Prompt 75 - Landfall - BtVS

[thismaz]

My head is still killing me, so this is a short one. Sorry. I have, however, gone back and chipped a few of the rough edges off the last chapter. I think it is a bit more coherent now. This is the last of the set-up chapters.

 Title: Landfall
 Fandom: BtVS
 Prompt: 75 - Hush
 At: tamingthemuse
 Rating: Pg
 Summary: Part 14 of my pre-season one story which includes Xander, Willow, Jesse, Angel and Spike.
 Word Count: 525
 Previous parts, in reverse order, are here or in my memories.
 Disclaimer: here.
Now beta'd by the wonderful laazikaat



14. Landfall

Monday evening

Rupert Giles dropped his cases and his rucksack inside the door and slumped back against it. He reached behind himself to slip the lock closed and took a moment to just luxuriate in the sudden cessation of movement and the hush. A few deep breaths and he opened his eyes again, looking around his new flat. Even from the vantage point of the front door, it was apparent that it was very small compared to his home in England, but not as bad as the digs he'd been living in, in London while undertaking his thesis at the British Museum. Sunnydale property prices were surprisingly low, or maybe not, considering where the town was situated, what it was situated above. With two salaries, that of a high school librarian and his Council field pay, he could have afforded to buy a sizeable family house, if he had not had a congenital dislike of attracting the sort of question that being an apparently wealthy school librarian would have raised among his soon to be co-workers. In any case, there were his other expenses to take into account.

He had raided the Council library for all the books and scrolls he could get permission for, plus a few other choice selections that old Mr Fellows probably wouldn't notice were missing, hopefully for a considerable time. However, there were more volumes he knew he would be needing, or maybe, if he was honest with himself, he just wanted.

His crates had already arrived and the realtor had helpfully placed them in the centre of what was obviously the living room, come dining room, come study. They stood there and glowered at him, a neat stack in the otherwise empty room.

He was too tired to consider them right now, however. Wearily he hoisted his rucksack back onto his shoulder and staggered towards the stairs. He'd just survived the flight from hell: delays at both Heathrow and New York, which resulted in him missing his final connection to Sunnydale, and all of that on top of getting up to catch the dawn train to London, yesterday? Saturday? His internal clock was all to pot. He should have left the day before and spent the night at his club, but he'd been reluctant, wanting to spend as much time as possible in the familiar surroundings of his childhood home with its low pitched roofs, small mullioned windows and comfortable shabby furniture.

His body was telling him that the early evening sunlight outside was a lie, that it was really 3am and he should have been in bed hours ago. With dragging steps he hauled himself up the stairs, hanging on to the banister, and thanked goodness that at least the bedroom had a carpet. He dug out and unrolled his sleeping bag, pulled off his clothes and crawled inside. His last thought before he crashed into darkness was that he would have to buy some bookshelves, before he could even begin to unpack the mountain of books in the packing cases downstairs, but that was also tomorrow's concern, as was his more immediate task of acquiring a bed and familiarising himself with this hellmouth town.

Continued here.

Comments

[lilithbint.livejournal.com]

yay!
Giles!
and I can totally believe his thoughts on arriving in Sunnydale and his hideous trip.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

*grins* Yes, Giles.
I had a long chat with sparrow2000 a couple of weeks ago and realised that I really wanted Giles to be in town, even if he did not become a major player in this story.
I'm so pleased he sounded Giles-like.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Hail, hail, the gang's (almost) all here. :) This was written by someone who has been there. :) Each word rang with weariness and a dash of homesickness.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Each word rang with weariness and a dash of homesickness.
Thank you, that's good to hear.
It occurred to me that being in the Council would be a little bit like being in the armed forces, but with less support: sent anywhere in the world, at almost a moment's notice, but required to find and organise your own accommodation, etc.
This was written by someone who has been there.
*g* Maybe, a little bit, sorta. Thankfully not that bad.

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

The plot thickens! I'm so happy to see Giles here just because we never did get to see what the one adult in this merry little band really thinks. I love seeing his caution, even before meeting Buffy, and that background with the thesis at the museum. I'm looking forward to really meeting Giles in this story (something we never really did in canon).

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Yes, I had to bring Giles in. I realised that a couple of weeks ago, when chatting with sparrow2000. I'm not sure he's going to play a big part though. We'll have to see.
If I don't get a chance to look at him in detail here, I'll try to do so later. After writing this, I realise that this early Giles could be great fun to write.

[laazikaat.livejournal.com]

So Giles has arrived. And Buffy will be in town soon? That's going to stir things up.

Thanks for updating this at such a busy time of the year.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

No, Buffy won't be arriving for a while, but Giles has to get established in advance, anyway.
I suspect the Council think Buffy should arrive soon, but they never did have much control over her. Joyce has quite a lot of practical arrangements to make and in a fight between the Council and Joyce... I'd back Joyce.
This is the start of the summer holidays of 1996. Season 1 was only 12 episodes, so my logic tells me that Buffy arrived half way through the following school year.
Thank you.

Edited, because I read it and realised I was being rude. *g*

[laazikaat.livejournal.com]

I'm hopeless at cannon time-line, and I didn't think you were being rude, just trying to set me straight on the course of events, which was good of you to take the time.

Plus I should have remembered, nothing ever happems soon in your beautifully spun out narratives. *g*

I am loving this story, if I haven't made that clear.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

My rudeness was in not saying 'thank you' when you leave such lovely comments. And I do so enjoy getting them.
So, thank you. I am so pleased you are enjoying it.

[laazikaat.livejournal.com]

I really am enjoying it. Don't stop. I don't express myself well in writing, I always want to say so much more.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

I meant to reply to this yesterday, once I got the next chapter posted, but it took longer than I thought to write, so I'm a bit late.
You express yourself very well in writing, but I am just hoping that you continue to think this story is one you can enjoy.
Cheers, Maz

[smwright.livejournal.com]

Paints a pretty picture for so few words. *g* Of course Giles would want bookshelves first. What else? And of course the trip would be monstrous. What else?

What I enjoy most here is the sense of Giles' caution. Whether inherent of due to training, it permeates several of his early decisions, and that's shown to the reader (rather than told) very nicely.

Major player in the story or no, I agree it was important to bring him in here. Well done, love. I especially loved the detail in He should have left the day before and spent the night at his club, but he'd been reluctant, wanting to spend as much time as possible in the familiar surroundings of his childhood home with its low pitched roofs, small mullioned windows and comfortable shabby furniture. So lovely I could see it in my mind's eye.

Hope you're feeling better, hon. *hugs*

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

It is interesting to me that both you and Lit_gal comment on Giles' 'caution'. I had to really think about that, because I hadn't thought about his separate parts and motivations. I love it when comments make me consider my characters in new ways. Thank you.
I was thinking about the start of 1:1 Welcome to the Hellmouth - he looked so uncomfortable in his librarian role and when he slapped that big book on the library counter and scared Buffy away. *laughs*
I am feeling a lot better, thank you. *hugs you back* I'll be fine, just in time to go back to work. *g*

[smwright.livejournal.com]

Well, with luck, you'll have these last couple of days feeling better. *crosses fingers*

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that I hope we have a better journey than Giles!!

So glad to see Giles and to hear his thoughts about arriving on the Hellmouth. Rubs hands and waits eagerly for the threads to come together.

Pets your headache
s xx

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, this is fiction, people in real life don't have journeys like that. *g*
Thanks.
And yes, threads will begin to come together soon.