beer_good_foamy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beer_good_foamy) wrote2007-04-24 01:09 pm
beer_good_foamy) wrote2007-04-24 01:09 pm
Ficlet: Nightlight Saving Time
Little ficlet for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
still_grrr. Mostly silly, though it does reveal one previously unknown fact about vampires.
Title: Nightlight Saving Time
Author: Beer Good (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beer_good_foamy)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 467
Characters/Pairing (if any): Ensemble
Summary: New findings about vampire habits force the gang to go to... Stockholm?
Nightlight Saving Time
"Giles, it's cold! What are we doing here?"
"I've told you, Buffy. We're waiting for the night train from –"
"And I've told you this is insane! Birds migrate. Salmon migrate. Lemmings migrate. Vampires? Not so much!"
"And you learned this in Southern California, famed for its shifting seasons?"
"It's snowing, Giles. Do NOT remind me of California. I thought you said this was the spring migration?"
"I really didn't think a little cold would bother you, B," Faith mused, jamming her hands deeper in her pockets. "Besides, this ain't snow. It's sleet."
"Bother me?" Buffy rolled her eyes and stamped her feet to keep warm. "You pulled me up from sunny Rome to stand around for hours freezing my butt off in this lousy Smarch weather waiting for a train that never comes. The only way that wouldn't bother me is if... oh, I don't know, if I was an undead being who doesn't feel the cold and therefore doesn't have to migrate!"
"Look, it's perfectly simple." Giles was beginning to lose patience along with the feeling in his toes. "Cold does not affect vampires, true. Sunlight, however, does. Winter in Northern Europe is dark, and thus a veritable, uh, smorgasbord for vampires. Summer, however, offers only a few hours of dusk every night, making hunting nearly impossible. So now that spring and daylight savings is coming, most vampires travel South – the nights are darker in Italy and Spain, and it coincides with the tourist season so they don't stick out. Since they can't fly, most of them take either the night train or the ferry, and most of those pass through here."
"I still don't see why we couldn't just wait in Ibiza for them to show up," Kennedy shivered. A dozen bundled-up junior Slayers mumbled assent.
"A stitch in time saves nine. Now, as soon as the train gets here we'll all get on board and we'll have hours to identify and take out any vampires on board."
"And when is that?"
"Any minute now."
The train station's loudspeakers crackled. "Your attention please. The night train for Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Berlin has been delayed due to completely unforseen bad weather and is expected to arrive within 90 minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Also, please note that all cafeterias have now closed. Cold drinks are still available from the vending machines."
Giles took off his glasses to clean them as Buffy shot him a furious look that almost melted the snow massing on his head and shoulders. Then she went back inside the almost-as-cold train station to wait. The rest of the gang followed her, talking amongst themselves.
"You know, if vamps are really like lemmings, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll all march off a cliff and..."
"Shut up, Vi."
still_grrr. Mostly silly, though it does reveal one previously unknown fact about vampires. Title: Nightlight Saving Time
Author: Beer Good (
beer_good_foamy)Rating: PG
Word Count: 467
Characters/Pairing (if any): Ensemble
Summary: New findings about vampire habits force the gang to go to... Stockholm?
Nightlight Saving Time
"Giles, it's cold! What are we doing here?"
"I've told you, Buffy. We're waiting for the night train from –"
"And I've told you this is insane! Birds migrate. Salmon migrate. Lemmings migrate. Vampires? Not so much!"
"And you learned this in Southern California, famed for its shifting seasons?"
"It's snowing, Giles. Do NOT remind me of California. I thought you said this was the spring migration?"
"I really didn't think a little cold would bother you, B," Faith mused, jamming her hands deeper in her pockets. "Besides, this ain't snow. It's sleet."
"Bother me?" Buffy rolled her eyes and stamped her feet to keep warm. "You pulled me up from sunny Rome to stand around for hours freezing my butt off in this lousy Smarch weather waiting for a train that never comes. The only way that wouldn't bother me is if... oh, I don't know, if I was an undead being who doesn't feel the cold and therefore doesn't have to migrate!"
"Look, it's perfectly simple." Giles was beginning to lose patience along with the feeling in his toes. "Cold does not affect vampires, true. Sunlight, however, does. Winter in Northern Europe is dark, and thus a veritable, uh, smorgasbord for vampires. Summer, however, offers only a few hours of dusk every night, making hunting nearly impossible. So now that spring and daylight savings is coming, most vampires travel South – the nights are darker in Italy and Spain, and it coincides with the tourist season so they don't stick out. Since they can't fly, most of them take either the night train or the ferry, and most of those pass through here."
"I still don't see why we couldn't just wait in Ibiza for them to show up," Kennedy shivered. A dozen bundled-up junior Slayers mumbled assent.
"A stitch in time saves nine. Now, as soon as the train gets here we'll all get on board and we'll have hours to identify and take out any vampires on board."
"And when is that?"
"Any minute now."
The train station's loudspeakers crackled. "Your attention please. The night train for Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Berlin has been delayed due to completely unforseen bad weather and is expected to arrive within 90 minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Also, please note that all cafeterias have now closed. Cold drinks are still available from the vending machines."
Giles took off his glasses to clean them as Buffy shot him a furious look that almost melted the snow massing on his head and shoulders. Then she went back inside the almost-as-cold train station to wait. The rest of the gang followed her, talking amongst themselves.
"You know, if vamps are really like lemmings, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll all march off a cliff and..."
"Shut up, Vi."