"Me and Tara are going on a date!" Willow announced excitedly.
It was Sunday evening and Buffy was just exiting the bathroom in a billowing cloud of warm steam. Her hair was tucked into a towel turban and she had pulled on her pink fluffy bathrobe. She paused in the hallway and blinked at the redhead, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"A spontaneous date!" She continued. "'Cause they're the best kind!"
Buffy promptly pouted at her.
"Xander had a date, now you've got a date. I bet Cat and Dawn will get a date… I want a date!" She grumbled. Willow stopped bouncing to regard her friend curiously.
"I don't think Cat does a whole lot of dating…"
"She will."
"Okay, well, um…I don't know if you've noticed but we're kind of in a relationship?"
"You and Cat?" Buffy asked with a frown and Willow's eyes bugged.
"What? No! Me and Tara!" She cried. Buffy paused.
"Oh…Yeah?" She knew that there must be some kind of point to be made.
"Yeah. And in relationships you go on dates. And, hey! We have mini pizzas in the freezer!" Willow flapped her hands enthusiastically at the slayer.
"Mini pizzas…" Buffy repeated, totally lost.
"Yes! You could invite the others round and have a little party with games and stuff! Kind of like a date. But not a date because you're not dating and Giles might come round and Dawn will be here so that would be weird, but-" Buffy cut her off with a hug.
"I love you, Will."
"Um, I love you too, Buff, but you can't go on a date with me…" Willow replied, putting her arms around her.
"I know that, doofus." Buffy stepped back and smiled up at her. "I just mean, you're trying to cheer me up and I'm being a huge grump and God when did I get so needy?" She rolled her eyes at herself. Willow shrugged and grinned at her.
"It's okay. You work all day and slay all night and have no fun distractions."
Boy was that the truth… Buffy shook her head and stepped aside, motioning Willow into the bathroom.
"Go, get ready. Don't want to keep Tara waiting." She said. Willow beamed at her and bounced into the bathroom. Buffy heard the door close behind her as she entered her bedroom.
Willow's idea of inviting the others round for the evening sounded like a fun distraction from the not so fun prospect of hunting down their latest monster.
"Hmm…" She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled the towel from her head as she reached across to her bedside cabinet and picked up her phone, firing off a couple of one-handed texts.
The sound of the doorbell ringing through the house was almost immediately followed by the sound of Dawn thundering down the stairs to answer it revealing Giles and Xander stood on the front step, eyebrows raised, having heard the teen rush through the house.
"Yay, you made it!" She exclaimed.
"We did." Xander nodded, stepping inside as Dawn moved away to let them in. "You weren't expecting us to turn down a Summers gaming night now, were ya?" He wagged a faux reprimanding finger beneath her nose. Dawn grinned and batted his hand away, closing the door behind Giles.
"Guess not." She replied. "We're going to play Monopoly!"
"You want to play the game renowned for destroying friendships?" Giles asked.
"Yup!" Dawn said, and glanced into the living room before leaning closer to the two men. "Let Buffy win…" She whispered.
Xander snorted.
"No way! This man is going to own everything!" He jabbed a thumb at his chest and strutted into the living room, where Kennedy and Buffy were setting the board up on the coffee table. "Evening ladies. Prepare you behinds for a sound whoopin'."
Kennedy and Buffy paused what they were doing to look up at him as Xander halted awkwardly in the doorway.
"Let me rephrase that…"
"I beg you don't…" Buffy said, wrinkling her nose.
"Yeah, I don't have enough metaphorical spades for you to keep digging that hole." Kennedy agreed, sorting the property cards into their respective groups.
"Make yourself useful and go get the snacks from the kitchen." Buffy told him, going back to laying out everyone's starting funds.
Xander fled the room to do as Buffy asked.
"What was that all about?" Dawn asked, bringing Giles into the living room, glancing back the way Xander had gone.
"Oh, nothing." Buffy told her.
"Xander being Xander." Kennedy said wisely. That seemed all the answer Giles and Dawn needed as they both took their places around the table.
Xander returned with two plates of cooked mini pizzas (one in each hand) and a bag of chips held in his teeth, followed by Tara bringing two large bottles of coke and some glasses. He sat carefully on the floor and dropped the packet of chips into his lap.
