Chapter Two: Midnight Snack
Buffy stood absolutely still, totally unsure what to do. A few moments passed before she finally spoke.
"Well I guess a 'thanks' are in order. You definitely saved me there" she said eyeing the body up and down.
The figure didn't respond, but slowly sat down, its eyes never leaving hers.
"Can you talk?" She questioned. "Of course you can't talk," Buffy muttered back at herself. Having no idea what to do, and not sensing any danger, she took a few steps backwards.
"Well, ummm, thanks again for the...uh...help. I'm gonna head home now..." Buffy said slightly turning away. The figure stood up again and took a step towards her. Buffy turned back and eyed the creature.
Its beautiful Buffy thought. The creature took a few tentative steps towards the Slayer. Buffy slowly reached behind her and removed another stake. It may be beautiful, but it still looks deadly. She brought the stake to her side and held it in a relaxed grip.
Noticing the movement, the form stopped and sat down again. Now only five feet away, Buffy's body was tense as the creature slowly laid down. The body stretched nearly seven feet long, with its eyes never leaving hers. Its head slowly moved down, resting its chin on the ground. Buffy watched the whole graceful movement, completely unsure what to do.
She waited, and then took a step forward.
The creature didn't move.
Another step - no response.
Now, so close that Buffy could touch it, she knelt down in front of its large head. The creature still didn't respond.
"You're beautiful," Buffy said out-loud this time. Sensing no aggression or fear from the creature, she slowly reached out and put her hand on its head. Buffy released the stake from her other hand, and let it fall to the ground. She looked in its eyes. The creature looked back.
"Thank you" Buffy sincerely said again, "but I need to get back to my sister." The head nodded slightly, as if understanding what the Slayer had said. Buffy grabbed her stake, stood up and backed up a few steps.
She turned and started to head back home, noticing that the creature followed quietly behind.
I wonder what Giles will think of my new pet? Buffy thought and smiled to herself.
"Dawn shouldn't you be in bed already?" Willow asked.
"It's Friday night Will, let the munchkin stay up however late she wants," Xander responded, winking at Dawn as he said so. "Don't be such a party-pooper," he said, throwing a handful of popcorn at Willow.
"Mr. Xander Harris!" Willow said, "there will be no throwing popcorn in the house." Willow grabbed a handful of jellybeans and whipped them across the room. Two landed perfectly inside his glass.
"Hey! Just because Buffy left you in charge doesn't mean there won't be a mutiny!" He quickly responded, setting his drink down and tackling Willow on the couch.
"Hold her down! Tickle her!" Dawn shouted from the sidelines as a tickle fight ensued. Xander had a hard time trying to hold Willow down and tickle her at the same time. Dawn cheered them on from the sidelines.
"EXCUSE ME!" A loud female voice suddenly said. Everyone froze. "There will be no touching of my boyfriend in his special places. I don't care if you're a lesbian, you could still revert back to the old straight Willow, and steal Xander." Anya finished entering the room, holding another bag of popcorn.
"First off Anya, I was SOOO not touching him in his 'special place'. And second of all, there will be no reverting of any kind." Willow responded staring her down. Xander quickly got off and scurried to Anya's side. Willow resumed her place next to Tara on the couch.
"I like my women," Willow said grasping Tara's hand.
"And I like my Anya," Xander stated, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.
"Well good. That settles it then. Willow can touch Tara's special places, and I can touch Xander's, but no sharing." Anya concluded, taking a seat with Xander on the floor.
"Well I'm glad that's settled," Dawn said rolling her eyes. She hit the play button on the VCR, and sat on Tara's other side.
"Which one did you pick Dawn?" Tara said, folding her legs on the couch.
"The Never Ending Story," Dawn responded. "I figured we should watch the scariest one first."
"Dawn, The Never Ending Story is NOT a scary movie," Anya said. "Alice in Wonderland with that crazy rabbit who keeps running around is MUCH scarier."
"Well I think that..." Dawn didn't have time to finish, as the front door opened.
"Hey guys, I'm home." Buffy said taking off her jacket. She didn't close the door as she took a few steps towards the living room.
"How was the slaying Buff?" Xander queried, stuffing another handful of popcorn in his mouth.
"How many did you get?" Dawn asked before she had time to answer.
"It was actually a rough night," Buffy responded, rubbing her aching scalp.
