Part 9(a):
"Finally, we're here. One more minute in the car and I would have grown roots." Xander whined as he stepped out of Buffy's car, stretching himself.
"Oh, come on. It wasn't that long. We only got a little lost."
"A little lost? Buffy, I could have sworn I saw corn growing on the roadside!"
"For the last time, there was no corn! The roadside was cornless! Un- corned! All things devoid of corn-i-ness!"
"Oh yeah? Then what do you call that building with the giant cob for the sign?"
"Xander, that was a corn canning factory. Contrary to popular belief, corn does not grow in cans. They grow on trees. . . bushes. . . plant-ish things."
Xander looked genuinely thoughtful for the moment. "Really?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Really, Xand."
"Well, I'm sorry if my brain was not at peak performance just now. I was overcome by the fear for my life. Could you tell me the name of your driving instructor so I can kill him?"
"Oh come on. It wasn't as if I actually hit that cyclist! I just kinda. . . nicked him on the side."
"In some countries, Buffy, that 'nick on the side', as you call it, is known as a 'hit and run'."
"It was his fault. He shouldn't have been on my side of the road. Besides, I have a license. I am a legal driver. Hear me roar."
Xander smiled mischievously. "Yeah, but you had to use your feminine wiles to get the license."
"Is there anything wrong with my feminine wiles?" Buffy cooed seductively as she gave an exaggerated swish of her ass.
Xander gulped. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
Buffy grinned. "I don't know why you complain so much. Willow was just as bad a driver as me and you always went everywhere with her. You even let her drive your car!"
Xander's expression dropped instantly at the mention of Willow's name. Buffy mentally slapped herself. {Way to go, Buff. He was finally opening up to you and you had to mention Willow.} The drive to the carnival had been quiet, at first. But then Buffy had made a wrong turn and they wound up on some back road with no idea where they were. Xander had made a smart comment about Buffy not knowing what a map was, Buffy retorted about Xander not knowing how to read anyway and the banter had begun. It was like the old days when they would just trade light hearted insults which were not meant to be hurtful, but rather demonstrate the closeness and understanding they shared with each other.
Buffy sighed. Many times before, it was Xander who had been the one to try and get her to open up, Xander who had been the one to try and make her feel better. Now that the roles were reversed, she had to admit that being the cheer-er rather than the cheer-ee was not as easy as it looks. Well, she had dug herself into the hole by mentioning Willow, so now she had to dig herself out of it. Maybe a subtle change of the subject would do the trick.
"Isn't this nice weather we're having today?" Buffy said as she started walking towards the carnival entrance. {Smooth, Buffy. Do you have any idea how subtle that wasn't? Way to go.}
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"Nope, this isn't weird, not at all."
"Come on, Xand, this is fun. See, this is me having fun." Buffy said, as she spun the mechanism that twirled the teacups faster.
"Buffy, in case you didn't notice, we are sitting in a giant spinning teacup. Even with the odd crap we've been through, this takes the cake. And I think that you are enjoying this way to much."
Buffy's lips curled up into a wistful smile. "When I was younger, my dad would always take me to the carnival when it came to town. And our first destination would always be the teacups. We would ride them again and again until we were on the verge of yakking, and then we'd ride them again. So I guess teacups just reminds me of better days."
Xander listened attentively (well, as attentive as possible considering he was spinning inside an oversized teacup). When the slayer finished relating her story, he gave her a gentle nod and a reassuring smile. He then put his hands on top of Buffy's, which were still spinning the mechanism, and helped her make the teacup twirl even faster. Childlike laughter filled the air as the two of them spun the teacup so fast, they thought they were going to puke their guts' out.
{Maybe there's still hope for you yet, Xander Harris.}
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"Ok, now that we've finished with the girly rides," Xander said as he and Buffy exited the teacups, "lets go on the manly rides." He made an exaggerated show of his muscles as he finished the sentence.
"Are we talking normal manly, or Xander Harris manly?"
"There's a difference?"
"Of course there is. For example, under the normal code of manliness, a manly ride would be the roller coaster. But under the Xander Harris code of manliness, a manly carnival ride would be the carousel."
