Chapter Two: The Exhaustion of a Slayer
"Have I," Punch. "Ever," Kick. "Mentioned," Duck. "How much," Jump kick. "I hate," Stake. "Vampires!" Dust.
It was another eventful evening on patrol. Buffy Summers dropped onto the soft dirt of a fresh grave; her chest heaved in exhaustion. With a pout she analyzed her white, suede jacket.
"The jerk made me get my new jacket dirty!" She removed the jacket and tried to rub away the traces of the filth. "Wil, it's not fair! Why can't I save the world and stay clean while doing it? Like Wonder Woman!"
Buffy's redheaded friend smiled, "Buffy, Wonder Woman's not real!"
"How do you know?" Buffy questioned teasingly.
Willow Rosenberg shrugged and then responded with a completely reasonable voice. "Her boobs are unnaturally huge. She couldn't be real."
"Oh, well at least you have a solid theory." Buffy laughed at her friend's answer.
"Hey," Willow pointed to the mound of dirt that Buffy was sitting on, "Rising vamp alert!"
Buffy looked behind her and noticed a pale, bony arm reaching out of the earth. "Here we go again." She cast aside her spoiled coat and as the vampire emerged from the ground she began the short battle. When she had finished the fight, turning the vampire into a pile of dust, she sighed. "At least they're dumb when their new."
Willow smiled. "Aren't the undead always dumb?"
Buffy nodded, "Yea, I guess." She glanced around the moonlit graveyard. "I think that's good for tonight, and I'm tired. Let's go."
"Buffy," Willow picked up her friend's discarded jacket and left the graveyard obligingly beside the young blonde, but hesitated to ask the slayer a question that had been bugging her mind lately. "How're you feeling?"
"Huh?" Buffy was scrutinizing a new gash on her forearm. "Oh fine, it's just a scratch!" She winked at her caring friend.
Willow shook her head, "No, I'm not talking about your arm." She had slowed without realizing it and had to take an extra couple of steps to catch up to Buffy's long strides. "I mean in general. How are you feeling?"
"You've got to be more specific, Wil," Buffy took her jacket from the redhead and draped it over her shoulders casually.
"Don't get me wrong, I mean I'm the biggest fan of the slayer and all your slayer strength, but lately...you seem worn out Buffy," Willow's big, brown eyes reflected her sincerity.
Buffy tried to shrug away her friend's concern. "Willow, I'm fine. I've got some stuff on my mind, nothing serious though," She sighed deeply and Willow dropped the conversation but her worries never left her concerned redheaded mind.
The weekend started relatively slow and boring. Buffy had been out late on patrol, as usual, and since she still hadn't gotten a daytime job (like her friends had been telling her to), she had been able to sleep in late in the morning. Her sister, Dawn, also chose to sleep in after having been out late Friday night with friends, more specifically her new boy interest: Colin Brown. The last two members of the household, Willow and her girlfriend Tara Maclay were up as usual, way too early for a Saturday, and were making pancakes in the kitchen. Both were powerful with magic, though Willow more so, and were equally talented in the kitchen.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Willow grinned at Buffy as she lazily slipped down the stairs and joined the two witches in the kitchen.
"God, why are you up so early, and cooking? Freaks!" Buffy grumpily poured herself a cup of coffee.
Willow's peppy mood could not be deflated by her friend's bad, morning attitude. "Ah, come on, have some fluffy, yummy batter for your hungry tummy." She plopped a plate piled high with pancakes in front of Buffy's counter stool.
Tara smiled at her girlfriend's cuteness and brought the syrup over to Buffy. "Hard patrol last night?" she asked caringly.
Buffy shrugged, "Yea, well, no more than usual I guess." Her answer was curt, surely unintentionally, but her snappiness still made Tara pull back in surprise.
Willow's unease resurfaced with Buffy's unusually sour mood. A bad mood was very odd for the usually peppy and happy blonde slayer and she was only rarely short-tempered when something gave her reason to be.
"You need a vacation." Willow decided, pouring more batter into the pan on the stove.
"A vacation would be nice," Buffy sighed wistfully. "A boyfriend would be nice too. Maybe I could get both together!"
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Tara asked.
"Huh?" Buffy had mostly been just rambling. She hadn't actually expected anyone to pick up on her statement. As much as Buffy loved her two, dear friends, she didn't really want to discuss with them the matter of not having a boyfriend when they were in constant perfect love-bliss. Luckily, that conversation was halted as Dawn bounded into the kitchen.
"I thought I smelled pancakes!" She hugged each person in turn and then took a seat next to Buffy.
"Hey Dawnie, Tara's working with Anya today," Willow was referring to the Magic Shop, the store filled with magic supplies, which their friend, Anya, managed when the original owner, Giles, was gone; which was often lately. "So, I was thinking we could have that girl day we've been talking about for so long!"
"For real? Yay!" Dawn clapped her hands in glee. "I'll go get ready right now!" She started to stand.
"Dawn, I think Wil is thinking about after breakfast." Buffy laughed at her excited sister. Willow nodded.
"Oh, okay, then I'll eat first, because my stomach's rumbling." Dawn settled back into her chair and gratefully accepted the plate of pancakes that Tara handed her. "Ooh, could we maybe go shopping for a swimsuit?" Dawn suddenly asked.
"Why do you need swimsuit?" Buffy looked at her sister.
Tara answered for her, "D-Dawnie needs a swimsuit for the major-important b-beach party next weekend."
"Oh, right, I forgot." Buffy sighed. She had been forgetting a lot lately. Her mind just wasn't as clear as it usually was. Patrolling had been harder lately, even though she wasn't doing anymore than usual, and she was more tired than usual. Maybe Willow was right. Maybe she was worn out, and she could definitely go for a vacation. She needed to talk to her watcher, or actually, her self-declared "retired" watcher, Giles. "I wish Giles would hurry up and come home." She spoke her thoughts out loud causing everyone to look at her suddenly. She shrugged casually. "He's been in England since summer. I miss him." Since her first year of slaying, her sophomore year of high school, Rupert Giles had been like a second-father to Buffy, and even though he claimed she didn't need a watcher anymore, she did. More than even she liked to admit.
"We all miss Giles," Willow agreed. She had known him as long as Buffy had. "But, there was an emergency with the council and he had to go immediately!"
"That stupid council is always stealing my watcher!" Buffy pouted.
"Doesn't the point of being a 'watcher' actually involve some sort of watching? How can he watch you when he's a million miles away?" Dawn mimicked Buffy's defiant pout.
Tara spoke up with her usual words of wisdom, "Giles isn't your w-watcher anymore, and he's accountable t-to the council. They n-needed him and he did his duty and w-went to them..."
Buffy cut her off with more mumbling, "Have I mentioned how much I don't like the council"
"We know!" The three other girls cut her off with laughter.