"Well you do look a bit beat up. And your hair is all over the place..." Anya started in.
Everyone froze.
Buffy saw the look on everyone's faces and figured that the creature had finally entered the house.
She saw that it was at her side, gazing at everyone in the room.
Xander's mouth was open, popcorn falling out. Dawn clutched the remote. Anya had managed to get between Willow and Tara on the couch. Willow's knuckles were turning white as she continued to gripped Tara's hand under Anya. Tara just stared at the creature.
"So Buffy, " Giles said returning from the kitchen, "how was slaying...Oh my dear lord!" He exclaimed dropping his tea cup and stepping back.
Tara finally spoke. "Umm Buffy? You do realize that there is an enormous cat next to you right?"
Buffy chuckled quietly. "Yes," she said, looking down at it once again.
"Decided to get a pet?" Xander asked, trying to lighten up the mood a bit. "You couldn't have started with a goldfish? Or a hamster?" He jested.
Everyone waited for Buffy's response. The cat sat down next to Buffy, patiently waiting as well.
"I found her on patrol. Well actually, she found me on a patrol. I was attacked by a group of vampires, and she saved me and killed a bunch of them. And then she followed me home." Buffy quickly finished, not caring to add any details.
"Yes, okay...But it's a giant C-A-T," Anya said. "And it's here. In the house. Why does it have to be in the house? Xander make it leave."
"Buffy are you sure that its safe?" Giles asked completely ignoring Anya. "If your story is accurate, then you don't know what its intentions are or if it's dangerous."
Buffy looked at Giles. "I don't know, " she shrugged. "But she saved my life out there, and she hasn't done anything to even remotely indicate that she wants to harm me. And besides, I just have this feeling that she's not dangerous."
Everyone turned their eyes back on the large form next to Buffy.
The cat was indeed beautiful. Her fur was white interrupted infrequently with black stripes. She looked similar to a White Siberian Tiger, with the exception of the sheer size difference. Even sitting, the top of her head reached Buffy's shoulders. Her dark brown eyes slowly gazed about the room, her tail slowly moving from side to side on the floor. Her coat was shiny and clean, except for the red that slowly dripped down the side of her front leg. She slowly laid down at Buffy's feet as the whole Scooby gang watched.
"She's bleeding Buffy," Tara suddenly said, shaking everyone from their trance. Tara stood up. "I'm going to go get some bandages and alcohol from upstairs."
As Tara left the room, Giles started in again. "Buffy..."
"Giles, you're just going to have to trust me on this one. She saved me, and I want to figure out what she is and why she would do such a thing. To do that, it makes sense to have her here," Buffy finished. "Plus, she sorta followed me home".
"I'm sorry," Giles said taking off his glasses and cleaning them. "I agree that it makes sense to have her here under the circumstances. I'm just a bit shocked." He said looking around the room. "Everyone seems a bit shocked..."
And indeed everyone was still looking intently at the cat. Anya was now sitting very close to Willow, with Xander at her feet. Dawn had slowly inched behind the couch and was still clutching the remote. Giles stood next to the TV and was the only one beginning to look a little less tense.
"What do you want to do Buffy?" Willow finally spoke up. "I mean, what do you want to do with her? Want us to get into research mode?"
"No, not tonight. I don't think that this calls for an all night study party. We can look into to it in the morning," Buffy responded. She looked down at the cat. "I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with her..." With that, the cat looked up at her and then slowly stood up. Looking up at Buffy once more, she walked towards the TV. Giles quickly scrambled back as the cat moved closer, and stumbled into the table. Seeming to reach her destination next to the TV, she laid down again. "Oh..." Giles said when he finally realized that the cat wasn't walking towards him to eat him.
Just then Tara came down the stairs with a few bandages.
Noticing that the cat had moved, Tara looked at Buffy and handed the stuff over. "Maybe you should do it." She said sitting on the couch next to Willow, forcing Anya out of the way.
"I want to leave Xander. I don't like bunnies, and I just realized I don't like giant pussies." Anya said definitively. Dawn smirked in the corner, getting an evil look for Buffy. Xander helped Anya up as she concluded "We're leaving".
Leading Xander by the hand, Anya guided him past Buffy and out the door. "Call me in the morning Buff and let me know how it goes, " Xander called back as he was dragged away by his girlfriend.
