"It's summer break. She can stay up late and play with her Xbox as much as she likes."
"Newsflash Buffy. It's MY Xbox, not hers."
"You can have the Xbox when you prise it from her cold dead hands." Buffy joked, then realised that in Sunnydale cold dead hands could put up an extremely vigorous fight. Xander just grunted.
"She is SO not coming anywhere near my Babylon 5 plates." Xander checked the clock. "We better get moving or we'll be late for work."
"Leave the dishes for Dawn?"
Xander thought it a bit harsh for a moment, but then remembered his Xbox.
"Let's go."
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Omnes viae hominis purae sunt oculis eius, spirituum ponderator est Dominus.
(All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives.)
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"The District School Board called, they want to talk about the science block." Buffy informed Mr Robinson as he returned to the office.
"Good, maybe it means that they've finally decided to give the go ahead. They've been stalling on the final decision for so long that it's not going to be ready before the school officially opens." Jim groused. The one thing he hated was indecision. In the Corps they taught him that indecision could be deadly.
"Did you and Xander get a chance to look over the blue prints?"
The School board's decision to clear away the rubble and rebuild the new school on top of the old one was, in Buffy's opinion, the stupidest idea in the history of California.
Which was saying a lot.
Xander had gotten a copy of the old school blue prints and compared them to the new ones. His concern was the location of the Hellmouth.
"Have they announced the name of the new principal yet?" Buffy asked her boss who shook his head.
"I haven't heard anything at the PTA, why?"
"Guess whose office now sits on top of the Hellmouth?"
Jim Robinson was blessed with an ability at appreciate the dark side of life.
"I always thought as a kid that getting called into the principal's office was a one way ticket to hell." He laughed.
"Maybe he can keep the tradition of principal snacks."
"What?"
"The last two principals got eaten. The first one by hyena possessed students, the last by a giant evil mayor snake."
"Hey, don't blame me. I vote straight ticket Republican."
Buffy handed Jim a large pile of files and letters for his signature.
"You know, when Emily was here, I didn't have half the paperwork you seem to be dumping on me." Complained Jim. Buffy laughed.
"That's because Emily could forge your signature. My talents lie elsewhere."
Jim chuckled and headed into his office with his paperwork.
"That they do, Buffy. That they do."
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Ei autem, qui operatur, merces non reputatur secundum gratiam sed secundum debitum;
(Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.)
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It was a Saturday and the two Summers sisters were out in the backyard.
"OK, you remember what I taught you?"
Buffy had decided that Dawn would be safer if she knew how to defend herself better. With the Magic Box out of commission they were forced to use the backyard as a training ground. At the moment Buffy was teaching Dawn basic throwing techniques.
"Yeah, yeah. I gotta use my hips."
They assumed their positions; Dawn standing in the ready position with Buffy standing behind her. After a couple of seconds Buffy grabbed Dawn from behind, the idea being that Dawn would use a simple hip toss to dislodge the Slayer.
That was the idea anyway.
The rather than sending Buffy crashing into the grass, Dawn was the one who ended up landing flat on her pert little butt.
Dawn's frustration at botching the throw was compounded by embarrassment as she saw Xander leaning up against the back door watching them.
"What are you so happy about?" Buffy asked Xander who looked pretty contented.
"Let's see... two beautiful young women... getting all hot and sweaty... What's not to be happy about? Hell, my eyes haven't feasted on such a wonderful sight since you and Faith trained together." Xander admitted then looked over to Dawn and winked at her "Mind you, Dawnie is ten times sexier than Faith and hasn't tried killing me either which just adds to the attraction."
Dawn blushed a deep red as her insides got all fluttery at the flattery. Buffy on the other hand was glaring daggers at Xander.
"Keep hitting on my sister and I'M gonna kill you." Buffy growled. Xander decided to take his life into his own hands and have some fun at Buffy's expense.
"Now, I'm not the Slayer or anything and in six years I've not once been offered training." Xander couldn't resist the jab at Buffy "But I've been around long enough to figure out what the problem is here."
"Problem?" Buffy challenged.
"Yeah. Two actually. First problem is the fact that no matter what you do Dawn, you'll never have the strength or speed or instincts of a Slayer. I've noticed a couple of times when Buffy's forgotten that and gotten annoyed when you didn't get something straight away. You're good, really good Dawnie, but Buffy's got to remember to take things a little slower with us mere mortals."
"And the second thing?" Buffy asked; her temper cooled a little. Xander's observation was a valid one.
"Buffy, you're trying to show Dawn how to do a hip throw. How? You don't have hips, not since high school anyway."
Dawn burst out laughing as an outraged Buffy charged Xander down and slapped him around the shoulders and arms. In a huff, Buffy sat down on the back step and pouted.
"You don't like my teaching methods? Fine. YOU teach Dawn."
"I will."
Xander wandered over to where Dawn stood.
"Okey doekey. The hip toss. Handy when a vamp sneaks up behind you for a nibble on your neck. You want me to show you or do you want to practice it some more?"
"I wanna practice." Dawn decided.
Xander took position behind Dawn. He waited a couple of seconds then grabbed Dawn like a vampire would. However, Dawn, rather than tossing Xander as she was supposed to, just stood there, a naughty smile appearing on her face.
"Umm... Dawnie... Dawn... anytime now." Xander prompted. In response Dawn leaned back and snuggled into Xander's chest.
"DAWN!" Buffy bellowed. Dawn let loose a frightened squeal and the next thing Xander saw was ground and then sky before landing heavily on his back, winding him. Buffy and Dawn rushed to him to make sure he was ok.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Dawn apologized profusely.
"Are you alright?" Buffy asked the prostrate Scooby.
"I'm good." He told them as he regained his breath. He knew he'd have a sore back for a day or two after this. Still on the ground, he looked up at the two Summers sisters.
"All we need to do now is take you" he pointed to Dawn "on patrol and get you" he pointed to Buffy "to yell at her" he pointed back at Dawn "and we'll have all our vampire problems fixed in no time."
Buffy helped Xander to his feet. Xander straightened up gingerly and headed inside.
"Aren't you going to keep training Dawn any more?" Buffy teased.
"Hell no! You girls play too rough for me. I'm going to take a relaxing bath."
"Need a hand with that?" Dawn asked hopefully.
"NO!" Buffy and Xander yelled at the same time. Dawn pouted.
"Ruin my fun."
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Usquequo, piger, dormies? Quando consurges e somno tuo?
(How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?)
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