Renfield, Obeys

Part 1: YEMF - Ch 3

Buffy knew Xander tended to hide any injuries he'd received so once Dawn had gone to bed and Joyce had turned in she turned to Xander and said, "Renfield, obey."

Xander stiffened in surprise before relaxing into the trance state Dracula had created. "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"I-" Buffy fell silent for a second, guilt weighing heavily on her shoulders. "I would like to ask you a question and get an honest answer, but I don't want to force you. So I'm feeling bad about doing this, but I'd feel worse if something happened and I could have stopped it," Buffy rambled trying to explain how she felt.

Xander listened passively waiting for a command.

"I want to know if you're OK, physically and emotionally, but I don't want to take advantage of you and order you to tell me against your will," Buffy admitted. "How can I get honest answers without taking advantage of you?" she asked frustrated.

"If you ask how I would feel about answering a question before you ask it you'll know if asking it would be taking advantage of the trance state," Xander replied, answering her direct question.

"Would you mind if I asked how you were physically?" Buffy asked carefully.

"I wouldn't mind answering that question," Xander replied.

Buffy let out a relieved sigh. "How are you physically?"

"A little bruised, which should be completely healed by tomorrow night," Xander replied.

"Would you mind if I asked how you were emotionally?" Buffy asked.

"I would be a little upset at the question, but also relieved at being able to share my feelings with you," Xander replied.

"I don't know if that means I should ask or not," Buffy said. "Would you like me to ask?"

"Yes, I would," Xander replied.

"How are you emotionally?" Buffy asked.

"I am a bit upset that Anya broke up with me, but relieved she's moving somewhere safer. I am overjoyed that Dawn is OK and feeling a bit guilty that I love Summers Girls more than the girl I was dating. I feel an almost painful need for physical contact and I feel a strong sense of disappointment that I won't be having sex later," Xander explained.

"Physical contact?" Buffy asked.

"Holding hands, cuddling, hugs," Xander listed off.

"I can do that," Buffy said. "Cuddling with a friend isn't cheating," she told herself. "Cuddle me," she ordered moving into Xander's arms.

Dawn watched everything from the top of the stairs unsure of what was going on until Buffy had released Xander and said 'end trance'. It looked like the slayer could control people or maybe just men, because Buffy would have used it to on Dawn otherwise. Of course that paled in importance compared to what else she'd heard, Xander had said he loved Summers Girls plural and more than his now ex-girlfriend, that meant Xander loved her!

Dawn crept back to her room smiling so hard it hurt. Xander loved her!

The Next Day

Buffy noticed how clingy Dawn seemed to be, finding any excuse to hug Xander or lean against him and felt relieved and a bit envious, figuring the events of the night before had made her crush on him even stronger and wishing she could be as touchy feely without people getting the wrong idea. Dawn would get over her crush eventually, right? Right!

A Week Later

Buffy looked at the two Xanders standing in his new apartment and had to almost physically restrain herself from throwing everyone else out and calling out, 'Renfield, obey'. She reminded herself she had a boyfriend, Renfield err Riley.

Later at home she was telling her mom how her day went she smirked at Joyce zoning out and Dawn actually drooling. It was nice to know where she got it and that she wasn't the only one.

Buffy and Willow's Dorm Room

"It was nice of her to let us have the room for the night," Tara said, seeing the look in Willow's eyes.

"Yes it was," Willow agreed locking the door.

"And what's got you in a mood?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"I've already told you about my thing with Xander," Willow said, "but what I didn't tell you about was a fantasy I had when I was fourteen and watched Tenchi Myu!"

"Tenchi Myu?" Tara asked with a grin already knowing this was going to be good.

"Yes, Tenchi Myu a Japanese cartoon with a redheaded super genius named Washu. I had this fantasy of being a super genius like her and making myself a dozen Xanders," Willow said. "I stole some hair from his hairbrush but sadly never managed to clone him."

