15: Making Conversation

Sam couldn't seem to stop being apologetic. "I'm really sorry about that, Buffy." She frowned at him.

"Who are you, the jerk patrol? Don't worry about it."

"No, but, uh, I feel like it's my fault. I do feel uncomfortable about this, I'm a lot older than you..."

"Yeah, and you look it, too." She smirked at him. "Relax, Sam, you're not stealing me from any cradles here. Seriously, I've been dead twice, I fight vampires and I save the world at least twice a year, so I'm thinking that's a big 'yay' in the life experience checkbox."

"Oh, well, um, that's kind of taken the sheen off my 'I write for the President' line."

"Oh, no, 'cause hey, speeches? Give me a vampire and a broken bit of wood, any day." She shrugged. "Just relax, okay? We're just at a party, and who's gonna be watching us when the giant snake appears and starts ripping people's heads off?"

"I think it might be an idea to, you know, head that off at the pass," he suggested out wryly. Buffy shrugged.

"Hey, whatever. Just trying to cheer you up."

Donna was feeling a little left out. Wesley was both witty and sweet, if a little jumpy, but she couldn't help feeling something was missing from the party. Possibly something that went by the name of Joshua Lyman. Making conversation with a polite and attentive Englishman was not the worst way she'd ever spent an evening, but somehow she found herself missing being snarked all the time.

Figures. I've spent so long working for Josh I don't know how to deal with someone who's nice to me.

Wesley was cute, in a slightly geeky way; he was smart, sarcastic and occasionally smug. In another life, she could definitely have gone for him.

The circumstances that made it too complicated in this one, of course, having absolutely nothing to do with-

Oh, why do I even bother?

And where was Josh, anyway? How were they supposed to know if his and Toby's plan to delay Tribby was working? She supposed the fact that they didn't arrive was a good sign, but it made her decidedly edgy.

She nearly jumped a mile when Leo tapped her on the shoulder. "Where's Josh?" he asked. "Come to think of it, where's Toby? They should both be here."

"They went to speak to Roger Tribby," Donna non-explained. "There was a thing."

"A thing?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"Okay." Leo shrugged, and then frowned. "They'd better be here soon, though, because-"

"Gerald!"

Leo winced at the hearty bellow from across the room. "Hide me. Now," he beseeched Donna.

"Sorry, Leo," she shrugged.

Lord Marbury came bounding over. "Gerald!" he beamed.

"Ambassador," Leo nodded, not bothering to correct him.

"And Donna!" smiled Marbury. He gave her an exaggerated bow, and she couldn't help grinning back. There was just something irrepressibly charming about the English lord. He bounded about like an overeager puppy, saying things that nobody else could ever have got away with and pulling it off in style.

He noticed Wesley. "Ah, and is this your date for the evening? Splendid!" He offered Wesley his hand. "Greetings, I am John, Lord Marbury, England's ambassador to the United States."

Wesley shook his hand, looking a little daunted. "Wesley Wyndham-Price, your lordship."

"Ah! A fellow countryman!" he exclaimed, delighted. "An oasis of civilisation in this sea of barbarism!"

"We're standing right here, John," observed Leo dryly.

Marbury patted Donna's shoulder. "Well, obviously I didn't mean you, my dear." He turned back to Wesley. "Another Englishman cast adrift in this world of disposable culture? How perfectly splendid. Tell me, are you related to the Hampshire Wyndham-Prices?"

Leo glanced sideways at Donna. "Think if I move really fast I can be across the room before he notices I'm gone?"

"Go for it," she advised.

"Tell your date I owe him one," Leo said, and scuttled away.

Donna stood listening to Wesley and Lord Marbury trade long strings of names that meant little to her, and wondered what was happening to Josh.