Chapter Six - Need a Moment?
Fuck this. This is stupid and obviously really fuckin' pointless.
She knows how she sounds to Buffy; she gets that with the way she's been acting, of course Buffy's gonna think it's all about sex. And while it is, it has to be, probably for both of their sanities, it doesn't change the fact that Faith… she…
Fuck.
Ya know, maybe some things are better left alone. Maybe she was better off not knowing about Buffy's newfound bisexuality cause all it's done is give her this false sense of hope and rehashed old feelings that she worked so hard to bury. It's all so fucked up because it took Faith years, years to finally get to a place where it didn't just hurt all the time.
It was so much more than just some silly teenage crush.
It sounds really fuckin' stupid, but Buffy's like… her sun. So beautiful, so warm, so inviting; she keeps her alive and shines light on Faith's darkness. But the problem was that Faith would always try to get to close and end up gettin' burned. Buffy was always like that; look but don't touch. It took a long time for Faith to get that, to understand it, but she finally did. She came to terms with it, with the fact that Buffy was something that she could admire only from afar.
But Faith finds herself here again, in this freakin' castle, thinkin' it's just gonna be another stroll in the park (or a walk through hell, depending) and then… shit just changes. Suddenly, without any god damn warning.
It made everything she worked her fuckin' ass off to bury to be able to stay sane just burst right outta the ground like a newbie vamp.
Faith tried to take it in stride. She played the cool and confident role that everyone's used to even though it shocked the hell out of her that Buffy's changing sexuality had to do with her. She looked at it logically though; Buffy was feelin' a bit gay because of her, Faith's always felt a bit gay because of Buffy; so in theory, they should just be gay with each other, if only for a night.
A + B = C
But it ain't simple math when the two of them are involved. What the hell is Buffy trying to do? The way she wants Faith to try sounds like… well, like something Faith knows it wouldn't be smart to get involved in, no matter how much she wants to. She knows she ain't no good at the relationship thing, though probably cause she's never had one. Besides, she's gone most of the time, so what kind of relationship would they really have seein' each other for one week outta every couple of months?
So, again she asks the damn question: what the hell is Buffy trying to do?
The whole thing seems kinda laughable anyway; that she wants Faith to show she cares like it's supposed to matter to her. If it mattered to her then that would mean Buffy had more feelings for her than just the stray thought about what it would be like to be intimate with her and that's just fuckin'… funny, in that absurd kinda way.
She knows, logically; that she should probably just let the whole thing go and not bother anymore, just let Buffy get her bisexual rocks off with some other chick but… Faith wants to be her first. How fuckin' girly is that shit? Seriously.
But it means something to Faith. Even if she can't have all of Buffy she still wants that little piece; she wants something to call hers.
But ‘Operation: Fuck Buffy Summers' isn't going as smoothly as she would have hoped. So now she's sitting in the living room, flipping through some magazine that she's more staring through than actually looking at, trying to figure out how to hell to actually go about this.
God, she hates that this means so much to her. But kissing Buffy was like… amazing. And yeah, that sounded girly as fuck too but it was. It was like, shit, more than she ever imagined it would be. It made her feel things; real things and not just an overwhelming lust that was threatening to consume her, even though that did play a big factor into it.
"You know you're holding the magazine upside down, right?"
Faith looks up at Xander who's standing in the threshold of the doorway, then back down at the magazine in her hands. Fuck. She throws the damn thing on the ground and mumbles, "Was just thinkin'."
"About?"
"Dinner," Faith avoids. Xander smirks and crosses the room, sitting next to her on the couch. Faith could hear the faint sounds of all the Slayers outside; training, talking, or just running around like kids high on pixie sticks. It's a nice day out, but she's glad she ain't outside with all that.
"Didn't know you considered Buffy ‘dinner', should I be worried?" Xander asks with amusement. She narrows her eyes.
"Wasn't thinkin' about B."
"Sure you weren't." Xander pauses for a second before continuing. "Faith… I need to ask you something."
"Fire away," she says flatly, though isn't exactly welcoming about whatever's about to come next.
"What do you want from Buffy?"
Faith looks over at him, feeling defensive. "I don't want shit from her, Xand." She's annoyed with him trying to pry information outta her. She's not exactly a ‘share your feelings' type of chick. Before it was fine, he was tryin' to help and he didn't exactly flat out state that he knew it was Buffy. Now he is and… okay, Faith likes avoidance; it's easier.
Xander looks at her skeptically. "Faith, I know you think you're all ‘woman of mystery' but you're not exactly hard to figure out." Faith's about to retort but he holds up his hand. "Look, I'm not getting all overprotective friend on you or anything, but Buffy's… well, she's… kind of seeing someone right now." Faith's eyebrows shoot up into her hairline. "Not seriously or anything," Xander clears up. "But she still is, and that's why I want to make sure you're not just…" he trails off.
"About to fuck up her life?" Faith finishes for him, offended. That's not her fuckin' intention, damnit! Fuck, no matter what she does to try to show people she's changed it always comes back around to that, doesn't it? Faith scowls and cocks an eyebrow. "So who is ‘Mr. Wonderful'? Haven't seen him around."
"It's not serious, like I said," Xander says, completely avoiding the topic that ‘Mr. Wonderful' is really a ‘Ms. Wonderful.' He looks at her. "But I'm… serious, Faith. I mean I know you like her but…"
"Truth? I know what I want from B, but what I want and what I can get are two separate damn things," Faith tells him flatly.
"And that means…?"
