Disclaimers - See page one
The two women met in the foyer having spent the last thirty minutes dressing up for their night on the town. "Fabulous." Faith whistled admiringly at Buffy's low slung jeans complete with tiny chain belt embedded with amethyst and a lavender blouse, that showed off a lot of cleavage. "Is this silk? It's slick and hot ," Faith said, covetously fingering the lapel. "Bet it cost a bundle."
"Christmas present from Dawn." Slightly uncomfortable with Faith's familiarity, Buffy turned away to examine her reflection in the entryway mirror. Frowning at herself, she added, "She thinks I should start looking for a man to fit into my shiny new life. Apparently, she also thinks I should use my breasts to do it."
Faith bit her tongue to cover up her laughter, "You know what they say...what happens in Vegas..."
Buffy broke in, "Stays in Vegas, I've heard it a million times. I live here, I stay it stays. No escaping it. Though, if say the guy happened to be from Alaska, then maybe I'd be ok, he could take it back to the Yukon with him..."
Lost in Buffy's logic, Faith interrupted her ramble. "Stake?" she inquired, wanting to know if she really needed to bring one.
Buffy pulled up her jeans to show a slim stake shoved into her boot. "Never leave home without it. There's a demon mafia, we leave each other alone mostly. But, there are more than enough rogue ones around that like to cause a little trouble." Buffy informed her. "How are you gonna dance in that leather?" she said, finally noticing Faith's outfit.
Faith twirled around showing off her new outfit of skintight, black leather pants, matching boots and a red cropped shirt, that accentuated her feminine figure. "Like it? Spent my last dime on the matching jacket. Too warm for it though." Faith also slid a stake into one of her boots. "Ready? Good" She flipped around and flounced out the door, without waiting for a reply.
Buffy took a deep breath and followed her out. "This is your party. Just try to keep us outta trouble," she mumbled.
"So," Buffy began, as they meandered their way through the crowds along the Strip. "Where are we going?"
"I dunno. Let's just walk til we find something fun. Too bad the Stratosphere is way down there, I'd like to try one of those rides. They look wicked cool." Faith grinned at Buffy. "Maybe tomorrow, if some of us are up to it, that is." She winked at her companion.
Buffy cocked her eyebrow at Faith and gave her a half smile. "Adrenaline junkie, huh? Isn't your sacred duty death defying enough? And what would Robin say about your behavior?" Buffy teased.
Faith's smile faded. "Robin and I aren't together anymore. He was a great guy, but you know….not meant to be." she said with a trace of wistfulness in her voice. "He taught me a lot about myself though."
Buffy broke in, "You mean like how a man actually should treat you?" Buffy wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze.
"It's cool. No need to get all mushy on me B. He was just a guy." Faith nudged her friend off of her. "He just lasted longer than most of them." They walked the rest of the block in silence, each content to dwell in their own private world.
Faith seemed to brighten up again as she looked down the Strip at all the lit up places before them. "Time to party. Let's see…..Circus Circus? Hell freakin NO. Paris? Too artsy. Caesar's Palace? Mmmm….probably too Roman for some of us." Buffy nodded her head in agreement. "Luxor holds promise. Men in loincloths?"
Buffy shook her head. "You'll find that most of these places have more scantily clad women than men." She punctuated her statement with an exaggerated sigh of disappointment.
Faith smiled slyly at her. "Scantily clad women can be okay too." She said in an effort to throw her friend off.
Buffy half raised her hand. "Hell-o! Best friend's a lesbian here. Nothing you say could possibly shock me at this point. However, you are starting to make me rethink the validity of 'women in prison' movies." Buffy said. Faith burst out laughing.
"Besides, you know Will and Xander….Hormones on parade. And when you are the only one that currently prefers the male gender…you kinda get outvoted in the hottie discussions." Buffy shuddered in remembrance of some of the conversations she'd been party to with Xander and Willow over the years.
"Xander? I thought he and lil sis-" Faith began.
"STOP! Just stop right there!" Buffy clamped her hands over her ears. "I do NOT want to hear, talk or definitely think about it. I'm happy she found someone…but Xander?"
"Hey he was a stud." Faith answering her rhetorical question. "Besides…now that he's had lotsa practice, I bet he's a demon in the sack."
"Faith," Buffy whimpered. "I'm repressing here." Buffy had an inkling of how her mom must have felt when she found out about Angel. Dawn was still young and Buffy wanted nothing but the best for her. Suddenly Faith grabbed her arm, interrupting her thoughts. "Perfect." Faith said dragging Buffy toward the doors of a casino. "The Big Apple."
Faith slid her last dollar into a slot machine. "Come on cherries." They waited for the reels to stop spinning. Buffy was starting to get a little bored, she didn't like to gamble much. When any of the gang came to town she'd go out with them of course, but like any self respecting citizen of Las Vegas, she avoided The Strip as much as possible. She smiled wistfully as she thought of how different her friends all were. Willow loved the nickel slots, safe bet, she wouldn't lose too much; Xander was a dice junkie, she had to forcibly remove him from a craps table one night; Giles lost all of his money at blackjack, a game he was positive he could beat; and Dawn, well mostly they just wandered among the slot machines, occasionally trying to win one of the many cars that seem to be up for grabs.
"Woo Hoo!" Faith's yelp broke into Buffy's thoughts. "Beer money." Quarters clinked into the metal tray as Faith cashed out her winnings. "I'm going to take this up to the cage, then let's see if this joint's got a bar." Buffy followed her around the casino as she turned the quarters into bills and then up to the second floor nightclub.
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