“I suppose we should be grateful that Giselle didn’t call Red,” Spike mused as he and Buffy prepared for bed later that evening. “Instead of just bringing her a mask, Red might have turned the Widget into a cat.”
“Willow would never do anything like that. I don’t know why you don’t trust her. It’s been years since she’s even threatened to turn you into a toad -- although you’ve deserved it plenty of times,” Buffy replied as she pulled a nightgown over her head.
Spike threw a pillow at her in retaliation, hitting her square in the back. “Oof! Hey, don’t even think about starting another pillow fight with me. We always end up with a pile of feathers, and then I have nothing to put my head on when I sleep.” Buffy returned the pillow to the head of the bed. “And speaking of bed linen, when did you manage to replace this mattress? I was with you all day.”
“Didn’t replace it.”
“But isn’t this where I…um…well, you know, removed a piece? Now it looks fine.”
“That’s because I flipped the mattress over. The broken bit is at the bottom now, where it hardly matters.” Spike smiled at his brilliance. “That should extend the life of this mattress at least until you rip off the rest of the corners.”
“Oh, that was clever! I always knew you were smarter than you look!”
“Hey! Watch it! Just ‘cause I’m pretty doesn’t mean I can’t be smart too!”
“Oh, you are so easy to tease, really, what a baby!” Buffy wrapped one arm around Spike’s waist and then reached up to ruffle his hair affectionately. “You did a good thing. You saved the Council some money and me the embarrassment of asking them to replace another mattress, at least for now. That clerk in the business office knows way too much about our private lives.”
“Well I don’t suppose you give too much thought to the clerk at the Council when you’re busy tearing our bedding to bits, now do you?” Spike’s lascivious leer gave Buffy a major case of goose bumps. “Come here little girl; let’s see if I can inspire a little more destruction.”
Spike took Buffy’s hands and started backing her toward the bed.
“Aren’t you going to read to Joy?” Buffy asked as the back of her knees hit the mattress.
Spike looked a little torn, but quickly rallied. “Yes, I am. But I’m counting on you to remind me where I was when you so rudely interrupted my seduction. It was going so well.”
“Sweetheart, life with you is one big seduction. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble figuring out where you left off.” Buffy gave him a little push toward the door. “Give her a kiss from me.”
Spike kissed Buffy softly on the top of the head. “Try not to fall asleep while I’m gone,” he said. “You’re the devil to wake once you start snoring.”
“I do not snore!” Buffy huffed after him as Spike disappeared down the short hallway to Joy’s room.
*****
Having read to, snuggled, and tucked Joy into her bed, Spike returned to their room to find Buffy had arranged a dizzying array of sex toys in neat rows across the duvet.
“I’ve been meaning to do this for months,” she explained. “And you told me not to go to sleep.”
“That’s quite a collection, love,” Spike said, his brow slightly furrowed. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
Buffy laughed, “Oh, sweetie, don’t worry I’m not planning to use them all tonight! We’ve had some of these for ages. I just thought we could weed out a few that we don’t need anymore.”
“Love, at the moment, I don’t need any of it. I just want you, naked, in our bed.”
“Okay, but help me put these away. And while we’re at it, let’s take a few out for the trash.”
Buffy’s ruse worked. Spike pulled the trunk a little closer to the bed and the two of them sat side by side as they placed each of the various items either back into the trunk or the plastic garbage bag that Buffy had handy. When they were finished, the trunk was still nearly full of sex gadgets along with the two best sets of handcuffs, several lengths of chains, some silk ropes and a variety of leather restraints.
“I agree that we should keep the cuffs and chains,” Buffy said, “but since we gave up the bed frame there isn’t anyplace to attach them.”
“Replacing that noisy old bed was one of the smartest things we ever did,” Spike said, reaching down to touch the carpet-covered platform that now supported their mattress. “But I suppose we could add some bolts so I’d have a way to secure you in a compromising position.” She didn’t even have to look up to know he was leering again.
“Yeah, but maybe we could skip using the Council handyman this time.” Buffy suggested.
When they had returned the trunk to its place, Buffy and Spike turned out the lights, lit a few of the thick candles scattered around the periphery of the room, and climbed into bed.
Spike held out his arm so Buffy could snug her body against his. “There, that’s what I had in mind, except for the nightie. You can lose that if you don’t mind.”
“It’s not that I mind, it’s just that this is about when Joy usually decides she needs a drink of water or that there’s a demon in her sock drawer. I thought I’d leave this on until I get back from performing my duties as Buffy the Sock Drawer Demon Slayer.”
“I don’t think we’re going to hear from her tonight, love. She was right knackered from running about being a kitten all day.”
As if on cue, the monitor fizzed a bit and they both heard Joy’s voice. “Mommy, Papa, I’m thirsty! Can I have a drink?”
Buffy sighed as she slid out of bed. “Wrong again, fang boy! Hold my spot, I’ll be back.”
Spike could hear his girls as they ran a glass of water in the adjoining bathroom and the clink of the glass when Joy finished drinking and placed it on the counter. He heard them pad across the carpet back in Joy’s room where they talked quietly for several minutes. Vampire hearing being as acute as it is, he could have listened to the whole conversation, but he purposely gave them their privacy.
When Buffy returned, she climbed back into bed but didn’t immediately resume her spot against Spike’s side. “Did you do in the sock drawer demon?” he asked.
“No, he didn’t make an appearance tonight. Unpredictable, those sock drawer demons!” Buffy turned a bit to look directly into Spike’s eyes. “But tell me, how do you plan to handle this trip to California that is supposed to happen in four days?”
“What trip to California?” he responded, obviously confused.
“The one Joy thinks you are taking with her to celebrate Halloween American style.”
“Oi! I thought I convinced her to stay here to celebrate Nut-crack and Mischief Nights – fine British traditions that are far superior to your commercialized American Halloween.”
“Oh, you were convincing alright. She wants to celebrate everything. But she’s figured out that you can go to California for trick-or-treat and be back in plenty of time for Mischief Night on November 4th.”
“And what about Nut Crack Night?” Spike asked as though he was afraid of the answer.
“She isn’t worried about missing it this year,” Buffy replied, “She says she doesn’t need to know who her sweetheart will be until she grows up!”
“I’m going to have to talk to her, straighten her out on this. We are not going to California this week.”
Buffy, took his hand and made her serious face. Spike sat up at once, “What is it? That face is reserved for only truly dire situations!”
“You didn’t listen did you? You didn’t hear what she was telling me about why this is so important to her.”
“No, love, I didn’t think I should listen in. I thought you and the Widget should have a little privacy.”
“Then you don’t know what this is all about.” Buffy pursed her lips. She knew what she had to tell Spike was going to evoke a complicated emotional reaction; she just didn’t know what it would be.
“You’d better tell me, love,” Spike insisted, even as he wondered if he really wanted to know.
Buffy took a deep breath. “Dawn told her about Halloween -- how people go out at night dressed in costumes with masks and make-up. Your little girl is pretty smart. She figured out that Halloween is the only chance she’ll have to go out with you in public when you are wearing your ‘fang face.’”
Buffy stopped for a moment putting her hands on either side of Spike’s face. “Darling, she wants to show off your beautiful demon face. She thinks it’s a shame that no one else ever gets to see it.”
Tbc….
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