Faith sighs heavily, getting agitated. "Look! I'm not about to sit here and spill my guts, okay? I ain't like that. But if you want me to back off then by all means I probably fuckin' should since I ain't gettin' anywhere anyway."
"That's not what I want," Xander tells her honestly. He looks a bit embarrassed to say, "For what it's worth, I'm rooting for ‘Team Faith'." Especially now that Faith basically just told him that Buffy does mean more to her than just sex. She didn't say it in so many words, but he's learned to read between the lines with her.
Faith looks at him skeptically. "Why?"
"Because I've never seen Buffy have so much passion about another person," he tells her, like it's such an easy answer for him.
Faith scoffs, "Yeah, and most of that ‘passion' comes out in violence."
"But not all of it."
"Xand, it's pointless anyway. B wants me to… I dunno, be all girly and romantic, I think. I don't even know what the fuck she means or what she wants, honestly, and I don't fuckin' know how to do it. Besides, it ain't like I live here. We'll see each other, what, once every couple of months? It's just… fuckin' stupid."
"It's not stupid if you really care about her."
"Caring about someone doesn't fuckin' automatically mean that everything's gonna work out!" Faith exclaims loudly, annoyed and fed up with this entire thing. She doesn't need Xander giving her false hope right now. She stands up. "Forget it. I'm still beat from the travel; I'm gonna go take a nap."
"Faith…"
But she storms out of the room and up the stairs, just needing to get away from everything. It is stupid, it is pointless, and she really wishes she could give up as easily as she wants to. But she just can't.
And it's fucked up, but the fact that Buffy's dating some random dude… kind of makes her want to try harder. She might as well just tattoo ‘home wrecker' on her forehead.
Buffy has been thinking about Faith for about three hours, twenty two minutes, and about forty five seconds now. She knows this because the damn digital clock on her bedside table has been taunting her about it for the better half of the last hour. She's been thinking way too much and way too hard about everything and all it's doing is giving her a slight headache.
But seriously… Faith… likes her?
Well, okay, maybe she is reading too much into Faith's reaction. While screaming and getting defensive has always been number one on the ‘how to know when Faith is having deep emotional feelings' list, it still throws her for a loop. Buffy's not stupid; she knows Faith will never say anything about her feelings for her, whatever the extent of them are. She won't spell it out because she can't; she never could. Faith is all sarcasm and innuendoes; she puts up a wall to protect herself. But when she gets angry… really, really pissed… that's when Buffy knows it means something to her. She can see it in her eyes, behind the fire.
And seeing as after she screamed at Buffy, she retreated up to her room and basically trashed the hell out of it (at least that's what it sounded like anyway), Buffy knew she was pissed and that she seriously touched a nerve. But Faith calmed down, eventually, and Buffy hasn't heard anything break for at least two and half hours now, which is hopefully a good sign.
…Or it could mean she's dead. Oh god! Why did she just think about this now?
Buffy gets off her bed quickly, her irrational fear of Faith somehow dying in the last two hours making her cross her bedroom and open the door to follow through to the hallway. In the back of her mind, she knows Faith isn't really dead and she's just giving herself an excuse to go check on her, but she keeps that part suppressed because it raises too many questions she doesn't want to deal with. She follows the hall down a couple of doors until she reaches Faith's room, pausing outside of it.
Okay, breathe. Remember to breathe, Buffy.
She tentatively raises her hand to the door, knocking quietly. She listens; nothing. Oh god! She really could be dead! Buffy grasps the handle and opens the door quickly, only to be greeted by the sight of an empty bedroom. "Faith?" she asks quietly as she steps inside, wondering if she's in the shower or something. "Faith?" she asks again, coming over to the bathroom door. She listens, but she can't hear anything. Shit, where is she?
"What the fuck are ya doin' in my room?"
Buffy jumps at the sound of Faith's voice behind her, turning around quickly to face her. "Faith! Hi! I, um, I was just… passing through," Buffy stutters.
"And ya just decided to invade my privacy for kicks?" Faith asks, leaning against the threshold of the doorway, blocking Buffy's only exit. She's not looking too happy and Buffy's getting more nervous with each passing moment.
"No! No, of course not. That's not what I was trying to do at all. I just… I was worried because…"
"Because…?" Faith drawls out once Buffy trailed off, looking at the blonde expectantly.
"I just… was. And… I need to, um, apologize," Buffy says the last word softly, looking at the ground. She knows she owes Faith that much.
"For what? Ya said what ya had to say already, Twinkie," Faith tells her, but still doesn't move out of the way of the door to let her pass, which obviously means she isn't exactly ready to kick her out yet.
"For…" Buffy starts, then looks up, letting her eyes meet the brunette's. "For thinking that you really didn't… care," she says carefully.
"I don't," Faith says flatly, getting defensive. She finally does move away from the door, walking right past Buffy to sit on her bed. The thing Buffy notices the most though is that she closed the door once she finally walked all the way inside, so again she takes that as her cue not to leave, even if Faith is getting defensive over everything.
"Faith, don't be like this," Buffy requests softly.
Faith doesn't answer her, but only because she's trying to figure out what the hell to do. Her natural defensives kicked in and that wasn't what she meant to do, but it's just automatic with her sometimes. She takes a breath and kicks her shoes off, the boots making a soft thud on the carpet and she lies on her stomach before reaching over to her bedside table to grab a Twix bar off it. "Need a Moment?" Yes, yes she fuckin' does.
The Twix bar doesn't freeze everything around her as she bites into it like it does in the commercial though and Buffy's still standing there, expecting for her to say something. "Ain't bein' like nothin'," Faith mumbles around the candy bar in her mouth.
Yeah, that must have been attractive.
