Prompt: Dawn and Andrew decorate for Christmas.

AN: First in a Christmas series, the rest will be Spuffy. Takes place the Christmas following NFA.

"No." Dawn crossed her arms over her chest and fixed Andrew with what she hoped was an extremely severe look.

"Aw, come on!" He pouted, while waving the tiny plastic tree. "It would be funny! And relevant."

"Unh-uh, Andrew. No. No Way. We are absolutely not setting up a shadow box of a Slayer/Vampire showdown, right next to the Nativity scene. That's just not Christmassy."

"But she'd be slaying it with a Christmas tree."

"If you do it, Buffy will slay us with a Christmas tree. That one." She pointed to the enormous tree in the corner. "The one we just spent two hours decorating."

Andrew edged away from Dawn slightly. "Buffy wouldn't do that. You're just trying to scare me."

She grinned. "Is it working?"

"No…" He put the Christmas tree model down anyway.

"Whatever you say Captain Courage." She bent and grabbed the pile of fake greenery at her feet.

"Here, grab the other end of this garland. We can drape it over the doorway."

A few minutes later, they stood back to admire their handiwork.

"Could we maybe hang some mistletoe under it?"

Andrew looked so boyishly hopeful; Dawn could feel all her previous irritation practically melting away.

"Yeah. That would be nice. Do you know where we could get-?"

His face lit up and he scrambled for the bag he'd brought with him. "In my satchel! I found some in that cute little farmer's market while I was on my way over!"

Dawn chuckled. "Of course you did."

He continued rooting through the bag and ignored her. "Ah, here it is!"

He pulled out an enormous bunch of mistletoe, tied at the top with a bright red bow.

"Nice. Subtle. Dare I say, understated?"

The tips of Andrew's ears tinged pink. "I figured, if people don't realize they're standing under it, what's the point?"

Dawn took it from his hands. "Makes sense I guess. Grab some more tape from the kitchen and we can stick it up there."

While she waited for Andrew to come back, Dawn leaned against the doorway and surveyed the living room of her and Buffy's apartment. It really was amazing what the proper motivation could produce ("Andrew if you come help me decorate for the party, you can use our DVD player and cable as much as you want.").

Andrew's voice floated in from the kitchen. "So," He called with forced nonchalance. "Is Spike coming tomorrow?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. Andrew was many things, but casual was not one of them.

"Gee Andrew, I don't know."

He rounded the corner into the room and handed her the tape. "See. Sometimes you say things, and I think you're kidding, but then you're serious. So if you could actually answer the question…"

She rolled her eyes again, and climbed onto the step-ladder. "Yes, Andrew. Of course he's coming. Buffy will be here, so obviously he will be too. Hand me the tape?"

Andrew handed up the tape. "Ah yes. It's a tale for the ages that one. The Slayer and her devoted vampyre consort."

Dawn wrinkled her nose. "Gross Andrew, don't say 'consort' like that."

"Like what?"

"Like it's the dirtiest word in the English language. Besides, there's no consorting going on. Just a whole lot of awkwardly avoiding the subject. I'm thinking of locking them up together until they either kill each other or…consort with each other." She grinned. "Merry Christmas, Buffy!"

Andrew sighed. "What a great present."

Dawn climbed down off the ladder muttering under her breath. "And your present is that I'm kindly going to ignore what you just said."

When she was firmly on the ground again, Andrew slung an arm around her shoulders, and used his free arm to gesture grandly at the room.

"We've done well, child. We've done well."

She shook her head, a smile spreading across her face.

"Merry Christmas Andrew."