5 (Mostly) Short Rare Pair Classics

[snickfic]

1. Alternative Lifestyle, by A.C. Chapin.
Buffy/Giles.
"Her Watcher captured, the Slayer finds herself in a strange place where her parents are still alive, Drusilla's soul was never restored, and Rupert Giles doesn't even wear leather." A cracky yet grim yet sexy-like-whoa AU that sits just this side of canon. I only wish there were more of it.

2. Gunpowder Tea, by antennapedia
Buffy/Wesley. Wishverse
Wesley comes to tidy the dead Slayer's Cleveland home and finds her very much alive. A brief, elegantly written thing that hints of a rather different Wesley than we saw in canon and the connection he finds with a grimmer but not entirely hardened Buffy. Lovely.

3. Bit Players, by spuffyduds
Jonathan/Harmony.
So what about all those other people who turned into their costumes during "Halloween"? This fic answers that question for two of them in hilarious fashion.

4. Moving On, by jedibuttercup
Illyria/Wes.
This fic is partly about grief and very much about Illyria and how Wes has continued to impact her, even after death. A wonderful character study with strong shippy overtones.

5. Hazy Shade of Winter, by Marina Frants.
Riley/Maggie.
This is the reason for that 'mostly' in the subject header; this four-part fic is the story of those not-so-motherly vibes we saw from Maggie towards Riley in canon. Set pre-series, this is also the single best exploration of Maggie Walsh that I have ever seen.