"I'll go first," Xander said with barely controlled excitement. He leaned over, knocking his shoulder against Cordelia's in his haste to retrieve the plastic Coke bottle from the coffee table, and not seeming to notice her resulting glare. After he quickly dumped a few coasters and magazines off the coffee table surface, clearing it off, he motioned for Faith to get down off it. Apparently her presence would disrupt the bottle's movement or something. Her mouth twisting wryly, Faith slid to the floor, kneeling on fairly close to where Buffy was sitting on the couch.

"Okay, okay, we need to spread out a little," Xander said quickly, gesturing, and Oz slid down to the floor opposite Faith, Willow and Buffy scooting away from each other as Xander also edged away from Cordelia more. "Just so the way it's pointed is very clear. And guys, if the bottle points at you, it points at you. You kiss. On the lips! No getting out of it! No ifs, ands, or buts!"

"No butts?" Faith repeated, grinning wickedly. "Don't you like G-strings, X-Man?"

As Xander blinked, then flushed, clearly having vivid visuals about her words, and Cordelia glowered, Willow looked between them in slight contempt. "He was talking about conjunctions, Faith. You were, right?" she said with sudden uncertainty, looking over at Xander.

"Uh… sure, I guess," Xander muttered, reluctantly dragging his eyes up to Willow's. "Uh, what's a conjunction?"

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Faith said innocently, rocking back and forth on her heels. "We getting started or what, X-Man?"

Buffy thought she saw Faith glancing at her quickly as she spoke, thought she saw something flicker in her eyes, a line of thought she couldn't follow. But as soon as she began to pay closer attention, began to try and interpret it, Faith was looking away, her expression as nonchalant as usual.

"Yeah, yeah," Xander responded quickly. "Okay, so I go first. I spin, I kiss the lucky spin-ee that the bottle points at, then it's her turn to spin. Repeat, repeat, repeat."

"So…how do you win?" Willow asked a bit nervously. "Is there some kind of system of points or something? How do you know the game is over?"

She flushed, squirming, as everyone turned to stare at her in amazement. Cordelia's eyebrows rose nearly to her forehead, and Faith started to chuckle raspily, shaking her head.

"God, you're cute, Red," she snickered, "I'd pat your head or pinch your cheeks or something, but I'd have to lay across B's lap to do it. And you know how Blondie here would handle that one."

"What?" Buffy said quickly, her attention snapping to Faith, both panic and anger coloring her tone, as Willow spoke up defensively.

"Well, hey, Miss Sex-sex-sex, I, I have never played this game before, and it just seems to me that most games have something you have to do to win, or at least end it-"

"That's not the way this one works, Willow," Oz said quietly.

Faith, still grinning, said, "Red, the game ends when someone pukes, bites the other person's tongue hard enough for it to bleed, at least one couple has a screaming match, or someone starts crying hysterically. If none of the above occurs, then there's no telling."

Willow's face wrinkled apprehensively as she looked at Faith, then Xander, with obvious second thoughts. Yet she also clearly suspected that the brunette Slayer might be exaggerating just a tad. Buffy barely noticed her friend's anxiety; she was too busy watching Faith herself, her eyes narrowed as she thought almost obsessively about her casual earlier words about how Buffy would handle Faith sprawling on her lap. Why had Faith said that? Had she really meant it only in jest, was she just being her usual innuendo-spewing self again, or was that purposely meant to be a jab at Buffy? Was Faith really switching personas as rapidly as Buffy felt she was, shuttling between contrasting behaviors and actions every few hours- or was that all in Buffy's head? Was she making too much out of everything, seeing things that weren't there? Or was she missing something? What did Faith really want from her, want to be to her… or did she want anything at all? Was it really Faith at all, or was all this Buffy?

She didn't know… and she found herself staring at Faith so intensely, frowning so hard at her own puzzling, that she almost entirely missed what Xander was saying.

"Hey, none of that's going to happen," he said in response to Faiths' comment to Willow, seeming eager to squash the other Slayer's negativity. He was probably afraid they'd all quit before they even started. "It's just for fun, we're all cool with each other, it's just a little fun with friends. Isn't it? Can't we just have a little fun between friends here? With a little lip-age involved" he said almost pleadingly.

"This lippage here, none of it includes any tongue-age, does it?" Cordelia asked pointedly.

"And none of you kiss-buddies here can get mad," Faith added with an arched eyebrow, smiling slyly. "Since it's just a game and all. Fun between friends."

Willow and Cordelia looked at her sharply, not liking the sound of her tone. Buffy frowned too.

