119-Hide and Seek SunnyD_lite "Ready or Not" BtVS G

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Title: Ready or Not
Author: sunndy_lite
Fandom: Buffy, pre-series
Rating: G
Word Count: 1051
Prompt: tamingthemuse's prompt 119, Hide and Seek
Author's Notes: Huge thanks to spiralleds for making write until it was really done. All errors are mine.
Summary: Some things shouldn't be found.


"I don't wanna!"

Buffy stood behind her mother as her cousin, Tim, threw a temper tantrum. He was almost ten, two years older than her, and Buffy knew better than to actually stamp her feet. In her world that led to "time outs" and nothing was more boring that having to sit and stare at a corner thinking about what she'd done wrong this time.

"Timmy, you haven't seen your cousin in months. Auntie Joyce and I have a lot to talk about. You promised that you'd play nice."

Aunt Darlene was running her fingers through her hair, totally messing it up. Buffy thought it looked better that way. When her mom had time to play, her hair was messy too. Now her mom's hair was all tidy looking, and her face was tight too. Lately the only time they'd spent together was driving to and from skating lessons.

"Buffy." Her Aunt turned to her, almost pleading. "While Tim would love to show you his new Donkey Kong, it's such a nice day. Why don't you two play hide and seek, outside?"

"Sure," she said. Some of her skating friends thought it was a little kids' game, but she loved it. It was way better than stupid Donkey Kong, jumping over barrels made no sense, but she did like the fighting games, not that her mom let her play them. They didn't even have a Nintendo or Atari.

"I'm too old for that," Timmy started up again. "Plus she's too good!" His mom pulled him aside and whispered something in his ear.

"Legend of Zelda? Really?" Tim looked to his mom for confirmation. At her nod he said, "Okay then! This way Buffy!"

"Put on your jackets," her mom said, sitting at the breakfast bar. "It's chilly out there!"

They looked and each other and sighed, but she tugged on her pink acid-wash jean jacket and Tim pulled on a sweatshirt with 99 and the Kings on it, and then they both hurried out the door. Her mom and aunt had that look like they'd be talking a long time and adult talk was so boring; she'd much rather be running around.

"Look, it's a dumb game. But I'll play once so you can't tell Mom I didn't." Tim glanced through the sliding doors to the video console. "It's worth it for Zelda."

"Why don't you try and find me? It's your yard." She liked both parts of the game, even if hunting someone was more fun. When she hid, she liked scaring them when they found her.

He nodded. "I'll count to fifty." He turned to lean against the brick wall. "One, two, three."

By ten, Buffy had discounted anywhere on the deck where her mom's voice could be heard through the window, or under it where she was sure there were bugs. There was a small metal shed, but that was too obvious.

"Sixteen, Seventeen." Tim was now kicking the wall in beat with his counting. She liked playing with Tim - when he wasn't this grumpy. Everyone was always grumpy now.

She raced to the shed and opened the door a little, then ran behind it, squeezing between it and the wooden fence. She'd hidden here before, but doubted he'd remember. That was ages ago.

"Ready or not, here I come," Tim shouted. She listened closely, trying to figure out where he was looking.

This visit was a surprise. Mom only told her this morning and hustled her into the car with a couple of toys and Mr. Gordo. Aunt Darlene lived hours away, maybe they were spending the night? Mom's face had been doing its lemon tasting thing, so she hadn't asked.

Buffy leaned her head so her left eye cleared the shed. Tim was still looking under the deck. That was way too obvious. He hadn't even noticed the shed door. This could be awhile.

Daddy wasn't around when she'd had her Cheerios this morning. She hadn't said good-bye to him, and she always said good-bye. Would he miss it? If they stayed overnight, he couldn't read her a boring bedtime story, but he'd been missing that a lot lately. At least she had Mr. Gordo. He was always there for her.

"I know where you are," Tim sang. He was getting closer to the shed. "I didn't think you'd hid in the shed. It's full of big spiders!"

Buffy tried not to wiggle, not that there was much room with her back pressed against the fence. She could keep her head facing forward, but just. She didn't like things that crawled and squirmed. They were icky.
Tim threw the door open, which shook the whole shed. "I see, where are you?" He kicked the side of the shed, and the echoing clang hurt her ears. Buffy held her breath so not to give her location away. A part of her really wanted to jump out and tag him, but that wasn't how to play this game.

He was walking around the shed, each crunch of leaves getting closer. She hadn't expected that. She braced her feet on the shed wall and her back against the fence. Pushing with her feet, she inched up the fence, almost to the top of the shed. Timmy quickly looked at the gap, but she was much higher than he was.

He turned towards the garage, shouting, "There's only one more place!"

She let him get a bit away, then moved her legs and dropped down. That had been cool. She looked out. Tim's back was turned, so she raced to the starting point.

He was right; she did always win. It was one of the reasons she liked this game.

Buffy smacked the wall by the door with her hand and was about to shout to Timmy when she heard a sobbing noise from inside. She looked through the glass door and saw Aunt Darlene hugging her mom and pulling at a box of Kleenex.

She froze. Mom never cried, not even when she fell and had to wear a cast on her arm. Buffy fell in skating, so knew how much it had to hurt. Quickly she turned away from the door. Maybe Tim knew some more games. Games away from the house.

Some things shouldn't be found.

Comments

[sunnyd-lite.livejournal.com]

Thanks! my muse decided that a bitty buffy was the way to go withthis one!