Vhesthine groans as she wakes up on the floor of her apartment with the setting sun shining straight through her windows and onto her face. With a groan, she pushes herself onto her front, and then onto her hands and knees. Her wings spreading out automatically to stabilise her. Staggering to her feet, she lurches over to the sink and downs a glass of water to distract from the gnawing hunger she's feeling. Whatever's going on, she's been gone at least a week.
Swaying over to the land line, she picks up the phone and dials Mikes Machining, hoping that it isn't a Saturday. The phone rings a couple of times before she answers the phone with "Mikes Machining, I'm sorry, we're closed to the public now."
Desperately, Vhesthine slams the phone down, accidentally crushing the handset at the same time. What's going on? How could she have just answered the phone?
She desperately needs something to eat, and it's too early for her normal hangouts. She smiles as she takes on her human form. A simple glamour, and she should be able to get Spike going.
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Roselyn groans as she wakes up in bed, her last memory before this being dragged towards Buffy and Vhesthine when something went really wrong, and some sort of portal opened up. Those thoughts go out of the window as her partner comes into the bedroom and sniffs twice, before launching himself at her jugular. With practiced instincts, Roselyn grabs his horns to redirect him to her mouth, and also redirect his hunger to a different taste of the flesh.
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"Hello sleeping beauty." Are the first words Buffy hears as she wakes up. Opening her eyes, she finds herself in a virtually bare bed in a crypt.
"You know, if you wanted me so bad, you just had to ask. Falling asleep outside my crypt was a bloody stupid thing to do." Buffy props herself up on her elbows to look at Spike. Idly noting her own lack of clothes.
"What makes you think I did that because I wanted you?"
"Why else would you turn up without a stitch of clothing, and no signs of a fight?" Buffy stares at him, "Alright, alright, without a stitch of clothing covering your modesty. Your rags are on the dresser over there."
"So, your idea of seducing me is to, what, put me on your bed and?"
Spike shakes his head, "Well what did you expect me to do, grab you a strawberry bloody milkshake and a bag of fries?"
Buffy licks her lips at the idea of strawberry milkshake, an image of Willow's face clear in her mind, "Mmm, now that you mention it, strawberry milkshake is delicious, but maybe you'll be a good substitute."
Spike backs up in his chair as Buffy's eyes start to glow a mix of deep red and green, somehow not mixing, "Slayer, what's going on?"
Lurching out of his chair, Spike is still too slow to stop Buffy from latching onto his mouth. As she kisses him, it's like she's got a direct connection to his bits, and she leans back with a sultry smile that has no business being on that face, "Mmm, cigar smoke and whiskey. More!"
Sometime later, Spike hears someone coming down the stairs through his haze of lust and exhaustion, "Help! She's insatiable!"
To his dismay, Vhesthine walks through the door and stops, looking at Spike and Buffy, "Buffy, how could you!? Did you leave any for me?"
When Buffy turns around, Vhesthine looks at her glowing eyes with concern, however, that concern is quickly erased when she saunters over, and says, "No." Before feeding her whiskey and cigar smoke, along with a healthy dose of magic and succubus essence.
As the edge is taken off her hunger, Vhesthine looks into Buffy's eyes, "Willow?"
Buffy smiles, "Razial has her. Let's go hunting."
Vhesthine blinks, "Buffy, what happened?"
Buffy feeds Vhesthine a bit more of Spike's essence, then pouts, her words coming through a little less needy, "Can't we talk about this after hunting?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "No Buffy, I need to know now. And you need to give Spike some of your blood, otherwise he'll die."
Spike lifts his head a little more, "While it's turning me on watching you two like that, though little Spike seems to disagree, what's this about dying?"
Buffy looks hopeful, "Can we go hunting once I've fed Spike?"
"Almost, first we go home and get you some clothes that won't get you arrested."
Buffy smiles, "Sounds good to me."
Buffy looks around for her clothes, and pulls out her dagger, before emptying out an ashtray and filling it with blood and placing it by Spikes head. With a giant smile, Buffy turns back to Vhesthine, "I've fed Spike, let's go."
Vhesthine looks at Buffy's bleeding forearm, "Buffy, your arm."
Buffy looks down at it, "It doesn't hurt, so I'll be fine. Let's go hunting, he was nice, but I want something sweeter."
Vhesthine huffs in frustration, and starts to help Buffy get dressed, and tie her clothes up to provide at least some modesty. One strip of clothing, she uses to bandage the cut on Buffy's arm, "Come on, let's get home."
"Sure. Hey, didn't you say that Vampires are great for hunting because they don't have a soul?"
Vhesthine sighs, "Yes, I did." Before tugging Buffy along with her.
"Maybe we should use Spike to teach Dawn how to hunt…"
As the voices of the two women move out of earshot, Spike turns his head and desperately tries to lap at the blood in his ashtray.
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As Buffy and Vhesthine are walking home, hand in hand, Vhesthine says, "Buffy, I need to know. What happened after you got back with Willow."
Buffy smiles, "You tried to show Roselyn how to take the magic from Willow. Took too much, so I did a cleansing ritual on you, and we got sucked into a void portal."
