(no subject)
TITLE: Tis The Season
RATING: Upper PG
FANDOMS: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series & Tanz der Vampire
SPOILERS: Buffy S1-7, Angel S1-5.
SUMMARY: Dawn visits home for a time.
SERIES: Part of Carpe Noctem series.
In order: As Aught of Mortal Birth, Per Ipsum, et cum Ipso, et in Ipso, Til The Moon Is Abed, Unwritten Words, What Remains, The Gentler Sex, Visitation, After the Storm, In The Name Of and In The Air and Makes Us Stronger and Three's a Crowd, then this chapter.
PAIRINGS: Spike/Herbert, Dawn/von Krolock etc.
WORDS: 11814
NOTES: Yes, I know it's May tomorrow, but this is the Christmas chapter, k? :P
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To anyone who might have strayed too close to the grounds of the castle, it would have looked like any fond farewell, though it was being bade by the light of the night, rather than the day. Gathered by the large Landrover, the group of half a dozen were exchanging words and fond embraces.
“Don’t wreck the place while I’m gone!”
“Would we?” Spike grinned as he pulled back from Dawn. “You take care, y’hear, Nibs?”
Dawn laughed. “Always do, Spike,” she retorted, then swept into an exaggerated sweeping bow to Herbert, who had disentangled himself from Alfred. “And don’t you break him too bad, k? I wanna see him able to walk when I get home.”
Herbert pouted sweetly at her. “Would you ruin all my fun, cherie?” he inquired, though he stepped forward to kiss her lightly on both cheeks. “Do be sure to kill both your sister and that other charming Slayer for me.”
“Only if you promise not to screw Spike once while I’m away.”
“You evil little bitch!” Herbert exclaimed, horrified.
Dawn grinned widely at him. “Hey, I’m going cold-turkey here, too! You could be kinda sympathetic!”
Leaning close until his cheek brushed hers, Herbert whispered apologetically, “I am deeply sorry for your situation, cherie, but I am also evil and do not care that you are not... ah... boning my father.”
Tilting her head, Dawn bit his earlobe sharply. Leaping back with an exclamation of surprise, Herbert gaped at her, astonished.
“You bit me!”
“You chained me to my bed,” she replied with a grin. “I think we’re even.”
He stared at her until his father’s hand gently guided him aside. Von Krolock gazed down at her with a flicker of a smile. “You are utterly incorrigible, liebling,” he murmured, capturing her hands and lifting them to his lips.
“I try,” she replied, her merry expression giving way to a more sombre one. “Gonna miss you.”
Kissing her knuckles softly, his dark eyes closed briefly as his lips pressed to her skin. “And I you, liebling,” he said, the dark glitter of his eyes visible between his dark lashes. Pulling her hands free, she shoved his hands aside, and surged into him, kissing him hard, fiercely.
She felt the familiar pressure of his hands slipping over her hips, splaying at the base of her back and at the nape of her neck. Nails touched against her throat, scratching lightly, making her cling to him all the harder.
Around them, she guessed that the others would be looking around the yard, feigning disinterest. To be honest, she didn’t give a damn if they were watching and had cameras out.
Two weeks without him was gonna be Hell.
No, not quite Hell, because been there, done that, burned the T-shirt, but pretty damned close.
When she broke from the kiss, panting, her hands were clutching at his shoulders and she was trembling from more than just breathlessness. His forehead touched hers lightly and she looked up at him, a smile tripping across her lips.
“You better be waiting for me when I get back, Mister,” she whispered, her chest heaving as she gulped down breaths.
“Counting the moments, liebling,” he replied softly, dragging his hands from her body as reluctantly as she untangled her fingers from the folds of his dark waistcoat. Dark eyes glanced past her. “Be sure she arrives safely.”
“Of course,” Sarah replied from behind her. “We should make good time and arrive well before the check-in time.”
Fingertips touched her cheek and Dawn’s eyes closed as his lips touched hers once more, gently. “Be safe,” he whispered into the kiss, then he simply was gone. Dawn shivered and sighed.