"And what would you do with a dozen of him?" Tara asked unbuttoning her shirt.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Buffy needed someone to talk to, someone who couldn't share what she said and that pretty much narrowed the list of people down to one. "Xander, could you help me train?" Buffy asked, gesturing towards the back room of the Magic Shop.

"Sure," Xander replied wondering what was up, as he could tell from her tone something was on her mind.

Willow eyed the two carefully, pretending to research and wondering if they were having an affair from the strange way they were acting. Giles was on the register dealing with a customer or he'd probably have noticed himself. She waited a minute and snuck after them.

"Renfield, obey," Buffy ordered.

Xander straightened up. "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"I have some stuff I need to talk about, but I can't risk talking to people who'll remember, and since you don't recall anything that happens in the trance I thought you'd be the perfect one to talk to," Buffy admitted. "Would it upset you to use you as a sounding board like this?"

"No, master," Xander replied, "I would welcome the chance to take some of the weight off your shoulders trance state or no. I don't know how well my mind would stand up to telepathic intrusion or others using hypnotic techniques on me to get the information however."

"Dracula was supposed to have mad skills," Buffy joked, "but I'm not just trusting his programming, I'm trusting the fact that only we two know about this, and… I'm trusting you even if I'm using the trance state. Does that make sense?"

"Perfectly, master," Xander replied.

"OK," Buffy said with a sigh and began to share everything she knew about the Glory situation and Dawn being the Key. She talked for fifteen minutes straight before she'd finished and slumped against the wall. "Any comments?" she asked.

"Two, master," Xander said. "One you need to be held and two, your take on the situation with Dawn is flawed."

"Would you mind holding me?" Buffy asked, not wanting to assume anything because she could see a very slippery slope leading to a naked Xander handcuffed to her bed.

"I wouldn't mind and would enjoy it," Xander assured her.

"Hold me," she ordered, sighing and snuggling into his chest as his arms surrounded her. After a minute she asked, "What did I get wrong?"

"If the monks had simply altered our memories Dawn wouldn't have a physical presence. They altered reality so she was born and could hold the Key. Dawn Summers is no less real for magic being used to insure her existence than The Fates insuring you would be born to take up the mantle of slayer and be the hero we love," Xander said. "The world needs Summers Girls to keep on turning."

"Even in a trance you might be a little biased there," Buffy said with a giggle, feeling lighter than she had in a while.

"If you say so, master," he replied with amusement in his voice.

"Thank you for this and for being you," Buffy said.

"I live to serve, master," he replied releasing her.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Buffy asked.

"Many things master, but I doubt your boyfriend would approve."

Buffy giggled. "I think we may have to skip those. Xander, end trance."

"So what do you need help with, Buffster?" Xander asked. "It's not the puffy suit, is it? I swear that thing makes my butt look fat."

Buffy laughed. "I need a jump rope partner."

"Boing, boing, boing," Xander said with a smirk.

Willow snuck off deep in thought. Xander had hypnotic triggers implanted by Dracula, triggers only she and Buffy knew about, Dawn was the Key which Buffy had already shared with her, but she hadn't put as much thought into the implications of that as Xander had. She needed to talk to Tara.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Tara wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, she wanted to dance and hide in bed with a bowl of something sugary and watch Bolliwood movies. Her family had shown up and Willow's friends had shown them the door, completely unconcerned she might be part demon and had even shown some evidence she might be fully human after all!

Tara was slowly beginning to admit to herself that they weren't just Willow's friends, they were hers too.

Xander was taking his time sealing the window that he'd just replaced while she closed up shop for the night. He was wearing a red cape for some reason and she hadn't asked why, but his lips twitched every time he caught her looking.

She locked the front door and turned the sign to closed.

"Done," Xander told her.

"Renfield, obey," Tara said then froze eyes wide as she realized what she'd done.

Typing by: Bankrupt Samurai

AN: Yeah, it's slowly heading towards porn…