When Willow woke up in the next morning, she felt surprisingly refreshed, considering what had happened at the Bronze the night before; upon turning over in the bed though, she realized that she apparently had slept much longer than usual, since her partner's side of the bed was empty, showing her that Pat had gotten up already, making it one of the rare days on which she woke up first.
Now that she was fully back in the land of the awake, she could hear rummaging from the kitchen, making it clear to her that her girlfriend was preparing breakfast there; smiling slightly to herself, the redhead got out of bed, taking the time to grab one of Pat's larger t-shirts and putting it on before she moved to the kitchen, finding her partner standing at the stove there, stirring eggs and ham in a frying pan, a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth.
"Make sure no ashes from that fall into the eggs", Willow advised, giggling when her girlfriend jumped slightly, her giggle stopping abruptly though when exactly that action caused what she just had warned the taller woman about; frowning, Pat looked at the ash which now dotted the ham and eggs, then up at her, anything she might have had to say clearly blown out of her mind as her eye widened briefly, but long enough to let the witch notice.
"Jeez, woman", the demon said before Willow had a chance to ask her what was going on, "do you have any idea how hot you look, wearing that shirt and nothing else?"
"Um, no?" the redhead gave back, her cheeks reddening slightly, "and for your information, I'm wearing panties, too."
"Well that's too bad, cause now that I saw you like this, I was planning to throw you on the kitchen table and have my way with you, but I can't do that if you're wearing panties", the black haired woman let her know with an air of regret, making her partner laugh once more while she shook her head and moved closer to her, wrapping her arms around her from behind and trying to peek past her so she could watch her tries to remove the ash from the food.
"You know", she said after a few moments of doing that in silence, "I said I'm wearing panties, not a chastity belt. You could tear them off all wild-like."
"An intriguing thought", Pat smirked, "but if you don't want me to set anything on fire, either with my own flames or by throwing you on that table after all and forgetting the pan right here, you better stop putting such images in my mind."
"Aw, the last time you sat anything on fire when you got those… special feelings was years ago", the witch gave back, smirking as well by now, "and you can just remove the pan before you do anything. No throwing of me though, please."
"You know I'd never literally throw you anywhere", the black haired woman reminded her of this not unimportant fact at once, "but, as much as I'd love to do that, are you sure that's a good idea? After what happened yesterday, maybe we should avoid that you get certain feelings until you did some more meditation."
"I was successfully repressing what happened yesterday, until now", Willow sighed in reply, pouting, "but you're right… We should avoid that. Mel's coming by today for more meditation, right?"
"Yes", Pat confirmed, "and believe me, I'm not happy about that either, but it's better to be safe than sorry. We don't want a repeat of yesterday."
"What exactly happened, anyway?" the witch wanted to know in reply, pushing any thoughts of tables and panties being ripped off aside, "I don't remember anything, as usual, and when I woke up in Giles' car, we were already here, so there was no time for Mel to tell me."
"Well, I don't know all the details, either", the demon shrugged, finally deciding that she had picked all the ash out of the food and concentrating on that again, "Dawn came running outside while Buffy and I were dealing with the vampire and told us the magic has taken over again, so I hurried back inside, Mel put some white magic inside me or something, and when the dark magic tried to leech from me again, it took that instead and was pushed back. At least that's how I understood it."
"Yeah", the redhead gave back, momentarily rubbing her temples as a memory stirred in the back of her mind, "I remember getting up to get us more drinks, cause yours was empty and so was mine, and then some guy… fell against me or something, and he must have ripped off the amulet…"
"Luckily, Xander found it", Pat smiled, "and apparently, Mel did some kind of memory wipe spell to the people at the Bronze, so no one remembers a thing. Long story short, nothing happened, I didn't even get any more grey hair this time."
"And I'm glad about that", Willow reassured her at once, "I would have felt really bad if you'd gotten drained again…"
"No drainage this time", the demon let her know, smiling, "and just to make sure all my batteries are full, we should have that breakfast I so lovingly prepared now. I think I got all the ash."
