Tensions:

Ch 4- Euphoric

Buffy enjoyed the hot spray of the shower sending its pulsating jet of massaging power into her shoulders. The room around her was full with the steam coming from the tub and she luxuriated in the feel of the loofah as it scrubbed in slow circles down her back.

Behind her stood Riley, he half hard and occasionally brushing or pressing into her hip or butt. As she placed shampoo in her hair, she felt the loofah stop and his hands began massaging her scalp, causing a moan of pleasure from her.

She was planning to have a quickie with him in the dorm room, but going back to his apartment was such a better plan. She was so glad she'd given into his suggestion of a leisurely time in bed.

"Better?"

She sighed in contentment, "Oh, yes. I didn't realize how on edge I've been." They'd spent over an hour together already, most of that time with her panting and screaming. It wasn't as relieving as a good, hard slay, but she wouldn't tell him that. Not when getting sweaty with him was such a close runner-up.

Rinsing her hair rather quickly, she prepared to get out of the shower. Riley caught hold of her arm, kissing her deeply while he guided her hand to his lengthening cock.

"Sure you feel relaxed?" He said to her, his grin infectious, "Because, you know how much I want to be there for you."

Buffy gave him her easy laugh, "Oh, you've gone above and beyond boyfriend duty today. Much as I'd like to show you what a Slayer can really do, I have to go. I want to check on mom and make sure Dawn's not stomping on her last nerve. And, Mr. Wonderful Distraction, I do have a lot of reading to get caught up on…again. Besides, weren't you supposed to be getting to the hospital soon?"

Riley watched as Buffy dried herself off. He was getting turned on even more as glimpses of her flesh were revealed, then quickly hidden from view by the towel. When she bent over to dry her lower calves and feet, he'd had to bite his lower lip to keep from squealing like a schoolgirl. She really was the sexiest woman, bar none, he'd ever been with.

"Yeah, I guess I should think about getting dressed," he told her. "I'm just going to do a quick scrub of my hair first. See you later?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure. I'll do our old patrol pattern tonight, so once you're off shift, I should be pretty easy to find, okay?"

He watched Buffy throw her clothes on and leave the bathroom. Twenty minutes later he was headed for the Sunnydale Emergency Services bay at the hospital. He thought he looked good in his crisp white shirt and blue pants he had to wear, but he missed the camo-tan or even, heaven forbid; the dull greens of the Army.

Riley sighed on entering the employee's entrance through the ambulance bay of the hospital. It wasn't that he hated being an ambulance driver, but this wasn't what he was born to do. He hated taking time out of patrolling at night and killing the hidden demon elements in the world just so he could make the rent payments. Especially on that cramped apartment with the cracked ceiling and the occasional sounds of domestic strife coming from the unit above his. Maybe if people knew what went on around them, they'd unite more; realize that when you found somebody to share the nights with, there were way better things to do with it than argue.

Riley was just grabbing his punch card, when his supervisor called out to him. Randy Quinteros wasn't a bad guy, but he had a thing about punctuality…and also was a bit anal retentive about 'official procedure'.

"You're late, Finn. Nearly ten whole minutes," Quinteros said in his clipped Mexican accent. "You know how I feel about that."

Like a tin god ruling over an empire of shit? Riley thought. Aloud, he only grunted to show he'd heard.

"We could have had an emergency call. And, what would we have done, huh?" Randy went on. As if Sunnydale had only one unit to respond. With the number of medical emergencies and dead bodies in Evil-central, Sunnydale's ambulance force would be the envy of any community two, even three, times its size.

Riley Finn knew he should've been a bit more chastised. He would have, but he was experiencing another 'power surge' for lack of a better word. His chest deeply ached, but not nearly as bad as the few other times so far. It was far less worrying this time and more irritating. He knew with the sun starting to dip toward the horizon that he was wasting time here. He needed to be out protecting and serving against the HST threat. Instead he was dealing with this piss-ant and his delusions of grandeur.

Riley took a deep breath. Then, almost without his knowing what was coming out of his mouth, he quit. Just like that, with a simple, "You know what? I'm bored with this whole thing."

Ripping up his time punch card for the day, he dropped the bits on the concrete floor and walked away. Randy Quinteros was left gaping in shock, wondering what in the world was into Finn. He really was a fine attendant and he had never given Randy any indication he'd been unhappy with the job.

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Xander Harris was working late in the trailer at the site. The job would be wrapped up by the end of the week. That gave him about a week to familiarize himself with how to, at least according to the manuals, run a crew. Joe had already told him not to take them too seriously; a lot of it was written by people you'd never want to work for anyway. Still Xander flipped through on topics of time management, conflict resolution, discipline techniques and morale boosting. He wanted this to go well so badly, he was practically driving himself crazy over it.

There was a lot riding on his ability to manage his crew the right way on the mall job. The results could either end with him relegated back to hammering and carrying or it could lead to him establishing his own construction company. Not right away, of course. He still had a lot to learn; but down the line he could see himself becoming that contractor Joe had spoken about. Maybe he could even develop an interest in architecture. My future's so bright, I oughta wear shades, Commando-Xander's voice sang in his head.

Not that the opportunity had come from his possession. Xander knew he'd earned this chance long before Toth, or Joe wouldn't have noticed him and offered him the chance. But if there was one good thing about the aftermath of the re-fusion of his 'Katras' together, it was that he found himself more easily able to concentrate and retain information. Katra? A Star Trek reference? You really are a nerd, Harris. Xander chuckled to himself, not caring that he wasn't sure which personality that thought came from.

When the phone rang, Xander's insides clenched. Anya knew he was working late, studying. She'd only call, hell any of them would probably only be calling, if another Scooby alert was interrupting their evening.

