For notes warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1
Chapter 21: Girl Talk
(Faith's POV)
Okay, so it's been a really wacky day, which means that it was a pretty normal day for the most part. I mean, let's face it, wacky is our life. Of course there were a couple of surprises. I really wasn't expecting to see Giles and Mrs. S so into each other and that kind of caught us off guard... but in spite of the shock I also think it's kind of cute. All I know is that I really need to talk to B about it.
"So, any idea of just what are we supposed to do with those two lovebirds?" I ask, walking into her room and closing the door behind me.
"Nope, I mean I know we just saw them kissing and that kind of freaked me out but I don't really know how I feel about it... okay, maybe I do, I feel confused, which really isn't much help at all, come to think of it," she babbles and I can't help but smile at that. It seems to me like she's still freaking out.
"I know what you mean, just one question, do you think we got there in time?"
"In time for what?... oh, you mean before they..." she trails off shaking her head. She's totally unable to even form the words and I can't help but think that this is going to be fun.
"Yeah," I say, putting her out of her misery.
"I don't know... I mean they didn't really say anything about it but if those handcuffs were anything to go by..."
"Then we were way too late," I say, confirming her worst fears.
"I guess... and I guess it's going to take me a while to get used to the thought of my mom and handcuffs." That I have to agree with. Joyce and handcuffs? I never would have pegged her for the kinky type... not that I have anything against it.
"Yeah, it was kind of unexpected."
"Understatement much, Faith? I mean, it's my mom and Giles... an even if I already knew about Ripper to see them..."
"I know what you mean... and at least you already knew about Ripper before tonight, it was news to me, though I kind of had a feeling that tweedman had to have a wild side somewhere. No one can act that repressed unless he's hiding something," I mutter.
"Yeah, I know, but it was my mom!"
"You really aren't planning to move past that part any time soon, are you?" I tease her. It may be kind of cruel to do so when she's really freaking out over it, but what can I say, I'm easily amused.
"It's just that it was my..."
"So I guess the question is what are we going to do about it," I cut her off before she can even finish that sentence, otherwise we'll be here until tomorrow.
"Do?" she asks as if I were speaking a foreign language.
"You know, are we pushing or pulling here?" I explain.
"Uh?"
Okay, so I'm guessing the explanations just aren't getting through just yet so I clarify, "Do we push them together or pull them apart?"
"I really don't know. I mean, it's my mom and it's Giles and it's all very confusing," she whines.
"Why?" I ask, trying to get her to snap out of it.
"You are all for the pushing, aren't you?" she asks, really looking at me for the first time since this whole conversation started.
"Yeah, I think they are kind of cute together, besides G already knows all about us and the slaying and that's got to be a big plus... I mean, do you really want to have to worry about breaking in a brand new step-father who doesn't have a clue?" I ask.
"Please don't use the 'S' word ever again," she says, covering her ears.
"Face it, B, sooner or later your mom's gonna meet someone," I tell her.
"I guess, and I guess Giles is better than a killer robot, but still, it's my mom we are talking about," she mumbles.
"Do I even want to know about that robot?" I ask, seeing a chance to distract her from the night's events and maybe even get a juicy little story out of it.
"It happened last year... mom met Mr. Right, or so it seemed. It turned out to be a robot who was drugging everyone and who just kept searching for his 'wife' time and time again," she explains with a shudder.
"Only on the hellmouth," I say, shaking my head.
"I guess, so maybe Giles wouldn't be so bad after all, it's just that..."
"Come on, B, don't tell me you are still hung up on the fact that your mom actually has sex?" I ask, realizing that subtle just ain't gonna cut it here,
"And there you go again, with another 'S' word," she growls.
"What's your problem with that letter anyway?" I tease her.
"I don't know... and I know I should try to accept things between my mom and Giles, I mean, I guess I'm cool with the idea of Giles having sex --but don't tell him I said that, I'd never hear the end of it-- after all, I did do guys who were way older than him so I guess I can kind of understand it from his end but still, it's my mom and that's freaking me out."
"Well, B, I hate to break it to you, but for her age your mom is one hot momma so sooner or later you are just going to have to suck it up and deal... not to mention the fact that you are here, which means she must have had a sex life once, you know?" I say, pointing out the obvious.
"Thanks for the visual, Faith. I guess you are right but still, it's my mom and I just... you are really for it, aren't you?" she asks, rather suddenly... well at least she seems to have moved past the 'but she's my mom' part of it.
"Yeah, I mean, I like your mom and I like G... and I'm pretty sure he won't kick me to the curb if they get together. From where I'm standing that's definitely a bonus," I explain, hoping that she won't be too mad about that one.
"I guess I hadn't really thought about it like that. I mean..."
"It's okay, B. I know that's just me being kind of selfish but..."
"But you do have a point. So I guess pushing it is," she says, nodding her head once and I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding.
"Great, now we just have to figure out how we are going to do it... and maybe if we can get something else out of this deal," I say.
"What exactly do you have in mind?" she asks.
"Some changes to the house rules?" I suggest, "I mean, come on, B, let's face it, the whole not having sex in the house thing kind of sucks."
"Actually, Faith, I don't think that's what mom had in mind. I think she was thinking more along the lines of not having sex, period," she tells me with a smile.
