FOUR
"Vampire activity has been low as of late," rambled Giles aimlessly as the
gang sat around the library table pretending to listen. "Of course, it is
better for us to take all necessary precautions , just in case there is
something …"
As Giles continued on and on about the same thing, Willow watched as Buffy
and Xander acted lovey-dovey. Buffy seemed willing to speak to Willow that
morning, but was not really cheerful about it. Right now, to the disdain of
her Watcher, Buffy was sitting on Xander's lap, teasingly tapping his chin.
"… and so I think it is important if you carry on patrolling as usual,
Buffy, so we won't be surprised if …" Giles finally realised that no one was
paying attention to what he was saying, especially his Slayer. He looked
sternly at Buffy and her 'boyfriend'. "Buffy, I would appreciate if you and
Xander would stop doing … whatever it is you're doing and pay attention.
What we're discussing is extremely important."
"And also very boring," said Buffy, who had no intention of getting of
Xander's lap. Xander didn't seem to mind. Buffy was having fun examining
Willow's (and Giles') reactions. "Day in , day out … it's the same thing.
Patrol as usual, yada yada yada, the safety of Sunnydale is in your hands,
yada yada blah blah. I'm kinda used to the drill, Giles."
"This is *not* a drill," replied Giles indignantly. "It is your sacred duty
as the Slayer to defend the world from the undead. You need to be a little
bit more serious…"
"What I need," interrupted Buffy, "is a refreshing new change."
"Maybe what you need," Xander added, "is some Xander love."
Buffy seemed shocked for a moment, not used to Xander's sudden declaration
of affection in public. She recovered quickly with a bubbly giggle. She
gingerly pecked his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, I
definitely want some of that."
Giles rolled his eyes and then buried his heads in his hands. Willow
continued watching with interest.
Buffy spotted a golden opportunity to escape the pit of boredom and seized
it. She hopped of Xander's lap. Turning to Giles and Willow, she smiled. "If
you'll excuse us for one moment … Xander and I have a little recreational
activity planned." She sexily smiled at Xander, who was still sitting down.
"You coming?"
"Sure thing, my Buffy Muffin." Xander had been practising, and he could now
say it without feeling sick. He stood up. "Lead the way."
Buffy took him by the hand and led him out of the library. When they
reached a safe distance, they broke away. Buffy laughed. "That was fun.
Killing two birds with one stone. We managed to get out of that boring
meeting, and we have once again, induced them to nausea with our
sickly-sweet charade. I'm loving this."
"So am I," said Xander, "although I really think we should get more
action."
Buffy slapped him on the back of his head lightly. She spoke as he rubbed
his head. "Keep those hormones in check. And what's this with Xander-love?"
"Well, I thought of that myself. I think it's pretty clever actually."
Xander said , after smiling widely. "I don't see why you're the only one
that gets to do the sweet-talking. Remember, there are two people in this
relationship."
"All right," said Buffy, amused with her friend, "Just don't go overboard."
"Do I ever?"
Inside the library, Giles lifted his head to find the slayer and her
'boyfriend' gone. He sighed half out of exasperation and half out of relief.
As patient as he was, it was getting on his nerves watching Buffy and Xander
play lovebirds.
"There's something weird about that relationship," said Willow. "Sure, it's
downright sickening, but there's something else that's bugging me."
"What about?" asked Giles, knowing very well he would regret asking the
question.
"It doesn't seem … real. I mean, I'm not saying anything , or accusing them
of anything… it's just that it looks … too planned. It looked staged," said
Willow, wrinkling her eyebrows.
"Well, now that you have come to mention it," Giles replied, cleaning his
glasses, "It does seem a tad artificial. Their relationship seems
over-sweetened."
"Maybe they're too much in love," answered Willow, still thinking hard.
"But did you see the way Buffy looked just now when Xander was talking? It
was like she wasn't expecting that… like he adlib their script … and she was
stunned for a moment. Only for a small moment … but still…"
Giles did not want to say anything else to encourage Willow. If she got on
a roll, she would not stop for days. Maybe weeks. He would have to listen to
her rant over and over again. That was a terrible fate.
Willow glanced at her watch. "Well, there's still about eight more minutes
till … oh, I see it now!" Her sudden exclamation surprised Giles.
"See what?"
"The whole picture! Look at the date. You do know what next week is, don't
you?"
Giles didn't seem to know, so Willow told him. He nodded in
acknowledgement.
