AUTHOR: Goddess Isa
EMAIL: goddessisa@aol.com
SUMMARY: This was, of course, inspired by my Florida trip where my mom and I went candle crazy. The Yankee Candle store at Pointe Orlando was quite awesome and.....well, here it is :) The title kind of speaks for itself.
SPOILER: Nothing really
RATING: TV-PG
DISTRIBUTION: Http://planetslaythis.homestead.com & fanfiction.net under Goddess Isa. If you want it, just lmk
DISCLAIMER: Joss owns Buffy, Angel, etc. I hate him for it. I own everyone else. Yankee Candle owns themselves and all their scents and stuff.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I wrote this AGES ago when I first got home from Orlando, but it wasn't finished so here I am. I finished it. My first LSS fic in like a year. Or something like that. Enjoy it, because while I'm wrapping up the series, I don't know how many more I'll actually do.
AUTHOR'S NOTES2: Still got O-Town in my head........maybe they should sing 'Liquid Dreams' while shopping?
6/24/01
"Buffy," Angel almost whined as they pulled into the parking complex for Pointe Orlando. "Do we really have to go shopping here in the city? I don't really think the stores could be all that different from the ones at home."
Buffy let out only a growl and Angel shut his mouth. He knew better than to argue with her when she had her mind set on something, especially if she was in an irate mood, which she was. He wasn't exactly himself either. He was exhausted.
They'd been driving through Florida for thirty minutes looking for the shopping center, but they'd been in Florida for over a month now, and it was starting to drive the vampire insane. Angel needed a break from the sun and fun and most of all, the shopping.
Still, Buffy had discovered Yankee Candle in the condominium next to theirs and she insisted on visiting the store before heading back to LA in their Winnebago.
"Right through here," Buffy pointed towards the store. Angel took his sleeping daughter from her mother's arms and followed Buffy through the crowds.
There was a blocked-off construction area where, according to a sign, an Esprit store was being constructed. Bathrooms gave off a foul odor and Angel made a face. Then he saw it.
His worst nightmare.
The Gap.
Amazingly, Buffy walked right past the store and headed straight for her candles.
"I smell something," Angel announced, making a face. "And it's not the bathroom this time."
"Wetzel's Pretzels," Buffy read the sign as they passed it. "You wanna get something?"
Angel stopped walking. Now the smells were good. "Do you?"
Buffy didn't--she'd had a big breakfast, and she couldn't wait to start shopping--but she knew Angel would be hungry since it *had* been five hours since they'd eaten.
"Come on," Buffy opened the door for the shop. "We can get a frozen Coke and garlic pretzels."
Angel frowned. "Very funny."
*****
Angelina woke up while Buffy and Angel were eating cinnamon swirl pretzels. Angel got her a cheese one and the toddler happily sat in her stroller, munching away while watching Mommy shop for candles.
"Look!" Buffy held up a pillar candle for Angel to smell. "Vanilla sugar. Yum. Smell that."
Angel smelled. He was unimpressed.
"Petty," Angelina commented, holding a rose-scented candle wreath to her chest.
"They're all pretty," Buffy commented, smiling at her little girl. Already a professional shopper-in-training. "Maybe I should get some jar candles for the bedrooms." Buffy picked up a basket and began filling it.
"Maybe not," Angel mumbled, but Buffy didn't hear him.
"Helll-lo!" a perky woman with thick glasses and black hair greeted Buffy from behind the counter. "Can I help you find anything?"
"Yes," Buffy smiled. "I need at least one tart burner."
"For a gift?" the woman assumed.
"No, for me."
"You don't have one?!" the woman demanded, though her voice remained high and full of saccharine. "Well, then, let's have a look at the selection, shall we?"
Angel watched his wife follow the woman around, filling her basket with several strange-looking ceramic things. She had to take the jar candles out and put them on the counter because it became too heavy to handle. He was unamused when she began stuffing the top of the basket with different colored wax discs.
"Buffy?" Angel asked. Their daughter was sound asleep in the stroller and he was heading in that direction himself.
"I'm loving this," she told him happily, handing him one of the funny discs. "Smell."
He smelled.
"Isn't that Heaven?" Buffy asked.
"What is it?" Angel asked.
"Spiced pumpkin," Buffy smiled. "Fragrance of the month."
"No, I mean, *what* is that thing that you just had me smell?"
"A tart."
Angel stared at her.
"For a tart burner," she added.
Angel shrugged.
"Men just do not understand," the salesgirl assured her. "Did you get a chance to look at our sales area?"
Angel collapsed in his chair.
*****
An hour later, Angel was free from the wrath of Yankee Candle. He took Buffy to Express and bought her a new pair of jeans and a fringed top while Angelina woke up and became antsy.
"Toys?" she asked immediately. "Toys, Momma?"
"How did you know we were so close to a toy store?" Angel asked. "She was asleep when we walked past there."
"She has radar, just like her mother," Buffy said proudly. "But I did tell her we'd buy her some new toys today. Come on."
"Buffy, if we buy much more to take home, *we're* not gonna be able to fit in the Winnebago."
They walked towards the toy store, listening to Angelina babble and then Angel had a realization.
There was a *Barbie* store inside of this toy store.
He groaned loudly.
"What?" Buffy asked innocently.
Angel just shook his head. This was going to be a LONG day.