Author's Note: Yup… here we go with yet another fic. I hope you'll enjoy it, it was one of the few which weren't easy to write, but I hope I did a decent job, anyway :)
Disclaimer: All characters from the Buffyverse are not mine (of course not), but property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, lalala, you know the drill. ;)
Apocalypse Now
Even though Willow usually loved going to college, loved learning new stuff and, as she had to admit, sometimes also loved it to show off her knowledge when the professor asked a particularly difficult question only she knew the answer to, there also were days when she was annoyed and exhausted when she came home; those days happened rarely, but when they did, they always seemed to drain her so much that she felt like dropping down on the couch and sleeping for hours the moment she left campus.
This was exactly how she also felt that evening, as she made her way out of the elevator and to the door of the apartment she shared with her girlfriend; a hearty yawn escaped her while she dug out her keys, then unlocked the door and entered, smiling weakly to herself despite her tiredness when the sound of heavy metal music coming from the living room reached her ears, making it clear to her that her loved one was at home, as well.
Still eager to get on the couch and rest at least a bit before she'd have to tackle the paper she had to finish for one of her classes, the redhead stepped out of her shoes, then took off her jacket; with another yawn, she made her way into the living room, finding Pat lounging on the couch there, her feet propped up on the living room table, a cigarette in her mouth and a book in her hands. Upon hearing the witch enter, she looked up from said book, smiling when her gaze fell on her; quickly removing her feet from the table, she got up and, with two long steps, moved to stand in front of her girlfriend, thankfully thinking of removing the cigarette from her mouth before she bent down to kiss her hello.
"You're late", she then said matter-of-factly, "but not so late that you would have worried me. Some other student kept you from going?"
"Nope", Willow sighed while she made her way to the couch and unceremoniously let herself fall down on it, "no student, the professor. You know, the one I told you about, the guy who keeps looking at me when he talks of how that one paper I still have to finish might be published in some scientific magazine."
"Why doesn't he outright say that it'll be yours?" Pat smirked in reply, sitting down next to her and making her smile by pulling her feet up into her lap and starting a foot rub.
"Because it's not even done yet", the redhead replied after enjoying this for a few moments, "who knows if it'll be good enough? It might suck."
"Oh please", the demon snorted in reply, to the obvious amusement of her girlfriend, "you couldn't write something which sucked even if you tried. Bet it'll end up in that magazine."
"That'd be great, of course", Willow smiled, flinching when the taller woman's skilled fingers found an especially tense muscle and started working on it, "but, well, as I said, first I have to finish it. Actually, I should be working on it right now, but seeing that my feet are in your lap…"
"First, I'll finish that foot rub", Pat gave back in a strict tone, one Willow knew well by now and one which meant that she wouldn't accept any discussion about this, "then, you'll eat something – there's dinner waiting in the fridge – and then you can start working on that paper."
"As you command", the redhead giggled in reply, making her girlfriend smirk; a few minutes later, the foot rub was done, and she carefully removed Willow's feet from her lap, telling her to stay where she was before she got up and left for the kitchen. Sitting up on the couch, the witch made herself comfortable while she waited for her girlfriend to come back, momentarily smiling to herself as she enjoyed this moment of domestic normality; living in Sunnydale, dating a demon and being best friends with the Slayer made such opportunities rare, and she was determined to rejoice in it as long as possible.
"Did you make that dinner you're heating up for me right now?" she called into the general direction of the kitchen after thinking about domestic stuff, especially cooking skills and her loved one's lack of those, for a while; a throaty chuckle came in reply, followed by the words she had been hoping to hear when she had asked her question. "Nope, it's take-out. I don't wanna poison you!"
"Good to hear", the redhead giggled, making herself more comfortable on the couch while she waited for Pat to join her; it didn't take long until the audible beeping of the microwave came from the kitchen, followed by the footsteps of the taller woman shortly afterwards as she returned to the living room, carrying cutlery and a plate loaded with steaming hot food.
"Oh wow", Willow said at the sight, sitting up and looking at the size of the portion with widening eyes, "did I look that starved when I came home?"
"Yup", the demon let her know helpfully, putting the plate and cutlery down in front of her, then sitting down next to her, "and by now, I know the schedule of both Buffy and you well enough to also know that today, you didn't share many classes, which means that you didn't have lunch together and so, you probably forgot to eat and just studied through the lunch break. Am I right?"
"Kinda", the witch admitted, having the grace to blush; Pat just gave her a triumphant smirk, then leaned back into the couch while the redhead picked up the fork and started to eat, letting out a happy sigh after the first bite.
"This is delicious", she then told her girlfriend, "thanks… I think I only realized right now how hungry I've already been."
