Title: Post “Place Beyond the Rains” Drabbles
Author: thewiggins
Era/season/setting: dimension jumping post s5 au
Rating: G
Author’s Note: These drabbles are follow-ups to my fic “A Place Beyond the Rains.” Basic details from that that you need to know is that Buffy was stuck in a pocket dimension for five years working as a waiter in a demon-run truck stop and Spike (who’d worked as a bartender to support Dawn) saved her by convincing her that she needed to let go of a set concept of home in order to move on. Then the rains magically carried them away. It’s a weird fic.
These four drabbles are setting during their dimension-hopping journey home.
Thanks to teragramm for allowing me to change my posting day when I was feeling icky post covid vaccination. And thanks to thenewbuzwuzz for the encouragement.
Transport
Falling into the pocket dimension had felt like being ripped apart, hastily reassembled and then shoved into a lukewarm mud bath that soothed and numbed and which you could all too easily sink into.
Leaving via the rains was somehow both gradual and sudden. The rain stopped stinging where it hit her skin and began tingling instead. And then it stopped altogether. And when it it did, Buffy knew that for the first time in a long time, she was somewhere else. Spike’s fingers gently squeezed hers, showing that he’d also noticed the shift.
Buffy smiled and opened her eyes.
Different 1
Somehow she knew even with closed eyes that this wasn’t her world, so opening them wasn’t a shock or disappointment.
She and Spike stood on top of a massive sand dune. Before them was a vast desert lit by the light of two moons, one nearly the size of Earth’s and another so small it almost looked like an asteroid. Stars (so many stars!) shone above and the sand was silver-tinted. In the distance, she saw a vast ruined city.
“Well,” Spike said, “this is a change of pace, innit?”
And Buffy grinned from ear to ear, because it was.
Different 2
“You fought well,” Spike said, leaning against the cave wall. “Your style’s changed a bit.”
“Having a demon sparring partner for years will do that. Yours too,” she mused. “More… cautious, maybe?”
“Cautious?” He looked so offended she had to laugh.
“You were always reckless. Now… I can see that you’ve spent years having someone who relies on you, who’d be wrecked if you didn’t come back. It’s a good thing.”
“So, we’ve both changed, yeah? But one thing hasn’t.”
“Hmm?”
“There’s still no one I’d rather have fighting by my side.”
Buffy smiled. “I think I’m with you there.”
Food Service
“I’ve escaped death lots of times, but never like that.”
“You were amazing, luv. They were gonna eat us for sure, till you suggested those larval pods instead and made them sound so good even I wanted to try one. Kinda regret that.”
“You were the one who whipped up whiskey sours out of local rotgut and bitterfruit.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a bartender if I couldn’t improvise.”
“But why that drink of all things?”
“Universal, innit? Sweet, plus sour, plus kick in the balls. Just like love.”
“God, you’re so cheesy.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t love that about me.”
Originally posted at: https://seasonal-spuffy.dreamwidth.org/978153.html
