Birthday greetings part two; with added fic.

[speaker_to_customers]

Happy Birthday to enigmaticblues

Lots of love to the wonderful and talented girl who is one of my very closest online friends. Possibly the closest of all. I've written a special story for this occasion. Hope you spot all the references! It's for other people to read as well, if they like.

This ficlet could fit into straight Buffyverse canon, Season 4 around the time of 'Something Blue' or 'Hush', or in the gap between S4 and S5, or it could be a missing scene from 'Life in Shadow'. Rating - well, is it safe to rate anything any more? PG-ish, anyway. 777 words, many of them different.

Everything Stops For Tea

Giles pushed his glasses up his nose and frowned at the vampire. “Will you please stop poking around among my things?” he complained.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Rupert, I won’t break anything,” Spike replied. “Hey, what’s this?” He held up a video cassette. “Hancock’s Half Hour. The Blood Donor. Bloody fantastic! My favourite episode.” He sucked in his lips and frowned. “Hang on a minute. BBC video, PAL. Can’t bloody play it on a Yank machine, can you?”

“Actually, I have a rather cunning device,” Giles said smugly. “A machine that will indeed play British videos on the inferior American system.”

“Colour me impressed,” Spike said. “And this is black and white, so it’d be just as good on their Never Twice the Same Colour shit. Okay if we watch it, Watcher?”

“Oh, very well,” Giles agreed. “If that will stop you prowling around like Rikki Tikki Tavi. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Wouldn’t mind, Rupes. Ta.” Spike sat down on the couch, but was up again within moments and followed Giles into the kitchen. He stood watching as Giles boiled the kettle and warmed the gaudy canary yellow teapot. “That’s a sassy teapot you’ve got there, Watcher. Bought it local, I take it?”

“It was a present from Joyce, actually,” Giles told him. “For once her impeccable taste seemed to desert her.”

“She get you the ‘Kiss the Librarian’ mug too?” Spike smirked teasingly.

“Oh, no, that was Willow, actually.”

Spike grinned impishly. “So, Red crushing on you as well?”

“There may have been an element of that at one time,” Giles conceded, “but luckily she seems to be well over it by now. Rather embarrassing.” His brows lowered. “What do you mean, ‘as well’?”

“Come on, Watcher, you mean you haven’t noticed the look in Joyce’s eyes around you? You could be up her like a ferret up a drainpipe.”

Giles flushed. Spike tilted his head to one side and grinned broadly. “You have been! You sly old dog, Rupes. Congratulations!”

“It was due to a spell, and it is not something I care to discuss, Spike. Please shut up.”

“Just a spell? Bollocks. You should pick it up again. Joyce is a smashing bit of crumpet, and you’re not bad for a dried-up old stick. Get over there with the old flowers and champagne and have a good time. Do both of you the world of good.”

“I said I’m not willing to discuss it,” Giles said firmly. “Sugar? Milk?”

“Milk, one sugar. All right, have it your own way. I’ll leave it alone.” Spike gave an enigmatic smile, muttered under his breath “for now”, and returned to the main room.

When Giles re-entered with the tea he found Spike leafing through his record collection. “You really are a fidget, Spike. I thought we were going to watch the video.”

“Yeah, we will, but I couldn’t resist having a gander at your records. Some good stuff there. Best collection of British Blues I’ve seen in sodding ages. John Mayall, the Yardbirds, Chicken Shack – you’ve got taste, Watcher.”

Giles set down the tray he carried, laden with cups, plates, the teapot, and a plate of English biscuits. “I wouldn’t have thought it was in your line, Spike. I thought you were a devotee of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.”

“Well, yeah, but I was listening to music long before Punk. Met Clapton, you know.” Spike picked out a Ginger Snap from the plate of biscuits. “And Ginger Baker. Dru was really impressed by him; said he was madder than she was.”

“How old were you when you were turned?” Giles asked, keeping his voice casual. Background information on William the Bloody might be of interest to the Council of Watchers, even now; and Spike, for once, seemed to be in the mood to be forthcoming.

“Twenty-five,” Spike revealed, and laughed. “Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Two Kings Chapter 15, verses 33 and 34.”

Giles’ eyebrows climbed high up his brow and he stared in mute amazement at the vampire.

“Surprised you, did I?” Spike asked. “Not expecting a vampire to quote the Bible? Well, I nearly went into the Church. It was that or the Army for a younger son. Then my brother died and…” He stopped and shook his head. “No, I’m not going there. Let’s just watch Hancock.”

Comments

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Aw, I love these little snippets of life among the Brits. That was great.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Or rather, "Ta, mate".

[hieispike.livejournal.com]

Beautiful snapshot of Spike and Giles. :)

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Ta, mate. A bit of all right, innit?

[elisi]

Oh, this was just wonderful! Funny, touching, clever... what a treat for the birthdaygirl (and all the rest of us).

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Unfortunately the birthday girl seems to have been offline since shortly before I posted it, so she hasn't seen it yet, but hopefully she'll like it when she does.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Well, that was the anodyne for what ails me this morning- at least the ennui part, not the hay fever that's making me sneeze so hard I've got whiplash of the tongue.

Anyhow- bright yellow teapot? (shudder)

Julia, Dru was such a fangirl, really

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

"Whiplash of the tongue" is a lovely phrase (although probably unpleasant to have). Is it okay if I use it in a fic sometime, probably in a Willow/Kennedy scene?

[hesadevil.livejournal.com]

Now I can see Spike being a Cream fan but Giles and Kipling? Must be a hangover from his schooldays.

Some lovely touches in this one. Thank you.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

I tend to work on the assumption that Giles will be familiar with any literary reference with which I am familiar, apart from perhaps some of the SF ones, plus ones not familiar to me as well.