“You should probably get going, Nibs,” Spike volunteered as she forced herself back to the present, the brisk chill of the night growing more noticeable. “Snow might slow you down a bit.”
“Yeah...” Pulling her winter coat closed around her, she looked at Sarah and Alfred, noticing that Alfred seemed to be further behind his lover than he had been a few minutes earlier. “You guys ready?”
Sarah nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Alfred. “I think so.”
“I am.” Alfred mumbled, stooping to grab a last bag and hurrying towards the car, scrambling into the back seat and pulling the door closed behind him, warily peeking out through the window.
Staring at him, Dawn suppressed a grin and looked back at Sarah. “So, still kinda scared of me, huh?”
“Petrified,” Sarah looked both amused and mildly concerned.
“Don’t think it helps that you just bit one of his big crushes,” Spike added with a chuckle. “And then, there’s the whole jumping-on-his-Boss too. Bound to throw you for a loop, that.”
“And cos of that, I get front seat privileges?” She grinned widely. “Huh! This being claimed thing is all kindsa cool.” She saw the looks exchanged between the vampires and her smile softened. “Seriously, not mocking.” Three sets of eyebrows rose. “Well, not much.”
“Now, be off with you, cherie,” Herbert said, making a shooing gesture. “We are not getting any warmer, and I doubt arriving at your sister’s with hypothermia will endear you to her.”
Dawn gave him a look. “You trying to get rid of me, Herbert?”
“Obviously.” He stepped closer and caught her by the arm, turning her towards the car. “You have made the castle smell like mortal girl. I must go and scrub every inch of it until it is at least a little tolerable.”
“Spike, your boyfriend is an ass!” she called over her shoulder.
“Don’t mean he’s not right, Nibs,” Spike retorted, laughing. “You go on, enjoy the thanksgiving-birthday-Christmasy crap and leave us to be evil for a bit.”
Lifted bodily into the passenger seat and strapped in by her lover’s son, Dawn made a face at the gold-haired vampire. “When I get back,” she said. “I’m gonna rub myself on every wall.”
Herbert’s nose wrinkled. “Darling, you really are quite disgusting.”
“You want for me to do it naked? I will, you know.”
“I dare not doubt it.” Still, he turned her face to his with a hand, thumb brushing the tip of her chin. “Do not stay away too long, petite cherie. Who would I come to for embarrassing tales of my William and his penchant for marshmallows?”
Smiling faintly, Dawn reached up and squeezed his hand. “You just want someone to freak out, Herbie,” she said as Sarah slid into the driver’s seat and pulled the door closed behind her.
“Well, yes, but you have the occasional uses.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, go, and enjoy those silly mortal festivals.”
“See you,” she replied softly, with a faint smile. “Make sure your dad’s okay.”
“You know you need not ask, cherie,” Herbert said, stepping back and closing the door. He raised his hand in a half-salute, half-wave, lips curved in a smile as brief as hers was.
The engine roared to life and Dawn closed her eyes, sighing. She tried not to look in the wing mirror as they headed down the long driveway, leaving the castle and her lover behind.
____________________
“How much are you expecting to buy?” William asked dubiously, looking into the empty car and, most noticeably, into the vacant space for shopping. “It’s a bloody big car, y’know.”
“I know,” Herbert replied cheerfully, folding the last seat down and examining his handiwork. Clapping his palms together, he beamed at William. “I have never had a Christmas before! This will be lovely!”
William looked like he was trying not to grin. “Don’t you think it’s a bit daft for a bunch of vampires to be celebrating the birth of the bloke who made the holy symbol that burns you holy?”
“Bah! Details!” Herbert replied. “And anyway, this is for Dawn.”
Even so, he knew he would never tell his father’s mortal such a thing. He would never hear the end of it if she found out it was his suggestion. Especially as it was a Christmas away from her family and she was not expecting any such gesture.
“Yeah, right,” William snorted. “You just want to go shopping.”
With a prim look, the elder vampire reached out and swatted William’s backside. “I will not deny that I am taking advantage of the circumstances,” he said gravely. “And, besides, I wish to go driving with you. If all else fails, we have room to sleep.”
