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selenak: (Darla - Kathyh)
[personal profile] selenak
Note to self: Travelling on the Friday the world cup starts was every bit as crowded as you expected; next time, since you can't change the schedule, bring along ear muffins.

Saturday was spent at the wedding of a friend of the family's, but now I'm at last back in my own apartment. And present a Darla ficlet, the result of a tm prompt, something more light hearted, this time. [livejournal.com profile] karabair, [livejournal.com profile] ashylogic, this one's for you both, for obvious reasons.

Timeline: Rome, 1771.

Pairings: Darla/Immortal, Darla/Angelus

Summary: Ever wonder what Darla was doing while Angel was busy getting himself captured by Holtz?



Loyalty

When Darla met him the second time, the Immortal was called Marcello. She and Angelus had come to Rome because Darla wanted to see the paintings in the Vatican, but when Angelus decided to indulge himself with some living artwork instead, she saw no reason not to renew her acquaintance with the man who had amused and intrigued her on first sight. His blood, his conversation and his sexual skills were all as delicious as she remembered.

The minion who showed up to serve Marcello some wine at some point whispered something in his ear. Darla pretended not to understand, both because she wasn’t sure whether the Immortal knew how good vampire hearing was, which might give her a tactical advantage, and because she was curious as to whether or not he would share the information he had just received.

Cara," the Immortal said after the minion had withdrawn, “as I recall, there was a pesky Puritan on your heels the last time we had the pleasure.”

“Indeed,” she said, not bothering to point out Holtz was Catholic. The Immortal kept confusing the two in any case.

“The man is nothing if not tenacious,” the Immortal said. “Or else your charms are. He is in Rome as well. Not to worry, though. Even the most odious suitor can be discouraged by complete lack of attention. How does a decade on a Greek island sound to you? I happen to possess a few.”

Interesting. So he would not sell her out to Holtz, in fact, he seemed to be downright protective, but he wasn’t telling her the entire truth, either.

Grazie,” she said, and playfully bit his skillful tongue before rising from the divan they had spent considerable time on and getting dressed. “But always having the same view would get dull after a while. Besides. I’m afraid I just can’t let Holtz torture my boy to death. If anyone ever does that, it’s going to be me.”

The Immortal pursed his lips. In fact, one could say he downright pouted. It made him resemble the types Raffael was fond of. Well, she had come to Rome to study art. Not wasting any time on the obvious, such as observing that she must have understood just what his minion had told him and what he had evidently not planned on telling her, he said instead:

“It is your choice, bella. But didn’t you tell me you left him behind in a burning mill once already, when we first met? I can’t believe he has improved that much since then.”

“You have no idea,” she said, a little cruelly, and well aware he would take that as a reference to how the two of them compared in bed. Men were like that. But the truth of the matter was, what had appeared to be the logical thing to do then – saving her own life even if that meant leaving Angelus behind – had become somewhat unthinkable now, and not just because of the wonderfully inventive way Angelus had made her pay once he had caught up with her in Vienna. It was a weakness she didn’t intend to reveal to either Angelus or the Immortal, though.

“Thank you for a lovely night, caro,” she added while straightening out her dress. “We’ll have to this again sometime. Now, considering that some of your minions really appear to have no idea of discretion and should be gotten rid of immediately, may I borrow them to save Angelus? I promise I’ll get them all killed. Holtz is ever so thorough, you know.”

His expression changed from petulance to half-angry amusement.

“The gall,” he said, half to himself. “You really are the most splendid bitch I’ve ever met, my dear.”

She waited, one eyebrow raised.

“Ah, well,” he said. “You’re right. Take the minions.”

Darla was half out of the door when he called after her:

“But for real, now, cara. Why the sudden display of loyalty? What is he to you?”

“Family, of course,” she said, exasperated, and was gone.

Date: 2006-06-11 06:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] likeadeuce.livejournal.com
“Indeed,” she said, not bothering to point out Holtz was Catholic. The Immortal kept confusing the two in any case.

Haha, and that's totally MY fault. But really, those monotheists ARE all the same to the Immortal.

Besides. I’m afraid I just can’t let Holtz torture my boy to death. If anyone ever does that, it’s going to be me.”

Indeed. . .take the minions, take the cannoli. It's all the same to Marcelo.

Splendid!

Date: 2006-06-11 06:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
*g* Glad you like. And find it in character for the Immortal.

Date: 2006-06-11 08:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] likeadeuce.livejournal.com
Absolutely -- and this is the mirror of my "Immortal tries to cut a deal with Holtz" from way back, yes?

