A/N: Ok, I know I suck with updating, but I had two term papers to write, and exams as well, so I am going to be quicker with my updates from now on I promise. And you all know the quickest way to get a person to update is to review! Tell me what you think, I can handle it. ~E'Lise
Chapter Five: Made Up Wanker
Spike and Dawn stepped out of the house, and into a lovely, breezy twilight. It was uncharacteristically cool for a summer night in New Orleans, but it made for great walking weather. The streets had yet to be invaded by the drunken masses, so they were still easy to maneuver. Spike turned and smiled at Dawn.
"So where are you stealing me away to?" he asked. "I am a bit peckish, but I'd like something other than people food."
"I thought you might be, but the place itself is a surprise, and don't be put off by the name ok? It's just the name." Dawn said mysteriously.
"It doesn't have some silly poofter name does it?" Spike whined.
"Stop that, I told you it's just a name, don't knock it 'til you try it ok?" Dawn put her hands on her hips and stared Spike down. He looked away and mumbled his assent.
"I didn't hear you," Dawn sing-songed.
"I said I'll try the bloody place with the bloody stupid name," he grumbled.
"Good, let's go." Dawn took Spike by the hand and led him up near Jackson Square. They turned into Pirate's Alley alongside the St. Louis Cathedral.
"You know Bit, this alley is supposed to be the home for the ghosts of plenty of swashbucklers. They would come in this alley to have swordfights. The cobblestone streets would be flooded in rivers of blood. Locals say that on clear nights such as this, if you listen closely, you can hear their swords crash and clang." Spike spoke in an eerie voice, and Dawn swore the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Just then, something crashed loudly in Dawn's ear. She screamed and jumped into Spike's arms.
"Shhh Nibblet, shh. The wind just knocked over the lid on that garbage can. That's all it was, see?" Spike pointed at the can, and Dawn detached herself from him. She laughed nervously.
"Still scaring me with your horror stories, huh Spike?" She looked at him fondly. "Oh, this is the restaurant, we're here."
Spike looked up.
"Lestat's? Luv, you have got to be kidding me. I am not eating in a place named after some made up wanker of a vampire." Spike looked disgusted.
Dawn shook her finger at him.
"You promised you wouldn't judge it on name alone. Just try it, if you don't like it, we will leave."
"Bollocks, all right all right. Let's go in to the nancy boy restaurant." Spike sighed. After five years, Dawn could still walk all over him.
Back at the house, Buffy had gone to wash her hands before dinner. She was getting ready to go back to the kitchen when she noticed something on the floor. It was a picture of Spike. Buffy sat down on the floor, and remembered.
"What is this Spike? Why are you talking to me like we're some kind of talking buddies?"
God, she had been so cruel to him. All the times she had said that she would never touch him, that he disgusted her. Then she went and used him, fucked him like she was some kind of crazed animal. And all the while, she couldn't admit how good he really made her feel. When she started to feel good, she couldn't handle it, so Buffy told Spike she could never love him.
"Boy am I a big fat liar," Buffy thought to herself.
Just then, Joy walked in the bathroom. The little girl crawled into Buffy's lap and took the picture from her mother's hand. She studied it for a minute then looked up at Buffy.
"Is the man with the funny name going to stay with us?" Joy's innocent brown eyes searched Buffy's face.
Buffy hugged her daughter tight.
"I sure hope so, Joy. I sure hope so." Buffy said aloud, but then wondered inwardly, "I just hope I can make things right."
At the restaurant, Spike and Dawn were sitting across from each other at a candlelit table. The whole restaurant was decorated in red and black. The walls were a deep red, lit only by old fashioned black metal lanterns. The floors and tables were shiny black wood. The entire place looked like something out of a really bad Goth movie. Spike had been laughing his ass off ever since they had walked in the door. Now that they had sat down, he had finally started to calm down, but Spike was still making fun of the other patrons.
"Look at that guy in the cape," he whispered theatrically to Dawn. "He's got a top hat too! And I think that girl he's with is wearing a bustle! Do they think real vampires dress that way?" Spike nearly started laughing again, but tried to hide it behind his hand.
"Spike stop it!" Dawn whispered back. "Most of the people in here just want to believe that they are vampires. They play role playing games, and drink real blood, but they dress like people from the movies, and they don't realizes that true vampires are sitting right next to them. There are a few other real vampires that come here, like that couple over there."
Dawn pointed and Spike looked in that direction. Sitting near a window were two female vampires, a blonde and a redhead. The two girls were dressed in modern clothing like Dawn's. Simple, but sexy silk dresses and tall heels. The blonde had short, straight hair that flipped up at the ends, and the redhead had a wavy mane that fell around the middle of her back. Both of the girls were beautiful and they looked lethal. Yet, there was a tenderness in the way they looked at each other. It was clear that it was not a sire/childe relationship that these two shared, but that they were equals, and that what they shared had started long before they were turned. Spike gazed at them appreciatively.
