Pleasantly Numb

Both slayers had bright smiles on they're faces as they gasped for air. Although they were both a little tired there was no doubt that the two could still go on a lot longer if they wanted to.

Round two was a complete success, Buffy thought to herself. It took a little more effort on Buffy's part to get the job done fully but she was happy to do it. She never thought she could have that much fun focusing purely on the needs of her partner. But fun was definitely had.

Now the two women simply lay in the bed just enjoying each other's company as they caught they're breath. Like they had done the night before, they're bodies were as close together as they could be. This time Faith's head rested on Buffy's shoulder. They're arms wrapped around each other and legs entwined under the covers.

"Now it's definitely my turn to give you you're props B," Faith said with a smile on her face.

Buffy smiled as well. She kissed the top of Faith's head and then brought a hand up to stroke her dark hair. "Please do."

The younger slayer laughed a little and closed her eyes in contentment. There was nothing on earth that could ruin her good mood. Just as she was about to let her slayer know how wonderful she was, she heard a ringing noise. It took her a second to realize what it was but then remembered that Buffy had a cell phone.

Faith lifted her head from Buffy's shoulders to allow her to get up. The older slayer sat up and leaned over the side of the bed to grab her pants. "It's probably Giles or Dawn," she guessed. The cell phone continued to ring as she reached into her pants pocket. She pulled out the phone, flipped it open and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Dawn, what's up?" Buffy asked. The slayer listened to her sister explain why she was calling. "Umm…I'm actually not with Faith right now. I decided Willow's idea was the best…with the napping and all. No you didn't wake me up," she added quickly. "I actually woke up a little while ago and I was just about to get out of bed."

The slayer then glanced over at the reason why she hadn't gotten out of bed yet and smiled. Faith bit her lower lip and smiled back at her as the other slayer continued to listen to her sister on the other line of the phone. "Good thinking," Buffy responded into the phone. "I'll go see if I can find her and then I'll have her give you a call. Thanks Dawn. I'll see you soon. Bye," she said as she concluded the conversation.

Buffy flipped the cell phone closed to end the call. She continued to hold the phone in her hand as she moved back to her horizontal position on the bed. She wrapped her arm around Faith and gently rested her head on the slayer's stomach. Then she grumbled objectionably. "I think that means we're going to have to get up."

Faith grimaced. "What's the sitch?"

"They've been shopping for a while, found some good stuff but Dawn realized that she doesn't have your bra and underwear sizes," Buffy explained. "She said it's weird enough picking those things out for me and it would be even weirder picking them out for you but she also found the thought of you wearing the same underwear for more then two days in a row completely disgusting."

Faith laughed as she pictured Dawn telling all of this to her big sister. It would have been funny regardless but it was just a little bit funnier in light of resent events that occurred between her and the young girl's older sister.

Buffy laughed a little too and then continued. "So, she figured as awkward as it might be, you would appreciate having clean undergarments to wear."

Faith smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Well the kid has a point."

"That's what I said," Buffy agreed. "So I told her I would find you and have you give her a call back to let her know your sizes."

The dark slayer laughed again. "It's funny isn't it?"

Buffy lifted her head slightly and looked up at her. "What?"

"That you could have easily told her my sizes right then and there," she answered with a suggestive smile.

Buffy just responded to that with a smile and a tender kiss. That was a perfectly good response for Faith. She then reached for the phone in Buffy's hand. "I guess I should call her back then. Or wait a few minutes and then call."

The senior slayer handed her the phone. "Yeah, you probably should, but first…" she started to say. "I think we should talk about what we're going to tell people."

Faith's face turned serious. She could see in Buffy's expression that this was very important to her. These people were Buffy's family, she'd been with them for a long time. "Ok," Faith agreed.

A look of worry creased Buffy's features before she responded. "Ok, please don't take this the wrong way but…I'd like it if we didn't tell any of them anything right now." Faith could tell by the look on Buffy's face that she was worried that this would hurt her feelings.

She quickly continued so as to explain herself fully before letting her fellow slayer think the wrong thing. "This has just all been happening so fast and with everything that's going on right now I think it would just be too confusing to tell them. I think we need to give this some more time before we tell them about us. Wait until the shock of yesterday dies down a little and we actually figure out what we're all going to do with the rest of our lives."

Faith's first instinct was to assume that all of what Buffy was saying was just a nice way of saying that she was ashamed to tell anyone that they were together now. Or, the much scarier thought was that Buffy didn't even think this was going to work out so it was pointless to tell her friends about something that would be over soon anyway. She pushed away both thoughts though as she looked into her slayer's eyes and really listened to her words. She was right. It was just too soon and there was just too much other stuff to deal with right now.

The slayer nodded her head and smiled. "Sounds like a plan, B. And you're right, there's a lot going on. They wouldn't really understand."

"Exactly," Buffy said with a smile. She was glad that Faith understood.

Faith leaned forward and kissed the top of Buffy's head. "Mums the word," she confirmed. "No one will know until we're ready for them to know." Buffy smiled and kissed Faith gratefully.

"Alright," Faith said as she pulled away from the kiss. "You think you can keep your hands off me long enough for me to make this call to your sister?" she challenged.

