DC: Still the same.
"Evelyn, Rick, meet my daughter... Buffy, her friends Xander, Willow and Spike and her mother, Joyce. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, the O'Connells," Ardeth said.
"So where's this Alex?" Buffy asked.
"He'll be along shortly with my brother, Jonathan. And please, all of you, call me 'Evie'," she said. Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Buffy, would you please?" Ardeth motioned to the door.
Buffy walked over to the door and opened it. Outside there were two men, one about Buffy's age, who looked dramatically like a younger version of Rick with sandy colored hair and the other wore a tan suit.
"You must be Buffy, the Chosen One. Am I correct?" the teenager asked. Buffy nodded her head and stepped aside to let them in. "I am Alex and this is my uncle Jon."
She shook their hands and let them inside.
"Ardeth, my good friend! How nice to see you!" Jonathan exclaimed, sarcastically. Ardeth rolled his eyes but still took the hand he stretched out for him.
"Please, sit down," Ardeth said, motioning towards the parlor. Everyone sat down in cushy armchairs and matching couches. "Anything to drink?"
"A cognac, please."
"A brandy'll hit the spot."
"That sounds good. I think I'll have one too."
"Ice water, please."
"Coke'll be fine."
"Anything's fine."
"Pig's blood. Nah, any kind of blood'll do."
"Soda."
"Soda."
Buffy helped Ardeth, who was shaking his head at Spike's order.
"There's some in his cooler," she explained. She went upstairs to the room Spike was sharing with Xander and retrieved a bloodred bag from the cooler and took it to the kitchen. She poured it into a coffee cup and heated it up. While she was waiting, she took the cokes out of the refridgerator and located glasses of ice to accompany them.
"Spike... Will... Xander..." Buffy said, handing them their beverages as Ardeth handed the adults theirs.
Spike looked at Alex with an evil eye and directed his glance back at Buffy.
"Are you sure you want to do... this, Pet?" he asked.
"It's not as if I have any choice, so I might as well. Most slayers don't live long enough to get married anyways, so I'm setting a record of some sort, I guess," she said.
Spike rubbed his eyes and relaxed a bit. He was getting restless, so he sat up and kissed Buffy, making sure Alex noticed it. She apparently returned the kiss, making it apparent to Alex she didn't really want to get married.
Alex sighed and sat back, engrossed in a conversation with Willow.
"Have you read anything good lately?" he asked.
"I finished Hugo's 'Les Miserables' last week. It was facinating," she replied.
"Strange, I find his works gothic and depressing. Have you read anything by Dickens lately?" he wondered. Their conversation went on like that long after the meal.
"...And to top it off, her writings have made it to the 'New York Times' bestseller list four times in the past five years," she said.
Buffy rolled her eyes.
***********
That night, when the O'Connells went home, they left Alex.
"We'll leave you to get to know each other," Ardeth said, leaving them alone.
Alex and Buffy sat at opposite ends of a couch, with their hands on their knees in silence.
"So..."
"Hmmm..."
Twenty minutes later, they were still sitting on the couch.
"Say something," Buffy said, trying to break the ice.
Alex thought for a minute.
"You're a junior in your secondary school, am I correct?" he asked.
"Yeah. Seeing anyone?" Buffy wondered.
"I am seeing you," he replied.
"Stupid questions call for stupid answers, right?" she answered.
"Stupid...?"
"I meant were you going out with anyone. A girlfriend?" Buffy corrected.
"Oh, I've been busy with helping Mum at the museum. Right now, I'm on holiday from university."
"So, you're in college?"
"I've already been accepted to the Bembridge Scholars when I receive my master's degree in Egyptology."
There was another silence. This time Alex broke it.
"Are you... going out with... William?" he asked.
"Spike, and yes. Almost six months now."
"That serious?"
"Not yet. But we're really close."
"But you're the Chosen One. You can't be with a vampire. Especially William the Bloody."
"I don't let the council tell me who I can or can't have a relationship with."
"Well, it's getting late. We'd better adjourn to our rooms. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Alex said.
"Bedtime? Your parents have you on a tight leash?"
"No. Why would you ask that?"
Buffy checked her watch.
"It's only nine-thirty-"
"Nine thirty! I should've adjourned an hour ago!"
"Chill. That doesn't really flow."
" 'Flow'?"
"That isn't very cool."
" 'Cool'?"
Buffy sighed.
"It's all slang for 'I don't really do that, and neither does anyone I know'."
"In any case, we should adjourn."
Buffy sighed again.
"Okay," she grumbled, getting up to show him to his room.
AN: Again, there isn't another cliffie. Next chapter: The so-called wedding and ummm... what goes on afterwards.
If you guess who Willow was talking about at dinner, review. The first reviewer to get it right, gets chapter three dedicated to them. The question was "This author(ess) wrote four books in the past five years that made the "New York Times" bestseller list. Who was she talking about?"
