Hope peeked out of the curtained window. She wondered how long it would take Faith to get up the gumption to come knock on the door. Hope decided to take the decision out of her sister’s hands, and she stepped out on the porch. “Hey, sis.”
“Hey.” Faith swallowed abruptly. Now that she was facing her little sister she had no idea what to say. “What’s the happenings?”
Hope shrugged as she stepped off the Brooks’ porch. She knew that Lance was standing just inside the doorway, ready to jump into action if need be. Not that her friend would be any match against Faith. Hope had told the Brooks’ that it must have been a case of mistaken identity. Whoever she and Jesse had buried hadn’t been Faith at all. Luckily for Hope, the Brooks had a very dominant case of ‘Sunnydaleitis’ going for them. They were in denial big time.
“I’m going to away to college, Faith,” Hope said. “I think it’s time. If I go away, you won’t have to worry about me.”
“Why on earth would you think that?” Faith protested. “If you’re far away, I won’t be able to help you if something happens.”
“If I go by Mom’s maiden name, no one is gonna know I’m a Lehane.” Hope rolled her eyes. “You and Jesse need to connect now that you’re back.” She tried hard not to let any emotion slip through, but a small hitch in her words alerted her sister that something had changed between Hope and Jesse.
Faith studied Hope’s face for a few moments, before she took in her sister’s words. “No, you can’t go, Hope.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m over eighteen, you know.” Hope crossed her arms over her chest to mirror her older sister. Anyone who would have seen them right at that moment would have sworn they were twins. “I had a birthday while you were away.”
“Why are you making this so difficult, H?” Faith growled at her sister.
“It isn’t me that’s making this difficult, F!” Hope glared at Faith. Then, she relented as she remembered exactly how her sister came to be standing front of her. Hope slowly moved towards Faith. “Honestly, it’s nothing to do with you exactly. Jesse and I were just getting used to the fact that you were gone, and when you got back we had a stupid fight. I need some time away from things”
“Things?”
Hope tilted her head towards the window where she knew the Brooks’ were watching her interaction with Faith. “You know H-mouth-y things.”
“Oh, those things.” Faith nodded. “You do know they’re not just here in Sunnydale.”
“I know, but it’s time, Faith.” Hope stepped up to hug her sister. “It’ll be five by five, honest.”
Faith huffed in displeasure, but she relented under the code word that Hope and she had always used to let each other know that things were gonna be a-okay. She put her arms around her sister, and she hung on for dear life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow was not happy. She was not happy at all. All of Tara’s belongings had disappeared while the redhead had been at class. A small spell had revealed to Willow that Oz and the female werewolf had accompanied Tara away from the apartment. This little fact started Willow’s climb towards complete and total anger.
“Why is my Tara hanging out with that little bitch?” Willow growled. “In fact why is my Oz hanging out with her?” Of course, the ‘she’ in question was Dot. Willow just couldn’t understand what anyone saw in the other female.
Willow slammed into the apartment’s bedroom. She was angry when she found the bed stripped of the dark blue sheets that Tara had bought just a few weeks before when they had celebrated Willow’s birthday. When Willow realized the sheets were piled in the corner, her anger raised a notch.
“What the fuck is with that?” Willow stomped her foot. “Goddess, I wish I understood people sometimes.” She waved her hand, and the sheets were once again on the bed.
Willow let out a surprised gasp when she suddenly found herself someplace that wasn’t her apartment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy sat at the vanity removing her makeup. Behind her the bed appeared empty, but the tingles on the back of her neck and in the pit of her stomach told her otherwise. Without looking, Buffy knew her mate was doing naughty things with himself as he watched her finish her bedtime routine.
“Patrol went good last night,” Buff commented.
“Yeah, well, it’s good bein’ the master.” Spike’s voice was deep and thick with his arousal. He loved to watch Buffy do the most mundane of acts. She made everything she did appear beautiful and sensual.
Buffy turned to smirk at her vampire. “Oh, you think you’re the master, do you?”
Spike returned the Slayer’s smirk. “Unless you want to be on top tonight, pet?” He rose to his feet, gloriously unashamed of his nakedness. Then, he sank to his knees in a submissive pose, his head bowed, and his hands behind his back.
Buffy laughed softly as she rose to her feet. She strolled over to Spike, and she lifted his chin with one hand. “Have you been a good boy, William? Or do I need to punish you?”
“Punish me, Mistress,” Spike whispered in a hoarse voice.
“You always look so lovely with stripes covering your pretty hide.” Buffy dropped Spike’s chin. “Maybe I should make you go patrolling shirtless tonight. That would let all the other demons exactly who the Master in this relationship is.”
Spike smirked before he replied, “I think they got the hint, Mistress, when you staked that wanker Finn and burned his establishment to the ground.”
Buffy walked behind Spike, and she let her bathrobe fall to the ground. “That just showed them that WE are the Masters of Sunnydale, not that you belong wholly to me, and not the other way around.”
Inwardly, Spike snickered. This was a game they played, both being equally dominant and submissive to each other as equal partners tended to be. However, if Buffy wanted to make everyone think she was completely in control of the relationship, he would play along. It might be to their advantage later on while dealing with the dark Slayer or Angelus.
“Well, then, pet, let’s get started.” Buffy strolled over to the armoire, and she opened the doors to reveal all manner of sex toys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rupert, just the man I was looking for.” Anyanka leaned against the door she had just closed. She licked her lips as she looked the man in question up and down. “I’ve locked up the store, and we’re finally alone.”
Giles gulped at the predatory look in his clerk’s eyes. “M-miss J-jenkins,” he stuttered.
“Oh, that stutter is so cute,” Anyanka cooed. “I’ll have you know that I’ve heard all about Ripper.” She pushed away from the door, and she strolled towards Giles. When she got to his desk, she dragged her fingers down the edge as she neared the gobsmacked man.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Giles attempted to bluff.
“Rupert, really, you don’t fool me.” Anyanka leaned in to whisper into Giles’ ear. “I know what you want.”
Giles swallowed loudly. “What’s that?”
“Me.” Anyanka cupped Giles’ face in her hands, and she covered his lips with her own.