FIC :: F4 (4/5)

["C S Armitage" <soren_nyrond@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Fables, Fortunes, Foes and Friends (4/5) 
AUTHOR: Soren Nyrond
DISCLAIMER: Certain characters in this part belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, without whose inspiration etc.
SUMMARY: It's got Buffy and Willow in it; it's also got a brief and ineffectual fight, some off-scene kippered herring (slightly rancid by now) and the initiattion of Smut, which will be Concluded (as well as the story) in Part 5. Which, Angelina, means I only have that episode and the Epilog to do.
SPOILERS: None since it bears no resembance to aired
AUTHOR'S NOTES: All nice feedback welcome. Chocolate cookies also accepted. 



Fables, Fortunes, Foes and Friends - - Part 4
 

The naa'idr demon froze in position; then, as the young woman turned the corner, it moved with incredible speed to a new vantage point, regaining sight of her. It had the ability to know when its quarry was aware of it: thatcompensated for its lack of the senses of smell and taste (which were actually redundant in its other-worldly habitat which was full of rotting and festering matter and pools of battery acid; which in turn was why, having killed the self-styled sorcerer-adept who had summoned it to Earth, it had taken up residence in an L.A. refuse landfill site, pending someone powerful enough to expel it back to its home).

Currently it was watching the young woman, trying to find where she lived, so that its employer could recover his property.

 

 

Cordelia Chase was feeling distinctly irritated: her latest audition had gone badly. There again, how could it not have when the casting director wanted his protégées to put out on a regular basis, and the producer had three nieces all "keen" to break into the industry. And, to compound her torment, she was sure she was being followed. Not that that precisely surprised her: Angel and Wesley were somewhere out in the desert following the trail of a maniac businessman who seemed to have a penchant for dismemberment.

And, since they none of them knew whether or not he had allies (Wolfram & Hart, for example) who might relish the tactical advantage of a hostage-taking, Angel had insisted she temporarily vacate her sweet little apartment (and Dennis) and take a room in a hotel.

Distinctly Faith-esque - and remembering how he last encounter with the rogue Slayer had gone, hardly the life-style she wanted to .

 

There it was again, that flicker at the corner of her awareness - almost like one of Their visions but (Thank God) without the splitting headache.

 

 

The naa'idr demon froze totally as it sensed its quarry's momentary awareness. It had never known such a degree of perception from a mortal, except for the adepts of Argharta.

But, it told itself, as it scuttled, like a badly-put-together clothes dryer, round a roof-top ventilator stack, at least it could sense when its quarry was on the alert.

And the blow on the back of the head came as a total surprise. It whipped round, losing track of its quarry, and saw a vague shape. Two of them, in fact.

The naa'idr demon thought (which was another of its not-too-strong-points).They clearly weren't mortal, and he could sense no demonic spirit dwelling in them, which meant .

It had never liked the Higher Powers: they existed, so far as the demon could see, simply to spoil things. So, if these were two of them .

 

 

"I've no idea, Buffy - Giles might know - "
"But Giles is back there with Dictator or whatever, and we're here."

Buffy poised herself: that first blow ought to have at least had some visible effect. It was like they had been told: as visitors from the fiction dimension, they had only a reduced power to affect the material world.

Then Willow had an idea. "Keep him where he is, Buffy: so far I think he'swatching you, rather than me." She reached into her bag and brought one or two things out, laying them down on the roof-top. It was supposed to be a fairly easy banishment ritual .

 

 

The demon suddenly saw lines of power beginning to coalesce.

Okay, that was it: mister mortal-guy-in-a-suit was paying for watching and finding out, not for fighting. And certainly not for fighting two of them.

It looked round and reached out for its own demonic powers.

All of a sudden the crate of half-decayed kippered herring the City had dropped off right outside its lair seemed awfully inviting. It opened one of the folds in space that were its alternative method of travel, and stepped through.

 

 

So far as Buffy was concerned, the thing (an angular demon-type thingie with vestigial horns, three-fingered hands, and jopinst where no self-respecting demon . ) suddenly hopped sideways into a patch of swirling air and vanished.

"Was that you, Will ?" she asked, helping her wicca-buddy up.

Willow crinkled her nose in a very appealing way, and started to put thingsaway again. "Knowing is not very . I think I did some of it. Or maybe itjust got bored. What was it ?"

"That was what we were asking each other five ago, when we first saw it. Okay, gone now. If it comes back, I hurt it; if not . "

She looked round. "Come on. We've lost her."

