Things That Go Bump In the Night

AUTHOR: Perletwo
SUMMARY: Mr. Gordo fic. Buffy brings out the big guns to help Spike. 

SPOILERS: Lessons

RATING: G 

DISCLAIMERS: Joss is God! Mutant Enemy *rocks*! Grr, arrgh! (please don't sue me, 'k?)

A/N: Propers to Colleen for starting the whole Mr. Gordo thing, and to Tara for administratressing the site it's on. 

My world is a cheerful place these days. Much much nicer than it used to be.

But it's a little bit lonely. Now there's only my girl and the new brown-furred girl here to play with me.

Nobody but the shaggy-furred dark boy ever comes to visit us anymore. The one with the many-colored fur never comes with him anymore. And nobody ever goes in the room across the hall where Rusty and the Quiet One used to go sleepy-bye.

                                                            ****

My girl and Brown Fur are playing together much much better than they used to. Girl takes Brown Fur with her when she goes out at night now, and they come back laughing most of the time.

Brown Fur's been pouting again lately, though, and Girl looks worried.

This morning they went off together during the day, with the Shaggy-Furred One leading the way. I hope they'll be okay.

                                                            ****

Girl and Brown Fur are home! Wheeeee!

Brown Fur came charging up the stairs first thing, pulling off clothes as she went, and shut herself up in the water room for a long long time. Girl stayed downstairs to chat with the shaggy-furred one - something about a bad doll and a new job doing Guy Dance - but I can hear her on the stairs now.

But her footsteps are heavy, and she looks tired and sad.

Don't be sad, Girl. I'm sure you'll be a good Guy Dancer.

She doesn't hear me, of course. Instead she goes to the clothes room and takes a hanger off a hook on the inside of the door.

The yellow one's dust-her is on it. I saw her put it there, smoothing it out ever so carefully and making sure it didn't get caught in the door, the last night I heard Yellow here in the Big World With Walls. That was a long long time ago, and she hasn't taken it back out since.

"Spike," she whispers to the dust-her. "What on Earth is wrong with you?" The dust-her has a name! Spike! Wheee!

Girl takes Spike off the hanger and cuddles it close. She makes a funny noise, and all of a sudden she's crying. Oh, don't cry, Girl. I'm sure Spike will be okay. Yellow always took good care of his dust-her.

                                                            ****

Girl lays on the bed crying for awhile, cuddled up around the dust-her. I wish I could cuddle with them. But I'm stuck on top of the clothes box until she remembers me.

Finally she gets up and goes to sit outside the door to the water room to talk to Brown Fur. She's still shut up in there. Girl yells through the door to her, but I hear Brown Fur yell back that she's not coming out until she can't smell base mint grease anymore.

"Dawn, I'm going to do something, and I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I expect you to back me up on it, okay?" Brown Fur says something back, but I can't make it out.

They talk too low for me to make out for awhile then, although I hear a big thump like Brown Fur's thrown something against the door and my girl jumps back when it goes boom. Girl scolds her, and Brown Fur complains a bit more, but my girl isn't having any of that.

"Look. Dawn. This is gonna happen. If you want to keep going out on patrol with me, if you want to keep the lines of communication open with me, then you better be with me here."

I can practically see the waves of poutiness coming through the door at my girl.

                                                            ****

Girl and Brown Fur go out again together when the Big Bright Thing Outside goes away, and the Little Twinkly Things come out. Put-Roll, they call this game, and it gets Brown Fur all excited, but I think my girl's starting to wish they could find a new game to play together.

They're gone a long long time, and I'm starting to get worried when I finally hear the big door open downstairs. There's a lot of bumping and grumbling and stopping and starting, and finally I see Girl and Brown Fur reach the landing.

They're dragging the Yellow One between them. He doesn't look happy to be here.

                                                            ****

My two girls get Yellow settled in to the big world where Rusty and the Quiet One used to go sleepy-bye. Girl goes into the water room, and then goes back into the big room with a bowl and a fuzzy cloth in her hands.

If I strain my ears really really hard, I can just make out what they're saying in there...

                                                            ****

"Shouldn't be here, Buffy," Yellow keeps mumbling. "Not good for you. Not good for Little Bit. Don't belong here. Belong there. In the dark. Ought to go."

Girl keeps pushing him back down on the bed. I can see her push his shirt open and run the wet cloth over one side of his front and across his face, which is all dirtied up like Brown Fur's was before. She's murmuring little comforting things I can't quite hear.

"I don't deserve this. I don't," he says every now and then, mixed in with the other things. Poor Yellow.

"It seems to me, you don't get to decide that," Girl says firmly. "You gave that power up to me, last year. And I say you *do.*"

Brown Fur comes to lean sidewise against the doorframe. "I vote with the dead guy, Buffy. I mean, attempted rape - *so* not cool, Spikey..."

Yellow sits up quickly, and I can see an awful look of total horror on his face. The motion brings these big red marks on his front into the light, and Brown Fur turns dead white when she sees them.