Vhesthine smiles encouragingly, "That's great, have you ever done a cleansing ritual before?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, but I saw Tara do it twice. It was easy."
Vhesthine pauses to give Buffy a quick exchange, before continuing to walk, "Oh, which process did you use?"
Buffy smiles, "The one where you push energy into the circle through the quartz and then cycle it around and around."
Vhesthine's eyes widen, "When you say cycle it around and around?"
Buffy nods, "Yep, bring it back to me, and then push it back through the quartz. Of course, I don't remember much after that first cycle, as you turned into the Lotus, and I watched Ballas steal the last of your energy again."
Vhesthine stops and takes both of Buffy's hands, "Buffy, I think you are suffering from magical overload."
Buffy shakes her head, "But I feel great."
Vhesthine nods, "It does that. It's why Willow kept using magic, do you remember?"
"But I don't want to use magic, I just want to go hunting with you."
"I know you do, but that the taint from my original dimension inside you. The taint of magic from here is why you don't care about it. It leaves you feeling on top of the world."
Buffy shakes her head and pulls one hand away, before heading for the house, "I'm fine. Come on, let's get changed so that we can go hunting."
Once they're closer to the house, Vhesthine says, "Buffy, I phoned work when I woke up. But I answered."
Buffy shrugs, "Probably just a paradox. Don't worry about it, void travel does that sometimes."
"But what if we come in contact with each other?"
"Did you? I think you'd remember that, unless that was the start of the loop of course."
"What!?"
"So, Eternalism is the philosophical theory that allows time travel, and it says that once a paradox starts it's always been true. So, if we went to the office and met ourselves, that would now have always been true that we met ourselves."
"I think I follow."
Buffy smiles, "Don't worry about it, if you don't remember it happening, then you're the first person in the loop. Otherwise you're part of the paradox, congratulations the universe hasn't ended. Now, we're home now so let's get ready to go."
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Tara's eyes open in surprise when Vhesthine drags Buffy through the doors to the store at just before 9pm. Her jaw drops when she realises that Buffy has taken most of her clothes from Vhesthine's wardrobe, with a wrap around skirt showing off her leg, and the halter top becoming visible when her coat rises at the back. When Buffy starts looking around at the various men in the place, her eyebrows rise. Even more so when it's Buffy that's sat down at a table while Vhesthine walks up to the till with a note in hand.
"Doublemeat Burger Palace, how may I help you?"
Vhesthine smiles, "Hey Tara, can I have a nuggets, fries, and two large sprites please. Oh, and a cleansing ritual whenever you're free."
Tara hisses, "What?"
"You remember what Willow was like before you did her ritual? Buffy's like that, except most of her taint is from me, after she tried a cleansing ritual earlier. Also, do you know what the time is?"
"You do know this is my first shift don't you? And it's almost 9, there's a clock above the door to the toilets."
Vhesthine sighs, "Believe me, I know, and I am glad it is as apparently time travel is a thing you can do accidentally now. Spike persuaded her to let him… When I found her, she'd already drained him and wanted to go hunting with me. She has no control at the moment, so unless you want her to leave a trail of corpses, we need that cleansing ritual."
"Buffy's just spotted Robbie cleaning the floor."
Vhesthine puts the $20 on the counter, "Keep the change, could you bring our food and drinks over please?"
Tara nods, "Sure, I'll also talk to Manny about getting an extra break."
Vhesthine just gives her a thumbs up as she moves to intercept Buffy, and guide her back to the table.
Once she's taken the food and drinks to Buffy and Vhesthine, Tara dodges Buffy's questing hand, and walks over to Robbie, "Hey Robbie, um, could you look after the till for a moment, I need to ask Manny something."
Robbie nods, "Sure, I need to put this away first."
Tara smiles, "Thanks."
Once Robbie has taken over the till again, Tara makes her way around the store until she finds Manny in the interview room doing paperwork. Knocking on the door, she pokes her head in, "Um Manny? I know this is my first shift, but a couple of friends have arrived and need help. Would I be able to take a second 30 minute break if I stay late to help clean up or something?"
Tara's almost ready to leave dejectedly when Manny looks up, "At least you asked. Most just disappear. Remember to clock out when you leave."
Tara nods, "Thank you." Then grabs her coat and clocks out, before heading to Vhesthine and Buffy.
Walking up to Vhesthine, Tara smiles, "I've got half an hour. Hopefully you have the sand already."
Vhesthine nods, "I picked up a small bag on the way out."
Buffy looks up from her soda, "What do we need sand for?"
"To put you through a cleansing ritual."
Buffy shakes her head, "I told you, I'm fine. I just want to go hunting with you." She sways slightly as she walks, as though she's already had a few drinks.
Tara looks at her, "Has she been like this long?"
Vhesthine nods, "Since I found her at Spike's crypt."
Tara leads the two of them to an alleyway nearby, and uses a spell to clear the floor of dirt and debris, "Buffy, I need you to kneel here the way you've been teaching me."
Buffy whines, "I don't want to, I want to go hunting."
Vhesthine smiles at her, "It's ok, Tara wants to show you how to do a cleansing properly. That way you can help me if I eat too much."
