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Present Childe by Ariel Dawn
 
Prommy Goodness
 
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Disclaimer: I’m just playing.

Author’s note: Some dialogue taken from “ The Prom” Beta’d by the wonderful BTL.
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Chapter 20: Prommy Goodness

Buffy held the receiver away from her ear as Spike’s expletives laced his disappointment.

“Bloody buggering hell, Buffy! It was only supposed to be to drop off the witch.”

“I know,” she sighed, putting the receiver closer to her ear again. “I can’t just leave them!” she protested. “They need me!”

“Bollocks!” he roared. “I want you here with me! Buffy!” His tone changed, tenderness coming through the phone line. “I can’t bear to be apart from you, luv.”

“Then come back here,” she offered. “Please Spike?”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Spike?”

Buffy twirled the phone cord around her fingers nervously as she waited for him to respond.

“Buffy,” he started, clearly trying to keep his anger at bay. “I’ve got things on the go here. I can’t just up and leave.”

“The Gem of Amara?” asked Buffy sadly.

“Got a good lead.”

“Right,” responded Buffy sceptically. “Are you coming?”

Spike exhaled on the other end of the line. “Fine, give me a week. I’ll be there.” Spike hung up the phone, leaving Buffy to wonder just how mad he was and whether or not he was bringing minions.

“I’m not giving up my room,” started Anya, not looking up from her homework.

“No worries,” responded Buffy hanging up the receiver. “You’ve got Drusilla’s room.”
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“La classe, repêtez après moi, ‘La mouche a six jambes,” intoned the French teacher.

Buffy rolled her eyes. Spike could probably teach her French much better than this dope. Of course that just set her mind to think about Spike even more. Was he mad? Was she gonna get spanked for staying in Sunnydale? It had been only a few days since she’d talked to Spike but she couldn’t feel that he was any less angry by her decision through their link. Yes, she’d been out and about helping Willow and Faith with the big evil, but that was little consolation.

Dusty books were so not the fun she’d signed up for.

Willow leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Are you going patrolling tonight?” the red head asked.

“Might as well,” Buffy responded, “Who knows just how good a job Faith’s doing.”

“Les filles!” barked the teacher at them, silencing the conversation.
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Patrolling became routine, of course, staying out of Faith's way was getting harder and harder every day. The Slayer was intent on making up ground for being locked in Giles' office for days and days. Buffy did of course get her share of the weird demons to fight.

Some with slightly disturbing consequences. Giles’ prognosis of taking on a demon aspect since fighting the scaling demon of last night’s patrol was way wigging her out.

“I’m gonna grow a demon part! Spike! Doesn’t that concern you in the tiniest way?” exploded Buffy into the phone. “Spike! I could have horns tomorrow!”

“What kind of demon was it?” he asked calmly.

“I don’t know. It was scabby, had no mouth. Should I be worried more? ‘Cause I’m worried now.”

“What did the watcher say?” asked Spike, again annoying Buffy with his calmness.

“Infected, he said I’d be infected!” cried Buffy, her voice edging on hysteria.

“Buffy, love, calm down. You are a demon. You can’t take on the aspect of another demon while yours is still healthy and grr. Relax. Breathe.”

Buffy took a few calming breaths into the receiver. “You are right, of course. How goes the lead?”

“Same. Ascension?”

“Some idiot tried drowning me again. Faith’s a ho. I mean, she’s not evil or anything, very big on the fact that she’s got a soul and all, and the ho part, she’s making time with Xander. Not that I’m jealous or anything. Hmm, what else... I got into Northwestern...University, not that I’m planning on going, but it’s nice you know to be wanted. Oh and... the Mayor can’t be killed. Not until he turns into a big demony snake thing, happens on graduation day. That’s about it, very uninteresting. How many minions are you bringing with when you come?”

“Six or seven, should these survive. They don’t seem to last long when you aren’t around.”

“I love you, you know,” whispered Buffy into the phone.

“I know, love.”
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Buffy, Willow, Oz, and Xander sat in the darkened library discussing the upcoming event of the season.

“I thought you were going with Faith?” asked Buffy sipping her lunch.

“Um, ya, about that...I’m not,” stammered Xander. “We’ve come to an understanding.”

“Which is?” asked Willow.

“That what’s done is done and we shall never speak of it again. Going with Anya now.”

“Anya, huh? Interesting choice,” asked Oz.

“Choice is kind of a broad term for my situation. See, it's either Anya or the sock puppet of love for this boy.” Xander held up his right hand and made puppet type motions. “I love you, Xander,” he said in a silly voice. “I'll never leave you.”

“Well, if Anya tries to get you killed, put me down for a big 'I told you so’,'“ added Willow.

“Who's this Anya?” continued Xander in his puppet voice. “Is she prettier than me?”

“She just better not try to cross me. That's all I'm saying,” threatened Willow.

“Well, at least we all have someone to go with now,” noted Buffy happily. “Some of us are going with demons, some of us are demons, but I think that's a valid lifestyle choice. More importantly, I have a kick ass dress.”

“Ooh, the pink one?” piped up Willow.