Date: 2006-06-12 02:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
Yes, that was the intention. *feels absolutely not bad for using your fanon*

Date: 2006-06-12 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] likeadeuce.livejournal.com
not at all, that's what it's there for!

Date: 2006-06-11 10:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cordelianne.livejournal.com
Lovely! I really like how this explores why Darla remains loyal to Angelus.

“Indeed,” she said, not bothering to point out Holtz was Catholic. The Immortal kept confusing the two in any case. heeee! This totally cracks me up!!

Nice build up to this revelation and I like the exasperation:
“Family, of course,” she said, exasperated, and was gone.

Date: 2006-06-12 02:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
This totally cracks me up!!

I have to give credit to [livejournal.com profile] karabair for this, because it's something that developed when we were roleplaying the Immortal and Darla over at [livejournal.com profile] theatrical_muse, and her Immortal could never get Holtz' religion straight.*g* I just had to use that in fiction.

Date: 2006-06-12 08:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] londonkds.livejournal.com
Hee. I thought it was an in-joke relating to the confusion ME themselves sometimes show between varieties of Christianity (Puritans in 18th-century Ireland in Sleepwalker, for example.)

Date: 2006-06-12 09:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
Oh, I've long since decided that the Buffyverse has to take place in an AU where the reformation never happened. At least not in England. I mean, Catholics are just all over the place - in 18th century Yorkshire (Holtz as a Wesleyan would make so much more sense), in 19th century London (Drusilla), in early 17th century VIRGINIA (not even Maryland, for God's sake) - clearly, old Henry got his annulment in this universe, and remained a faithful son of the church.

Date: 2006-07-12 05:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zgirl714.livejournal.com
Sorry that made me giggle.

Date: 2006-06-12 03:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] likeadeuce.livejournal.com
[livejournal.com profile] selenak gives me too much credit. *I* could never keep Holtz's religion straight. Though I did fanonically give him a bad memory to let me gloss over stuff like that ;).

Date: 2006-06-12 03:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cordelianne.livejournal.com
heee! I'm even more amused now! I love that you gave him a bad memory! Of course - and now I'll likely demonstrate my bad memory especially for dates and historical info - early on there were some key differences between Protestants and Catholics, but still a remarkable amount of similarities considering that Protestantism originated from Catholicism.

Date: 2006-06-12 03:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] likeadeuce.livejournal.com
well, it seemed quite natural to me that a human being who just happened to live a thousand years would not have a memory mechanism sufficient to store that much information. or. . .something like that.

Date: 2006-06-12 05:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
It's especially funny because any self respecting Puritan would be driven mad by being mistaken for a Catholic back in the day. Ask Cromwell. "No popery!" and all that.*g*

Date: 2006-06-12 12:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] green-maia.livejournal.com
Brilliant!

Date: 2006-06-12 02:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
Thank you.

Date: 2006-06-14 03:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] spuffyduds.livejournal.com
Now, considering that some of your minions really appear to have no idea of discretion and should be gotten rid of immediately, may I borrow them to save Angelus? I promise I’ll get them all killed.

THAT is Darla. She's so breathtakingly practical. Perfect.

Two questions:

1) Are you friendable? and

2) I note "Orson Welles" in your interest list. Have you ever heard the clip from the cartoon "The Critic," a parody of him doing a frozen peas commercial? It contains an utterly sophomoric joke that still somehow reduces me to hysterics every time I hear it.

Date: 2006-06-14 06:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
Friend away. And no, I haven't heard that, sadly.

Darla: was born practical, long before she ever became a vampire, but since refined it to an art form. *g*

Date: 2006-06-15 09:25 am (UTC)
kangeiko: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kangeiko
Aww, this is so sweet and lovely, honey! *smooches Darla&her darling boy*

Favourite line is definitely the last one:

“Family, of course,” she said, exasperated, and was gone.

I can totally see Darla, one eyebrow raised, exasperated and a little disappointed at the Immortal's inability to get it. Awwww. *pets them*

Date: 2006-06-15 11:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
Thank you. I had great fun writing it. *loves the couple and their whole clan*

Date: 2006-06-18 10:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] viciouswishes.livejournal.com
Lovely. Excellent banter. You have a great understanding of how Darla juggles her men and her self-interest.

Thanks!

Date: 2006-06-18 11:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
I just love writing her.

Date: 2006-07-12 09:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/amy_star_/
There is not enough Darla fic in the world.

*memories*

Date: 2006-07-12 09:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenak.livejournal.com
There truly isn't. One must remedy that fact.

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