After all the trouble you claimed to have had birthing this tale, you rang the metaphoric gong.
Gone were the sarcastic commentary and the easy reliance they had had with each other. Spike was tense and quiet and much too willing to do anything she suggested. This new and not-so-improved Spike was really beginning to piss her off, especially when she thought about how well Dawn was doing with him. They didn't have any trouble doing all those impossible things like talking and laughing and having pizza parties.
So Spike sees himself as the spoils of war, so to speak, and has lapsed into a passive-aggressive mode of behavior. And Buffy, it is easy to believe, cannot break through the armor to establish the relationship with him that she truely wants. That is more than believable.
The way you integrate the classic fairy tale into this scenario really works. (I particularly liked the idea of the ur tale behind The Billy Goats Gruff.)
"You know me," she said, "Not so much with the baring of emotions." She swallowed hard, finding it nearly impossible to talk or stand or even breathe, for that matter. "Besides," she finally sputtered, "the last time I told you, you went up in flames, and you didn't even believe me."
Great resolution of their impasse.
I must say that I really thought it was their love for Dawn that saved both her and, in the end, them too.
Of course, I might have said that they lived as happily ever after as could be expected for them.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ninetydegrees
no subject
2006-03-10 16:00 (UTC)Gone were the sarcastic commentary and the easy reliance they had had with each other. Spike was tense and quiet and much too willing to do anything she suggested. This new and not-so-improved Spike was really beginning to piss her off, especially when she thought about how well Dawn was doing with him. They didn't have any trouble doing all those impossible things like talking and laughing and having pizza parties.
So Spike sees himself as the spoils of war, so to speak, and has lapsed into a passive-aggressive mode of behavior. And Buffy, it is easy to believe, cannot break through the armor to establish the relationship with him that she truely wants. That is more than believable.
The way you integrate the classic fairy tale into this scenario really works. (I particularly liked the idea of the ur tale behind The Billy Goats Gruff.)
"You know me," she said, "Not so much with the baring of emotions." She swallowed hard, finding it nearly impossible to talk or stand or even breathe, for that matter. "Besides," she finally sputtered, "the last time I told you, you went up in flames, and you didn't even believe me."
Great resolution of their impasse.
I must say that I really thought it was their love for Dawn that saved both her and, in the end, them too.
Of course, I might have said that they lived as happily ever after as could be expected for them.