(((%%%)))
"Yeah, Spike, really evil, really bad..." she laughed and flipped her blond hair over her shoulder as she looked over her poker hand, a large pile of chips sitting on the table in front of her.
"I'm telling you, there's something really wrong with all of this. Last time, I met that guy, if I'm not mistaken, he was not very big on random acts of generosity, even if for the sake of self-promotion!" He gesticulated with some force as his face stretched with emphasis.
"Oh, c'mon, if they try to kill us, let's at least have some fun first. I want to see if I'm any good at this." She recrossed her legs and took a sip of amber whiskey.
"Buffy, what has gotten into you?"
"Spike," she gave him an eye and placed a finger on his lower lip, giving him a minor thrill. So what if they were planning to kill them, Buffy was happy. Okay. Fine.
The troll sitting across from them coughed and broke in just as Buffy had grabbed Spike's collar and was about to lean in for a kiss.
"So the little one likes creatures of the night, intriguing," he mused critically, a hint of curiosity on his breath. Spike's jealousy sensors lit instantly.
"She likes ensouled creatures of the night...generally..." Spike retorted with half winded gusto. Buffy squeezed his leg under the table and took another sip before drawing her card.
Turning to her, Spike carried on, "And you're sure you really don't want to do anything at all apart from play poker and schmooze? I don't remember you being this friendly with demons before..."
"Oh, really Spike?" Buffy raised a silencing eye, "In any case, now that the world is full of slayers, I've learned to relax a little. This establishment seems fairly reputable, out away from the city, decent hospitality, why go around making enemies?"
The troll grunted in approval.
Spike rolled his eyes and slowly watched the whiskey disappear from Buffy's glass.
((...))
Two hours and four whiskeys later, Spike was starting to smoulder under the pangs of bad intuition. Buffy just wasn't herself.
She was laughing and flirting with all the demons, but thankfully also paying him lots of attention. It made him uncomfortable, but every time he got bristled, she'd slide up to him and smile and for a minute our two he'd forget whatever he was worried about.
Finally it dawned on him.
"Buffy, what about the prophecy?"
"What prophecy?" She giggled and put down a full flush, to the dismay of the other three creatures seated at the table.
"The one that bird brain guy talked about when we walked in!" Funny, Spike was having trouble remembering details. This could not be a good sign.
"Oh that guy, the one you thought you knew or at least thought might know you. I don't remember anything about a prophecy. He just gave us a warm welcome and sent us in with a load of chips. Why?"
The dealer was starting a new round. Buffy's pile of chips had reached to near the height of her head.
"And the kittens! Yeah, the kittens! Why don't the kittens bother you?" Spike was desperately searching for straws of clarity.
"Ooooooh kittens!" she cried gleefully like a child.
"But they gamble using kittens. These chips, they are kittens. Buffy. Kittens. You hate that. Look over there."
Over on the fall wall sat stacked cages full of mewling kittens, their cries nearly drowned by the hubbub of the gamblers.
"Oh yeah, those kittens. Cute little buggers aren't they?"
Spike's jaw dropped. Something was really really wrong.