"Willow", Giles greeted another hour later, sounding slightly surprised as he looked up from the book he had been leafing through and at the witch entering the store, as always when she had appeared here lately holding hands with her lover. At the table in the middle of the shop, Xander, Anya, Dawn and Buffy were sitting, the Slayer clearly struggling to hold back a smile; she had to admit that Pat was putting up quite the act, looking rather dazed as she stood next to the witch – before she remembered that the couple had had several hours alone before they had come here, the way they had spent those hours most likely responsible for the expression on her face.
"Did we mix up schedules?" Giles now asked, snapping the book close and putting it back on the shelf, throwing the witch a worried glance. "I've been working on that potion I talked to you about, but it's not done yet…"
"I hope it won't make me fart again", Pat commented, forcing Buffy to not just hold back a smile, but a giggle; behind her, the eyes of Dawn and Xander went wide while Anya just stared, Giles at the first moment apparently not noticing though what just had happened. "No, I can assure you it won't, it's… Oh dear Lord."
He fell silent, staring at the demon; before he could say anything though, Dawn had jumped up from her seat and had rushed through the room, hugging Pat so fiercely that she nearly threw her over.
"You're back!" she cried out, Xander and Anya getting up from their seats as well and hurrying over to where the demon stood, once more risking Dawn's liking for her by ruffling her hair; this time, the teenager obviously didn't mind though, since she just kept smiling up at the taller woman, the way her eyes were shining with happiness touching both Pat and Willow deeply.
"I'm not gonna tackle-hug you, or Willow might get jealous and mad at me", Xander stated as soon as Dawn finally had let go of the black haired woman again, smiling widely, successfully ignoring the look Willow was giving him, "but I'll give you a manly, friendly pat on the shoulder. There we go."
With those words, he did that just that – only to mutter "Oh screw this" to himself a second later, pulling the slightly stunned demon into a rather tight hug as well, giving her back a few pats before he moved back, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants.
"Hugging and patting Pat", the demon smirked, while Willow threw Xander a clearly fake annoyed glare, "the new past time of the Scoobies…"
"Patting Pat has a nice ring to it", Buffy commented while Anya took a step closer to the demon, making the taller woman look down on her, still with a smirk on her face. "You wanna hug me, too? Big demon hug?"
"Demon hugs are harsh, and violent", Anya replied, sounding fully sincere and making the rest chuckle, "we might fall over and break something, which would mean a loss for me. So, no, no big demon hug, but a normal human one…"
And with those words, she stepped up to the demon and hugged her briefly, not as tight as Buffy, Dawn and Xander had, but still the gesture made everyone else smile, Giles taking off his glasses and approaching the black haired woman as well once Anya had pulled back.
"I'm not one who's much into hugging", the Watcher let Pat know, "so I'll settle for that pat on the shoulder Xander was offering…"
"Patting Pat, as I was saying", Buffy giggled while Giles did that just that, finally getting up from her seat as well and joining the group, smiling up at the taller demon. "Maybe we should suggest that this is turned into a national holiday. Patting Pat Day."
"No way", both Willow and Pat protested in perfect unison, smiling at each other briefly before the demon went on, raising an eyebrow at the Slayer. "Only my friends are allowed to pat me."
"And usually, only I am allowed to hug her like this", Willow pointed out, moving closer to her girlfriend and immediately making Pat put an arm around her waist, "but I'll let it pass this time, seeing she just recovered from insanity…"
"How come you're not hugging her?" Dawn demanded to know in response, turning to look at her sister; smiling, Buffy let her know that she had done so the night before, after killing a nasty and fast demon, the teenager huffing in reply, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave the Slayer a glare. "So you already knew and didn't tell us? Why not?"
"I wanted to see your faces upon realizing it", Buffy admitted, returning the glare her sister had given her seconds ago when Dawn punched her upper arm in reply. "That was mean", the teenager then complained, causing Buffy to throw her an apologetic glance; afterwards, they all moved to the table and sat down there, knowing that now, the frolicking was over and it was time to talk about how to find the man who was responsible for all of this.
"So", Buffy stated as soon as everyone had made themselves comfortable and Giles had brought drinks from the backroom, the group helping themselves to the cooled cans of soda and iced tea he had provided, "what should we do to find this guy? And Willow, before you even think of suggesting this again, no more dark magic."
"Well, I don't think I can find him with non-dark magic", the witch admitted after a moment, giving the rest a sheepish look and taking a sip of her drink before she went on. "When I found him the first time, he told me that he'd been waiting for me, so he probably just let me find him… By now, he won't be so keen on meeting us again, seeing that he was there when Pat snapped out of her sanity and so he knows she's back to normal, and since he can bind lesser demons to his will, I'm afraid he'll also be able to hide himself from my magic…"
"Well", the demon next to her spoke up before anyone else could say something, "I still think we just can sit back and wait… He's so self-confident, he probably thinks he can defeat us even if he faces us as a group. And if he brings some of his pet demons along, it might be harder for us to get rid of him than we might be thinking now."
