(no subject)
Jun. 18th, 2007 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
not_that_spikeThe cloak thing is... really getting old. He can do it and keep on doing it, but it lost its appeal after the first couple days. Hell, half the time they've been out here it's just been the seven of them: if Hero and Ciba and Natalya had known about him, this would have been a different kind of trip. He wouldn't trade being here for anything, that's not it. It's just weird being a ghost, for all intents and purposes. And now the stakes are changing. Ever since they got to within about fifty miles of New York City, there's been a fuck of a lot of travel in absolute silence. Even the kids seem to know how serious things are; he's got a renewed respect for the little guys, not that he ever lost respect for Beth Junior. It's just he never thought a whole lot of kids in general. Now that he's seen how keyed-in they are to their parents' -- in this case their mothers' -- moods, he's pretty impressed.
There's shit going on, though, and not just around them. Being this isolated has given him a lot of time for thinking, and most of the thinking he's been doing hasn't necessarily left him feeling all warm and happy. They're almost at the harbor; the plan is to get passage on a ship for Europe and make their way to Paris. That... won't be an easy trip. It isn't like he'll have the simple luxury of any time alone with Beth and Junior; they'll probably all be crammed in some small space together. It's just a thing they're going to have to get through, unless he decides to jump ship and leave here and the only way he's going to do that is if someone shoots him. Tempers are starting to flare, and he can't do anything about that.
But damn, does he love his woman. He loves Beth so much. He told her a long time ago he'd die for her, and he would. Still, he gets this sick little feeling in his throat every time he thinks about the potential meetup with Yorick. Beth and Junior, they're his family. He's the one who's been there; he's the one who loves them. Yorick doesn't even know about the baby.
So what happens when the guy finds out?
Yeah, it's going to be a long trip across the Atlantic. A long trip thinking a lot of thoughts he'd rather not.
More than anything, he'd like to find a single damn door leading them home, but... the universe hasn't been that kind. Deep down inside, he's got the feeling it doesn't like him very much.
But when the opportunity arises to have a few minutes alone with Beth and Junior, he grabs it. Ciba's off with Natalya talking about what happens to Vlad when they finally get to Russia and Hero's off scouting the path; Junior's being fed. He almost doesn't dare take off the cloak here, but it's private enough so he can risk it for just a couple minutes. No one will see him. Resting a hand on Beth's shoulder, he looks down into Junior's contented face. She's such a beautiful kid, even if she doesn't happen to look a whole lot like Beth.
She sure looks nothing like him.
"Hey, Marie. Marie Browning. I remember you."
What he wouldn't give for Europa right now. Every day a honeymoon: that's sure as hell been put to the test.
There's shit going on, though, and not just around them. Being this isolated has given him a lot of time for thinking, and most of the thinking he's been doing hasn't necessarily left him feeling all warm and happy. They're almost at the harbor; the plan is to get passage on a ship for Europe and make their way to Paris. That... won't be an easy trip. It isn't like he'll have the simple luxury of any time alone with Beth and Junior; they'll probably all be crammed in some small space together. It's just a thing they're going to have to get through, unless he decides to jump ship and leave here and the only way he's going to do that is if someone shoots him. Tempers are starting to flare, and he can't do anything about that.
But damn, does he love his woman. He loves Beth so much. He told her a long time ago he'd die for her, and he would. Still, he gets this sick little feeling in his throat every time he thinks about the potential meetup with Yorick. Beth and Junior, they're his family. He's the one who's been there; he's the one who loves them. Yorick doesn't even know about the baby.
So what happens when the guy finds out?
Yeah, it's going to be a long trip across the Atlantic. A long trip thinking a lot of thoughts he'd rather not.
More than anything, he'd like to find a single damn door leading them home, but... the universe hasn't been that kind. Deep down inside, he's got the feeling it doesn't like him very much.
But when the opportunity arises to have a few minutes alone with Beth and Junior, he grabs it. Ciba's off with Natalya talking about what happens to Vlad when they finally get to Russia and Hero's off scouting the path; Junior's being fed. He almost doesn't dare take off the cloak here, but it's private enough so he can risk it for just a couple minutes. No one will see him. Resting a hand on Beth's shoulder, he looks down into Junior's contented face. She's such a beautiful kid, even if she doesn't happen to look a whole lot like Beth.
She sure looks nothing like him.
"Hey, Marie. Marie Browning. I remember you."
What he wouldn't give for Europa right now. Every day a honeymoon: that's sure as hell been put to the test.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 09:10 pm (UTC)"Don't worry. By now he knows how to safely get lost without really getting lost."
She's never had anything specific she felt like she had to keep from him, but she's always wanted him to know things because she wants him to know them and not because she's under his scrutiny -- not that he's actually scrutinizing her -- 24 hours a day.
It's been one of those things that they've had to figure out how to live with and she knows Spike would give her some time to talk to Hero alone if she ever asked -- and she trusts him to do it even though she can't see to know for certain -- but there's no way to firmly resolve it with things as they are. It's just pretty much impossible with the way things are right now.
Of course, if Hero's worried about Spike spying on them in their underwear, well, he's not some damn pervert. He's a good guy -- the former hit man with a conscience -- and the only eyeful he's gotten has been from her.
Purposefully.
Sure enough, she can hear the voices getting closer. And that's definitely Natalya's brand of English.
"C'mon, Auntie Hero. Can you give me a hand with getting Junior back into her backpack?"
no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 09:41 pm (UTC)And there, now that she's looking for it, she notices the way Beth's hand curls around something unseen: it's good. It's all good.
If his goddamn world of theirs ever rights itself again and finds the need for a little escapism, there's a hell of a story in this. So what if she thought sci-fi and fantasy were never meant to be her genre?
"Guess I ought to fill Natalya and Ciba in on the situation at the harbor. Then we'll figure out how to go about getting to Paris... finally."
It's been a long, long trip and they're not even halfway there. The only thing she knows with any certainty is that no one, but no one's going to get left behind.