A couple of days after the Dracula debacle, Eris was sitting and the island in the kitchen smirking behind her cup of coffee as she watched the Summer sisters get more and more annoyed with each other as they made their breakfasts, "So Buffy, what are your plans today?" Aunt Joyce asked.
"Oh actually Giles, Eris and I are gonna go to the magic shop for supplies for my new and improved training sessions."
Joyce smiled, "Oh that's great" she complimented.
"Yeah I-"
"You can take Dawn shopping for her back-to-school supplies," Eris held back a snort when both sisters looked at Joyce with a mix of shock and annoyance.
"What?"
"Mom, I thought you were taking me," said Dawn, her voice stuttering slightly, she did not want to hang out with Buffy, she would hog Eris' attention and would boss her around all day.
"Honey, I've got the Gurion showing tonight and there's so much to do to get the gallery ready" Joyce replied.
"Really Joyce? You managed to get Ben Gurion's exhibition in this small town?" Eris asked in shock, her mom was obsessed with fancy art and whilst Eris cared little for it, she'd heard her mom rant and rave about Ben Gurion a lot of times to know the significance of the artist.
"Yes, I know," Joyce said dramatically, "I can hardly believe it but the curator of the Gallery knows him so he pulled a few strings."
"Mom is going to be so jealous, you should call her and tell her," Joyce laughed in response as she turned to Buffy who brought the attention back on her.
"I get that mom but that doesn't really work for me," the sisters followed their mom to the lounge room with Eris slowly trailing behind them, "we're going to the magic shop, no school supplies there."
Dawn walked up to beside her sister, "Yeah mom, I'm not going to Hogwarts," Dawn laughed but stopped at her sister's glare, "Jeez, crack a book sometime."
"I understood what you meant Dawn," Eris patted Dawns head as she walked passed to sit on the red seat.
"Look, I'm sure Giles doesn't mind dropping you off at the mall afterwards," Joyce offered.
Buffy shook her head, "Actually, he does mind, this is supposed to be quality watcher/slayer time with Eris watching, I told you, she ruined my training yesterday."
"Did not!" Dawn snapped.
"Oh, you know you did too," Dawn scoffed at her sisters commanding yet childish tone.
Joyce sighed at her daughters, never a dull moment for her, "Buffy, I realise the importance of your new slayer thing, but I could really use your help," she walked past when there was a knock at the door, ignoring her eldest daughters sigh, she opened the door let Riley walk in.
"Morning Mrs Summers, you look great," he replied in his kind voice.
"Oh, thank you, Riley," Buffy shuffled over and gave her boyfriend a cute yet seductive smile when her mother left.
"Suck up," she teased.
Riley scoffed, "What? It's a nice outfit," Buffy hummed, showing how she didn't believe him, "besides, I'm here to violate your first-born never goes over with parents, not sure why," the closed the gap between them and kissed passionately.
"Eewie stop you're melting my eyes," Eris groaned from her seat, placing her coffee cup down and sticking her tongue out.
"Stop it Eris, I've seen you naked and sitting on top of an equally naked Spike, you can deal with me kissing Riley," Buffy shot back after she stopped making out, Riley shook his head in amusement, he wished he grew up with a sibling so he could have moments like these.
"Hey kid," Riley said when he finally spotted Dawn.
"I'm not a kid," Dawn scoffed and walked away.
"Well this is a surprise of the nicest kind," Buffy said as she led her boyfriend over to the couch.
Riley sat down beside her, looking at her in confusion, "now it's my turn to be surprised, I thought we had plans today?"
"Plans? We planned plans?" Buffy looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Well you said, come over tomorrow and we'll hang and then I said ok," he looked to Eris, "You were right next to me when she said it."
"I wasn't paying attention," now it was her turn to look embarrassed, "Xander was being Xander, sorry."
"Don't worry about it Eris," Riley gave her a reassuring smile before turning back to his girlfriend, "I know it's not the invasion of Normandy but still a plan."
"Right," Buffy looked at the couch like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"We're not hanging today, are we?"
"Giles is on his way to pick me and Eris up."
