Chapter
3.05
Saturday, May 18th, 2002
Lori sidled into a gap next to where Tara stood
with Wes to watch the vampire perform. "Hey there. I didn't know
Spike could play," she whispered.
Tara turned with a smile. "Neither did we. So
far as I know, he doesn't even own a guitar... but I kinda get the
impression that Cutie there, gets to see a whole different persona
from the Big Bad."
"I won't even ask," Lori replied.
As Spike finished, tossing the guitar to Giles
with a "Hoi, Rupert, you're up," Tara turned to chat to the other
woman, missing the gentle prompting that Lily gave the older watcher.
"Have you just arrived?"
"I wish... I got cornered by the boss about ten
minutes after I got here, wanting my opinion on whether we should
upgrade to Windows XP or not, as if I'm going to know without
ever having seen it."
"I think that's what's on Spike's new PC at our
place if you did want a look."
"S'okay, I eventually convinced him to speak
to the IT team and go with whatever they recommend." The brunette
gave Tara a curious look.
"You look a bit different. I think it's the lack
of a redhead on your arm."
"We, em, well, we broke up."
"Permanent or break?"
"I think this time it's beyond anything a break
could fix."
"I'm sorry. When you get to the stage where you
begin taking an interest in other people again, I know a couple
of nice women who're fairly cute, and, if you like men, I've got
a younger brother who's just transferred to UC Sunnydale for his
final year."
Tara shook her head. "Not into men at all, and
I think it could be sometime next decade before I'm looking to
start dating again."
"Don't you know? Romance only comes along when
you don't expect it. It's a statistical impossibility to find
a decent guy, well, partner, when you're looking for one. As soon
as you decide you're off the market... up comes Mr or Ms Right.
Isn't that right, Wes?"
"What? I'm sorry. I didn't catch what you were
saying." Wes drew his attention away from where Giles was singing,
'Love the One You're With', apparently inspired by Spike's foray
into the works of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The younger
watcher was beginning to feel that there was a conspiracy against
him, which was only confirmed when Lori repeated her question.
"I was saying to Tara that it's generally when
you swear off love that you finally meet 'The One'?"
"I'm afraid as a bachelor, I can't really comment."
"Not even any near misses?"
"That would very much depend on how you look
at it," Wes replied thinking of the night, not even a year ago
when all the AI staff except Lorne had attended the ballet. "I
think maybe I missed my chance."
Having seen how the former watcher's glance had
strayed in Fred's direction whenever he wasn't otherwise occupied
during the long hours while they had waited for Lorne to be rescued,
not to mention the obvious tension between him and Gunn, Lori's
words weren't really a stab in the dark. "My mom used to say that
dating's like opening up one of those parcels where you've got
boxes inside boxes and layers and layers of wrapping. The more
layers you get off, the better chance you have of guessing what's
in there, but you never know till you get to the final layer of
gift-wrap and open it on up whether it's gonna be something you
want to keep, whether it's something good but maybe it just isn't
you or whether it's something you'd just as soon drop straight
in the trash. Seems to me like you might be hankering over some
pretty gift-wrap and a nice bow."
"I think she's a pretty special package. I just
hesitated too long and didn't say anything."
"If you're talking about the twig with the excessively
hostile boyfriend in LA, I take leave to quote something I overheard
one of our esteemed hosts say earlier. Now, I'm paraphrasing here.
'She's an incredible woman, but I'm still hoping that I'll find
an incredible woman whose first choice is the cute, wrinkly
guy with floppy ears'."
"But that's only fair if you can give the other
person the same thing in return."
"True, but if you keep chasing after someone
when you never even got to know her well enough to see her bad
habits, you're gonna miss more than one chance."
"Have you been talking to Lily?" the Watcher
asked.
"Not tonight. I guess she's been giving you the
same advice?"
"You could say that." The Watcher glanced over
to where Spike was holding Rosa in his arms, as he chatted with
Buffy and Marie. Lori caught the direction of his gaze and realised
that maybe all her groundwork was going to end up benefiting someone
else. Then again, maybe this was one of those parcels that held
something nice, but it just wasn't for her, and Rosa could really
do with some little brothers and sisters.
Bee walked up to the group including Spike just
as the vampire was giving the young girl in his arms an Eskimo
kiss. She swatted him hard enough on the butt to make her palm
sting.
"You could have told me your friend's
name was Rupert. Now I'm going to have to wait till he finishes
and go and apologise for treating him like some sort of lunatic."
"Hey! Trespassin' on the slayer's property there,
Short Stuff." The vampire nodded toward Buffy. "'Sides somebody
needs to take the starch out the Watcher's knickers now and again."
"Spi-ike!" Buffy protested. "Unwanted images."
"You're talking to a guy that you helped force
into sharing a basement with Harris. Don't talk to me about unwanted
images until you've been around when the builder's changin' his
grunties."
Bee cleared her throat.
"Alright, pet. Yes, I should have told you, but
are you tellin' me you wouldn't have done exactly the same anyway."
"We-ell. Maybe... but at least I'd have been in
on the joke."
