Crys Loch wrote:
* * *
Duty had finally been traded for love and life. Maybe this was the only way it could
have happened. And maybe, Willow was right that since it happened, they
deserved to have it to the fullest.
It could have happened other ways, all it would have taken is for them
to put their fears behind them, and reach out to each other. If they had
taken that risk, that one giant step together, things would have been so
much better for them.
Still, better late than never.
Buffy smiled and looked over her home as her loves went about their
lives in it, unaware of her musings. It'd been a week or so she
guessed. Already, it seemed instantly, they had made it into something
their own. A haven, not just against sunlight, but away from life in
Sunnydale as well. The furniture they had managed a way to get was
modern in design, large to fill the loft's space and unlike anything
they had grown up with. The sofa itself was a work of art. It was an
oval span filling that side of the room. The center was set higher as a
wide backrest, wide enough on top to lay on. Meant as a table in the
center of the sofa, it proved an interesting perch for some of their
more playful sexscapades. Cushioned arms at the four 'corners' divided
the sofa into four: two loveseats at the ends and two full sofas on
either side. One side faced the window, an end faced the TV on the wall
with some matching chairs around that, the other side faced the rest of
the room and the other end faced the corner Willow had claimed as her
office. More chairs in the room, a coffee table... the whole thing was
bold in its design and powerful as it set a feeling of a new home, a new
start. Willow's office was simply a set of bookcases lining the corner
at the end of the stairs and a crescent shaped desk set out a little and
facing the bookshelves and the corner. And Xander was right, the bar
against the wall at the end of the kitchen was put to more use lately.
She wasn't sure when drinking had become such a part of their new lives,
but it was so hard to feel any consequences to getting drunk, she never
worried over it, either. The modern, wood laminated kitchen table and
chairs that sat in front of the kitchen's island counter never got much
use, unless a poker game started as they were killing daylight hours.
They didn't have stuff yet. The knickknack kind of stuff that fills a
room and makes it a home. It didn't seem to be needed. Reminders of
anything before felt like the last thing they wanted to bring in now.
Still... her eyes moved over the mostly barren walls, art wouldn't be
such a bad idea.
I love the open plan style of their home. Completely open with few
walls, just like their new relationship.
Xander gave up and turned off the TV. He turned toward Buffy and bent
around the backrest to give her a kiss. "We are the big bad dark."
"Not until I have another cup, we're not," Willow protested as she
returned to the kitchen with her now empty cup.
Brilliant! They may be vampires but they still have that special Scooby
humour.
Buffy, Willow and Xander continued into the night and down the street
together. Arms around waists, they were almost skipping down the
streets, pointing out to each other some of their favorite hunting
spots. Here and there in their group excursion, one or the other would
break away for a quick chase of someone who caught their eye. They were
growing used to this, used to each other. Xander's playful hunting,
Willow's coin tosses, Buffy's conversations with them before the kill.
Acceptance, ever-growing happiness... and boredom. They were all used
to danger. This just felt too easy.
Famous last words, Buffy. Famous last words.
"Well, you joined with the giggling, too," Buffy relented then moved
on. "Xander, you have an eye patch. As in Grr, Arrg, I'm a bad
pirate. What high school kid has an eye patch and sells chocolate for
school?"
"The Sunnydale kind,"
LOL!
"Only when she was sure no one was home and it was the maid's day off,"
Xander admitted. "But yeah, a few times. She had a swimming pool out
back. It turned out she liked me in Speedo's." Xander laughed softly
in her ear.
"I remember that," Willow chuckled. "We all liked you in Speedo's."
So did a whole bunch of other ladies and a fair number of guys too.
"Okay, good point," Willow conceded with a smile. She dropped her arms
and watched Xander. He was so at ease now; a grace to his movements;
his face relaxed; a confident tone in his voice. She shook her head.
This might have been the best thing that ever happened to him. His
initial anger at what they'd done seemed to slip quickly away. She
could still sense a rage inside her friend, but it was something that
had always been there. It was set loose now, yes; yet somewhere, over
that last few weeks, could be calmed and soothed again. Willow wondered
if Buffy's blood was having more than just a physical effect on Xander,
or if he was just settling down into his own way as they all were. It
was hard to tell what effects Buffy's continued donations of blood were
having. He was stronger than her, than other vampires she was sure.
But not as strong as Buffy. Those were just physical differences. He
still seemed to be called to the night, though they hadn't asked him
about it in a long while. Her musings were interrupted when Buffy found
them.
Interesting. It would be very interesting to see the how/what/why of this.
"I have the voice of authority. You know that. You both hated that tone in my voice."
"Yeah, but it always made my spine tingle when you used it on others."
Willow held herself up on the edge of the pool next to Buffy. She was
easily distracted herself.
"Always?" Buffy drawled, noticing where her friend's attention lay.
Willow looked up into her eyes. "Yeah, since early high school, on."
Willow watched as Buffy suddenly looked shyly down, but as her head rose
she was wearing a much more devilish grin.
In season 7 I really learned to hate that tone in her voice, especially
when she used it on her friends.
Buffy rested her head against Xander's shoulder and kissed his jaw. She
felt Willow's kisses down her spine and below the water level; and she
closed her eyes and relaxed, knowing what was to come. Her eyes flew
open when the kisses turned unexpected. "Oh, God. Oh, God."
Xander roused himself from his stupor. "Why are you calling his name?
Willow's doing all the work."
ROTFLMAO!!!!
"Xander..." Buffy dragged out the name as she clung tighter. She felt
Willow opening her legs. "God! Xander."
