RP Example - Tentacles Aren't Just For Eating!
Game: Sunnydale OSI
Who: Laili and Wes and a bunch of other people
Day: December 3, 1997
Place: The Bronze
Nica was hanging at a booth in the Bronze, people-watching and sipping a drink.
Eddie was looking seriously unhappy, and drowning his troubles at the bar. "Inept subcontractors..."
Juice skittered in, looking for some trouble to get into. He saw Nica, and started heading thataway.
Laili was sitting at the bar as well, having a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.
Wesley walked into the bar and, seeing Laili inside, waved to her and walked over.
Becky headed from the pay phone towards Nica. She looked a little glum, but took a seat at the table
The fact that Eddie was mostly holding a conversation with an empty seat didn't seem to trouble him. "You would think that in a country that is priding itself on its craftsmanship, they would attempt to make sure that the things they make, the things they make actually work. But no."
"Heya, sweetie," Nica said to Becky. "What's up?"
"Everything." Becky waved to Juice
Laili peered curiously at Eddie, having talked to him a time or two. "Um.. are you alright?" She waved to Wes as he came in, waving him over to where she was.
"Everything, huh? Wanna give me a for-instance?" Nica poured Becky a glass of soda and handed it to her.
"Hey dudes," Juice said. He invited himself to sit with Nica and Becky. "S'up?"
Nica poured a second one for Juice, and handed it to him, as well.
Wesley reached Laili. "Hello, how are you doing tonight?" he asked her.
Becky sipped her soda. "I'm freaked out, and annoyed by Faith, and I want soda, so thanks."
"I am most delightful," Eddie replied to Laili in an aside.
"If most delightful has suddenly changed its meaning very greatly."
"Hi Juice." said Becky
"What about Faith annoys you?" Nica asked. "I thought she seemed kinda cool."
"I'm good- even better now that you're here," Laili said. She smiled and hugged Wesley, then indicated Eddie. "Have you two met?"
Eddie eyed Wesley. "I am somewhat vaguely familiar with him - yes, salutations."
"Why's faith freak you out? I mean sure, religion is kinda lame..." Juice said, scratching his head.
"Faith is, uh," Nica hesitated. "She's like the girls in the special gym class. Becky's dad is her coach."
"It's good to see you, too," Wesley said, hugging her back. "Yes, I've met Eddie a time or two before. How are you doing tonight, Eddie?"
"Religion really freaks Bec- er, me out." Becky frowned, because it really did.
Nica said, "Yeah, that too."
"And yeah. She's always doing stuff good, and when I want to go out for pizza, she has other stuff to do." Becky sipped her drink
"He isn't doing well," Laili said quietly. "I just asked."
"Oh, she's a she!" Juice said. "What kind of stuff?"
"What's going on?" Wesley asked. "Something bad happen?"
Carmen headed in, and towards the bar, because she could dammit. She ordered cheese fries and wings, because junk food can be good for you.
"She's good at karate, and she makes her bed and shes always saying stuff is five by five." Becky frowned
"A minor disaster," Eddie answered, "that has put me back by weeks. All because of faulty circuitry."
Eddie glowered in no particular direction before taking another drink. "It is... very much of a maddening thing, I am telling you, knowing just how many things we rely upon that are assembled ineptly by the lowest bidder. It is... very bad."
Laili quirked a brow, wondering what had happened.
"Five what by five what?" Juice asked.
Wesley couldn't imagine what had happened. He had heard that Eddie was near obsessive about his machines. "I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Can you fix them?"
"Bah. Of course, or else I would be in a much less pleasant mood and Taiwan would hear my rage more equivocally," Eddie answered, "but still, it is maddening."
"I dunno. She's been saying that forever." Becky frowned
"That's a weird one," Nica said.
"Bah. Not to mind me, incompetence is one thing that is much to madden me." Eddie finished his drink, and looked disgruntled.
"Well, it's good for Taiwan that you can correct the problem," Wesley said with a small smile.
"I think everyone from the northeast is weird or evil. Except for you Nica, and maybe Vito." said Becky
Faith paid her cover and walked up to the bar, giving Becky a wave as she passed.
"Well, at least you're not at work now," Laili said helpfully. "There's drinking and wings and the like. And fairly good music."
"Huh. Really?" Juice pondered who he knew that came from there.
"Precisely. I am taking a break, before my head it cracks like an egg in the summer heat under falling anvils." Eddie's metaphors needed some work.
Faith ordered wings ... craned her neck to see the table ... and a pitcher of soda, since the one at Becky's table was almost out.
Wesley was now positive that Eddie had learned English from a mistranslated dictionary. "Taking a break is a good thing. Maybe the music will be good tonight. It seems to be 50/50 as to whether it will be or not here."
"I like a lot of the bands," Laili said. She rested her hand on Wes's leg, and looked content to be there.
"Really." Becky nodded, ignoring Faith
"Sometimes it is excellent, and other times it sounds as if someone were being murdered on stage," Eddie agreed with Wesley.
Wesley reached his hand over to rest it on top of hers and give it a squeeze. "I've heard both good and bad here."
"There's one band that sounds like dying cats playing bagpipes, but I don't remember their name, or I blocked it out," Wesley said.
Faith grabbed a basket of wings and a pitcher of soda, headed over to the table where Becky, Nica and Juice sat, and fell into a seat. "Hi," she said. "You guys can help yourselves ... Hi, B. Sorry I couldn't hang out earlier." She snagged a wing and took a bite.
"Infected Manifold?" Eddie queried.
Laili giggled. "That does soud awful."
Wesley thought for a moment. "That might be it. I'm not sure."
"Hey.. are you that Faith chick?" Juice asked. She brought food. He kinda liked her.
"That's what they tell me," Faith said, her mouth full. "Who are you?"
"I'm Juice! Hi!" Juice waved, then helped himself to some food.
"Hi," Faith said.
"There are a lot of the bands that sound like they are deserving of the failure they exhibit," Eddie continued, "but Infected Manifold was the playing of which I heard last I was here, and it was making me pray that Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Joseph Smith would arrive to personally execute the band."
"So, what's happening tonight?" Faith asked. "Anything fun?"
"In one of those sorts of religious crossover massacre types of things that appear on the television sketches of comedy at times," Eddie explained.
"Any time someone needs to pray to Joseph Smith, it must be just awful," Laili said.
"What the hell does 'five by five' mean?" Nica asked.
"Just something my dad used to say. There a band playing tonight, or what?" Faith asked.
Wesley couldn't help but laugh at the cross section of deities. "Someone here could be enterprising enough to sell ear plugs on the nights of the bad bands. They would make a lot of money."
"If it would stop the aural assaulting, I am sure it would sell, whatever it was." Eddie shook his head. "I was to consider wearing some headphones from the lab to block the noise, but when I was trying that once, I was pestered every ten minutes by teenagers to want to know what I was listening of."
"I wonder why they would think that you brought your own music to a bar?" Wesley mused. "It sounds like a good idea, though."
Laili pondered that. "If a band was bad enough, you could sell them..."
"I think someone's scheduled," Juice said, munching a wing.