As he picked up the phone, he glanced out of the trailer's windows to find that the sun hadn't fully set yet. Not that all demons cared so much about the dark, but it was still extra wiggy when stuff went on during the day. Even after so much time had passed since his first introduction to the joy that was a Hellmouth.

Instead of a disaster, however, he was pleased to find it was just Riley. Looking for a dinner companion since Buffy was spending time with Joyce and the pipsqueak, the ex-soldier had thought of Xan. He'd called on the off-chance that Xander hadn't left for the day yet.

Calling the Magic Box and leaving word with an annoyed Anya, Xander gathered up his things. He'd decided that some dinner and guy-talk with Riley would alleviate the tensions a bit from co-habitation with Anya. Hyena-X tried to butt in with a comment, but Xander was sure he knew where it was going to lead and cut it off before it was voiced. Or thought; whatever the term was when a personality not entirely yours was trying to talk to you.

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As he entered the semi-dark and already busy 'Billy and the Bar-B-Q', Xander looked forward to a cold beer. He tried not to drink around the apartment anymore, not trusting his self to hold his tongue when Anya started to annoy him. For that reason, there were currently no six packs in the fridge at home. He thought of Spike and wondered what he was up to right at that moment. He was probably getting ready to go out for the evening, either to patrol or just to cause trouble. Xander found he missed him. Before he could dwell on the thought though, Riley called from across the room and waved him over to a booth.

"Hey, Xan. Thanks for meeting me, wanna beer?" Xander noticed the slur in Riley's voice.

"No fair getting a head start on me," he said easily enough, though it was a bit weird to see a buzzed Finn. "How many do I have to catch up with you?"

"Four. I'll try to nurse this one for a bit," Riley laughed. "I ordered one for you about ten minutes ago, but it looked too lonely sitting on the other side of the table by itself. You want an appetizer?"

The time passed pleasantly enough between the two guys. They always got along well, and since neither one of them had another 'buddy' to bitch to, they naturally found themselves talking about their fears and doubts.

Riley was just telling Xander about the fantastic afternoon he and Buffy had spent (minus the details, of course) when he'd suddenly jerked. Xander shot him an 'eyebrow-in-the-air' look, but he was waved off.

"It's nothing," Riley told him, even as Xander became alarmed by the sudden swelling in his friend's arms and chest. Moments later, however, he looked completely normal and Xander was convinced he'd just imagined it. Alcohol tended to make things tricky for the eyes, sometimes. The ex-commando did look a little pasty though, with a slight sheen on his skin.

"Doesn't look like 'nothing'. You sure you're alright? You look a bit pale and you're sweating."

"Nah, it's just the beer and it's gotten stuffy in here. You finished with those onion rings?"

"That was weird. I mean, I thought…I could have sworn that you…uh, kinda puffed up for a few seconds. Am I that drunk?" Xander asked.

"Maybe you are, but I don't think you were seeing things. I've been getting these spells, I guess. I mean, it's all good. My strength is increasing for short periods. Something the Initiative did, no doubt. That Maggie Walsh: she may've been a bit of a hard-ass, but she was brilliant. You should have seen me the first few times it happened. It's getting easier, now. Once I figure out how to trigger it, it'll be a real help to Buffy on patrol."

"Y'see, now this is the part where I say, 'huh'? I mean, you don't find it a bit disturbing that your muscles are pulling a puffer fish on you?"

"It's nothing, Xander," Riley was laughing now at the concern. A big and uproarious laugh that boomed across the room and bounced off the walls. The sort of laugh that Xander couldn't ever recall Riley belting out before. Sure, he'd chuckled or gave one of those half-grins/half-laughs. He'd never acted manic, though.

"I don't know, Riley. This still strikes me as a 'research thing'."

"You worry too much, Xan. Like an old maid sometimes. I'm telling you, I feel great. Strong…and kinda tingly. It's cool."

"Okay. Listen, though, as much fun as this has been, I gotta run. Anya has no doubt been storing up some venom she'll need to vent when I get in. 'Course, it's only, what nine? She shouldn't be too upset as long as I don't actually stumble and fall through the door."

"You want me to walk you to the apartment? It's still Sunnydale-after-dark, you know."

"Nah. I'm covered," Xander grinned. "I'm packing a stake and a dagger on me. I'm thinking of ordering one of those little personal shockers too. You know; those anti-thief electric zappers." Xander tapped the table as he tried to come up with its name.

"A t-a-a-a-z-e-r-r-r," Riley said, as if talking to a pre-schooler.

"Yeah, smart ass. One of those." They shared a laugh together and then Xander headed out while Riley flagged down the waiter for the final tab.

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When Xander arrived home, Anya was watching television. Some Animal Planet thing about giant Pandas was playing. She went to kiss him, but immediately recoiled. "You smell like a cheap brewery," she said, though not angrily.

"What's on the boob-tube, babe? And what did you have for dinner?"

Anya ignored the first question. "I stopped at a deli and grabbed a steak sandwich and some Doritos. Did you and Riley have a good time?"

"Yea. It was good. But that reminds me, something odd happened. I need to call Buffster. Keep me a place warm on the couch."

He was able to get a hold of Buffy at her mom's house and filled her in on what Riley had said. They agreed that, although odd, it wasn't something to panic over yet. She'd talk to him and find out the what. In the meantime, she was more bothered that he was supposed to be working tonight until eleven, as far as she knew.

In the background, Xander heard Joyce telling Buffy she was going to turn in. Buffy told him she was getting ready for patrol and ended the call. As he hung up on his end, Xander glanced toward Anya waiting for him to join her on the couch. He felt Hyena-X (or at least that's who he was blaming it on) wanting to seek out Spike to find out what he'd been doing with himself, but he suppressed the desire. Instead, he heated up some microwave popcorn and joined his girlfriend on the sofa.

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End Ch 4