"Hey, I am to manly! I'll have you know that I never put the toilet seat down, I can crush beer cans on my head and I can burp the ABC. I have all the skills needed to pass the code of manliness entrance test."
"If you're so manly, then why did you cry at the end of 'Into the Night: The Movie'?" Buffy giggled.
"But the ending was so sad, they had found each other, only to. . ." Buffy giggled even harder as Xander caught himself in the middle of that sentence. "Oh, you are so lucky that you are paying for this date, Buffy Summers!"
Buffy's face suddenly turned beet red. "D-d-date? No, no, no, this isn't a date. This is just. . . two friends meeting at a predetermined time and place to have fun."
Xander wore a puzzled look. {Why is she so uncomfortable about me calling this a date?} He decided not to dwell on that thought. His lips suddenly broke out in a mischievous grin as he realized that this was a great situation for his favourite hobby, Slayer tease-age. "And how is what you described not a date, Buffy?"
Buffy hem and hawed for an answer {She's so cute when she does that}, but before she could think of one, Xander spoke with a mock serious tone. "Look Buffy, the only way you can work out whether this is a date or not is through the 20 buck rule."
At Buffy's puzzled look, he continued. "If you spend more than 20 bucks on a girl slash guy, or in my case, girly man, it's considered a date. Less than 20 bucks and it's just a friend thing."
Buffy quickly started adding in her mind. {6 bucks for the tickets, 5 bucks for petrol. . .}
"I'm sure you can do the math while walking Buff, so lets go. You've got a lot of cash dropping to do." Xander said with a smile as he pulled a distracted, number crunching Buffy along with him.
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"Hold my cotton candy for me Buff, while I try to win milady a prize."
"Why thank you kind sir." Buffy said in a mock British accent as she gave an exaggerated curtsy.
"Who says I'm winning it for you?" Xander asked with an impish grin.
A slayer strength enhanced swat on the arm wiped that grin off his face immediately. "Xander! You'd better be winning it for me since I'm the one footing the bill."
Xander rubbed his arm as he stuck his tongue out at the slayer. She responded by taking a big bite out of his cotton candy. Xander returned to the task at hand. It was one of those carny shooting games. This particular one involved shooting a pistol loaded with rubber bullets at various target. It was quite difficult for an inexperienced hand.
But Xander was far from inexperienced.
He had 5 chances to shoot down as many objects of varying difficulty as possible. In a blink of an eye, Xander Harris was gone, in his place a totally different person. His face was emotionless, unlike the animated facial features of the normal Xander. He held up the weapon in a classic two handed grip, his breathing disturbingly even, his body still, muscles unmoving. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he let go with five quick successive shots, each one hitting the objects furthest away from him, and by default, the hardest ones to target.
Buffy stood there, jaw agape, as she saw this sudden transformation in him. This man wearing her former best friend's {now maybe more} face scared her. {Where had he learnt to shoot like that? If he can do that with a fake gun, imagine what can he do with a real one. Damn. It's a good thing I didn't try to take him last night. I would have ended up as Swiss Cheese Buffy.}
The man running the booth was just as impressed as Buffy. "Good shooting there, Tex. I've never seen anyone pull of something like that before. You can have any prize you want."
Just as suddenly as it had disappeared, Xander's goofy persona returned. He turned towards Buffy, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. "Hear that Buff? A carny just praised me. That gives me a happy. So, which prize do you want?"
Buffy snapped out of the reverie at the mention of the word 'prize'. "Uhm. . ." She scanned the stuffed animals that adorned the walls of the booth. "Ooh, ooh I want that one. . ." She said with childlike glee as she pointed towards a stuffed giraffe ". . .but I also want that one!" She said as she pointed towards a stuffed pig that looked exactly like Mr. Gordo. She turned towards Xander, gazing at him with puppy dog eyes, her lips in a pout.
"Here you go, kid." The carny interrupted as he handed both the giraffe and the pig to Xander. "With the skills you possess, I wouldn't want to get on your bad side." The man's voice did not hold a fearful tone, but rather one of respect and admiration.
