Patchwork Girls, rated R, April/Buffybot
Mar. 23rd, 2015 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
punch_kicker15Title: Patchwork Girls
Author: punch_kicker15
Rating: R
Characters/Relationships: April/Buffybot
Summary: AU: when the Urn of Osiris is irreparably damaged, the Scoobies bring back April to help on patrols. April develops a crush on the Buffybot.
Word count: 729
Notes: Written for the Minor Character round at femslash_minis for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
brutti_ma_buoni who wanted Buffybot/April with power source, darkening, and floral and didn't want references to Warren or main character death.
Willow was crying. Buffy listened while she carved stakes.
“--that was the last Urn of Osiris, and now there’s nothing we can do to help her--”
Tara was Willow’s girlfriend. Therefore, Tara would comfort Willow, and Willow would stop crying.
But 90,000 milliseconds went by with Willow and Tara talking, and Willow’s sobs recurred more frequently, with an increase in pitch and decibel level.
Perhaps this was an instance in which Willow’s best friend needed to help. Buffy’s programs told her that if a girl was crying, ice cream, eaten straight from the carton, was the cure. The lack of ice cream might be the source of Tara’s consolation failure mode.
Buffy searched for Willow’s favorite flavor, but her memory didn’t contain that information. She grabbed every carton from the freezer and made her way to Willow and Tara’s bedroom.
“--and Giles didn’t even let us line up a replacement fighter before he left. We’re barely hanging on right now, and the next time something big comes along, we’re dead in the water. And Buffy’s permanently in--” Willow finally looked up at Buffy.
“Willow, you’re my best friend. I brought you ice cream. So you won’t be sad.”
Willow took a breath, then said, quietly, “Thank you, but I’m not hungry right now.”
This ran counter to Buffy’s programs. It was confusing. She tried offering a solution to Willow’s problem. “Why don’t you ask the pretty girl in the basement to help fight?”
Tara and Willow looked puzzled.
“She wears a pretty pink dress. I like pretty clothes. Dawn said her name was April, and she was strong like me.”
Willow didn’t smile, but she stopped crying and started talking about repairing April’s power source and adding some of Buffy’s subroutines to April’s programs.
Buffy smiled. She’d been a helpful best friend. And maybe April would be her friend, too.
***
April woke up with her programming scrambled in new ways. It felt like some hardware had been ripped out and some memories erased. Her pretty pink floral dress had been ripped and mended, and she didn’t remember how it got that way.
It was nearly a billion milliseconds until she had a moment alone with Buffy and could share a secret. "I remember you, from before I woke up. You were nice to me. But I don't remember why."
Buffy said, "I don't remember either."
April wasn't sure why, but that made her feel a little sad.
Buffy said, "It's ok if we don't remember things. Willow says that we should just smile and pretend that we do."
Talking to Buffy was easier than talking to everyone else. The others would say things that didn't conform to non-verbal cues like body language and tone of voice. But Buffy always said what she meant.
April couldn’t shake the thought that there was some problem that she wasn’t programmed to understand, much less fix.
A darkening cloud of unstable energy pulsed around Willow, Tara, Anya, and Dawn. To April, it looked as if the cloud grew thicker with each passing day.
The disconnect between Buffy’s friends’ words and their non-verbal cues increased. The non-verbal cues all signaled exhaustion, pessimism, and sadness.
One night when April was patrolling with Buffy, a vampire ripped open Buffy’s casing, exposing some of the wiring within.
April grabbed the vampire’s head, and twisted it off, using approximately sixty-seven percent more force than was actually necessary.
“Are you ok?” she asked Buffy.
“I need to return to Willow for service,” Buffy said.
April’s programming was clear. She needed to get Buffy back home immediately for repairs.
April pressed her lips against Buffy’s. It was something she’d seen Willow and Tara do in similar circumstances on patrol.
For a moment, April thought Buffy would chide her for the slight deviation from their programming.
But Buffy just grinned at April. Then she looked at April’s arm and said, “You require service too.”
