Authors: Eliza Lentzski
Buffy fumed. Leave it to Faith to upset her, even from a different time zone.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Buf_E_99
:
Like how you still run your mouth
about things you know nothing about?
There was a pregnant pause in the conversation. Buffy could tell that Faith was typing. The IM screen told her as much, but it took a few moments before the Boston girl eventually posted her response.
GoSox03:
I'm sorry, B. I was just joking. I didn't mean anything by it. This internet stuff is crap. You can't hear my tone of voice, ya know?
GoSox03:
I'm sorry. Really.
Buffy sighed. It didn't make sense to stay angry at the Boston girl over words typed on a computer screen from different state lines.
Buf_E_99:
Okay. Apology accepted.
GoSox03:
*wipes brow with hand*
phew.
Buf_E_99:
You're such a dork.
GoSox03:
Takes one to know one.
Buf_E_99:
Have you been hanging out with my sister? Cause seriously. I haven't heard that comeback since I was a teenager.
GoSox03:
Hah. And that was a LONNNNGGGG time ago. You're way old.
Buf_E_99:
I am not!
GoSox03:
Still look good for being such an oldie though
*winks*
Buffy smiled despite the backhanded compliment.
Buf_E_99:
Such the charmer you are.
GoSox03:
I told ya, B. Some things never change.
GoSox03:
So is your boyfriend there yet?
Buf_E_99:
Uh, no. Not yet.
GoSox03:
Lucky me. I still get ya all to myself for a little longer.
Buffy ignored the blatant flirting; it was too much of Faith's personality for the blonde to ever take it seriously. Faith flirted, it seemed, with everyone.
Buf_E_99:
So why are YOU online tonight on Friday night? If you just got done with patrol, shouldn't you be out eating or…doing other things?
GoSox03:
I'm waiting on some d
elivery pizza. And as for the “doing other things”
that's why I was lookin' at porn.
Buf_E_99:
Oh,
h
uh. Well that makes sense then.
Buffy stared at the illuminate screen and flexed her fingers. A question was pricking at the back of her thoughts, but she didn't know if it was out of line to ask. After all, it's not like she and Faith had
ever
talked about their personal lives like this.
Buf_E_99:
So if you're at home, uh, working off your post-slaying…energy…does that mean you're not dating anyone?
GoSox03: *
snorts*
I've never exactly dated anyone, B. Not really my style.
Buf_E_99:
What about Robin?
GoSox03:
Old Woodie?
Buf_E_99:
Oh
God. Don't ever call him that. Never ever again.
GoSox03:
*snickers
* sorry, Princess. I forget I gotta censor myself around you. Don't wanna offend your virginal eyes.
Buf_E_99:
My eyes are not virginal.
They've witnessed plenty of non-virginal things.
I just don't like to think about co-workers…like that.
GoSox03:
Really? You've never thought about Robin
with that dark chocolate skin…all shirtless and sweaty
and
…
Buf_E_99:
I'm seriously logging off. If I knew how I even logged on in the first place.
GoSox03:
Oh, c'mon, B. I'm just playing around. I'm sorry. Again.
Buffy sighed and stared at the screen. She blew a long breath out of her mouth, dislodging a few errant strands of golden-blonde hair.
Buf_E_99:
Things never have
been easy between us, have they?
GoSox03:
Guess not.
Buffy stared at the screen, not sure what to say next.
GoSox03:
Hold up, B. Apartment just got buzzed. Probably the pizza dude. Brb.
The blonde slayer continued to sit at the dining room table in front of her open laptop. She paused to take a large sip from the oversized wine glass. Buffy wasn't sure why she was still hanging around. It's not like she and Faith were even getting along
online.
But it's not like she had more attractive options at the moment, either.
GoSox03:
Okay, I'm back.
Buf_E_99:
What? Not making out with the pizza guy?
The blonde smiled smugly and silently congratulated herself for the snarky jab. Something about the younger slayer had always made her tongue-tied and vocabulary-challenged…well more than usual. Chatting online, however, offered her a split-second longer to contemplate her responses rather than stare, with her mouth agape, like she usually did around Faith.
GoSox03:
It actually turned out to be a pizza
GIRL
, but I wasn't really feeling her. Hah. Feeling her.
Buffy nearly spit out the wine swirling around in her mouth. She sputtered slightly before stumbling over a reply. Even the internet lag-time couldn't prepare her for
that
statement.
Buf_E_99:
I…didn't realize you, uh,
liked
girls.
GoSox03:
What can I say, B? Red's not the Original.
Well that was a revelation. Sure Buffy wasn't blind to all the flirting the dark-haired girl had always thrown her way, and yes she had spent some time in an all-female prison. But that didn't automatically mean anything, did it?
GoSox03:
I guess I should be getting offline or something. Hard to eat pizza, look at porn,
and
talk to you.
Buf_E_99:
You're still looking at porn and talking to me at the same time?
GoSox03:
Sorry, Twinkie. You'd have to step up your game for me to turn off the porn.
Buf_E_99:
Step up my game?
GoSox03:
You know
*wiggles eyebrows*
tellin' me what you're wearing…where your hand is traveling…
Buffy's jaw dropped. Her fingers typed a hasty reply.
Buf_E_99:
I'm not
that
drunk.
GoSox03:
Tsk. Tsk. Too bad.
A girl can always dream though, I suppose. Of course in
my
dreams you're always in some hot little outfit from Victoria's Secret.
Buffy choked. Her eyes flit to every corner of the room. Oh my God. Was there one of those web cameras set up and she didn't know it?
Buf_E_99:
I'm not that good with computers…uhm…but you
can't actually
SEE
me, can you?