"If it wasn't for Buffy and me, you'd just die of starvation", Pat smirked in reply, making the redhead blush again; deciding not to comment on this one, Willow focused on her food again instead, quickly finishing it while her girlfriend picked up the book again she had been reading before the witch had come home, both of them enjoying the calm time, knowing that in a town like Sunnydale, such times never lasted long.
Two hours later, the room still was mostly quiet, the only sounds being the noise of typing on laptop keys and the occasional soft rustle of paper; then, Willow broke the silence by letting out a heavy sigh, leaning back into the couch as she kept looking at the laptop screen, now with a satisfied expression on her face.
"I think I'm done", she then told her girlfriend, prompting her to look up from her book and smile at her; briefly, she smiled back, then put on the cutest puppy dog look she could manage, sounding as cute as she was looking when she spoke on. "Would you mind reading through it? I know you don't like reading stuff on computer screens, but I've been staring at this for so long, I'm afraid I've become blind to the most obvious typos and stuff…"
"Sure", the demon shrugged in reply, causing Willow's smile to widen; quickly, she moved aside on the couch so the place in front of the laptop was free, giving the demon a thankful look when she moved to sit next to her and started reading the paper. To the redhead's concern, it didn't take long until her good eye started to water, as it always did when she was staring at a computer screen for too long ever since she had lost the other one; bravely, she ignored it the best she could do, only wiping at it from time to time until she had finished reading through the paper, with the occasional pressing of a few buttons on the keyboard to correct the minor typos she had found.
"I think I found them all", she stated once she had gotten done, turning away from the laptop to look at the redhead and wiping at her tearing eye again, "and it's really good, congrats. That'll surely end up in that magazine."
"That'd be great", Willow smiled, her smile fading away though again moments later as once more, her concern took over again. "Your eye's still all runny though. Want me to get you the eye drops?"
"No, thanks", the demon grimaced, not all too fond of those drops, "it's getting better already… So when will you present that paper to your professor? Just so I know when to buy champagne."
"What a way to change the topic", the witch smirked, giggling when in reply, her girlfriend at lead had the decency to look a bit ashamed; then, she shrugged, checking her watch for the date before she answered the question.
"In two days", she then stated, "which is good, because then I'll have time to read over it again tomorrow. Not that I don't trust your typo-finding-skills, but, well…"
"Better to be safe than sorry", the demon shrugged, clearly taking no offense; then, she checked her watch as well, squinting at it a bit since her good eye was still rather teary, looking up at the redhead again once she had been able to figure out how late it was.
"Well, I promised Buffy I'd go on patrol with her tonight", she let her girlfriend now, "wanna tag along?"
"Sure", Willow agreed after a moment, "it's been a while since I did that, as Buffy commented not all too long ago."
"How subtle of her", Pat smirked, getting up from her seat; nodding and giggling, Willow did the same, following her girlfriend into the bedroom and watching how the taller woman opened the chest next to her side of the bed there, looking at the collection of weapons inside it for a moment before she chose a sword, weighing it critically and nodding to herself.
"No axe today?" Willow asked while the demon removed two stakes from the chest, throwing one of them to her, the redhead catching it easily; apparently satisfied with her choice of weapons, Pat then snapped the chest shut again and straightened up, smirking while she looked at the sword.
"I can hide that easier than the axe", she then explained, "and it's still early enough for people to wander around, so…"
"Good point", the redhead had to concede, leaving the bedroom again with her girlfriend right behind her; together, they made their way into the small anteroom, putting on their shoes and coats there, the demon expertly hiding the sword beneath the long flaps of her coat and putting the stake into one of the pockets, Willow concealing hers by doing the same.
"I wonder if there'll be much to slay tonight", she then stated while they left the apartment together and headed to the elevator. "How has it been the last few nights?"
"Normal, I guess", Pat shrugged, "several vamps and random demons, which is good I suppose, since usually, calm times meant much more less calm times after a while."
"You're right about that", Willow agreed, grimacing as she thought of the last few times the vampires had been lesser than expected and what had happened not all too long after a few calm nights.
"Well", she went on after pondering this for a few moments, stepping into the elevator when it arrived and the doors opened, "it shouldn't be too dangerous tonight then, but I better still keep a few spells in the back of my mind, just in case."
"Yup", the demon nodded at once, "good idea. And in case you don't need them and can just stand back and relax, you can admire Buffy and me kicking ass."
"Oh, I like that", the redhead smiled, "especially watching you kick ass."
"I know you do", Pat chuckled, taking the chance given by the fact that the elevator hadn't arrived at the ground floor yet to pull her closer and kiss her tenderly; just when they pulled apart again, the doors opened at last and they both stepped outside, leaving the apartment building and making their way to Buffy's house, where the Slayer was waiting for them already.