Title: - Demon Charades 3/5
Author: - Riley
Disclaimer: - I do not own anything relating to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I
do not mean to infringe on any copyrights. I am not making any money from this.
Any original ideas however are mine.
She sighed and looked over at their sleeping daughter, then back at him. "Okay, so you think Ethan may have slipped something in your drink? Like a potion?" He nodded. "God! Rupert! What were you thinking? What if he's skipped town already?" She looked into his eyes and saw her Rupert there. His eyes looked hurt, scared and pleading. She moved over to him, taking him by surprise when she carefully put her arms around his demon form, cradling his head, trying not to cut herself on the horns. He put his arms instinctively around her. "Er, Rupert, ow! You're hurting." He immediately let go of her and looked horror stricken that he'd hurt her. "Shush! It's okay. I'm fine. Really. It's just you have incredible strength. I'm not hurt, honestly Rupert." He seemed unsure at first and then found his confirmation in her eyes. "I'm gonna make this better Rupert. I'm gonna get you back to yourself. I promise." She gave him a very quick kiss on the head.
"I'm gonna go and get dressed and then find Ethan." She rushed upstairs and into the bathroom, where she washed her lips. Sorry Rupert honey. I love you but, ew, demon you, not a big turn-on.
Dressed, she came back downstairs and checked on Meadow. Picking her up, she said to the little girl, "Okay, sweetie, time to get your daddy back looking like himself again, hmm!" She kissed her daughter softly on the head. "Rupert, now for which pub you went to. The Swan?" He shook his head. "The Red Lion?" A nod. "Okay then, that's where I'll start looking for him." She settled Meadow in her carry-cot and grabbing her purse, headed for the front door. Rupert started to follow.
She turned to face him. "Rupert, you'd better stay here. I'll take Meadow to Mrs. Hill next door and ask her to watch her for me." She saw the look of worry in his eyes. "I'll be fine Rupert."
He held up his hand and indicated to the locked cupboard where his weapons were kept. Understanding what he meant, she unlocked the cupboard, and he pointed to a sword that was inside a long bag. "Okay, I'll take this with me."
Putting the long bag next to the car, she carried Meadow in her carry-cot next door. To her relief, Mrs. Hill was more than happy to mind Meadow for a while. After dropping Meadow off with the old lady next door, Jenny went back to her car and found the Rupert demon crouching behind it. She jumped and let out a startled cry. "Rupert? What the hell are you doing out here? What if someone sees you?"
He indicated for her to open the back car door. "Oh, no. You're not coming with me. It's too risky." When he made a move to undo the car door himself, which would more than likely have resulted in him pulling the door off, Jenny quickly said, "Okay. Okay." She opened the backdoor of the car for him and picked up the travel blanket. "Lie down and put this over you so no one will see."
With Rupert hidden under the blanket in the back of the car, Jenny drove the short distance to The Red Lion pub. "Stay here in the car. When I find out if he's here or not, I'll come and get you, okay? The last thing we need is the landlord seeing you."
She went around to the side entrance which the landlord used for his personal use and knocked. The door opened. Jenny gave the landlord a winning smile. "Hi! Er, I don't know if you remember me or not, I'm Mrs. Giles, Rupert's wife."
He smiled at her. "Ah! Yes. I remember, the one from America."
"Yeah. Erm, Rupert was in here with an old acquaintance last night, an Ethan Rayne, and they accidentally got their wallets mixed up. Well, Ethan said he was staying here, so I thought I'd drop by on my way to the store and sort the little mix up out."
"Oh, yes, I know the fellow you mean, but he isn't staying here."
"He isn't?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"Do you know where. . .did he mention where he was staying?"
The man thought a moment. "Yes, he mentioned something about the Black Bull. Yes, that's right. He was staying at the Black Bull. I remember because I was a little put out that he wasn't staying here."
"Thanks," Jenny cut him off and smiled. Turning around, she waved 'bye' and got back in the car. Once inside, she started the car and drove off, filling Rupert in as she headed to the Black Bull.
The Black Bull had a seperate guest-wing off the main part of the pub. It enabled the guests to come and go via a seperate entrance, instead of having to go through the pub or use the landlord's own family entrance. That way, privacy was for all. This came in exceptionally handy for Jenny and Rupert.
Jenny left the back car door open, but told Rupert to stay there until she signalled the coast was clear. She took the long bag, containing the sword, with her.
The bell above the door jingled as she entered the reception area of the guest-wing. Shit! Hearing footsteps, Jenny ducked behind a sofa. She heard someone enter the room from the far side, "Hello? Anyone here?" A female voice called out. Jenny held her breath and kept silent, hoping she wouldn't be spotted.