"I hope so", Willow grimaced, giggling when the taller woman gave her a look, then reminded her of the fact that it had been her fault the ash had been there in the first place, since she had made her jump; afterwards, the couple exchanged a quick, but tender kiss, then Pat took the pan off the stove and divided the food on two plates while the witch readied cutlery and cups for the coffee before they both sat down to have breakfast together, smiling at each other over the table, both of them glad that nothing all too dramatic had happened the evening before.
"Alright", Pat stated several hours later, checking her watch, "Mel should be here any minute now, so I'll go and won't be a distraction. I'll be at the Magic box this time, not the café, Anya got a delivery again and needs help."
"On a Sunday?" Willow wanted to know, surprised, making her partner smile slightly before she shook her head, then explained why the ex-demon needed her help on a Sunday. "She actually got it yesterday, but only told me at the Bronze at the evening, and since you'll be busy for at least two hours…"
"Good point", the witch smiled, "alright, go then, and try to talk her into giving me a discount again for your help."
"Of course", the demon smirked at once, "do you really think I'll haul all the heavy boxes she keeps ordering around for nothing?"
"Just making sure", Willow giggled, then got up from her seat on the couch and moved closer to the taller woman, taking firm hold of her shirt so she could pull her down, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss moments later.
"Take care while you're gone", she softly stated after they had pulled apart again, "you never know what might happen in Sunnydale."
"I'll be careful", Pat reassured her in reply, touched by her concern even though she couldn't really see a reason for it – it was true that one could never know in Sunnydale, but apart from the dark magic within Willow, the only other threats they had to deal with right now were vampires and more or less regular demons, and those mostly just came out at night, thus not really being a threat during the daylight hours.
"You take care too", she added after a moment instead of pointing this out, "and tell Mel to call me again the moment you're finished, alright?"
"Of course, Sweetie", the witch smiled up at her, "you know she always calls you when we're done, I don't even have to tell her anymore."
Having to admit that this was true, the black haired woman nodded her agreement, then bent down for yet another kiss; just when the couple pulled apart again, the doorbell rang, signalling Mel's arrival and at the same time acting as the cue for Pat to leave.
"See you later, then", the demon said, making her partner nod as well; they took the time to kiss briefly once more, then Pat finally made her way to the door and opened it to let Mel in, greeting her while she already put on her shoes and jacket.
"Be nice to my girl", she then added, "and see you soon."
"You know I'm always nice to her", the blonde smiled in reply, making the demon smirk and nod; she took one last glance at her partner, then finally left the apartment, lighting a cigarette the moment the door had closed behind her, humming softly to herself as she made her way to the stairwell and downstairs, leaving the apartment building just a few minutes later.
Even though she didn't really feel like going to the Magic Box and moving around heavy boxes there, she didn't dawdle on her way there, reminding herself of the discount she'd promised Willow to get for her and how happy it would make her partner; even after all the years they been together, she still loved it to do something that made her girlfriend's face light up with that special kind of smile she always got on her face whenever something really good happened.
By the time the Magic Box appeared in the distance, she could see that Anya was already waiting in front of the door, briefly making her wonder why she hadn't just gone inside; then, the ex-demon spotted her, as well, and waved enthusiastically, making her smirk slightly despite her lack of motivation to do the work waiting for her.
"There you are!" Anya greeted her the moment she was close enough to hear her, still hollering loud enough to make several other people on the sidewalks turn their heads and look at her, "I've been waiting forever! Was Mel late?"
"Yeah, kinda", Pat gave back, raising her voice as well, "sorry 'bout that. But hey, I'm here now, right?"
"Yes, thankfully", the ex-demon sighed out, digging out her key and unlocking the door, "let's not waste any more time, then."
"Yeah, let's not", the taller woman agreed, following her through the store to the door which led to the storage area, "but before I get started, let's talk about the discount you'll give Willow for this, alright?"