"What d'you say, Mite? Who's doin' the honours
tonight? You've got a whole house full of people to choose from.
Who d'you think's gonna do your bedtime story?" Spike turned so
that Rosa could see almost everyone in the room.
"Think your Uncle Clem might be a bit busy."
He pointed to where a small group of people seemed to have picked
up on the fact that Giles' rendition of 'Freebird' might be their
only chance for a slow dance. Clem was trying to waltz with a
slim, young demon, who was a couple of inches taller than him
and dressed in tight blue leather. Her pale, yellowish skin formed
three small pouches on either cheek and her dark brunette hair
fell forward over both their shoulders as she rested her forehead
against Clem's. "What about Glinda? Remember her from this morning?
Auntie Buffy's witch friend." Tara seemed to notice the attention
in her direction and waved at the youngster.
The little girl nodded. "She's nice."
"You want her to read to you?" Rosa seemed to
consider, glancing toward her mother and frowning slightly almost
as if she were trying to work something out before she answered.
"Want him. It's s'posed to be him."
Marie leant forward. "What do you mean, it's
supposed to be him, baby?"
"He was in the picture, reading Willow book."
The gaze of all the adults in the group seemed
to meet over Rosa's head before turning in Wes's direction. "Willow
book?" Buffy asked.
"The Wind in the Willows," Marie answered. "It's
one of her favourites."
"Come on, munchkin. Let's go tell Wes he's the
lucky winner. Now, if you see any pictures of the winning lottery
numbers, you'll ring Uncle Will and let him know, won't you?"
"Silly!" The young girl shook her head as if
to say that the vampire didn't understand at all.
"Guess it doesn't work like that, huh?"
She, again, indicated a firm no. "You need
to put me down. If you ask he'll get grumpy."
"Well, we definitely can't have that." Spike
lowered her to the floor and sent her off with a smile.
Wes tried to pretend he wasn't aware of the attention
of the group of people and demons. It was ridiculous. He was actively
avoiding a woman who he actually liked, and who by all appearances
found the situation almost as awkward as he did. Spike had said
that, of her own volition, Marie probably wouldn't push the situation
and it seemed the vampire was right. She had been polite and friendly
but she had seemed relieved when her duties as hostess took her
elsewhere. Perhaps, she too, was suffering from 'panda'
syndrome. Wes was definitely feeling as if his whole life was
on display, with all his friends and Marie's watching to see if
there would be a successful 'mating'.
He saw Rosa heading his way, but assumed she
was going to bypass him and go to Tara until she tugged at his
hand. "Would you dance with me?"
Wes looked down. "I think the song's just about
to finish."
"If I ask mommy, she'll play, and then the Cat
Lady can get the old man to dance, too, so she can say sorry."
Wes looked down and found himself unable to deny
the pleading eyes that looked up at him. Certainly, compared with
dancing with Marie, this seemed the lesser of two evils. "Okay,
you go see if your mommy will play and I'll do my best to dance,
but I'm not very good."
"It's okay. If you pick me up, then you can't
step on my feet," Rosa answered before running back to her mother.
There seemed to follow a brief discussion, Wes
getting particularly wary when he saw the blond vampire conferring
with Marie, even more so when the vampire gave Buffy a parting
kiss and accompanied the young girl when she returned toward him
and Marie and Bee moved toward Giles. However, as it turned out,
this one time, Wes really was being paranoid.
Spike extended a hand toward Tara. "Marie tells
me she thinks she can manage something from 'Rumours'. How about
that dance, gorgeous?"
Tara smiled. "Best offer I've had all night,
so long as you're allowed."
"Allowed and even encouraged. Buffy says she
wants a chance to talk to Lily." Spike smiled and led the Wiccan
toward the impromptu dance floor, where Clem and his lady friend
were still swaying gently. The vampire held her in a soft embrace,
his hands on her back as Marie began to play. Nearby, Wes
swept Rosa into his arms, and the girl knew that before the end
of the song he would agree to read to her.
Soon, Bee and Giles joined them, though Giles
was more than glad to end their sojourn on the dance floor at
the end of the song. He found it hard to believe that such a small
woman could exert so many pounds per square inch of pressure when
she stood on his toes, at least until he got a decent view of
her footwear. By then, however, Bee had managed to find out about
Giles' former employment at the British Museum and was regaling
him with the sort of intelligent questions he had once dreamt
of Buffy asking. As far as the former watcher was concerned, the
party was definitely looking up. The only thing that could have
made it better was if Olivia could have been there.
"So, has Clem found himself a date for the wedding
or is it going to fizzle?" Buffy asked Lily as she gave the small
demon a hug.
Lily shrugged. "They like. They hopeful. Is early
days."
"I wanted to say thanks for talking to Tara earlier.
I think it probably helped a lot. We're kinda lacking in the mom
area, and I think sometimes it's good to get advice from someone
with a bit more experience."
Lily shrugged again. "Tara, she already wise.
She no need advice. She need friends and hugs and maybe little
mothering. You, I think need advice. You look at our William
and you scared."
Buffy sighed. "Don't suppose we had you fooled
for a minute?"