"Cool," Faith said. "I hope they don't suck ass. So, how do you know Becky? You go to school with her?"
"They're both spies." said Becky. pouring herself more soda. "Sneaky ninja spies."
Eddie nodded. "Tempting, tempting."
"Yeah, school," Juice said. "Though ninjas totally rock."
Nica opened her eyes wide and made a Bruce Lee noise.
"I wonder if any of the bartenders or the new owners have thought of that," Wesley said.
Faith laughed. "Nice. This place isn't bad ... The Sundowner's pretty cool, too. Not much more than that for night life around here, though, is there?"
Sure enough, it looked like a band was taking the stage - all dressed in white, except with a hideous red blotch on each of their shirts, running down from the neck area. They were otherwise a perfectly normal pierced, tattooed, and otherwise grungy local band in appearance.
"This looks like ear plug time," Wesley said, seeing the band take the stage.
Faith blinked. "Whoa, shit, what the hell ... "
"Ahh! They're undead!" Juice looked scared.
They settled in to begin making sound checks of their equipment, as if nothing was odd.
"I wonder if this band is any good?" Laili said, eying them as they sound checked
Becky sipped her drink quietly, and ignored the band.
"Usually, the more unusual the gimmick, the worse they are. And, if I'm guessing what they're gimik is, they're going to be awful."
Eddie sighed and took a drink... from his empty mug, which made him look more unhappy.
Wesley noticed Eddie's empty drink, and his displeasure with it. He flagged down someone who worked there so that he could order another drink, and so that Wesley could order himself one.
Faith frowned and stared at them for a moment. "No ... they're not," she said to Juice, and moved on to her next wing.
"I wouldn't mind a refill too, dear. And maybe some wings?" Laili smiled cutely.
"Alright, I think we're set.. check check..." After a few more rambles, the Bronze music cut out, and the lead singer grinned. "Hey, hey, victims, what's happening?"
"We're the Spontaneous Neck Ruptures -- how you all doing tonight?" he continued, as his band mates settled in.
"He called us victims," Juice said with a pout.
Eddie accepted the drink, and promptly took a very large swig. "Be thanking you. We who are about to suffer salute you."
Wesley groaned when he heard the band's name. "No where but Sunnydale," he said, shaking his head.
"He doesn't know us very well," Nica muttered.
"One! Two! One, two, three, four!" With that, the band jumped into one of their 'classics', "Headless Whores' Men". Apparently it's about the habits of men found decapitated in Lover's Lane after soliciting women in shady bars.
Wesley had to fight the urge to plug his ears with his fingers.
And, yes, it's a cross between indie rock and punk. Which is to say, it's probably as bad as you're guessing. Good enough to be musically tolerable, but...
"...did they just say 'headless whore's men?" Laili said, blinking.
Eddie shrugged. "I do not know. I am in a pleasant field."
"I think they did," Wesley said, watching the stage with more horror than he usually mustered up for his job.
At any rate, SNR was certainly an... energetic band.
"I think I'm going to be physically ill," Wesley said. He was joking, but only a little.
" ... wow," Faith said. "I've heard worse ... can't remember specifics, but I've heard worse."
Eddie murmured, "I am the walrus... I am the walrus..."
The audible noise finally stopped for a moment, as SNR's lead singer waited for (very little - maybe their mom is up in the mezzanine?) applause.
Wesley clapped a little, looking stunned. Maybe he had been hypnotized by their badness?
"Right! Now let's take it down a notch!" SNR's lead turned to the drummer, who began hammering out a heavy beat that, while indeed slightly less intense, was nevertheless nowhere near subtle.
Faith refilled everyone's glasses, and had yet another wing.
They settled in to play their next tune - "Sometimes Rats Eat Babies".
Laili shook her head. "This is really bad."
Nica thought about words that rhymes with babies, shuddered, excused herself, and went to the rest room.
Juice was head banging along to it.
"This is hardcore!"
"Is he talking about eating babies?" Wesley asked, honestly looking a little...green. He's a fragil little flower sometimes.
Becky followed Nica.
"Yes, and it's not really like--" Laili shut up.
"Yes," Eddie answered dryly. "Usually it is the maggots that are eating the babies."
Laili was getting maybe just a little hungry. The song was still bad, but mm... babies.
David headed in, and winced at the music.
"So, yeah, she's kind of ... She just kind of takes over a table, doesn't she?" Nica asked Becky.
Juice waved "Yo! Bro, over here."
"Yeah." Becky frowned "But I guess people like her can do stuff like that."
Wesley looked confused, wondering why someone would write a song about both eating babies and headless men.
David headed over to his brother, and eyed the stage. "What is that?" He pointed to the stage.
"Making people like us sidekicks," Nica frowned. "I really don't like being a sidekick."
"It's The Spontaneous Neck Ruptures- they rock!" Juice said.
"I'm not even a sidekick. I'm just a pain." admitted Becky
"Hi, David!" Faith said. "Have a wing!"
'Thankfully', "Sometimes Rats Eat Babies" was shorter than "Headless Whore's Men".
Laili's tummy rumbled, and she looked apologetically at Wesley.
"Uh..." David frowned "Hey." He took a seat next to his brother, and grabbed a free wing.
"You are not. You so aren't," Nica said. "You're cool. You're the ninja-spy."
"I don't think this is music." commented David "But you like it Juice?"
"Yeah, it's pretty neat," Juice said.
Without further ado - not that they were going to get it - they started in on the instrumental portion of their next song.
Wesley squeezed Laili's hand again.
"I'm retired. My double life is over." Becky nodded "And that sounds really bad out there."
David winced again. "So, what's up bro?"
A few moments of 'music' - and some singing - eventually revealed their next song, which their setlist would have listed as 'Tentacles Aren't Just For Eating' if they actually bothered with a set list.
Laili smiled up at Wesley, distracted from baby-eatin', and rested her head on his shoulder.
Wesley reached around her to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
Apparently it was an involved dissertation on the reasoning behind the classic tentacular horror in Lovecraftian fiction as a symbol of indescribable unpleasantness,
describing how they were both the limbs of these monstrosities and symbolic appendages meant to trigger irrational fear.
Like some over pretentious bookworm's debate topic given really bad guitar solos and a screeching background noise that was apparently prerecorded sounds of a cat taking a bath.
"This song is really deep," Juice said.
"This song sucks," Eddie announced.
Laili wrinkled her nose. "So. How was school today?" she said to Wes, trying to make conversation and not think about tentacles or babies.
"..." David looked at his brother for a moment. "So, who is your friend?" He tried to ignore the sucky music
"Faith," Faith said, wiping off her hand and offering it to David.
Wesley snapped back to attention, having been memorized by the terribleness of the music. "It's been fine. Nothing too troubling as of late. How has work at the zoo been going?"
Nica frowned. "Tentacles ... that's pretty nasty."
David looked at the hand, then grabbed a wing. "David."
Becky nodded in agreement with Nica. "I wish I could tell them that they sucked."
"Well, you could," Nica said. "THEY might get pissed off, though."
"What will they do?" asked Becky
Faith shrugged and continued eating.