"Could you break his control on those demons?" Buffy demanded to know, focusing on Willow again; she didn't like the thought of just sitting around and waiting for the guy to come after them again, but if they couldn't come up with a better idea, she at least wanted to be sure that any demons he might bring along wouldn't be a problem.
"I guess so", the redhead shrugged after a moment, "shouldn't be too hard actually, I'm quite sure he's using a spell to do it as well, and I could try to counter that…"
"Prepare that spell as fast as possible then", Buffy advised her, "Pat might have a point, if he's really as full of himself as she says, he'll show up again sooner or later, and I want to be ready for him in case this happens sooner."
"But why would he need a spell?" Anya quipped up, making everyone else look at her, none of them obviously understanding what she was talking about, not even Pat, even though she should have an idea, due to her demonic nature. "If he's a demon himself, he could be able to control them with his mind", the ex-demon explained with surprising patience. "There are some who can do that."
"Not me", Pat shrugged at the curious look both Xander and Dawn were shooting her in reply, "my speciality's fire, not mind control."
"Well, in case he is using a spell, Willow can undo it", Giles threw in when everyone else was pondering the possibility of their opponent controlling his pet demons without any spells, "and in case he's controlling them with some demonic ability… I guess we'll just have to fight his pets off until Buffy took care of him, then."
"Do you think you can handle it?" the Slayer asked the rest of the gang, making them all nod at once, even though Xander and Anya were not so sure about it – lately, Buffy had started teaching Dawn how to fight properly, but none of them had gotten any lessons, and especially Xander knew that he could be awfully clumsy in the worst possible moments.
"We'll do fine", Pat reassured the Slayer before Anya or Xander could voice any doubts and maybe make the blonde woman rethink the small plan she had come up with, "as long as we take along weapons, in case he brings alone some pets immune to my flames… Even if Willow can't break his control over them, she can still help with spells then. And oh, that reminds me, you are aware of the fact that breaking his control over those demons won't guarantee they won't attack us, right?"
"Of course", Buffy reassured her, smirking slightly maliciously as she spoke on. "But it also means that he can't be sure they won't attack him…"
"Good point", Pat admitted, reaching for her pack of cigarettes; one look of Giles was enough to make her reconsider though, and with a sigh, she put it back into her pocket, giving the Watcher a dismayed glance which he returned calmly, the tiniest notion of a smile curling his lips.
"We should stick close to each other", the Slayer now thought out loud, "just in case he'll attack again soon…"
"Well, he's after you", Anya gave back, blunt as ever, by now not able to faze anyone anymore with her behaviour though, "so we should stick close to you, right? That'll be hard to do as long as you're staying at that dorm room though, except for Willow, no one of us is going to college."
She threw Pat an annoyed glance to which the demon reacted with surprise, not sure what she had done to deserve this; a moment later, Anya spoke on, her voice so stern it was almost comical, especially considering what she was saying. "You really shouldn't have dropped out of college! Education is the key to a richer life."
"I'm a two hundred and thirty eight year old demon who used to be an assassin, and I got paid for my jobs with money. Not with saucy young virgins or something. So, I am rich", Pat pointed out in reply, Willow throwing her a brief irritated look at the bit about virgins, the demon pointedly ignoring it though.
"Anyhow", Buffy raised her voice before Anya could reply anything and keep the discussion about Pat's financial situation going on longer than necessary, "Anya's made a point – it'll be hard for you guys to stick close to me as long as I'm at the dorm…"
"Slumber party", Willow threw in as an answer, making all of the group look at her in confusion, the witch smiling at them before she explained herself. "We could hold a slumber party. At Pat's place, or at yours, Xander. That way, we'd all be together, and when he attacks…"
"You think he'd be dumb enough to attack when all of us are together?" Buffy demanded to know, the witch shrugging in reply. "You never know… As Pat said, he's awfully full of himself, I've met him, remember? It'd be just like him to appear then, hold some corny little Oh, look at me, the supervillain, I'm so smart and cunning speech, probably with some lame puns thrown in, and then make some clumsy attempt to kill you, Buffy."
"Plus, he was dumb enough not to think of the possibility that Willow simply could kill him and take the antidote from his dead body when he faced her and told her of his… plan", Giles commented, taking off his glasses and starting to clean them once more, "so I think the idea of a… slumber party… isn't a bad one… You'll forgive me though if I won't join in."
"Of course", Buffy reassured him, giving him a smile while Pat looked slightly relieved – even though Giles and she had gotten along fairly well during the last months, she always felt slightly uncomfortable around the Watcher, clearly having a problem with his at times stiff attitude.
"So when should we hold this slumber party?" Xander demanded to know, bringing the talk back to their plan; quickly, it was decided that it would be held at the apartment of Xander and Anya, since it was bigger than Pat's place, and at the next weekend, the conversation moving to lighter topics afterwards as the matter had been settled.