"Faith, I…" Buffy starts, then sighs a little. She sits down on the edge of Faith's bed, though far enough away to put enough distance between them. She doesn't know how to put what she's feeling into words though; it's all so confusing. She runs her fingers through her hair before starting in on her nervous ramble, "This is… it's really, really unexpected. And… I mean, you're all you and I'm all me and then there's us and most of the time me plus you never ends in the realm of anything good, but it's like… all that bad, all that nastiness, it's gotta come from somewhere, right? And… and I guess it could have been sexual tension or… I don't know, maybe something more, and I'm still freaking out a bit because here I am babbling about how I feel and you still haven't really said two words to me about yours. So I might be all, ‘Hi, stupid Buffy, here!' but I can't turn off my mouth when I'm nervous, which I guess is kind of obvious right now since I just keep talking, but I don't know what you really want me to say, or what you expect, or what you even want and I just—"
"Ya wanna go out with me tonight?"
Buffy stops mid ramble, her mind completely shutting off. What did Faith just ask?
Faith's eyes are wide, not really knowing how the hell that just came out of her mouth. She didn't mean it to, she was just listening to Buffy babble on and it just sort of… popped out. Faith takes another bite of her Twix slowly as Buffy stares at her like her brain just broke. Faith doesn't say anything and the only sound that can be heard in the room is her chewing on her candy bar awkwardly.
"Did you…" Buffy starts, confused. She furrows her eyebrows in disbelief, "Did you just ask me on a… date?"
"Um…" Yes. But no. Not if she doesn't want to, obviously. Fuck, way to put herself in a weird ass position. Faith swallows her candy. "I dunno." Yeah, that went well for avoiding. Except not.
Faith doesn't date.
"How can you not know?"
Because she's an idiot? Basically.
Faith sticks another Twix bar in her mouth to avoid answering the question and Buffy seems to get that so she snatches the candy out from between her teeth. "Hey!" Faith exclaims, crumbs falling out of her mouth.
Buffy's holding her candy hostage though; putting it on the other side of her so Faith can't reach it. "Faith, stop eating to avoid the question."
"I'm hungry!"
"Then maybe we should go out to dinner," Buffy says, then realizes what she just suggested and turns a bit pink. "Or, I mean, we could order some food in or… something! All of us, I mean. We don't have to eat out or... oh my god," she groans as she realizes what she just implied and she puts her head in her hands. Just kill her now.
Faith chuckles at the implication though. "I dunno, B, ‘eatin' out' sounds kinda fun."
"Just kill me," Buffy mumbles. Faith laughs harder and nudges her with her knee.
"Relax; don't have a stroke or nothin'."
"This is just too hard, Faith," Buffy says softly, taking her head out of her hands but still not looking at her. "It shouldn't be this hard."
"You're just embarrassed cause ya stuck your foot in your mouth," Faith says with a chuckle.
Buffy shoots her a look, "And you're not? You can't even ask me out on a date properly because you're all self conscious about it!"
That makes Faith stop laughing. She looks down and starts picking at the comforter on the bed before she shrugs. "I wasn't…" but she trails off, glancing over at Buffy who seems to get a little deflated at that. Faith sighs and mumbles, "K, maybe I was… but I dunno, I just… I ain't ever done that shit and it seems wicked stupid."
"Thanks Faith, that makes it seem really romantic," Buffy says flatly, hurt coloring her voice.
"Sorry I suck at this, okay?" Faith shoots back defensively. "Not like they fuckin' make handbooks for this sort of shit."
Buffy pauses, then smiles a little, amused. "Actually I think there is a ‘Dating for Dummies' book published."
"Well I don't read," Faith says flatly.
"You read those comic books all the time…"
"And what about this other guy you're datin', huh?" Faith cuts in suddenly. Buffy's eyes go wide and Faith says, "Yeah, I know about him."
"I… uh…" Buffy starts, trying to wrap her head around that one. She wasn't dating a guy, but she's pretty sure Faith's referring to Satsu whether she realizes it or not. Oh, she's going to kill Willow or Xander for bringing that up to Faith. "That's… that's different. It's not serious. We just… went out a few times, that's all."
‘Went out' meaning ‘had sex' in her mind, but Faith doesn't need to know that.
"Plus, ya really wanna date me, B?" Faith says suddenly, just sliding over the whole other guy issue because that's not even what's really important here if she's not that serious about him. He could be dealt with later, if there even is a later. "I mean seriously. I'm gonna be outta here in less than a week. Long distance don't work out for my libido."
"Why do you always have to bring up sex?"
"Cause I'm a healthy red blooded female, Buffy. I like to get laid and if I end up gettin' a chick of my own one of the perks of that should be constant sex," Faith tells her honestly. "H&H ain't gonna work so well with you here and me everywhere but here most of the time."
Buffy knows she's right, but it doesn't stop her annoyance. Why can't they just explore this? Okay, so yeah, she did decide at one point that she should just avoid Faith and her whole attraction to her, which obviously isn't working out so well. That plan has pretty much blown up in her face, actually. But she… she's really attracted to Faith. She always has been. And yeah, it won't work out. Faith will go off and do her thing and Buffy will stay here but why does that mean they still can't… try?
"Fine," Buffy says flatly, her anger crossing over her face. "If that's all I am to you…" she stands up, preparing to leave as she turns everything around on Faith just so that she feels better about the situation; like always. She can't deal with rejection well, especially when she's the one who's wrong.
"B! Will you just fuckin' quit it with that? You're pissin' me off!" Faith exclaims, grabbing Buffy's hand and pulling the older girl back down to the bed… and practically on top of her.