"I see it all now!" Willow nearly screamed, getting all excited and worked
up. "It's so clear to me now. She's doing this to get back at me! Because of
what we … I did last year. Don't you remember?"
"I vaguely recall a … false alarm … and some water…" Giles said, not having
a really clear memory of the incident. "I do believe I told you it wasn't a
very … suitable thing to do."
"She needed to loosen up. Remember how uptight and tense she was? She was
sullen Buffy for , like weeks. What we did really loosened her up. I think
we did a great job," said Willow.
"But still…" Giles wanted to say something.
"You can't deny it was a good April's Fool joke," replied Willow. "And this
is probably what the whole Buffy and Xander thing is all about. A gigantic
hoax. One big, April's Fool joke. So *she* can be the one that tricks us,
after we tricked her last year. She'll have a great laugh, seeing all our
expressions. That's the whole point of the thing."
"That does make sense," stated Giles. "I didn't know Buffy had it in her -
going to such an elaborate scheme just for a joke."
"But it's the *perfect* scheme," replied Willow. "We didn't suspect
anything, because she started this one week early, instead of carrying it
out on the date itself. And the best part was, neither of us thought she
would *actually* carry out a joke. So she's planning to get the last laugh."
"And you don't want her too?" asked Giles, recognising a certain tone in
Willow's voice.
"Oh, let's just say I can get her at her own game." Willow had a
mischievous smirk on her face.
# # #
"We'll tell everybody on April first, right," Xander asked Buffy. They were
in her room again, planning out what to do and how to act for the charity
lunch-and-dance. "We yell April's Fool, and everybody laughs. Right?"
"Right." Buffy stated. "And if the rumours spread as fast as they usual do,
the whole school will know , and it'll save us the trouble of explaining to
everybody one by one."
"Speaking of rumours," said Xander coyly, "Did you hear about what they
said we did at the Bronze last night?"
Buffy shook her head. Xander told her.
"Oh my God." said Buffy, shocked and stunned, unaware that she was
blushing. "No wonder those jocks were staring at me the whole morning. I
feel so dirty."
"I'm liking what I'm hearing," said Xander. "They're saying we're doing all
the things I've always wanted us to do, but never imagined we could possibly
do."
"That sentence confuses me."
"Well, you're not the only one," replied Xander. They were both on Buffy's
bed, side by side , lying on their stomachs, staring blankly at the wall.
"Sometimes I'm not sure of what I'm talking."
Buffy smiled. There was something about the way he said things that made
her find him so … adorable. It also helped that he was kind of good looking.
Buffy stopped herself before she ventured in to the Land of No No Thinking.
"Can I asked you something?" Xander changed to a serious tone.
"Sure, what?" Buffy turned to look at her friend, curious about what he had
to ask her.
"Um … you know … when we were pretending … and stuff …" Xander spoke
nervously, his words far apart and he was stuttering a little. "Do … you
think I'm … a good … you know… eh … kisser?"
Buffy seemed taken aback by the question. She wasn't expecting something
like that. She gave a tiny laugh to stall he answer. "Well … you're all
right, I would say. Although you could use a little work on some parts."
"What parts?" asked Xander, suddenly loosing his nervousness.
"I don't know," said Buffy, looking down for a short while, "I can't
remember. I mean I would have to … kiss … you again …"
She didn't realise that she was pausing more and more between words. She
was staring into Xander's soft brown eyes, as he stared into hers. There
seemed to be no movement for such a long time - just the staring… and then
they slowly inched closer. Their lips pressed against each other's and both
of them could feel the heat and intensity radiating from that kiss. It
seemed to last forever.
When they finally pulled apart, Buffy looked sheepishly at Xander. It would
be lying if she said she didn't enjoy that. "I take that back. You are a
good kisser."
Xander smiled, still stunned that they actually shared a long, meaningful
kiss. And they weren't even pretending. He didn't have time to finish his
thoughts, as Buffy dragged him closer to her and kissed him again.
They rolled and wrestled playfully on the bed, their lips never separating.
Buffy pushed Xander on his back and straddled him, kissing his neck and face
countless of times. Slowly she began to unbutton his shirt, revealing the
well-toned body underneath. She traced her finger from his chin down to his
stomach and playfully rubbed his chest. Xander moaned softly in ecstasy.
She kissed him on more time on the lips, and then nibbled gently on his
earlobe. She smiled at him seductively and lightly drummed her fingers on
his chest. He responded by running his fingers through her hair.
She lowered her lips to meet his again and this time they did not break
off. At least not for a very long time.