Blue eyes twinkled. “Sleep, eh?”
Herbert’s lips twitched irrepressibly. “Of course.”
“So, that’s why you’ve tucked a fancy cashmere blanket under my seat?”
“Naturally, darling. I would not wish for you to be chilly.”
William laughed and shook his head. “You really are a daft bugger, y’know,” he said, wandering around to the side of the car. “So, where we off to, anyway?”
“Well,” Herbert replied, slamming the boot of the car down firmly and brushing his hands together. “I know a charming city which tends to have some rather delightful fairs arranged during the winter.”
William looked surprised and gratified. “And you’re sure your old man doesn’t mind staying home alone with Illyria?”
Herbert grinned as he pulled the door open and slid into the driver’s seat. “I suspect he will appreciate the peace for a few days,” he replied as William clambered into the passenger seat.
“Wait a minute.” Blue eyes darted to him suspiciously. “What d’you mean ‘days’?”
Slotting the key into the ignition, Herbert smiled innocently as the engine purred to life. “Nothing, cheri,” he replied.
“Herbie…”
“Oh, hush, darling,” Herbert replied with a laugh, reaching over to pat William’s thigh fondly. “Just sit back and enjoy yourself.” Before them, the garage doors slid open and he steered them out into the moonlight.
_________________________
“Dawnie!” With a clatter of heels, Buffy threaded through the crowds in the arrivals hall to collide with full force into her sister, making the younger woman stagger with a squeal that turned into a laugh.
“What did we tell you about embarrassing scenes!” she exclaimed, though she was grinning widely.
“You think this is a scene?” Buffy said, looking up at her. “What about them?”
A small finger pointed in the direction from which she had come and Dawn groaned aloud, clapping a hand over her eyes at the sight of balloons and a banner she had been avoiding looking at in case she had been right about what she thought she had seen out of the corner of her eye.
“Can I kill you yet?”
Buffy laughed, looping her arm through her sister’s. “Only after we get presents,” she said firmly. “C’mon. Everyone’s here for once.”
“Even Xander?”
Buffy nodded. “Even Xander,” she confirmed. “He’s come up from Nig... no... Ghana?” She frowned and shrugged. “Some country in Africa. Wherever it was that he was, he went somewhere else and that’s where he came from.”
Weaving and ducking between the rest of the arrivals as easily as two people locked at the arm could, Dawn was promptly grabbed and hugged by a beaming red head, beyond whom two brunettes were lowering the colourful birthday banner.
“Long time no see, Dawnie!”
Returning Willow’s hug, Dawn smiled. “You know what a drag school is,” she said flippantly, looking deceptively innocent when her sister and one of the approaching dark-haired girls snorted. “What?”
“How’s the Principal?” Faith inquired, with a lazy roll of her hips and a grin.
Dawn couldn’t help laughing. “He’s... uh... keeping on top of things,” she offered, smirking at the look that crossed Faith’s face. “So, Xander and Giles back at the school, huh?”
“Yeah!” Willow beamed. “Xander’s got himself a new girl!”
Dawn blinked. “Seriously?”
“They arrived yesterday,” Buffy nodded. “Her cousin’s a Slayer with us. Xander was the one who found her a few months back and now, he’s all kinds of snuggly with her big cousin. Kammy?”
“Kambiri,” Willow corrected.
Dawn grinned. “Good for him,” she said. “Wondered when he would get his groove-thing back on.” She looked at her sister. “And, hey. What about Vitto?” Judging by the grin the crossed her sister’s face, all badness of a month or two earlier was gone.
“He’s good,” she replied with an enigmatic little twitch of her lips. “He’ll be coming over this evening for dinner.”
“And Andrew,” Kennedy added. “Can’t forget him, can we?”
“He’ll be upset if you don’t give him hugs.” Willow leaned closer to Dawn. “He’s been practising his pout, I swear.”
Laughing, Dawn shook her head. “And he’s still teaching?”
“Trying to,” Faith said, snickering.
“He’s doing fine,” Buffy interrupted. “Can’t find many guys who want to teach an army of girls who can kick their ass.” She glared as a middle-aged couple shoved past them. “C’mon. We better move it. Too many people here.”