"Wha- what did *that* to you?!"

"*He* did that to him, Dawn." My girl jumps off the bed and almost runs out the door, dragging Brown Fur by the arm along with her. I've never seen her look so angry!

                                                            ****

"Oww! Buffy, that hurts!" Brown Fur whines, and Girl drops her arm.

"What part of 'you better be with me' didn't you get?!" she snarls.

"Bu-bu-but - Xander said - and, and you even told me it was true - "

Girl takes a big big breath and holds it, eyes closed. Then she lets it out and opens them. "Okay. I really didn't want it to come to this, Dawn. Still don't. But I am going to help him. I owe him that. And if I hear one more crack like that one, I will send you to live with Xander, since you trust his judgment so much more than mine. I'll even sign papers turning you over to him."

Brown Fur's eyes get big, and she gets very very quiet. "Okay. Okay. I won't say anything."

My girl sighs. "Be nice if you'd help me, y'know. He loves you a lot."

That just gets her a sullen shrug, and she turns away.

                                                                        ****

Girl goes in the water room for awhile, then comes back to my world in a towel. She changes into her favorite warm soft peejays, then picks me up and holds me close. She even puts a little kiss on the top of my head!

Then she puts on a big chunky fuzzy robe over her peejays, and shoves me down in the big pocket in the side. It's dark in here and I can't breathe! I - can't - BREATHE!

Oh. Wait a minute. I don't need to breathe. Okay!

Ooof! Girl is bumping me with her hip every time she walks. This is not a fun game...

                                                                        ****

Girl sits down on a bed, and I go squoosh against her hip. Her voice is muffled by the fuzzy pocket, but I can still hear her fine.

"Let's get you cleaned up," she says softly, and I squoosh even more when she leans over to work Yellow over with the fuzzy cloth and the bowl of water. Ouch!

But I can feel the tension going away from Yellow a bit, even through the robe, so it's worth it, I guess.

"There you are," Girl says, sitting back at last. "All done and squeaky-clean."

The shift in her weight has pushed me up a bit so just my ears and the top part of my eyes are sticking up over the top of the pocket. I can see the yellow one. He really does look miserable.

"Not clean," Yellow rasps. "Never clean. Never be clean again...."

My girl stretches out on the bed beside him and tries to touch a hand to his face, but he jerks away, and she sighs.

"You realize if you won't let me help you..." Girl starts.

" - you'll put me out?" Yellow's voice sounds hopeful, but his eyes look like they'd start leaking water if she did.

"Nooo...I'll just have to bring out the heavy artillery," she says, teasing like she does when Brown Fur sulks. She pulls me out of her pocket with a little flourish. "Ta-daaa!"

"The pig?" He sounds like he doesn't like the idea, but his mouth is twisting up at the sides like he's trying not to smile.

"Yes, the pig. Mr. Gordo, if you must know." That's me! Oh, this is fun!

Girl picks me up and kind of twitches my snout along the width of Yellow's belly. Hee! That tickles!

Yellow shivers. "Tickles," he mumbles.

"Well, if you won't give him a hug yourself, I'll just have to administer the treatment on my own..." Girl says, twitching me over his stomach but not quite touching.

He growls a little bit, but snatches me out of her hand and holds me up to his face. Hi Yellow! Then he cuddles me up close and scrunches down in the bed, and closes his eyes.

"Good!" Girl gets up and takes the bowl and the wet fuzzy into the water room. Yellow and I cuddle in silence while she's away.

When she comes back, Girl stretches out on the bed next to him again and puts her arms around him. But he jerks away, even harder this time.

"What?!" She's got that annoyed sound in her voice. But I don't think she means it. "I'm just trying to cuddle my pig, Buster. If you happen to be in the way, well, that's not my fault, now is it?"

Despite himself Yellow grins, and I can feel the giggle working its way up. Let it go, Yellow! Laughing is fun.You'll like it!

He doesn't giggle. But he does let her cuddle up with us, this time. That's nice.

                                                            ****

Yellow and my girl both fall asleep after awhile, still snuggling me.

This is the best Girl has slept in a long long time. But Yellow's not doing so good in dreamland. He keeps twitching and trembling and moaning in pain. I'm cuddling as hard as I can, but it doesn't seem to be helping!

After awhile Brown Fur wanders by the door to our borrowed world, a glass of water in hand, and sees that the Yellow One is all upset.

She wavers on the doorstep a few minutes, sips at her water, starts to leave, looks back, stops.

Finally she says, "Oh, what the hell," and comes in. Brown Fur! Bad bad bad bad word!

She puts her water down, gets up on the bed on Yellow's other side, and snuggles in, long arms wrapping around all three of us almost all the way.

"It's okay...you're safe..." I can hear Brown Fur whispering little comforting things to Yellow, and he quiets down in his sleep.

                                                            ****

All my favorite big ones go sleepy-bye finally, all snug as a bug in a rug.

Yellow's going to need a lot of help in the morning. But right now, all's right with my world.