Interlude at a Mall
Faith was absolutely certain, beyond any reason of doubt, that her and Cordelia had been to every friggin' clothing store in the Sunnydale Mall. All the bags in her arms could attest to it. The slayer had had enough for one day, and was looking forward to her dingy bed, in an equally dingy motel room.
Cordy on the other hand knew of at least three more places she wanted to hit; they hadn't even touched on accessories yet. And with a slayer around to carry a few things, what more could a girl need for a great day at the mall? Besides a nice iced mocha, that is.
"Jesus, Chase! Are we done yet? My arms are killin' me and I haven't had anything to eat in like, two hours," the slayer exclaimed, wagging her arms at the teen queen for effect.
"God you sound just like Xander! 'I'm tired. I wanna go home. Feed me, love me, yadda yadda yadda," Cordelia fumed.
Faith chuckled back, "Yeah and you're not bitter."
"I'm not bitter," the cheerleader explained, "I simply don't like the little prick, and am excited to finally be without him."
"Even though he broke up with you," Faith continued, "I was there, remember? I saw the whole thing. Heard the entire 'This isn't working out/ It's not you it's me' spiel."
Cordelia collapsed on a nearby bench, Faith followed suit, and let out a long sigh, "I know you were there Faith, and I can't thank you enough for staying with me after, I just don't understand why it effected me so much. To be honest I was planning on ending it myself."
The slayer quirked an eyebrow at her companion, clearly not believing her.
"No seriously, I didn't want to be with Xander any more either. It was time to end it, I'm happy we're over," Cordy reaffirmed.
"Then why we're you so upset when he dumped you?"
"Hey no matter what the circumstance breaking up is painful. I care about Xander, and hearing him say that he didn't want to be with me anymore was hard. Even though I felt the same way. No one likes getting dumped," she finished with a wry smile.
Faith nodded, " You know C, you should show this side more often," the slayer leaned in and said in a mock whisper, " people are starting to think you're a bit of bitch."
"Only people who earned my kindness and generosity receive it," she replied.
"And what did I do to deserve such a thing?"
Cordelia grew contemplative, " You listened, like really listened. Not the kind of listening boys do when they're trying to get some. You took the time to get to know me. And God knows how, but you were able see through all my bullshit fronts."
"Yeah well I could say the same about you," the brunette replied.
Cordelia proceeded to do something relatively unheard of, she smiled, "Hey, do you want to get out of here? I had planned on picking up a few more things, but it can wait 'til tomorrow."
Faith jumped out of her seat with a new found energy, "Sweet Jesus! Ask and ye shall receive!"
Cordelia looked at her surroundings in disgust, " I can't believe I agreed to come here. I thought Xander's room was bad but, my God…"
"You know there is a difference between messy and a shitty motel room," Faith countered. The slayer feigned looking around the room, "There any clothes on the floor, left over take out cartons, or any nasty smells?"
"Sorry," Cordy had the decency to look abashed, "guess I'm not used to being anywhere so…"
"Inferior, low-grade, second rate… revolting," her friend accused.
"Faith that's not what I meant, and you know it," she shot back with a wounded look. Cordelia collapsed onto Faith's bed, "Today is so not working out the way I planned it to. No Louis Vuitton, no iced mocha, and worst of all- you're mad at me."
The brunette plopped down next to Cordy, "I don't hate you, C. And, if you want, I could go kick that Louis guy's ass for you."
"No thanks, I don't want you going out and slaying every decent handbag in Sunnydale," at Faith's confused look she continued, "Louis' is designer, not a boy. There are no boys anymore, at least not for me."
Faith was still baffled, not about the handbag guy, but about her newly acquired friend suddenly swearing off one half of the population. She didn't mean… no the slayer was just presuming something. Cordelia was being fictitious, she wasn't actually swearing off men. Though if she were, Faith would have absolutely no problem with it.
"Faith, did I tell you why I was going to break up with Xander?"
"Lack of fashion sense," the slayer ventured.
Cordelia laughed, "No, but that would've been reason enough," she paused for a minute, and took a good look at the floor. Faith was right, it wasn't dirty if you have a good look at it. She started once more, "There was someone else, or at any rate, there might be."
Faith smirked, "I thought you were refusing all men, Queen C?"
The girl in question looked away, opting whether or not to come out with it, or brush off her feelings one last time. 'Since when do I worry about what other people think, if I can date Xander and not become social pariah, I can do this.' Cordelia faced her companion once more, "I am swearing off men, but that doesn't mean I have to reject everyone. There's a whole other sex out their Faith."
If this were a cartoon, Faith's eyes would have popped out of their sockets, and her jaw with would have it the floor with a heavy thud. 'Did Cordy just…no, shit like that doesn't happen in real life. She's gotta mean something else, like…hell if I know.' The slayer broke her silence, "What the hell are you talkin' about Cordy?"
