"Did you drink lots of tea when you were human, like Giles does?" He sent her what he meant to be a vicious scowl, which seemed instead to answer her question affirmatively. A grin passed over her face, and he fought to keep his glare intact. He failed miserably, and grinned back at her. It was impossible not to.
"I wasn't as stuffy as he is." She raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed. "Well, maybe a bit… alright, I was a ponce, are you happy?"
"Yup." She laughed, snuggling closer to him on the couch. She could vaguely hear the band playing in the background, and was aware of the people around them, but it was all distant. Here, only he mattered. His arm was snug around her shoulders, and she felt safe. Content. She wondered if it was possible to fall asleep here on his shoulder when she was already in a dream. The thought led to more complicated ones: If she fell asleep here, how would she know if the real world was really real, or just a dream within a dream? She frowned, and he asked her what was wrong. She posed her question to him, and he smiled.
"Only you would think of things like that, love."
"Things like what?"
"Questions with no real purpose or answer." she shot him a playful glare, and he grinned. She rolled her eyes, but grinned back. It was strange, when she really thought about it, that she could be happiest here, faced with something that would never be a reality. She had come to the tentative conclusion that to her, this was its own reality, separate from the real world, but still some form of real. How her dreams came to be was a mystery to her, or would be if she ever wondered. But why would she? She was afraid that if she studied it too much, questioned it… she would lose it, the one place she felt truly safe, and the person she needed so much to see. Besides, didn't somebody say something about gift horses and biting the hand that feeds them with the mouth that you shouldn't look in or something or other?
"You alright, pet?" She sighed softly, watching the people dancing.
"Yeah. Everything is okay for once. Its weird, but kinda nice."
"So why are you worried?"
"I'm not." He laughed a little, kissing the top of her head.
"Good rule of thumb, don't lie to dead men. We're very quick on the uptake."
"I got a better rule of thumb: stop hanging out with so many dead men."
"As far as the dead thing goes, you're a bit of a hypocrite, aren't you?"
"Am I ever gonna live that down? Pun not intended." His grin softened, and he trailed his fingers down her cheek.
"Yeah." He replied, leaning over to kiss her, "But you'll have to stay alive for a really long, long time. Feel up to the challenge?" She pulled him closer, smiling against his lips.
"I really do."