"Vampire activity has been low as of late," rambled Giles aimlessly as the
gang sat around the library table pretending to listen. "Of course, it is
better for us to take all necessary precautions , just in case there is
something …"
As Giles continued on and on about the same thing, Willow watched as Buffy
and Xander acted lovey-dovey. Buffy seemed willing to speak to Willow that
morning, but was not really cheerful about it. Right now, to the disdain of
her Watcher, Buffy was sitting on Xander's lap, teasingly tapping his chin.
"… and so I think it is important if you carry on patrolling as usual,
Buffy, so we won't be surprised if …" Giles finally realised that no one was
paying attention to what he was saying, especially his Slayer. He looked
sternly at Buffy and her 'boyfriend'. "Buffy, I would appreciate if you and
Xander would stop doing … whatever it is you're doing and pay attention.
What we're discussing is extremely important."
"And also very boring," said Buffy, who had no intention of getting of
Xander's lap. Xander didn't seem to mind. Buffy was having fun examining
Willow's (and Giles') reactions. "Day in , day out … it's the same thing.
Patrol as usual, yada yada yada, the safety of Sunnydale is in your hands,
yada yada blah blah. I'm kinda used to the drill, Giles."
"This is *not* a drill," replied Giles indignantly. "It is your sacred duty
as the Slayer to defend the world from the undead. You need to be a little
bit more serious…"
"What I need," interrupted Buffy, "is a refreshing new change."
"Maybe what you need," Xander added, "is some Xander love."
Buffy seemed shocked for a moment, not used to Xander's sudden declaration
of affection in public. She recovered quickly with a bubbly giggle. She
gingerly pecked his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, I
definitely want some of that."
Giles rolled his eyes and then buried his heads in his hands. Willow
continued watching with interest.
Buffy spotted a golden opportunity to escape the pit of boredom and seized
it. She hopped of Xander's lap. Turning to Giles and Willow, she smiled. "If
you'll excuse us for one moment … Xander and I have a little recreational
activity planned." She sexily smiled at Xander, who was still sitting down.
"You coming?"
"Sure thing, my Buffy Muffin." Xander had been practising, and he could now
say it without feeling sick. He stood up. "Lead the way."
Buffy took him by the hand and led him out of the library. When they
reached a safe distance, they broke away. Buffy laughed. "That was fun.
Killing two birds with one stone. We managed to get out of that boring
meeting, and we have once again, induced them to nausea with our
sickly-sweet charade. I'm loving this."
"So am I," said Xander, "although I really think we should get more
action."
Buffy slapped him on the back of his head lightly. She spoke as he rubbed
his head. "Keep those hormones in check. And what's this with Xander-love?"
"Well, I thought of that myself. I think it's pretty clever actually."
Xander said , after smiling widely. "I don't see why you're the only one
that gets to do the sweet-talking. Remember, there are two people in this
relationship."
"All right," said Buffy, amused with her friend, "Just don't go overboard."
"Do I ever?"
Inside the library, Giles lifted his head to find the slayer and her
'boyfriend' gone. He sighed half out of exasperation and half out of relief.
As patient as he was, it was getting on his nerves watching Buffy and Xander
play lovebirds.
"There's something weird about that relationship," said Willow. "Sure, it's
downright sickening, but there's something else that's bugging me."
"What about?" asked Giles, knowing very well he would regret asking the
question.
"It doesn't seem … real. I mean, I'm not saying anything , or accusing them
of anything… it's just that it looks … too planned. It looked staged," said
Willow, wrinkling her eyebrows.
"Well, now that you have come to mention it," Giles replied, cleaning his
glasses, "It does seem a tad artificial. Their relationship seems
over-sweetened."
"Maybe they're too much in love," answered Willow, still thinking hard.
"But did you see the way Buffy looked just now when Xander was talking? It
was like she wasn't expecting that… like he adlib their script … and she was
stunned for a moment. Only for a small moment … but still…"
Giles did not want to say anything else to encourage Willow. If she got on
a roll, she would not stop for days. Maybe weeks. He would have to listen to
her rant over and over again. That was a terrible fate.
Willow glanced at her watch. "Well, there's still about eight more minutes
till … oh, I see it now!" Her sudden exclamation surprised Giles.
"See what?"
"The whole picture! Look at the date. You do know what next week is, don't
you?"
Giles didn't seem to know, so Willow told him. He nodded in
acknowledgement.
