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Tweak says, "Craaaaawling in my skiiiiin!!!"

Jeannie (i_blink) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2008-05-29 23:59:00

Entry tags:

jeannie, mad sweeney, zz:status complete

Nuts (Sweeney)
Things were not going at all the way that she had hoped they would. Jeannie had not found the fluffy slayer for Spike as she had intended. She had not even succeeded in getting the Red Witch to come with her to speak to the man who had been so helpful to her. Though she had received a phone number.

As much good as that did her. She had found a pay phone, then spent nearly an hour attempting to figure out what denomination of coin to use since the dime she attempted had not worked. Once she had succeeded there, she was rewarded with a female voice announcing that no one was at the number that had been dialed, and would she please leave a message. So she had, though she had been flustered and it probably not very coherent.

Once she was done with that, however, she was uncertain as to how to proceed. She had tried everything that she could think of to help Spike find his friend, and failed each time. Jeannie had wandered around the City for a bit, lost in her thoughts, almost unaware of where she ended up. Plopping down dejectedly on a park bench, her shoulders slumped in defeat, a pout on her face. Somehow, she had to find this Buffy fluffy person, but at the moment, she didn’t know what else she could do.

For a long while, she simply stared into space, not seeing the lovely park that was around her. But she was brought back to reality by a small furry creature running across her foot. She pulled back with a half-squeal before she realized that it was a squirrel. A bright-eyed, very inquisitive squirrel who did not appear to fear much of anything.

Jeannie tilted her head to study him, and he mimicked her, earning a tinkle of laughter from the djinn. Holding up her hand, she gave a one-eyed wink at her fingers, a peanut appearing in her waiting grasp. Shaking it slightly, she made sure she had the squirrel’s attention, then set about seeing how bold the small creature was. With any luck, he would take it directly from her fingers.

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i_haveahoard
2008-06-02 10:40 am UTC (link)

Anita had been an interesting girl to talk to. While she was a bit... given with attitude as so many of the women he had met in the City seemed to be, Sweeney appreciated her questioning as a quest for actual knowledge rather than just the rubbish she had learned in books. Though, it amazed him the things that were being taught in books in schools these days. He couldn't recall people learning about demons and vampires and the like in books in his day. Those were things you learned in tales from your mother or grandmother... or around a fire with a bottle of a good sweet whiskey in your hand.

Which was the only way to learn things.

He was meandering through the park, considering heading to the nearest bar since he had long since given up trying to find the apartment he had procured for himself. It seemed that everything in the damn city moved around as it damn well pleased and Sweeney wasn't particularly fond of that. After about four hours of searching for the building he came to the conclusion that the place would be found when it was damn good and ready to be found.

Sweeney was singing to himself as he wandered along, paying no heed to anything. Not even to the prickly sensation in the hairs on the back of his neck that told him there was one of them nearby. Them being any other kind of fantastical being much like himself. No, he ignored it in favor of a lively tune he was making up as he walked.

"Oh, I knew a lass in Belfast, fine as she could be. She took a chance and did a dance, all the while smiling at me..."

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i_blink
2008-06-02 02:09 pm UTC (link)

Almost. Almost. The little squirrel was on the park bench beside her, nearly within reaching range of the peanut she was holding. Of course, she could simply blink and make him understand that she was no threat. In fact, she could even make him speak. But then there was the problem that squirrels, once you gave them human speech, never stopped talking. Little chatterboxes, the lot of them. They did it even when they were speaking squirrelese, of which she had a passable understanding. Not that she could speak it herself, or that she wanted to, but she had a good general idea of what was being said. The problem was that squirrelese was a fluid language, constantly changing. What meant one thing this moment, could mean something entirely different in the next, and unless one was a squirrel one could not keep up. As it was, there were distinct nuances that were missed unless one was a bushy tailed rodent because the tail was as much part of the language as the chittering.

So she could have spoken to him, reassured him, even had a conversation with him had she been able to manage to get a word in edgewise. But Jeannie did none of that. Today she was planning on letting nature act as nature should, which meant patiently waiting. Holding the peanut stock still while the squirrel assessed the potential threat and simultaneously weighed the possible benefit to getting the peanut. Fortunately, he was a park squirrel, so he was far more inclined to take food that was offered. Given the chance to be lazy, if they could, squirrels usually took it.

There he was, mere feet away from giving Jeannie the end goal of her personal game, when his ears suddenly twitched. She heard the sound he had caught immediately after he did, but it was too late to reassure the squirrel. Something large was coming his way, making noise, and he reacted as a squirrel should. He ran, giving a warning call even as he scrambled up a tree.

