"Hi Pat", Anya greeted the demon quite cheerfully as she entered the store, making it obvious that so far, it had been a good day for her – if sales were slow, she tended to be grumpy and not smile as wide as she was right in this moment – then amused the taller woman by trying to look past her, as if she suspected that Willow was hiding somewhere behind her.
"Where's Willow?" she added after a moment during which she hadn't been able to spot the witch anywhere, "normally, you only come here alone when I ask you for help with a delivery, and I didn't."
"Nope, you didn't", the demon confirmed, moving to the table normally used for Scoobie meetings and sitting down there, "but Mel's at our place right now, doing some mediation thingy with Willow to get the magic back under control, and she asked me to leave cause I'd be distracting. So, I figured I'd come here and see if you need help with anything."
"That's so kind of you!" Anya beamed, smiling brightly, "but unfortunately, I have no big boxes you could move around for me. Would you like some coffee? It's only a dollar!"
"You're selling coffee now?" Pat wanted to know, frowning, "are you allowed to do that? I thought you'd need some sort of extra license."
"Oh, I don't offer coffee to customers", the ex-demon clarified, "only to you guys. You know, Scoobie Gang members."
"So you're gonna charge us?" the taller woman nearly cried out, giving Anya an indignant look, "you're kidding, right? Anya, you don't charge your friends for drinks."
"Xander said the same", Anya pouted, "but I don't see why not! I have to pay for the ingredients for the coffee, and you should compensate me."
"Oh come on", Pat huffed, rolling her eye before she gave the ex-demon another incredulous look, "the coffee you use here is the cheapest available, and I know it costs like three dollars a pack. One dollar per cup is ripping us off, not us compensating you."
"So how much are you willing to pay?" Anya wanted to know, missing the point for a mile and making the demon roll her eye once more, the indignation still dominating in her voice when she answered. "Nothing, because you don't charge your friends for drinks when they drop by. That's just not cool. Imagine Willow and I did that whenever one of you guys is at our place and drinks something there!"
"Nothing's stopping you", Anya shrugged, "but fine, if you're so agitated by the thought of giving me a dollar, I'll give you the coffee for free."
"Thanks", Pat dryly gave back, prompting the ex-demon to roll her eyes before she moved behind the counter, finding a cup beneath it and filling it with the coffee she always kept there in case anyone of the gang dropped by and wanted some.
"So", she then said, as she added the four spoons of sugar she knew the demon liked, then poured a bit of milk into it, "do you think this Mel person will be able to help Willow?"
"I surely hope so", Pat sighed, accepting the cup when Anya handed it to her and thanking her, "it was getting kinda stressful to worry about that dark magic taking over all the time. Not to mention that the last time it took over, it leeched from me."
"I was wondering about the grey hair, but I thought it'd be rude to ask", the ex-demon gave back, prompting Pat to raise an eyebrow, her voice dry when she replied. "Really. That must have been a first."
"Don't be rude, now", Anya chided, "I just gave you free coffee."
"I wasn't rude, I was just honest", the demon protested, then gave her a sharp look as she spoke on. "And don't get started about the coffee again."
"Okay, okay", the brunette replied, rolling her eyes again; before she could make another comment about how she still thought that asking to be paid for the coffee was fair, the little bell above the door rang, signalling the entrance of another customer, and she hurried over to help the woman while Pat picked up a book at random and started to read, trying to pass the time until her phone would ring and she'd be told that she could come back home.
It took almost one and a half hours until the cell phone finally started blaring away in the demon's pocket, making Anya jump at the unexpected heavy guitars that echoed through the store; she gave the taller woman a reproachful look, which Pat skilfully ignored while she got the phone out, involuntarily smiling when she saw that it was Willow calling her.
"Hey Sweetie", she said after taking the call, "how'd it go?"
"I don't think Willow would like it that you call me Sweetie", Mel's voice answered her, prompting the demon to let out a startled little noise, with which she made the witch laugh slightly before she went on. "I promise I won't tell her though. It went surprisingly well, seeing it was the first session, but you should come here quickly. Willow's not… feeling all too well."
