According to T-Bird: That 86 board is a piece of crap. See? 8 oz strip loin's been on here for a fucking eternity. And guess what? The freezer is full of 'em. If you ask me, to 86 something is just to be trendy. But look at me. I'm hip. I'm trendy. But I'm no where near ready to be 86'ed just yet.
BUFFY
These bunk beds are a tad overrated; with their old springy mattresses and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sheets that would make Andy drool on the pillowcases. Whoever thought that the party was to be given here—and that it was a good idea—should be… demoted or… relegated… or something. And I'm sure knowing that the place had only three rooms for 15 guests wasn't the clincher.
I've been pretend-sleeping since we all went to bed a few hours ago. At least I have my eyes closed; resting a bit. It wouldn't do them much good to be open—the room's pitch black anyway.
"… like that dead raccoon we passed on the way here? Remember how skinny it was? Well I bet he had a tapeworm." Ter's hushed voice slices through the darkness and silence of the room.
"You think so? I never heard anything about any tapeworms." Another voice. Rich and suave. Loaded with love for Teresa: Manny.
"Yep. Tapeworms. They can grow up to be 80 feet in length. They just stay in your intestines and eat up all the food you've already had…" Ter goes on, but I stop listening 'cause Faith groans and wraps an arm around my waist.
"Tell me I just didn't wake up to the sound of our kid talkin' about tapeworms and road kill." She mutters sleepily, burying her face in the crook of my neck.
A muffled chuckle escapes my throat as Terry goes on.
"I'm surprised you don't know about them. It's all in your biology book." She says, a little louder now.
"You've been reading my biology book?" Manny asks with no hint of shock in her voice, but I know there's plenty.
"Uh, well, you left them on the coffee table that one time and Daisy and I…"
"Teresa!" Uh-oh. Faith untangles her arm from my waist and softly punches the mattress on top of us. "It's three thirty in the morning and we all treasure our sleep. So if you wanna talk about tapeworms—don't." Her voice is scratchy and it makes me smile: at least some of us were sleeping.
"But mom… I can't sleep, and neither can Manny."
Manny doesn't add anything and I'm kinda glad. Faith on the other hand… I dunno… I can feel her tense up, but she softens immediately. I'm just surprised none of this has woken Élyse up yet. Ah, the joys of being confined five to a room. Three Slayers, one Watcher and a 7 year old: Recipe for a sleepless night.
"Get your butt down here, and let Manny get some shuteye." Faith says as she wraps her arm around my waist again and pulls me closer to her so that there's a little bit more room in this single bed.
The ladder squeaks as Terry comes down carefully one foot at a time. "G'night Manny." She whispers softly before she crawls into our bed. "G'night mom."
Faith sighs as she pulls me in tighter. Her back's probably against the wall and I'm sandwiched between the two of them. "Night Little T."
The room suddenly falls quiet again before Élyse whispers a soft 'Saint Ciboire à deux étages! Ça prend pas la tête à Papineau pour s'endormir comme il faut…' incomprehensible type thing that makes us all—I'm sure—crack a smile.
As she replaces the phone on its cradle, Buffy can't help but wonder what happened to her 'ordinary' life. Parent, teacher, lover… some things, she realizes now, that she always was.
She quickly checks her watch and makes a decision. Up and at'em, she thinks as she makes her way to Teresa and Daisy's room.
"Anya, bless her little ex-demon soul, was a liar." This stops her in her tracks as she vividly looks around the dark room.
"Will?" She ventures, lips unmoving.
"Hey Buffy."
"What're you doing back so early?"
"Got kicked out of an inter-dimension seafood war initiated by Captain Highliner."
"Prawns?"
"Shrimp. Turns out there is a difference."
"Huh."
"Yeah. So what's going on here? I tried getting through to Xander, but nothing."
"They're under some sort of mystical shield." She takes the seat next to the century old laundry basket and fiddles with the edge of Terry's bed sheet. "Can you do me a favour?"
"Want a ride to the land of dry heat and goats?"
"You read my mind."
Buffy hates cottages. So she'd be lying if she said she was sad to see this one go. As she watches Doreen's cottage grow smaller by the second in her passenger side mirror, she can't help but suppress a smile. Goodbye to dock spiders, mice, bats, snakes, and mosquitoes. It's a wonderful life.
However, she's not quite sure how she'll take Africa. Sure it'll make Faith happier than a cold beer on a smouldering night, but now that Buffy has time to think about it… Aren't there bigger spiders, bats, snakes and mosquitoes in Africa? Sure she's the Slayer, but it's a girl's valid right to be afraid of such things.
Buffy sighs and tries to stop thinking as she listens to the tires stir up the dust on the dirt road. But she can't help it. Teresa's in danger. Of what? Who knows? And that's driving her crazy. Not knowing what they're going against. And why.
