Story 2 of Past Transgressions
Aug. 22nd, 2013 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
craterdwellerThis was done for a challenge for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
the_deepbluesea. The challenge was to write a 100+ word fic from a minor character POV. I chose Ethan Rayne as he's been prominent in a Post Chosen series that has been knocking around my brain. Also fills love_bingo prompt for Wedding.
Fandom: BTVS
Pairing(s): Ethan Rayne/Original Female Character, Rupert Giles/Original Female Character
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Rupert Giles, Ethan Rayne, Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Original Female Characters
Word Count: 1061
Story 2 of Past Transgressions Series at Archive of Our Own.
Disclaimer: Giles and company don't belong to me, yada yada yada
Ethan watched his long time friend pace back and forth. An outside observer would have thought it was Ripper getting married instead of him. Marriage. He never imagined he would be the one getting married. Ripper, on the other hand, was a different story. Ethan shook his head sadly. Of all the times for Ripper’s Slayer to show up, why did it have to be yesterday? He sighed. “Ripper, are you alright?”
“Hmm? Oh, um, yes. Sorry Ethan. What was it you needed?”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Ethan crossed over to the door and cracked it open to find Ripper’s young friend Willow on the other side. She smiled at him as she squeezed by. “Ethan, you look very handsome.” She walked over to Giles and straightened his tie. “And so do you, Giles. If I weren’t gay, you’d both be fighting me off with a stick.”
His best friend blushed at the compliment. “Th-Thank you, Willow. You look lovely yourself.”
Ethan hid a smile behind his hand. Years ago in Sunnydale he had accused Ripper of lying to his young friends and of hiding his true self behind the tweed-clad librarian persona. But even though he still called his best mate by his old nickname, he realized he wasn’t really the Ripper of his youth either. Rupert was both Ripper and Giles, as the Slayer and her friends had taken to calling him. Now he was watching a flustered Giles fend off the fussing Willow.
“Willow, please. Now, was there a reason you stopped by or did you just come in here to fuss?”
Willow rolled her eyes, not put off in the least by the snarky Watcher. “Gwen and Agatha sent me over to check on you. Make sure you hadn’t gotten into the scotch.”
Giles glared, “Why am I the one getting checked up on? I’m not the one getting married!”
Ethan laughed at his friend’s outrage. “No, but you were wearing a hole in the carpet a minute ago.” He sent his friend a more sympathetic look, and then addressed Willow, “I take it Gwen told you about his unexpected visitors yesterday?”
“Actually, Dawn called me yesterday afternoon, right after you guys left for the airport. She said things got a little tense.”
Ethan snorted. “Tense?” He rubbed his neck where the Slayer had gripped him a bit too tightly. “If you call the Slayer nearly choking me, tense.”
“Ethan,” Ripper warned. “Willow, I take it Buffy didn’t tell you she planned on coming yesterday?”
“No, Giles. I’ve talked with Dawn, but Buffy hasn’t been so much with the talking lately.”
Giles sighed and took a deep breath. “Yes, well.” He straightened his shoulders and managed a smile that fooled neither of his two friends. “I do believe we need to get this old reprobate to his wedding or Aggie will turn me into something unpleasant. Shall we?”
Willow giggled and took Giles’ proffered arm, “We shall.”
She missed the pained expression that crossed Giles’ face at her choice of phrasing, but it hadn’t escaped Ethan’s notice. Poor Ripper. He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer to the Powers to give his old mate a break for once. But he would have to worry about his friend later. He rushed to catch up so as not to be late to his own wedding.
* * * *
Ethan’s breath caught as he entered the foyer to the chapel. White lilies, Agatha’s favorite, adorned the pews and altar. The guests were seated and awaited the arrival of the wedding party.
“Ready, old friend?” Ripper asked.
Ethan took another deep breath. “I always figured if either of us were to ever settle down it would be you, Ripper. Never me.”
His friend of over twenty-five years teased, “Never. A few have tried but I’ll never let them catch me.” He nudged Ethan’s shoulder. “C’mon then. Time to make an honest man of you.”
