Chaos Theories
folder
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
3
Views:
2,187
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
3
Views:
2,187
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Strange Attractors
Summary: A spur of the moment date leads to some deep metaphysical discussions for Joyce and Ethan
Rating: R
Completed: April 1, 2004
Disclaimer: No subatomic particles were harmed in the writing of this story. Any injured copyrights were unintentional
Notes: Part of the Ménageaverse. Takes placter ter the events of Caught in the Act. All blessing to Mydeira for letting, nay encouraging me to play in her sandbox. For more from the Menageaverse, please visit our website at www.responsibleadults.sadbhyl.riverworld.net.
Sunlight was fading as Joyce finished the last of the month end paperwork. She sighed. Nothing else to distract her from her worry. She powered down the computer, locked up the desk and the files and grabbed her jacket and purse.
She was just about to start locking down the galleroperoper when the door chime rang. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning to face the customer, “but we’re just about to . . .”
The tall, lean man standing there just smiled. “Good evening.”
“Ethan.” She smiled, setting her things down on the counter. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You look radiant as always, Joyce.”
She took his hands and kissed him lightly, almost chastely, on the mouth. “Not that I’m not glad you’re here, but you could come by the house, you know.”
He shrugged. “Too much potential there for unexpected visitors who are less than interested in my wellbeing.”
“Not the least of them being Rupert.”
“Speaking of your consort,” he glanced over his shoulder, “are we likely to have a repeat performance?”
She shook her head. “He and Buffy are off dealing with the end of the world again.”
He smiled wickedly. “Oh, mayhem and destruction, my favorite. Any hope for it?”
She shrugged. “I never know. I get the phone calls that say ‘Hey, Mom, off to fight the apocalypse. I’ll see you in a couple of days if we aren’t all dead and stuff.’ So now I wait. I think I liked it better when I didn’t know what she was doing.”
“Well, it would be a shame for the world to come to an end and for us to die hungry.”
She tried to twist her brain around his sentence. “I beg your pardon?”
He offered his arm. “Have dinner with me.”
“Dinner?” She smiled. “That’s hardly our style.”
“Live dangerously.”
She felt a flutter of excitement in the pit of her stomach. “Why not? Just let me lock up.”
“I await your pleasure.”
And that set her heart racing.
***
The small Thai restaurant was quiet for a Tuesday night. They made meaningless small talk over the menu before placing their orders. The waiter took their menus and came back a few moments later with a bottle of white wine that he poured out for them before disappearing again.
He picked up his goblet and saluted her. “To the end of the world. Either its coming or its prevention.”
She laughed and toasted, sipping the dry wine before setting her glass back down. “I’ve been wanting to ask you. What is the appeal of Chaos?”
He swallowed with a grin. “Oh, but my dear! Chaos is the most powerful force in existence. Good and evil pale in the face of it. It has existed since the very first. ‘In the beginning, the universe was without form and void.’ Chaos starts all things, and chaos is how all of them end. Throughout the ages, it has been feared and revered. Almost every culture on the planet has some sort of trickster god, to appease and placate the chaos energies surrounding them.”
“Primitive religions, you mean.”
“Not hardly! Even Christianity has its trickster in Satan. The entire story of Job is one enormous practical joke Satan played on God at Job’s expe” H” He leaned forward, warming to his subject. “Even science is coming to revere chaos, trying to give meaning to the meaningless to understand the universe. Quantum mechanics, chaos theory, it’s all just a different means of trying to appease the wildness. Feigenbaum is no better off than the first poor sot that came out of the cave and said there, that is the thing that makes everything go wrong. We should either worship it or kill it.”
“I doubt it’s as pervasive as all that.”
“No? Have you ever driven by an accident on the carriageway and been compelled to slow down and gawk even though it meant almost getting hit? Or watched one of those appalling home video programs and laughed at someone being hurt even though you were horrified? Or,” his voice deepened as he covered her hand with his, his thumb brushing over the back of her wrist, “have you ever been making love, building up to a really good orgasm, I mean an incredible, mind blowing release, and at that last moment, just before you come apart, have you felt your wholdy edy expand to fill the room, the whole universe, and wonder for a split second if you might not be able to come back together?”
Her heart pounding at the sensuality of his words, she simply shook her head.
“Well, now, that’s a real crime.” But his eyes made such promises. . .
She was spared the reply she couldn’t make by the arrival of the food. She pulled herself together as the waiter laid out their dishes, smiling softly at him, feeling the whole time Ethan’s eyes on her. “I feel like you’re about to devour me whole,” she said when they were alone again, not lifting her eyes from her plate.
“Now there’s a lovely notion,” his voice rumbled, low and enticing.
“Eat your dinner first.”
He barked a short laugh and picked up his fork.
They ate in crtabrtable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. “So you decided to worship it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You said mankind had to choose to worship chaos or kill it. And you chose to worship it.”