"Uh ... run away, crying, if you're lucky," Nica said.
The finisher apparently involved the two guitarists playing back to back while whaling along very loudly. Definitely enthusiastic, even if they sucked like a vampire fresh out of torpor.
Becky headed out of the bathroom and towards the stage. She looked back to see if Nica was nearby.
Nica was hot on her heels, grinning.
"Zoo's been fairly busy," Laili said. "A lot of people like the new exhibit."
"Thank you! We've got a few more songs, and then we're gonna bail," the lead singer announced.
"Oh thank heaven," Wesley muttered when he heard that the band would be leaving soon, although that meant sitting through a few more songs. "It's good that people are enjoying the new exhibit. Are the hyenas giving you any trouble?"
"No- they've been no trouble at all. They have their own zookeeper, so we don't even have to do much for them, really..." Laili smiled. "It's part of an educational grant we recieved."
"Becky thinks that you need more practice." said Becky
"We've got a CD coming out soon, if anyone's interested -- just meet up with us after the show, we'll be up on the balcony," the lead singer promised, before leading his band in the rousing musical oddyssey known as 'Bloody Symbols'.
"Oh man, I want to go meet them!" Juice said, excitedly. "Who's coming with me?"
Becky returned to the table, and agreed to meet them, only to tell them that they needed more practice.
"I'm in," Nica said.
"I'm tempted to buy a CD, to prove to others how bad they are. That would just encourage them, though," Wesley said. "You got them through an educational grant?"
"It is nice to see that the zoos are receiving grants in this country," Eddie commented somewhat blearily.
"Yes- to educate Sunnydale's youth - apparently, our zoo is lacking in exotic species," Laili said.
"Well, some species have to stay in the wild, or else all of the animals will be in the zoos, and that would be less of the beauty of nature," Eddie added.
"I'll keep an eye on you guys." offered David "From here."
"Aren't there studies that show vastly different life spans of animals who live in the wild or in a zoo, in both directions of longer and shorter life spans for the ones in zoos?" Wesley asked. He remembered reading that somewhere once.
Juice bounded off for the band.
Laili nodded. "Some animals thrive in a zoo environment."
Nica followed, without the bounding.
Becky followed
David kept an eye on things.
"Which ones thrive?" Wesley asked with interest.
"Do you know?"
After completing their set - with such classics as 'Nerd Herders' and 'Wicked Ways' and 'Cut Yourself Until You Stop Crying', the band heads off to the mezzanine, cheerful despite their lukewarm responses.
SNR's lead singer grins when he notes there's people approaching. Maybe it's a new experience.
"Hiya," Nica said. "How long you guys been working on your act?" She eyed the CD cases.
"Monkeys, for one," Laili said. "The monkeys seem to enjoy human contact immensely."
"You dudes ROCKED!" Juice said.
Becky frowned, and looked at the CD cases. She thought they sucked.
"Couple of years," SNR's lead replied, grinning. "Three bucks if you want a CD."
"Monkeys do seem like they would enjoy the social interaction," Wesley said.
The CD cases, incidentally, had a picture of a man holding his neck and screaming, as blood dribbled from between his fingers. It was self-titled.
"Becky doesn't have three bucks for a CD." said Becky "You've really been playing for a couple of years?"
"Would you sign it for me?" Juice asked, digging in his pockets for money for the CD.
"They're quite adorable," Laili said. "Though mischievous."
Nica didn't need any coasters; she still had 8 or 10 AOL CDs lying around. "Years? Really? Are you guys in school?"
"Do they cause a lot of trouble for you?" Wesley asked with a smile.
"Off and on, yeah," the keyboardist announced, a little defensively.
"I was expelled," the drummer commented, almost proudly.
"For what?" asked Becky. "And so was Becky."
SNR's lead had a Sharpie on hand to sign with, and readily signed one for Juice, then passed it around for the others to sign.
"Rock on," Nica said, nodding. "I'm Nica ... this is Becky."
"Excessive not giving a fuck," the drummer answered.
"Oh wow.. thanks guys," he said. "I'm Juice!"
"So, you don't care what people think about your music?" asked Becky
"Sometimes," Laili admitted. "One of the little buggers is quite adept at opening locks."
"Depends on what they think," the guitarist commented, a bit ominously.
"Aw, come on, guys - intro yourselves. They aren't gonna read it off the CDs," the singer commented. "I'm Laird. Don't mind Xanth, he's not good with critics."
Wesley laughed a little. "So you have a little escape artist. I'm sure he causes lots of fun."
"Cinderella," the keyboardist commented, with a trace of a smirk.
"And I'm Casey," the drummer added, before passing the CD to Juice.
"Becky thinks that Casey's name is odd compared to the rest of the bands."
Casey shrugged.
"So what did you guys think?" Laird asked.
"I thought you were awesome! I really liked the song with the whores," Juice said. "And the cutting one!"
Laird grinned. "Thanks."
"Oh yes. He's like a little monkey Hogan - have you ever seen that show, Hogan's Heroes? I think he's trying for a prison break," Laili said.
"Becky didn't like you as much as her friend does. She thinks you seem like a nice band, however." Becky hoped that wasn't too mean
"You were very enthusiastic," Nica said.
"I don't believe I've seen Hogan's Heroes," Wesley said. "Does it take place in a prison?"
"That's the best review we've gotten all month," Cinderella said, and smiled.
Nica smiled, too.
Becky felt bad for hating the music. "You guys are really, really nice." she sighed, and headed back to the table. So much for telling them they sucked
Nica looked at the CDs remaining. "I'll take five," she said.
"It's in a prison camp during world war two," Laili said. "They're prisoners of Nazi Germany, and they run a resistance operation under the nose of the incompetent commandant and his staff. Hilarity ensues."
"Really? Cool." Laird grinned and rounded the five up, holding out his hand for the fifteen bucks.
"Ah, I see," Wesley said. "Well, I hope that the monkeys do not see the zoo workers this way." He laughed a little.
Becky took a seat, and sighed before grabbing a wing.
Nica forked over three five-dollar bills. "So, what's up with that name of yours, anyway? Spontaneous neck rupture?"
"Did you tell them they suck?" Faith asked.
"No." Becky frowned "They were too nice."
"It's from the news," Cinderella commented. "We saw it in an obituary."
"Wacky shit," Casey observed.
"Oh yeah, that's wack," Juice said.
Laili giggled. "Yes, I'd hate to think I'm that incompetent at my job."
"Yeah," Nica said. "Definitely big on the wackitude. Thank you! See you around, sometime." She waved and headed back to the table with her CDs.
Eddie chuckled a bit. "They had to censor Hogan's Heroes in Germany..."
Laird grinned. "Later!" He settled in to have a bite of his hamburger.
Wesley arched an eyebrow. "Is it true that German television censors any reference to Nazis from shows from other countries?"
"Is it?" Laili asked, and looked to Eddie.
Becky looked pouty, as she ate. She waved to Nica when she returned
David kept an eye on Juice, to make sure his brother wasn't going to get killed
Nica set down the stack of CDs and grabbed a wing.