"Faith!" Buffy protests, annoyed at being thrown around like a rag doll.
"No, I ain't lettin' you walk outta here makin' me out to be some sorta asshole, B!"
"Well you're the one who's always bringing up sex! I think I kind of like you, you moron! And I'm about eighty percent sure you like me too, though I'm not really sure why cause of, well, everything. And oh, just an F-Y-I; using sex to seduce someone doesn't always work! Some women like to be taken out on dates, Faith! Maybe I'd like to see another side of you instead of all this ‘oh look at me! I'm Faith and I'm the sexiest person alive!' attitude you're always sporting! Okay?! I know you're going to be gone soon, and I know it's probably stupid to even try to see if we have anything or could have anything, but excuse me for wanting to try! Maybe I'd like if you just, for one god damn second, thought more about—!"
Buffy's rant is cut off by Faith pressing her lips to hers, making Buffy mumble out the last few words as her eyes popped open in surprise. Okay, well, on a scale from one to wow, this is… good. More than good; probably like excellent or just… okay, wow.
Faith kisses her softly, slowly, and it makes Buffy's heart race at the tenderness of it. Faith has her hand cupped behind her neck and Buffy's finds Faith's shirt to pull her closer to her as she opens her mouth, inviting the brunette in to sneak a taste. But it's over too quick and Faith pulls back telling her, "I'll take you on a freakin' date, alright? Damn. Just stop goin' postal on my ass."
How is it that one sentence that doesn't in any way sound romantic can make Buffy smile like this? Maybe because it's Faith, and that's Faith version of romantic and that makes Buffy… shit, it makes her grin like an idiot.
"Really?" she asks quietly, shy suddenly.
"I probably blow at it," Faith says, shrugging a bit self consciously as she moves away from her. "So don't expect something freakin' fantastic. Probably just go dancing or somethin'… all I'm good at."
"No, that's fine, it's just…" Buffy starts, but she's still grinning like an idiot and off in her little happy place. "Really?" she asks again like she can't believe it, and yeah, she knows how girly she sounds right now.
"Said so, didn't I? Don't throw a parade over it," Faith mumbles.
Oh god, Faith's embarrassed and it makes Buffy fall for her just a little harder.
"No parade," Buffy promises lightly, though she sure as hell is going to do a little happy dance and squee obnoxiously to Willow once she leaves.
Oh god, Willow. Satsu! Shit, what is she doing? She's just making things so much more complicated.
But… it's Faith. And well, she'll be gone in less than a week, so she should be allowed to explore other (better) opinions, right? She should be allowed to find out if she and Faith ever could work together; she owes that to herself… and Faith. Besides, she and Satsu aren't exclusive, so she's not cheating on her or anything.
But she sure as hell knows better than to ever let anyone find out about it, regardless.
Chapter Seven - The First Date is Always the Hardest
Faith's taking Buffy out dancing at nine o'clock. At the moment it's eight twenty seven and Buffy's in front of her full length mirror, trying to be happy with her outfit, but the Fashion Gods have other plans for her. Everything she puts on doesn't seem right; she's showing too much, she's not showing enough, that shirt makes her look flat-chested, that color makes her look too pale, she could have sworn her ass used to look fantastic in those pants, but now they just make her look fat, etc. etc. and so on and so forth. She wishes she had time to go shopping.
She knows she's being overly picky, but she's nervous and excited and all those other emotions that make her feel like butterflies have invaded her stomach. She takes off another shirt, throwing it across the room in a fit of annoyance. That one wasn't near sexy enough and Faith appreciates sexy. Faith is like a sexy meter maid or… something. Damnit, she needs clothes!
Buffy heads into her closet again, pulling out one thing after another; her floor is becoming more littered with clothes than her closet. She sighs and picks out a tight, low v-neck red shirt and throws it on, pulling on the bottom of it to situate it into place. She turns and looks in the mirror, prepared to find something wrong with it, but looks surprised as she tilts her head to the side to check herself out. This'll work.
Eight forty two. Oh god! She needs makeup! She rushes over to her vanity and starts applying, hoping she gets it right the first time otherwise she really doesn't have time to do it over. God, she's a nervous wreck, isn't she? When the hell has she ever been this nervous about going on a date before?
"Knock, knock. Buffy?" Willow asks as she opens the door to Buffy's room, but stops dead when she sees the sight before her. "Um… what's going on? Is there a clothes demon we all should know about?"
"What?" Buffy asks, startled, sitting up straighter as she turns to Willow, the tube of lipstick she was using still in her hand. "No, there's… I was cleaning," she finishes lamely.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you're not very good at it then," Willow deadpans. Then she takes in Buffy's appearance. "Are you expecting sexy demons then? You look like you're going on a date."
"No! No… sexy demons. I'm not patrolling tonight," Buffy says, trying to sound casual but a slight blush colors her cheeks that she wishes she could stop. She turns back to the mirror and finishes applying her makeup, but can see Willow's eyebrows rise in the mirror's reflection.
"Uh huh…" Willow starts, suspiciously. "So who's leading the team tonight?"
"Satsu."
"And where are you going?"
"…Out?"
"Yeah, I can see that. But with who?" Willow asks, the suspicion growing in her tone. Buffy chooses not to look at her as she puts the finishing touch to her makeup on.
"A friend?" Damn, why does everything have to come out of her mouth sounding guilty? Willow narrows her eyes.
"Faith." A statement, not a question.
Buffy turns to look at her, eyes pleading. "Look, I know what you're going to say, and I understand that I'm a bad person but Will she… she asked me on a date; a real one."