Kennedy grinned widely. “We can always clear a path, if you want,” she said with mock-innocence.
“Baby,” Willow gave her a chastising look. “For the greater good, only.”
“I’d say saving us money on parking is the greater good.” Kennedy’s eyes danced.
“K’s got a point,” Faith noted. “I forgot my wallet.”
Shaking her head, Buffy groaned as they started moving towards the exit. “And they let me be in charge?” she mumbled. “Why?”
____________________________________
It had barely been two days since the house had been abandoned by the son, Spike and the Morsel, yet even in that brief span of time, Illyria could see the change in the Sorcerer. Retreating to his library, he sank himself and his emotions into the books, so that they might divert him.
Striding down the room, she acquired one of the books, returning to him. The sound of the heavy tome dropping on the table echoed and he raised his eyes to her for the first time in several hours.
Strange, she noticed, that his studious silence could make her feel so uncertain, causing her to deliberately rouse him, to ensure that he was not ignorant to her continued presence.
“Highness?”
Watching his face, she remained standing beside the table. “Does this silence make their departure more tolerable?”
Black eyes, empty of emotion, gazed back at her. “It does not please you?”
Tilting her head, Illyria considered that. “I have grown accustomed to the noise of the younger mortals,” she said.
His mouth moved, but it was not what she would qualify as a smile. “As have I, but I will not waste time lamenting their absence, when I have such silence, a rare gift they have granted me.”
Flexing her fingers, the remnants of mortal bone within them clicking, she watched him curiously. “You find their absences strange,” she observed. “It displeases you and you seek refuge in study.”
“There is no shame in such a thing,” he replied, returning his attention to the notes he was taking.
“Why do you remain?”
His eyes rose to her, though he did not look up. “This is my home,” he said quietly. “I see no reason to depart.”
“You seek knowledge, yet you remain closed within the walls of this prison you have made for yourself,” she countered. “You see nothing of the world. All you know comes to you through the words and deeds of others.”
She saw the flicker of emotion in his eyes, and when he spoke, it was quiet, but she could hear the ice beneath it. “It is my way.” He returned his gaze to the page. “I have knowledge enough to last an eternity.”
“What do you fear?”
Those eyes lanced through her like a blade. “I fear nothing, Illyria,” he said, soft and deadly as poison.
“You lie,” she said flatly, simply. “All that has the capability of suffering pain and death fears in some form. You conceal yourself within a fortress of stone and books, away from a world of life. What causes you to do so?”
“It is my way,” he said softly, dangerously, rising from the seat.
Tilting her head in the other direction, she watched him. “It grieves those who care for you to see you so,” she said. “They know there is much for you to see, yet you do not look.” She looked towards the open door. “Even this festivity your Blood chooses to delight in, you ignore.”
The Sorcerer stepped closer to her, and she felt the sweep of his power about him.
Black eyes stared at her, and she shuddered as that icy mental touch raked through her mind, reminding her sharply of what she had lost, of what she had become and what she was reduced to.
“When you do not haunt my halls,” he said softly, like the whisper of a blade through the air. “You can speak to me of fear, little God.”
Drawing the shadows around him, he vanished.
______________________________
“Heads up, D!”
A parcel was tossed from under the Christmas tree by Faith and was snatched out of the air by Dawn, who shook it experimentally. “Sounds kinda broken,” she said, then grinned at the look on Willow’s face. “Kidding!”
“Meanie,” Willow mumbled.
They had gathered in the large living room after dinner, the four sofas covered in a miscellany of limbs and wrapping paper.
While it was still several weeks until Christmas, with their timetables being what they were, so few of them could be in one place at one time that they had agreed on an annual celebration combining half a dozen birthdays, a belated Thanksgiving and an early Christmas and New Year into one holiday.
Unfolding the paper and the square box nestled within, Dawn uttered an excited squeal that turned into a more puzzled “Huh...” She picked up the round crystal ball and gave Willow a bemused look. “You’re giving me my fortune?”
“If you look into it,” Willow beamed, “It’ll show you your dreams.”