"What's with the pizzas?" He asked Buffy.
"Willow's idea." She told him.
"They look tasty." Dawn said, grabbing one before he could even put the plates down.
Tara left the glasses and bottles standing beside the table and straightened, smiling as Xander thanked her for the assistance.
"Me and Willow are going now." She told Buffy.
"Okay, have fun." Buffy said. "And be careful of the demon! And the vampires. And don't be late."
"Sure, mom." Tara teased her with a sloped smile. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"You know what I mean. It's dangerous out right now."
"It's dangerous to go alone! Here, take this." Xander said, holding up a single Dorito from the packet he had opened and set about demolishing. He grinned at Tara who simply gave him a bewildered look while taking the offered chip. "Oh, come on, am I the only one that's played Zelda?"
"I played one!" Dawn announced.
"Which one?" Xander asked.
"Uh….The one with the…ocarina?"
"Here. You may have a chip." Xander kindly offered one for her. Dawn took it and crunched on it happily, looking pleased with herself.
"Hey, you coming?" Willow poked her head round the door to look for Tara.
"Yup." Tara made her way over, handing over the chip to Willow.
"Ooh, thanks!" The redhead grabbed it and ate it and Xander sighed.
"You ate your weapon…." He said, shaking his head woefully. Willow made a confused noise in his direction.
"Never mind, come on, let's go." Tara said, ushering her girlfriend out of the room. "Bye, guys!"
A chorus of goodbyes followed them, cut off by the front door closing.
"You are such a nerd." Kennedy told Xander.
"A pirate nerd." Xander replied, tapping his eye patch. "Captain nerd, if you will."
"Which I won't."
"Suit yourself."
"Dawn, roll the dice." Buffy said. Good natured or no, that argument could go on a while.
Dawn licked her fingers clean of pizza grease and rubbed her hand on her jeans, scooped up the dice, and tossed them onto the board.
"Twelve! Yes!" Dawn eagerly lunged forward, grabbed her token, and moved it around the board.
Willow and Tara were sat in the back row of a mostly deserted cinema screen. Willow had maintained innocence throughout Tara's teasing about booking tickets for the back row. They were quiet now, sitting in the semi-gloom and eating popcorn that Willow had insisted on buying despite having just come from a large meal at one of the many restaurants at the complex. Willow glanced at her wristwatch.
"Trailers should start soon." She whispered.
"Why are you whispering?" Tara asked playfully.
"I don't know…" One other couple had joined them for the movie, and they were way down near the front. They were talking quietly amongst themselves and but for that small sound Willow and Tara could have been alone.
Tara watched Willow a moment as the redhead thoughtfully chewed on a handful of popcorn, green eyes watching the regular adverts on the big screen.
"Do you know anything about the movie?" She asked after a moment. Willow turned her head to grin at Tara and shrugged.
"Some romantic comedy." She said. "I didn't think the horror would be conductive to a relaxing date." Tara gave a sloped smile.
"But think about all those sneaky cuddles you could get when I hide from the scary bits…"
Willow snorted, reaching for another handful of popcorn.
"You know I jump more than you." She said. "Besides, don't I get sneaky cuddles anyway?"
"Maybe."
"Do they have to be sneaky?"
"No."
The lights dimmed, drawing their attention to the screen as the trailers began playing.
"How do you think the monopoly game is going?" Willow whispered after a moment, knowing how games could quickly get out of hand when her friends were playing.
"I'm sure they're having a great time." Tara assured her.
"You're cheating!" Xander cried, pointing accusingly at Buffy, who simply gaped at him.
"I am not!" She defended haughtily.
Giles, Dawn, and Kennedy had already been bankrupted as Xander and Buffy snatched up the majority of the properties around the board. Dawn had been sent to jail several times, much to the amusement of the others, while Kennedy and Giles kept landing on other people's streets and paying fines. Buffy and Xander continued to chase each other round the board but had accumulated vast sums of money so that the others sat bored watching them play and swap handfuls of colourful money.
"Are too!" Xander insisted. "You should be bankrupt by now!"
"So…I'm cheating because you're not winning?" Buffy asked. "Great…"
"Nobody is cheating." Giles attempted to placate them.
