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Title:
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Rating: PG (really just for tension and the hope of a future f/f relationship) Pairing: B/F Summary: In this rewrite of the last scene from "Revelations", Buffy finds that less is more. Spoilers: Just "Revelations", as mentioned. Disclaimer: Weirdly, Joss Whedon forgot to give me ownership of BtVS for my birthday (cheap bastard!). So this stuff still all belongs to Joss, the Kuzuis, sundry production companies, studios, and networks. Archiving: Archiving sought. Archiving welcomed. Just tell me. Feedback: People gave me feedback for "Straight Through the Heart, Ch. 1" and I'm writing again, rather than going to bed. Cause and effect, anyone? Lists or offline at danspector@xxxxxxxxx . Love it all except flames. Just a little palate cleanser before I tackle "Straight Through?" again. Hence the title (well, one meaning). And Angelina liked my dedication, so this one goes out to Rayne and her absolutely invaluable resource The Buffy Shooting Scripts Site . What happened was I was checking the angst-o-meter at the end of "Revelations" for the "Straight Through?" flashbacks, and I looked at the last scene again and said, "what if??" AAARGH! As I said, I read the script. Which, I forgot, isn't always shot that way (No Buffy "I love you" to Willow in the "Wild at Heart" script, which would have been a tragedy for fanfic!). In the "Revelations" script, Faith is sitting on the couch watching daytime T.V.. As shot (according to Psyche's Transcripts), she's flopped on the bed, paging through a magazine, as Dragnet plays on the tube. This changes the blocking, and since I won't know exactly how she's lying on the bed until I see the FX rerun in late November, I've put her back on the sofa. Repeat, Faith is on the sofa, on the sofa, on the sofa?
"Come in." Buffy stepped cautiously into Faith's dingy room, charmingly located in the urban blight that was the Sunnydale Motor Inn . The brunette slayer sat on a ratty couch, never taking her eyes off of the T.V. "Place looks nice," Buffy joked feebly. "Yeah, real Spartan." Faith replied. There was an awkward pause as Buffy tried to understand the tone of hurt in the younger girl's voice. "How you doing?" Buffy tried again, more direct this time. "Five by five," Faith replied, her too-casual tone mixed with a small taste of sarcasm, still not looking at Buffy. "I'll ta--" Buffy started, then cut herself off. What the heck was she going to say? If she tried to sympathize about Gwendolyn Post, all she was going to do was remind Faith how the evil ex-Watcher had played on Faith's trust and used her against Buffy, making Faith feel like the idiot Post had called her. And if she tried to talk about Angel, Buffy would simply remind Faith that Buffy had kept that secret from her for all these months, and how would Faith be able to trust anything, even an apology, that Buffy gave her now? It's hopeless, Buffy despaired. Nothing I say is going to make this any better. Wait a second, the blonde decided, maybe that's it, Faith's not all verbal like Willow, maybe I can be there for her without doing the whole conversation thing. Acting on instinct, Buffy walked to the couch and sat down, to Faith's left. Faith kept her eyes on the set, flipping through the early-afternoon wasteland of soaps and court shows with the remote in her right hand. After a little while, Buffy reached out with her right hand, slipping it into Faith's left. She felt the muscles under the skin go rock-hard as Faith tensed, felt the pulse in her palm race as she gently grasped Faith's hand and held on tight. For a second, Buffy thought Faith was going to violently yank herself away from Buffy's grasp, but she didn't. Neither did Faith relax, her eyes still locked on the television in front of her. A minute passed. "Let go," Faith said, quietly. Another minute went by. "No." Time moved on? |