“Oh poo!” Jeannie pouted, irritated that her diversion had been ruined. Her head whipped around so fast that her ponytail smacked the side of her cheek, but she found the source of the problem right away. It would have been difficult not to. He was rather large.

He was also not human. A fact she divined half a second after spotting him. Not from the way he looked, but the way he smelled. He smelled green. There was just no other way to put it. There was also the slightest tang of metal in the air around him. Which could only add up to one conclusion, and that confused Jeannie. The others that she had met of his kind were certainly not this tall. Perhaps he was some sort of mutant or freak, even among his own kind. That would explain much. But it did nothing to alleviate her pique, and it most certainly did not intimidate her. She had taken on larger than him!

“You,” she called to him in aggravated tones, “have scared away my squirrel.”

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i_haveahoard
2008-06-03 09:44 am UTC (link)

"Oh I knew a lass in Galway, sweet as she could be... she took my hand in nightly play, the things she made me see..."

Sweeney was paying no heed to the other people in the park, nor to the critters, nor to anything else that might have mattered to others. He was completely enraptured in the lively tune he was composing as he walked. "Well I love the lassies one and all, to the Subihne they do call... and.."

Stop. Pause. Someone was speaking to him in an irritated fashion. Not that it was an altogether unfamiliar tone to be taken with him, Sweeney was quite familiar with it. It was a matter of what was speaking to him. Judging by her clothes, the likes of which he rarely saw outside of seedy bars and dinner-n-show nightclubs anymore, she was some kind of belly dancer. Or something.

Then he saw it... felt it.. the tingle he'd been ignoring at the back of his neck. No, it was worse than some pretentious woman who wanted to not be ogled at while being out in public in such an enticing outfit. Far, far worse. It was a being he'd had the pleasure of not being acquainted with in quite some time and as such, it was far better that way. In fact Sweeney preferred it if he never ran into one again. Except here one was, sitting on a park bench and whining something about him scaring a squirrel away.

That alone was... off. Who wanted the attentions of a squirrel anyway? They were nothing more than fluffy rats with bushy tails. Rats. Rodents. Disgusting little scavenger creatures to say the least and the fact that a djinn, who could have pretty much anything she wanted at any moment, was being entertained by one made him instantly question her sanity.

"I did nothing. Simply moving through the park, that was all. I'll just go back to my song now." Sweeney hoped that she didn't recognize him for what he was, that always brought questions and from the tone she had given him to begin with... attitude.

Instead of moving away with any degree of promptness, the leprechaun stood and stared at her. Really stared. It was rare that he encountered true magical creatures anymore. Vampires and demons... and little girls who thought they were made of enough stuff to hunt such things, sure; but fae, sidhe or in this case, djinn... it was rare indeed. In fact, he blinked a few times just to be sure he was really seeing her.

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i_blink
2008-06-03 04:33 pm UTC (link)

“You were deliberately loud,” she accused. Even as she said it, Jeannie knew she was being difficult. But it was hard not to be when faced with an overbearing leprechaun. Who was staring. What was he staring at?

Jeannie looked down at herself, to be certain there was nothing out of place. But her outfit looked as it always did. Her frown deepened as she looked up at him, her eyes narrowing, certain he was doing it on purpose. He was trying to make her uncomfortable in some fashion. That was no more than she expected. Leprechauns. Liars and thieves, the whole lot of them.

And why did he not have an accent? He was doing it just to unsettle her. Just as he was with the staring. Well, it wasn’t going to work.

Drawing herself up straighter, she squared her shoulders. “You were tromping about loudly, singing loudly, just being loud on purpose. It is very rude. There are others in this park who come here for peace and quiet.”

And though she had not intended to mention it, she could not help but add, “And you are staring at me. That is rude as well!” Then she huffed out a squeaky sort of sigh, crossing her arms over her chest.

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i_haveahoard
2008-06-04 09:41 am UTC (link)

Rude?

He was being rude? He? Subhine Geilt? Mad Sweeney was being rude? Well, wasn't that just a tickle in the belly. He usually considered himself to be quite cordial, even if a touch on the blunt side of things. He always introduced himself when spoken to -current conversation being the exception- and he always tried to keep things on the even keel. You know, unless he was in the mood for a fight.

Which he wasn't. Sweeney just wanted to be on his merry way and have a bright afternoon's walk to a place where he could get something tasty and alcoholic down his throat.