“Oh my God!” Buffy laughed aloud. “You are totally doing a Goblin-King on her!”
On the couch, Xander groaned, clapping a hand over his good eye. “How long have you been waiting to say that line, Will?” he asked.
“Told you.” Kennedy nudged Willow, who blushed as brightly as her hair.
“So... uh... what is it?” Dawn inquired, looking around at them.
“It’s a crystal,” Buffy intoned gravely.
“Nothing more,” Xander finished.
“You guys!” Willow exclaimed.
Xander snickered. “Looks like we moved in on her territory, Buff.”
The blonde Slayer looked contrite, snuggling comfortably against Vittorio’s chest, her eyes dancing. “Our bad, Wills,” she said without any trace of sincerity. “We’ll stop stealing your lines.”
Making a face at him, Willow sniffed and looked at Dawn. “It’s something that’ll let you see whatever you wanna see, Dawnie,” she said, scooting from her position by her lover towards Dawn. She reached out to turn the crystal towards the light. “You just gotta look real hard and then you’ll see.”
Dawn glanced at her, frowning marginally. “So it shows what I think of?”
Willow looked like she might burst with glee. “Nope!” she said. “It shows you what you wanna see when you wanna see it, wherever it is.”
“Willow, super-witch and purveyor of spy-gadgets that would make the CIA green with envy.” Xander raised a hand to ward off Willow’s mock-glare. “Hey, don’t judge the one-eyed man for what he sees!”
While the others laughed, Dawn cradled the crystal ball in her palms. “I just gotta look in it?”
Willow nodded eagerly. “Go ahead! Try it!”
Licking her lips, Dawn nodded, staring down at the crystal. All she could see was her own distorted reflection squinting at her, like she had something in her eye. “It isn’t working,” she said, frowning.
“You’re thinking to hard about thinking about how to make it work,” Willow said briskly. “Just look in it and imagine what you wanna. I had to try it a load of times before I got it right.”
A little doubtful, Dawn nodded and peered at the shimmering surface again. She could see the flicker of the flames in the fireplace through it. She could even see the reflection of the baubles on the huge Christmas tree, but she couldn’t see Johannes, not even a glimpse of him.
It shocked her just how much thinking about him made her ache for him.
What was he doing? Was he in the library? Yeah, probably. He always went there when he wanted alone time. Probably surrounded by books, and he always liked to read by candlelight more than electric.
It felt like something was prickling in her hands and she gasped, staring at the crystal. Within the heart of it, a figure was coming into focus. She felt the smile come to her lips as she recognised it.
“It worked,” she whispered, drawing the crystal ball closer to her chest, shielding it, making it hers alone.
“Told ya.” Willow patted her on the knee. She could hear the smile in the witch’s voice. “You like?”
“Yeah...” Tracing the tips of her thumbs around the shape of her lover, Dawn saw his silver hair slide against his waistcoat, head bowed over a tome, candlelight flickering softly, warmly. Yep. Library. “Thanks, Will.”
Sitting back, Willow snuggled against Kennedy. “Wanted to give you something so you could peek in on us if you wanted to,” she said happily. “Don’t get you visiting as much anymore, so this way, you can have a look and see how we are.”
“Only during the day!” Buffy warned.
“And not on a Tuesday,” Kambiri added, her soft, rich accent filled with mirth. The Nigerian girl had deep, chocolate-coloured skin and laughing mahogany eyes. With a gap between her white teeth, her smile was broad and impish and, once seen, never forgotten. “Or early in the morning, either. We don’t want to be watched. Unless you make a profit, then we want a cut, okay?”
“Honey...” Xander mumbled.
His girlfriend laughed. “What? You think that because I’m a normal girl in a house of super people, I should stop talking like I always talk?”
“I can hope,” he replied.
Dawn could hear his smile, but didn’t look up as she noted, “You know how to pick them, Xan.” Against her palms, it felt like the ball buzzed and she gasped as dark eyes within the depths of the crystal rose, looking straight at her. “Oh my God...”
Beside her, she vaguely registered Willow tensing with a yelp.
