Title: There Are Two Of Them

Author: Jedi Buttercup

Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not. I claim nothing but the plot.

Rating: PG-13.

Summary: B:tVS, SG-1. "It's amazing how many men refuse to take correction from a beautiful woman," the brunette clucked her tongue. 500 words.

Spoilers: Buffy Season 6; Stargate SG-1 Season 8.

Notes: For the 2014 August Ficathon, an FFA prompt, and a strong hint that I include some Buffy + Daniel this month. Yes, I know the timelines are a little wonky. :)

The woman with the honey-blonde hair gestured dramatically across the counter. "And can you believe," she said in indignant tones, "he tried to pay with a check? As if I would trust any method of delayed payment when any competent purveyor of magical ingredients would realize he'd either be dead or in another dimension by morning?"

"No," her conversational partner, darker of hair but no less animated, made a scoffing noise. "I trust you put him right?"

The blonde tilted her chin up, smiling triumphantly. "I told him it was gold, legal tender, or nothing; and that in any case, if he was using Roget's Guide to Translocation, he was buying the wrong species of fennel entirely."

The brunette grinned back. "He didn't believe you, of course."

"Of course," came the sniffing reply. "He paid in gold; and the next day a rain of frogs appeared-- along with a mysterious scorched spot-- on the lawn in front of the nearest Slayer's house. The frogs were okay; but I don't expect to see that particular customer again."

"It's amazing how many men refuse to take correction from a beautiful woman," the other woman clucked her tongue. Her tone was sympathetic; but her eyes were sparkling. "That has quite often worked in my favor, of course; a moronic, headstrong mark is much easier to fool than the more cautious sort." She threw a knowing glance toward their observers, then.

Buffy threw a wide-eyed look at her conversational partner at that. Daniel glanced up from the books he'd been paging through at the shop's central table, raising his eyebrows in return.

"Believe it or not, I'm pretty sure she meant that as a compliment," he said, dryly.

"I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on the part where there's two of them," Buffy quipped. "I get why you're here; you're researching that Sand Grill thing, and Giles' books have books. But your friend....?"

She could almost see the urge rise to correct her; Daniel half raised a finger and opened his mouth as she mentioned the artifact's weird name, but then smiled wryly and let it go, something she still hadn't managed to train into Giles.

"I did apologize for that. I intended to leave Vala with my... ah, with some other coworkers... but after some thought I decided I preferred to keep her within arm's reach, and away from all the tempting 'souvenirs' at my apartment and office."

Buffy shook her head, returning smile for smile. "Still glad you brought her?"

"Oh, I think it's nice to see her making friends that aren't me. But if you're asking whether I approve of their conversation in particular?" Daniel's mouth quirked again, and he leaned over the table to whisper in ostentatious, faux-shocked tones. "There are two of them."

"The Earth may be doomed," she replied, laughing.

His gaze softened slightly at the sound, and the smile lines bracketing his eyes deepened, sending a pleasant, anticipatory shiver up her spine. "Oh, I think we'll be alright."

Go to: Top | Short B:tVS Xovers | Fan Fiction Index

© 2005 Jedi Buttercup.