April checked, and discovered that she’d pulled one of her arms halfway off when she’d removed the vampire’s head.
“Willow will fix you,” Buffy said. “She’s my best friend and she’s very smart.”
April smoothed down the side of her dress, felt the seam that had been torn and sewn back together. “Yes. I won’t even know the difference once I’m fixed again.”
Somehow she’d learned the trick of saying something that she didn’t really mean.
Author: punch_kicker15
Rating: R
Characters/Relationships: April/Buffybot
Summary: AU: when the Urn of Osiris is irreparably damaged, the Scoobies bring back April to help on patrols. April develops a crush on the Buffybot.
Word count: 729
Notes: Written for the Minor Character round at femslash_minis for
brutti_ma_buoni who wanted Buffybot/April with power source, darkening, and floral and didn't want references to Warren or main character death.Willow was crying. Buffy listened while she carved stakes.
“--that was the last Urn of Osiris, and now there’s nothing we can do to help her--”
Tara was Willow’s girlfriend. Therefore, Tara would comfort Willow, and Willow would stop crying.
But 90,000 milliseconds went by with Willow and Tara talking, and Willow’s sobs recurred more frequently, with an increase in pitch and decibel level.
Perhaps this was an instance in which Willow’s best friend needed to help. Buffy’s programs told her that if a girl was crying, ice cream, eaten straight from the carton, was the cure. The lack of ice cream might be the source of Tara’s consolation failure mode.
Buffy searched for Willow’s favorite flavor, but her memory didn’t contain that information. She grabbed every carton from the freezer and made her way to Willow and Tara’s bedroom.
“--and Giles didn’t even let us line up a replacement fighter before he left. We’re barely hanging on right now, and the next time something big comes along, we’re dead in the water. And Buffy’s permanently in--” Willow finally looked up at Buffy.
“Willow, you’re my best friend. I brought you ice cream. So you won’t be sad.”
Willow took a breath, then said, quietly, “Thank you, but I’m not hungry right now.”
This ran counter to Buffy’s programs. It was confusing. She tried offering a solution to Willow’s problem. “Why don’t you ask the pretty girl in the basement to help fight?”
Tara and Willow looked puzzled.
“She wears a pretty pink dress. I like pretty clothes. Dawn said her name was April, and she was strong like me.”
Willow didn’t smile, but she stopped crying and started talking about repairing April’s power source and adding some of Buffy’s subroutines to April’s programs.
Buffy smiled. She’d been a helpful best friend. And maybe April would be her friend, too.
***
April woke up with her programming scrambled in new ways. It felt like some hardware had been ripped out and some memories erased. Her pretty pink floral dress had been ripped and mended, and she didn’t remember how it got that way.
It was nearly a billion milliseconds until she had a moment alone with Buffy and could share a secret. "I remember you, from before I woke up. You were nice to me. But I don't remember why."
Buffy said, "I don't remember either."
April wasn't sure why, but that made her feel a little sad.
Buffy said, "It's ok if we don't remember things. Willow says that we should just smile and pretend that we do."
Talking to Buffy was easier than talking to everyone else. The others would say things that didn't conform to non-verbal cues like body language and tone of voice. But Buffy always said what she meant.
April couldn’t shake the thought that there was some problem that she wasn’t programmed to understand, much less fix.
A darkening cloud of unstable energy pulsed around Willow, Tara, Anya, and Dawn. To April, it looked as if the cloud grew thicker with each passing day.
The disconnect between Buffy’s friends’ words and their non-verbal cues increased. The non-verbal cues all signaled exhaustion, pessimism, and sadness.
One night when April was patrolling with Buffy, a vampire ripped open Buffy’s casing, exposing some of the wiring within.
April grabbed the vampire’s head, and twisted it off, using approximately sixty-seven percent more force than was actually necessary.
“Are you ok?” she asked Buffy.
“I need to return to Willow for service,” Buffy said.
April’s programming was clear. She needed to get Buffy back home immediately for repairs.
April pressed her lips against Buffy’s. It was something she’d seen Willow and Tara do in similar circumstances on patrol.
