FF: Masks (1/1)

[Zephyr <winter_herald@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Masks (1/1)
Author: Zephyr
Summary: Just a fun little piece set after Halloween.
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Love it.
Archiving: If you want it. Just let me know so I can go see.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy, the show and its characters. But the
green and black feather is mine.

Light filtered through grimy windows into a small costume shop. The shop 
had been abandoned by its owner, a man who enjoyed summoning the forces of 
darkness in his spare time. Now the thick scent of exposed cardboard 
filled the air. The feet of two teenage girls made puffs of dust as they 
padded along the floor. One had red hair and the other was blonde, except 
when they tried on a few of the wigs that were still laying around.

The previous owner vacated the place in a bit of a hurry, fearing for his 
life at the time. There were all manner of things left over, which had not 
been packed into boxes and taken. A few wigs here, some props there. And 
a whole box of masks.

"Buffy," said the redhead with a worried grimace, "are you sure we should 
be doing this?"

"Willow, relax," said the blonde. "What's Ethan going to do, come back to 
Sunnydale to call the cops on us? Horrors!"

"But, but... what if we turn into things again?" said Willow. "Like last 
time, with the costumes, and the being dead... Buffy, I don't want to be 
dead again."

"That'll teach you to take the ghost costume next time," Buffy said with a 
grin. "Besides, I thought you made a cute ghost."

She moved along before she could see the bemused expression cross Willow's 
face. Willow followed her, nevertheless, as they turned into a dark corner 
in the back of the shop. It was here that they found the box of masks, 
which up until now had been collecting dust. The box was made of wood and 
covered in chipping white paint, with yellowed streaks and splotches.

"Ooh, fun," said Buffy, holding up several masks in turn to see what they 
were. Willow peered over her shoulder.

"Yeah, right up until they turn you into a... what is this?" Willow asked, 
holding up one in particular. It was roughly triangular, and appeared to 
be made of real wood on the inside. The outside was covered in red scales, 
with two slits carved for the eyes and a bump for the nose. Over the eye 
slits were two small horns. An elastic band across the back rather ruined 
the effect.

"I don't know," Buffy said. "Looks... demony."

"Right," Willow agreed, placing the mask back in the box 
triumphantly. "Which is why we should leave." She put her hand on Buffy's 
shoulder and tried to pull the other girl away with her. But Buffy was the 
Slayer, and a Slayer is rarely moved very far if she doesn't want to 
be. Buffy just looked up at her and lifted a white mask to her face.

"C'mon, Will. How do I look?" she asked.

"Like a princess," Willow said before she could stop herself. "And 
remember," she tried to cover her slip, "last time you looked princess-y 
with something from this shop you turned into one. And not a really bright 
one as I recall."

Buffy playfully swatted Willow's hand, which was still on her 
shoulder. Willow jerked it back reflexively, but Buffy pretended not to 
notice.

"Hey! I wasn't myself," she said.

"Well," Willow said, "you did seem to know what a 'demon' was. Except that 
your classification somehow included anything with two lights and 
wheels." She smiled at the memory. Buffy would have been amusing if the 
situation had not been so dangerous, and in retrospect Willow found the 
whole thing very funny.

"How should a an eighteenth... seven... really-long-time-ago noblewoman be 
expected to know what a car is? Hmm?" Buffy was quickly losing the mock 
battle, and she knew it.

"Well, I suppose you were a little different," Willow conceded, and Buffy 
nodded triumphantly. "I mean, you had your hair a different color, and you 
don't have that vapid expression most of the time."

"That's righ-- what do you mean, most of the time?" Buffy exclaimed, and 
Willow just shrugged and smirked. "Oh yeah, well, you... you made a really 
cute ghost." Willow's eyes went wide, and Buffy started smirking instead.

"What... what kind of a retort was that?" Willow stammered. "Was that a 
retort? And what do you mean, I looked cute? I was all... scantily 
dressed. And dead! Buffy, I was dead and scanty!"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Will. Scanty isn't really PC, you 
know. Maybe..." Buffy paused for a moment. "skin-enhanced?"

"No! No! No skin!" Willow said. "Hey look, another mask." She held it 
up to her face, covering her growing blush. It was a white theatre mask, 
mouth curved down in tragedy. Buffy's eyes flicked up to meet Willow's 
green ones, peeking out from the slits in the white plastic. Willow seemed 
to be pouting, but the mask made her pout into a sad frown.

