you're in the jungle, baby / you gonna die

[lucetimods]

Who: All draftees
What: Fighting the Third Party... and perhaps the wildlife.
When: June 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. (Characters will be pulled out at 11:59 of the 6th.)
Where: An as-yet unmapped by the Malnosso tropical rainforest.
Summary: Here are your details. Try to stay alive, won't you?
Rating: Anywhere from PG to R.

No cut for you. Most of you will know how this works by now; if you don't, follow the lead of the others, or perhaps look to the last draft's fighting post for ideas. Don't forget to use your handy dandy character tags. Go forth and conquer thine enemies!

Comments

[all7seas]

Now the sprinting was starting to hurt; Jack clutched his burning chest and willed himself to keep pace with her. He flung his torch back at the boulder and stretched himself to every limit and beyond. The pirate had no intention of being crushed by the boulder. Once to the entrance, he darted to one side, yanking Buffy along with him. Close.

[herotypical]

Yanked along, she thudded heavily into him. Buffy could feel the boulder whip free of the tunnel behind her -- thundering into the trees ahead. She winced on his behalf, aware that she had just pressed herself hard against his injuries. The Slayer mumbled an apology and tried to catch her breath.

Her flashlight was gone. Her satchel was gone. Lost to the rush and the confusion.

"All in one piece?"

[all7seas]

"Aye. Your puzzle's all together, slayer." Jack drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He'd run for his life plenty of times, but never quite like that. "And you?" Because I thought I'd lost you to the pit that one time, I did.

[herotypical]

"All five feet and two inches present and accounted for," she breathed the words. "And a half." The half-inch was important. It was also non-existent.

"...So much for treasure."

[all7seas]

All he could do, after everything, was kiss her.

[herotypical]

There was the distinct sensation of finally; perhaps this moment could stave off interruption for a little while, if they were lucky. Buffy handled him gently by the shoulders -- sensitive to his wounds -- but gave up no firmness in the returned kiss.

[all7seas]

"Just like Indy and his bonny lass, eh? In the end. Aaaaand also in the part where he fed her grapes, one grape at a time, whilst he reclined on fluffy cushions."

[herotypical]

"Well, then. Isn't it just a shame that you're grapeless?"

Buffy implied an offer only because she knew said offer was unfulfillable. After all, they were well and truly lacking in most foodstuffs, not just grapes.

[all7seas]

"Don't taunt a man with what he doesn't have, love. It's not manners." He ducked in to kiss her temple, moving close to her ear. "When we get home, I'll find some."

[herotypical]

Home. But home meant back to the act and the act had nothing to do with grapes. Or cushions. Or even her taunting him over grapes and cushions. Buffy's face moved towards him with the kiss, eyes closing.

"Jack," she whispered even though they were alone. "You -- you're, y'know, and the tired. And..." Cohesion took a nose-dive on this one.

[all7seas]

"Right. I understand."

He delivered one last kiss, just in front of her ear. "I suppose we should go back. And...hammock."

Jack was well aware that she meant the act, and that the act had nothing to do with grapes, but he wanted her to know that he could make things alright in the end. That this was what he hoped for.

[herotypical]

"Hammock," she agreed. Something salvageable, at least. But once this thought had occurred a few more followed hard. They had worked well together, tonight. And they had worked well together in the last draft. This was a rare quality in a human comrade. Sure -- she still spent a few too many spare seconds playing protector and she knew he did, too. Seconds they probably could not always afford. But there was something functional, there. Something in how she hadn't even resented his gun-play come the fight itself. It had helped. Teamwork.

It was the kind of thing she would have to think harder upon. At a later time. Not now. "And you can get some shut-eye and I can maybe manage to go twenty minutes without unintentionally inviting down some sort of disaster."

[all7seas]

"Buffy? Love?" A grimy thumb smoothed across her cheekbone. "It's a war. You've brought nothing down upon us that didn't have a mind to fall on us anyway. Now help me back, battered old pirate that I am, and I shall find you another orchid."

[herotypical]

It was only then that she had realized her flower was long gone. Somewhere in the dark of the ruins, she suspected. Offering what little colour it could give in the shadows. She looked sad for a moment -- not too, too sad. After all, there was the promise of a second. But she soon buried that reaction in a very literal interpretation of his words. Help him back.

"...You asked for it." She dipped her shoulder against him and proceeded to toss the pirate over her shoulder in a fireman's carry.

[all7seas]

"Some men, Buffy, would resent this gesture as a challenge to their primal masculinity, but I rather LIKE it because---oof, not so rough, now---I rather like it because this way I've the most marvelous access to your highly attractive buttocks."

[herotypical]

"You know, I can always conveniently forget about any and all low-hanging branches."

An empty threat; however, she hiked him a little higher up on her shoulders. Buffy had to consider how to best get back around to the general orientation of where they had been before. After a few seconds' of consideration, she began walking.

[all7seas]

"I know. And I'll forgive you for it, mistress." A wing brushed against his face and he gently pushed it away before slipping his hands into her back pockets. "Anything in here?"

[herotypical]

A stiffening along her spine as he handled her wings; not the bad kind of rigidity. She hummed lightly in response and the red appendages twitched against him. "Lip gloss, if you're lucky."

There was, in fact, a small tube of lip chap. Nothing exceptionally cosmetic; this was purely functional, for once.

[all7seas]

"Oh." He removed the tube from her pocket and smeared some on his lips before replacing it in her pocket with an additional pat. "That's very nice, that stuff."

Since there wasn't much else to do while hanging over her shoulder, Jack returned his hands to her pockets as well.

[herotypical]

"Did you...?" A laugh; quiet and thoughtful. To laugh loudly and vibrantly in this cloying jungle seemed a crime. "You did. You totally did. Good. That'll soften you up."

Buffy carried him rather gently, actually. And she carried him silently for a while before -- eventually: "You're not really going to talk to Archie about...y'know." Kissing Dawn.

[all7seas]

"Why wouldn't I? What if he wants to discuss it, darling?"

Jack wasn't even that sure what exactly she was talking about.

[herotypical]

"That's just it. He shouldn't want to. If he wants to discuss it? You tell him he doesn't want to. Forcefully."

Danger? Check. Interrupted intimacy? Check. Misinterpretations? Finally, check.

[all7seas]

"...We're not talking about Grell, are we. Or about his taste in hats. Or about Horatio."

The pirate was trying to get down from her shoulder, now. It wasn't a position one wanted to be in while trying to defend oneself from Angry Buffy.

[herotypical]

She wrestled to keep him in place. However? If he genuinely really does want to get down? She will help him back onto his feet.

"...Why would we be talking about Horatio?"

[all7seas]

"Dunno. Because he adores his Horatio, I suppose." He rests against her before firmly disentangling himself and slipping to the ground. Wrestling with Buffy is all fine and good but not in the middle of a jungle and a serious conversation.

"Annie...why are you angry with me?" But his mind had already leaped to Dawn.