"Faith-"

"Yeah, she's right," Xander said quickly- and was that Buffy's imagination, or had he looked at Willow almost guiltily when he said that? "No tongue, no backing out, no getting mad. That about covers it. So… let's go."

He reached for the bottle and spun it, leaning forward in eager anticipation.

"Round and round she goes… where she stops…"

As the bottle came to a slow settling, Xander's face tensed in excitement… an excitement that quickly faltered when the bottle came to rest before Cordelia.

"Cordy…" he said, the disappointment in his voice and eyes all too obvious as his shoulders dropped. Faith snickered, and Buffy and Willow couldn't help but smile at the irony as Cordelia glared at him.

"Gee, Xander, you sound so excited," she snapped, her brown eyes flashing dangerously. "Mind explaining why kissing me would make you look like someone kicked your puppy?"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, of course I'm excited! I get to kiss you! Wow!" Xander said quickly, trying without much success to subtly rearrange his features into a more suitably thrilled expression. Before Cordelia could snipe back at him, he leaned over quickly, giving her a long, lingering kiss no doubt meant to dispel her irritation. At first Cordy held herself stiff, not wanting to give in, but after a few seconds, she kissed him back in an aggressive way, as if displaying her possession and skill.

Xander was a bit breathless when they moved apart; Willow was carefully averting her eyes, obviously uncomfortable, and Oz's expression was as calm as ever. Buffy found herself glancing at Faith. The other Slayer's eyebrows were cocked, and her lips tipped up in an amused little smile that somehow didn't reflect in her eyes.

"Give me the stupid bottle," Cordelia ordered, as though she had just proved a point to someone. As Oz handed it to her, she spun it clumsily, not managing to make it turn more than a few revolutions.

The bottle mouth came to a stop before Oz. The two looked at each other, the taller Cordelia's eyes widening, then narrowing in disgust; Oz's facial expression didn't change, but something shifted in his eyes. Willow's eyes widened too, and she looked with some anxiety between them, shifting in discomfort.

"Oh, man, this I gotta see," Faith chuckled, adjusting her seated position as her eyes drank in the unlikely duo's expression.

Xander, however, didn't seem quite as amused; instead, his features stiffened suddenly, and his lips pressed together as though he were trying to keep himself from speaking his thoughts. This, however, didn't seem to last for very long.

"Well, are you gonna go, or what?" he asked with at tone walking a thin line between anxiety and impatience. "What's with the staring, are you just trying to heighten the level of suspense?"

"Not staring," Oz said calmly. "More like regarding."

"Okay, is that jealousy I hear?" Cordelia snapped, looking away from Oz and glowering at Xander all too quickly. It was as if she were glad for something to focus on other than her prospective kiss. "Because just who was it who suggested this game, Mr. I-can-make-out-with-whoever-I-want-and-it's-just-a-game-but-my-girlfriend-doing-the-same-is-a-problem? That is so typical. Well you wanted to play, so I'm gonna play, Xander. Since I'm such a good sport and a team player and all that."

Getting to her feet with huffy dignity, Cordelia strode over to where Oz was sitting on the floor between Willow and Xander, knocking hard against Xander's knees as she did so. Without bothering to sit, she knelt and kissed him on the lips. It was a short, obviously passionless kiss, more of a hard pressure against his lips than anything else, and Oz was not given enough time to return it. Having made her point, or assuming she had, Cordelia sashayed back to her spot, flouncing down and looking at Xander pointedly.

"Gee, what a fun game, Xander. I know I'm having fun. Are you having fun now?"

"Hey, I'm having fun," Faith smirked. "Even if I'm getting in on the action, there's something to be said for the Peeping Tom routine."

As Cordelia turned her withering expression to the other brunette, Oz, seeing the slightly puckered expression of Willow, smiled at her gently. He reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly before reaching for the bottle. He had already set it on the coffee table and spun it before everyone paid enough attention to realize he'd set the game in motion again. Willow frowned slightly as she leaned forward unconsciously, watching.

When the bottle mouth came to a stop in front of her, she smiled with a relief that was more obvious than she probably realized. Oz smiled back.

"It's all in the twist of the wrist," he mumbled, just loud enough for Willow, and Buffy beside her, to hear. Buffy smiled as Willow's smile deepened, happy for her friend and her boyfriend's sensitivity to her. As Oz moved closer to Willow, cupping her face in his hands and leaning in to kiss her softly, Faith exhaled beside Buffy, seeming in agreement with Xander's disappointment.