"Thanks, mister." Xander turned towards Buffy as he handed the stuffed pig to Buffy. "I'll hold on to the giraffe since you have your hands full."
"My hero." Buffy said and gave him a smile.
"Always." Xander rewarded Buffy with an equally radiant smile.
The two of them stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. {Way to telegraph an awkward moment.}Xander suddenly noticed a stray bit of cotton candy on Buffy's nose. "Uh, Buff, you've got something on your. . ." he grazed his nose with his fingers.
Buffy tried to reach the candy floss stuck on her face in vein, since her both her hands were in use. Xander sighed and stepped closer to Buffy, cupped her face in his left hand and removed the offending piece of floss from Buffy's nose gently with his right. Almost instinctively, he liberated the sweet candy from his fingers by licking it.
Buffy's breath was caught in her throat and Xander wasn't doing any better. The atmosphere around the two was definitely electric. They're faces inched closer to each other, oblivious to the goings on around them. "23 bucks." Buffy whispered.
"What?" Xander breathed out.
"I spent 23 bucks tonight. According to the rules, this is considered a. . ." Buffy couldn't finish the sentence before they're lips met in a tender kiss. The world and they're problems melted away as they connected in one of the most intimate ways possible.
It seems that both of them came to their senses at the same time. They jumped away from each other as both of them realized what they were doing.
"Xand. . ."
"Buff. . ."
Both of them spoke at the same time, tripping on each other's words. Both of them just stood there, thinking exactly the same thing.
{Damn this is awkward.}
"Oh, look at the time!" Buffy said a bit too forcefully, breaking the silence. "I think it's about time we shove off." She started towards the exit, Xander following her from a safe distance. He didn't want to invade her personal space, which seemed to be a three meter radius at that point.
"Crazy kids." The carny chuckled as he saw them walking off. " I hope they make it through their problems. They're a cute couple."
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{Tonight's the night.} Dante thought to himself. {Hundreds of years spent waiting, culminating in this night. One way or another, I will regain the power I deserve. No one will stand in my way.}
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"Finally, we're here. One more minute in the car and I would have grown roots." Xander whined as he stepped out of Buffy's car, stretching himself.
"Oh, come on. It wasn't that long. We only got a little lost."
"A little lost? Buffy, I could have sworn I saw corn growing on the roadside!"
"For the last time, there was no corn! The roadside was cornless! Un- corned! All things devoid of corn-i-ness!"
"Oh yeah? Then what do you call that building with the giant cob for the sign?"
"Xander, that was a corn canning factory. Contrary to popular belief, corn does not grow in cans. They grow on trees. . . bushes. . . plant-ish things."
Xander looked genuinely thoughtful for the moment. "Really?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Really, Xand."
"Well, I'm sorry if my brain was not at peak performance just now. I was overcome by the fear for my life. Could you tell me the name of your driving instructor so I can kill him?"
"Oh come on. It wasn't as if I actually hit that cyclist! I just kinda. . . nicked him on the side."
"In some countries, Buffy, that 'nick on the side', as you call it, is known as a 'hit and run'."
"It was his fault. He shouldn't have been on my side of the road. Besides, I have a license. I am a legal driver. Hear me roar."
Xander smiled mischievously. "Yeah, but you had to use your feminine wiles to get the license."
"Is there anything wrong with my feminine wiles?" Buffy cooed seductively as she gave an exaggerated swish of her ass.
Xander gulped. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
Buffy grinned. "I don't know why you complain so much. Willow was just as bad a driver as me and you always went everywhere with her. You even let her drive your car!"
Xander's expression dropped instantly at the mention of Willow's name. Buffy mentally slapped herself. {Way to go, Buff. He was finally opening up to you and you had to mention Willow.} The drive to the carnival had been quiet, at first. But then Buffy had made a wrong turn and they wound up on some back road with no idea where they were. Xander had made a smart comment about Buffy not knowing what a map was, Buffy retorted about Xander not knowing how to read anyway and the banter had begun. It was like the old days when they would just trade light hearted insults which were not meant to be hurtful, but rather demonstrate the closeness and understanding they shared with each other.