Willow looks at her surprised, "A real date? Faith doesn't date."
Buffy smiles, the butterflies in her stomach heating up before they go haywire again. She blushes a little, "I know she doesn't so this is like…" oh no, she's starting to swoon, "it's kind of perfect."
"Oh, you got it bad," Willow says, trying to sound like she's scolding her but Buffy can see a little smile playing on her lips.
Buffy looks down and runs her fingers through her hair before she stands up, shrugging lightly. "I don't know… maybe. She's just… Faith, Will. She's just… Faith," she finishes quietly. God, she's blushing too much.
"You need to tell Satsu."
"No! No I don't. Not yet, and especially not now. She's about to lead a team for patrol, I don't want her getting distracted."
"Buffy… you're leaving the woman you're currently sleeping with to do your work while you run off on a date with a woman you want to be sleeping with."
"Okay, you could have phrased that better; made me sound less like a bitch," Buffy says, that twinge of guilt back.
Willow just sighs a little, "I can't tell you how to live your life, Buffy. But I hope you do talk to Satsu after all of this."
"I will! I totally will, Will," Buffy smiles at her little pun and it makes Willow smirk.
"Okay…" Willow concedes, and then smiles at Buffy, who's still looking a bit nervous and a lot excited. "Have fun on your date then."
Buffy grins, running over to give Willow a big bear hug. "Thanks!"
"Oof! Buffy, breathing… issue…"
"Sorry!" Buffy exclaims, stepping back. "I'm just… I'm so nervous. Do I look okay?" she starts fixing her hair and clothing self consciously. "I don't know what Faith really likes about me, if it's just me or the sexy me or the… not sexy me? I don't know. Am I sexy? I don't look too mom-ish, right? I keep feeling mom-ish ever since I've had to take care of Dawn and I just—"
"You look beautiful," Willow interrupts her babble, smiling. Buffy beams.
"Hey, you ready, girlfriend?"
Just hearing Faith's voice makes Buffy's heart speed up and butterflies to appear in the pit of her stomach. She turns and the second her eyes fall on her – leaning against the threshold of her doorway looking cool and confident, if not for the hint of nervousness in her eye – Buffy's sure that her brain lost all ability to function. Faith looked… Faith looked wow.
Faith is all breasts and legs and god does her tight fitting wardrobe accent that. She's mildly aware that she's been standing there, gawking at her like a fool, and not being able to say a single word, but like she said – brain not all there at the moment; please try again later.
Willow smirks and puts her hand on Buffy's shoulder, shaking out of her moment of admiration. "Have fun; try not to drown in your own drool."
"I... what? I wasn't!" Buffy protests, but Willow just chuckles as she exits the bedroom. Buffy's eyes fall on Faith and she's smirking at her.
"There was some droolin'," Faith affirms, trying to find a comfortable area and teasing seems to work out just fine.
Faith's nervous like hell though, not knowin' really how to go about this. Does she give her a kiss, or is that just at the end of the date? Fuck this stupid chivalry bullshit, it's too damn confusing and designed not to let anyone have any fun. But Buffy's that kinda girl, y'know, the knight in shining armor, gentleman (or woman?) crap and so she's trying. Sorta. She didn't get a moonlit carriage ride or nothing, but it was still a date which is a step further than anyone else has ever gotten.
"I wasn't…! There was no drool involved!" Buffy protests, but her hand wipes the back of her mouth anyway, making Faith chuckle. But it's not wet, ergo; no drool. See! "You just… you look…" but she can't seem to find the words. She blushes instead.
Okay, this is ridiculous. She did not blush this much when it came to Faith until this whole date thing.
Faith feels a little uncomfortable at the comment and just shrugs lightly. "Well you look better," she tells her honestly, ‘cause she does. Buffy smiles shyly. But then they just stand there, the two of them, looking at each other. Crap! Is Faith supposed to do something now? "Uh… so do I like, whisk you away in my car now?"
"You have a car?" Buffy asks, surprised.
"Motorcycle," Faith amends. Didn't she say that? Fuck, she needs to pull it together. It's just a date, Lehane. Jesus, you've watched this kinda shit in enough movies to figure it out. Faith looks at her for a second before awkwardly holding out her hand to Buffy. This better be right.
Buffy looks a little surprised, but happy, as she takes Faith's hand in hers. They lace their fingers together and both of them can feel the tingles from their Slayer Connection deepen just by the one simple gesture. "Let's motorvate," Faith says with a smirk as she leads Buffy down the hall, towards the front door.
But they don't actually get to the front door, of course.
"Buffy!"
"Satsu!" Buffy exclaims, taking her hand out of Faith's quickly as Satsu comes into view from the living room. God, she hopes she didn't see that.
Satsu looks at her strangely; Buffy's jumpy behavior setting off warning bells that she chooses to ignore because she doesn't have a lot of time before she has to lead the girls on patrol. She still asks though, "Are you okay?"
"Fine!"
"B? Breathe," Faith says flatly, looking at her just as oddly as Satsu is. This isn't fair; this is like ganged up looks. Looks that gang... together? Gang… oh forget it.
At least she doesn't have to explain why she's leaving with Faith; she told Satsu that they might go out to do the Slayer bonding thing so they quit fighting so much. Though with her luck, her jumpy and suspiciousness might make the younger girl question it and…. Okay, breathing. She's fine, this is normal. She and Faith are not about to go on a date and the girl she's currently sleeping with is not making this more awkward. Nope. No siree.
"I was just wondering if you needed me to hit any specific areas tonight. I don't know where you normally patrol," Satsu explains.
