"Say, do you think that this is a little too snug?" Willow asked her reading lover.
For the last hour she'd been trying to get Tara's full attention. It had gone from trying on different outfits to being one step shy of modeling her birthday suit. Each attempt came with the same response.
"No, it's nice."
After that same disinterested observation, Willow finally lost it.
"No! It's not 'nice'! It's sexy and wild and stuff!"
Tara finally pried her eyes away from her book, to give her girlfriend a scrutinizing look. "Sexy and wild? I thought you didn't do sexy and wild. Uh, and stuff."
"I do too! I…here I am. All Willow and ready for action."
She didn't sound convincing and was clearly uncomfortable in the skimpy number that she'd bought just a few hours earlier. Tara got up from where she was lounging and walked over to her, giving her a light kiss on the forehead.
"You don't need to get dressed up like that to get my attention," she said softly, taking Willow's hands in her own. "I love you just the way you are."
"Okay! Great! Then let's…I mean, I'm good to go here."
She gave the once again sandy blond witch her best seductive smirk, trying to angle them towards the bed. Tara responded with a warm smile, and leaned in for a gentle kiss on the lips before pulling away.
"Not right now. I'm reading this new book on pagan rituals that Giles gave me. It's really interesting. There's one on an incantation that…"
The red head tried to hide her disappointment and obligingly flicked through the new volume, when a spell caught her eye.
"Unassimilated Lust," she read to herself in a low murmur.
Willow had found a supernatural aphrodisiac. The ingredients, it turned out, were things they already had. She was convinced that some sugar, a few herbs and some chanting would solve her problems.
As Willow contemplated sugar and spice making everything nice, I dealt with my own issues.
"Come on. If that's the best you've got I may as well go home," Buffy taunted the dazed vampire. Giving him a second to get back on his unstable feet, she knocked him back down again with a devastating blow to the jaw. Leaping over a tombstone, she finished the job with a quick jab to his chest, then went about the task of shaking the dust from her clothing.
The sound of applause coming from behind her made her snap her head around, ready for action, only to see Spike, lit cigarette dangling from his pale lips.
"Well. Quite a show you put on, there, Slayer. Poor sod never stood a chance."
Allowing herself to relax a little, she tucked her stake away in her coat pocket. "Yeah. Not bad for a gal who was recently as dead as him."
The reminder of her death and subsequent resurrection made Spike flinch, not wanting to dredge up the unbearable pain he'd felt when he'd set eyes on her lifeless form.
"Right. But, uh, how you dealing with that? The being alive again, I mean," he stammered.
"It's okay. I'm okay. The gang is glad to have me back. And, Giles leaving us in charge of the magic shop has helped. Helped me settle back in."
"So it's all good then? No hassles?"
Buffy allowed herself a thin smile at his concern. "Yes. All with the good."
The two stood in awkward silence for a few moments, before Buffy spoke.
"I…Willow told me about how you…how you protected me. Uh, my grave. Protected my grave," she told him, for some reason nervous.
Spike turned away from her, embarrassed. "Couldn't leave you open for pickings now, could I?"
Buffy paused before taking a step towards him, ignoring how uncomfortable she was, tracing a new scar that he'd attained while preventing a swarm of demons from reaching her resting-place.
"Thank you," she said sincerely, before again increasing the distance between them.
"A fella has to do something with his nights, don't he?" he asked, trying to brush off her gratitude.
"I guess so," she conceded, allowing it to slide. "Look, I hate having to ask you this, but…" she trailed off, unsure how to continue.
"He came," Spike confirmed for her, not needing for her to ask. When she looked at him, a little stunned, he went on. "I know what you're gonna ask. And he came. Just once, but he was here."
Buffy contemplated denying that she was going to ask about Angel, but instead decided to satisfy her curiosity. "Just once? One time and that's it? I mean, maybe you missed him."
The vampire shook his head. "I was out here every night. He showed up for a few minutes then left. No one's heard a peep from him since then."
Buffy took that in, trying to block the hurt. Spike was right; no one had heard a thing from him. Calls had been placed to the LA offices many times and on each occasion Cordelia would answer, and on each occasion she would say that Angel was on a case. Not one call was ever returned.
"Nice to know that he cared," she whispered, staring at her hands.
"He…looked pretty broken up," he gritted out, loathe to defend his grandsire even to put his unrequited loves mind – and heart – at ease. "I know he's not usually the most chirpy bird on the branch, but he looked pretty off. Even for him."
The Slayer accepted the comfort Spike was offering, however small it was.
"Right. He was just upset. I'm sure he'll come by…or call."
I put on the brave face. Half because I wanted to believe what Spike was telling me, half because I didn't want him to try and hug me.
But I couldn't help it. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. Luckily, I got a much-needed distraction.
"You take the one with skin condition," Buffy ordered.
So, while I fought bloodsuckers, Xander fought his own hungry demon.