First Stanza - [Video] (both courts)

[deadpoet]

[The locket opens up to showing him in a bar. It's a well run place that seems fairly busy. Spike can be heard over the conversations in the background, but only just. Behind him is a pig-faced bartender who is probably less than pleased by a locket conversation in his bar, but hasn't gone to the trouble of turning it off. Spike hasn't been causing much trouble in Daonna since he arrived weeks ago to start living medieval style. He patrolled with the Slayer and though beasties weren't always common, there was no shortage of crime. It was work that didn't always pay well, but they'd collected one bounty that was keeping them fed and a roof over their head at the Sweet Sow.

And when he was peckish... well, the town was full of people that would never be missed, so long as they were never found. Spike was glad to be back on human blood again.]

This boon business is a big load of bollocks and I can't be the only one who thinks it. Collecting feathers for the king and queen? Here we are, shards rammed into our chests, and this is the best use they have for us? Bugger that and bugger them as well. Bootlicking might suit others, but it's never been the life for me, no matter what Crackerjack prizes they're offering.

So what I want to know is where we can get our goods without kissing their royal asses? There's got to be some witch or demon or the like handing out discount boons for a fee. Anything will do: it's got to be better than the cheap shite they threw at me last time. [A pouch of tobacco! For dealing with shadow beasties! Is it any wonder he didn't bother bending down to pick any feathers up?]

Comments

[chaoticwhimsy]

All I did was play with the feathers and they gave me a chocobo.

[Yes, she's bragging.]

[deadpoet]

I'm sure it's a bloody treat, little bit.

[Though a bit of chocolate wouldn't go amiss right now.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

It is! He's amazing! So much better than a horse.

[Hmm.]

So what'd you want that you can't get?

[deadpoet]

Now isn't that the golden question. What I want isn't something they're going to give me.

[chaoticwhimsy]

That's an evasion, not an answer.

[deadpoet]

Asking a question doesn't guarantee you an answer.

[chaoticwhimsy]

[She huffs.]

No, I guess not. But why keep it a secret?

[Video] (Seelie Court)

[tough_love]

You are not.

[Granted, it seemed like he was using a whole lot of words she'd never heard before or knew what they meant, but the mood behind them was obvious enough.]

I was told that I was coming here to fight a war. A grand one! But instead it seems as though I am expected to act the part of a servant more often than not.

At least I'm not the only one who refused to hunt down some bird-thief just because I was told to.

[Video]

[deadpoet]

[He squints at her, then decide he's seen stranger. He shrugs and goes with it, even if she doesn't ping him as any breed of demon he's familiar with.]

That's the spirit. Who cares if somebody killed some bleeding big bird? I'd like to shake his hand. The last thing we need 'round here is Mothra swooping around making us breakfast.

[Video]

[tough_love]

What is a mothra?

[She raised a...well, two brows, just. Figuratively. Considering her species had somewhat different anatomical details than humans. But the moment she asked the question, she quickly brushed it off as unimportant with a wave of a hand.]

Nevermind. The point is, we are in agreement. Which is apparently rare, considering there were apparently several who jumped at the chance to find the wretched bird. Or...Mothra, if that is its name.

[Movie references, it turns out, are rather lost on someone who could count the number of days they've spent on Earth on a single hand.]

Are there more like us, human? People brought here with promises of glory, and instead delegated to such trivial errands. I wish to know just how many are dissatisfied with the current arrangement.

[Video]

[deadpoet]

[Whoa, don't call him human. That's just rude.

He'll leave the Mothra thing alone.]

There's plenty who like to bitch about our lot. Most because they don't fancy fighting anybody. There's too few just looking for a good scrap.

[Hell, he's not even sure Buffy counts towards this small minority and his big red friend. Spike isn't looking for a war to fight because wars were the sort of things he left behind when he died. But he did fancy a good and proper brawl. Beating up criminals and the occasional beastie wasn't enough. It was too easy.]

[Video]

[tough_love]

[Hey if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and has yet to show off that it's a vampire duck, then it's probably a duck ok]

I've noticed.