Riley nodded in understanding, "Slayer training."
"Slayer shopping, actually but equally as important."
"I have no doubt" Riley huffed in amusement and shook his head as he stood from the chair, "ok, we'll hook up later."
"Are you mad at me?" Buffy asked with a frown, worrying that she had upset her partner. She had been so wrapped up in her training that she hadn't had time for Riley the last couple of days. She really hoped he hadn't notice, but when she saw him shake his head and smile, she realised it wasn't the case.
"No, not at all, I'm plotting your death, but in a happy way."
Buffy smiled, relief washing over her, "good."
"Look, Buffy, I know what this means to you, I think it's great that you've got this new mission, and you haven't seen Eris in three years, I'll see you tonight," they kissed and Riley headed to the door, but not before saying a quick, "See ya kid."
"I'm not a kid!" Dawn shouted back from her spot on the stairs.
Once he left Eris stood up from her spot and went over to the couch to sit beside Buffy, "What?" Buffy asked when she noticed Eris looking at her with a raised brow.
"You know it never ends well to double plan, you've watched all those Disney movies."
Buffy sighed and laid her head against the back of the couch, "I know I just get so distracted and I want to get stronger but its taking over my social life."
Eris shook her head in response, "it doesn't need to, you just have to have better time management."
"I can have better time management when I'm your age."
Eris gasped and placed a hand over her chest, acting like she had been majorly offended by her cousin's words, "I'm not old, I'm only four years older than you!"
"Anyone older than me is old."
"Riley is older than you," Eris shot back.
Buffy pouted and looked away, "it doesn't count when you're dating."
Eris let out a snort, "Yeah right, go get your bag, we'll wait for Giles on the porch, your heads so thick with boys you need fresh air to clean it up," Buffy scoffed and punched her shoulder, "Ow! Don't use your slayer strength on me I'm fragile!"
Giles had arrived just as Buffy and Eris were stepping outside to wait for him, after yelling at Dawn to hurry up they jumped into his car and drove off, Buffy immediately talked to Giles about her problem with Riley, which Giles was completely unprepared for, "I sympathise with you, I truly do but I'm certain that Riley understands better than anyone the importance of training," Giles said in his sort of father/Watcher tone, "you can't allow personal concerns to distract you- Dawn, will you stop fiddling with the radio and sit down?" Dawn rolled her eyes at his scolding and sat back in her seat, once she put on her seatbelt Buffy continued speaking.
"There's a lot of books on this list, any come in tape, read by George Clooney or someone cute like that?"
"hmm yes, please let that be true" Eris commented from the back seat, daydreaming of the hunk A list actor.
"You're entering a new realm, one for which I myself am not entirely prepared, are you ready for this commitment?"
"I'm just kidding."
"I'm not!" said Eris, still daydreaming, oh how she'd love to get into bed with that actor, his voice alone would get her hot and heavy.
"Hey this betty is ready, colour me committed," said Buffy only to be interrupted by the car roaring and Giles cursing in British as he pulled his foot off the very sensitive acceleration pedal.
"Blast!"
"You put it in neutral again huh?"
"I'm just not used to automatic transmission I-I loathe this sitting here, not contributing."
"You could have bought a manual," Eris said, finally coming back to the real world after her dream Geroge left her for a better-looking woman.
Giles decided to ignore her, wanting only to blame the car and not his own decisions, "no no no it's not working out."
"Are you breaking up with your car?" Buffy asked as she raised a brow, this man really needed to get into the modern world.
"Well, it did seduce me, all red and sporty…" Giles said dejectedly.
Buffy narrowed her eyes in mock anger, playing along with his woe, "little two-door tramp."
"I don't know, I just…I was so at a loose end that I found myself searching for some way of feeling more…"
"Shallow?"
"Younger?' Eris chimed in after her cousin, taking the nicer approach. Honestly, she loved the car, it was expensive and pretty, and if he didn't want it she'd gladly take it off his hands.
Giles once again decided to ignore their childish comments, "perhaps, as I am to be your watcher again, a modicum of respect might be in order."
"Do I have to?"