“Hah! I may not worship Chaos anymore, but don’t think marriage is going to change me.”
“Not marriage, but love. And it already has, my friend.”
The two friends took their positions at the altar and waited for the ladies. Neither he nor his fiance had wanted a large wedding, so the bridal party was rather small. Willow was Agatha’s bridesmaid and Gwen had agreed to be her maid of honor. Per tradition Willow was escorted down the aisle first and beamed at both men as she took her place across from them. Next, came Gwen. Ethan stole a quick glance at Ripper to gage his reaction to Gwen in all her splendor. Unsurprisingly, his best man seemed to be lost in thought. He winced when Gwen’s smile went unnoticed. Ripper was also oblivious to the glare he was receiving from Willow who hadn’t missed the slight. Oh dear.
All thoughts of his best friend were pushed out of his mind when his bride entered on the arm of the Coven leader Jane Harkness. Agatha’s parents had passed some time ago and so she had asked Jane to walk her down the aisle, confident in the knowledge that their friends and family would not be thrown by the departure from tradition. Besides, Jane was like a surrogate mother to Agatha. He felt a subtle nudge from Ripper. My gods she is beautiful. I don’t deserve her, but I’m not going to complain if she wants to be with an old dog like me. Jane kissed him on the cheek and warned as he took Agatha’s hand, “hurt her and I’ll turn you into a newt.” Ripper snorted behind him but Ethan’s attention was only for his bride.
Most of the ceremony passed by in a blur. Ethan felt like he was soaring above the clouds. He couldn’t remember ever being this happy. Luckily, Ripper prodded him at all the right moments so he didn’t miss out on his vows or kissing his new bride.
“May I present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Rayne,” he heard the minister proclaim. He turned to smile at his best man. Ripper smiled back at him, but Ethan detected a sadness behind the smile. He would try and catch Ripper alone at the reception to make sure he was alright. Seeing Buffy yesterday had apparently shaken him more than he had been willing to admit.
the_deepbluesea. The challenge was to write a 100+ word fic from a minor character POV. I chose Ethan Rayne as he's been prominent in a Post Chosen series that has been knocking around my brain. Also fills love_bingo prompt for Wedding.Fandom: BTVS
Pairing(s): Ethan Rayne/Original Female Character, Rupert Giles/Original Female Character
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Rupert Giles, Ethan Rayne, Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Original Female Characters
Word Count: 1061
Story 2 of Past Transgressions Series at Archive of Our Own.
Disclaimer: Giles and company don't belong to me, yada yada yada
Ethan watched his long time friend pace back and forth. An outside observer would have thought it was Ripper getting married instead of him. Marriage. He never imagined he would be the one getting married. Ripper, on the other hand, was a different story. Ethan shook his head sadly. Of all the times for Ripper’s Slayer to show up, why did it have to be yesterday? He sighed. “Ripper, are you alright?”
“Hmm? Oh, um, yes. Sorry Ethan. What was it you needed?”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Ethan crossed over to the door and cracked it open to find Ripper’s young friend Willow on the other side. She smiled at him as she squeezed by. “Ethan, you look very handsome.” She walked over to Giles and straightened his tie. “And so do you, Giles. If I weren’t gay, you’d both be fighting me off with a stick.”
His best friend blushed at the compliment. “Th-Thank you, Willow. You look lovely yourself.”
Ethan hid a smile behind his hand. Years ago in Sunnydale he had accused Ripper of lying to his young friends and of hiding his true self behind the tweed-clad librarian persona. But even though he still called his best mate by his old nickname, he realized he wasn’t really the Ripper of his youth either. Rupert was both Ripper and Giles, as the Slayer and her friends had taken to calling him. Now he was watching a flustered Giles fend off the fussing Willow.
“Willow, please. Now, was there a reason you stopped by or did you just come in here to fuss?”