Thanks, glad you liked it.

[itmustbetuesday.livejournal.com]

I absoluetely love it. Especially the little snapshot into Spike's human years. Bravo!

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Ta, mate, glad you liked it.

[myfeetshowit.livejournal.com]

Quote: 773 words, many of them different. UnQuote.

I loved this--such a nice little visit to Scoobie town. I have to say though, you mislead a bit. You said many of the words were 'different' but the only place I saw that word was in your quote. Good thing, all those other various words made up for the lack :)

I especially enjoyed Spike teasing Giles about Joyce. That would be like sand in Giles' tea.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

You said many of the words were 'different' but the only place I saw that word was in your quote.

Different from each other. :-) It's taken from a scathing review of an Yngvie Malmsteen concert, that went something like 'his songs always contain a lot of notes, many of them different'. Very true.

Glad you liked it.

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that enigmaticblues will love it. Certainly a wonderful Birthday present. Love how you incorporated the Biblical quote.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

She hasn't seen it yet (or if she has she hasn't said anything) but I hope she will like it.

Thank you!

[calturner.livejournal.com]

That was lovely. Thank you. :)

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[makd.livejournal.com]

very nice, and I do like the way you skillfully inserted "enigmatic" and "blues" into the story.

I should thank you, really; it was partially your doing - and your two postings on the subject - that got me to reading Cast Me Not Away. Now, I'm following Useless Desires.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

I inserted all her other aliases into the story too. :-)

Thank you!

adorable

[legendarytobes.livejournal.com]

oh, and the vampire can quote scripture too.

Re: adorable

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Spike calls upon God in Intervention, not in a swearing or blasphemous sense, he definitely seems to be calling out in the same way as a human Christian would in such extreme circumstances. Something I regard as very interesting indeed, especially compared to Holden Webster's rejection of Him and all His works.

[ezagaaikwe.livejournal.com]

That "ferret & drainpipe" reference never fails to crack me up. And how much do I love Ginger Baker? Must have worn out three Blind Faith LPs.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Ginger Baker was a right nutter back in those days. Jack Bruce, on the other hand, was charming and articulate. The 'bass solo' line in 'Savage Beauty' is a paraphrase of a joke I heard him crack on a radio broadcast of a performance by his band shortly after Cream split up.

[manoah.livejournal.com]

That was just lovely. We should all be so lucky to have a friend such as you!

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thank you! But I can't promise birthday fics for everybody, I'm afraid.

[jerusha]

"Hopefully" I'll like it? Bloody brilliant! I bow before your superior genius, because my jaw is still on the floor at how many references you got in there. Absolutely lovely. Thank you.

[claudia-yvr.livejournal.com]

Oh, the guilt! As co-mod of spiketara I barely have time to add new fic to memories, and have completely fallen behind in my reading. Everyone has said such lovely things about your writing that I'm feeling quite deprived. As soon as I have a block of uninterrupted peace -- which probably won't be until you've completely finished Useless Desires -- I fully intend to sit down and savour your Spara properly. In the meantime, I want to thank you for contributing to the community and belatedly wish you a very happy birthday!

[claudia-yvr.livejournal.com]

Loved this little exchange! A New Man is one of my favourite episodes, because it was one of the rare times we saw these two interacting one-on-one. It's a shame circumstances were such that they never became friends.

[spikeverse.livejournal.com]

Giles said he spent all summer watching Passions with Spike. So they did hang. We just didn't get to see it.

[quinara]

Eric Clapton. *sigh*

Sorry, what? Oh yes, the fic. Brilliant as always. Though personally I wouldn't mind a yellow teapot, though I can understand that it would clash terribly with Giles' green walls.

A pint! That's very nearly an armful. ... No, I'm sorry, I've been misinformed, I've made a mistake, I'll do something else, I think I'll be a traffic warden.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. The teapot had to be garish so that Spike could refer to it as "sassy"; the alternative would have been for it to have had some slogan on it, like the "kiss the librarian" mug, but I've never seen any such teapots and a glaring colour seemed more feasible.

I can definitely see Spike chortling over "The Blood Donor". And probably drooling.

[spikeverse.livejournal.com]

Lovely.

Never Twice the Same Colour shit?? Is there a problem with color in NTSC? I thought it just had fewer lines.

I now have the urge to go make a proper pot of tea.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Thanks, glad you liked it.

I didn't make that saying about NTSC up. It's a much older standard than PAL and the USA suffered the down side of being early adopters.

From Wikipedia:
Video professionals and television engineers do not hold NTSC video in high regard, joking that the abbreviation stands for "Never The Same Color", "Never Twice the Same Color", or "Never Tested Since Christ." Cabling problems tend to degrade an NTSC picture (by changing the phase of the color signal), so the picture often loses its color balance by the time the viewer receives it. This necessitates the inclusion of a tint control on NTSC sets, which is not necessary on PAL or SECAM systems. Some complain that the 525 line resolution of NTSC results in a lower quality image than the hardware is capable of.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

Lovely piece of domesticity for Giles and Spike - and your ficlets always leave me wanting more. Off to dunk a ginger snap in my perfectly made cuppa.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Ta, mate, glad you liked it.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Very nice!

Not my birthday but thank you nonetheless. My two favourite male characters together and Giles acknowledging that Willow had a crush on him once!

I sooo want a Ripper movie *pout*

Chani

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

I want a Ripper movie - or better still TV series - too. Preferably Ripper & Spike!

[talesofspike.livejournal.com]

I just love it when Spike baits Giles... and you made me want to go find mt City of Lights video.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Is that "City of Lights" as in the Runrig concert video?

And did I know you in Real Life (pre-1989)?