"Why did you waste your money?" asked Becky
Nica shrugged. "They don't seem like they have much to fall back on," Nica said. "And there isn't exactly a mad stampede to buy these."
"Oh." Becky nodded "They're nice, they just need to learn to play and sing and get a better name and write songs."
"Yeah, that's about right," Nica said.
"I think they're good!" Juice said.
Eddie nodded. "Saying 'sieg heil' in Germany is actually a very serious offense in Germany now. They are very serious about preventing Nazism from returning or being glorified."
"So they had to edit in other phrases for the 'sieg heils' in Hogan's Heroes, if I am recalling," Eddie mused.
"That's good," Laili said. "That was a terrible phase in history."
"Ah, I see. I can understand them being a bit paranoid about that," Wesley said, nodding.
"They can be a lot better." nodded Becky "We could probably make a band and it would be better."
Eddie nodded and shrugged. He wasn't exactly interested in bearing Germany's Nazi guilt.
David eyed Juice, but did not say anything.
"Or," Nica said, "we could maybe find ways to help these guys be better, if they were willing to change a few things here and there."
Juice plunked back down at the table, and showed his brother the cd. "Look, they signed it."
"That's good." said David "How much as it?"
Spontaneous Neck Rupture may have been as pleasant as six wet kittens in a microwave on the lowest setting, but at least they seemed happy with their 'performance'.
"Three bucks! What a bargain," Juice said.
"Yeah.." said David "When you play it, make sure you use your earphones."
"Why? Don't you wanna hear it too?" Juice asked. "And what about Senor Paco?"
"I don't want to hear it." said David "I don't like it as much as you do."
"Aww, okay..." Juice nodded. "No problem, bro."
"Cool." David nodded "So, were they a nice band?"
"Yeah, they were really friendly," Juice said with a nod.
"Decent guys, yeah," Nica said. "Trying too hard in some ways ... and not enough in others ... but yeah, nice."
"Maybe they need a manager," Juice said. "You could shape them up and make them practice and be even better!"
"Yeah." said Becky "Someone to make sure they practice, and learn how to write songs and play instruments."
"Well ... why the hell would they take direction from me? What do I know?" Nica frowned, and looked at the back of the CD for contact information.
"Becky can help, but people take less direction from me." offered Becky
Spontaneous Neck Rupture's CD had an email address on the back, along with a PO box mailing address.
"Well, you're Italian. Your people have been bossing people around for centuries," Juice said
"And there was that whole Renaissance thing."
Nica chuckled. "Yeah, good point. Well ... I'll drop them a note and see if they're interested."
Eddie finished his drink, and got feetwards. "Bah. To sleep, perchance to be dreaming..."
David looked at his watch. "Isn't tomorrow a school day?"
Nica yawned.
"Becky is too cool for school." said Becky, looking defiant. This guy couldn't tell her what to do
"I should probably make another sweep before I go to bed ... You guys have fun. Nice meeting you," she added with a wave, and headed out.
Becky watched Faith leave. "See you guys." She ran after Faith. "Hey, can I go with you?"
"Sure," Faith said. "You got stakes?"
"Yeah." Becky nodded "I can't leave the house without them."
Faith grinned. "Five by five. Let's go dust some vamps."
"Ok." Becky walked with Faith
Faith headed for the Sunnydale Cemetery, slowing down a bit and walking more quietly as she passed the gate.
Becky quietly followed Faith. She looked around a little, and displayed her skills of walking quietly in the dark.
Faith took a look around. There were a pair of fresh graves near a mausoleum nearby; Faith hunkered down behind a headstone and motioned for Becky to do the same.
Becky did the same
"Not sure how long this'll take," Faith whispered. "Doesn't look like they've risen yet ... they were in the paper this morning. 'Murder-suicide' ... only from what I hear, they both got drained."
Becky nodded quietly, and watched the graves.
" ... so, do you have a guy in Sunnydale yet?"
"No." replied Becky "It's hard... after Ethan."
Faith shrugged. "Why, was he really that good? Didn't he try to kill you?"
"Yeah... but only when I had to move away and refused to live with him." said Becky
"What a jerk," Faith said. "That's why it's easier to not get attached, you know? No strings, no commitments ... show time."
Sure enough, the grave on the left was pulsing a bit. Faith drew a stake and moved around the headstone.
Becky put her hand on her stake, and headed behind the other graves headstone
A hand emerged from the grave nearest Faith, and she drew back her right hand, poised to strike. It was fun to beat on them a bit, first, but Becky was here, and new at this; it'd be better to show her how to take them out quick.
Becky held her stake in one hand, and waited for more of the vamp to emerge
Faith's vamp broke through the surface, her face still coated with dirt. As she reached up to wipe her eyes, Faith impaled her heart, and she crumbled to dust. The other vamp broke the surface as well, just feet from Becky.
Becky watched Faith's vamp die, then turned to face hers. She rushed the vamp, and staked what she hoped was the heart with surprising strength and speed. She wished she had paid more attention in science class.
The vamp looked down at the chunk of wood that had sprouted in his chest, then up at Becky in incomprehension as he disintegrated.
Faith smiled. "Nice job, B," she said.
"You sure you're not a potential?"
Becky grinned. "Thanks. I kinda hoped thats where the heart was... and my Dad would know if I was one, right?"
"Probably," Faith said. "But who knows? He could have missed a birthmark somewhere ... Anyway, that was pretty cool. We should head back ... Hunter'll freak if we're out too late."
"Yeah.." Becky looked thoughtful "I think it's just because of the treatments I used to get. I thought they would wear off, but the more I do stuff, the better I get."
"You know about Nick, right?" asked Becky
"Your dad told me a little ... freaky cult family, doctor who thinks he's hot shit, messing with strength-boosters and stuff. He did some of that to you?" Faith was keeping an eye on their surroundings as they left the cemetery, bot nothing seemed to be following them.
"Yeah." frowned Becky "Before I lived with Hunter, he told me I was really sick, so I needed medicine. All the stuff he gave me made me sick until I stopped getting it, so now I'm really strong and fast. I don't know if it will go away or not. but he's in Sunnydale."
"So, are you going to do something about that?" Faith asked.
"Do what?" asked Becky "He works for that OSI place."
"Yeah, so? He messed with you ... he could have killed you. He still might, if he knows you're here."
"People like that hate loose ends," she said.
"Yeah... he killed my Mother." Becky admitted "But only Nica knows that.. and I'm scared of him, but I don't want him hurting anyone else..." Becky frowned
"So ... " Faith said again, raising an eyebrow. "What are you gonna do about it, B?"
"I don't know." Becky thought for a moment "I can turn him in, but I don't think anyone here will care... I don't want to kill him.. but.." she trailed off "What would you do?"
"Well," Faith said, "I'd probably take him out ... but it'd have to be a good plan."
Faith unlocked the front door and headed inside. There was a light on in the living room, but Hunter was nowhere to be seen; he'd probably gone to bed.
"If I come up with a good plan.. would you help me?" asked Becky, closing the door behind her, and locking it.
"Of course," Faith said. "Least I could do. Goodnight ... you did great," she said, and headed upstairs to her room.