"Will, don't worry so much," Buffy said, frowning at her friend's 
frown. "Be happy! See?" She held Comedy up to her own face for a moment, 
then handed it to Willow. The hacker shyly took it, and held the two masks 
in her hands as if weighing them.

"That's sweet," she said, smiling at the Slayer. "But I don't want you to 
have to wear the sad one to match."

Buffy shrugged, smiling in return. Their eyes met again, and it was a few 
moments before Buffy spoke.

"I, uh... well, just forget them, then. We don't need them." She took the 
masks from Willow's hands and tossed them onto an empty shelf behind 
her. "Ooh, look." Having already forgot the white masks, Buffy pulled a 
large feather from the box. It was soft and fluffy, and colored in stripes 
of black and green.

"Did it fall off one of the masks?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," Buffy said, "but I don't think so. It doesn't look like it 
was attached to anything."

"Must have gotten mixed up, then."

"Yeah."

"Oh, hey!" Willow exclaimed, pulling out a wrinkled green mask with a long 
nose. "I'm a witch!"

"Very funny, Will. Though, I think that's a goblin."

"It's not. If I had the hat, you'd see..."

"No hats here, I think. Or broomsticks. Much as this place could use one."

"Yes, well..." Willow harumphed softly and discarded the green face. The 
floor was getting messier, now, and the box emptier. Buffy played with a 
few of the masks, pawing through them and flipping them over. She'd 
suggested this on a whim. Ethan had cleared out -- she'd made extra sure 
of that earlier -- and it was something... something to do with 
Willow. She was starting to tire of the masks now, but she would never 
tire of a certain redhead.

Said redhead was digging down to the bottom of the crate. She came up with 
a small cardboard box.

"Wonder what this is doing in here?" she murmured. Turning around, she 
popped it open. Buffy tried to peek over her shoulder.

"What's that?"

"You'll see."

"Will..." Buffy said. She was mildly surprised when Willow turned around 
and nothing seemed to have changed. Then the redhead grinned, revealing 
pointed plastic teeth.

"I'm a vampire! Grr! I'm going to eat you now!"

"Down, Will. Don't make me slay you."

"Aw, you wouldn't slay me. 'Cause then I'd be all dead, and you wouldn't 
have anyone to make fun of... you."

"But you made such a cute ghost," Buffy said, looking her friend up and 
down. Willow blushed again, silently cursing her cheeks and her 
circulation. "Besides, you're too warm and snuggly to be a vamp."

"Yeah. Complete non-vamp, that's me," Willow said. Buffy noticed the 
small dip in her chin and eyes.

"Hey," she said. "Warm and snuggly are of the good. Along with cuddly, 
nice to be around, and beautiful."

"Aw, Buffy."

"It's true," Buffy said in a tone that would not allow 
disagreement. Willow ducked her head. Buffy reached out a hand and nudged 
Willow's head back up, meeting her eyes. "It's true. You're beautiful... 
skin-enhanced or not."

Her grin widened as she realized that she'd finally pushed Willow far 
enough. Shrieking, she fell back as the redhead pounced on her in a flurry 
of dust and hair.

"Now, missy," Willow said in a tone that was meant to be stern -- really it 
was. "There will be no more of that."

"Of course not," Buffy said. "If you don't want me to tell you you're 
beautiful, I can stop. But if you want me not to tell you that you're 
drop-dead gorgeous, you'll have to say please."

"Buffy!"

"Though you would look good in leather," Buffy decided, closing her eyes 
delicately to enjoy the image. They lay there for a while more, Buffy's 
eyes closed and Willow's mouth hanging open in disbelief. Willow dragged 
her eyes across Buffy's chin and neck.

"Buffy?" she asked after a few moments, unsure of what was going on.

"Willow," Buffy said. It was a simple statement on the surface, but 
beneath it was so much more, if only Willow wanted to see it. The shy 
hacker pushed herself away, sitting quietly beside the box of masks. She 
half-heartedly rifled through it with one hand, before turning it over onto 
the floor.

"You really think I'm beautiful?" Willow asked, staring across the dusty 
corridor. Buffy moved a bit closer.

"Always," she said. She pushed aside some of the mess on the floor. "You 
don't need masks, Will. You're beautiful for what you are."

"So why are we here?" Willow inquired. She always picked out the little 
things, Buffy thought. Specifically the little things that might imply she 
was anything less than utterly enchanting.