"I see it all now!" Willow nearly screamed, getting all excited and worked
up. "It's so clear to me now. She's doing this to get back at me! Because of
what we … I did last year. Don't you remember?"
"I vaguely recall a … false alarm … and some water…" Giles said, not having
a really clear memory of the incident. "I do believe I told you it wasn't a
very … suitable thing to do."
"She needed to loosen up. Remember how uptight and tense she was? She was
sullen Buffy for , like weeks. What we did really loosened her up. I think
we did a great job," said Willow.
"But still…" Giles wanted to say something.
"You can't deny it was a good April's Fool joke," replied Willow. "And this
is probably what the whole Buffy and Xander thing is all about. A gigantic
hoax. One big, April's Fool joke. So *she* can be the one that tricks us,
after we tricked her last year. She'll have a great laugh, seeing all our
expressions. That's the whole point of the thing."
"That does make sense," stated Giles. "I didn't know Buffy had it in her -
going to such an elaborate scheme just for a joke."
"But it's the *perfect* scheme," replied Willow. "We didn't suspect
anything, because she started this one week early, instead of carrying it
out on the date itself. And the best part was, neither of us thought she
would *actually* carry out a joke. So she's planning to get the last laugh."
"And you don't want her too?" asked Giles, recognising a certain tone in
Willow's voice.
"Oh, let's just say I can get her at her own game." Willow had a
mischievous smirk on her face.
# # #
"We'll tell everybody on April first, right," Xander asked Buffy. They were
in her room again, planning out what to do and how to act for the charity
lunch-and-dance. "We yell April's Fool, and everybody laughs. Right?"
"Right." Buffy stated. "And if the rumours spread as fast as they usual do,
the whole school will know , and it'll save us the trouble of explaining to
everybody one by one."
"Speaking of rumours," said Xander coyly, "Did you hear about what they
said we did at the Bronze last night?"
Buffy shook her head. Xander told her.
"Oh my God." said Buffy, shocked and stunned, unaware that she was
blushing. "No wonder those jocks were staring at me the whole morning. I
feel so dirty."
"I'm liking what I'm hearing," said Xander. "They're saying we're doing all
the things I've always wanted us to do, but never imagined we could possibly
do."
"That sentence confuses me."
"Well, you're not the only one," replied Xander. They were both on Buffy's
bed, side by side , lying on their stomachs, staring blankly at the wall.
"Sometimes I'm not sure of what I'm talking."
Buffy smiled. There was something about the way he said things that made
her find him so … adorable. It also helped that he was kind of good looking.
Buffy stopped herself before she ventured in to the Land of No No Thinking.
"Can I asked you something?" Xander changed to a serious tone.
"Sure, what?" Buffy turned to look at her friend, curious about what he had
to ask her.
"Um … you know … when we were pretending … and stuff …" Xander spoke
nervously, his words far apart and he was stuttering a little. "Do … you
think I'm … a good … you know… eh … kisser?"
Buffy seemed taken aback by the question. She wasn't expecting something
like that. She gave a tiny laugh to stall he answer. "Well … you're all
right, I would say. Although you could use a little work on some parts."
"What parts?" asked Xander, suddenly loosing his nervousness.
"I don't know," said Buffy, looking down for a short while, "I can't
remember. I mean I would have to … kiss … you again …"
She didn't realise that she was pausing more and more between words. She
was staring into Xander's soft brown eyes, as he stared into hers. There
seemed to be no movement for such a long time - just the staring… and then
they slowly inched closer. Their lips pressed against each other's and both
of them could feel the heat and intensity radiating from that kiss. It
seemed to last forever.
When they finally pulled apart, Buffy looked sheepishly at Xander. It would
be lying if she said she didn't enjoy that. "I take that back. You are a
good kisser."
Xander smiled, still stunned that they actually shared a long, meaningful
kiss. And they weren't even pretending. He didn't have time to finish his
thoughts, as Buffy dragged him closer to her and kissed him again.
They rolled and wrestled playfully on the bed, their lips never separating.
Buffy pushed Xander on his back and straddled him, kissing his neck and face
countless of times. Slowly she began to unbutton his shirt, revealing the
well-toned body underneath. She traced her finger from his chin down to his
stomach and playfully rubbed his chest. Xander moaned softly in ecstasy.
She kissed him on more time on the lips, and then nibbled gently on his
earlobe. She smiled at him seductively and lightly drummed her fingers on
his chest. He responded by running his fingers through her hair.
She lowered her lips to meet his again and this time they did not break
off. At least not for a very long time.