Buffy huffs as she sinks to her knees, "Ok. Fine. But I did it earlier and it worked out fine, if you ignore the void portal and hallucinations."
Tara kneels down in front of Buffy, and nods the way you might nod to a young child that's proud of the mess they've made while Vhesthine draws the sand circle.
"Now Buffy, I'm about to push void energy into the circle. But the hard part is preventing the energy from leaving the circle once it's in there. Once there's enough energy that I can bring it down to the sand, like a big ring donut, I'll stop pushing energy in and only control the energy that's inside the circle."
Buffy looks at her, "Oh, I didn't do that, I AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHH!"
Buffy's sentence cuts off as Tara completes the loop and the energy starts to flow through the quartz sand. Once the magic starts flowing clear, Tara lets go of the power but the circle continues to spin, and begins to pick up sand from the edge of the circle.
"Vhesthine, that's not supposed to happen!"
Vhesthine shouts over the sound the sand is starting to make, "It does for some demons, you need to break the circle."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
"Less dangerous than leaving it, it's feeding off of Buffy's energy now, and when it runs out it will release it in an instant. The sooner you do it the less dangerous it will be!"
As Tara looks around for a stick or something, a tear starts to open in the air. Panicking, Tara lunges for the circle and pushes her hand clear through the sand. Tara and Vhesthine are both thrown clear down the alleyway in different directions, while Buffy lands on the floor. A moment later Buffy says, "Ow, void that hurt." Spotting the bandage on her arm, Buffy pulls it back slightly, "When did I do this, and why hasn't it heal… Vhesthine!"
Looking around wildly, Buffy hurries over to Vhesthine body and sighs in relief when she can see her breathing. Gently picking her up, she carries her back to the clear area of the Alleyway where she sees Tara lying against another wall, out cold. After bringing Tara to lie next to Vhesthine, Buffy kneels down in meditation and quickly seeks the structure and forms of the Vazarin way, she hurries through the process of bringing her mind into the way. As she opens her eyes, she activates Squad Regen and watches her two friends critically, not even paying attention to the wound on her arm disappearing as if it never was.
As Vhesthine's eyes flicker open, Buffy's eyes dampen and she leans over to hug her, "You're alright, I thought I'd lost you."
Vhesthine smiles up at Buffy, "Do you still want to go hunting?"
Buffy shudders, before her shoulders firm up, and she takes a deep breath, "Not really, but if you want me to join you on a day we're not picking Dawn up from her friends." Buffy takes another couple of breaths, "I will join you on one condition."
Vhesthine smiles, and Tara's voice croaks, "You don't let her get like that again."
Buffy laughs, "You put the words right in my mouth."
Tara thumps Buffy on the arm, "That's not the saying, and you know it." She then looks down at her clothes, "They're going to kill me, this was a brand new uniform."
Buffy shakes her head, "Are you or are you not a witch who struggles with finding ways to use enough void energy not to explode?"
Tara gives Buffy a dirty look before casting repair and cleaning spells on herself, "There! Happy now? I'm trying to avoid relying on this for mundane things, as I'm just as likely to become dependent on it as Willow did, even if I don't suffer from magical overload the same way."
Buffy nods, "Thank you for your help. And I'm so sorry you saw me like that."
Tara looks Buffy up and down, "I don't know, now you're yourself again, I think you look good in that."
Buffy buries her head in Vhesthine's shoulder to hide as Tara laughs and heads back to work.
Once Tara's gone, Buffy looks seriously into Vhesthine's eyes, "How hungry are you?"
Vhesthine looks at a wall, "I'll be fine."
"Vhesti, talk to me. How are you doing, considering that we need to feed Dawn later."
"How do you do that?"
Buffy sighs, "Just because I can't smell how hungry you are, doesn't mean I don't have eyes, or hands. You're cold Vhesthine, and you're never cold."
Softly Vhesthine says, "I was starving when I woke up. Like I hadn't eaten in over a week, considering that we've been feeding Dawn."
Buffy nods and grasps her face to pull her into a kiss. Then she pushes as much essence as she can into Vhesthine, until she starts feeling lightheaded.
"Buffy! You can't do that, you need that essence yourself."
Buffy shakes her head, and leans against Vhesthine, "I'll grab a couple of burgers on my way home. I'll be fine. Sides, I've got a couple of bars of chocolate in my purse at work."
"Let me at least give you some essence back."
Buffy shakes her head, "Nope, you don't generate your own, I do. So I win, just get us back to Mikes."
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Jonathan looks up from the pinball game that he's currently trying to beat Warrens high score on, "Go away Andrew."
"Jonathan, we really need your help."
"Andrew, I told you I'm not getting involved with that cerebral thingy."
"But something went wrong."
"Damn it Andrew, I almost beat Warren's score. Now I have to start again."
"Jonathan, we just need you to summon some demons to confuse Buffy."
Jonathan throws his hands in the air, "Ok, fine. But if I get any hint this is to do with that orb, I'm gone."
Andrew holds up his hand, "I swear that we just need you to summon some demons."
"Well, lead on then."