TITLE: The Enchanted Beachball of Fur
DISCLAIMERS: Based on characters and storylines from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," of which I own nothing. The character of Lani is loosely based on Lani Tupu from "Farscape."
RATING: PG
DAY ONE
Buffy and her friends were at the Bronze. Dawn was spending the night at a friend's house. It had been a couple months since Buffy's return from the dead, and everyone had put the whole Glory/Dawn/Buffy's suicide dive behind them. But Buffy still felt out of place no matter where she was.
Whenever she was home cooking dinner for Dawn and herself, she felt like she was pretending to be Mom. Consequently. She always felt she was inadequate and not quite in control. And control was a major issue with Buffy. Any loss of it, whether perceived or real, threw her timing off and made her anxious.
Whenever she was with Giles, well that relationship had changed, also. He had always been her mentor and guide, but they both knew that she would never again ask for his advice or yield to his suggestions again. She was her own woman, now, and the only person she trusted and relied on completely was herself. She felt like she had been Dorothy in the Land of Oz, and just discovered she was the only one with the power to decide her own destiny all along. Giles and Buffy, having played the roles of teacher and student respectively, could not find comfort in any other roles.
And now, here at the Bronze with her friends, Buffy felt out of place yet again. Willow and Tara and Xander and Anya were young couples in love; responsible for no one but themselves, their futures wide open to limitless possibilities. Buffy saw her present and her future as consisting of taking care of Dawn and all the household duties while simultaneously protecting the world from evil until her death at a young age. She alternated between envying her friends and feeling superior to them.
The only time Buffy didn't feel out of place was when she was with Spike. Sometimes she ran into him at the Bronze. Sometimes it was just the two of them patrolling; when Willow and Tara had to study and Xander and Anya had to work early the next morning. Spike, she believed, was the only one who not only understood her willingness to give her life for Dawn's, but also joined her in that sentiment. When she was with Spike, she felt alive, confident and powerful. He constantly challenged her both mentally and physically. Heaven forbid she should allow a vampire to slay more demons than the slayer, and so he fueled her competitive nature and she was always at the top of her game whenever he was around. Of course, he was no slouch, either, and there had been a few nights when she truly needed his help and was grateful for it, although she would never admit that to him.
This night, her friends had talked her into taking a night off. And now she was trying desperately to remember how to have fun just 'hanging out.' She couldn't. Instead, she had a hundred other things on her mind such as Dawn's report card, which Dawn would be getting next week, and bills that were due, and household projects she needed to tackle. At 11:00 she decided she was done 'hanging out,' so she said goodbye to her friends and went home.
Spike had been watching her from across the room. He noticed that she looked tense and uncomfortable, and that her smiles seemed forced. He didn't know what it was like to be the sole guardian of a sibling, but he did know what it was like to protect someone one loves, having protected Dru when she needed him. For a brief time, he thought Buffy and Dawn needed him, but he had been mistaken. In the end, he had failed to help them, and Buffy had saved the day (and the world) as usual. He had expected Buffy to remind him of his failure, but she never did. He had patrolled with her occasionally, and she never thanked him for his help, but she never told him to go away, either. And, more importantly, she hadn't revoked his invitation.
Spike watched Buffy leave, and then waited. When he saw Xander go up to the bar for drinks, he approached him.
"So tell me," Spike started, "How did you ever get Anya to fall in love with you? Red do a spell for you?"
"Not that it's any of your business," Xander responded, "But she chased me." Those words felt so good coming out of his mouth that he decided to continue, "Yeah, prom night with the Xan-man was enough to convince her she couldn't live without me."
"So, you're saying she seduced you?" Spike said skeptically.
"That's right," Xander said.
"Should've known you'd paint it that way," Spike said finally. He walked away as Xander continued asserting Anya's pursuit of him to Spike's back.
DISCLAIMERS: Based on characters and storylines from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," of which I own nothing. The character of Lani is loosely based on Lani Tupu from "Farscape."
RATING: PG
DAY ONE
Buffy and her friends were at the Bronze. Dawn was spending the night at a friend's house. It had been a couple months since Buffy's return from the dead, and everyone had put the whole Glory/Dawn/Buffy's suicide dive behind them. But Buffy still felt out of place no matter where she was.
Whenever she was home cooking dinner for Dawn and herself, she felt like she was pretending to be Mom. Consequently. She always felt she was inadequate and not quite in control. And control was a major issue with Buffy. Any loss of it, whether perceived or real, threw her timing off and made her anxious.
Whenever she was with Giles, well that relationship had changed, also. He had always been her mentor and guide, but they both knew that she would never again ask for his advice or yield to his suggestions again. She was her own woman, now, and the only person she trusted and relied on completely was herself. She felt like she had been Dorothy in the Land of Oz, and just discovered she was the only one with the power to decide her own destiny all along. Giles and Buffy, having played the roles of teacher and student respectively, could not find comfort in any other roles.
And now, here at the Bronze with her friends, Buffy felt out of place yet again. Willow and Tara and Xander and Anya were young couples in love; responsible for no one but themselves, their futures wide open to limitless possibilities. Buffy saw her present and her future as consisting of taking care of Dawn and all the household duties while simultaneously protecting the world from evil until her death at a young age. She alternated between envying her friends and feeling superior to them.
The only time Buffy didn't feel out of place was when she was with Spike. Sometimes she ran into him at the Bronze. Sometimes it was just the two of them patrolling; when Willow and Tara had to study and Xander and Anya had to work early the next morning. Spike, she believed, was the only one who not only understood her willingness to give her life for Dawn's, but also joined her in that sentiment. When she was with Spike, she felt alive, confident and powerful. He constantly challenged her both mentally and physically. Heaven forbid she should allow a vampire to slay more demons than the slayer, and so he fueled her competitive nature and she was always at the top of her game whenever he was around. Of course, he was no slouch, either, and there had been a few nights when she truly needed his help and was grateful for it, although she would never admit that to him.
This night, her friends had talked her into taking a night off. And now she was trying desperately to remember how to have fun just 'hanging out.' She couldn't. Instead, she had a hundred other things on her mind such as Dawn's report card, which Dawn would be getting next week, and bills that were due, and household projects she needed to tackle. At 11:00 she decided she was done 'hanging out,' so she said goodbye to her friends and went home.
Spike had been watching her from across the room. He noticed that she looked tense and uncomfortable, and that her smiles seemed forced. He didn't know what it was like to be the sole guardian of a sibling, but he did know what it was like to protect someone one loves, having protected Dru when she needed him. For a brief time, he thought Buffy and Dawn needed him, but he had been mistaken. In the end, he had failed to help them, and Buffy had saved the day (and the world) as usual. He had expected Buffy to remind him of his failure, but she never did. He had patrolled with her occasionally, and she never thanked him for his help, but she never told him to go away, either. And, more importantly, she hadn't revoked his invitation.
Spike watched Buffy leave, and then waited. When he saw Xander go up to the bar for drinks, he approached him.
"So tell me," Spike started, "How did you ever get Anya to fall in love with you? Red do a spell for you?"
"Not that it's any of your business," Xander responded, "But she chased me." Those words felt so good coming out of his mouth that he decided to continue, "Yeah, prom night with the Xan-man was enough to convince her she couldn't live without me."
"So, you're saying she seduced you?" Spike said skeptically.
"That's right," Xander said.
"Should've known you'd paint it that way," Spike said finally. He walked away as Xander continued asserting Anya's pursuit of him to Spike's back.