Title: Points for Creativity
Author: Jeanny
Feedback: Much appreciated. Send to jeannygrrl@hotmail.com
Rating: G
Spoilers: None really. Takes place in a kind of miscellaneous post-Joyce Season 5/Season 6 area.
Distribution/Archive: Go right ahead, if you like, just let me know where it's going.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, would that I did. The characters herein belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, Greenwalt, Fox, etc. I'm merely using them to tell my own little story.
Summary: Just the kind of cute little scene you get from me sometimes. Dawn does something creative.
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Buffy, Willow, Spike and Xander all looked at the object on the table with matching nonplussed expressions while Dawn waited expectantly. They exchanged looks with each other, then looked back at the table. Xander finally took the plunge.
"What is it?"
Dawn looked mortally wounded as only a teenager could.
"You can't tell?" she asked, so sadly that her sister and friends felt compelled to reassure her.
"No, no, of course we can tell...what it is...and it's great! The best...one of those...that I've seen," Willow said.
"It's very distinctive, pet," Spike mumbled at Dawn's hopeful gaze in his direction. He looked away, pretending to fumble for his cigarettes.
"In a not like things we've ever seen before way. And look, i-it's the kind the lights up," Buffy offered in a chipper, uncertain tone.
"I...yeah..." Xander stammered.
Dawn rolled her eyes.
"It's a lamp."
"Of course! It's a lamp!" Willow said in relief. "With the lighting up."
"Spike got me the champagne bottle," Dawn revealed conspiratorially. "I just had to get the stuff out of it."
Before one of them could stake him, Spike hastened to assure them, "She means demon goo stuff. Got it from a friend of Clem's, Othor demon. Bit of a wino, that bloke. Not exactly known for good sanitary habits."
"It was gross," Dawn confirmed cheerfully.
"And you couldn't have cleaned it first?" Buffy asked pointedly. Spike shrugged.
"Like the bit said, it was gross."
Willow squinted at the object, moving closer to get a better look.
"It doesn't even look like a champagne bottle. I mean, I can kinda make out the shape, here..."
"I kinda used decoupage. To disguise it," Dawn said, suddenly nervous as Buffy also took a closer look. Her sister's eyes widened, and then narrowed. Dawn gave a nervous laugh. "Ummm, I'm gonna put my lamp in my room, okay?"
"Dawn..." Buffy growled.
"And I've really got a lot of homework, so I'll just stay there!" Dawn finished in a rush, grabbing the lamp and running for dear life. "Until graduation!" she finished from the top of the stairs.
"Dawn! Come back here and take it like a girl!" Buffy hollered after her up the stairs. To the others, the Slayer appeared to be torn between laughter and tears.
"Geez, Buffy, what is it?" Xander asked. Buffy buried her face in her hands for a moment, shoulders shaking.
"She covered that horrible thing with her report card," she choked out. "Torn up into little bitty pieces."
Laughter won out.
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