The cat raised her head and watched the two of them leave.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Buffy?" Giles asked one more time.
"Yes," she responded. "She might as well stay here for the night, and we can figure this all out in the morning. Trust me. She's safe. You're the one who taught me to pay attention to my intuition. Well my intuition is telling me that she isn't dangerous. It'll be fine. We'll be fine." Buffy concluded.
"Alright then. I think I'll head home too and try and find some information on our mystery feline friend," Giles responded. He grabbed his coat, and headed towards the door. He leaned in towards Buffy as he passed and whispered "please be safe," and then left the house closing the door behind him.
With Anya and Xander gone, Dawn came around from behind the couch and sat next to Willow and Tara.
Buffy looked at the three of them and then cautiously approached the enormous form lying on the floor. The cat's eyes followed Buffy's movements but she didn't move. "I'm just going to patch you up," Buffy said as she knelt down next to her. She slowly unravelled one of the bandages and opened the bottle of alcohol. Buffy put her hand on its shoulder and gently applied force. The cat rolled, resting on its side. Buffy moved closer and took a look at the wound. "It's pretty deep..." Buffy said moving the hair aside.
"Dawn, can you go grab me the pair of surgical scissors from the bathroom?"
"Sure thing," she responded as she headed out the room never turning her back on the cat.
On the couch, both Willow and Tara were leaning forward, hand in hand. "She's definitely beautiful, eh Buffy?" Willow said.
"Yeah. It's funny. I always wondered what it would be like to pet something like this. And here I am, kneeling down next to a big cat in my living room," Buffy said smiling and looking at the two women on the couch.
"I often wondered the same thing," Tara replied. "She really is not going to eat us..." Tara said watching Buffy and then slowly getting up.
Buffy continued to gently pet the cat's side as Tara quietly approached and knelt down next to her. Tara tentatively reached her hand out and placed it on the cats shoulder. "Wow..." she muttered under her breath and as she began to move her hand.
The cat didn't move when Tara approached, nor when Dawn came scurrying down the stairs. Dawn passed the scissors to Buffy before quickly heading back to the couch.
Tara took her hand off as Buffy began to examine the wound again. She cut away the hair around the cut, and then reached for the alcohol bottle. "Tara you may want to back up," she said, "just in case" she added eyeing the cats head. "This may hurt her and I don't want to chance a bad reaction."
Putting pressure on the cats shoulder, Buffy slowly poured the alcohol on the cut. The cat suddenly flinched and let out a low hiss, and Buffy moved back a bit. When the cat finally relaxed again, Buffy finished cleaning and applied the bandage. Buffy put her hand on the side of the her face and whispered "all done," before getting up and moving back a bit.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty tired," Buffy said looking at the three women, and finishing with a glare at Dawn.
"Well I'm just sad we didn't get to finish our movie and game night," Dawn pouted as she stood up and stretched. She made her way up the stairs to get ready for bed.
"Night Dawn," both Tara and Willow called. "I'll come say goodnight before bed," Buffy added.
All three women looked back at the sleeping form on the floor and then back at each other.
Buffy inclined her head towards to the kitchen, and both Willow and Tara nodded following Buffy into the next room.
"Buffy, are you really comfortable having a huge carnivore sleep on your living room floor while Dawn, Tara and I sleep upstairs?" Willow whispered once they had entered the kitchen.
"I was actually hoping that you and Tara could do some sort of spell that would warn us if she left the living room. If not, I was planning on staying up tonight, just in case."
"I know a few spells that will work for something like that," responded Tara. "I know that I'll sleep easier knowing that I won't be eaten in the middle of the night."
Suddenly realizing the implication of her words, Tara blushed and looked down. "I...uhhh...mean th...th...that...I".
Buffy smiled at the shy blonde and said "I get, it don't worry," and winked at Willow. "We wouldn't want any eating going on tonight."
"Tara and I can do the spell from our room. We have everything up there," Willow quickly chimed in, hoping to save Tara from any further embarrassment.
"Just let me know when it's done. I'm going to stay down here with her until you guys finish up," Buffy concluded.
"Good night Buffy," Tara said as the two wiccans headed up the stairs. "I'll be down in a few to let you know," Willow added.
With that, Buffy headed back into the living room and sat on the couch, waiting for Willow's return and longing for a good night's sleep.