Author's Note: Well, I did decide to get this one started a bit earlier than usual, to make up for the messed up schedule last week ;D I hope you'll enjoy this, it's a bit different from what I usually throw at the two lovely ladies. Special thanks go to my better half, who helped a lot with this story.
Disclaimer: None of the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer characters used in this are mine. Not making any money with this, either.
The Scope of Obsession
As always during the rather popular psychology class, the lecture hall was filled to the brim, with all the seats taken and some of the students even sitting in the aisles, balancing their notepads on their knees; thanks to the fact that they had been there early enough, Buffy and Willow weren't forced to sit on the floor among them, but had managed to secure tables for themselves, both of them scribbling as the professor at the front of the class kept talking, not bothering if his students managed to follow him or not.
By now, most of them were used enough to him that they did, their pens scratching over the paper, this and his talking being the only sounds in the hall; he talked too fast to allow gossip amongst them, the class being one of the quietest at campus ever since the new professor had taken over and had made it obvious pretty fast that he had neither tolerance, nor patience for students who weren't fully interested in his topics.
As always when she sat in that particular class, Buffy could feel a cramp coming on in her hand, and once again asked herself how it was possible that she battled vampires and demons every night without problem, but got writing cramps as soon as she had to write more than one page by hand; to her relief, and as if the bell had sensed her distress, it rang a minute later, the professor hurriedly finishing the sentence he had started before he let the students know which chapters they should read until the next class, all of them only rising from their seats when he told them that they were dismissed.
"Finally", Buffy mumbled, making sure to keep her voice low so only Willow could hear her while she packed up her books and notepad, "my hand was starting to cramp up. Again."
"Poor you", the redhead showed some sympathy, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she got up from her seat, "maybe you should practice that more. I hardly ever get that anymore."
"Lucky you", Buffy grumbled, picking her bag up as well and making her way down the stairs with the witch by her side, "if I had time, I'd practice, but with college, taking care of Dawn, training and slaying, there's not really much free time left."
"I imagine", Willow grimaced, "but hey, you know Pat's willing to go on patrol alone every now and then, in case you need an evening off."
"I know, but I don't want to get too used to having a substitute whenever I don't feel like it", Buffy smiled, the audible rumbling of her stomach prompting her to check her schedule before she suggested a quick stop at the cafeteria; nodding her agreement, Willow glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them, then spoke on, bringing the talk back to her partner taking over patrol on her own, at least for a few nights a month.
"She could do it once a week, I'm sure she would", she suggested, glad that none of the other students around was paying attention to their talk, since it might have ended up hard to explain, had anyone asked them, "and I'm pretty sure Giles will understand, too. You do need some time off every now and then."
"And Dawn would love to have me home every now and then", the blonde had to admit, "maybe that would make her pester me less about going on patrol with me."
"You're still training her, aren't you?" Willow wanted to know in surprise, frowning – after all, Pat and Buffy already had taken the teenager along a few times when they had taken over patrol, and she had been part of the training session in the Magic Box's backroom, learning hand to hand combat from both her sister and from the demon.
"Yes, I am", Buffy confirmed, "but with her starting college soon now, next semester to be exact, I don't really want to take her along. We make sure not to injure her during training, but the vampires won't be so reasonable, and how should she explain any cuts and bruises then in case someone asks her? The last thing we need is Social Services knocking at our door again."
"I imagine", Willow grimaced, "and that's a good point… What is Dawn saying about that?"
"On good days, she agrees", Buffy smirked in reply, "and on the bad days, she pesters me about wanting to come along."
"Not surprising though, especially since we did take her along a few times and she did quite well", the redhead pointed out, "it's just a pity she doesn't have Slayer healing. Or Pat's healing."
Nodding, Buffy glanced down on her arm again, an arm which had been broken just a week ago, and had been healed thanks to the abilities of her best friend's partner; she briefly closed her hand into a fist, amazed at how well the broken bone had healed once it had been treated by the taller woman's magic.
"Even though Pat could heal her, too, should she really get hurt", the redhead now pondered out loud, but not so loud that someone nearby might have heard and wonder what she was talking about, "when she didn't get hurt herself, that is."
"Better not mention this to Dawn", Buffy gave back with a roll of her eyes, "or I'll get pestered every minute I'm at home. Frankly, I'm amazed she didn't come up with this on her own so far, it's not like she hasn't seen it happen…"
Trailing off, she patted her pockets, then frowned, prompting Willow to ask what was wrong, a hint of alarm in her voice when she replied, simultaneously searching through her bag.
"I think I lost my phone", she told her best friend, glancing up at her with dismay all over her face, "I can't find it…"
"Want me to call you?" Willow offered, already looking for her own phone and, to her relief, finding it in her pocket, "maybe it'll ring somewhere deep in your bag. Or back in the lecture hall."
"No use", Buffy sighed, giving up the search for her phone, "I put it on mute so it wouldn't ring during the lecture, you know how the professor can get…"
"Indeed", the redhead grimaced, not sure what to offer next; her first idea was magic, but that could hardly be done in the middle of campus, and thus would have to wait until she was at a more private place, her home or the Magic Box.
"I'll just check the Lost & Found after the last class", the Slayer now sighed, glancing at her bag again in dismay as if it was its fault that the phone had been lost, "it's quite an old phone, so maybe I'll be lucky and someone put it there."
"Crossing my fingers for you", Willow reassured her, then they reached the cafeteria and for the moment, Buffy forgot about her phone as the thought about food pushed everything else aside; speeding up slightly, she moved to the end of the queue, the redhead right behind her, both of them eager to get lunch and something to drink before the next class would demand their full attention again.
