Chapter Title: Talking RatCat
Thank you sheilamarie I hope this holds your interest beyond that first chapter. I'm having fun writing it, and I really hope you're enjoying reading it!
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"So... you like him, don't you?"
"No. And if you don't stop saying that, you'll find yourself in the belly of some dog."
"Contrary to popular belief, dogs do not eat cats. They are simply disturbed and annoyed by them."
"Then I'll add magic to you and make you look edible."
"But then who would you talk to?"
"Gypsi."
"Right. And when she started to bore you?"
"Hey Gypsi! Rat's insulting you!"
"Tell him to shut it before I string him from the roof."
"I've heard that threat before. Doesn't faze me."
"By his bad-talking tongue."
"That could be painful." Glare at the white witch. "Traitor."
"Hey, I'm the master here, not you," Raven laughed, picking up the pure white cat.
"So what was he saying?" Gypsi asked as she walked into the room, toweling her back-length hair dry. She dangled a string in front of the cat's eyes, making him paw at the end of it.
"I'm gonna get it this time. The hunter stalks his prey." Rat stalked toward the string, making a circle around it. "He prowls around it, keeping from alerting it to his presence. Then, when he's close enough..." Rat pounced on the string, quickly clawing it and biting the tip. "The prey is his! And- Wait... this isn't prey..." The cat spit the string back out before standing and haughtily walking away. The girls both laughed.
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Riley stared out the window, his thoughts wandering back to the day before. Willow's pale cousin had captured his interest completely. She seemed nice, but also like she knew what she wanted. She was very protective of the people she loved – something Riley felt was very important, and she was able to stop her temper before it got too far away from her. In the military man's eyes, she was perfect.
He thought of asking the darker girl, Gypsi, to help him get on better terms with her sister, but almost immediately discarded it. His reaction to Buffy's exclamation that she was less – or more – than human would not entice her to trust him. In fact, she would most likely just scream and run away. Or act like Buffy and punch his lights out. Riley then considered asking Willow to help him out, but then he remembered her 'disclaimer' about his asking Buffy out. He could only imagine what would happen if it was her cousin he was talking about.
"Okay, so it's either ask her, or ask Gypsi for help with her."
"Talking to yourself now, mate?"
"Gah! Don't sneak up on me!"
"I wasn't sneaking! I have my boots on and I was stomping! So, ask who what?"
"None of your business."
"Then I have to guess. Ask that white witch on a date?"
"I didn't know vampires could read minds..."
"There's a lot you don't know about demons, but we can't read minds. I just know how to read your face after getting stuck patrolling with you for the past few months. That, and all anyone's been thinking about lately is Willow's cousin and a half."
"Even you?"
"I guess..."
"Do you like Gypsi or something?"
"That's the darker one, right?"
"Yeah."
"Not really... Just not used to people who treat me like that."
"Like what? Ignoring you?"
"No. I get that all the time from you lot. She was checking me out, then she gets this headache and I can feel her hatred towards me radiating off her. I didn't even do anything to her. She's probably one of the few people in this town that I don't have some evil history with."
"Are you sure you don't have a soul? You suddenly seem to really care."
"Nah... Like I said before, mate, not used to a female going from lust to hate so easy and quick."
"But you're used to it from males?"
"You have a sick mind, Finn."
"So I've been told. It comes from having a slash-minded younger sister. She used to insist that Forest and I had some secret relationship. That's why I never invited him over to my house."
"Why was she so interested in slash?"
"I don't know. She read a lot of anime fanfiction things... The was a lot of... yaoi..."
"Japanese for male-male action."
"Yeah... how do you know that?"
"Angelus took us to Japan once. We stayed there for about three months. I picked up some of the words, and made a point of learning others."
"Which category does yaoi fall under?"
"A bit of both. I heard it at this bar, and then I wanted to know what it meant. When I learned it, I accused Angelus of being into it. He had a good time beating me that night."
"Why?"
"Turns out that that was one of the few words he had picked up."
"Spike?"
"What?"
"Are we having a civil conversation?"
"Yep. I'm gonna go now. Don't want anyone to catch us."
"Can't lose your bad reputation, right?"
"Exactly."
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A/N: Yes, that's all for now. It will take me awhile to really get going on this, and until then, expect disjointed, short chapters. Sorry, but I still don't have a real outline of this... NEways... please review!!
