A heartfelt recommendation

[winter]

Some of you may have noticed that there are 260 comments on my last post. 240 of these are me and fyrie talking about a single story. She fed it to me by spoonfuls, killing me softly just as I was trying to work, or sleep, or just get the vampires out of my head by any means possible.

What Remains - Jossverse and Tanz der Vampire. After LA goes boom, Spike comes back to the last two vampires he knows who might take him in.

If I had to put a label on this, it'd probably be Hurt/Comfort. After the Angel finale, Spike is broken to pieces, and it's up to von Krolock, with Herbert's help, to put him back together. But gods, this is so sweet and heart-breaking, and there's one scene (which I won't spoil) that killed me dead.

Even if all you know about Tanz is that I blather about it a lot, go read it - all you need to know is that von Krolock is Herbert's dad, and that he's a sorcerer and occasional seer. All else speaks for itself.

(She's not finished with the first chronological fic in this series, but it will explain a lot if you read the two she posted previously - Until the Moon is Abed, slash and het Herbert/Spike, von Krolock/Dru, and then Unwritten Words, where pre-Buffy Season 2 Spike asks for advice on helping Dru.)

Comments

[winter]

:D

Okay, does he materialise in front of her or spare her feelings and appear behind her so that she can (he thinks) squeal and stumble right into his arms? ;)

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Dawn really has spent too long hanging out with a) a gazillion Slayers and b) Spike. Turns out, he used to do the sneaking up on her thing, so Dawn knows better than to expect normal behaviour from any vaguely supernatural people ;D

[winter]

Still, I think the only person to seriously hit on her was the singing demon from Once More With Feeling, who was really too weird to do anything but weird her out. Being courted should be a new experience for her :>

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

She did have one boyfriend very briefly and then Buffy staked him ;) She's just kind of boggling over the fact that she's not having the parcel snatched from her and getting kicked out th door.

[winter]

I'm just wondering how Spike'll react to it all. Apart from headdesking, of course :D Not like he can threaten von Krolock to leave his surrogate little sister alone...

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Not that he'd necessarily want to - he'd like to have the Niblet around forever :D




“That will not be necessary,” a quiet, deep voice spoke from somewhere on the upper landing at the top of the stairs. He had an accent, but it wasn’t all that strong compared to some of the people she had met earlier.

Looking up at the shadows, the Slayer’s sister grinned. “Good,” she said, though she shifted her weight slightly. Damned Slayers were a bad influence. “Giles would go all English on me if I told him I didn’t deliver them.”

“Ah, so, you are the agent from the Watcher’s Council?” Anyone else would have jumped when the speaker emerged from the darkness just to her left, instead of the shadows above the stairs.

“That’s me,” Dawn turned as if she had expected him all along. “Dawn Summers, delivery girl and agent.”

With a hand on her hip, her stance casual, she looked him up and down. Older guy with long hair? Didn’t see that often. Looked like the rich guys in the old films Buffy used to watch, some kind of gentlemen. Most noticeably, he was taller than she was. That didn’t happen often enough anymore, since she’d hit six feet.

Inclining his head, the man’s lips curled in a welcoming smile “I am the Graf von Krolock,” he murmured. “I expect you are fatigued after your journey, Miss. Are you hungry or in need of refreshment?”

Dawn’s brows rose. “Huh,” she said. It wasn’t often that she was offered anything in her role as the go-for girl. Withdrawing the parcel from under her arm, she held it out to him. “I’m good.” She hesitated, then added, “I could do with something to drink.”

Von Krolock took the bundle from her reverently and she felt his fingertips brush against hers. They were icy-cold, drawing her eyes for a moment, then she looked back up to find his dark eyes on her face.

“Would you accept accommodation also?” he murmured. “I fear it is too late to continue your journey tonight.”

Dawn eyed him suspiciously. “You do know that delivery comes with the guarantee that the delivery-girl doesn’t get eaten, sacrificed, barbecued, shish-kebobed, toasted, exsanguinated or anything gross or death-causing, right?”

He laughed softly, such a simple amused sound that Dawn only stared more. “Have no fear,” he said. “I have no desire to make an enemy of the Watchers Council.”

[winter]

Heh. She's hooked already :D

As for Spike, I was more thinking of being protective of Niblet's innocence, so to speak ;) He seems the type to have atavistic big-brother instincts.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

That's probably true, but he'll only do it when she's not around, because oh, she would kick his puny ass if she knew he'd been going overprotective on her :D

[winter]

Evem without her around, what's he going to do? Except maybe mumble at Krolock to please not break her heart too badly ;)

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Beg, crawl and utterly debase himself probably :D

And gah! Dawn is too easy. Von krolock is being so smart and so tall and she's like "he's undead, but dude!"

[winter]

I don't blame her in the least. Tall, intelligent, well-mannered and considerate - hell, he could bite me anytime. Oh, and rich, too.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

He offered her his arm, which she took after a moment of hesitation. This time, his brows rose slightly. “Such tools are impractical under long sleeves,” he observed.

“Yeah, figured that out too late,” Dawn muttered, blushing.

Von Krolock granted her a brief smile. “I have no doubt you would improvise with great skill, were it required,” he murmured. Dawn was torn between glaring at him and giggling. Giggling? The hell?

“Are you doing some weird vampire mojo on me?” she demanded.

The Graf - whatever the hell that was - gazed at her. “Do you think I am?”

Dawn gave him a look. “If I say yes, you could be making me say that and if I say no, same thing,” she said. “That’s why I asked.”


