Written for comment_fic on livejournal

"Yes, Buffy, fine, go play catch.... No! Xander is not a ball!"

"Willow, spell-casting is for grown-ups. Now turn Oz back into a boy and then no more magics, okay?"

"Yes, fine, play Slayer vs. Vampire, lovely.... What do you mean everyone wants to be Spike?... Except Spike wants to be Willow. Excellent. Just, go have fun doing PRETEND violence. With PRETEND stakes."

"Yes, Anya you were right to tell me they were playing with real stakes.... No, I'm afraid there's no cash reward."

"Who made Angel cry? I expect an answer, children... "What!? How did he become Angelus? Well, how was I supposed to know ice cream would give him a moment of bliss?... Well, fine, who made Angelus cry? And more importantly, how?... Just in case we need it when you're big again... Really? Threatened to take his hair gel away? That's it?... Okay, Willow, re-ensoul him, but this is the LAST spell until you're re-aged."

"Okay, children, gather around. Everyone drink a sip of this .... excellent! It worked! Good to have you all back." Giles turned around to put down the amulet in its secure container, and in that brief moment, Spike and Angel started wrestling on the ground, Xander got distracted by a shiny rock on the ground, Oz had wandered off, Willow and Anya were pushing each other aside as they fought for the same chair, and Buffy was throwing things at Spike and Angel, saying, "You guys are both stupid jerks!"

"What happened?" Giles said in a panic, "The re-aging spell worked on your bodies, it should have worked on your minds, too."

They all paused to stare at Giles in bewilderment.

"Of course it worked," Spike said, "Angel's the same old ponce he always was." The rest of Giles' charges nodded and went back to their activities as Giles decided to go home and have a nice relaxing pot of tea.