously, but the poor guy’s already scared half to death,” Willow whispers as they’re leaving the room, and a low whimper interrupts them.
Very, very slowly, Shaun moves out, tail still firmly tucked, and plasters himself between Xander and Rebecca. Still shaking.
“You…don’t have to come with us, buddy,” Xander tells him, voice still low and carefully gentle, and Shaun deliberately shakes his head.
She’d already read about how rare this kind of control or understanding is, but to see Oz’s and Willow’s startled glances kind of underlines the point. Maybe adds that sparkle you used to be able to get in Microsoft Word. (Okay, yeah, she might have used that one a few too many times, but hey, it was good at making sure people actually bothered to pay attention.)
They’re being led to a new room, one of the locked ones, and as it turns out there isn’t even a key (for this one, anyway) because Willow just waves a hand and it opens.
It’s...not exactly what Rebecca had been expecting, honestly. Okay, there’s a little bit of it—a few books and crystals and such, but it’s a lot more sparse than she would’ve thought.
A carpet with a fancy star covers the bare wooden floor, and Xander goes and sits in the center, and Shaun edges a little closer to her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” Xander tries to reassure Shaun. Who shakes his head again, and Xander’s not quick enough to hide his hurt expression.
“Don’t take that personally,” Oz insists, and follows that up with a question to his fellow werewolf. “Do you want Xander to leave?”
Another shake of the head.
“Is shaking your head the only thing you know how to do?” one of the Slayers asks from the doorway, retreating at the glare and then very deliberate nod in her direction, his fangs neatly bared.
“Hmm. That gives me an idea, but we’ll need to confirm…” Willow trails off, muttering.
Magic is...honestly, shockingly, pop-culture accurate. There’s some chanting, crystals, and strange glows, Shaun practically flattening himself in the center of the star between them. And then Willow announces her findings. “This isn’t a natural part of his type of lycanthropy, or anything. I think he’s doing this himself, actually.”
Xander doesn’t honestly sound all that surprised. “No, that makes sense. I think...I think he’s scared of us sending him away and never seeing me again, and maybe he’s just enjoying getting to relax and have a vacation. So, I…” he pauses and looks away from them both. “Shaun, you asshole, I was going to give this to you and Rebecca when you were human again and could understand everything I was telling you, but I guess we gotta do this now. Willow, the stage is thine.”
Willow nods, pulling out a wicked-looking glowing key. “Xander asked me to make this, and by the way we are trusting that you’re not going to abuse this, or the entire wrath of the Council will come crashing down on your heads, and you don’t want that. Anyway, this key is a magical portal, okay?”
“You’ve read Hellblazer or something, right? The House of Mystery? Same thing,” Xander elaborates.
That’s really cool. “Hell yeah.”
Willow continues smoothly as she hands it over. “Doesn’t matter what lock. Insert it, turn it, and you can go to where Xander is. Don’t lose it, don’t abuse it.”
“And you don’t even have to go back, not right away, but. I want you around, even if we can’t exactly just throw away all of the work we’re doing. But I’m…” Xander clenches his hands. “I’m scared, Shaun. Because not even the mercs were staying wolfy for days straight, and what Willow’s helpfully not saying is that the longer you stay like that, the less likely you’ll get to change back, and I.” He swallows. “I wanna make out with Shaun the man, okay? Again, not the way I was planning on asking you out, but I’m scared that if I don’t do it now, I won’t get the chance. I don’t want to lose you now to some stubborn decision on your part.”
On a whim, he leans forward and presses a kiss to Shaun’s snout like this is some fairytale, only nothing happens.
And then a Slayer runs in. “There was another attack.”
Xander stands reluctantly, still not meeting their eyes as Shaun starts to whine again. “I just...I’m needed. And I don’t think I’m helping, because as long as I’m here and giving you attention, what else do you need? And I don’t want to be holding you back like…”
He can’t even finish the sentence. It’s his turn to flee.