Who: Laili and Wes and a bunch of other people
Day: December 3, 1997
Place: The Bronze
Nica was hanging at a booth in the Bronze, people-watching and sipping a drink.
Eddie was looking seriously unhappy, and drowning his troubles at the bar. "Inept subcontractors..."
Juice skittered in, looking for some trouble to get into. He saw Nica, and started heading thataway.
Laili was sitting at the bar as well, having a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.
Wesley walked into the bar and, seeing Laili inside, waved to her and walked over.
Becky headed from the pay phone towards Nica. She looked a little glum, but took a seat at the table
The fact that Eddie was mostly holding a conversation with an empty seat didn't seem to trouble him. "You would think that in a country that is priding itself on its craftsmanship, they would attempt to make sure that the things they make, the things they make actually work. But no."
"Heya, sweetie," Nica said to Becky. "What's up?"
"Everything." Becky waved to Juice
Laili peered curiously at Eddie, having talked to him a time or two. "Um.. are you alright?" She waved to Wes as he came in, waving him over to where she was.
"Everything, huh? Wanna give me a for-instance?" Nica poured Becky a glass of soda and handed it to her.
"Hey dudes," Juice said. He invited himself to sit with Nica and Becky. "S'up?"
Nica poured a second one for Juice, and handed it to him, as well.
Wesley reached Laili. "Hello, how are you doing tonight?" he asked her.
Becky sipped her soda. "I'm freaked out, and annoyed by Faith, and I want soda, so thanks."
"I am most delightful," Eddie replied to Laili in an aside.
"If most delightful has suddenly changed its meaning very greatly."
"Hi Juice." said Becky
"What about Faith annoys you?" Nica asked. "I thought she seemed kinda cool."
"I'm good- even better now that you're here," Laili said. She smiled and hugged Wesley, then indicated Eddie. "Have you two met?"
Eddie eyed Wesley. "I am somewhat vaguely familiar with him - yes, salutations."
"Why's faith freak you out? I mean sure, religion is kinda lame..." Juice said, scratching his head.
"Faith is, uh," Nica hesitated. "She's like the girls in the special gym class. Becky's dad is her coach."
"It's good to see you, too," Wesley said, hugging her back. "Yes, I've met Eddie a time or two before. How are you doing tonight, Eddie?"
"Religion really freaks Bec- er, me out." Becky frowned, because it really did.
Nica said, "Yeah, that too."
"And yeah. She's always doing stuff good, and when I want to go out for pizza, she has other stuff to do." Becky sipped her drink
"He isn't doing well," Laili said quietly. "I just asked."
"Oh, she's a she!" Juice said. "What kind of stuff?"
"What's going on?" Wesley asked. "Something bad happen?"
Carmen headed in, and towards the bar, because she could dammit. She ordered cheese fries and wings, because junk food can be good for you.
"She's good at karate, and she makes her bed and shes always saying stuff is five by five." Becky frowned
"A minor disaster," Eddie answered, "that has put me back by weeks. All because of faulty circuitry."
Eddie glowered in no particular direction before taking another drink. "It is... very much of a maddening thing, I am telling you, knowing just how many things we rely upon that are assembled ineptly by the lowest bidder. It is... very bad."
Laili quirked a brow, wondering what had happened.
"Five what by five what?" Juice asked.
Wesley couldn't imagine what had happened. He had heard that Eddie was near obsessive about his machines. "I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Can you fix them?"
"Bah. Of course, or else I would be in a much less pleasant mood and Taiwan would hear my rage more equivocally," Eddie answered, "but still, it is maddening."
"I dunno. She's been saying that forever." Becky frowned
"That's a weird one," Nica said.
"Bah. Not to mind me, incompetence is one thing that is much to madden me." Eddie finished his drink, and looked disgruntled.
"Well, it's good for Taiwan that you can correct the problem," Wesley said with a small smile.
"I think everyone from the northeast is weird or evil. Except for you Nica, and maybe Vito." said Becky
Faith paid her cover and walked up to the bar, giving Becky a wave as she passed.
"Well, at least you're not at work now," Laili said helpfully. "There's drinking and wings and the like. And fairly good music."
"Huh. Really?" Juice pondered who he knew that came from there.
"Precisely. I am taking a break, before my head it cracks like an egg in the summer heat under falling anvils." Eddie's metaphors needed some work.
Faith ordered wings ... craned her neck to see the table ... and a pitcher of soda, since the one at Becky's table was almost out.
Wesley was now positive that Eddie had learned English from a mistranslated dictionary. "Taking a break is a good thing. Maybe the music will be good tonight. It seems to be 50/50 as to whether it will be or not here."
"I like a lot of the bands," Laili said. She rested her hand on Wes's leg, and looked content to be there.
"Really." Becky nodded, ignoring Faith
"Sometimes it is excellent, and other times it sounds as if someone were being murdered on stage," Eddie agreed with Wesley.
Wesley reached his hand over to rest it on top of hers and give it a squeeze. "I've heard both good and bad here."
"There's one band that sounds like dying cats playing bagpipes, but I don't remember their name, or I blocked it out," Wesley said.
Faith grabbed a basket of wings and a pitcher of soda, headed over to the table where Becky, Nica and Juice sat, and fell into a seat. "Hi," she said. "You guys can help yourselves ... Hi, B. Sorry I couldn't hang out earlier." She snagged a wing and took a bite.
"Infected Manifold?" Eddie queried.
Laili giggled. "That does soud awful."
Wesley thought for a moment. "That might be it. I'm not sure."
"Hey.. are you that Faith chick?" Juice asked. She brought food. He kinda liked her.
"That's what they tell me," Faith said, her mouth full. "Who are you?"
"I'm Juice! Hi!" Juice waved, then helped himself to some food.
"Hi," Faith said.
"There are a lot of the bands that sound like they are deserving of the failure they exhibit," Eddie continued, "but Infected Manifold was the playing of which I heard last I was here, and it was making me pray that Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Joseph Smith would arrive to personally execute the band."
"So, what's happening tonight?" Faith asked. "Anything fun?"
"In one of those sorts of religious crossover massacre types of things that appear on the television sketches of comedy at times," Eddie explained.
"Any time someone needs to pray to Joseph Smith, it must be just awful," Laili said.
"What the hell does 'five by five' mean?" Nica asked.
"Just something my dad used to say. There a band playing tonight, or what?" Faith asked.
Wesley couldn't help but laugh at the cross section of deities. "Someone here could be enterprising enough to sell ear plugs on the nights of the bad bands. They would make a lot of money."
"If it would stop the aural assaulting, I am sure it would sell, whatever it was." Eddie shook his head. "I was to consider wearing some headphones from the lab to block the noise, but when I was trying that once, I was pestered every ten minutes by teenagers to want to know what I was listening of."
"I wonder why they would think that you brought your own music to a bar?" Wesley mused. "It sounds like a good idea, though."
Laili pondered that. "If a band was bad enough, you could sell them..."
"I think someone's scheduled," Juice said, munching a wing.
