yeah that happens if you turn into a vampire

[cross_and_bow]

(prologue)

Bella slips into the school by a side door; she just saw a thing and she thinks she's seen it in a book before and thinks it's supposed to be mostly harmless but before she wakes Giles up over probably nothing or kills a likely neutral demon she wants to check.

And she pushes into the library.

Comments

[thisvorlunatic]

He pulls the book from its stack and tosses it to her. It lands neatly in her hand.

[cross_and_bow]

And she goes over to the copy machines and makes some copies, though she looks over her shoulder an awful lot.

[thisvorlunatic]

Admiral Naismith sits at the table and doesn't do anything.

[cross_and_bow]

Presently she has a neatly stapled copy of the chapter to toss back to him. "Collect your friend, get out of here, I've got shit to do, make sure finding you again isn't any of it."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Enjoy your population control."

He catches the copied chapter and goes into the stacks to retrieve his friend.

[burning_gold]

His friend is really unhappy about this whole situation! So unhappy! But off they go.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella doesn't shoot them! She shelves the books they took down and looks up her probably harmless demon and confirms it's harmless and leaves a note for Giles on the library desk and goes home.

[thisvorlunatic]

Zeke and Miles go back to Zeke's place (and get distracted by vampire makeouts) and dig into the photocopied chapter (and get distracted by vampire makeouts) and start in on planning Miles's soul reclamation quest (and get distracted by vampire makeouts) and go to sleep and wake up (and get distracted by vampire makeouts) and wait until sundown to go raid the butcher's again (and, on the way, get distracted by vampire makeouts). Miles wears his jacket this time. It's fireproof, which seems handy.

[cross_and_bow]

And that's when there's a crashing sound out front of the butcher shop and a familiar voice swearing painfully.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Hell," says Miles. He starts in that direction immediately.

[burning_gold]

"What are you doing?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Declining to let myself down."

[cross_and_bow]

Apparently the vampire slayer has been attacking some large rocky-looking white thing that is not a vampire, and it flung her through a window into what fortunately turned out to be a mattress store. She's regrouping, but the thing is advancing on the broken window now. The state of the sidewalk suggests that crossbow bolts just bounce off.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles considers this scene for a fraction of a second, then pulls his nerve disruptor and shoots the statue-like being.

That has an effect.

The thing's featureless white surface begins to disintegrate at the point of impact, releasing wisps of white smoke and an unearthly wail. Cracks spread across the creature's body, and it falls apart into multiple pieces, and the pieces into smaller pieces, and the smaller pieces into smoke, and when there's nothing left of it but a fading cloud the scream finally stops.

"Well," remarks Miles. "That was more dramatic than I expected."

[cross_and_bow]

"Thank you," says Bella, picking glass out of her arm.

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm trying not to add to the list of things I'm going to be disappointed in myself about forever, and letting you get killed would definitely belong there."

[cross_and_bow]

"I appreciate that. How are you doing?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Do you happen to have a few hundred dollars I can borrow for a plane ticket to South Africa?"

[cross_and_bow]

"I spend a lot of money on crossbow bolts and for some reason Slaying is volunteer work, sorry."

[thisvorlunatic]

He shrugs. "Don't worry about it. Well, unless you find the prospect of petty theft worrying."

[cross_and_bow]

"A little, but it's not my job to police and you're not going to blow it on cocaine. Can I interest you in a mattress shop that looks like somebody may have broken into it?" She hops out the gap in the window.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Don't mind if I do."

Into the mattress shop he goes.

[burning_gold]

Zeke trails him awkwardly, staying well out of Bella's way.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella ignores Zeke in favor of the glass in her arm. "I don't suppose I can borrow that ray gun."

[thisvorlunatic]

"If I had two, I might give you one, but this is my only nerve disruptor and anyway I really don't think we have a sufficient foundation of mutual trust for me to successfully teach you its safe and proper use."