(she's determined to smartmouth her way through the situation :D)

[winter]

Knowing the old(er) guy, he'll just find that curious and charming. Heh, she's doomed :D

*commences countdown to Spike's appearance or Dawn bringing up the letter*

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Guess where VK is leading her ;) And guess where Herbert and William are hanging out...

[winter]

Oooh. There will be glomping? :D

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

If Senior will stop making her flustered with leet vampire manners :D

[winter]

I don't think even Senior will be enough to stop her from giving Spike a great big hug once she sees him :)

(Would be amusing if Herbert misinterpreted it á la Illyria...)

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Letter's been brought up and glomping is about to ensue :D

[winter]

OK, going off to take a shower, hoping to have something to read before I have to head bedwards. Bloody midnight and I have to get up at 6AM!

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Dawn gave him a look. “If I say yes, you could be making me say that and if I say no, same thing,” she said. “That’s why I asked.”

“And you are only a delivery girl?” Directing her down a hallway with a nod, the Graf’s eyes never seemed to leave her face, which made her feel kind of squirmy but not in a totally bad way. “I find that difficult to believe.”

“Just a regular girl. Not a slayer or witch or superhero,” Dawn replied airily, looking around at the paintings lining the walls. “No biggie.”

“I remain unconvinced,” Von Krolock’s voice sounded like a purr, rolling over her senses and sending a tingle racing down her spine. No! Bad Dawnie! No messing about with the clients! Rule two! And undead clients at that! Rule one!

Deliberately eyeing the paintings to avoid looking back into those dark eyes, Dawn cleared her throat. “So... uh... you’re Mister von Krolock, right?”

“That is correct,” he agreed softly.

“The only one?” She looked around at him, and promptly lost the mental path she had been aiming for. “Uh... I... uh... I mean, you don’t have brothers or anything like that? Any other ones with that name?”

Von Krolock laughed softly. “Unless you speak of my son,” he murmured, “I am, indeed, the only one.”

“Huh.” Reaching into her coat pocket, Dawn pulled out the letter she had received, a little crumpled and bent, but still legible. “So, is this your notepaper, then?”

For a moment, the man - vampire, Dawn, vampire - went still, staring at the sheet, then looked at her, as if seeing her with new eyes. “It is,” he said, leading her onwards down the hall. “May I know where you found it?”

“Didn’t find it,” Dawn replied evenly, watching him now as intently as he had watched her. “It was sent to me. Not the Watchers Council. Me. From here.”

“Indeed,” von Krolock said quietly, pausing by a pair of double-doors. He loosed his arm from hers, his eyes on her face again, focussed, but not staring, definitely not staring.

Unsettled but unwilling to show it, Dawn lifted her chin and gazed right back at him.

“Indeed,” he repeated thoughtfully. Turning away from her, he laid his hands against the broad handles, gazing down at them. “Who do you think might have sent a missive to you?”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Dawn replied.

Von Krolock raised his head, but didn’t look around. “Perhaps,” he murmured, then pushed the doors open and stepped into the biggest living room Dawn had ever seen in her life.

Following him, unconsciously reaching down to touch the cross at her throat, she saw two other figures already in the room, one of whom was sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace, reading. The other was draped in a chair, also bearing a book, but his was not opened.

“Herbert, William,” von Krolock’s murmur was unnecessary, she noticed. As soon as she had stepped into the room, both of them had shifted, a subtle indication that they were both aware of a mortal in the vicinity. “We have a guest.”

The vampire that was lying on the floor seemed to go rigid and she saw its head turn sharply, silhouetted against the fire for a moment, shaggy hair falling around its face. A male, she decided. Not too big. She could take it down easily.

“Bloody hell!”

Or not.

On his feet, the vampire was staring at her as wildly as she was staring at him.

“Spike...?”

“Holy shit! Nibbles!”

In the thirty seconds that followed, she wasn’t sure which of them moved first or which of them moved fastest, only that they crashed into each other hard enough to knock the wind out of her and to tip them both onto the floor.

[winter]

Yay! :D

And Spike's grown his hair out, which is also yay. And btw, Dawn having trouble pulling her thoughts together around Senior is triple yay.

Incidentally, is Illyria around or has she ambled over next door to argue warfare with Dracula by now?

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Spike's hair is going back to natural colours and length because Herbert asked nicely and when that didn't work, there was a week of torture involving feathers, handcuffs, a whip, a vice and some chocolate sauce.

And Illyria is still kicking around somewhere, but doesn't liek comfy snuggling in front of the fire ;)

[winter]

Mmmm, chocolate sauce... *hasn't had breakfast yet*

Can't imagine why ;) She can be nowhere near done with digging through the library by now, and there's no place for reading like a room with a fireplace...

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Was kept semi-awake last night and coming to the realisation that as charming as VK is, Dawn going to get stubborn far too quickly. Buffy and Spike are both saying "Um..." over the guy. Willow is aflail. Everyone's insisting she should leave and quickly. She's rolling her eyes and enjoying his company too much ;)

Had this image of him trying to bite, but being repelled by the marks on her throat and even when he unweaves the protective charms, she's still marked and she's like "okay. I like you, but don't want eaten so here. I'll cut my wrist and let you have a sip and anything else, I smack you with my cross and several bottles of holy water and you know what it does to silk"

[winter]

Really, really not blaming her here ;) And I'm sure he'd be charmed by the forthrightness. For some reason I'm enamoured of the image of her cutting her wrist on his sharp fingernails - maybe taking his hand and putting it on her wrist...

Needless to say, much Dawnie love here :D