"I thought it might be fun to snoop," Buffy said with a familiar 
grin. Willow pouted for a moment longer, then joined her, unable to resist.

"And was it?" she asked.

"Anything's fun when you're there," Buffy said. Then she noticed Willow's 
playful glare. "Sappiness meter?"

"Rising fast."

"Like the thermometer in a fridge that just broke down in Arizona?" Buffy 
asked.

"Maybe not quite that fast."

"So you don't mind if I keep going?"

"For now."

"All right then... and may I just say, you light up the room just by your 
presence, you snuggly cuddle-bunny you, and--"

"Stop," Willow finally groaned.

"Stop, what?"

"Stop, please."

"All right, my Willow-tree," Buffy said with a satisfied smirk on her 
face. Willow looked at her strangely, and for once she wasn't quite sure 
what was crossing the hacker's mind.

"What did you call me?"

"Um, lots of things."

"No," Willow said. "Just then."

"My Willow-tree?" Buffy asked, and saw Willow nod slightly. She sensed 
that the mood in the room had changed. "Sorry, thought the sappiness meter 
needed one last push. Arizona, you know."

"I am, you know," Willow said, piercing Buffy with her green gaze.

"What? A sappy tree?" Buffy asked. Immediately, she realized this wasn't 
quite the right thing to say. Willow's eyes were trying to tell her 
something, beseeching her.

"Yours," Willow said.

And then everything started to click into place. The glances, the 
stares... but still, what do you say to something like that?

"Me too," Buffy said. "Yours, I mean. I am." Willow grinned widely, her 
tongue pressing against the inside of her teeth in the most delectable 
way. Buffy blinked a couple of times before the grin became 
infectious. "Your..." she searched for a good appellation, sticking her 
hand into the pile of masks for inspiration. "Robot?"

Willow giggled as Buffy held the gray plastic robo-mask to her face. It 
had little green and red light stickers, and there were painted-on wires 
crisscrossing it.

"My Buffy-bot? And what's in your programming today?"

"You're computer girl, Will. You tell me."

"Buffy?" Willow asked, her plaintive tone making Buffy drop the robot face 
and slide over to sit next to her.

"Yeah?"

"What are we doing?"

"I thought you might know," Buffy confessed, and the two girls fidgeted 
with the hems of their shirts.

"What do you want to be doing?" Willow asked after a while.

"I... don't know. I'm sorry, Will, it's just..."

"Angel?"

"Well, yeah," Buffy said, looking down at the floor.

"And, the whole two-girls thing?"

"Nah. Not that. Not when it's you. I mean, hey, it's not like you're a 
demon or anything."

"Sure I am. See?" Willow grinned, exposing the plastic vampire 
teeth. Buffy chuckled a little, and the rapidly declining mood was boosted 
a little.

"Right. I'd forgotten about the necessary slayage somewhere among the... 
necessary talkage."

"Talkage. Yeah. Uh, what kind?"

"Hmm?"

"What kind?" Willow repeated. "Of talking, I mean. Are we doing the 
what-next talk, or the what's-your-favorite-ice-cream talk, or... or the 
this-can't-work talk? Buffy, we're not doing the this-can't-work talk, are 
we?"

"I... I hope not," Buffy said. "I really do."

"Well, sometimes that's enough," Willow said. "But still... Angel? And 
the guys?"

"Angel... this will hurt him. But, as much as he assured me he doesn't go 
in for the old-time nobility... he's still been around for, what, hundreds 
of years. Over in Ireland, and England, and probably even Europe. And 
here's me, California high-school girl, destined to die at the hands of 
some nasty thing -- again."

"Buffy, don't talk like that."

Buffy smiled, and said, "Okay, Will, enough with the morose. For now. But 
still, Angel is a big boy, and he can deal. I mean, Willow, he's older 
than Giles. Did you ever think about that?"

"I try not to."

"Right. And the guys? They'll deal too. They'll have to."

"Oh. Ohh. Well, then... but, Buffy?"

"Yeah?

"Why me?" Willow asked. Buffy stared at her in wonder and disbelief.

"What do you mean, why you? Will, don't you want..."

"Of course, I want. But... why would you? Really? I'm not a champion 
like you or Angel. I'm just--"

"You're not just anything, Will," Buffy broke in.

"But--"

"Tell you what," Buffy said. "I'll stop talking about how I'm probably 
going to be dead in a few years, and you stop pretending that you're 
anything less than a beautiful and intelligent young woman. Deal?" Willow 
was blushing again, and both friends were close to tears. Silently, Willow 
ducked her head. Buffy chose to take the gesture as a nod.