[There was an unusual amount of venom behind that growl, but considering everyone here seemed to talk down about what amounted to a pretty big chunk of her life, it's not entirely undeserved.

It vanishes soon enough though, after she's pondered his words for a moment. And when she looks back over the locket, it's more curiosity than anger beneath the surface.]

And what of you? Is battle really so unpleasant you must cower at the thought of it?

[Video]

[deadpoet]

Me? I'm a fighter, love. I don't do rank and file, but I enjoy a good end of the world struggle as much as the next bloke. What's the point in living if you're not bashing somebody's face in, is what I say.

[He could go into the whole "I'm a lover and a fighter" thing, but Jack Sparrow ruined it by using it against him. Now he's soured on the line. Stupid pirate.]

private video »

[herotypical]

[ oh. sure. she could have waited until she got back to the sweet sow. buuut she didn't. buffy is just outside daonna, returning from a stroll out to a farmer's small settlement to ask about a follow-up bounty. she'd wanted to strike will the proverbial iron is still hot, but that also meant going out during the lingering late-fall heat of the day. and that meant leaving spike behind.

and as she walks back she pulls out the locket, both surprised and unsurprised to witness spike's opportunism finally showing its face. she left her locket dangling, so all its video feed picked up was the rhythmic sway of tree-canopy and the path ahead. at times the occasional arm lifted to rake through her hair. ]

Question the first: what are you hankering for that you'd risk a budget shelf boon-conjurer?

private video »

[deadpoet]

A bit of daylight exposure, perhaps. I should never have turned down that offer from the queen.

[He'd been paranoid of such gifts and rightly so. But it bugged him knowing that such a solution might be around and perhaps even common and he was sticking around in a tavern letting Buffy do the footwork. It had never bothered him back in their own world, except for that brief time he knew of the gem that could let him walk in the day and spent so much time trying to find it.]

private video »

[herotypical]

She offered?

[ news to the slayer. not that she necessarily expected spike to tell her everything. except...apparently she did expect that. and felt unreasonably touchy that she was only learning it now. as if she had some sort of viable claim on what had or hadn't been offered him. ]

private video »

[deadpoet]

She did. I turned her down, too. Bloody stupid of me, that.

[But well the past was the past. He still would like to find a solution around that. It was not that he was particularly keen on watching a sunset or anything, but he would like some improved mobility in life.]

private video »

[herotypical]

You turned her down 'cause you didn't want to owe her one. [ she doesn't ask; she tells. at least buffy is halfway certain she understands spike's part in the refusal. ] Power's great, except for when it comes with a catch--

[ she'd refused her own upgrade of sorts. but not in these lands. back in sunnydale, when the shadowmen offered to...no. ]

You hit the nail on the nose with your big question: we're bargain-hunters. There's no selling away a piece of my soul for a little razzle-dazzle. [but... ] Sun-walking. Is that something you really want? Like, really really?

private video »

[deadpoet]

I think I might look good with a nice tan, don't you?

[He did want sun-walking, even if he would remain a creature of the night. But the truth was, she was the one woman who could make him brave the sun to see her. He didn't go running around Sunnydale with a coat over his head because it made him look attractive. Loving a human was awful because he only had access to half of her life.]

video; gunna throw her at him because I can

[pontificus]

I'd imagine you would have to find someone capable of the magic the king and queen of each court are. [Which makes her wonder both where that power comes from and if it could be replicated.]

Is there someone even like that?

video; hdu

[deadpoet]

There's always someone like that, love. It's all a matter of looking in the right place.

[He's complaining for the sake of complaining right now. He's fairly confident his answer isn't going to be on the locket.]

video; you love it

[pontificus]

I would imagine someone of that nature does not crawl out of the shadows oft. [Though he has certainly got her thinking.]

video;

[deadpoet]

Of course not. It's why you've got to crawl into the shadows to find them.

video;

[pontificus]

I am to assume you are having no such luck with that. [Given he's complaining on the lockets.]

video;

[deadpoet]

Not yet. Things change.