I'm back to monopolize the thread again. Mea culpa.And I really had planned to keep T&W platonic, but they wanted "Sarah Mclachlen love" so... As they are sitting together, she putting together some mixture that smells improbably of lavender and not the sulfur he envisioned, Tim is faced with a decision. A decision that would have been a dream come true if he were really seventeen. Whether to "make a move" on a pretty, smart, receptive, redhead. But instead he is forty going on seventeen and doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Be careful what you wish for, Timmy," he says, out loud. Such a dork.
"What?"
"Smells nice," he says. "Not at all what I would picture a ritual smelling like...not that I've smelled one, except Mass...boy, would Frank hate that I said that...it's true, though. But I thought witchcraft would smell more unpleasant.
" Thank you. You're the first person that ever made that connection...it's kind of a passion of mine defunkifying spells." He loved the way she said passion.-more-

DEFUNKIFYING!

lovelovelovelovelove NEW WORD!

(bounce)

It brought a light to her face that made him think of all of her other passions...which was completely inappropriate. Tim, he thought, you're a dirty old man. He needed to focus on the case so the enchantment would be over and he could stop following his heart wherever it led him and start being an adult again. Oh, come on, Bayliss, he argued with himself, you know that's just you, no matter what. Softhearted and susceptible. You just want the candy to blame.
"What kind of spell is this?" Tim asked. "A locator/lucky charm. So we can find who sent the chocolate and catch a break along the way," Willow said
"Does it work? Cause we could use it at work, if it does."
"Not always...I'm just learning. But I could make up some amulets for you to take, if you'd like."
"That would be lovely," he said. And thought "Lovely? That was girly, even for you. And you don't have a lot of Macho Points to spare. This girl...and she is a girl...still in fucking high school, in fact, is messing with your thinking. You've read Roth and Updike. You know this can only end badly. She gets carded and sent home, Tim. But I'm sixteen for.."
"How long do the effects last?"
"About eight hours after last ingestion. Why?"
OK, I've got a few hours and half a bar that she doesn't know about, he thought. You don't get to be a detective(or a Bayliss) without being good at hiding stuff.
"Oh, you know, just anxious to get back to real life," It's the biggest lie he's ever told outside of the Box, and he finds himself looking for lightning bolts.
"Oh, yeah," she says, "I guess you are. Rough childhood, huh?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Being a detective doesn't mean you're the only one who knows anything. Could you hand me those newt eyes? In the Ziplock?"
-more-

Could you hand me those newt eyes? In the Ziplock?"

(giggle)

I put the rest of the scene in lj...nobody's gotten downtown, yet they're both gonna need some courting. Link momentarily.I'm such a Bayliss I thought I broke the board, cause everything's My Fault, right?(the line to get some of this forms on the right :)) [link]

Ethan and Giles on the road to Shanghai, entitled "No Going Back", is up at Shriftweb ( [link] ff.net (they're not getting plugs, I'm just a completeness freak), and my website
( [link]

It's not much of anything, just a little drabble that was a response to something Seanee said in my LJ. Because we both *heart* The Cutting Edge.

"Toe pick!"

Faith pauses halfway through picking herself up off the ice. "Stop fucking saying that, B."

Buffy skates into a graceful spin, head thrown back, twirling so fast Faith can barely make out her edges. She comes out of it, skates over and extends a hand. Her face splits into one of those shit-eating grins she's been wearing since they hit Cleveland. "Just remember how the movie ends, Faith."

Faith can't help it. It's been best of the guilty pleasures night every night since they set up shop, and between Buffy, Willow, Andrew, and Xander, Faith's practically a one-Slayer Siskel and Ebert now. She takes Buffy's hand, holding it tight as she stands, leans over to whisper in Buffy's ear, "As you wish."

Then she skates off and waits for the fireworks.

Damn, Plei.

Sweeeeeeeet.

edit: BTW - one of my fave movies ever, as well. "These are FIGURE skates, pal."

More T/W at: [link] edited for dyslexia.

Does everybody use "Toe pick!"? It crops up fairly regularly in household conversation. As does, "As you wish."