"Evelyn, Rick, meet my daughter... Buffy, her friends Xander, Willow and Spike and her mother, Joyce. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, the O'Connells," Ardeth said.
"So where's this Alex?" Buffy asked.
"He'll be along shortly with my brother, Jonathan. And please, all of you, call me 'Evie'," she said. Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Buffy, would you please?" Ardeth motioned to the door.
Buffy walked over to the door and opened it. Outside there were two men, one about Buffy's age, who looked dramatically like a younger version of Rick with sandy colored hair and the other wore a tan suit.
"You must be Buffy, the Chosen One. Am I correct?" the teenager asked. Buffy nodded her head and stepped aside to let them in. "I am Alex and this is my uncle Jon."
She shook their hands and let them inside.
"Ardeth, my good friend! How nice to see you!" Jonathan exclaimed, sarcastically. Ardeth rolled his eyes but still took the hand he stretched out for him.
"Please, sit down," Ardeth said, motioning towards the parlor. Everyone sat down in cushy armchairs and matching couches. "Anything to drink?"
"A cognac, please."
"A brandy'll hit the spot."
"That sounds good. I think I'll have one too."
"Ice water, please."
"Coke'll be fine."
"Anything's fine."
"Pig's blood. Nah, any kind of blood'll do."
"Soda."
"Soda."
Buffy helped Ardeth, who was shaking his head at Spike's order.
"There's some in his cooler," she explained. She went upstairs to the room Spike was sharing with Xander and retrieved a bloodred bag from the cooler and took it to the kitchen. She poured it into a coffee cup and heated it up. While she was waiting, she took the cokes out of the refridgerator and located glasses of ice to accompany them.
"Spike... Will... Xander..." Buffy said, handing them their beverages as Ardeth handed the adults theirs.
Spike looked at Alex with an evil eye and directed his glance back at Buffy.
"Are you sure you want to do... this, Pet?" he asked.
"It's not as if I have any choice, so I might as well. Most slayers don't live long enough to get married anyways, so I'm setting a record of some sort, I guess," she said.
Spike rubbed his eyes and relaxed a bit. He was getting restless, so he sat up and kissed Buffy, making sure Alex noticed it. She apparently returned the kiss, making it apparent to Alex she didn't really want to get married.
Alex sighed and sat back, engrossed in a conversation with Willow.
"Have you read anything good lately?" he asked.
"I finished Hugo's 'Les Miserables' last week. It was facinating," she replied.
"Strange, I find his works gothic and depressing. Have you read anything by Dickens lately?" he wondered. Their conversation went on like that long after the meal.
"...And to top it off, her writings have made it to the 'New York Times' bestseller list four times in the past five years," she said.
Buffy rolled her eyes.
***********
That night, when the O'Connells went home, they left Alex.
"We'll leave you to get to know each other," Ardeth said, leaving them alone.
Alex and Buffy sat at opposite ends of a couch, with their hands on their knees in silence.
"So..."
"Hmmm..."
Twenty minutes later, they were still sitting on the couch.
"Say something," Buffy said, trying to break the ice.
Alex thought for a minute.
"You're a junior in your secondary school, am I correct?" he asked.
"Yeah. Seeing anyone?" Buffy wondered.
"I am seeing you," he replied.
"Stupid questions call for stupid answers, right?" she answered.
"Stupid...?"
"I meant were you going out with anyone. A girlfriend?" Buffy corrected.
"Oh, I've been busy with helping Mum at the museum. Right now, I'm on holiday from university."
"So, you're in college?"
"I've already been accepted to the Bembridge Scholars when I receive my master's degree in Egyptology."
There was another silence. This time Alex broke it.
"Are you... going out with... William?" he asked.
"Spike, and yes. Almost six months now."
"That serious?"
"Not yet. But we're really close."
"But you're the Chosen One. You can't be with a vampire. Especially William the Bloody."
"I don't let the council tell me who I can or can't have a relationship with."
"Well, it's getting late. We'd better adjourn to our rooms. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Alex said.
"Bedtime? Your parents have you on a tight leash?"
"No. Why would you ask that?"
Buffy checked her watch.
"It's only nine-thirty-"
"Nine thirty! I should've adjourned an hour ago!"
"Chill. That doesn't really flow."
" 'Flow'?"
"That isn't very cool."
" 'Cool'?"
Buffy sighed.
"It's all slang for 'I don't really do that, and neither does anyone I know'."
"In any case, we should adjourn."
Buffy sighed again.
"Okay," she grumbled, getting up to show him to his room.
AN: Again, there isn't another cliffie. Next chapter: The so-called wedding and ummm... what goes on afterwards.
If you guess who Willow was talking about at dinner, review. The first reviewer to get it right, gets chapter three dedicated to them. The question was "This author(ess) wrote four books in the past five years that made the "New York Times" bestseller list. Who was she talking about?"