"Oh! No, no specific areas. Just… you know… kill demons, stake vampires; go team!" Great, now they're both looking at her even weirder. She coughs uncomfortably. "Just… normal patrol, go wherever," she finishes quietly.
"Have you been drinkin' already?" Faith asks with a chuckle.
"No!" she protests, then decides that actually that might be a good excuse so she amends with, "Okay… maybe."
"Just don't fall off the back of the Harley, ya alcoholic," Faith teases with a wry grin before she opens the front door for her. She's holding it open for her ‘cause that's what chivalrous people do, right? Should she have gotten her a flower or something? No, that's fuckin' lame. Never mind.
"Is… that it?" Buffy asks, looking at Satsu. She hopes she doesn't look as guilty as she feels.
"Yeah… that's it," Satsu says quietly, trying to piece Buffy's odd behavior together but since each conclusion to it makes her unhappier than the last, she decides to just let it go. She could just be paranoid.
"Okay, you can report to me in the morning," Buffy says and gives her a smile before walking out the door, letting Faith close it behind her. Once she's outside she takes a breath.
Whew. Okay, the night's ‘awkward situation' limit should be filled by now. Hopefully.
Ya know how people say drinking takes the edge off? Well they weren't lying. Not that Faith didn't already know this knowledge first hand, but somehow it feels a lot different in this situation, maybe because this is the first time she's ever really needed to take an edge off when she was out with someone. Then again, this was the first time she's ever been out with someone, in a date way anyway (unless ya count goin' to the park to tag benches and then screwin' in the grass a date), and yeah… drinks were needed.
At first the date was a little weird, both of them not knowing how to act. But Buffy stupidly challenged Faith to a drinking contest (inadvertently, but still, she shoulda known better) and that's where they were now – at the bar, taking shot after shot, the distance between them closing in after each passing moment.
Unfortunately though, it somehow turned into a truth telling kind of drinking game, which Faith completely blames on Buffy; she thought it would be a fun way to get to know each other. They ask a question and if the person doesn't want to answer then they take a shot. Faith's been drinking a whole lot more than Buffy, but she's done her fair share. And considering how much of a lightweight Buffy is, she's still far past Faith in the ‘trashed' category.
"Oshkay," Buffy slurs a bit, and then blinks heavily as she realizes how that sounded. That was so not attractive. She concentrates on making her words come out of her mouth better when she asks her question, "Most embarrassing moment?"
Faith takes her shot.
"What? Come on! How am I supposed to get to know you if you won't even tell me that?" Buffy complains. "You're missing the point of this whole… sharing and caring… drinking… thingie ma bobber." She waves her hand around a little and Faith raises an eyebrow.
"First time you thought about me naked?" she counters with a smirk.
Buffy narrows her eyes and takes her shot. Faith laughs.
"See? I'm not the only one not sharin', B."
"That's different! I'm not asking about… stuff like that! There's no naked sexy questions in my line up," she protests.
"Maybe there should be."
"Fine," Buffy says, thinking she's going to get one up on Faith in her drunken stupor. Problem is, she's drunk too, and seems to overlook the big fact that she's asking sex questions to Faith, "How many times have you masturbated thinking about me?" She has a little smile of pride on her face, not thinking that Faith's going to…
"Take half the people in this room and count their fingers," Faith says with a smirk, "and then their toes."
Buffy's eyes go wide. Damn, okay, she asked for that one. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." She's not ashamed; she's drunk for shit's sake. And sex? That's her area.
"But that's like… years and years and years of…" she blushes, "Sexual touching. In regards to… me." A beat. "Really?"
"Really."
"You've liked me that long?"
"Ain't your question," Faith reminds her. Buffy huffs and it makes Faith smile a little. "Your perfect date?" She figures she can play it Buffy's way and ask a question she can answer. It doesn't have to do with sex, after all. Plus, she could use the pointers.
Buffy flushes a little, "This."
"What?"
Buffy's eyes go wide, realizing that she said that out loud instead in her head where it was supposed to stay. Stupid brain. "I just… I… this is… fun."
"But ain't you all like… horse and carriage, walk under the stars, kinda girl?" Faith asks, surprised.
"No. I mean, yes, I am, those things are… nice but…" Faith looks at her expectantly and Buffy does another shot to calm her nerves. She gags a little and makes a face. "Ick."
"S'Booze, B. Ain't supposed to taste like candy."
"I know. And… and what I was going to say was… well… this is nice and it's different and it's just… fun. ‘Cause horses poop and bugs can come out and ruin walks under the stars and this way there's no bugs and no pooping. There's just liquor and your cleavage and oh my god I really just said that, didn't I?"
Faith snorts as she laughs and Buffy looks mortified. Okay, drunk Buffy is not great with explaining.
"Hey, don't get all embarrassed. S'good ya told me. And hey, next time I just gotta bring a bottle of booze, show ya the girls and stay away from bugs and a pile of horseshit, right? Seems easy enough."
"Next time?" Buffy asks softly. Faith seems to just catch that she said that. It's her turn to look embarrassed.
"Uh… y'know. If… we do this again," she mumbles.
"I think I'd like to do it again," Buffy says, feeling really shy all of a sudden. She tucks a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Ya say that now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hey, I'm just tellin' ya like it is. Me and you both know I can be an ass and you can be a bitch sometimes. Shit ain't always roses and flowers with us, B. Night's not over yet," Faith explains.
"Well okay, Ms. Pessimistic, thank you for ruining my girly swooning moment," Buffy huffs. Faith smirks.
"You were swooning?"
Buffy rolls her eyes, "Not anymore, ass."