"Good. No more of that, then. Now... hug?"

"Sure."

They turned around where they were sitting and embraced, pushing aside some 
dust and debris. Neither could see the other's smile, but there was 
something in the way they moved against each other, something that affirmed 
their choice.

"Um, Buffy?" Willow asked tentatively.

"Yeah, Willow?"

"Should we, uh..."

"What?"

"Should we kiss now? I mean, we don't have to, if you don't want to, 
because, well, if you don't want... but it would be nice, if we did, even 
though we don't--"

Willow's speech was cut off suddenly, and was nearly joined by the 
circulation to her brain as Buffy touched lips with her. They brushed 
against each other, tasting each other's soft mouths. Buffy pulled back 
after a few seconds.

"More, later," she said, as Willow's face showed something between 
disappointment and hope. "After I tell..."

"I understand," Willow said. "Later."

"Yeah. Later."

They sat there in silence, letting the sun filtering through the windows 
warm them. They were both gazing down at their clasped hands.

"Will?" Buffy said. "Would you think that I'm a horrible person if I said 
I didn't want to wait?"

"Let me think," Willow said, putting on an expression of mock concentration 
and resting a finger on her chin. Buffy nudged her playfully. "All right, 
the vote is in. I don't think you would be a horrible person at 
all. Quite the opposite, in fa--"

She was cut off again as Buffy pulled her into a deeper kiss, running her 
tongue along the redhead's lips, which opened freely. They softly began to 
explore each other.

"Ow."

"Ow."

"Ow, ow."

"I forgot about those," Willow said sheepishly. She popped out the vampire 
teeth, sticking them back in the box. "I must have been distracted."

"Gee, wonder why?"

"Well, that went and spoiled the mood, didn't it?" Willow said. Her tone 
was light, but her eyes told Buffy that she was slipping back into self-doubt.

"Well, I'm still in a good mood," Buffy said. "If you need cheering up, 
well, I hear that there are ways..."

"Buffy! Not... not here!" Willow exclaimed, suddenly sitting up and 
looking around. "Ohmygod, I forgot we were still here. What if, what if 
somebody comes in? What if Ethan comes back, and lays some sort of naughty 
evil curse on us?"

"I don't think he'll be back this soon," Buffy said, trying to calm her 
down. "And you know we don't need evil curses to be naughty."

"Buffy!"

"Hey. I actually meant that in a strictly non-innuendo-y way. Really."

Willow glared at her, finding this hard to believe, but Buffy just found 
the expression cute. As usual.

"We should still, um, relocate," Willow said, and finally Buffy agreed with 
her.

"Yeah. Concerns of privacy aside, this shelf is starting to dig into my back."

"I told you this was a bad place," Willow joked.

"Hey, I think we did good here. Don't you?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. But... are you sure? About me?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Buffy said, looking into Willow's eyes and trying her best 
to make the shy girl believe her. "It's you and you only from here on 
out. And, hey," she continued, seeing Willow start to duck behind her 
hair. "you don't have to hide from me, Willow."

"I know," Willow whispered. "It's just..."

"I know," Buffy echoed. "But you have to believe me. Willow, I... I love 
you."

Willow smiled at her, and it wasn't a smirk or a quirk or a prelude to a 
giggle. It was an all out, ice-cream eating grin that warmed Buffy up 
inside and out.

"Love you too, my Slayery Buffy-bot."

"Well then," Buffy said, offering her arm, which Willow took. "Let's go."

As they stepped over the mess they had made and headed towards the exit, 
Buffy noticed that the green and black fluffy feather had somehow drifted 
away and landed in the middle of the floor.

"Willow, can I ask you something?" she said, sounding distracted.

"Anything."

"Do you ever have... fantasies?"

Willow smacked her playfully on the arm, but before they left she reached 
down and snatched up the feather, twirling it in her free hand. "What?" 
she said. "It's pretty."

"Sure is," Buffy said, and they headed off to find a more comfortable place 
for sitting, and talking, and possibly other things. And if anyone 
wondered why the two girls were walking down the street arm in arm wearing 
grins like Cheshire cats in fields of catnip, they would, sadly, be left 
wondering for quite some time.

* * *

FIN



Zephyr

"Don't worry, Will, you still wear the smarty-pants in the family."
-Buffy, in "Out of My Mind"


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