Demon Marcus, Sunday

[myownface]

So, Sparkle's week had been kind of... eh. And then kind of oh. And then there'd been glitter last night and that whole thing had been pretty yesssss.

This morning, as a result, he was actually in a pretty okay mood, right up until a pack of gremlins rounded the corner, arms outstretched, making little moaning sounds at him.

Sparkle was not always stupid. Gremlins and zombies were two things on his 'no touchy' list, so he'd ducked into the Demon Marcus, kind of surprised to realize that he still had his old key for the place, and set up camp perched up on top of the counter, ankles well away from the floor, armed with a hat rack. Any time a gremlin came near, he gave it a mighty swing and thumped the ugly little shit straight into next week.

... It was kind of stupid just how much this felt like a regular shift at his old place of employment. And then he started wondering if maybe there was something to that.

[OOC: Open and OCD-free! Sparkle's going to be taking over running this place from here on in, and I couldn't resist laying the seeds for that now. THIS WEEKEND IS AMAZING.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

There were some kinda weird demonic creatures outside. Hitting 'em had turned them into other demonic creatures which had skittered off, but somewhere along the way Dante had done up his fair share of slime and grime anyway. And he hadn't exactly been able to take a change of clothes with him when he'd busted out of juvie a week ago.

Might as well get something else before he started to smell.

He pushed open the door to Demon Marcus, Rebellion still attached to his back, because-- "Hey," he called. "Are you creepy-crawler free?"

[myownface]

That seemed like a funny thing to ask a guy who was sitting on a counter, clinging to a coat rack, Dante.

"... No, but they're easy enough to fend off, and I haven't seen any in at least ten minutes," he called back.

[rebelseekspizza]

In his defense, Dante hadn't quite been able to see the coat rack from here. "I just wanted to know if I was going to get ambushed," he said, shrugged, and shut the door behind him. "Seems like you've got a bit of a demon problem around here after all."

[myownface]

"I guess, if that's what you want to call the little shits. We just kind of think of them like pests. Sort of like rats if rats made you hallucinate."

Sparkle shifted his weight around so that his legs were dangling over the front edge of the counter.

"But nah, it looks like we're good for now."

[rebelseekspizza]

Rats that made you hallucinate? ... Well, that might explain why everyone else could see them.

The sword evaporated into tiny flakes of light. Dante plastered a smirk on his face and stepped further into the store. "All right," he said. "You open? 'Cause this shirt is staring to smell like lizard-rat."

[cheerbuffy.livejournal.com]

Buffy having somehow avoided staking Anders, and making her way across town without being bitten -- it wasn't honestly that hard. The gremlins were slow and shambly and made quite good distance through the air when she kicked them -- but she needed a break. Demon Marcus looked like a suitable place for a moments rest!

She stepped inside, stake at the ready.

[myownface]

"... Buffy!"

...

"And Buffy's pointy stick! Hey!"

Sparkle and his coat rack were giving a relieved wave from where he was still sitting, up on the counter.

"I guess it isn't a 'people visit the island' weekend without, like, everything going to shit, right?"

[cheerbuffy.livejournal.com]

"Sparkle! Hi!" Buffy waved a little awkwardly. She made her way over to him, kicking a random gremlin into the wall on her way. These shoes were never going to be the same. "Nice... coat rack you have there."

But hey, if it worked she wasn't going to judge his choice in weaponry.

[myownface]

"It was either going to be this or the sticker gun, and I know from past experience that the sticker gun doesn't actually work super well on things that want to eat me."

Or on Hannibal Lecter. Who actually wasn't on that list.

[cheerbuffy.livejournal.com]

"Wise choice," Buffy agreed. She brightened. "I saw that the glitter totally worked yesterday! High five?" She held up her hand.

Buffy's priorities were excellent, thank you very much.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Kenzi had had the same reaction to zombie gremlins why? and had ducked into Demon Marcus because hey, they probably still had flammable stuff to use to defend herself in the back.

"SPARKLE! YOU ARE BACK! Along with every other freakin' person on the planet what the hell is up with that?"

Hug!

[myownface]

"I don't even fucking knoooow," Sparkle replied, hopping down from the counter to give her a big, squeezy hug. "I'm back for a bit, though. Kind of laying low? Seemed like a great idea, anyway."

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Hair-pets! And more hugging! "Laying low? Oh jeez, what happened after that mess of a council meeting? Also, those gremlins out there are on steroids, what the fuck."

[myownface]

"Yeah, I don't even..." Sparkle clung. For dear life. "I might have burned the house down."

You know. Casual.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Ohhhhhhhh wow. Man." More hugs. "I... get why? I hope -- you didn't get caught?"

[spin_kick_snap]

There was a loud thump against the door. A hand splayed across the glass and then slid away, leaving a long trail of red behind. Another thump, hard enough to rattle the glass, and then the door opened. Slowly.

Kathy stood in the entrance, hands streaked bright red up to her forearms, peering into the store.

And groaned.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante's reaction was both reflexive and immediate-- he was pointing Ebony and Ivory in her direction before he was even thinking about anything else. "I was wondering when one of you fucks was going to show up--"

Wait, she looked familiar.

[myownface]

"... Mouse?"

That was not the sort of thumping at the door Sparkle ever wanted to hear. Ever. In a million years, holy fuck ever.

"Ohhhh fuck."

SPARKS WAS NOT LIKING THIS GREMLIN THING ALREADY.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy groaned again. Maybe this was her new way of protesting the nickname or challenging Sparkle to a game of Uno?

Probably not, though. Not with the way she was lunging for Dante. Other zombies shambled. Not this one, though. No, she moved fast--too fast--with that kind uncanny flexibility that brought to mind twisted things that moved in the shadows in horror movies.

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"I HATE THIS MOVIE OH MY GOD IT IS SO MUCH COOLER ON A BIG SCREEN WHEN THEY CAN'T SEE ME!" Kenzi was up on top of a cabinet before you could say 'teleport' and throwing things with both hands. "WHY. JUST. WHY."

[not_in_the_book]

Some time after leaving Caritas (and leaving both himself and Reno decidedly more sober, thanks to some skillfully -- and pre-made -- wizardries; never do new spells while drunk, people), Ronan was walking the streets of Fandom, taking a wandering route home to 33 Apocalypse, not quite ready to end his night.

When he noticed a modded with permission light still on at Demon Marcus.

"... Hello?" he called out, pushing at the door and feeling it open. "Anyone in here?"

[myownface]

"Depends," came a voice from the back room, where Sparkle had been... mostly disposing of Dante's nasty, slimy shirt. With fire. The fire was out now, anyway, and Sparkle had stared at the wall for a bit in silent thought before Ronan's voice had roused him. "Who's asking?"

He did, at least, peer out through the door to the back a moment later.

And then squinted a bit.

"... Hey, I know you."

[not_in_the_book]

It took a beat, a moment, as Ronan blinked. "... You were my TA!" he exclaimed.

For all of the four weeks or whatever it was that you taught, Ronan, before you had to dash off the island without even a word of warning.

[myownface]

"God, yeah, like, back like a million years ago," Sparkle agreed, ambling out from behind the counter to get a better look at the guy. "I'm not even a student anymore, if you're looking for the whole TA thing to happen again, sorry."

[not_in_the_book]

"Powers, that disaster, again?" Ronan shook his head. "Deeeeefinitely not. I'm just back for the weekend. Or whenever Fandom lets us all go home again. You?"