"I'm rude?" He asked, blatantly moving his eyes up and down to emphasis to his point. "Look Djinny, I'm not the one interrupting a perfectly good saunter through the park so I can have nuzzle time with a bushy-tailed rat. I'm also not the one wearing clothes that could deemed rude by less forgiving folk."

It was lucky for him that today he chose to leave his shirt unoffensive and his worn denim jacked at home. It was lucky for Sweeney that he was cleaning himself up enough (since he wasn't chronically financially broke anymore) to not look like he rolled out from under the bridge he had initially rolled out from under.

"I think, if anyone here is rude, it be you."

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i_blink
2008-06-04 04:22 pm UTC (link)

A squeak of outrage escaped her before her eyes narrowed even further, to bare slits, glaring at the leprechaun. How dare he? She was rude? She was rude? He scared away her squirrel, insulted her clothing and called her names, but she was the rude one for asking for a little peace and quiet?

Jeannie was a sweet-natured djinn, but she was a djinn nonetheless, and when she lost her temper, which was more common than some might guess, she acted on instinct. There were many stories about the nature of her kind, stories that Jeannie rarely personified in her own life. But when her temper snapped, it was far easier to see.

If the leprechaun thought she was rude, she would show him rude!

Her arms came up and crossed, her palms audibly slapping against her biceps, and then she nodded and blinked. One blink. One very emphatic and firm blink. And just like that, there was a crowd of approximately fifty squirrels suddenly surrounding the tall redhead. Hungry squirrels.

And she had filled his pockets with nuts.

As added incentive, she lifted her arm and pointed an accusing finger. In a tongue they would understand, she informed the small creatures, “He called you bushy-tailed rats!”

Jeannie crossed her arms again, though this time they were held against her chest, and sat back to watch, her chin lifted haughtily. Nobody liked being insulted, not even a squirrel, and she was certain that they would not take kindly to it either. Let the leprechaun see what happened when he did not watch his tongue.

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i_haveahoard
2008-06-05 01:12 pm UTC (link)

There was a distinct disadvantage to being as tall as a young tree and that was that things tended to want to climb you. Ignoring the fact, of course, that most things were persuaded to do so because squatting to their level sometimes required more work than it was worth. The other disadvantage was that it meant he wasn't very coordinated when it came to moving quickly. Not at all. So when the squirrels turned on him, Sweeney had a brief moment to glare at the djinn before they began to ascend his long legs. Flailing his arms about and attempting to kick them away failed in the worst way.

Sweeney was tumbling toward the ground.

He hated squirrels. He hated rodents, the less delicious of them anyway - rabbits were alright on his list, and guinea pigs... but squirrels were horrible scavenging creatures. They collected and ate damn near anything they came upon and that, to Mad Sweeney, was nearly as repulsive as living on chestnuts and chestnuts alone. He lived a life similar to that of a squirrel when he was much younger and in Ireland, and he didn't care to repeat it. Nor did he care for squirrels any more prior to the incident with the trees than he did now. In fact, he probably cared for them even less.

Even so, he was thrashing, cursing in both Irish and English and trying to thwart the attack being made on him. Stupid Djinn. When he was done with the squirrels he had half a mind to punch her square in the fucken jaw. "Get off of me, you bloody fucken bastards." In between the failing and the casting off of the crazed rodentia, his hands dug into his pockets to remove the nuts that were placed in there, hoping to gain ground by distracting the creatures.

Except that somehow, one had found its way into his pants. Then Mad Sweeney was back on his feet, screaming like the beansidhe he hated so much, and patting at the mobile mass in his trousers. "Get these bloody fucken things off of me you infernal woman!"

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i_blink
2008-06-05 08:50 pm UTC (link)

Jeannie’s temper, while unpredictable and sharp, had a tendency to flare out rather quickly once it was spent. That was not to say that it would not snap yet again within a short space of time, but in that moment, it was impossible for her to remain angry. He was too funny!

With his arms wind-milling wildly, the squirrels swarming over his large form, he looked as though he was doing some odd dance with the creatures. It was like going to the circus! When he began to fling the nuts away and the squirrels darted between regathering the nuts and climbing the leprechaun, she began to giggle. When the one with the little white spot on his chest did a back flip off the top of the leprechaun’s head, she laughed outright. But when he got one in his pants, Jeannie could no longer contain herself.