“Well, not all of it, certainly. Chaos is vast, and while I may contain multitudes, I’m not that expansive. No, I took an avatar, a patron. Janus.”
“The Roman god of gateways. The orchestrator of all things.”
He looked impressed. “Perfect marks for Summers. Janus gives the energy form, limits, so that I can work it to my will.”
“But I don’t understand. How can you make something so uncontrollable do *anything*, let alone what you want it to?”
“Even the wildest river can be diverted temporarily to support human purposes. It is just a matter of shaping it through the right forms, in this case spells and invocations and the like.”
“What was the purpose of the Halloween stunt?”
“No purpose.” He swallowed a forkful of rice noodles. “That was simply worship. My way of giving back to the chaos that made me.”
She studied him quietly, wrapping her brain around all he’d said. Finally she said, “Rupert keeps warning me not to trust you.”
“And he’s absolutely right, my dear. I’m a very, very bad man, intent on sowing as much mayhem and confusion as is possible before moving on.”
“Is that why you keep coming back?”
“Well, you must admit, even if the flesh weren’t as appealing as it certainly is, the possibilities inherent in bedding a Watcher and the mother of a Slayer would be difficult to resist.”
She set her fork down, dropping her napkin next to it. “So this is about Buffy.”
He grinned in amusement and shook his head. “Hasn’t got a damn thing to do with the girl. Lovely though she is.” He rested a forearm on the table, leaning in to bring their faces within mere inches of each other. “You don’t comprehend, Joyce, the forces that come together in you. The Catholics celebrate as a day of holy obligation the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. But it is not the Christ’s conception they are honoring, but Mary, the mother’s. For only from such a vessel could the savior be born. You gave birth to a savior, a warrior of the people, nurtured in your womb. You raised her, taught her to be brave and resilient, resourceful, determined. The way she draws people to her, the way she inspires their devotion, all those things come from you. Without those things, she would be just another dead Slayer.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
But he pressed on. “You have such energy swarming under your skin. I can taste it every time I touch you. I could drain you dry, leave you alive but hollow, empty of all the things that make life worth living, channel your essence into my magic and damn you for all eternity. Rupert is absolutely right. You shouldn’t ever trust me. But it isn’t your body that’s in danger, it’s your immortal soul.”
He rosruptruptly, pulling out his wallet to cast a handful of bills on the table before offering her his hand. “Come on.”
She took it, letting him guide her from the restaurant. “Why?”
“Because truth is one of the most powerful expressions of chaos, and one I’m less used to handling. I want to see you home safe before I go find some way to channel all this extra energy.”
Rating: R
Completed: April 1, 2004
Disclaimer: No subatomic particles were harmed in the writing of this story. Any injured copyrights were unintentional
Notes: Part of the Ménageaverse. Takes placter ter the events of Caught in the Act. All blessing to Mydeira for letting, nay encouraging me to play in her sandbox. For more from the Menageaverse, please visit our website at www.responsibleadults.sadbhyl.riverworld.net.
Sunlight was fading as Joyce finished the last of the month end paperwork. She sighed. Nothing else to distract her from her worry. She powered down the computer, locked up the desk and the files and grabbed her jacket and purse.
She was just about to start locking down the galleroperoper when the door chime rang. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning to face the customer, “but we’re just about to . . .”
The tall, lean man standing there just smiled. “Good evening.”
“Ethan.” She smiled, setting her things down on the counter. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You look radiant as always, Joyce.”
She took his hands and kissed him lightly, almost chastely, on the mouth. “Not that I’m not glad you’re here, but you could come by the house, you know.”
He shrugged. “Too much potential there for unexpected visitors who are less than interested in my wellbeing.”
“Not the least of them being Rupert.”
“Speaking of your consort,” he glanced over his shoulder, “are we likely to have a repeat performance?”
She shook her head. “He and Buffy are off dealing with the end of the world again.”
He smiled wickedly. “Oh, mayhem and destruction, my favorite. Any hope for it?”
She shrugged. “I never know. I get the phone calls that say ‘Hey, Mom, off to fight the apocalypse. I’ll see you in a couple of days if we aren’t all dead and stuff.’ So now I wait. I think I liked it better when I didn’t know what she was doing.”
“Well, it would be a shame for the world to come to an end and for us to die hungry.”
She tried to twist her brain around his sentence. “I beg your pardon?”
He offered his arm. “Have dinner with me.”
“Dinner?” She smiled. “That’s hardly our style.”
“Live dangerously.”
She felt a flutter of excitement in the pit of her stomach. “Why not? Just let me lock up.”
“I await your pleasure.”
And that set her heart racing.
***
The small Thai restaurant was quiet for a Tuesday night. They made meaningless small talk over the menu before placing their orders. The waiter took their menus and came back a few moments later with a bottle of white wine that he poured out for them before disappearing again.
He picked up his goblet and saluted her. “To the end of the world. Either its coming or its prevention.”
