Joss is God. Joss owns Buffy & Co., with the help of the WB and Mutant Enemy. I'm not making money, this is just all in fun.
So, since it's all in fun, can I have some feedback? Please?
It was Yule, and I was sitting alone in my house, staring blindly at my glass of eggnog. Drinking eggnog and watching old reruns of Silk Stalkings on USA was generally not my idea of a solstice celebration, but I supposed it would have to do. My computer was down, and there wasn't exactly a cybercafe nearby, so I was inadvertantly shut out of my circle's celebrations. There wasn't really anybody else in town to celebrate with.
"Well, isn't this just a treat," I said to myself, looking around the room. The lights I'd put up in the window sparkled fitfully, and the holly and mistletoe spread around the room was beginning to look a bit worn. My candle was burning nicely, at least. It was a pillar candle I'd found at a thrift shop, all embossed with vines and trees--perfect for the solstice, really. It started out on one quarter with all its leaves, and ended up on the other side as bare as could be.
The phone rang, startling me out of my daze and I looked around. Damn. I'm really going to have to learn to put that thing back on the hook when I'm done with it.
"Calendar residence," I said once I found the phone--underneath a quilt and stuffed behind a pillow--and pressed the "talk" button.
"Hello, dear," said a familiar--and somewhat dreaded--voice.
"Hi, Mom," I said, sighing. Here we go again.
"I was just calling to find out when you were coming home for Christmas, honey. Your father and I are looking forward to seeing you again."
"I'm not coming home for Christmas, Mom. You *know* that." Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't try and nag me into it. We had this same fight every year since I moved out here, and every year the result was the same.
"Now, Jenny..." Mom was about to start on one of her "this means a lot to your father and I" lectures again. I could practically recite this one along with her. 'Your father doesn't get to see you very often and this holiday means a lot to him yadda yadda yadda.' I rolled her eyes and stepped in as mom took a breath.
"Mom, I've got programming I could get done that day. Remember? I'll be able to get it done if I work the whole day on it. Besides, it's not my holiday." It'd be best to head off this tangent before it even got started. "Not only that, but I'll be home in three weeks for Dad's birthday. It can mean a lot to him then."
"Well," said Mom just as the doorbell rang. I sent a silent message of thanks to whichever Goddess was looking out for her tonight. I didn't care if it was Buffy coming to inform me that vampires were invading Sunnydale *again*; it got me off the phone with my mother.
"Mom, can we argue about this another time? I have company."
"Well, all right, dear," said Mom, making her disapproval very, very clear to me. "I"ll call you tomorrow." Joy.
"Bye, then. Love you, Mom." I did love her, too, it's just that she was so earthbound sometimes that I didn't know what to do. We fought entirely too easily.
"I love you too, Jenny." She hung up the phone, and I followed suit quickly, setting my eggnog on the table.
"Just a minute," I called to the door. I did kind of hope that it wasn't Buffy. If I couldn't have fun during the solstice, at least I wanted it to be *quiet* for once. I scrambled off the sofa and over to the door, checking the peephole.
That was odd. What was Rupert doing here? If there'd been an emergency he'd have called. For all my griping, I knew that's what he would have done--it really was the faster way to get in touch with me.
I opened the door, and a slightly embarrassed looking Giles stood on her doorstep. He had a box in one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other.
"Rupert," I said, more than slightly puzzled.
"Um, hello," he said, half-waving at me with the hand that held the bottle.
"Nice to see you too, Rupert." I smiled slightly and stepped back to give him room. "Come on in." The company would be nice, at least, even if he would inevitably gloat about my computer malfunction.
"Thank you," he said, handing me the wine and proceeding to slip out of his coat.
"Over here," I said when Rupert looked puzzled as to the location of the coat rack. Honestly, the man could pinpoint a monster at 500 yards but he couldn't find the simplest mundane efficiency if his life depended on it. "The world doesn't need saving again, does it?" I asked warily. Best to check and make sure.
"No, uh..." I saw Rupert smile at my extremely visible relief.
"Well, good--if at least one day can go by without the Apocalypse needing to be averted, I'm happy." I reached over and knocked on wood, though, just to be safe. "So, what brings you to this area of town?"
"Well, you see," Rupert stammered as he followed me into the living room. "It's, ah, the solstice, as I'm sure you know, and, well, it's rather difficult to find someone to celebrate with in Sunnydale."
"Tell me about it," I muttered as I put the wine down on her coffee table. "Want some eggnog?" I glanced up at Rupert as I asked, amused at the uneasiness on his face as he watched me reach for the carton and my nearly empty glass.
"Um--yes, thank you," said Rupert, glancing around the room. "And, since I knew you celebrated the solstice as well, I thought that perhaps I would visit and see if you, ah, wanted company. So," said Rupert nervously, handing the small box to me. "Happy Solstice."
"Rupert, you didn't have to," I said with a smile. Ooh, star wrapping paper. "Appropriate paper, even. Nice."
"Well, I--I wanted to," he said. "I saw it and it made me think of you," he said, sipping his eggnog. I started tearing the paper open, managing not to destroy it the way I usually do. Opening it, I saw a small silver pendant--a sun with silver firebursts coming from it, and a tiny moonstone carved into a face at the center. It was gorgeous. I didn’t even want to think what it had cost poor Rupert, living on a librarian's salary.
"Rupert, it's beautiful," I said, lifting it and clasping the delicate box chain around her neck. "Thank you." I smiled at him, softly at first, but it grew to an almost predatory grin. I wonder if he'd noticed yet? For all I knew, it was deliberate. Rupert could be subtle that way. Maybe.
"Rupert," I said, letting every bit of mischeviousness I felt reach my eyes.
"Hm?" he asked, slightly discomforted by what he saw in me. Good. I had to keep the man on his toes--so to speak.
"You're standing under the mistletoe," I said, taking a step towards him. Rupert glanced up, taking in the white berries dangling a foot above him. A small smile crept across his face.
"Yes, I suppose I am," he said as I took another step towards him.
"Whatever will we do about that?" I pulled Rupert to me, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a long, slow kiss. We managed to find a lot to do about that after all.
END