For a moment, April thought Buffy would chide her for the slight deviation from their programming.
But Buffy just grinned at April. Then she looked at April’s arm and said, “You require service too.”
April checked, and discovered that she’d pulled one of her arms halfway off when she’d removed the vampire’s head.
“Willow will fix you,” Buffy said. “She’s my best friend and she’s very smart.”
April smoothed down the side of her dress, felt the seam that had been torn and sewn back together. “Yes. I won’t even know the difference once I’m fixed again.”
Somehow she’d learned the trick of saying something that she didn’t really mean.
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no subject
Date: 2015-03-24 12:09 pm (UTC)This was so cute.
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Date: 2015-03-24 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-24 05:25 pm (UTC)You are a good job.
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Date: 2015-03-24 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-25 05:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-25 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-25 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-25 05:56 am (UTC)Thanks, I'm so glad you liked the sadness/cuteness of it all.
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Date: 2015-03-25 08:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-25 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-26 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-27 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-27 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-27 01:20 am (UTC)And that's a gorgeous Buffy icon!
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Date: 2015-03-27 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-30 05:25 am (UTC)I confess it took me a minute to remember who "April" was *lol* I don't think I've seen another story include her and she's beautifully done here.
I found this via femslash today newsletter btw.
no subject
Date: 2015-03-31 05:54 am (UTC)I know I've read April fic (or fic that has April as part of an ensemble) before, but there's not a lot of it. I think April had the bad luck of showing up right before Joyce died. That was so devastating it would overshadow just about anything that came immediately before, for both the characters and the fans.
Thanks for sharing so many thinky-thoughts about this fic. I always enjoy hearing your take on the show or on other people's work, and it's a delight to hear you talk about one of mine.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-24 04:04 pm (UTC)Your instincts serve you well. :D
Buffy said, "It's ok if we don't remember things. Willow says that we should just smile and pretend that we do."
I'm re-reading the fic and OUCH, that line in particular resonates on so many different levels (including: the secrets kept in dysfunctional families from the rest of the world, trying to appear "normal" when someone has alzheimiers or mental illness, etc etc.)
And even within canon, "just smile and pretend things are all right" seems so very Joyce Summers early seasons, and Buffy especially late seasons. (apple didn't fall far from the tree)
I think April had the bad luck of showing up right before Joyce died. That was so devastating it would overshadow just about anything that came immediately before, for both the characters and the fans.
Oh absolutely - people almost forget that episode exists sometimes, but the scene in the playground is absolutely heartbreaking. Including the fact that when Buffy tells April that "he's proud of you" etc, she's really thinking about herself and Riley.
(Riley's leaving was a huge wound to her psyche and sense of self as a lovable and loving person, only made worse by Joyce's death. But pretty much everything about the Briley relationship gets overshadowed/understestimated by the BIG HUGE MONSTER that is Bange-vs-Spuffy)
Plus, lots of fans think Buffybot is cute and funny, but April is creepsome because they love Spike but hate Jonathan, so the very real parallels between the two get blown over or dismissed I think.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-01 03:02 am (UTC)I'm re-reading the fic and OUCH, that line in particular resonates on so many different levels (including: the secrets kept in dysfunctional families from the rest of the world, trying to appear "normal" when someone has alzheimiers or mental illness, etc etc.)
Yeah, the whole "keeping secrets so Dawn doesn't have to go live with her dad or go into foster care" sounds a lot like the way some dysfunctional families operate. Hide it, because if you don't, something much worse could happen.
(Riley's leaving was a huge wound to her psyche and sense of self as a lovable and loving person, only made worse by Joyce's death. But pretty much everything about the Briley relationship gets overshadowed/understestimated by the BIG HUGE MONSTER that is Bange-vs-Spuffy)
Hrm. Now I'm wondering what would have happened if Riley had chosen to stay. I think there were some fundamental incompatibilities there, but heaven knows I've seen people choose to stay in much worse relationships. Maybe I'll rewatch some of the S5 episodes after he left and see if I think he could have done or said something that would have made a difference.