Willow stood up and hugged Buffy.

"She can't have gone far. Hey, do you realise what this means ?" Her hug suddenly tightened, in exuberance. "Even if we can't interact, I can stilldo magic."

"Interact my - " Buffy set off, irritated, but still listening. "Ask my fist if we can interact - that thing was rhino-hide."

"Shall I kiss it better ?"

"Later - first, let's find our wayward Queen C."

 

 

Suddenly Cordelia felt a lot better: whatever it had been that had given her the "I'm-Watching-You" feeling had gone . like totally receded.

Mind you, that wasn't saying much: the Hotel Montelimar was full of people you knew were watching you. Still, her room wasn't bad. Small, cramped, stuffy, and generally depressing, but better than being slaughtered in her own . no, she didn't mean that - just go for, better than being followed andslaughtered and .

She dropped her jacket on the bed, and went through to rinse her face and towel off.

 

"I told you this rowan rod worked - it was just Scriptator that was interfering with it."

"All right, Will - I believed you anyway. Now, where is she ?"

 

There was no doubt about it - tiredness was a major factor in feeling down.Cordy buttoned herself up and went back into what passed for her room.

The first thing she noticed was that it somehow smelled fresher: was that lavender ? She sniffed the bed-sheets (at least they'd been changed this time), and looked round for some source of the scent. The window as closed, and the air-conditioning was producing its usual impersonal canned-air.

She breathed it in nevertheless, remembering a summer week she'd spent on afarm, before Daddy had decided that he had greater need of cash than UncleSam and dumped her life into the trash. Meadow flowers and home-cooked country food, and cute ponies to ride .

 

"She noticed the scent, I'd say."
"Okay, Will - so what next out of your bag of tricks."

"Make her feel more relaxed, I'd say."

They were perched, side by side, on the dresser. The window had been no problem - they had simply not interacted with it. Then Willow had cast a little cleansing spell (lavender, verbena, honeysuckle and tea-rose) to give Cordelia's room a bit more life. Now Willow pulled a book from her bag.

"Will - isn't that Urmelwen's book ?"
Willow didn't answer at once, and then said "Not exactly."
"What does that mean, Will ?"

"It's not the one she had," Willow said: "It's the master copy from His library. I borrowed it. I can read it easier, and I don't have to work by memory of what I read."

"And you were going to try some sex-magic on Cordelia ?"

"Well, duh," Willow said, sparkily: "And the giant bottle of massage oil that just happened into your bag ? Not to mention the fur mitten - you know how she reacts to real fur."

"And you don't mind - " They had to move quickly: Cordelia had decided to change her blouse, and the other ones were in the dresser.

"Why should I ? We shared with Urmelwen; we can share Cordy and then go onour way. At least the sum total of happiness will have been boosted."

Buffy was a little dumbfounded: first at her subterfuge being discovered and secondly at the calm way Willow was taking it all.

 

The blouse was shot, Cordelia decided: another one for the dry-cleaners. Thank goodness there was one by the office who did a good enough job. She stretched and felt a sudden, severe, itch. But that was no problem, seeing there was no-one else around, she would slip her bra off, like that - then find a clothes hanger - a padded one was best, so's not to break the skin, and she could, with a deft couple of motions, eradicate the irritation.

She was halfway to putting her fresh blouse on when she realised that her bra had vanished. She looked round, could not see it, and reached for another, before, with a delicious feeling, she put the blouse on without.

Now, what would Mr. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce think to that, she wondered, or Gunn ? So . liberating . she thought, even as the fabric rubbed across her nipples, sending tiny shocks through her.

 

"And now what, mighty Slayer ?"

Buffy swivelled Willow round, by the shoulders, and planted a sensual kiss on her lips.

"What was that for -- not that I'm objecting, but I'd like to know - well, I would if it was for the sort of reason I'd like, and if it wasn't, well, you could try making something up and - "

Buffy repeated the process, partly as a way of shutting Willow up, and thensaid "Because you were right: you can cast magic from this world to ours -and that means it'll be a lot easier to seduce Cordy. My plan involved a lot of tying her up."
"We could try that later," Willow said, "if the spells don't work. Or we could try it on each other - after all, you could break the ropes and I could magick them open."

Buffy kissed Willow again and they took a few minutes to enjoy the sensations they could arouse in each other (without too much effort) before they turned back to Cordelia.





End of Bit 4