"Wha...?" Xander groaned before he could fully form the thought. He
felt Willow's legs wrapped around his own as Buffy's had done.
"Oh, God...Xander...she's...she's licking my ass." Buffy finally ground
out, followed by a moan as she clung even tighter.
Xander's eye flew open and he looked down over Buffy's shoulder and into
the water. Willow's hair billowed out and away, her arms holding
Buffy's legs apart, and her face... through the shimmer of the water and
the reflection of the lights it was hard to tell. "She's...what? How,
what does that feel like?"
Buffy turned her face into Xander shoulder, biting down on the skin as
she groaned again. "It... it feels wrong, in a really, really good
way." She started to move her body up and down over Xander's, needing
more friction, needing... "Oh, yes, yes!"
And our Scoobies get kinkier by the day.
Excellent!
Buffy, Willow and Xander were laughing as they stepped off the elevator
and into their loft. When they turned on the lights, their voices
stopped and their feet clipped to a halt. They could only stand and
stare in stunned silence.
Cordelia Chase quickly stood up from the kitchen chair and faced them.
"Hi." Her voice was clear and confident, her back straight, only her
clasped hands shook.
"Cordy?" Buffy stepped forward a little.
CORDY?
First Jenny, now Cordy? Who's next? Joyce?
"Cordy," Willow gently broke into the ramble. "But why are you here?"
"Where else was I gonna go?" Cordelia pleaded hopelessly now with her
eyes. She had a sinking feeling how this was going to end. "They're
all dead. I can't just live my life as if none of this ever happened,
as if none of this is real. And I sure as the hell that may someday
rain down on earth am not going to do one more damn thing for those
Powers that think they know it all. Their master plan, as evil as
anything else I've seen." Cordelia swallowed her pride in favor of
overwhelming desperation and loneliness. "I was hoping I could stay
with you. We were all recently and royally fucked in the ass. Again.
I just can't be alone." She watched Willow smirk at Buffy and Buffy
slap her arm in response to some inside joke. Her eyes fell to the
floor and her heart sank. "Never mind, I can see this isn't..."
Cordelia let her voice drop off as she started to walk to the elevator
door. Sure enough, Buffy was standing in front of her before she got
halfway there.
Buffy reached out and softly laid her hand over Cordelia's arm. "You
want to stay here, with us?"
Cordelia look up into Buffy's eyes. Her own were starting to blur with
tears. "It's where I belong. It's who I should be with, now." She
took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "I can do the daylight
things. Angel," she paused when she noticed Buffy flinch at the name.
"There was always stuff that needed to happen in the day. Business
stuff. I can do that."
"Or we can just kill you now and be done with it." Xander smiled and
swiveled in his chair.
Cordelia looked over to him and smiled in return. "That's fine, too.
Let me stay, or kill me now. Just don't kick me out there alone.
There's no place for me out there."
Holding Cordelia's arm, Buffy realized her memories were clearer in her
mind. Cordelia took care of Angel. All the way until the end. She was
only living now because of that. They were friends once. And she never
gave voice to her gratitude for everything she did for Angel after they
parted ways. And most of all, she was right. She did belong with
them. "You can stay, Cordy."
Hmmmm.... Something's not quite right with this.
Surprise ran across Cordelia's face. "Okay... you can flip a coin or
something." They really had changed; and not just in the time passed
after high school sort of way. She wondered again what she was doing
and reminded herself she was where she belonged. It wasn't just quick
comebacks. If she couldn't stay here, death was just as well.
Willow started to get the quarter from her pocket when Buffy started to
laugh. "Not now, Willow. Not yet." Buffy turned back to Cordelia.
"You have any stuff?"
Willow seems pretty attached to that coin of hers.
"Um," Willow raised her hand, "is she gonna sleep with us?"
"What! No!" Cordelia was quick to answer before they could even
consider the question.
Xander laughed. "Not even for old time's sake?"
Damn you! You're putting B/W/X/C plot bunnies in my head!
"I'll take the sofa, thank you." Cordelia insisted.
"For now, I guess you'll have to." Buffy was thinking ahead. "Xander
can build you a room under ours."
"Buffy!" Xander protested.
"Xander..." Willow countered.
Cordelia just shook her head. Everything had changed, yes. But it was
surprising how much stayed the same.
And for which we are eternally grateful.
Buffy turned towards Cordelia. "Look, we really need to shower, and
sleep. You can..." She let her arm motion pointing around the room
finish the sentence for her. Willow pulled Xander towards the stairs
and pushed him forward and up. Buffy started to follow. She paused at
the base of the stairs and turned back to Cordelia. "If the plan is to
try and kill us in our sleep..." She left the threat simply be heard in
her tone.
Cordelia smiled. "No plan. Really don't have a plan at all. Thank
you, Buffy."
Buffy nodded her head. "Goodnight, Cordy."
Now that B/W/X have got in the habit of walking around the house naked
and having sex 4 or 5 times a day, Cordy is gonna see a lot more of our
Scoobies and sooner or later she is gonna want in on the action. Please,
for the love of God, let there be a NC-17 session of
Cordy-in-the-middle. Even if it's just a dream sequence, you can't just
leave the idea hanging there. If you do I'll have to write my own (with
your permission of course) and I've already got too much to do as is.
But I'm still worried for my Scoobies. Something isn't quite right with
Cordy's story. Maybe she's a player for the dark forces. After all, the
Scoobies were, in life, a powerful force for good. Now that they are
vampires they could be a powerful force for evil should they get pulled
in that direction.
As always, I'm loving every word you type and I'm needing another
Vampire Story fix soon.
Damn B/W/X/C plot bunnies!
Mike McD