"What's with all the people who are already couples picking each other? Is there some kind of set up going on here, or what?" she muttered. She stretched her arms up over her head, popping her back, and causing her torso to elongate and thrust out her chest. Buffy found her eyes drifting in the younger Slayer's direction involuntarily, skimming her face, then lowering. She made herself look away- it wasn't like she was interested, of course. It was just that Faith was moving around, so obviously she was a little distracted by it.

As Oz and Willow withdrew from each other, smiling in the glowing, slightly goofy manner of two who adored each other, Willow reached for the bottle, a measure of nervousness returning to her eyes… but also a bit of guilty excitement.

"All righty, my turn, the bottle is about to spin," she mumbled. "Again. The bottle is to spin again… that rhymes. Hee hee…"

"So, spin it," Cordelia snapped impatiently. Willow set her jaw, spinning the bottle a little harder than necessary. Everyone's eyes widened as it came to a stop before a certain dark-haired Slayer, pointing directly at her still-thrust chest. As Willow's eyes grew round, and she bit her lip, looking from the bottle to Faith to the basement steps in rapid succession, Faith laughed in surprise, putting her arms back down and grinning with impish glee.

"Ooh, looks like I'm about to get in on the action after all!"

"Wait- wait, can we do that?" Willow asked anxiously, her brow furrowing as she looked around pleadingly at the others. "I mean, I'm a girl- and Faith's a girl- so we're, we're both girls, and- can we do that, is there a rule-"

"Oh yeah, yeah, you totally can do that, Will!" Xander said quickly, his tone overly earnest. "There's a rule, all right, and the rule is you have to do it. On the lips- no cheek stuff, no passing- nope, we are about to see lip to lip action between two girls, because that is the rules, and all of us here, we follow the rules!"

"So is that what you're doing when you copy Willow's homework, Xander?" Buffy asked in all mock innocence, and Cordelia piped up with fire in her eyes, "Yeah, Xander, is that what you're doing when you tell my father we're going to 'study'?"

"That's different," Xander muttered, looking away quickly, before turning back to Willow and Faith. "Come on you guys, you heard the rules when we started this, you know you have to follow them. You are going to, right?" he asked with some worry.

"Oh yeah, sure we will," Faith smirked, "you know me, always one to play by the rules. Come on, Red, let's show them how it's done," she said, beckoning at the other girl with exaggerated sultriness.

Willow hesitated, apprehensive, as well as a little resentful and repulsed, at least outwardly. She had never really liked Faith, Buffy thought suddenly, as she, along with the others, watched the two girls. Or at least, she disapproved of a lot of things Faith said and did, the way she acted sometimes…

As Faith crooked her finger at Willow a second time, still grinning in seeming amusement, the redhead glanced at Oz, seeming to derive reassurance when he smiled at her. She stood reluctantly, making her way over to Faith as Xander's eyes almost popped, and he leaned forward. Buffy found that she was watching closely too, her muscles tense… why?

As Willow awkwardly stood over Faith, trying to bend down to give Faith a quick peck, Faith grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Stretching herself up higher on her haunches, still holding Willow's wrist in one hand, she put her other hand behind Willow's head, drawing the older girl's face down to hers. Their lips met in a kiss that wasn't more than a few seconds long, but somehow seemed more, with the dramatic build up Faith had put into it. She hadn't kissed Willow either hard or deeply, nor too soft, but with a firm pressure and length that seemed as if she, like Cordelia, were determined to prove a point.

When she let go of Willow in all seeming casualness, looking up at the others with the barest hint of a leer twisting her full lips, she was met all around with the reactions she must have expected. Willow's face had reddened, and her hand jerked, as if she were trying to keep herself from wiping her mouth. She kept glancing at Oz with guilt and embarrassment, as well as a little flash of anger sparking her gaze. However, her eyes kept drifting back to Faith in a way that seemed to say she hadn't entirely suffered through the experience.

Oz, as usual, was hard to read; Xander, with his eyes shining in a mixture of joy and guilt, and Cordelia, with her glower and crossed arms, wasn't.

"Not bad, Red," Faith remarked casually, stretching her arms out again. "Did you learn all that from Wolfboy here? Maybe he's hotter stuff than he looks."

As she reached for the bottle and Willow slunk back to her seat, Buffy found that she was staring into her lap, her ears burning and her stomach knotting in something like anger. Not at Willow or Faith, not exactly. It was irrational, a meaningless, almost petty feeling that didn't make sense. The way she had felt back when she was just starting to date Angel, and she had seen the way Cordelia had hung all over him…

Jealousy- but how could she be feeling jealousy? Why would she be? It didn't make any sense- it didn't- why would she be jealous watching Willow and Faith kiss?

Do you really want to go there again, Buffy? Do you really need to analyze that question?