"Kennedy's paying you under the table!" Xander continued.
"Hey, I'm a respectable banker." Kennedy replied, arms folded over her chest.
"Not something you hear every day…" Dawn commented.
"We've been playing Monopoly for long enough." Giles interrupted as Xander opened his mouth to speak. "Let's play something else."
"Like what…?" Buffy asked him.
"Something you can't cheat at." Xander grumbled.
"That's quite enough." Giles told him. "You're behaving like children."
"No we're not!" Xander whined, and Buffy pouted at Giles.
"That's not helping your case." Giles told them.
"Can we play Cluedo?" Dawn asked.
"If we must." Giles said, feeling a lot like a father trying to keep bickering siblings under control. "And Buffy and Xander can play on a team together."
Cluedo kept the group entertained for another hour, this time without incident. Working together Buffy and Xander managed to solve the murder, even throwing each other a high five as they revealed the cards.
"Dammit, I was so close!" Dawn sighed.
"I don't think I'm cut out to be a detective." Kennedy announced, throwing down her cards onto the board and stretching her arms above her head as she arched her back, working out the stiffness from sitting on the floor and hunching over the table.
"I'd best be off." Giles said reluctantly. "I have work in the morning…"
"We all do, G-man." Xander said, scraping everyone's cards together and putting them into a neat stack.
"I don't." Dawn said smugly.
"Except Dawn."
"And me."
"Except Dawn and Kennedy."
Buffy glanced up at the wall clock to check the time. Almost eleven. Willow and Tara would be leaving the cinema soon.
"What time does Cat finish work tonight?" She asked.
"Eleven I think?" Dawn replied.
"Maybe I should ask her to meet Willow and Tara…"
"Buffy…." Dawn groaned. "Don't be datus interruptus…"
"They're more than capable." Giles agreed, helping to tidy away the game.
"I guess…" Buffy conceded. "Maybe I should go on patrol…"
"Buffy! Relax." Dawn scolded. "Everything is fine."
"You say that now, but what if that demon chows down on someone?" Buffy replied with a frown.
"You've been out patrolling every night this week." Xander said fairly. "You can't be expected to be there every time something happens. You need a night to yourself every once in a while."
Buffy held up her hands in defeat.
"This is me, staying put." She promised.
"Good." Dawn said, and thrust the board games at her sister. "You can put these away, then."
Willow shuddered as she left the warmth of the cinema and felt the chill of the late night air seeping already through her layers of clothes. She stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and hunched her shoulders about her ears to stay warm. It wasn't quite cold enough for her breath to mist, but still, the wind was cold enough to knife straight through warm winter coats and cardigans.
"That's a shock to the system…" She commented.
"Do you want my scarf?" Tara asked, already unwinding the soft navy wool from about her neck. Willow shook her head profusely.
"No, no, then you'll be cold." She protested, shuffling over to Tara without taking her hands out of her pockets and nudging her shoulder against Tara's to try and stop her. "Besides, I'll warm up soon. It was just all toasty in there and out here it's kind of like a fridge…"
Tara's lips quirked up on one side as she tucked her scarf back inside her coat. She threaded one arm through Willow's and steered them towards the bus stop.
"At least it's not raining." She said.
"Hey, don't jinx it." Willow bumped their hips together playfully and Tara rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, but okay." She replied, pulling them into the small shelter offered by the bus stop. Three walls and a roof made of glass and steel, it didn't do much to keep out the elements but at least the wind was mostly off them now. Willow stood as close as possible in an effort to share body heat, her back pressed to Tara's front. Tara looped her arms around Willow's waist and they both watched the road.
Minutes crawled slowly by.
Gone eleven O'clock at night on a Sunday there wasn't much in the way of traffic. The occasional car whooshed passed, headlights bright white cones of light in the gloom.
"I don't understand." Willow said as she scrutinized the bus timetable in the neon orange tint thrown out by a nearby street lamp. She pressed a finger against the grimy glass protecting the paper, following lines of text and numbers. "There should have been a bus ten minutes ago. I Googled it and everything."
"I don't think it's coming." Tara told her. Willow looked back at her girlfriend apologetically. "It's okay, we can walk back."
