Ficlet - Like the Spanish City to me
Nov. 27th, 2010 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thismazA coda to my story, Ice cream, which starts here.
Beta'd by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sparrow2000, for which many, many thanks.
This is forlaazikaat, just because she's awesome.
Comments: Are greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
Like the Spanish City to me
Throwing pamphlets over his shoulder one by one as he rejected them, Spike muttered, "Robin Hood's Bay? Too small! Rievaulx Abbey? Ruins! York? Just come from there, bastard place! Osmotherley? Why the hell would I want to go there?"
Behind him Xander was poking about amid the broken glass, picking up and discarding various bits of Yorkshire related tourist tat.
Giving up on the wire display rack of colour guides, Spike vaulted over the counter and went to work on the shelves behind. "Aha!" he cried, when he finally found a stack of OS maps.
Xander wandered over as he spread out a small-scale map of the entire north of England.
"We're here," Spike said pointing at the little indent on the coastline that marked Whitby's location.
"Where Jeb lived," Xander singsonged.
"Yeah, where Jeb lived. And without Jeb, I'd never have found you." Spike picked up the bottle of gin he'd put down on the counter after they broke in. "Here's to Jeb," he said. "Beautiful Jeb!" He took a swig and passed the bottle across to Xander who took a long swig of his own. "So we're here." He pointed at the spot again and squinted to be certain he was in the right place. "Where I have shown you all the beauties of narrow yards, too many pubs and late night opening." He smirked and Xander grinned back. "I fancy staying on the coast. So it's your choice: north or south?"
Xander leant over the map. He ran his finger up the uneven line that separated white from blue. "How far is this?" he asked.
Spike squinted down at the place name and pulled back to focus on both his own finger, still resting over Whitby, and the town Xander was pointing at. "About forty miles," he guessed.
"Hmm ..." Xander looked up at the clock on the wall. "But we could get further with the right car."
"Seen one you fancy, pet?"
Xander's satisfied grin grew slowly. "Oh yeah." He moved his finger further north along the coast. "How about here?" he asked, adding, "The big house at the top of the hill had a Jag in the drive."
"Oh yeah," Spike echoed. "Yeah, great choice. Straight up the A19. You heard of Dire Straits?"
Xander shook his head and Spike laughed aloud. He staggered back around the counter, walking his hands along the edge to keep himself steady. He picked up the bottle again and took another swig, but when Xander reached for it, Spike walked into Xander's outstretched arms and began to waltz him around the room in time to his own singing, almost tripping them both on the outstretched arm of the night-watchman as he did so. "...rockaway, rockaway. From Cullercoats and Whitley Bay, out to rockaway."
He paused and leaned back so he could look Xander straight in the eyes as he crooned, "And boy you look so pretty to me, like you always did. Like the Spanish City to me, when we were kids."
The ridiculousness of the simile got the better of him at that point and he broke away from Xander, staggering and giggling.
Xander followed, snatched the bottle from him and tossed it over his shoulder. He grabbed Spike's hand and dragged him towards the broken window. Together they jumped over the jagged glass that clung to the edges of the frame and, still hand-in-hand, ran up the street towards the new estates above the town, Spike once again hollering what lyrics he could remember into the clear night air.
End
I don't know the protocol of posting embedded U-Tube vids posted by other people (and I don't have a U tube account), so I'll just say, go here, for Dire Straits' song, Tunnel of Love (posted by Librarian1972). As Sparrow said - Wonderful song, but a terrible example of early 80’s video making!
And, for those interested, there are pictures of the Spanish City fairground here
Oh, and OS maps are maps produced by The Ordnance Survey. Reference here for the obsessively interested.
Beta'd by
sparrow2000, for which many, many thanks.This is for
laazikaat, just because she's awesome.Comments: Are greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
Like the Spanish City to me
Throwing pamphlets over his shoulder one by one as he rejected them, Spike muttered, "Robin Hood's Bay? Too small! Rievaulx Abbey? Ruins! York? Just come from there, bastard place! Osmotherley? Why the hell would I want to go there?"
Behind him Xander was poking about amid the broken glass, picking up and discarding various bits of Yorkshire related tourist tat.
Giving up on the wire display rack of colour guides, Spike vaulted over the counter and went to work on the shelves behind. "Aha!" he cried, when he finally found a stack of OS maps.
Xander wandered over as he spread out a small-scale map of the entire north of England.