The arms that had been crossed over her chest dropped lower, laid over her stomach now, hugging her torso. It was all she could do, a small attempt to hold in the laughter that refused to remain contained. Rocking back and forth, Jeannie absolutely howled with laughter. This was the best entertainment she had seen in a very long time. It even topped the time the pasha’s favorite dancer got tangled up in her veils and toppled onto the grand vizier, pulling off his turban to reveal that he kept a hunk of cheese inside for intermittent snacking.

For several minutes there was no controlling the raucus and unladylike guffaws that came out of the djinn. Tears were streaming down her cheeks from laughing so hard. But finally, gasping, she managed to gain some command over herself. It really was not fair to the squirrel inside the leprechaun’s pants. He was going to be struck, the poor thing.

But she was not about to give over quite that easily. Not after being named an infernal woman. “Say you are sorry for being rude and I shall help you.”

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i_haveahoard
2008-06-09 07:36 am UTC (link)

He fought and trashed against the squirrels, refusing to give in to them and just allowing them to crawl all over him. At least they weren't biting him... not yet anyway. "I got nothing to apologize for," he insisted, brushing the more away. It would have looked bizarre to passerby, a large man being attacked by squirrels in such a way. One or two squirrels and perhaps it wouldn't have looked so off, however an army of squirrels and one would have to question what the man had done to deserve such a fate.

Being in the presence of a djinn, obviously. But no one else would know that.

"I told you, I was just going along on my way." It never occurred to Sweeney that he might need to apologize for insulting her, all he was concerned with was the squirrels. Specifically, the one still moving around in his pants. He batted his hand against, not so much trying to kill the squirrel as trying to get it to stop moving until he could remove it. But there was no time to do that until the other squirrels ceased their attack on him. "Your squirrel would have run off if anyone happened by." It may have been true, it may not have been. There was no way to predict what the squirrel would have done had a child on a set of skates moved along the same path the leprechaun had.

He genuinely felt that there was nothing to apologize for and even if he had felt there was, it was unlikely he was going to apologize to her. Djinn were like that, all of them, quick to anger and quick to jump to irrational conclusions that everything was done as a slight against them. It was one of the many reasons he disliked them so much.

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i_blink
2008-06-10 02:16 am UTC (link)

Her laughter faded, replaced by a disgruntled frown. Stupid, stubborn Leprechaun. How dare he claim he make such a ridiculous claim? He was a walking affront to the sensibilities! He should apologize simply for breathing!

“Nothing to apologize for?” Jeannie demanded. “You are swearing and called me an infernal woman!” A little sniff followed before she added in a quieter voice, “And you insulted my outfit.”

Oh this was ridiculous! Leprechauns were impossible! She ought to have known better. Djinn were far more clever than most other magical beings and far superior to creatures that usually could not be bothered to be more than four inches tall. Why this one was a mutant, she did not know. She did not care. She no longer even cared that he had been insulting, and she was through attempting to teach him a lesson that he would not learn. The squirrels would suffer for it.

Again, she crossed one arm over the other and gave a nod and a blink. The squirrels disappeared, though she left the nuts where they were. She hoped they chafed. Waving a negligent hand, Jeannie dismissed him, “Go sing somewhere else, and learn to leave people in peace.”

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i_haveahoard
2008-06-11 12:34 pm UTC (link)

Djinn were impossible. They really were. Self-righteous creatures that thought that world existed simply for their pleasure. What a joke that was. Sweeney knew the truth, the world existed so that you could enjoy life to the best of your damn ability and nothing more. It was that reason alone that had him strolling through the park and singing in the first place.

Pleased that the squirrels were gone now, he brushed himself off, fished a few more nuts out of his pockets and gave a low, condescending bow to the djinn complete with an obnoxious wave of the hand. "Madam." It was graceful and chock full of arrogance. He was not about to let some nearly-naked djinn tell him what-for.

"I shall sing elsewhere because I chose to, not because you demand it. Mad Sweeney takes no orders from self-righteous djinn with victim complexes." That's what it was, wasn't it? She assumed everything he did was an affront to her. She was the victim, not Sweeney who had simply been passing by and bringing himself a bit of joy and peace.

Infernal woman she most definitely was.

Back to singing again, Sweeney gave her a narrowed look before turning his back and picking a new tune. He'd sing elsewhere indeed, it just so happened that elsewhere was mere feet from where he had been standing and in the direction of where he had been going.

"I say, Gradh mo chroidhe, as I look cross the sea,
Gradh mo chroidhe, holds the key to my heart,
Gradh mo chroidhe, as I say to myself
It's not very long and we'll never more part."

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