"Cool," Faith said. "I hope they don't suck ass. So, how do you know Becky? You go to school with her?"
"They're both spies." said Becky. pouring herself more soda. "Sneaky ninja spies."
Eddie nodded. "Tempting, tempting."
"Yeah, school," Juice said. "Though ninjas totally rock."
Nica opened her eyes wide and made a Bruce Lee noise.
"I wonder if any of the bartenders or the new owners have thought of that," Wesley said.
Faith laughed. "Nice. This place isn't bad ... The Sundowner's pretty cool, too. Not much more than that for night life around here, though, is there?"
Sure enough, it looked like a band was taking the stage - all dressed in white, except with a hideous red blotch on each of their shirts, running down from the neck area. They were otherwise a perfectly normal pierced, tattooed, and otherwise grungy local band in appearance.
"This looks like ear plug time," Wesley said, seeing the band take the stage.
Faith blinked. "Whoa, shit, what the hell ... "
"Ahh! They're undead!" Juice looked scared.
They settled in to begin making sound checks of their equipment, as if nothing was odd.
"I wonder if this band is any good?" Laili said, eying them as they sound checked
Becky sipped her drink quietly, and ignored the band.
"Usually, the more unusual the gimmick, the worse they are. And, if I'm guessing what they're gimik is, they're going to be awful."
Eddie sighed and took a drink... from his empty mug, which made him look more unhappy.
Wesley noticed Eddie's empty drink, and his displeasure with it. He flagged down someone who worked there so that he could order another drink, and so that Wesley could order himself one.
Faith frowned and stared at them for a moment. "No ... they're not," she said to Juice, and moved on to her next wing.
"I wouldn't mind a refill too, dear. And maybe some wings?" Laili smiled cutely.
"Alright, I think we're set.. check check..." After a few more rambles, the Bronze music cut out, and the lead singer grinned. "Hey, hey, victims, what's happening?"
"We're the Spontaneous Neck Ruptures -- how you all doing tonight?" he continued, as his band mates settled in.
"He called us victims," Juice said with a pout.
Eddie accepted the drink, and promptly took a very large swig. "Be thanking you. We who are about to suffer salute you."
Wesley groaned when he heard the band's name. "No where but Sunnydale," he said, shaking his head.
"He doesn't know us very well," Nica muttered.
"One! Two! One, two, three, four!" With that, the band jumped into one of their 'classics', "Headless Whores' Men". Apparently it's about the habits of men found decapitated in Lover's Lane after soliciting women in shady bars.
Wesley had to fight the urge to plug his ears with his fingers.
And, yes, it's a cross between indie rock and punk. Which is to say, it's probably as bad as you're guessing. Good enough to be musically tolerable, but...
"...did they just say 'headless whore's men?" Laili said, blinking.
Eddie shrugged. "I do not know. I am in a pleasant field."
"I think they did," Wesley said, watching the stage with more horror than he usually mustered up for his job.
At any rate, SNR was certainly an... energetic band.
"I think I'm going to be physically ill," Wesley said. He was joking, but only a little.
" ... wow," Faith said. "I've heard worse ... can't remember specifics, but I've heard worse."
Eddie murmured, "I am the walrus... I am the walrus..."
The audible noise finally stopped for a moment, as SNR's lead singer waited for (very little - maybe their mom is up in the mezzanine?) applause.
Wesley clapped a little, looking stunned. Maybe he had been hypnotized by their badness?
"Right! Now let's take it down a notch!" SNR's lead turned to the drummer, who began hammering out a heavy beat that, while indeed slightly less intense, was nevertheless nowhere near subtle.
Faith refilled everyone's glasses, and had yet another wing.
They settled in to play their next tune - "Sometimes Rats Eat Babies".
Laili shook her head. "This is really bad."
Nica thought about words that rhymes with babies, shuddered, excused herself, and went to the rest room.
Juice was head banging along to it.
"This is hardcore!"
"Is he talking about eating babies?" Wesley asked, honestly looking a little...green. He's a fragil little flower sometimes.
Becky followed Nica.
"Yes, and it's not really like--" Laili shut up.
"Yes," Eddie answered dryly. "Usually it is the maggots that are eating the babies."
Laili was getting maybe just a little hungry. The song was still bad, but mm... babies.
David headed in, and winced at the music.
"So, yeah, she's kind of ... She just kind of takes over a table, doesn't she?" Nica asked Becky.
Juice waved "Yo! Bro, over here."
"Yeah." Becky frowned "But I guess people like her can do stuff like that."
Wesley looked confused, wondering why someone would write a song about both eating babies and headless men.
David headed over to his brother, and eyed the stage. "What is that?" He pointed to the stage.
"Making people like us sidekicks," Nica frowned. "I really don't like being a sidekick."
"It's The Spontaneous Neck Ruptures- they rock!" Juice said.
"I'm not even a sidekick. I'm just a pain." admitted Becky
"Hi, David!" Faith said. "Have a wing!"
'Thankfully', "Sometimes Rats Eat Babies" was shorter than "Headless Whore's Men".
Laili's tummy rumbled, and she looked apologetically at Wesley.
"Uh..." David frowned "Hey." He took a seat next to his brother, and grabbed a free wing.
"You are not. You so aren't," Nica said. "You're cool. You're the ninja-spy."
"I don't think this is music." commented David "But you like it Juice?"
"Yeah, it's pretty neat," Juice said.
Without further ado - not that they were going to get it - they started in on the instrumental portion of their next song.
Wesley squeezed Laili's hand again.
"I'm retired. My double life is over." Becky nodded "And that sounds really bad out there."
David winced again. "So, what's up bro?"
A few moments of 'music' - and some singing - eventually revealed their next song, which their setlist would have listed as 'Tentacles Aren't Just For Eating' if they actually bothered with a set list.
Laili smiled up at Wesley, distracted from baby-eatin', and rested her head on his shoulder.
Wesley reached around her to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
Apparently it was an involved dissertation on the reasoning behind the classic tentacular horror in Lovecraftian fiction as a symbol of indescribable unpleasantness,
describing how they were both the limbs of these monstrosities and symbolic appendages meant to trigger irrational fear.
Like some over pretentious bookworm's debate topic given really bad guitar solos and a screeching background noise that was apparently prerecorded sounds of a cat taking a bath.
"This song is really deep," Juice said.
"This song sucks," Eddie announced.
Laili wrinkled her nose. "So. How was school today?" she said to Wes, trying to make conversation and not think about tentacles or babies.
"..." David looked at his brother for a moment. "So, who is your friend?" He tried to ignore the sucky music
"Faith," Faith said, wiping off her hand and offering it to David.
Wesley snapped back to attention, having been memorized by the terribleness of the music. "It's been fine. Nothing too troubling as of late. How has work at the zoo been going?"
Nica frowned. "Tentacles ... that's pretty nasty."
David looked at the hand, then grabbed a wing. "David."
Becky nodded in agreement with Nica. "I wish I could tell them that they sucked."
"Well, you could," Nica said. "THEY might get pissed off, though."
"What will they do?" asked Becky
Faith shrugged and continued eating.