"We're here," Spike said pointing at the little indent on the coastline that marked Whitby's location.
"Where Jeb lived," Xander singsonged.
"Yeah, where Jeb lived. And without Jeb, I'd never have found you." Spike picked up the bottle of gin he'd put down on the counter after they broke in. "Here's to Jeb," he said. "Beautiful Jeb!" He took a swig and passed the bottle across to Xander who took a long swig of his own. "So we're here." He pointed at the spot again and squinted to be certain he was in the right place. "Where I have shown you all the beauties of narrow yards, too many pubs and late night opening." He smirked and Xander grinned back. "I fancy staying on the coast. So it's your choice: north or south?"
Xander leant over the map. He ran his finger up the uneven line that separated white from blue. "How far is this?" he asked.
Spike squinted down at the place name and pulled back to focus on both his own finger, still resting over Whitby, and the town Xander was pointing at. "About forty miles," he guessed.
"Hmm ..." Xander looked up at the clock on the wall. "But we could get further with the right car."
"Seen one you fancy, pet?"
Xander's satisfied grin grew slowly. "Oh yeah." He moved his finger further north along the coast. "How about here?" he asked, adding, "The big house at the top of the hill had a Jag in the drive."
"Oh yeah," Spike echoed. "Yeah, great choice. Straight up the A19. You heard of Dire Straits?"
Xander shook his head and Spike laughed aloud. He staggered back around the counter, walking his hands along the edge to keep himself steady. He picked up the bottle again and took another swig, but when Xander reached for it, Spike walked into Xander's outstretched arms and began to waltz him around the room in time to his own singing, almost tripping them both on the outstretched arm of the night-watchman as he did so. "...rockaway, rockaway. From Cullercoats and Whitley Bay, out to rockaway."
He paused and leaned back so he could look Xander straight in the eyes as he crooned, "And boy you look so pretty to me, like you always did. Like the Spanish City to me, when we were kids."
The ridiculousness of the simile got the better of him at that point and he broke away from Xander, staggering and giggling.
Xander followed, snatched the bottle from him and tossed it over his shoulder. He grabbed Spike's hand and dragged him towards the broken window. Together they jumped over the jagged glass that clung to the edges of the frame and, still hand-in-hand, ran up the street towards the new estates above the town, Spike once again hollering what lyrics he could remember into the clear night air.
End
I don't know the protocol of posting embedded U-Tube vids posted by other people (and I don't have a U tube account), so I'll just say, go here, for Dire Straits' song, Tunnel of Love (posted by Librarian1972). As Sparrow said - Wonderful song, but a terrible example of early 80’s video making!
And, for those interested, there are pictures of the Spanish City fairground here
Oh, and OS maps are maps produced by The Ordnance Survey. Reference here for the obsessively interested.
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 04:09 pm (UTC)Brimham Rocks is also one of my favorite places. The view over the Dales is amazing. I might have to write a fic with that lovely area in it.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 04:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, Rievaulx is lovely. I haven't been there for years, but it stays in the memory.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 06:27 pm (UTC)Xander not knowing who Dire Straits was - it's such a great reminder of just how young he was when Spike turned him. I suspect he's having his horizons expanded in all sorts of ways *g*
The bit with the nightwatchman's arm is both comic and a reminder they are both unashamedly unsouled vampires, and I loved the ending - "still hand-in-hand, ran up the street towards the new estates above the town, Spike once again hollering what lyrics he could remember into the clear night air."
Such a lovely image to finish. I'm very sorry we've more or less lost you to Merlin, hon (although I'm enjoying that too!) because you do write the boys so, so beautifully.
s xx
no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 08:31 am (UTC)Thank you very much, hon. And also for the beta; it was smoother and cleaner, for your input. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 07:10 pm (UTC)I had to go and watch that vid, just for the sake of revisiting the cringetasticness of the 80s. I was stunned to recognise the girl in the vid was Lesley Ash, Ms TroutPout herself, pre-Trout. *g*
no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 08:37 am (UTC)The vid is so crude, to modern eyes, isn't it? I am ashamed to say that I had to google Lesley Ash *g*
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 08:39 am (UTC)Spike and Xander being gleefully wicked is such fun to write. I'm very glad you enjoyed reading it.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 08:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 09:35 am (UTC)No, if you spent your misspent youth in Whitley Bay, you are probably closer to being a Geordie than me. I'm just a north-easterner.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 04:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-01 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-01 05:20 am (UTC)