we have found our solace here in this unexpected place

[herotypical]

Who: slaying & lists_to_port
What: there is a tradition that needs to be upheld on the eves of horrors.
When: sunday night.
Where: good spirits, at first. then elsewhere.
Summary: debriefing and de-traumaing and all kinds of good stuff.
Rating: danger danger high voltage -- things get r-ratedish. fair warning!

Back on Friday, Buffy had scribbled a tense little note to Captain Jack Sparrow:

Need some time. Don't worry. Mission accomplished -- no deaths. Just gotta look after me for a bit. Good Spirits on Sunday night?

-- Buffy

After returning to the village, Buffy had wanted nothing more than to find the pirate and curl up next to him. But the fight with Derek had been harder than she would care to admit and she wanted to scrub as much of that from herself before rejoining the rest of Luceti. She had Giles to look after and she had her own mind to tend to and she spent hours focusing on those meditation crystals -- begging for peace. Peace was so far away.

But on Sunday, Buffy took a long long bath. She put loose, fashionable curls in her hair and she took the luxury of all the time in the world to dip into her make-up drawer and line her eyes and mascara her lashes and pick a natural, light lip gloss. The aim was to look healthy if she couldn't look happy.

She walked into Good Spirits with apprehension in her step and looked around for the man she had asked to meet with her there.

Comments

[herotypical]

"...I'll be by."

As ill-associated as the house had become, she wasn't sure she could cope with the thought of Jack still alone out there. It had taken two brutal wait-a-thons to uncover that sharp, lonely discomfort.

[all7seas]

Thank you.

He couldn't say, that, though. But he could kiss her, gently. He suspected she might understand. Possibly. She might understand about Cullen House, now, in all of its horror and everything else it meant to him.

[herotypical]

A kiss was ample gratitude enough. Slowly, eventually, they could figure out each others' languages. They couldn't be lost in translation forever, could they? And then Buffy realized her thought had included the word forever and while it wasn't so far from all the time in the world, its commitment was higher. It spooked her.

"Besides, there's still an almost full jar of peanut butter out there."

[all7seas]

"Peanut butter, aye. And you can make me some of your infamously delicious sandwiches?"

He stretched out next to her, then cuddled around her again, kissing her just below the drawn-on sparrow.

[herotypical]

"Infamous is probably the most correct word out of the bunch. You do realize that there's not actually that much skill involved in sandwich-making, right?"

[all7seas]

"Shhhh. Infamously delicious. Own it, Annie."

[herotypical]

"Fine," Owning it.

Except -- she smirked and kissed his forehead before adding: "Meals must've really sucked in the past if you think what kids get for most school day lunches is so delicious."

[all7seas]

"Or maybe I've never had anything I could compare to what you give me, hm? Let's go with that assumption, sweetness."

[herotypical]

"Fine. But some day? Mom'll show up and then you'll taste true culinary perfection."

It had meant to be good-natured, really. But it betrayed a little more faith in her future here than she usually admitted.

[all7seas]

And it caused him to hold her a little more tenderly and stroke loving fingers down her back.

"And she'll realize how very much she likes pirates who very much like her culinary perfection and her most beautiful daughter."

[herotypical]

Dead people came to Luceti. Both Wesley and Fred had been dead -- according to Angel -- and they had arrived. And there was Archie to prove the point, too. She didn't know it but Giles was another on the list. Why couldn't the same happen to her mother?

"She'll have to come to terms with believing in a pirate that's yanked out of his time and here to do both of those things, first."

[all7seas]

"How long did it take you to believe, hm? And what if my father arrives, what then?"

[herotypical]

"...Exactly how does one impress a pirate-dad? 'Cause I've got the street cred. And now I've got a tattoo -- albeit a fake one." She ignored his first question in favour of this. It wasn't so much easier as less confusing. "I wouldn't have to start wearing an eye-patch, would I?"

[all7seas]

"Don't worry, love; the only one who has to impress Teague is me, really. He'd love you right off."

Jack's father could be very harsh, at times; but he could be quite charming toward women in his own aristocratic way.

[herotypical]

"I'm trying to decide if being loved right off by him is a good thing or a bad thing. Slayer, remember? The criminals are supposed to at least feel a little bit of hesitation.

You'd just have to tell mom stories about your cannibal chief days. She'd be starstuck." A beat. "I don't mean -- not that she likes cannibals. But...she owned an art gallery. Lots of exotic, tribal stuff. The house was full of it."

[all7seas]

"Trust me---you wouldn't want it the other way. Teague either takes to a person, or he doesn't. He wouldn't very much like bein' called a 'criminal,' though, Annie---he's Keeper of the Code and a pirate lord in his own right. Not to be crossed, eh?

And no-one I know of likes cannibals, 'cept maybe lady cannibals. And they don't much like cannibals, either."

[herotypical]

"...Being told don't cross so-and-so has never, ever, ever encouraged me to be any less crossy with anyone. Haven't you learned that yet?"

Lawful she may be but she was also a law unto herself.

[all7seas]

"Shhhhh. Don't be so obstreperous, Annie. Perhaps it's best he's not here, then; you're not nearly diplomatic enough not to be shot by him. Though he might like that, too---difficult to tell with Teague, really."

[herotypical]

"Now you think I'll be the one who'd get shot? If you can out-maneuver the FBI sniper, I think I can manage getting not shot by your father. Slayer reflexes!"

Really, she'd only been shot three times for all the many others that guns had turned up in Sunnydale. "And if I'm getting shot by your dad then you are definitely getting hit on the head by my mom with a fire axe."

Somehow, in some way, this was a very friendly kind of response.

[all7seas]

"No! No, no no--I don't think you'd be shot, not at all. Teague's just not as nice as me, Annie. He likes a measure of respectfulness paid to him is all. You might like to hear him play the guitar, though. He's brilliant.

And...you mean your--Booth? Outmaneuver? Out-think, more like."

[herotypical]

"I'm not so sure you get to be a flashy FBI agent for being a slow thinker."

But even she didn't sound convinced. Buffy did have a healthy dose of respect for Jack's strategies, even if she wouldn't be quick to put words to that respect.

[all7seas]

He snorted and rolled over, tugging a great deal of that quilt with him. "Then they clearly have a flaw in their selection system, don't they. I'd love to see if his 'long range' is as long as he claims."

Jack's own sniper skills are considerable. His expertise is mostly in shooting rather than the sword, in any case.

[herotypical]

H-hey. Buffy clawed back some of that quilt and took the opportunity to curl around him, this time. Well -- as much as a rather short individual could try and play the big spoon.

"It's the FBI. That's not just your regular average-joe cop."

[all7seas]

"Mmhmm." Most of his sulking was feigned, now. He liked having her wrap around him like this. "Splendid. I'm glad you've taken such an interest in a man who wants to shoot me, Annie. Shall we invite him out to dinner?"

[herotypical]

Her arm slipped over his side and settled on his stomach -- fingers tucking under him. "He's a nice guy, Jack. Maybe a little freakishly protective of his partner but..." But Buffy could understand that sentiment, at least. "But fine. No dinner invitations."

Because that also required her to imagine she and Jack somehow managing to co-dinner with anyone.