"Uh ... run away, crying, if you're lucky," Nica said.
The finisher apparently involved the two guitarists playing back to back while whaling along very loudly. Definitely enthusiastic, even if they sucked like a vampire fresh out of torpor.
Becky headed out of the bathroom and towards the stage. She looked back to see if Nica was nearby.
Nica was hot on her heels, grinning.
"Zoo's been fairly busy," Laili said. "A lot of people like the new exhibit."
"Thank you! We've got a few more songs, and then we're gonna bail," the lead singer announced.
"Oh thank heaven," Wesley muttered when he heard that the band would be leaving soon, although that meant sitting through a few more songs. "It's good that people are enjoying the new exhibit. Are the hyenas giving you any trouble?"
"No- they've been no trouble at all. They have their own zookeeper, so we don't even have to do much for them, really..." Laili smiled. "It's part of an educational grant we recieved."
"Becky thinks that you need more practice." said Becky
"We've got a CD coming out soon, if anyone's interested -- just meet up with us after the show, we'll be up on the balcony," the lead singer promised, before leading his band in the rousing musical oddyssey known as 'Bloody Symbols'.
"Oh man, I want to go meet them!" Juice said, excitedly. "Who's coming with me?"
Becky returned to the table, and agreed to meet them, only to tell them that they needed more practice.
"I'm in," Nica said.
"I'm tempted to buy a CD, to prove to others how bad they are. That would just encourage them, though," Wesley said. "You got them through an educational grant?"
"It is nice to see that the zoos are receiving grants in this country," Eddie commented somewhat blearily.
"Yes- to educate Sunnydale's youth - apparently, our zoo is lacking in exotic species," Laili said.
"Well, some species have to stay in the wild, or else all of the animals will be in the zoos, and that would be less of the beauty of nature," Eddie added.
"I'll keep an eye on you guys." offered David "From here."
"Aren't there studies that show vastly different life spans of animals who live in the wild or in a zoo, in both directions of longer and shorter life spans for the ones in zoos?" Wesley asked. He remembered reading that somewhere once.
Juice bounded off for the band.
Laili nodded. "Some animals thrive in a zoo environment."
Nica followed, without the bounding.
Becky followed
David kept an eye on things.
"Which ones thrive?" Wesley asked with interest.
"Do you know?"
After completing their set - with such classics as 'Nerd Herders' and 'Wicked Ways' and 'Cut Yourself Until You Stop Crying', the band heads off to the mezzanine, cheerful despite their lukewarm responses.
SNR's lead singer grins when he notes there's people approaching. Maybe it's a new experience.
"Hiya," Nica said. "How long you guys been working on your act?" She eyed the CD cases.
"Monkeys, for one," Laili said. "The monkeys seem to enjoy human contact immensely."
"You dudes ROCKED!" Juice said.
Becky frowned, and looked at the CD cases. She thought they sucked.
"Couple of years," SNR's lead replied, grinning. "Three bucks if you want a CD."
"Monkeys do seem like they would enjoy the social interaction," Wesley said.
The CD cases, incidentally, had a picture of a man holding his neck and screaming, as blood dribbled from between his fingers. It was self-titled.
"Becky doesn't have three bucks for a CD." said Becky "You've really been playing for a couple of years?"
"Would you sign it for me?" Juice asked, digging in his pockets for money for the CD.
"They're quite adorable," Laili said. "Though mischievous."
Nica didn't need any coasters; she still had 8 or 10 AOL CDs lying around. "Years? Really? Are you guys in school?"
"Do they cause a lot of trouble for you?" Wesley asked with a smile.
"Off and on, yeah," the keyboardist announced, a little defensively.
"I was expelled," the drummer commented, almost proudly.
"For what?" asked Becky. "And so was Becky."
SNR's lead had a Sharpie on hand to sign with, and readily signed one for Juice, then passed it around for the others to sign.
"Rock on," Nica said, nodding. "I'm Nica ... this is Becky."
"Excessive not giving a fuck," the drummer answered.
"Oh wow.. thanks guys," he said. "I'm Juice!"
"So, you don't care what people think about your music?" asked Becky
"Sometimes," Laili admitted. "One of the little buggers is quite adept at opening locks."
"Depends on what they think," the guitarist commented, a bit ominously.
"Aw, come on, guys - intro yourselves. They aren't gonna read it off the CDs," the singer commented. "I'm Laird. Don't mind Xanth, he's not good with critics."
Wesley laughed a little. "So you have a little escape artist. I'm sure he causes lots of fun."
"Cinderella," the keyboardist commented, with a trace of a smirk.
"And I'm Casey," the drummer added, before passing the CD to Juice.
"Becky thinks that Casey's name is odd compared to the rest of the bands."
Casey shrugged.
"So what did you guys think?" Laird asked.
"I thought you were awesome! I really liked the song with the whores," Juice said. "And the cutting one!"
Laird grinned. "Thanks."
"Oh yes. He's like a little monkey Hogan - have you ever seen that show, Hogan's Heroes? I think he's trying for a prison break," Laili said.
"Becky didn't like you as much as her friend does. She thinks you seem like a nice band, however." Becky hoped that wasn't too mean
"You were very enthusiastic," Nica said.
"I don't believe I've seen Hogan's Heroes," Wesley said. "Does it take place in a prison?"
"That's the best review we've gotten all month," Cinderella said, and smiled.
Nica smiled, too.
Becky felt bad for hating the music. "You guys are really, really nice." she sighed, and headed back to the table. So much for telling them they sucked
Nica looked at the CDs remaining. "I'll take five," she said.
"It's in a prison camp during world war two," Laili said. "They're prisoners of Nazi Germany, and they run a resistance operation under the nose of the incompetent commandant and his staff. Hilarity ensues."
"Really? Cool." Laird grinned and rounded the five up, holding out his hand for the fifteen bucks.
"Ah, I see," Wesley said. "Well, I hope that the monkeys do not see the zoo workers this way." He laughed a little.
Becky took a seat, and sighed before grabbing a wing.
Nica forked over three five-dollar bills. "So, what's up with that name of yours, anyway? Spontaneous neck rupture?"
"Did you tell them they suck?" Faith asked.
"No." Becky frowned "They were too nice."
"It's from the news," Cinderella commented. "We saw it in an obituary."
"Wacky shit," Casey observed.
"Oh yeah, that's wack," Juice said.
Laili giggled. "Yes, I'd hate to think I'm that incompetent at my job."
"Yeah," Nica said. "Definitely big on the wackitude. Thank you! See you around, sometime." She waved and headed back to the table with her CDs.
Eddie chuckled a bit. "They had to censor Hogan's Heroes in Germany..."
Laird grinned. "Later!" He settled in to have a bite of his hamburger.
Wesley arched an eyebrow. "Is it true that German television censors any reference to Nazis from shows from other countries?"
"Is it?" Laili asked, and looked to Eddie.
Becky looked pouty, as she ate. She waved to Nica when she returned
David kept an eye on Juice, to make sure his brother wasn't going to get killed
Nica set down the stack of CDs and grabbed a wing.