"Ya like my ass."
"So not the point."
"Kinda is," Faith says with a chuckle as she pushes another shot towards Buffy. "Your turn, B."
Buffy's pouting a little but she takes the shot and pulls it over to her. She looks at it for a minute, contemplating asking a question that she really wants to know the answer to, but she's afraid Faith will just drink to get out of it. She sucks up her courage anyway and turns to her before asking quietly, "Why am I different… to you?"
"What?" Faith asks, confused.
"Me… this… you've never… done this… before. The dating. The… everything. So… why me?"
Faith looks at her for a moment before her hand closes around the shot glass, but Buffy puts her hand on Faith's arm to stop her from drinking it. "No. Don't… please?"
Faith purses her lips together and is silent for a little while. Buffy's hand that's on her arm starts tracing small, light patterns on her skin and finally she releases the shot glass with a sigh. "You're just… Buffy."
"What does that mean?" Buffy asks, confused. She doesn't stop touching Faith though, finding that she loves touching Faith even in the simplest of manners.
Faith shrugs, feeling self conscious. "I dunno. S'always been you, B. It's just… different. We've always been a bit fucked, right? Never playin' by the rules. Guess ya just fucked up my no dating rule."
"That's… it?" Buffy asks, feeling slightly disappointed. A ‘you're beautiful' from Faith would have been nice, at least.
"Ya fishin' for compliments now, Blondie?" Faith asks her with a smirk. Buffy flushes.
"No! I just… want to know why you like me, is all."
Faith sighs, annoyed. She doesn't wanna have to say this shit. This goes way past the line of girly. But… "Alright, I'm gonna tell ya somethin' and I know it sounds corny and like a load of bullshit crap but I'm serious. And I swear to fuck if ya repeat it or make fun of me I will personally beat your head in so far you'll be seein' out your ass."
"You're such a charmer."
"I'm serious."
"I know, I know. Sorry. I promise I won't say anything," Buffy says, but sits up a little in her chair, eagerly awaiting Faith's declaration of… like? Crush? Lust? Something. Damnit, she's too drunk.
Faith takes a breath before doing another shot, no, two shots before she says anything. "K, so here's the thing…" she starts, feeling like such a jackass for doing this. She blames the fuckin' liquor. "You're like… girly, beautiful, strong, a leader, sweet, fuckin' blonde—"
"What's my hair color have to do with…?"
"B, will ya just shut up? I'm tryin' to—"
"Sorry."
Faith sighs and fidgets nervously. "So you're like… the light or, I dunno. Whatever. Like the ying or the yang, whatever the white part is. And then there's me and I'm all… dark and shit. And I usually go for everyone else who's all dark and fucked up like me ‘cause of… whatever. I dunno. But I think that we kinda… fit, or something else that sounds really fuckin' retarded. You're like my other half." A beat. "I know that sounds wicked stupid."
Buffy blinks, taken aback. Wow. She didn't expect Faith to be so… wow. "No that's not… it's not stupid. God that's not stupid. That's… really sweet, Faith."
"Whatever," Faith mumbles.
"I mean it, it's—"
"Just… leave it, okay? Feel like a jackass already. Said it; now it's done."
Faith won't look at her now and Buffy needs to fix that. "Faith?" she asks timidly. Faith hesitantly turns to look at her, and she's greeted by Buffy's lips meeting her own in a soft kiss. "I feel like that too," she whispers as she pulls back some, her breath tickling her sensitive flesh. Their eyes meet and Buffy strokes her cheek softly, a small smile lingering on her lips.
Faith feels something she doesn't know how to describe so she does the first thing she can think of. She grabs Buffy's shirt and pulls her closer to her, bringing the blonde up to straddle her in her seat, her lips meeting hers again for a searing kiss. It sounds stupid, but everything about Buffy feels so right. She's had a lot of fucked up shit go down in her life and even though a lot of it had to do with the girl who's currently on top of her and kissing her with reckless abandon, it kinda felt like it was leading up to this moment.
Man, she's turned into such a chick.
But it's true. Buffy fit in her arms and not even just in the sex way. There's something about her that makes Faith not want to go half on anything anymore, at least not with her. Dating ain't so bad and she used to avoid it like the plague. Maybe there's other shit like this that won't suck so much because she'll be doing it with Buffy. Hell, she's pretty sure that when they ever actually get to the sex part, she's gonna stick around ‘till morning.
And that's like saying that pigs fuckin' flew.
Buffy's hands tangle themselves in her hair and Faith's lost in the sensation of her lips and tongue, feeling everything she has to offer. That is, until some asshole frat boy types start whoopin' and hollerin' at them. Faith growls as she tears her lips away from Buffy to threaten, "Ain't here to fuckin' get your rocks off, boys. But if ya want I ain't got no problem tearin' them offa ya."
Buffy giggles into Faith's neck as the assholes scurry off, freaked out by the dangerous look in the brunette's eyes.
They really should have stopped drinking.
Actually, Buffy should have stopped drinking. Well no, Faith too, seeing as she knows there's no way in hell she's gonna be able to drive them both home like this and the club just closed. But Buffy… she's a different story. She's a very drunk, stumbling, slurring, mess of another story.
"Your boobs're hugeish," Buffy slurs after she stumbles on the sidewalk, landing in Faith's arms with her head in her cleavage.
"Yeah, I know," Faith says with a chuckle while Buffy tries to literally climb up her body to stand up straight. The blonde blinks heavily, trying to adjust her eyesight as she looks at Faith. She puts her hand on her cheek, letting her thumb run sloppily down Faith's lower lip.
