Author: Rebcake
Word count: 350
Rating: PG
Prompt: The Spectacles
Setting: Much, much later.
Summary: Eternal youth ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“Where in the bloody hell are they?” raged Spike, patting down his pockets. Breast first, hips second, then as a last resort, his backside.
“I remember seeing some in the WC this morning,” said Buffy, ducking past a skeleton wielding a broadsword.
“Fat lot of good that does us now. Oh, hell. Can you pass me the duffle, pet?”
“Little busy…” She hacked off a bony arm of her assailant, but unfortunately not the arm holding the sword. “...right now.” Two of its friends were starting to reassemble themselves on the other side of the temple.
Spike sighed and splashed through the impluvium to get to the weapons bag without disturbing Buffy’s work. He rummaged around until he found her purse, and rummaged some more until he found her reading glasses in their pink case. He perched them on his nose and then peered at the scrap of paper in his hand again.
“Much better!” He splashed back to the altar where the proper offering had already been laid and cleared his throat. “Ahem. Περιέχετε το φίδι, αφήστε τις πέτρες διαβίωσης να επιστρέψουν στη σάρκα.” He lit the herbs with his lighter.
A horrible scream rent the air from someplace deep within the temple, echoing off the pillars and the statuary. It eventually died away and the skeletons fell apart with a clatter. After a moment the statues melted away to reveal people inside, released at last from their stony prisons. Spike nodded, tucked the paper into a pocket and went to check on Buffy.
“Okay,” she said, a bit out of breath, surveying the scene. “Good work on the Greek, pardner. You want to call in the disaster relief team or should I? These people are going to need blankets, pronto.” She looked more closely at him. “Oooh, very dashing with the polka-dot cheaters.”
He snatched them off his face and sniffed. “Wouldn’t have needed them if Andrew didn’t have such a spidery hand, you know.”
She patted his arm and made a mental note to slip a pair into his coat for next time.
FIN