"Why did you waste your money?" asked Becky
Nica shrugged. "They don't seem like they have much to fall back on," Nica said. "And there isn't exactly a mad stampede to buy these."
"Oh." Becky nodded "They're nice, they just need to learn to play and sing and get a better name and write songs."
"Yeah, that's about right," Nica said.
"I think they're good!" Juice said.
Eddie nodded. "Saying 'sieg heil' in Germany is actually a very serious offense in Germany now. They are very serious about preventing Nazism from returning or being glorified."
"So they had to edit in other phrases for the 'sieg heils' in Hogan's Heroes, if I am recalling," Eddie mused.
"That's good," Laili said. "That was a terrible phase in history."
"Ah, I see. I can understand them being a bit paranoid about that," Wesley said, nodding.
"They can be a lot better." nodded Becky "We could probably make a band and it would be better."
Eddie nodded and shrugged. He wasn't exactly interested in bearing Germany's Nazi guilt.
David eyed Juice, but did not say anything.
"Or," Nica said, "we could maybe find ways to help these guys be better, if they were willing to change a few things here and there."
Juice plunked back down at the table, and showed his brother the cd. "Look, they signed it."
"That's good." said David "How much as it?"
Spontaneous Neck Rupture may have been as pleasant as six wet kittens in a microwave on the lowest setting, but at least they seemed happy with their 'performance'.
"Three bucks! What a bargain," Juice said.
"Yeah.." said David "When you play it, make sure you use your earphones."
"Why? Don't you wanna hear it too?" Juice asked. "And what about Senor Paco?"
"I don't want to hear it." said David "I don't like it as much as you do."
"Aww, okay..." Juice nodded. "No problem, bro."
"Cool." David nodded "So, were they a nice band?"
"Yeah, they were really friendly," Juice said with a nod.
"Decent guys, yeah," Nica said. "Trying too hard in some ways ... and not enough in others ... but yeah, nice."
"Maybe they need a manager," Juice said. "You could shape them up and make them practice and be even better!"
"Yeah." said Becky "Someone to make sure they practice, and learn how to write songs and play instruments."
"Well ... why the hell would they take direction from me? What do I know?" Nica frowned, and looked at the back of the CD for contact information.
"Becky can help, but people take less direction from me." offered Becky
Spontaneous Neck Rupture's CD had an email address on the back, along with a PO box mailing address.
"Well, you're Italian. Your people have been bossing people around for centuries," Juice said
"And there was that whole Renaissance thing."
Nica chuckled. "Yeah, good point. Well ... I'll drop them a note and see if they're interested."
Eddie finished his drink, and got feetwards. "Bah. To sleep, perchance to be dreaming..."
David looked at his watch. "Isn't tomorrow a school day?"
Nica yawned.
"Becky is too cool for school." said Becky, looking defiant. This guy couldn't tell her what to do
"I should probably make another sweep before I go to bed ... You guys have fun. Nice meeting you," she added with a wave, and headed out.
Becky watched Faith leave. "See you guys." She ran after Faith. "Hey, can I go with you?"
"Sure," Faith said. "You got stakes?"
"Yeah." Becky nodded "I can't leave the house without them."
Faith grinned. "Five by five. Let's go dust some vamps."
"Ok." Becky walked with Faith
Faith headed for the Sunnydale Cemetery, slowing down a bit and walking more quietly as she passed the gate.
Becky quietly followed Faith. She looked around a little, and displayed her skills of walking quietly in the dark.
Faith took a look around. There were a pair of fresh graves near a mausoleum nearby; Faith hunkered down behind a headstone and motioned for Becky to do the same.
Becky did the same
"Not sure how long this'll take," Faith whispered. "Doesn't look like they've risen yet ... they were in the paper this morning. 'Murder-suicide' ... only from what I hear, they both got drained."
Becky nodded quietly, and watched the graves.
" ... so, do you have a guy in Sunnydale yet?"
"No." replied Becky "It's hard... after Ethan."
Faith shrugged. "Why, was he really that good? Didn't he try to kill you?"
"Yeah... but only when I had to move away and refused to live with him." said Becky
"What a jerk," Faith said. "That's why it's easier to not get attached, you know? No strings, no commitments ... show time."
Sure enough, the grave on the left was pulsing a bit. Faith drew a stake and moved around the headstone.
Becky put her hand on her stake, and headed behind the other graves headstone
A hand emerged from the grave nearest Faith, and she drew back her right hand, poised to strike. It was fun to beat on them a bit, first, but Becky was here, and new at this; it'd be better to show her how to take them out quick.
Becky held her stake in one hand, and waited for more of the vamp to emerge
Faith's vamp broke through the surface, her face still coated with dirt. As she reached up to wipe her eyes, Faith impaled her heart, and she crumbled to dust. The other vamp broke the surface as well, just feet from Becky.
Becky watched Faith's vamp die, then turned to face hers. She rushed the vamp, and staked what she hoped was the heart with surprising strength and speed. She wished she had paid more attention in science class.
The vamp looked down at the chunk of wood that had sprouted in his chest, then up at Becky in incomprehension as he disintegrated.
Faith smiled. "Nice job, B," she said.
"You sure you're not a potential?"
Becky grinned. "Thanks. I kinda hoped thats where the heart was... and my Dad would know if I was one, right?"
"Probably," Faith said. "But who knows? He could have missed a birthmark somewhere ... Anyway, that was pretty cool. We should head back ... Hunter'll freak if we're out too late."
"Yeah.." Becky looked thoughtful "I think it's just because of the treatments I used to get. I thought they would wear off, but the more I do stuff, the better I get."
"You know about Nick, right?" asked Becky
"Your dad told me a little ... freaky cult family, doctor who thinks he's hot shit, messing with strength-boosters and stuff. He did some of that to you?" Faith was keeping an eye on their surroundings as they left the cemetery, bot nothing seemed to be following them.
"Yeah." frowned Becky "Before I lived with Hunter, he told me I was really sick, so I needed medicine. All the stuff he gave me made me sick until I stopped getting it, so now I'm really strong and fast. I don't know if it will go away or not. but he's in Sunnydale."
"So, are you going to do something about that?" Faith asked.
"Do what?" asked Becky "He works for that OSI place."
"Yeah, so? He messed with you ... he could have killed you. He still might, if he knows you're here."
"People like that hate loose ends," she said.
"Yeah... he killed my Mother." Becky admitted "But only Nica knows that.. and I'm scared of him, but I don't want him hurting anyone else..." Becky frowned
"So ... " Faith said again, raising an eyebrow. "What are you gonna do about it, B?"
"I don't know." Becky thought for a moment "I can turn him in, but I don't think anyone here will care... I don't want to kill him.. but.." she trailed off "What would you do?"
"Well," Faith said, "I'd probably take him out ... but it'd have to be a good plan."
Faith unlocked the front door and headed inside. There was a light on in the living room, but Hunter was nowhere to be seen; he'd probably gone to bed.
"If I come up with a good plan.. would you help me?" asked Becky, closing the door behind her, and locking it.
"Of course," Faith said. "Least I could do. Goodnight ... you did great," she said, and headed upstairs to her room.