"I'm serious Buffy, there's going to be far less time for the sort of flightly, frivolous-"
"-Hey there's Willow and Tara!" Dawn called out as she pointed at the lovely couple walking down the street.
"Ooh, they haven't seen my new car," the two eldest girls looked at him with matching smirks, they stopped the car before the two college girls.
"Hey, Giles! Sharp wheels!" Willow complimented once she got a good look at the fancy new car.
"The rest of the car's nice, too," Tara said after, the quartet hopped out of the car and walked over to the couple to have a small chat before heading to the shops.
"Handles like a dream," Giles said back, acting as if he forgot how he hated it.
"Where are you guys heading?" asked Buffy.
Willow pointed behind her, "Magic Shop, I have some charms on back order."
"Ooh field trip," Eris stopped beside Buffy and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Like a strange family," Willow chuckled softly and looked over to Dawn.
"Willow, hi," Dawn said softly, she enjoyed spending time with the magic couple, they always tried to include her in things and valued her input, unlike her annoying sister.
"Hey Dawny!" Willow gave her a small hug, "how's my favourite chess partner? Still leading with your knight?" Dawn nodded silently.
"Hey Dawn," Tara said with a smile and a small wave, the small group huddled together and walked off to the magic shop, Tara and Dawn were at the back, Giles and Eris were in the middle and Buffy and Willow were at the front.
"So, Giles and I worked out a schedule around school," Buffy said to Willow as they walked, "a block of time every day to just to focus on my new slayer training."
Willow smiled, impressed with Buffy's new interest in getting stronger, "That's a work ethic, Buffy you're developing a work ethic!"
"Oh, no, do they make an ointment for that?"
"People gotta respect a solid work ethic, look at you, motivated Buffy, eager to soak up learning, you and I are gonna have so much fun this semester."
"Yeah, that reminds me, with the whole new training schedule, I had to drop a class," the group stopped before the magic shop.
"That's ok, your slayer studies are way more important," Willow nodded in understanding as Tara and Dawn to the door to head inside.
"So I won't be taking drama with you."
That made Willow frown, "what? You have to, you promised!"
"I know, but Giles said that it just was-"
"The hell with Giles!"
"I can hear you Willow" Giles spoke from behind them, feeling incredibly offended whilst Eris laughed her head off.
"Savage, who know you could be so savage Willow," she spoke between her fits of laughter, which Giles was less than impressed with.
The red haired witch spared Eris a small smile before continuing to talk to Buffy, "drama is just Tuesday and Thursday afternoons you can blow off training Tuesday and Thursday afternoons."
The Slayer looked at Willow, feeling less than impressed by her change of tune, "what about people gotta respect a work ethic?"
"Other people, not me, there's a whole best-friend loophole."
Eris moved closer and stood beside Willow to look at Buffy "plus you can never drop drama, I loved that class in highschool, it let me act stupid without getting in trouble."
As they neared the shops door, Tara stepped back from the door to speak to the group, motioning them to look inside, "shop's kinds dark, maybe it's closed," the group walked over to her and looked at the window, trying to see if there was any movement.
"That's odd," Giles said in confusion as he walked to the door and pushed it open. The light from outside shined into the dimly lit shop, illuminating all the broken objects and dishevelled items, the group walked in cautiously, all on high alert in case trouble was hiding.
"I think odd just got upped to bad," Buffy said softly, looking around with steeled eyes, her muscles were tensed and ready to fight anything lurking in the dark.
"Hello? Anyone here?" Giles called out.
"Mr Bogarty?" everyone but Willow looked at Tara in confusion, "the owner, I come in here a lot."
Willow continued down the short steps, worry plastered on her face, "well, maybe this happened really late at night when nobody was-" she suddenly stopped talking when she fell over something and nearly toppled to the floor
"Will?" Buffy asked in concern as she rushed to her friend's aid.
Willow turned around, "I'm fine, I…I just tripped over…Mr Bogarty," she shuffled back into Tara's arm when she saw the blood covering the owners neck.
"What is it? Is he Ok?" Dawn tried to push between Giles and Buffy to see the dead body but they wouldn't let her. Her sister pushed her away and out to the door whilst Eris knelt down to check the owners body, "Nothing you need to see, go wait outside."