GoSox03:
LMAO. Dude, you're not really wearing some slinky little thing, are you?
Buffy felt her face flush a million shades of red and was more than thankful her sister-Slayer couldn't see her reaction.
Buf_E_99
: It's for Preston. It's not like I just regularly wear stuff like this.
GoSox03:
Hot dog. Well, Preston's one lucky dude then. But anyway, B. I should probs be going and I'm sure you've gotta get all sexed up for your boy-toy. Nice chatting with ya.
Buffy sat for a millisecond longer than she should have before typing a reply. She was surprised she actually felt…disappointed?...that Faith was logging off. She must
really
be hard up for some company for that to happen.
Buf_E_99:
Night, Faith.
GoSox03 has logged off
Buffy didn't bother logging off, but simply closed the top lid of her laptop. She sat in the darkness of the dining room for a few moments.
Even though Preston had managed to ruin Date Night, the chat with her sister-Slayer had been an unexpected and yet welcomed distraction. She felt…lighter…for some reason.
Finally, leaving her laptop and her now-empty wine glass behind, Buffy made her way down the hallway and slipped into bed next to her deeply slumbering boyfriend.
Buffy sat in bed and rubbed at her throbbing temples. She couldn't read any more of her trashy romance novel, but it was too early to justify sleeping. Watching TV was out of the question, too - all the Christmas specials just reminded her how painfully alone she was this holiday. Even her boyfriend had abandoned her tonight.
“Another Date Night ruined,” she grumbled to herself.
The evening had been going fine. She and Preston had a nice dinner together downtown before going to the Christmas tree lot next to the gas station near her house. It was going to be her first December away from California and away from her family and friends. Dawn was busy wrapping up her first quarter at Ohio State University and the rest of the Scoobies were enjoying their new homes around the globe. Buffy and Dawn had plans to go to Europe to see Willow, Kennedy, and Giles for New Years, but anything before that was impractical with her work schedule and slaying responsibilities.
Buffy knew there would be Christmas trees and Hanukkah bushes in Scotland when she visited, but she didn't want to go the entire month in Cleveland feeling like a Scrooge. Besides, her mom had always insisted on getting a real tree, regardless of the price - it was a Summers family tradition.
But even before she and Preston could bring the modest-sized tree back to her house, the couple had gotten into a fight. The worst part was, Buffy couldn't even remember now why they had been fighting. Maybe it was because her boyfriend always insisted on driving even though it was
her
car. Or maybe it was because he had told her to get a spruce tree instead of the balsam she wanted. But whatever the reason, Buffy was now back at home on a Friday night - alone in bed - with an undecorated tree in her living room.
The blonde breathed out deeply and closed her eyes. Maybe this `normal life' stuff wasn't as coveted as she once had thought.
Closing her book and placing it on the bedside table, Buffy reached over and flipped off the reading lamp on her bedside table. She lay on her back, engulfed by darkness, and willed sleep to come.
But it wouldn't.
Throwing the duvet cover off her body, the blonde slayer sat up in bed, throwing her legs over the edge of the mattress. Buffy made a frustrated noise. Maybe decorating the tree would make her feel better. Or, perhaps it would just make her want to slit her wrists.
Either way, it would be a welcomed distraction from the fact that her Friday night was once again ruined.
Buffy trudged into the living room and grabbed a handful of stringed lights from a large plastic bin. She scowled at the nest of knots in the LED lights. No matter how neat she or Dawn had put away the lights the previous year, they were always a chaotic mess the following Christmas season. The golden-haired slayer was convinced evil gnomes had something to do with it.
As the California native began to untangle a single strand of lights, her eyes rested on her laptop, which sat on the living room couch. Although strangely she felt like she was doing something she shouldn't be doing, Buffy abandoned the hopeless string of Christmas lights and flipped open the lid of her laptop. The computer immediate started up, greeting the blonde with a small noise.
Not sitting down, Buffy opened her Instant Messenger program and logged on. She scrolled her list of `Friends', online and offline, but frowned when she saw the screen name `GoSox03' was currently offline.
Buffy flicked her eyes toward the clock on the fireplace mantle. It was just after 11 o'clock. The blonde felt a mysterious stirring in the pit of her stomach upon discovering that the Boston girl wasn't online and that it had grown so late. Maybe, she reasoned, she'd missed her online earlier and Faith had gone to do something else.
She and Faith didn't religiously talk, but it had almost become part of her nightly routine. Buffy would return from patrol, grab herself a glass of wine, and log on to chat with the Boston girl. Faith normally got home from slaying by at least 10 o'clock; she was responsible for the first shift of patrol starting at sunset and younger slayers took over for the latter half of the night and patrolled the city of Boston into the early hours. It was one of the perks she'd allowed herself as the East Coast's senior slayer.
The Boston girl boasted the early patrol afforded her more time to go clubbing afterwards; but Buffy had noticed that since they'd reconnected, the Boston girl had significantly curbed her late night extracurriculars. The blonde didn't contribute it to anything, however, maybe just as a sign that Faith was getting older and took less joy out of staying out all night, dancing, boozing, and sexing-up random strangers.
Buffy closed the laptop lid with a heavy sigh and went back to attempting to de-tangle Christmas lights. At the rate she was going, however, decorating the tree might take her all week. Plus, doing this all on her own felt joyless. Some of her fondest memories of her mom and sister had been decorating the Christmas tree and drinking hot chocolate while listening to Holiday albums. She had hoped that she and Preston would have made a new memory tonight of their first Christmas as a couple, and the only memory she had now was of petty bickering. All in all, she decided, her first real holiday on her own was turning out to be a giant disappointment.