"But you see, that's the thing, B. I mean, what's the point of not having sex? It's not like either one of us is going to get to her wedding night as a blushing virgin... heck, being slayers chances are we won't even make it to our wedding nights so why worry? Why not have some fun while we can?"
"Try telling that to my mom," she mutters, shaking her head in disbelief. I know it's going to be a tough sell, but we won't get a better chance than this.
"Well, we could use this whole sweet mess to make a point. It's not like she has much authority to tell us not to have sex when her whole excuse for the way she was acting tonight is that she had reverted to being a kid, you know?" I point out.
"I like how you think, Faith. I mean, I'm not as into the idea of having sex three times a day as you are but I guess a little more freedom would be nice," says B, and I'm happy to see that she's beginning to get into the spirit of things... still her comment is something I can't quite let go of.
"You never really got over how much you hated what you were doing, did you?" I ask her.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Pretty much. I mean, I get it, you weren't out there that long but still..."
"Actually, I don't even think that was it... or it wasn't just that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there was more to it than that," she explains, "I think it was more like my inner slayer really wasn't happy about it, you know? I mean, I knew I could break the guys in half without even trying and there were times when the temptation to do so was overwhelming but I still had to hold back and let them do whatever they wanted, even when they were really hurting me. It used to drive me so crazy sometimes. That was one of the reasons why I left that diner in the first place, you know? I knew that if I'd stayed there much longer I would have ended up killing that creep and I just..."
"And that was one line you couldn't really bring yourself to cross... even though you knew that the world would probably have been better off without him, right?"
"I guess," she says, looking down at her hands.
"It's okay, I probably would have felt the same way if I'd been in your place, you know?"
"It was all so surreal. I mean, there I was after having sent Angel to hell and suddenly I felt like I had lost everything, like I had lost myself. I remember Angelus asking me during the battle what was left when I'd lost my friends, my weapons and my hope. The answer was 'me' but after all was said and done it was like I had even lost that and then in LA... things got bad, really bad. I had no idea of what I was getting myself into, you know? I mean I went into that diner looking for work and then when that creep came into my room that night it was just..."
"It's okay, B," I say, trying to reassure her. I hate it when she gets this lost. I know I suck at dealing with all of this emotional crap but right now I think I'm stuck.
"No, you don't understand. No matter how hard I tried, it was like I just couldn't make any sense at all out of what was happening around me... what was happening to me. I mean, it was so ridiculous and you are going to laugh at this but the truth is that before that day I had never really seen an erect penis, you know? Not in the flesh anyway, and then..."
"But Angel...?" I interrupt her.
"Angel was my first time, that's true, but things were kind of confusing after everything we'd been through, after seeing that the Judge had been reassembled and running for our life through the sewers... and the truth is that I didn't exactly look down. Besides even though he was really gentle with me there was a bit of a 'wham, bam, you are dead ma'am' aspect to the whole thing with his whole turning evil right afterwards and all that."
I'm not entirely sure of what to say to that. I knew she had been more than a little green when she ran away but I guess I had never realized just how green she'd been. I mean, it's not the end of the world, she lived through it and still managed to make it back home and that's more than I can say about most of the girls I've ever met but still... Buffy was used to being safe, she thought that was the way of the world and all that crap... at least I knew better. Not knowing what else to do I decide to try and steer things back to a slightly less slippery slope before I find myself out of my depth here... which I guess I already kind of am. I know she wants me to understand but I don't. I can't even imagine what being that green was like.
"So I'm guessing that between the total lack of experience and an inner slayer bitching about it the whole time, it probably got pretty rough, huh?" I say, lamely.
"Yeah, I mean even after I got kind of used to it there was this part of me that just kept trying to tell me that I was a warrior, that it wasn't my place, that I was stronger than they were. It kept taunting me with how easy it would have been to just... anyway, it was like a part of me kept wanting me to fight them off while the other knew I couldn't afford to do it... not if I wanted to eat, if I wanted to survive. That feeling never really went away."
"I never really thought about it like that but I guess that makes sense," I say, even if I'm not entirely sure I understand.
"You didn't have that problem?" she asks, sounding more than a little surprised.
"B, I get it that our inner slayer is a predator who likes to be on top, to be the aggressor. I get it that she ain't nobody's bitch but the thing is that by the time I became a slayer I was already so used to being fucked that it wasn't even an issue any more. That's where we are different, you see, I ran away long before I became a slayer, you had been a slayer for years before you ran away."
"Different perspectives?"
"That's a way of putting it."
"So, about mom and Giles?" she asks, putting an end to that topic, much to my relief... things got a little heavy for my liking there for a while.
"Well, I'm cool with it and you are getting there, now the question is what can we do to keep them from freaking out about it and running in opposite directions 'cause I'm so not looking forward to seeing them start blushing and stuttering every time they are in the same room for the next thirty years."
"No, but maybe a week or two could be fun... I mean, they do kind of have it coming."
"You are evil, B," I say shaking my head.
"Well, they do... after everything they put us through tonight."
"I'm not disagreeing with you, B, I'm just making an innocent comment here."
"Okay, 'you' and 'innocent' in the same sentence, now that's a really creepy mental image you know? I mean, warn a gal before you say something like that!"
"Like you are one to talk. Come on, we have some planning to do," I say, throwing a pillow at her.
