Something Gray 4/26

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Chapter 4

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Willow was getting ready to go to the crypt and unlock Oz. He had been acting all funny lately and she wanted to treat him to some special lovin’ time before classes. She hadn’t liked the vibes she had been sensing between her sweet wolfie and the slutty singer who had suddenly plopped herself down in the middle of their lives. “Veruca! Who names their kid ‘Veruca’? Sounds like the sound a horn would make on one of those old cars… veruca, veruca, coming through!” she muttered aloud. She didn’t notice the odd looks a couple of early risers gave her in passing.

“Um, Will, you might want to keep those inner dialogues inner,” Buffy suggested with a smile. “I don’t think you want Oz to think you’re jealous of that girl or anything.”

“I’m not jealous! She’s just pushy, that’s all. Hey, Buffy, want to do the crazy and double at the Bronze tomorrow night? That cute TA Riley looks like he’s interested, if you want to give romance another try.”

“Yuck, no with a side of no! Riley grades my papers! It’d be like dating my teacher, or Giles or something. Can I just say ewwwwwww? Besides, I think he’d get fired if he dated a student.” Buffy shivered at the thought of going down that road.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot that part. Gee, Buffy, I just want you to find someone who’ll make you happy again. All that stuff Parker said about commitment taking the fire out of a romance just proved he’s the poophead we called him. Just look at me and Oz! Lots of fire there, you betcha. Regular inferno of fiery hotness.” Willow sounded more like she was trying to convince herself with her insistence. “Come with us anyway. Lots of guys there to dance with. You’ll have to beat them off with a stick!”

“Thanks, but there’ll be no beating off for Buffy for a while. I have a couple of papers due and the stick I’ll be using will be a stake on patrol.” Buffy sighed in frustration. “I think all I am is the Vampire Slayer sometimes. I mean, I’m supposed to have a shorter lifespan than cheese snacks. Maybe I’m not supposed to have a love life? I turn men into demons when I do sleep with them. Okay, I’m the Slayer and I’m supposed to dust the demons, not sleep with them. I get that. Still Angel was so dreamy, so romantic, and then when I finally go for it, he turns into a monster. Then Parker turns into another kind of monster and I can’t even kill his kind ‘cause he’s human…sorta. I’m cursed!” Buffy looked like she was about to cry.

“You’ve just had some bad luck, Buffy. You’ll see, everything will change for the better. Maybe Parker was right about one thing. It doesn’t have to always be serious, I guess. Just have a good time and don’t look for the true love and maybe it will find you,” Willow advised.

Willow headed off in the direction of Oz’s crypt and morning smoochies while Buffy turned towards the lecture hall for another exercise in boredom. Maybe Willow was right, maybe a night of dancing was just what she needed. No strings attached, no hearts engaged…just feeling free and young and alive.

~*~

Several hours later, Willow still hadn’t returned to the dorm room from her trip to see Oz, and Buffy was not in the mood to work on any of her assignments. It wasn’t that she wanted to be like Faith and have no feelings for her sex partners at all, but she had to feel a little jealous at the carefree attitude of her sister slayer. Of course that attitude had led to the coma Faith was currently in, but still…maybe it was time to loosen up a bit herself.

Buffy picked up one of Giles’ musty old reference books that had been left over from a recent research project with the gang. She leafed through the book until her eye was caught by the section dealing with vampire sexuality. “Never had a chance to really find out with Angel. He was so careful and tender and then…,” Buffy sighed.

She began to read the anecdotes about vampire’s stamina and the strength of their sex drive. “Hmm…Watcher porn, who’d have thought?”

She continued reading about rituals and unusual behaviors like claiming and so on. “I wonder if Angel ever claimed Darla? They were together a long time. Okay, not thinking about ex-boyfriends and their vamp-ho sires. Besides, Angel can’t claim anybody now.” Part of Buffy was pleased to know the curse would always stand in the way of Angel making that kind of commitment to anyone that wasn’t her.

Suddenly Willow came into the room crying and shaking. Buffy tossed the book to one side and rushed to her best friend’s side. “God, Will, what’s wrong?”

“Oz. He was all wolfy and she was all wolfy and they were all together. He said he had to lock her up, but why did he have to make it the same cage?” Willow began to steadily weep as she told her story in small pieces in between heart-wrenching sobs.

By the time the whole tale had been told, Buffy was arming herself for a werewolf hunt. This Veruca was toast. Buffy might not be able to do much about her own sorry love life, but this chick was so going down.

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/196138.html