"I don't wanna wait outside, ow that hurts!" Dawn struggled against her sisters hold but it was no use, she was too strong, "you're hurting me, I'm telling."
The Slayer ignored her sisters complaints, there was more important things to focus on, "what do you think happened?"
"Not sure exactly but he was definitely attacked by more than one vampire, the bite sizes are vaired," Eris pointed to the multiple bites on his neck, "if it was one vampire then there would only be one bite, they don't like to waste food, Tara, do you think you could check on Dawn, she may have seen the body," Tara nodded silently and walked out the door to check on the youngest member of the group.
"Do you think there was a motive for killing Mr Bogarty?" Willow asked.
"Judging by the state of the shop they must have been looking for something," Giles commented, looking around at the disarray.
"It looks like someone's put together a new fang club," Buffy walked over to Willow who was looking at the books on the counter.
"I've crosschecked the inventory list and things are definitely missing, mostly books," Eris and Giles stood away from the body and headed over to Willow to look at the ledger she was reading, "including A treatise on the Mythology and Methodology of the Vampire Slayer."
Buffy frowned and looked at her list of books needed for her slayer studies, "oh shoot, was that the only copy?"
Giles shot a glare at his student, "come on, Buffy, this could be very serious, whoever's leading this pack of vampires is interested in learning more about you, perhaps searching for weaknesses or…Good Lord."
"What?" Buffy asked in worry, thinking he discovered something terrible.
"Well, I had no idea the profit margins on a shop like this were so high," Giles said in surprise, "look at this, low-overhead out-of-state orders, international…it's no wonder there are never any trouble attracting new owners, place like this is a virtual-"
"Deathtrap?" Buffy broke into his awe staring.
"We-well yes, there is that, but…still," he let Willow take the book off his hands, "location, you know, pedestrian traffic…" he trailed off.
"Come on Giles this could be very serious," Eris repeated, bringing Giles back to the real world.
"So what's the next step?" Willow asked.
Giles talked whilst looking around the shop, "Buffy, you should begin looking for their lair straightaway."
"I'll get Riley to help me patrol."
"Wait aren't you forgetting something?" said Willowas Giles continued to ramble to himself about the shop, "You're on Dawn duty."
"Oh duty, I gotta drop my sister back at home, can you baby sit Eris?"
"What? Why…fine," Eris huffed but agreed, she was going to go out and have some fun but she supposed spending time with Dawn wouldn't be too bad.
"I bet the death rate keeps the rent down," Giles muttered as he looked around the shop, his eyes roamed the glass plinths holding various relics when he noticed a missing item, "Oh hello, something's been taken from this case look here."
"What'd they take?" Buffy asked as she walked to his side.
"I should think an item of value or power, possibly even…"
"A unicorn," Willow cut in, "ten-inch ceramic unicorn imported from Thailand," the group looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Was it valuable?"
"List price…$12.95."
"Which begs the question, what king of creature fancies cheap, tasteless statuary?" Giles wondered aloud.
Eris shrugged, "either a female vampire who was a diva as a human or a fluffy," Willow and Buffy looked at her in confusion, "Fluffy is code for feminine gay guy, you know fairy, pixie, twink…I lived in LA it's home to the Gay community, the gay vampires are the best people to talk to when they aren't sucking you dry, 100 years of being fashion icons and all that."
"I always wondered how you have such goods taste in clothing when I saw pictures of you," Buffy commented.
"Yeup, first time I went to a bar they saw my disgusting clothing and took me out for midnight shopping, they tried to suck me dry straight after, but the sentiment was there."
"How many did you have to kill?"
"Just two, they usually come in pairs since they're pretty possessive of each other, they don't like other male vampires hanging around."
"Can we get to the current problem here," Giles called out to the distracted girls, "I don't think this is time to reminisce when there is something or someone trying to harm Buffy."
"Chill Giles, we're just narrowing down suspects," Giles sighed at Eris and decided to let them be, Eris was the worst of the three as it was easy for her to distract the others.