"Do you know them?" Spike asked Dawn.
"Yeah, the true vamps in this town kind of lay low. This place gets blood donated to serve the guests, and the smart vampires just feed here. Especially now that the Slayer is in town. Those girls have lived here since before they were turned. They are actually good friends of mine. The blonde is Addy, and the redhead is Penelope. Actually, they may want to come out with us tonight, would you mind?" Dawn asked Spike.
"Would I mind having three beautiful women with me tonight? Nibblet, what kind of nonsensical question is that?" Spike returned, grinning. "Go ask them."
Dawn left the table and went over to talk to her two friends. When she reached them, she brushed a soft kiss on each girl's lips, and Spike felt his pants become extremely tight. The three women were stunning. Every male in the place was staring at them, and quite a few of the women were as well. Dawn spoke to the two girls for a few moments then made her way back to Spike at their table.
"They haven't ordered yet either, so we should all finish about the same time, and we will leave together. I told them how you were making fun of the people in this place, and they laughed, because they do that all the time. They are excited to meet you, since I have told them so much about you." Dawn smiled at Spike.
"Oh really, and what have you told them?"
"Just that I knew William the Bloody, that he helped take care of me when I was growing up, that he was one of my best friends, and a ruthless killer, he is gorgeous and that I had a huge crush on him." Dawn's gaze dropped here, and she would have blushed if she'd been able to.
"Had a crush?" Spike pressed.
"Well, it may have come back a bit since you've been back, but I am not the innocent little fifteen year old girl you once knew, Spike. I am all grown up." Dawn sent Spike a look that simply smoldered. He swallowed hard.
"S-so," Spike cleared his throat. "What does a fella have to do to get a drink around here?" he looked around for a waiter nervously.
Dawn snapped her fingers, and a waiter flew over to their table.
"How may I serve you, Mistress?" asked the waiter with downcast eyes.
"We'd like two single malt scotches, a flowering onion to start, then a bottle of sang de l'homme. That will be all." Dawn ordered.
"Yes Mistress."
"Oh, and bring us one about thirty years old, Italian, male."
"Of course Mistress." The waiter bowed and scurried off to place their order.
Spike was snickering again.
"What's with all that mistress shit, pet? And what did you order?"
"The waiters here refer to all the customers as Master or Mistress. They have been told that they must act as minions or slaves. The role players get a big thrill from that and tip them really well. The vamps just think it's funny. And I ordered two single malt scotches, a flowering onion, and the blood of a thirty year old Italian man. They have a nice spicy flavor.' Dawn licked her lips.
"So this place really does serve human blood?" Spike looked around him, the place looked nothing like Willy's.
"Yeah, like I said, the patrons donate blood here, and as long as it's clean, the manager serves it. A huge amount of people frequent this place. It gets more crowded with humans later on in the night, so that's why I tried to get here pretty early."
Their scotches and flowering onion were set down on the table by the humble waiter. Dawn pulled off a piece of the onion and tasted it before nodding and waving the man away. She explained her action to Spike.
"If the food's not exactly the way you want it, they take it back, but first they dump it on their heads. It's really funny, you'll see someone do it before the night is over. It's part of the whole subservient thing."
Dawn and Spike ate the rest of the onion, the waiter cleared it away and brought back a bottle with two crystal champagne flutes. He uncorked the bottle and presented the cork to Dawn along with a small amount of the liquid in her glass. She inhaled the scent off the cork, and tasted a bit of the dark red fluid.
"Perfect," she announced.
The waiter bowed again, thanked his mistress profusely, and poured Dawn and Spike each a full glass. Dawn raised her glass to Spike.
"Here's to old friendships."
"And new," Spike added, and clinked glasses with Dawn.
A half hour later, the bottle was empty and Spike was sated. Dawn had caught him all up on her adventures in New Orleans, and Spike had told her his. They looked over at Addy and Penelope, who had also finished, and Penelope motioned for Dawn and Spike to meet them outside. After they paid the bill, Dawn and Spike walked out into the street, and Dawn made introductions.
"Spike, this is Addy and this is Penelope." Spike kissed each girl's hand.
"A pleasure to meet you ladies." Spike smiled gallantly.
"We are big fans of yours, Spike. Dawn has told us all about you and your infamous exploits." Penelope grinned at him. She was petite but curvy in her backless, navy dress with a low draped neckline.
"Dawn talks about you all the time. We're excited to finally meet you," said Addy. She was tall and willowy in a crimson halter dress that also was low in the back.
"So Spike, are you ready for a night out?" Dawn asked.
"Hell yes Bit, let's go!" Spike took Dawn's hand and linked arms with Penelope, who held Addy's hand. The four moved stealthily into the night.