So, trolling around, and
su_herald has this link to a vid. It's called Counting Bodies
and it's by
millylicious and it's just... I've never seen 'this' Connor - all feral and desperate - and man...
The vid rocks - go check it out.
Plus, it made me write a little ficlet. See what you think.
It took a while to figure out who the kid was. Dirty-blond hair streaked with mud and blood - dirty face streaked with tears. Running screaming into the remains of the Wolfram and Hart building one night while Spike was there, trying to glean something useful from the ruins.
Hitting him - biting him - inarticulate words and Spike had finally just knocked him unconscious. Dragged him back to the lair he and Blue were sharing, in the smoking pit that was L.A. Didn't eat him, 'cause he smelled like belladonna and rue and Angel, and Spike spent the rest of the night crouched over his twitching, fever-wracked body. Just breathing.
Three days and the kid was well enough to talk, and he haltingly told a story of kidnap and betrayal - other dimensions and fathers who were not. Of pain and rage - magic and murder and madness. Blue chiming in now and again with her stilted observances; gleaning bits of the past from the scattered puzzle-pieces that were all that was left of Fred. His name was Connor - he was Angel's son.
After he was well enough to walk, he didn't. He collected blankets and scraps and made a nest in one corner - took to following Spike when Spike went out to hunt. Spike was done with animal blood - done with being a champion or the shadow of one. Done with it all, as surely as the Powers were done with this dimension. This Earth.
Connor was a good hunting partner. Human enough to attract demons, demon enough to survive them. And he could attract humans, too - play the wounded cub and draw them out with his poisoned-sugar smile. Then Spike could pounce, and feast. Connor would watch him - would loot the corpse and burn it, silent.
He didn't talk much in bed, either, but he parted his thighs to Spike's knee and offered his throat - dug his nails into Spike's back and his teeth into Spike's shoulder. He was a lithe and needle-fanged cat, and so pretty when he bared his teeth. Spike fucked him into screams and bit him until he swooned. Afterwards he would be lazily talkative and tell Spike about his 'real' life and his 'pretend' life. He never seemed to settle on which was which, and Spike never bothered to untangle the skein.
L.A. got worse, in time, and one night they loaded up a couple of packs and struck out across the smoking, pock-marked plain, heading for Portland or maybe Denver. Watching Illyria do her clock-work stalk, watching Connor pick his way through the cracked streets like a deer; all wide eyes and sudden lift of the head - frozen stillness and then movement as he tracked and dismissed the noises from the shadows. Pale, bruised arms under an old flannel he'd ripped the sleeves out of - worn-out blue jeans and sneakers - ring of bite-marks around his neck and the look of being always just over the edge, in one way or another. Spike wore his demon-face and nothing came near them, and near Carmel they found a Humvee that had the keys in it.
The roads weren't so bad further north - Connor slept curled in the back or he sat next to Spike, silent, watching the scenery and stroking Spike's thigh. Illyria abandoned them in Seattle, claming she was going to find a way back to the Well. Spike didn't care - he just wanted to go - to move - and not look back. Not for a long time. Connor - who still smelled of Angel but now always of blood and smoke as well - held him while he slept, and mostly kept the dreams away.
Continued in Ragdoll.
and it's by
The vid rocks - go check it out.
Plus, it made me write a little ficlet. See what you think.
It took a while to figure out who the kid was. Dirty-blond hair streaked with mud and blood - dirty face streaked with tears. Running screaming into the remains of the Wolfram and Hart building one night while Spike was there, trying to glean something useful from the ruins.
Hitting him - biting him - inarticulate words and Spike had finally just knocked him unconscious. Dragged him back to the lair he and Blue were sharing, in the smoking pit that was L.A. Didn't eat him, 'cause he smelled like belladonna and rue and Angel, and Spike spent the rest of the night crouched over his twitching, fever-wracked body. Just breathing.
Three days and the kid was well enough to talk, and he haltingly told a story of kidnap and betrayal - other dimensions and fathers who were not. Of pain and rage - magic and murder and madness. Blue chiming in now and again with her stilted observances; gleaning bits of the past from the scattered puzzle-pieces that were all that was left of Fred. His name was Connor - he was Angel's son.
After he was well enough to walk, he didn't. He collected blankets and scraps and made a nest in one corner - took to following Spike when Spike went out to hunt. Spike was done with animal blood - done with being a champion or the shadow of one. Done with it all, as surely as the Powers were done with this dimension. This Earth.
