"It's nice out here," murmurs Lilah drowsily from her position curled up next to Wesley. Wesley nuzzles her cheek and runs a hand through her hair.
"Yes, it is," he agrees. It's a lovely day, with clear blue skies, warm breezes and sweet smelling grass (or is that Lilah's hair?). All it takes to make him happy is good weather, a lovely woman warm in his arms and a delicious lunch in his stomach. He is rather easy to please.
He looks back at the remains of their dessert, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne; stereotypical lovers' foods. Lilah pulls herself up and glances down at him, her lightly curled hair falling to cover her face. Wesley pushes her hair out of her face and lets his hand slide down to touch her dress. It's a simple yet elegant white dress, with thin straps that slip off of her soft shoulders and silky fabric that caresses her curves. It's odd to see her wearing it; he's never seen her wear light colors, or truly feminine outfits (other than lingerie) before.
"Still hungry?"
"Not for food," he tells her, reaching up and yanking her down to kiss her and tangle his fingers in her hair.
But Lilah pulls away from him after a few kisses and quizzically stares at him.
"What do you think of this?"
Wesley, in the middle of pulling up her dress, frowns at her.
"Think of what?"
"What do you think about us?"
"Why? You never cared what I thought before."
Lilah shrugs. "This is a dream. Why not tell me?"
That's when Wesley goes cold. He sits up and Lilah falls off him to the ground. He grabs her wrists hard and even though his eyes are already open, he opens them again...
The sweet smelling green grass beneath their bodies is gone, along with the remains of lunch and the great outdoors. He's sitting on his bed against the backboard, the stale smell of beer, books and sex invading his nostrils, naked and holding onto an equally naked and startled Lilah.
"You were doing fine until you said it was a dream," he says coldly, all traces of his former loving tone gone.
Lilah, obviously frightened, jerks at his grip and tries to get away, but he is holding on too hard.
"What were you trying to get at?" he hisses angrily at her.
Lilah won't look at him and is actually red in the face.
He's really angry with her. Getting into his dreams and trying to get information out of him, that's lower than he anticipates... Then he remembers the words: what do you think about us?
He realizes exactly what Lilah wants to know and it's a startling and unexpected idea. Maybe she's used methods that he doesn't approve of, but she obviously cares more than he's ever thought possible.
Calmer now, he looks at his dresser and sees a spilled packet of powder.
"Calynthia powder?" he asks. Lilah nods.
"Yeah, I- borrowed a little when Darla was doing her thing with Angel, thought it might come in handy sometime. I mean, they don't have this kind of magickal stuff lying around everyday." She's rambling and Wesley realizes how embarrassed she truly is. To admit her feelings must be a terribly vulnerable situation for her.
"You could've just asked me," he interrupts.
Lilah tilts her head and looks at him. "Really? Could I have really asked?"
The silence hangs between them and Wesley knows that she never could have asked him. But the fact that Lilah wants to know is incredibly strange. When did their relationship take this unexpected turn?
Lilah awkwardly fidgets and he loosens his grip.
"I'll go, ok? Forget about it." She pulls her wrists away and hops off the bed, searching for her clothes.
If she leaves now, Wesley knows that this subject will never be mentioned again, and Lilah will go back to being hard as her manicured nails and arrogant. The slice of humanity she's shown tonight will disappear under her harsh veneer and he'll never see it again. And he wants to see it again. He's not quite sure what he feels, but it borders more on caring than hatred.
"Lilah," he calls out to her, but she ignores him and picks up her skirt. Wesley gets out of bed, whirls her around and kisses her hard.
Lilah initially resists his kiss, but he doesn't let her go and she slowly sinks into it. It rapidly turns into a deep kiss, hard and hungry but gentle and loving too: the kind of kiss that real lovers share, not just two people in bed for a ride.
They break off the kiss for a breath of air, and Wesley is still confused about the whole thing. But now that he knows that Lilah feels something for him he knows he's not alone in feeling confused and conflicted. It's not as simple as he thought it was.
"It's complicated," he says, half to himself.
"Yes, it is," murmurs Lilah next to him.
They stare at each other for a few seconds before Wesley lies back down in bed and pulls her down with him. He switches off the lamp and puts his arm around her. Lilah snuggles into his side and he absently caresses her hair before ruefully noticing that they're in the exact same position they were in the dream.
"Lilah, whose dream were we in?"
"It's a mutual dream, influenced by both participants."
"Does that mean-"
"Go to sleep, lover."
Wesley decides to obey. Lilah obviously doesn't want to talk about it anymore. But they had both wanted that dream, muses Wesley. It's faraway and unlikely, but maybe one day it could be real. He closes his eyes and soon Wesley is back in the park, where he'd been before awakening. Lilah is on top of him, gazing at him with adoring eyes. He proceeds to cover her face with kisses and get a squeal out of her, playfully cuddling in the grass.
It's a nice dream.
This is my response for the Wesley Ficathon, part one.
Writing for: jessie53067
Pairings or none:
Wes/Lilah
Requirements: something sweet...Wes realizing that he
has deeper feelings for her
Restrictions: I don't want Lilah to
die or for there to be any choosing Fred over Lilah or having Fred in
the mix...at all!