In the crystal, she saw Johannes touch his fingertips to his lips, almost as if blowing a kiss, and he smiled before the crystal went clear.
“What...?”
Willow was shivering, her nose wrinkled. “Oh... oh...” she whimpered, flapping her hands. “Ohhhh...” She squinted through one squeezed-shut eye. “Is my brain splooshing out my ears?”
“No... no brain splooshiness on this side...” Dawn frowned.
“Or on this side,” Kennedy added, squeezing Willow’s shoulder. “Will, what is it?”
Willow touched her temples, managing to open her eyes. “Feels like brain freeze.”
“How’d’you get a brain-freeze without ice cream?”
The witch looked at her. “Your boyfriend,” she replied, shaking her head as if to clear it. Exhaling a breath, she blinked watery eyes. “Okay, better now.”
“Whoa... what do you mean her boyfriend?” Xander demanded. “Her boyfriend who is a different country?”
Carefully placing the crystal ball back into the box and hastily closing the lid, Dawn looked nervously at Willow. “Um... maybe it was accidental?” she offered, knowing that if it involved Johannes and magic, there was no way it was accidental.
Blinking again, Willow shook her head. “He doesn’t like me peeking in on people like that,” she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose gingerly, as if afraid it might drop off. “Specially not on him.”
“And he can make you feel that not-like from three countries away?” Xander looked almost as wigged as he sounded. His dark eye moved from the white-faced Willow to Dawn, brows drawing down.
“He is a powerful Sorcerer.” Giles was the one who spoke, to Dawn’s relief.
“Yeah, getting that,” Xander said, though he was still looking at Dawn, who shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “The whole blow-back-from-three-countries-away is what you call a not-small hint.”
“Xander...” Buffy sighed.
“Voice of reason speaking here...”
“Hey!” From beside the Christmas tree, the second-eldest Slayer knelt up, hands on her hips. “We gonna stop pissin’ around and gettin’ to my presents or what? Just cos D decided to visit don’t mean she gets all the attention, k? My birthday too.”
Dawn could have kissed her with relief.
Dealing with Xander and his anti-vamp league was not what she needed right now, not when everything had been going so well.
“Yeah,” Kennedy said quickly, nodding from Xander to Faith. “Let her open her presents already. We want to get her kitted out with her new toys so we can stop her complaining about how many Italian Stallions there aren’t.”
Xander went a strange shade of puce, but sank back on the couch beside Kambiri. “I don’t want to know,” he mumbled, covering his face with one hand.
Dawn threw a weak smile Kennedy’s way and saw the Slayer wink as she gathered Willow in her arms. Another glance took in Faith, who was burrowing under the tree like an excited kid.
“Fuck, yeah!” The Slayer exclaimed, erupting triumphantly with an open package in her hands. “Supersize vibratomatic!”
Despite herself, Dawn burst out laughing.
_________________________
“Still think I look bloody ridiculous.”
Herbert turned to smooth William’s lapels once more, smacking his hands away when William tried to move them again. “You no longer look like a vagabond, cheri,” he replied, lifting his own hands to tuck curls behind William’s ears.
As he looked down at the clothing that had been awaiting him in their luxury suite, the younger vampire’s nose wrinkled doubtfully. “Not the kind of thing I’m used to wearing,” he mumbled.
With a deep blue, turtle-necked woollen pullover and perfectly cut black trousers, he looked refined, almost elegant. Over it, a thick, warm, black winter coat hung to just above mid-thigh. With the lapels smoothed, Herbert’s fingers slipped down to fasten the buttons, pausing only to arrange William’s scarf more neatly.
“I think you look marvellous, cheri,” he said softly, raising his eyes from his task to admire the faint bloom of colour that splashed so briefly and beautifully across William’s cheekbones.
Leaning forward, he kissed him softly, revelling in the sigh that escaped William.
“And soon,” he added fondly against William’s lips, one fingertip coiling an errant sandy coil of hair around it. “Your hair will be long enough to tie back once more.” The tip of his nose brushed William’s. “So much more dashing.”