Buffy sent her a sly smile. "I'm not making any promises."

Faith simply shook her head at the slayer and then opened the cell phone and dialed Dawn's number.

When Dawn, Giles, Xander, Kennedy and the others got back from they're shopping trip it was close to dinner time. At that point Buffy and Faith were fully clothed and separated into they're own rooms. Rather then everyone having dinner all together they tried they're best to find food as cheap as they could individually. After dinner, when everyone was at the motel at the same time they all assembled in the lounge once again as they had early that afternoon.

It was a relaxing time and everyone was simply just kicking back and enjoying each others company. Pretty much everyone was sitting in front of the TV aside from Giles, Willow, Buffy and Kennedy. Rather then watching TV the four of them were seated at a small table drinking tea and chatting.

Giles, Willow and Kennedy were deep in conversation, about what, Buffy wasn't sure. As much as she tried not to she couldn't help but steal a glance or two, or ten, Faith's way. She also couldn't seem to stop smiling. The slayer couldn't even remember the last time she was this happy. She had just averted another apocalypse, there were now tons of girls that could help her with her calling, she could finally have what resembled a normal life, and she was pretty sure she was beginning to start a relationship.

Buffy had been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize she was being spoken to. "Earth to Buffy," she heard Kennedy say.

She shook her head and turned to face her friends. "What…oh…sorry. I guess I went somewhere else for a second there," Buffy responded.

"What were you lookin at?" Willow asked as she turned towards the group watching TV to try and figure out what her friend was staring at.

That made Buffy realize how careless she was being by noticeably staring at Faith. Luckily though, the dark haired slayer was surrounded by other people so it was clearly not obvious what, or who, exactly she was focusing on. "Oh…nothing really. I was just staring out into space."

Kennedy and Giles accepted Buffy's answer and then continued with they're conversation. Willow, however, wasn't giving up that easily. "What's up with you tonight Buffy?" the red head asked. "You've had this smile on your face all night like you won the lottery or something."

Buffy tried to fight back a blush. She wasn't exactly sure how she should respond to that. She knew that Faith was the main reason for her smile but she couldn't tell her best friend that. She just wasn't ready. When Willow sent Buffy a confused look she started to realize something that made her extremely paranoid. 'What if she knows?' Buffy thought to herself. 'She's pretty much a goddess now so she can probably read minds and stuff.'

Willow continued to give her friend a confused glance. "Buffy? Did you leave us again?" she said with a small laugh. "What's going on with you?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She was being overly paranoid. Willow didn't suspect a thing, she couldn't read her mind, and she was just being crazy, obsessed Buffy. "Sorry Will. I'm not really sure what's going on with me," she lied. "I guess I'm just happy it's over. Everything with the first is taken care of and now I'm not the only one responsible for saving the world anymore. I guess that's why I've been so happy."

The witch smiled at her best friend. "Well good then. You should be happy and I'm glad that you're happy."

"Thanks Will," Buffy said as she put her arm around her friend and smiled.

"I figured that was probably it, but for a second there it almost seemed like your 'new boyfriend' smile," Willow responded. "I guess my best friend expression reading skills are a little off."

Wow, Buffy thought to herself, she really does know me well. She let out a small, nervous laugh. "Nope, just the old run of the mill 'happy to be alive' smile is all," she covered up. She knew she wasn't a very good liar so rather then risk Willow asking more questions and realizing she was hiding something she decided to get out of there.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Buffy said. Then she smiled at her friend, stood up and left the table. As she started to walk to the bathroom she quickly glanced at Faith and saw that she was watching her walk away. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the other slayer say something to Xander and Dawn, and then stand up and walk in the same direction she was walking.

This made Buffy smile. Ever since what had happened earlier that afternoon all she wanted to do was be in Faith's arms. She wanted to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her. Once she rounded the corner and was out of view she stopped and waited for the younger slayer.

As Faith walked towards the hallway to the bathrooms she couldn't hold back her enormous smile. She had been waiting for Buffy to leave the room all night so that she could fallow her and hopefully sneak a kiss, or even just to be able to touch her soft skin. When she rounded the corner she found that she wasn't the only one hoping.

Almost immediately after the corner was cleared Buffy pinned her fellow slayer against the wall and passionately pressed her mouth to hers. When they pulled away the taller slayer put her hands on the shorter one's face and smiled. "Damn, I've been waitin for that all night, B."

Buffy smiled back and leaned into Faith's touch. "Me too."

The two slayers then kissed again, this time softer and gentler. When they pulled away they simply leaned they're forehead's against each other's, closed they're eyes and smiled. After a few moments Buffy spoke. "So umm…I was thinking. Maybe tonight, after Dawn goes to bed, I could come over to you're room." As the older slayer said this she flashed Faith a pleading smile while wrapping her arms tightly around the girl's waist.

Faith smiled and rolled her eyes. She was absolutely loving this. There was nothing that could bring down her mood. She playfully bit her lower lip and then responded, "I think that can be arranged."

The other slayer smiled delightfully and kissed her dark haired beauty in thanks.