After the last class they shared, the ways of Buffy and Willow parted, with the blonde going off to look for her phone at the Lost & Found while the redhead made her way home; she had offered to accompany Buffy, but the blonde had declined, pointing out that their ways would part at the campus gate anyway, with the witch living in the other direction from the Summers house.
Thus, Willow was alone as she made her way to the campus gate, being greeted by several students with waves and nods and returning their greetings; just as the campus gate came into view though, she got distracted from anyone who might try to get her attention by the tall, wiry figure leaning comfortably against one of the stone pillars which were part of the gate, smoking a cigarette and watching the people passing by with a keen eye, the other one covered by a black leather eyepatch.
"Pat!" the redhead called out, surprised and delighted – usually, her partner and she settled it beforehand if she'd pick her up from college, and thus, seeing her there now was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise.
Upon her call, the taller woman turned to look at her, smiling the moment their eyes met; she threw her cigarette down on the sidewalk and stepped on it to put it out, then moved to meet the witch, her happy grin mirrored on Willow's face as she was pulled into a tender embrace and the couple shared a brief, but just as tender kiss.
"Surprise", the black haired woman mumbled after the kiss, smirking; still beaming, Willow nodded rather enthusiastically, both of them ignoring the looks they were receiving, by now more than used to them – perhaps two women kissing out in the open like that wasn't a sensation for most of the campus' population, but if one of them had an eyepatch, it surely was a sight they weren't presented with quite often.
"And a very good one", Willow now reassured her partner, holding back the urge to giggle girlishly, briefly amazed at, after how even all those years, the demon could make her feel like a love-struck teenager, "I thought you'd be at the Magic Box all afternoon!"
"So did I", Pat shrugged, finally pulling back from the embrace so they could resume walking, still keeping up the physical contact by holding hands, "but one of the deliveries Anya was expecting today got cancelled, so we got done much earlier and I ducked out before I had to listen to her yell at the poor sod responsible for that."
"Good thinking", Willow now did giggle after all, "I bet that poor guy got an earful…"
"For sure", the demon smirked, "but, thankfully, not my problem. How was your day?"
"Quite alright", the redhead let her know, "there was just a moment of dismay for Buffy, she lost her phone. She's at the Lost & Found right now, looking for it. Let's hope someone put it there."
"Oh my", the taller woman gave back, frowning, "it'd suck if it was gone for good. I lost a phone once, it was quite the hassle. All those phone numbers, gone."
"That'd be really annoying, yes", the witch agreed, briefly wondering what numbers exactly her partner had had stored in said lost phone, if it had been numbers of assassin colleagues and other demons; then, she shrugged it off, telling herself that it didn't matter anymore, that these persons and actions weren't part of the demon's life anymore and that she had more than redeemed herself during the numerous occasions she had helped saving the world, more than once with great danger to her health.
"Well, I suppose she'll call me in case she finds it", she added after a moment, smiling up at her partner, "and if she doesn't, she'll copy the most important numbers from my phone tomor—"
The ringing of the phone in her pocket cut her off mid-word, and she raised an eyebrow in surprise before she dug out her phone, asking herself if Buffy had found hers so fast; one glance at the display told her that it was her best friend calling, and she told Pat just that before she took the call, not even bothering with a greeting, but saying "So you did find it" right away.
For a few moments, she waited for a reply, her smile vanishing when none came, the only thing audible being the breathing of the person on the other end of the line; and suddenly, she was sure that it wasn't Buffy, the look on her face when she demanded to know who this was prompting Pat to give her a look of concern.
"Hello?" Willow tried again when once again, all she could hear was breathing, "who is this? Hello?!"
"What's going on?" Pat mouthed, giving her another worried look; in response, the redhead shrugged, feeling rather helpless – and then the call was ended, and she frowned again, glaring at the phone as if it could tell her who exactly just had called her.
"It was Buffy's number", she explained after another moment of glaring, "but it surely wasn't Buffy. Whoever it was, they just… breathed into my ear and then hung up."
"That's odd", the demon gave back, raising an eyebrow, "perhaps you should call back and see if they pick up. Maybe they're just shy."
"Good idea", Willow agreed, then pushed the button which would dial Buffy's number; it rang a few times, then the call went to voicemail, and she grumbled to herself as she ended it, shaking her head afterwards.
"Voicemail", she then told her partner, "so no success there. We better tell Buffy to cancel her contract on that phone, before this person calls a million people and racks up a huge bill for her."
"Good point", the taller woman nodded, "let's call her landline once we're home. She won't be pleased to hear that someone's using her phone."
"Let's hope she named her contacts sensibly", Willow giggled, "just imagine what this person might think if you're, for example, in her phone under 'Pat the demon' or I'm 'Willow the Witch'."
"Or 'Giles, Watcher'", Pat snickered, making her partner giggle once more, "and how about 'Anya, Ex-Demon'?"
"Jeez", the witch finally brought out, having managed to calm down enough to speak, "now I really hope she didn't do that. Though I doubt it."
"One never knows with Buffy", the taller woman told her, making her laugh once more; she nodded her agreement, then stopped walking again to pull her lover down for yet another innocent, but gentle kiss, neither of them willing to do more than that out in the open after quite a few nasty comments they had received in the past, comments Pat usually had dealt with swiftly and, at times, violently, at other moments only with a glowing red glare at the one who had uttered them; still Willow didn't need to hear the nasty things people sometimes came up with, and thus they had agreed on a "No tongues" policy for public, something which was working out more or less fine for both of them.
"Let's call her once we get home", the witch suggested after the kiss and the couple kept on walking, "she should be at their home as well, until then."
"Yup", the taller woman amiably agreed, making her partner smile up at her again; she took a moment to return the smile, squeezing her hand tenderly, the mysterious call and the caller's behaviour soon forgotten as they headed down the street, towards the home they shared.