"S'the sexiest thing… ever," she tells her, whispering like it's some big secret. "Mmm… it's like… sexy and pouty and…" a pause, "sexy and… pouty. OH!" she tries to jump a little in her excitement, but almost topples over again. Faith catches her. "There's this thingie we're s'posed to do," Buffy tells her, not seeming to notice that she almost fell.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Faith asks, entertaining her as she takes her to the parking lot. She's going to have to find a way to sober them up and all the coffee shops around here look closed.
"Mmm… I forget," Buffy says with a little giggle. Wow, things are spinning. Like a spinney… dreidel! Where's Willow? Dreidel, dreidel, "dreidel, I made you out of clay…" wait, that was just supposed to stay in her head.
"Ya gettin' Jewish on me?" Faith asks with a snicker.
"I'm hungry, baby," Buffy whines, throwing her arms around Faith's neck to steady herself. Then she gets a wicked smirk on her face before she whispers against her lips, "Think I wanna eat... you…"
"Sure ya do, B. After ya sleep it off, sober up, and take a half dozen aspirin in the mornin'," Faith answers, just to appease her, as she looks around to try and find some kind of safe haven for them. She has to close one eye to see distance properly though and is already unsteady enough as it is without having to hold onto Buffy too. Taking care of someone who's trashed totally fucks with her buzz, but she ain't gonna leave Buffy to herself just so she can party right.
She's on a date, after all.
"No…" Buffy slurs, trying to look alluring and sexy and not drunk. "Think I wanna…" she giggles a little as she walks her fingers slowly down Faith's torso until she gets to her button on her jeans. She pops it open with one flick. "Wanna eat you here…" she whispers before trying to push Faith back up against the back wall of the club. Unfortunately (or very fortunately) Faith's more on the sober side of the tracks then Buffy is and somehow braces them before they both fall back.
"Oookay," Faith says, eyes wide a little at Buffy's provocative suggestion. "Last time I checked ya wouldn't even let me kiss ya in the kitchen, and now ya wanna drop my pants in a parking lot?"
"I wanna taste you," Buffy breathes into her ear. Faith may have just come from that one simple statement, but she takes a breath and counts backwards from ten. She's not gonna take advantage of Buffy when she's drunk; it'll earn her an ass kickin' later.
"B, just… chill, okay?"
"I wanna go home, baby," Buffy complains a little as her hands tangle themselves in Faith's hair. She presses her lips to Faith's neck and kisses her before her hands get a little more wandering and start their descent down the younger Slayer's body. "I wanna lay you down and fuck you till you come in my mouth…"
"Jesus Christ," Faith breathes. She blinks, trying not to picture that in her head. God, who knew Buffy would become such a slut when she was drunk? If she knew that she woulda done this when she first came to Sunnydale. But she puts her hands on Buffy's shoulders and backs her up enough to get some distance between them. "Can't drive like this," she reminds her. "And you… you'd fuckin' fall off the back of the motorcycle with how fucked up you are right now."
Buffy pouts, starting to get cranky. She wants a bed! She wants a bed with Faith! A naked Faith! With the… nakeness and the sexing. "Then what're we doing?" she asks, confused. She runs her fingers through her hair and feels a bit unsteady so she lays her head against Faith's shoulder.
"Dunno. Lookin' for somewhere to go, but ain't nowhere in walkin' distance. Think I should just call Red and have her—"
"No!" Buffy exclaims quickly. She's got a better idea. A more private idea. One that doesn't involve trying to sex Faith in a house filled with Slayers, one of whom she's already had sexual… liaisons with. Liaisons. That's a funny word. Buffy giggles. Faith's looking at her weird though so she stops and gets back to her train of thought. She points across the parking lot. "There."
"Where?"
"There," Buffy stresses, gesturing more empathically. She can see the building, she's not blind. Unless she's hallucinating, but last time she checked, alcohol doesn't do that to a person.
Faith pauses, looking past the shops to see what she's point at behind them. "A hotel?" she asks, wary. While hotels are good, hotels are fuckin' great, actually… really ain't gonna help the whole ‘don't take advantage of Buffy' plan that she has in her head.
Buffy nods.
"Dunno if that's such a—"
"Please? I'm tired," Buffy pouts. She knows pouting gets her places and with Faith it seems to have the same effect, she just has to work a little bit harder. She uses the doe eyes too, "Please, Faith? We can… snuggle."
Faith cocks an eyebrow at her.
"Well you're the one being all noble and virtuous with your legs closed!" Buffy defends. Faith just chuckles at her and Buffy pouts more. "Please, baby?"
"Ya know you've called me ‘baby' about three times in the last ten minutes."
"So? What's wrong with baby? Should I call you… cupcake? Oh! Darling. Or sweetie! Or…"
"Quit while you're ahead," Faith says, holding up her hand, but she looks amused. Her eyes flicker to the hotel room in the distance. Part of her knows she should just call Willow and have her magic them over there, but that shit already gets them queasy enough. She could pick them up in her car but it'd take too long and they're already walking targets for vamps and other nasty things. Plus they're drunk, which doesn't help the target factor. So… fuck. "Fine, we'll get a room. But I ain't fuckin' ya when you're smashed."
"YAY!" Buffy exclaims, all smiles. She jumps a little but stumbles (it seems to the theme of the night) and holds onto Faith. "Mmm… yay," she says again and kisses Faith's cheek. "I promise I will be super good. No touching for Buffy. My hands will be my own and… there will be no touching," she says, firm, with a head nod to make it so.
Faith snorts disbelievingly, "Yeah, we'll see about that."