“Spike's gonna lose it. There might be growling. Ooh I hope there’s growling,” said Buffy smiling.

“And here we delve into the realm of the TMI once again,” added Xander.

“So have you found a dress yet?” asked Buffy to Willow.

“No, but I saw one I liked. It was blue and not long...” Willow trailed off.

“So it was blue and sorta short.”

“Not too short, medium. And it had this weird, sorta fringey stuff on its arms,” continued Willow.

At that moment Giles walked in. “What's that, a demon?”

“A prom dress that Will was thinking of getting. Can't you ever get your mind out of the Hellmouth?” Buffy asked.

“I'd be delighted to. However, the day of the Mayor's Ascension is fast approaching and we don't know what to expect,” added Giles.

“Well, what about the pages that Will stole from the Mayor's book? Look, she put her life on the line there, pal. Don't tell me they're useless,” cried Xander indignantly.

“On the contrary, no, we, uh, we know the Ascension refers to a human transforming into a demon, the living embodiment of an immortal. And Graduation Day, our Mayor Wilkins is scheduled to do just that.”

Cordelia and Faith then entered the library, giggling like they were sharing some funny secret.

“Trouble is, we don't know which demon he is going to become. There are thousands of species,” continued Giles, looking up at the two girls who had just entered.

“So then we shouldn’t be wasting time on this whole Prom thing,“ noted Faith, hopping up on the counter and glaring at Xander.

“Good thing I’m not in your little Scooby gang then. I’m going to the Prom,” declared Cordelia.

Buffy ignored the whole exchange and turned to Willow, slightly rolling her eyes at Cordelia. “We'll get you a dress. You know, we should check April Fools.”

“Don't go there!” protested Cordelia. “I shop there.”

“I myself am dipping into my road trip fund to procure a shiny new tux, so look for me to dazzle,” interrupted Xander.

“And I myself will be wearing pink taffeta as chenille would not go with my complexion. Can we please talk about the Ascension?” asked Giles, slightly whining

“Giles, we get it. Miles to go before we sleep. But especially if we're all gonna vaporize or something on Graduation Day, we deserve a little prommy fun. One night of glory, not too much to ask,” added Buffy.

“So when is Spike coming to town?” asked Willow.

“Just in time for Prom,” responded Buffy, glaring at Faith.
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She felt that she needed popcorn. Someone had been attacked at the store Cordelia shopped at, Xander inexplicably a witness and they had a tape. It was like movie fun to interrupt prom planning. There was that weird feeling that something was up with Cordy and Xander, but Buffy pushed it aside as she settled into watching mode. The library was silent with the breaths of her friends as they watched the violence. At first Willow screamed and Cordelia flinched, even though she'd already seen it. Buffy couldn't help but lick her lips a bit. Another feeling she pushed to the side.

Xander hit the rewind button and they watched it again, this time with commentary. Xander was eager to impart his experiences with the furry shredding flesh monster.

“Right there. See, it's, it's like he just realized he forgot to put money in the meter or something,” started Xander.

“You know the part that totally weirded me out? That thing had good taste. I mean, he chucks Xander and went right for the formal wear,” sniped Cordy.

“That's right. He left behind his copy of Monsters Wear Daily,” quipped Xander.

“I'm serious. Look at the outfit that Xander's wearing. Now look at the kid that the monster went after. Very smooth lines, 'til he was shredded.”

“I don't want to see it again,” said Buffy with a gulp. The image of the thing shredding the poor guy in the shop was just too much. It was senseless. The creature hadn‘t even stopped to feed. Just kill and move on.

“Buffy, I know it's horrible, but if you're going to hunt this creature, you should study it,” added Giles.

“Why do I have to hunt it?” asked Buffy. “Since when am I the first string slayer here now? I thought that was Faith’s pergadiv. ’Sides, I think I got it.”

“She's right. I mean, you've seen one big hairy bringer of death, you've seen 'em all,” quipped Willow.

“Ya, I’m on it. Slayer to the rescue,” added Faith.

“If I'm not mistaken, this is a hellhound,” continued Giles. “Particularly vicious. It's sort of a demon foot soldier bred during the Machash Wars. Trained solely to kill. They feed off the brains of their foes.”

“Look!” interrupted Cordelia. “Right there, zoom in on that.”

“It's a videotape,” noted Xander.

“So? They do it on television all the time.”

“Not with a regular VCR they don't.”

“The thing that gets me,“ started Willow, “is why you two were shopping together?“

“What? Um, I was...” stammered Cordelia.

“Burning a hole in daddy's wallet, as usual. I just bumped into her during my tuxedo hunt,” added Xander.

“What's that? Pause it,” stated Oz, the only one still looking at the tape.

“Guys! It's just a normal VCR. It doesn't... Oh wait, uh, it can do pause,” said Xander sheepishly.

The crowd peered at the screen and noticed the male looking in the shop window during the attack.

“Hello, hellhound raiser,” quipped Xander.

It took only a couple of minutes to identify the student. Faith was sent on the trail of one Tucker Wells. No beasties that attacked formal wear was going to mess up anyone’s prom. Especially Buffy's.
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tbc...



 
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