Work Text:
Simple
By FemailoftheSpecies
cafedemonde@yahoo.com
It was simple.
Everything about her was simple in that way that a hurricane was simple as it swept across land and sea, killing and destroying all in its path indiscriminately. She was very much an equal opportunity wave of destruction; she bore no grudges or ill-will. What she did was a part of the natural scheme of things.
Even she understood that.
Spike took her thin hand and guided her carefully down the corridor toward their cabin. Once inside, he checked that all their bags and trunks had arrived before turning to her.
She had taken a seat on the Queen Anne bed, admiring the deep purple fabric of the counterpane. Her attention span was so fragile of late, as was her health. He blanched as he thought it - her health. Vampires had no health to speak of. They were injured and they healed. Sickness did not play a part. Nonetheless she was.
Sick.
He tilted his head, listening to the sounds of the ship. They would be in motion soon, on the way to America and the Hellmouth in California. It was there, surrounded by the comforting concentration of malevolence, that he hoped to restore his Princess.
"Dru, luv?"
She lifted her head slowly, dreamily. "Yes, my Spike..." she panted. Talking was sometimes difficult for her, and today had been busy. She needed to rest for a while and he would see to it that she did.
"Do you understand what I explained earlier? The rules to the game?"
Her eyes lit up predictably when the words left his mouth, although he was not certain of the reason. She was either eager to play or remembering that she had already broken one of the rules. Both were enjoyable for her.
"The rules..." she repeated, swaying a bit. "There are rules for everything and I am meant to break them all." She smiled up at him and he returned it. His Princess was forever on her mission, cleansing the world of its sickening, parasitical goodness.
"Yes, I do enjoy how you break things, pet, but right now we are on a ship and will be for six days."
She nodded in wide-eyed wonder, the twinkle in her hazel orbs barely hidden. She was putting him on.
"And while on the ship there will be no snacking without you," she affirmed, grinning brightly. He leaned and kissed her gently, not wanting to bruise her, which happened too easily these days.
"Thanks, Princess."
She nodded and was moving on to a new topic, the old one forgotten until needed. "Can we go dancing, Spike?"
He was putting their belongings into the dresser provided and glanced at her over his shoulder. "You're not well, Dru." He did not want to argue. Despite her weakened state, she was still stubborn.
"I'll rest and we'll dance tomorrow then?"
He smiled warmly and nodded, grateful that she was agreeing with him so easily. "I'll run us a bath and we can order tea and cakes."
Dru clapped happily as he handed Miss Edith to her. "Yes please... and entrails?"
"Tomorrow," he promised, "and only if you're good."
There was a sinking in his belly as she smiled at him, her wickedness never more apparent. "I'm always good, Spike."
She held her hand out for him to come to her and he did without hesitation as always. Never once had he failed her; he was her knight in black armor, her fierce, wild warrior. Her mind held fragmented memories of him fighting off the mob, alone and impossible, but he made it possible, and saved her from their torturous good intentions.
Slipping her slender, graceful fingers into his jeans, she gripped the evidence of his desire for her, licking her lips as she gazed up at him coyly. "I'm always so very good."
"That you are, Princess."
They slept the rest of the night away and the next day, Spike content with lying next to her, reading and smoking, while she regained a modicum of her strength. Eventually he drifted off again only to wake alone.
He knew instantly that she was gone and hurriedly dressed to find her.
His attempt to zoom in on her location was constantly being disrupted by other passengers blocking his way and wishing to talk. His rudeness was only surpassed by the brutal manner in which he cleared a path to his sire.
He found her taking in the moon on the sundeck. No one was up here as it was chilly and the wind made it even worse. Humans were whiny about those things.
But there were two humans, corpses now, arranged decoratively in the lounge chairs around her, their hearts missing.
She saw him approach and cleaned her mouth with a sideways lick of her tongue.
"Dru..." he sighed, wondering if he could just toss the bodies overboard unnoticed, as he ran a hand over his face.
"They didn't want to play, Spike. I tried your game, but they didn't like it either..." She stood. "So I played a game of my own."
It was simple.
end