Buffy sighed. Many times before, it was Xander who had been the one to try and get her to open up, Xander who had been the one to try and make her feel better. Now that the roles were reversed, she had to admit that being the cheer-er rather than the cheer-ee was not as easy as it looks. Well, she had dug herself into the hole by mentioning Willow, so now she had to dig herself out of it. Maybe a subtle change of the subject would do the trick.
"Isn't this nice weather we're having today?" Buffy said as she started walking towards the carnival entrance. {Smooth, Buffy. Do you have any idea how subtle that wasn't? Way to go.}
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"Nope, this isn't weird, not at all."
"Come on, Xand, this is fun. See, this is me having fun." Buffy said, as she spun the mechanism that twirled the teacups faster.
"Buffy, in case you didn't notice, we are sitting in a giant spinning teacup. Even with the odd crap we've been through, this takes the cake. And I think that you are enjoying this way to much."
Buffy's lips curled up into a wistful smile. "When I was younger, my dad would always take me to the carnival when it came to town. And our first destination would always be the teacups. We would ride them again and again until we were on the verge of yakking, and then we'd ride them again. So I guess teacups just reminds me of better days."
Xander listened attentively (well, as attentive as possible considering he was spinning inside an oversized teacup). When the slayer finished relating her story, he gave her a gentle nod and a reassuring smile. He then put his hands on top of Buffy's, which were still spinning the mechanism, and helped her make the teacup twirl even faster. Childlike laughter filled the air as the two of them spun the teacup so fast, they thought they were going to puke their guts' out.
{Maybe there's still hope for you yet, Xander Harris.}
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"Ok, now that we've finished with the girly rides," Xander said as he and Buffy exited the teacups, "lets go on the manly rides." He made an exaggerated show of his muscles as he finished the sentence.
"Are we talking normal manly, or Xander Harris manly?"
"There's a difference?"
"Of course there is. For example, under the normal code of manliness, a manly ride would be the roller coaster. But under the Xander Harris code of manliness, a manly carnival ride would be the carousel."
"Hey, I am to manly! I'll have you know that I never put the toilet seat down, I can crush beer cans on my head and I can burp the ABC. I have all the skills needed to pass the code of manliness entrance test."
"If you're so manly, then why did you cry at the end of 'Into the Night: The Movie'?" Buffy giggled.
"But the ending was so sad, they had found each other, only to. . ." Buffy giggled even harder as Xander caught himself in the middle of that sentence. "Oh, you are so lucky that you are paying for this date, Buffy Summers!"
Buffy's face suddenly turned beet red. "D-d-date? No, no, no, this isn't a date. This is just. . . two friends meeting at a predetermined time and place to have fun."
Xander wore a puzzled look. {Why is she so uncomfortable about me calling this a date?} He decided not to dwell on that thought. His lips suddenly broke out in a mischievous grin as he realized that this was a great situation for his favourite hobby, Slayer tease-age. "And how is what you described not a date, Buffy?"
Buffy hem and hawed for an answer {She's so cute when she does that}, but before she could think of one, Xander spoke with a mock serious tone. "Look Buffy, the only way you can work out whether this is a date or not is through the 20 buck rule."
At Buffy's puzzled look, he continued. "If you spend more than 20 bucks on a girl slash guy, or in my case, girly man, it's considered a date. Less than 20 bucks and it's just a friend thing."
Buffy quickly started adding in her mind. {6 bucks for the tickets, 5 bucks for petrol. . .}
"I'm sure you can do the math while walking Buff, so lets go. You've got a lot of cash dropping to do." Xander said with a smile as he pulled a distracted, number crunching Buffy along with him.
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"Hold my cotton candy for me Buff, while I try to win milady a prize."
"Why thank you kind sir." Buffy said in a mock British accent as she gave an exaggerated curtsy.
"Who says I'm winning it for you?" Xander asked with an impish grin.
A slayer strength enhanced swat on the arm wiped that grin off his face immediately. "Xander! You'd better be winning it for me since I'm the one footing the bill."
