Mid-season 4, no real spoilers.
Willow, bearing blood and feeling especially chipper, waltzed up to Spike's crypt, knocked once and, without waiting to hear an answer, let herself in. Looking around curiously, she wrinkled her nose at the smell and gloom of the place, but shrugged and told herself that it was after all a vampire lair.
"Spike!" She called out to the seemingly empty crypt; "Ya home?"
From behind the tomb, she heard a muffled "bloody hell" and smiling brightly, walked over to where she heard the noise come from. Spike was sitting with his back against a wall, quickly trying to hide something behind his back.
Willow waved, "Hi, whatcha got there?"
"What? Nothing." Spike said quickly and unconvincingly.
"Come on, lemme see," Willow cajoled, " 'Cause if it's evil, I might have to get Buffy to hurt you"
The blond vampire looked aghast, "That's bloody unfair red, threatening me with your slayer pal and all."
Willow smiled brightly again, "I know, I'm evil, gimme."
Grumbling, Spike handed over a battered red book to the excited redhead. Willow turned to the first page and burst out laughing.
"Romeo and Juliet?!" She got out between fits of giggling.
"Yeah well," Spike mumbled turning slightly pink.
"I can't believe you're reading this!"
The vampire looked annoyed and snatched the book back; "I'll have you know that it's bloody good stuff this. Shakespeare at least knew what the hell he was doing, you don't get stuff like this anymore, it's all cheap romance novels you buy at the bloody grocery store."
Willow, calmed down sufficiently now, nodded in agreement. "I know, I like it too. We studied it in tenth grade and I fell in love with Shakespeare. He has such a way with words; it made me feel.....less shy, like if he could get out words like that, I could learn to get through a sentence without stumbling through it and ending up running away from embarrassment."
Spike nodded, "See, you get it Pet."
The two stood in comfortable silence.
Spike interrupted the calm, "What do you have there?" He asked gesturing toward the bottle Willow was carrying.
"Oh!" Willow exclaimed slapping her forehead, "I completely forgot what with the Shakespearianisms," She held the bottle out proudly and grinned. "It's blood, for you."
Spike took it and sniffed.
"It's human," she confirmed.
Spike quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh, I didn't kill anyone," Willow said, picking up on Spike's insinuation.
"There was this evil blood donor clinic, that was collecting blood for evil demony rituals or something and we had to stop it, but I thought because there was all this blood anyway and you had helped us kill that big ugly the other night that you might want some." She took a breath, "But it's a long boring story, and you probably don't want to hear it all."
Spike looked at the witch calculatingly for a moment, and then returned her infectious grin. "You are quite the human Red."
Willow smirked, "I know." She glanced down at her watch, "I gotta go now, class and all." She waved and walked towards the exit. "See you around."
As the redhead left the gloomy crypt to the warm daylight outside, Spike sighed and picked the discarded book up off the floor. He looked towards the door once again.
"She doth teach the torches to burn bright."
The vampire flipped through the dog-eared, much-used book, and started reading.
Willow, bearing blood and feeling especially chipper, waltzed up to Spike's crypt, knocked once and, without waiting to hear an answer, let herself in. Looking around curiously, she wrinkled her nose at the smell and gloom of the place, but shrugged and told herself that it was after all a vampire lair.
"Spike!" She called out to the seemingly empty crypt; "Ya home?"
From behind the tomb, she heard a muffled "bloody hell" and smiling brightly, walked over to where she heard the noise come from. Spike was sitting with his back against a wall, quickly trying to hide something behind his back.
Willow waved, "Hi, whatcha got there?"
"What? Nothing." Spike said quickly and unconvincingly.
"Come on, lemme see," Willow cajoled, " 'Cause if it's evil, I might have to get Buffy to hurt you"
The blond vampire looked aghast, "That's bloody unfair red, threatening me with your slayer pal and all."
Willow smiled brightly again, "I know, I'm evil, gimme."
Grumbling, Spike handed over a battered red book to the excited redhead. Willow turned to the first page and burst out laughing.
"Romeo and Juliet?!" She got out between fits of giggling.
"Yeah well," Spike mumbled turning slightly pink.
"I can't believe you're reading this!"
The vampire looked annoyed and snatched the book back; "I'll have you know that it's bloody good stuff this. Shakespeare at least knew what the hell he was doing, you don't get stuff like this anymore, it's all cheap romance novels you buy at the bloody grocery store."
Willow, calmed down sufficiently now, nodded in agreement. "I know, I like it too. We studied it in tenth grade and I fell in love with Shakespeare. He has such a way with words; it made me feel.....less shy, like if he could get out words like that, I could learn to get through a sentence without stumbling through it and ending up running away from embarrassment."
Spike nodded, "See, you get it Pet."
The two stood in comfortable silence.
Spike interrupted the calm, "What do you have there?" He asked gesturing toward the bottle Willow was carrying.
"Oh!" Willow exclaimed slapping her forehead, "I completely forgot what with the Shakespearianisms," She held the bottle out proudly and grinned. "It's blood, for you."
Spike took it and sniffed.
"It's human," she confirmed.
Spike quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh, I didn't kill anyone," Willow said, picking up on Spike's insinuation.
"There was this evil blood donor clinic, that was collecting blood for evil demony rituals or something and we had to stop it, but I thought because there was all this blood anyway and you had helped us kill that big ugly the other night that you might want some." She took a breath, "But it's a long boring story, and you probably don't want to hear it all."
Spike looked at the witch calculatingly for a moment, and then returned her infectious grin. "You are quite the human Red."
Willow smirked, "I know." She glanced down at her watch, "I gotta go now, class and all." She waved and walked towards the exit. "See you around."
As the redhead left the gloomy crypt to the warm daylight outside, Spike sighed and picked the discarded book up off the floor. He looked towards the door once again.
"She doth teach the torches to burn bright."
The vampire flipped through the dog-eared, much-used book, and started reading.