"Don't play stupid," Cordelia reproved, "you know exactly what I'm implying, Faith. But if you insist on me spelling it out, why not? I. Like. A. Girl."
Faith sat there on the bed, her mouth moving, but no words coming out. 'I had a tongue. Like two seconds ago, I was usin' it and everything.' The slayer gaped for a few moments longer before finally regaining use of one particular muscle.
"You like chicks," she questioned.
"No," the cheerleader replied, "I like a chick. Singular, not more than one. I'm not full on dike Faith, you know that. It's just one that's caught my interest."
"Well fuck me," Faith exclaimed. Cordelia shot her a 'don't tempt me' kind of look, which sobered her up real quick. The slayer tried to act very casual when replying, "So, uh, who's lucky girl?"
Cordy paused and smiled, "Buffy."
'Of course it's Buffy,' Faith fumed within her own mind, 'it's always Buffy. I don't get it, she's like four foot ten, or whatever. And yeah, so what if I'm jealous, what are you gonna do about it?' Faith then realized she had been having an internal conversation and felt exceedingly stupid.
"You still here," Cordelia questioned, waving a hand in the slayer's face. 'Jesus Christ, if I knew I was gonna break her I would have kept it to myself.' She tried again, "I was just joking you know, it's not Buffy I like." That worked, Faith immediately snapped out of whatever she was stuck in.
"You don't like Buffy," she sounded relieved, "thank God. No offense to B, but if you're gonna go homo, do right. B's a little bony if you ask me."
Cordy smiled, this could be fun for her, "So who would you go for, if Buffy's not your type then who is"
Faith stretched out, and though about her response. Faith didn't just have a type, she had a person. A tall curvy, utterly delicious person. "Well," she started, "I'd want someone tall, doesn't have to be taller than me, but average height."
"Good start," Cordelia nodded, "I agree, average height. What about hair color?"
Faith smirked, she knew where this was going, and if she was wrong, oh well, she could still hang out with Buffy and Willow. She turned on her side and reached up to grab one of Cordy's locks, "I guess, I'd want it to look like yours. In fact, I think I'd want everything to like yours. To look like you."
"Huh," was all that the former May Queen could manage.
"Oh, come on, C," Faith replied, exasperated, "You know you're the perfect female specimen. You're tall, got a bangin' figure, and that smile. Well, if I wasn't the slayer, I'd probably fall dead in my tracks."
Cordelia's bewildered expression cleared up. "You know," she stated, her eyes transfixed on Faith's, "You know that it's you."
The statement was jumbled, and in any other context it wouldn't have made sense, but to Faith it was crystal clear, "Yeah, I know, you dig me C. And I guess that works out, cuz I dig you right on back.
"I've had some 'feelings' for you for the past week now," the slayer continued, "I didn't want to think about what they actually were, because I've never had a friend like you before. And I didn't want to ruin it by lettin you know that I was startin' to think of you in a more than friendly way."
Faith had accomplished something that other's had only dreamed of, Cordelia Chase was speechless. How to you respond to that? Granted it wasn't the profession of undying loved she'd been dreaming about these past few nights, but it was something. She needed to say something back, but what?
"So what now," Cordelia ventured.
Faith frowned, "What do you mean?"
Cordy groaned, "I like you, you like me…so what now?"
"I don't do love," Faith admitted, seeing no reason to bullshit anyone, "but I definitely like you, and that's more than I can say for anyone else in my life before now," the slayer graced Cordelia with a sardonic smile, "Leave it to the Hellmouth to gibe me friends, and a reason to not get myself killed; you.
"So what now," she continued, staring past her friend at the wall behind her, "well I guess that's up to you. You knew what you wanted when you started this conversation. And who the fuck am I to deny you what you want?"
"Wow, Faith, that was almost deep," Cordelia said with a chuckle. Faith gave her the finger in return. "No, seriously," Cordelia restated, "I liked it, it was nice. You're quite the conundrum. You blow into town acting all the badass, but hang around me a few days and suddenly you're waxing poetic.
"And don't go on about that bullshit of letting me have what I want," Cordelia instructed, "I want you tell me what you want. I want to hear big, bad Faith admit that she wants something more than a quick screw."
Faith stood up and looked down at Cordelia threateningly, "Fine if that's what you want. I want you in my life Cordelia, when we go out to the Bronze, I want the satisfaction of knowing that you don't care about all the boys you dance with. Because at the end of the night you'd be going home with me."
"Okay, you want it you got it," Cordy got to her feet as well, and face to face with Faith, "because you know what? You're soft, and you're fun. Then there's this little thing where you make me feel like no one else ever has: like a real person." Cordelia then grabbed Faith by her shirt and dragged her into an aggressive kiss.
Pulling back after a second Faith grinned at her now more than friend, "Are we gonna talk all night cuz I had some more horizontal plans in mind."
"Well that works out great," Cordelia replied, matching Faith with a grin of her own, "because I have a better use for your mouth."