"Walk?" Willow scrunched her nose in distaste. "Or get a taxi?"
"That would be expensive at this time of night." Tara said with a shake of her head. "Come on." She reached for Willow's hand, linked their fingers. "It's not that far. I'll make us some cocoa when we get in."
"Okay." Willow sighed, allowing herself to be dragged out of the shelter. "I can't believe Google lied to me!"
"I don't think it lied…" Tara said in amusement. "I think maybe the bus got cancelled or something. Don't worry, Google is still loyal to you."
"Buffy's going to kill us if she finds out we walked, by the way." Willow looked sideways at Tara who nodded seriously, knowing exactly what Buffy was worried about.
"I know. We won't tell her." She said. "But I think we'll be safe here. Most of the attacks Dawn pinned on the demon didn't happen in busy areas."
Willow looked around them at the empty streets, the closed shops and dark buildings rising high on either side of the four way. Sure, every few minutes a car would whiz by, but…
"I'm not so sure this counts as a busy area right now…"
Tara shot her a look. She knew Willow's logical mind wasn't countering the statement through nerves, but through a literal assessment of the area.
"What?" Willow protested. "I'm just saying! We're fine walking. I'll be quiet now." She adjusted her handbag on her shoulder, missing Tara's smile as she tried to hide a chuckle. "Did you like the movie?"
Tara grinned at her.
"I thought you were being quiet?" She teased, eliciting a Willow pout. "I liked the movie." She said honestly. "It was fun and cute. Perfect date material." Willow beamed at her, teasing forgotten.
"Really?" She asked, and Tara nodded.
"I'll have to leave you to organise dates more often."
Willow opened her mouth to speak, stopped when she heard the hollow bump and rattle of a tin can against concrete.
"What was that?" She asked, head turning sharply towards the sound.
They had made their way into a residential area now, rows of two storey houses lining each side of the street, cars parked on drives or pulled up to the curb. Her eyes were drawn towards the impenetrable gloom of an alley way between two houses across the road. The glow of the streetlights faltered at the entrance.
"Someone's trash, I think." Tara said, pausing as Willow halted to eye up the shadows suspiciously. She tugged on the redhead's elbow. "Come on, it's getting late. We need to get back. We both have work in the morning."
"I know." Willow turned away from the alley to look up at Tara. "I guess I'm just paranoid."
Tara looked at her with concern. She herself felt confident they could get home without incident, but if Willow was uncomfortable…
"We could get a taxi if you want? I have money?" She offered.
"No, it's fine, really-" She cut off as that same rattle sounded again. Hollow, metallic, in motion. The stillness of the city amplified it. Tara peered round Willow in the direction of the alley as Willow turned to face it, feeling a faint spike of adrenaline.
Willow reached into her bag and withdraw a wooden stake. The movement caught Tara's gaze and she blinked.
"Willow…?"
Willow moved herself square in front of Tara, holding the stake firmly in one fist, slightly raised in front of her. She saw luminous yellow eyes reflecting back the light from the lamps, heard the noise again. An empty drink can rolled out of the darkness and onto the pavement where it halted its course against the raised edge of one concrete slab. Then the creature struck. A lithe black shadow pounced from within the alley, landed on the can and meowed.
"Wow…" Tara remarked drily as watched the cat scrabble with its toy.
"Uh…" Willow paused, then hastily stuffed the stake back into her bag, embarrassed now.
"It's a good job you don't get screened for concealed weapons at the cinema." Tara motioned to the bag.
"It's a precaution!" Willow defended herself. Tara watched Willow for a moment, her intense gaze causing the redhead to squirm.
"You put yourself in front of me."
"Huh?" Willow frowned.
"Like a human shield."
"Oh…"
"Don't do that."
"I don't want you to get hurt." Willow insisted.
"Well…ditto!" Tara said emphatically. Willow gave her a determined look in response. Tara held it for all of three seconds before melting. She reached up and tugged playfully at the ends of Willow's hair. "Thank you for saving me from the kitty." She said. Willow rolled her eyes and turned to continue their walk home.
"Something else we can't tell Buffy about!" She said.
"Oh…I don't know…" Tara said with a sloped smile, falling into step beside Willow. "I think she'd be very interested to hear about that…"