Connor was a good hunting partner. Human enough to attract demons, demon enough to survive them. And he could attract humans, too - play the wounded cub and draw them out with his poisoned-sugar smile. Then Spike could pounce, and feast. Connor would watch him - would loot the corpse and burn it, silent.
He didn't talk much in bed, either, but he parted his thighs to Spike's knee and offered his throat - dug his nails into Spike's back and his teeth into Spike's shoulder. He was a lithe and needle-fanged cat, and so pretty when he bared his teeth. Spike fucked him into screams and bit him until he swooned. Afterwards he would be lazily talkative and tell Spike about his 'real' life and his 'pretend' life. He never seemed to settle on which was which, and Spike never bothered to untangle the skein.
L.A. got worse, in time, and one night they loaded up a couple of packs and struck out across the smoking, pock-marked plain, heading for Portland or maybe Denver. Watching Illyria do her clock-work stalk, watching Connor pick his way through the cracked streets like a deer; all wide eyes and sudden lift of the head - frozen stillness and then movement as he tracked and dismissed the noises from the shadows. Pale, bruised arms under an old flannel he'd ripped the sleeves out of - worn-out blue jeans and sneakers - ring of bite-marks around his neck and the look of being always just over the edge, in one way or another. Spike wore his demon-face and nothing came near them, and near Carmel they found a Humvee that had the keys in it.
The roads weren't so bad further north - Connor slept curled in the back or he sat next to Spike, silent, watching the scenery and stroking Spike's thigh. Illyria abandoned them in Seattle, claming she was going to find a way back to the Well. Spike didn't care - he just wanted to go - to move - and not look back. Not for a long time. Connor - who still smelled of Angel but now always of blood and smoke as well - held him while he slept, and mostly kept the dreams away.
Continued in Ragdoll.
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Also broken and violent and despairing and hungry.
This is beautiful prose. Brilliant
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Just too inspiring, all the pretty pictures.
:)
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*bounce*
Unfortunately, most of my stuff is Spike/Xander. Currently the only thing that mentions Connor besides this is No More Snakes and Ladders that i'm co-writing with
Connor has been in the last few Squares *chapters*, and he's more of a Season Five Angel kind of Connor.
But if you like S/X, i'm your girl!
Thanks again!
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Omg, sooooo lovely. You are so mean for writing dead!Angel, but I loved this soooooooo much.
He didn't talk much in bed, either, but he parted his thighs to Spike's knee and offered his throat - dug his nails into Spike's back and his teeth into Spike's shoulder.
*quiver* I about died at that line. Loved it! Loved. It.
Please please please please write more. Or at least more Sponner.
Thanks so much for this. *wibbles* Thanks :)
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Connor is so amazingly interesting...heh.
I just might with the more thing.
:)
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I'm like a big ole fucking spoiled brat, aren't I *cheesy grin*
I love you...*anime eyes*
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Sheesh.
You roxor my soxors, Ms. Thang. Always have. :)
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:)
Thank you!
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I swear this is my second OTP. And occasionally it ties for first. Like now.
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Thank you!
So much.
And fuck - love your icon. Now i'm jonesin' for a Sponnor icon!!
Or at least Connor.
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Very evocative. That is an image that will stay with me. This bleak look at post-NFA may be short, but it's powerful.
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*beams*
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You know you're not through with this, right? You can't be. Please?
*puppy eyes*
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:)
Ummmmm...stoppitt!!
Heh.
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Violent and desperate and feral. That's beautiful!
You really created a fascinating relationship between Spike and Connor!
And the vid is really perfect and so dark. No wonder it inspired you!
More?
*puppy eyes*
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I really had fun writing it.
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I always love how thouroughly you describe taste and smell, it always makes vampires seem just that much more *different*.
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I enjoy using all the vamp senses to describe their world - it's fun that way.
:)
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Can I just say (again) how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way you write Spike?
::::HUGE HUGS::::
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And yes, do look at the vid, it's really very cool - look and fb!!
:)
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:)
I'm told the reality of the Connor isn't as cool, what with bad plots an' all, but that vid still made me want to watch him.
*whaps at new 'ship*
Back! Get Back!
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And I also think the Spike-Connor relationship is one with a lot of intriguing potential :>
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::dies::
Stark, sad, painful, beautiful. I adore this Connor, this Spike and this Illyria. So great.
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*pat pat*
Thank you so very much!