Willow rolled her eyes, not put off in the least by the snarky Watcher. “Gwen and Agatha sent me over to check on you. Make sure you hadn’t gotten into the scotch.”
Giles glared, “Why am I the one getting checked up on? I’m not the one getting married!”
Ethan laughed at his friend’s outrage. “No, but you were wearing a hole in the carpet a minute ago.” He sent his friend a more sympathetic look, and then addressed Willow, “I take it Gwen told you about his unexpected visitors yesterday?”
“Actually, Dawn called me yesterday afternoon, right after you guys left for the airport. She said things got a little tense.”
Ethan snorted. “Tense?” He rubbed his neck where the Slayer had gripped him a bit too tightly. “If you call the Slayer nearly choking me, tense.”
“Ethan,” Ripper warned. “Willow, I take it Buffy didn’t tell you she planned on coming yesterday?”
“No, Giles. I’ve talked with Dawn, but Buffy hasn’t been so much with the talking lately.”
Giles sighed and took a deep breath. “Yes, well.” He straightened his shoulders and managed a smile that fooled neither of his two friends. “I do believe we need to get this old reprobate to his wedding or Aggie will turn me into something unpleasant. Shall we?”
Willow giggled and took Giles’ proffered arm, “We shall.”
She missed the pained expression that crossed Giles’ face at her choice of phrasing, but it hadn’t escaped Ethan’s notice. Poor Ripper. He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer to the Powers to give his old mate a break for once. But he would have to worry about his friend later. He rushed to catch up so as not to be late to his own wedding.
Ethan’s breath caught as he entered the foyer to the chapel. White lilies, Agatha’s favorite, adorned the pews and altar. The guests were seated and awaited the arrival of the wedding party.
“Ready, old friend?” Ripper asked.
Ethan took another deep breath. “I always figured if either of us were to ever settle down it would be you, Ripper. Never me.”
His friend of over twenty-five years teased, “Never. A few have tried but I’ll never let them catch me.” He nudged Ethan’s shoulder. “C’mon then. Time to make an honest man of you.”
“Hah! I may not worship Chaos anymore, but don’t think marriage is going to change me.”
“Not marriage, but love. And it already has, my friend.”
The two friends took their positions at the altar and waited for the ladies. Neither he nor his fiance had wanted a large wedding, so the bridal party was rather small. Willow was Agatha’s bridesmaid and Gwen had agreed to be her maid of honor. Per tradition Willow was escorted down the aisle first and beamed at both men as she took her place across from them. Next, came Gwen. Ethan stole a quick glance at Ripper to gage his reaction to Gwen in all her splendor. Unsurprisingly, his best man seemed to be lost in thought. He winced when Gwen’s smile went unnoticed. Ripper was also oblivious to the glare he was receiving from Willow who hadn’t missed the slight. Oh dear.
All thoughts of his best friend were pushed out of his mind when his bride entered on the arm of the Coven leader Jane Harkness. Agatha’s parents had passed some time ago and so she had asked Jane to walk her down the aisle, confident in the knowledge that their friends and family would not be thrown by the departure from tradition. Besides, Jane was like a surrogate mother to Agatha. He felt a subtle nudge from Ripper. My gods she is beautiful. I don’t deserve her, but I’m not going to complain if she wants to be with an old dog like me. Jane kissed him on the cheek and warned as he took Agatha’s hand, “hurt her and I’ll turn you into a newt.” Ripper snorted behind him but Ethan’s attention was only for his bride.
Most of the ceremony passed by in a blur. Ethan felt like he was soaring above the clouds. He couldn’t remember ever being this happy. Luckily, Ripper prodded him at all the right moments so he didn’t miss out on his vows or kissing his new bride.
“May I present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Rayne,” he heard the minister proclaim. He turned to smile at his best man. Ripper smiled back at him, but Ethan detected a sadness behind the smile. He would try and catch Ripper alone at the reception to make sure he was alright. Seeing Buffy yesterday had apparently shaken him more than he had been willing to admit.
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Date: 2013-08-30 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-30 09:49 am (UTC)