Xander rubbed his arm as he stuck his tongue out at the slayer. She responded by taking a big bite out of his cotton candy. Xander returned to the task at hand. It was one of those carny shooting games. This particular one involved shooting a pistol loaded with rubber bullets at various target. It was quite difficult for an inexperienced hand.
But Xander was far from inexperienced.
He had 5 chances to shoot down as many objects of varying difficulty as possible. In a blink of an eye, Xander Harris was gone, in his place a totally different person. His face was emotionless, unlike the animated facial features of the normal Xander. He held up the weapon in a classic two handed grip, his breathing disturbingly even, his body still, muscles unmoving. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he let go with five quick successive shots, each one hitting the objects furthest away from him, and by default, the hardest ones to target.
Buffy stood there, jaw agape, as she saw this sudden transformation in him. This man wearing her former best friend's {now maybe more} face scared her. {Where had he learnt to shoot like that? If he can do that with a fake gun, imagine what can he do with a real one. Damn. It's a good thing I didn't try to take him last night. I would have ended up as Swiss Cheese Buffy.}
The man running the booth was just as impressed as Buffy. "Good shooting there, Tex. I've never seen anyone pull of something like that before. You can have any prize you want."
Just as suddenly as it had disappeared, Xander's goofy persona returned. He turned towards Buffy, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. "Hear that Buff? A carny just praised me. That gives me a happy. So, which prize do you want?"
Buffy snapped out of the reverie at the mention of the word 'prize'. "Uhm. . ." She scanned the stuffed animals that adorned the walls of the booth. "Ooh, ooh I want that one. . ." She said with childlike glee as she pointed towards a stuffed giraffe ". . .but I also want that one!" She said as she pointed towards a stuffed pig that looked exactly like Mr. Gordo. She turned towards Xander, gazing at him with puppy dog eyes, her lips in a pout.
"Here you go, kid." The carny interrupted as he handed both the giraffe and the pig to Xander. "With the skills you possess, I wouldn't want to get on your bad side." The man's voice did not hold a fearful tone, but rather one of respect and admiration.
"Thanks, mister." Xander turned towards Buffy as he handed the stuffed pig to Buffy. "I'll hold on to the giraffe since you have your hands full."
"My hero." Buffy said and gave him a smile.
"Always." Xander rewarded Buffy with an equally radiant smile.
The two of them stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. {Way to telegraph an awkward moment.}Xander suddenly noticed a stray bit of cotton candy on Buffy's nose. "Uh, Buff, you've got something on your. . ." he grazed his nose with his fingers.
Buffy tried to reach the candy floss stuck on her face in vein, since her both her hands were in use. Xander sighed and stepped closer to Buffy, cupped her face in his left hand and removed the offending piece of floss from Buffy's nose gently with his right. Almost instinctively, he liberated the sweet candy from his fingers by licking it.
Buffy's breath was caught in her throat and Xander wasn't doing any better. The atmosphere around the two was definitely electric. They're faces inched closer to each other, oblivious to the goings on around them. "23 bucks." Buffy whispered.
"What?" Xander breathed out.
"I spent 23 bucks tonight. According to the rules, this is considered a. . ." Buffy couldn't finish the sentence before they're lips met in a tender kiss. The world and they're problems melted away as they connected in one of the most intimate ways possible.
It seems that both of them came to their senses at the same time. They jumped away from each other as both of them realized what they were doing.
"Xand. . ."
"Buff. . ."
Both of them spoke at the same time, tripping on each other's words. Both of them just stood there, thinking exactly the same thing.
{Damn this is awkward.}
"Oh, look at the time!" Buffy said a bit too forcefully, breaking the silence. "I think it's about time we shove off." She started towards the exit, Xander following her from a safe distance. He didn't want to invade her personal space, which seemed to be a three meter radius at that point.
"Crazy kids." The carny chuckled as he saw them walking off. " I hope they make it through their problems. They're a cute couple."
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{Tonight's the night.} Dante thought to himself. {Hundreds of years spent waiting, culminating in this night. One way or another, I will regain the power I deserve. No one will stand in my way.}
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