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I would never read Spike/COnner. And I would definitely never read it just because you wrote it. And I would never find it really, really beautiful in its desperation and pain. Nope. Not me. I didn't see the city landscape crumpling around them and I didn't see the ring of bite marks. Nope. Nope. Nope.
But if I had, I'd say this was well done.
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Yeah, right.
*bounce*
Thank you so much!
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Yeah - they really do seem to be.
:)
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As you may have guessed from my reactions to No More Snakes & Ladders Connor, I'm a mite fond of the lad. ::hates on Angel for Connor's sake::
I'm so thrilled to see you writing Connor. And I really liked the pairing and the dynamic you built between them. Even if it's post-Apocalyptic and I am fluffybunny!girl who lives for daisies and kittens and happily ever after... *sniff*
You invoked the ruined landscape beautifully, so stark and awful (in the uncorrupted sense of the word, aka "filled with awe"). And disaffected Spike giving up on the champion thing made my heart ache (because I'm that way), so vividly summoned up. And the intimate yet detached POV *and* relationship between Spike and Connor, how they echo one another...
And of course Illyria -- "clock-work stalk", such a perfect description. And so sad but perfect that she would (supposedly?) return to the Well....
It's a shame you haven't (if I understand correctly) seen Connor's big entrance at the end of season 3 (I think it's s3 -- I get AtS timeline screwed up v easily). I fell in utter adoration of the character at that moment, that first fight and his first words to Angel. Of course, it didn't hurt that I was already a big fan of the actor from his role in the movie Masterminds (opposite Patrick Stewart as the bad guy).
Connor! Spike! *squee*
(I have no good feral!Connor icon, so I give you instead iconage featuring my feral kitty, Gozer.)
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:)
Wow, awesome fb! I'm only seen season one of Angel and season five - with luck, i'll see the rest before too long... I'm plotting!
Connor is an intriguing sort of boy, and just so damn pretty - that vid made me really 'see' him, and it was fun to write that piece.
I'm so glad you liked it!
I swear...new 'ship!
Heh.
Thank you!
*ooooh, Gozer is skeeeeeeery!!*
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Thank you!
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:)
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I've always been a little 'Eh?' on Connor, but between
You write so pretty, I think you could seduce me into ANY pairing.
Hrm.
Brilliant, my dear. As always. *winks*
Spike was done with animal blood - done with being a champion or the shadow of one... (Conner could) play the wounded cub and draw them out with his poisoned-sugar smile. Then Spike could pounce, and feast. Connor would watch him - would loot the corpse and burn it, silent.
Oh yummy. *rubs hands together*
And you nailed the well turned little details. but he parted his thighs to Spike's knee... a lithe and needle-fanged cat... Spike fucked him into screams and bit him until he swooned... Spike never bothered to untangle the skein... all wide eyes and sudden lift of the head... silent, watching the scenery and stroking Spike's thigh... Yeah baby. So good.
*glompglomp*
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Wheeeeee!!
I'm so glad you liked this - did you go watch the vid? You must! It's freakn' amazing.
And thank you thank you - Connor is an intriguing thing, and i love him with Spike...this was cool to write.
And you liked!
*bounce*
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I loved this, the idea of Spike and Illyria and Connor surviving in desperation together, bringing death with them, none of them really equipped to live in this world - Spike being the most together of them all and that not saying much. His need to form a family, mirrored in Connor's.
Pale, bruised arms under an old flannel he'd ripped the sleeves out of - worn-out blue jeans and sneakers - ring of bite-marks around his neck and the look of being always just over the edge, in one way or another. Spike wore his demon-face and nothing came near them, and near Carmel they found a Humvee that had the keys in it.
This hit me like a fist to the gut. Thank you SO much.
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Thank you for coming over and fb-ing! I'm really pleased how this short bit of work turned out, and all the lovely fb - making me giddy!
*beams*
And a quote! Make my day!!
Thank you thank you.
*bounce*
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Gah! You've hit on one of my secret kinks! Mind you, I'm not saying which:)
Loved it, bay-bee!
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:)
I'm all...proud. You come back from vacation all grumbly and food-poisoned and you STILL comment!
*hugs you*
Thank you!
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Very feral, and dark, and twisted. Delicious!
I wonder why I didn't read this back when you posted it... Hmmm. I was certainly riding high on a wave of Connor-love, having seen so many AtS eps at Horbling. Odd.
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I adore that vid and it made me lurve Connor even more. I mean - pretty little feral boy - what's not to like?
*bounce*
And thank you!