"I'm on my way", the black haired woman replied at once, then ended the call without another word and tucked the phone into her pocket again while she started moving already, calling out to Anya that she had to go and not even seeing the ex-demon nod in reply anymore as she already was hurrying towards the shop's front door.
Just like she had told Willow, she didn't bother walking back to the apartment, but made her way there with a mix of jogging and running; to her dismay, she still felt the effect the dark magic's leeching of her power had had on her, running out of breath unsettlingly quickly, well aware of the fact that, under normal conditions, she would have been able to run all the way.
Despite the limitations put upon her, she still made it to the apartment in record time; when she stepped out of the elevator, the door was already open and Mel was waiting for her, momentarily making her wonder how the blonde had known that she had arrived, a question which was answered seconds later.
"I was looking out the window, waiting for you", the witch explained, having noticed the surprised expression on the demon's face, "you were quite fast. Willow's in the bedroom."
"Alright, thanks", Pat gave back, nodding when Mel told her that she'd leave now and that she'd left her phone number on the living room table; not even bothering to glance there, the demon took off her shoes and jacket as fast as possible, then hurried to the bedroom, her heart leaping up to her throat when she spotted her partner on the bed there, buried beneath two blankets and still shivering violently.
"Sweetie", she carefully spoke up, not wanting to startle her partner, "Mel called me, and I ran here, like I promised… how are you feeling?"
"Cold", the redhead brought out through chattering teeth, "and t-t-tired…"
In response, Pat took the time to check the radiator in the room, glad to see that someone had turned it to full blast; the room was already warming up, but still Willow was trembling beneath her blankets, her teeth chattering so hard that the demon could hear it where she was standing.
"Do you feel nauseous?" she carefully asked as she moved over to the bed, remembering what Willow had told her about the possible side effects of the work she had to do with Mel; to her relief, the witch shook her head, her voice trembling along with the rest of her when she spoke up again. "C-could you ju-just hold me…?"
"Of course", the demon gave back at once, joining the redhead in the bed moments later and pulling her into a tender embrace; at once, Willow almost clung to her, still shaking from head to toe, small beads of sweat now forming on her forehead and slowly rolling down her face.
"I didn't th-think it'd b-be this b-bad", she brought out, briefly closing her eyes when the demon responded by caressing her back tenderly, "and i-it's just been the f-first session…"
"I'm sure it'll be better soon", the taller woman tried to give her some comfort in reply, even though deep down, she wasn't too sure of it – while she had been at the Magic Box, Anya had mentioned some unpleasant details about the first withdrawal Willow had gone through, and after hearing those things from the ex-demon, Pat feared that for a while, it'd get even worse before there'd be any improvement.
Since she didn't want to upset her partner in her current state though, she wisely kept those thoughts to herself and just did what Willow had asked her to do; she held her until the shaking finally slowed down, then stopped fully, the witch now feeling tired and drained, but at least not so awfully cold anymore.
"Feel better?" Pat asked as soon as her partner had stopped trembling; turning slightly in the embrace so she could look at her, Willow nodded, momentarily startling the demon with how pale her face was and the dark rings which had formed beneath her eyes, looking almost like bruises.
"A bit", the redhead muttered, smiling weakly when the taller woman moved one hand to caress her hair, a heavy yawn escaping her moments later.
"I' tired", she added, stating something which was quite obvious; smiling as well, Pat pulled her even closer to herself, telling her to get some rest then while she did so.
"I know you're not tired", Willow mumbled in reply, already sounding as if she was half-asleep, "but will you stay here with me?"
"Of course", the demon reassured her at once, making her smile again; yawning once more, she snuggled even closer to the taller woman, closing her eyes after she had made herself comfortable and quickly drifting off into sleep, Pat holding her close to her as she slumbered peacefully, looking up at the ceiling and asking herself how much worse things might get before everything would be under control again.