"Fifteen percent on her next purchase", Anya replied at once, clearly already having expected that, "and don't try to haggle!"
"Come on, you know me better than that", Pat smirked as an answer, making the brunette roll her eyes. "Twenty-five percent on her next purchase."
"Are you insane?" the ex-demon claimed to know, "I'm willing to go up to eighteen, and not one more!"
"Twenty-two and no less", the black haired woman kept up the haggling in reply, clearly not willing to accept this; huffing, Anya crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at her, looking slightly dismayed when Pat didn't appear all too impressed.
"Twenty", Anya tried to find an acceptable discount anyway, only to groan at the demon's immediate response. "Twenty for her next two purchases here, then it's a deal."
"Fine!" the ex-demon nearly cried out, throwing her hands up, "God! You're impossible!"
"I learned from you", Pat shrugged, smirking; Anya huffed once more and glared at her, then led her into the storage area so they could get started with the work, still grumbling and mumbling about being ripped off, giving her best to ignore the demon's obvious amusement about her dismay.
Two hours later, long after the last boxes had been moved, Pat was sitting at the table normally used for Scoobie meetings, drinking coffee and reading the book she had brought along; figuring that Mel would call any minute now, Anya didn't bother throwing her out so she could close up the shop again, doing some long overdue paperwork instead.
For another thirty minutes, she kept herself busy with that, the only sounds being the noises she was making as she shuffled through her papers and the soft noise of Pat turning a page in more or less regular intervals; then, Anya checked her watch and frowned, looking at the demon afterwards.
"Shouldn't they be done by now?" she wanted to know, prompting Pat to look at her before she frowned and checked her watch, her frown deepening when she saw that the usual two hours had passed without a call from Mel.
"I guess so", she then had to admit, "but maybe it's taking longer this time, who knows. I for sure don't, I know next to nothing about all that magic stuff."
"You really should learn", Anya gave back, shrugging when the demon raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" she then went on. "What with your girlfriend being such a powerful witch and everything, you should take an interest in that."
"Well, I learned a few things since we got together", Pat defended herself, not even sure why she was doing so, after all, she didn't really need to justify herself to the ex-demon, "but maybe I just lack the talent or something, cause I can barely ever remember all the words and stuff. The only spell I can do for sure is the one that lets people borrow my healing."
"At least that's a useful spell", Anya shrugged, then dropped the topic as she continued, making the demon smirk slightly. "And I really don't want to kick you out, but we're done here and so is my paperwork, so…"
"No problem", the taller woman reassured her, getting up from her seat, "and you're not kicking me out. I bet she'll call any minute now anyway…"
"Alright then", Anya smiled, clearly relieved that she hadn't offended the black haired woman with her thinly veiled request, "and say Hi to Willow and Mel for me, will you?"
"Of course", Pat reassured her, then made her way to the front door of the store; there, she had to wait for Anya to unlock it for her, and once this had been done, she stepped outside, waiting for her phone to start blaring out one of her favourite guitar riffs in her pocket while she started to walk back to the apartment building.
To her dismay, the phone remained quiet though, briefly making her unsure of what to do next when she arrived at the building; after checking her watch once more, she saw that by now, almost three hours had passed, and after quick consideration, the demon decided to have one coffee in the café she had visited so frequently before she'd go upstairs and check on the two, telling herself that she could sneak into the apartment without being noticed and thus wouldn't disturb them – she had been an assassin for roughly two centuries, after all.
By now, she'd been at the café so often that the waiter recognized her at once – not that it was hard to forget her quickly, she wryly thought to herself, after all, even in Sunnydale, a one-eyed woman with by now three colours in her hair was quite the sight – and called out a greeting, then asked her if she'd have the usual; nodding at him, Pat quickly found an empty booth and sat down there, trying to concentrate on her book again as she waited for both the coffee and her phone to ring.
Even though she gave her best not to worry, she found herself growing more and more uneasy with every minute that passed, by now convinced that something had gone horribly wrong; still, she forced herself to drink the coffee at normal speed once it had been served to her, not wanting to gulp it down, telling herself that surely, there was a reason for the delay of Mel's call.