"For while you hide feelings, but William he
take ten minutes to go to shop and back, no long time like before."
"I don't suppose you've got any blood in that
kitchen of yours?" Buffy asked.
"No fresh. Just frozen." Lily got to her feet
as she answered and began moving toward the kitchen.
"As long as we heat it up to body temperature,
I'm sure 'our William' will like it fine. And maybe we can talk."
It took a little time to find the blood-bags
at the bottom of the freezer and set a couple of them to defrost
in the microwave allowing Buffy to delay for a while before telling
Lily what the problem was. "Spike didn't want to say anything
to spoil the party or worry Dawnie, but he's ill. He had stomach
pains last night and then again tonight and he threw up earlier,
so it's like he hasn't eaten today at all. I guess there's a chance
he won't be able to keep this down either. He thinks it's some
sort of voodoo thing.
He's being all British about it, but I know he's
more worried than he wants to let on, and what if we're in the
middle of a fight or something and he starts throwing up? What
if he gets hurt or worse? I know he won't stay home."
"So what he say to do?"
"Well, I'm going to try this trance thing tomorrow
to see who's doing it. I mean, I think I know. There's this guy
who's been asking questions about us, but Spike doesn't seem to
be convinced. After that, I don't know. I guess it'll depend what
Tara and the Watchers have to say. Spike seems to think we might
have a problem in a direct confrontation with anyone who can do
this."
Spike pushed the door open and slid his arms
around Buffy's waist. "Blabbermouth," he whispered in her ear
before nipping gently at her earlobe with blunt teeth.
"She pretty much knew, anyway."
Lily smiled consolingly at the vampire. "No much
go by this old woman. You need to find people who know vaudun,
maybe Marie she can help. She still speak to lot of her and Thomas's
friends down in Miami. Many people in Miami from Caribbean. Maybe
one of them know someone who know someone."
"Thanks, Lily. If maybe you could mention it
to her tomorrow, see if she can come up with any contacts. I've
seen the spell or curse or whatever before. I just don't know
if there's a way to counter it."
"So what happened to the guy who was cursed?"
Buffy asked.
"After a month of starving, not being able to
hunt, throwing up anything she did manage to catch, she eventually
took a walk in the sunlight."
"It must have been agony."
"She tried to kill Dru. Thought she could step
into her shoes. She deserved it."
"Oh!"
"Look, pet. You want to stay at the top of the
food chain in vampire circles, you make sure that if someone messes
with you, then you see to it that they wish they hadn't and you
make sure that everybody else knows that they wish they hadn't.
I'm sorry if it upsets you, but I'm not sorry
I did it. After that, no one even tried to hurt Dru again, which
was pretty much the point of the exercise."
"So this could maybe be someone to do with her?
Someone she sired, or her sire or something?"
"Can't rule it out, love."
"I guess now I know why you didn't want to go
straight after Wood. How the heck did you stay alive this long
when you seem to spend all your time making enemies?"
"Well, up until I met you, it's not like I left
many of them alive."
"I normally make Spike some hot chocolate so
that it's ready when he's finished," Marie mentioned nervously.
"I don't know if... I mean, would you like some?"
Wes considered for a few seconds. "I think maybe
I'd like that."
He read to the little girl until her eyelids
were drooping shut and then he checked that she was still snugly
tucked in, before he asked her a quiet question. "Rosa, what made
you ask me to read to you tonight. Did your gran say you should,
or your Uncle William?"
"Nobody told me. It was just right."
"And what about things between your mom and me?"
"You're not ready for kissing and things, but
you should still come visit and take mommy out. She
never gets to go to the cinema to see grown up films or go dancing
or anything since daddy went away. You like us, don't you?"
"Yes, Rosa, I do. I think I could get to like
all of you very much indeed. I just don't want to build up either
your hopes or your mommy's and then let you down."
"Just be Mommy's friend, then."
"You think that would make your mommy happy?"
Wes became aware of a strange echo and Marie
appeared in the doorway, two mugs in one hand and the other half
of the baby monitor that lay on Rosa's bedside table in the other.
"It's sort of routine. I guess I should have
mentioned it. I wasn't deliberately eavesdropping."
"It's okay, mommy. Just tell him."
"Tell him what, honey?"
"I think she means tell him whether you think
it would make you happy, if say we were to start going out now
and again, just as friends."
Inside, Marie heaved a sigh of relief. It was
fine for Lily to wish she would find a new husband, but Marie
didn't feel that she could afford to get Rosa tangled up in a
romantic relationship with someone they barely knew. If
Lily was right about Wes, then things would fall into place in
their own time. For now, she was more than happy to simply get
to know the former watcher better. "I think maybe it would."
Rosa gave a contented smile. "'Night, Mommy.
'Night, Wes."
"Goodnight, Rosa," the watcher said softly taking
one of the cups from Marie's hand as he left the room.
"Goodnight, Baby... and don't think I won't be
asking why you didn't tell Wes about the monitor in the morning."
"Maybe I forgotted," Rosa suggested.
"And maybe you're as bad as your grandmother,"
Marie countered. "Sleep tight, honey." |