She laughed and toasted, sipping the dry wine before setting her glass back down. “I’ve been wanting to ask you. What is the appeal of Chaos?”
He swallowed with a grin. “Oh, but my dear! Chaos is the most powerful force in existence. Good and evil pale in the face of it. It has existed since the very first. ‘In the beginning, the universe was without form and void.’ Chaos starts all things, and chaos is how all of them end. Throughout the ages, it has been feared and revered. Almost every culture on the planet has some sort of trickster god, to appease and placate the chaos energies surrounding them.”
“Primitive religions, you mean.”
“Not hardly! Even Christianity has its trickster in Satan. The entire story of Job is one enormous practical joke Satan played on God at Job’s expe” H” He leaned forward, warming to his subject. “Even science is coming to revere chaos, trying to give meaning to the meaningless to understand the universe. Quantum mechanics, chaos theory, it’s all just a different means of trying to appease the wildness. Feigenbaum is no better off than the first poor sot that came out of the cave and said there, that is the thing that makes everything go wrong. We should either worship it or kill it.”
“I doubt it’s as pervasive as all that.”
“No? Have you ever driven by an accident on the carriageway and been compelled to slow down and gawk even though it meant almost getting hit? Or watched one of those appalling home video programs and laughed at someone being hurt even though you were horrified? Or,” his voice deepened as he covered her hand with his, his thumb brushing over the back of her wrist, “have you ever been making love, building up to a really good orgasm, I mean an incredible, mind blowing release, and at that last moment, just before you come apart, have you felt your wholdy edy expand to fill the room, the whole universe, and wonder for a split second if you might not be able to come back together?”
Her heart pounding at the sensuality of his words, she simply shook her head.
“Well, now, that’s a real crime.” But his eyes made such promises. . .
She was spared the reply she couldn’t make by the arrival of the food. She pulled herself together as the waiter laid out their dishes, smiling softly at him, feeling the whole time Ethan’s eyes on her. “I feel like you’re about to devour me whole,” she said when they were alone again, not lifting her eyes from her plate.
“Now there’s a lovely notion,” his voice rumbled, low and enticing.
“Eat your dinner first.”
He barked a short laugh and picked up his fork.
They ate in crtabrtable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. “So you decided to worship it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You said mankind had to choose to worship chaos or kill it. And you chose to worship it.”
“Well, not all of it, certainly. Chaos is vast, and while I may contain multitudes, I’m not that expansive. No, I took an avatar, a patron. Janus.”
“The Roman god of gateways. The orchestrator of all things.”
He looked impressed. “Perfect marks for Summers. Janus gives the energy form, limits, so that I can work it to my will.”
“But I don’t understand. How can you make something so uncontrollable do *anything*, let alone what you want it to?”
“Even the wildest river can be diverted temporarily to support human purposes. It is just a matter of shaping it through the right forms, in this case spells and invocations and the like.”
“What was the purpose of the Halloween stunt?”
“No purpose.” He swallowed a forkful of rice noodles. “That was simply worship. My way of giving back to the chaos that made me.”
She studied him quietly, wrapping her brain around all he’d said. Finally she said, “Rupert keeps warning me not to trust you.”
“And he’s absolutely right, my dear. I’m a very, very bad man, intent on sowing as much mayhem and confusion as is possible before moving on.”
“Is that why you keep coming back?”
“Well, you must admit, even if the flesh weren’t as appealing as it certainly is, the possibilities inherent in bedding a Watcher and the mother of a Slayer would be difficult to resist.”
She set her fork down, dropping her napkin next to it. “So this is about Buffy.”
He grinned in amusement and shook his head. “Hasn’t got a damn thing to do with the girl. Lovely though she is.” He rested a forearm on the table, leaning in to bring their faces within mere inches of each other. “You don’t comprehend, Joyce, the forces that come together in you. The Catholics celebrate as a day of holy obligation the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. But it is not the Christ’s conception they are honoring, but Mary, the mother’s. For only from such a vessel could the savior be born. You gave birth to a savior, a warrior of the people, nurtured in your womb. You raised her, taught her to be brave and resilient, resourceful, determined. The way she draws people to her, the way she inspires their devotion, all those things come from you. Without those things, she would be just another dead Slayer.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
But he pressed on. “You have such energy swarming under your skin. I can taste it every time I touch you. I could drain you dry, leave you alive but hollow, empty of all the things that make life worth living, channel your essence into my magic and damn you for all eternity. Rupert is absolutely right. You shouldn’t ever trust me. But it isn’t your body that’s in danger, it’s your immortal soul.”
He rosruptruptly, pulling out his wallet to cast a handful of bills on the table before offering her his hand. “Come on.”
She took it, letting him guide her from the restaurant. “Why?”
“Because truth is one of the most powerful expressions of chaos, and one I’m less used to handling. I want to see you home safe before I go find some way to channel all this extra energy.”