Maybe it takes longer because the dark magic took over yesterday, she tried to reason with herself, there's surely nothing to worry about, you know Mel knows what she's doing, everything's fine…
Convincing herself of this worked until her cup had been emptied – just a tad faster than usual, at least, this she had managed – then she decided that she had waited long enough and that it was time to check on her partner, telling herself that it had been almost four hours now and that something had to be going on if it took the two witches twice as long as usual to finish.
Calling out her goodbye to the waiter, Pat thus hurried out of the café and across the street to the apartment building; quickly, she unlocked the front door and entered, not even bothering with waiting for the elevator, but taking the stairs, almost running up, now not able to keep her worry down any longer. Still she forced herself to slow down as she reached the second floor, not wanting to go thundering down the hallway and maybe interrupt something; as quietly as possible, she unlocked the apartment door, then sneaked inside, closing it just as silently as she had opened it.
For a moment, she stood as still as a statue, listening for any sounds that might indicate trouble; what she did hear made her frown slightly to herself, and for a moment, she wondered if she had imagined it, after all, it had been quite the soft sound… Then, it reached her ears again, a low moan she immediately recognized as coming from Willow, her heart hammering up to her throat as various unpleasant scenarios which might have caused such a sound came up in front of her inner eye. Still, despite her worries, she gave her best to remain quiet as she moved down the hallway and to the living room; to her surprise, she found it empty, but before she could start looking, the moan came yet again, and once more, her heartbeat tripled when she realized that it was coming from the bedroom.
The side effects must be really bad this time if Mel even forgot to call me, she thought to herself as she made her way to the door, I have to remember to scold… She pushed the door open and all her thoughts stopped as she froze on the spot, unable to comprehend the scene in front of her. When she had heard the moan, she hadn't thought for a single second that it could be a sign for anything else than discomfort; only now, she realized that it was exactly the sound Willow most often made during their times of intimacy, a noise she never would have thought anyone else could get from her, not as long as they were together.
"What the…" she croaked, then fell silent as she realized how her voice sounded – as if someone had suckerpunched her and knocked all the air out of her lungs, something which wasn't surprising to her, though, after all, finding her girlfriend in bed with Mel, clearly doing something which had nothing to do with meditation and which she only should be doing with her felt quite much like just that.
Even though her voice hadn't been all too loud or clear, it apparently had been heard by the two women kissing deeply on the bed, since they jumped apart as if someone had struck them; and after a second, Willow also looked as if just that had happened, her eyes widening while her face paled drastically.
"Oh my God", she brought out, her voice trembling, "Pat… oh my God, this isn't… let me…"
"Don't", the demon interrupted her hoarsely, not sure which of the emotions running through her was the strongest – there was anger, disappointment, sadness and the kind of pain she only had felt before once, when she had thought that Willow had died after throwing herself into a chasm with a possessed Amy to save them all.
"Don't even try to explain", she added, fighting down the anger to keep herself from just rushing to the bed and breaking Mel's neck, smoke rising from her tightly clenched fists nonetheless despite her best attempts, "that'd insult my intelligence. And your own."
"But… it's not what you think…" Willow started, nearly flinching back when her partner's good eye narrowed and even briefly flashed up red; for a few moments, the two stared at each other while Mel sat up and nonchalantly ran one hand through her tousled hair, the demon starting to growl lowly in the back of her throat when the movement exposed her neck and something which only could be a hickey on the skin there.
"Pat, please", the redhead started again, trying to sort her jumbled thoughts into a coherent fashion so she could try and explain, "just… give me a minute…"
In response, the taller woman just shook her head, not sure what might come out of her mouth if she'd try to say anything; she took another look at her partner, then, without another word, turned and left, ignoring it when Willow desperately called out her name, the sound of the apartment door slamming shut hard enough to make it shake in the frame being the only answer the witch got.