When 'peachy with a side of keen' doesn't cut it, Buffy usually likes to settle for 'royally fucked', but, Beggars can't have their cake and eat it too, she thinks morosely.
Gravis has both hands on the wheel in an unusual fashion. His grip is so tight that Buffy's afraid he'll be loosing his fingers pretty soon: his knuckles are more than a little white. But none the less, he's driving Faith's Forester with ease, letting the turbo rip in the long stretches on the road, and gradually down shifting in the narrower turns.
"It's been a long time since I wore this rattlesnake smile, and a lotta my friends haven't seen it in quite a while. I feel my eyes rollin' deep inside my head, and there's a feeling of misconception in the air. Yeah, I'm startin' to see, yeah, I do believe I used to have a soft southern glowing face. I used to lead my heartaches away on the chase… When you get stung with the heart of a little child, well, that's how you get that rattlesnake smile. You better keep your distance. In this tangled shape I'm in. Now no one had better touch me right now, in this cold-blooded thick skin. Oh, I said you better run real fast when you hear that rattlin' sound. Well, you better run real fast, man, or this one's gonna knock you down…" He's mumbling in a monotone way and Buffy tries to zone it out. He looks like he's about to go Rambo on the first person who dares look at the two women in the car the wrong way. But… He really is a bad singer.
Teresa, as expected, is sitting silently in the back, pondering things away. Probably on why they had to leave so early, leaving the others behind. But she doesn't let it show, as she hums along to Gravis' drivel. And Buffy's just glad she's not asking 21 questions that she can't possibly begin to answer.
The old covered bridge where they decided to meet needs some work, Buffy decides carelessly. The roof looks about ready to cave in at any second and the logs holding the whole contraption up are slowly rotting away from the constant water presence.
Willow's just sitting, waiting for them, silently saluting the three with a quick nod of the head. It's obvious she knows something big is up, and Buffy knows that's why she's not dispensing any prolonged greeting of any kind.
"Anyone brush up on their French?" She says cheerily and Buffy gives her a 'you know how good my French is' look that makes the redhead crack a smile. "No? How 'bout your Malagasy?"
"Mon français est meilleur que la dernière fois!" Ter says in answer and Buffy gives her an odd look. Terry just shrugs. "Uncle Spike taught me."
Rolling her eyes, Willow grabs hold of the three before she makes the jump. "Right. Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, here we come."
Bvlgari and worn leather. Two smells that Buffy can always associate to Faith. As she nuzzles the crook of her neck, she finally succumbs to the looming weariness: lack of sleep, time change and exhaustion from the trip are adding up and Buffy knows that if she feels this tired, then Terry must be running on fumes alone.
Her grip around her waist tightens until the brunette brings a soothing hand on her back in comfort; making her go limp in Faith's strong arms.
"Hey Babe." She whispers softly as she reluctantly lets go.
"Hey yourself." The blonde responds lazily before she watches Faith envelop Teresa in the mother of all hugs.
"Hey kiddo. How you feelin'?"
"Five by five." Ter shrugs and despite how tired she feels, Buffy smiles brightly as her daughter brings a hand to her mouth to cover her yawn. "Tired." She adds truthfully.
Buffy hears Faith chuckle before she puts Terry down on the bed next to Manny; who's still sleeping softly.
"Get some rest Little T." Faith whispers before kissing her forehead, and Buffy's heart melts a little at the sight.
Ter places her head on a pillow and before the Slayers know it, she's fallen asleep.
"You guys made good time." Faith remarks slyly before she watches the blonde stretch languidly.
"Yeah. Traveling at the speed of light does that." Buffy replies with a tired smirk. "How're you doing?" She adds hastily, suddenly concerned.
She watches Faith sigh before she sits on the edge of the bed.
"Relieved you guys are here. Red and Gravis here too?"
"Yeah. Talking with Riley and Xander. The others stayed behind."
Faith nods and shuts her eyes in concentration and all it takes is for Buffy to breathe differently and it's broken.
"Come here." Buffy whispers before she pats the area next to her on the already full bed. "You look like death."
"Gee, thanks." Faith chuckles, but nonetheless, takes the offered seat before she kicks her boots off from her fatigued feet.
Buffy lets her scoot in next to Teresa, knowing full well that the brunette needs to be close to Terry right now. Sighing one last time, she settles close to the edge, relishing the feel of Faith's arms as they slowly and softly envelop her in a cocoon of protection.
Now usually, four people to a double bed doesn't usually sound like a comfortable state of affairs, but right here and now, Buffy feels the most comfortable she's been in years. She's back in the game and she can't wait to kick some ass.