“Kind of two centuries late for that, you silly poofter,” William mumbled against his lips, and though the dear boy was trying to scowl, his lips were twitching into the first glimpse of a bashful smile.
With a merry laugh, Herbert caught him by the arm, tugging him out of the elevator as the doors slid open. The lobby of the hotel was quiet, with only a few guests here and there, though not one of them could ignore the presence of the two handsome vampires as they emerged from the elevator.
It was a discreet, elegant establishment, or it had been until Herbert had swept them both in shortly after sundown, only two hours before, making several of the clerks sigh and most of the maids blush.
“Don’t know why you picked such a posh place,” William muttered.
Herbert laughed. Such a silly darling, sometimes. “Only ever the best, cheri,” he replied over his shoulder, inclining his head with a broad smile as the doorman pulled the thick glass panel open, letting them out into the snowy streets of Vienna.
Above them, the facade of the building towered imperiously, the pillared columns and tall windows stretching onwards and upwards.
“Too bloody posh,” William said flatly.
“And you complain, cheri, when you live in a castle more than thrice the size of this place,” Herbert laughed, loosing William’s arm for a moment and fishing for his pocket watch. “Ah, we still have plenty of time to wander the evening market.”
William made a faint sound of disbelief. “Herbie, we only just arrived,” he protested, but without much conviction. “Do we have to go rushing in already? Can’t we say my new wardrobe counts for today’s work?”
“Ah, darling,” Herbert sighed, looping his arm through William’s again and dragging him onwards down the street. “I have had this new wardrobe in various stages of collection from some charming designers for over three months.” He caught a rose from a stall as they swept past, lifting the scarlet bloom to his nose and sniffing. A glance over his shoulder silenced the seller and he smiled. “If you consider that one night’s work, then you are deluding yourself.”
William was strangely silent and three paces later, Herbert stopped and looked at him, brow arched expectantly.
“Three months?” William echoed faintly.
Ah, silly, darling William.
“Yes, cheri.” Herbert smiled warmly, eyes glinting. He turned to face William fully, carefully slipping the rose into William’s topmost and unused buttonhole, arranging the leaves against the dark wool. “As I said, only ever the best.”
Blue eyes stared up at him and, abruptly, Herbert was gifted with a fleeting kiss that drew a smile to his lips. Those bright eyes darted towards the cloud-dashed sky, lashes flickering quickly, nervously.
The precious darling, still so bashful about openly displaying his affection.
The snow-flecked wind whispered around them and he watched the way the loose curls of William’s fair hair caught and lifted in the breeze. Slipping his hand down William’s arm, his fingertips ghosted the edge of William’s cuff, traced across his palm, then threaded between William’s own pale digits.
Startled blue eyes darted to their hands and Herbert saw the brief, bashful smile.
“Come, darling,” he said warmly, lifting that hand to his lips and kissing William’s knuckles. “We have much to do.”
“Lead the way,” William replied, giving Herbert’s fingers a tentative squeeze.
With a broad, merry smile that could not be disturbed by the snow dashing against his cheeks and lashes, Herbert started along the snow-crusted pavements, William at his side, hands still twined happily together.
_____________________________
Squashing her still-dry and crispy cereal down under the cold milk, Dawn watched the chocolate spread through the liquid, staining her spoon. When she scooped up a mound of the just-soggy-enough flakes, she bit into them with a moan.
It had been months since she had choco puffs, and as often as she and Spike had tried to find somewhere, none of the stores that delivered food to the castle or manor had been able to provide them.
You could say what you liked, but toast and plain cereal got boring after a while.
Still in her pyjamas, she pulled one sock-decked foot up under her body and poked at the cereal some more as she chewed on a mouthful.
For the first time in the four days since she’d arrived, she had the whole huge table to herself in the dining room, and while the lack-of-fighting-for-the-best-cereal was good, she was missing the company that she usually had during meals.
It wasn’t a proper breakfast until Herbert had made either her or Spike snort so hard that cereal got lodged in their nose for the rest of the day.
Kneeling up, she dragged the coffee pot towards her and filled up her mug, adding a couple of spoons of sugar for good measure.
Yeah, her bed was great, big, soft and comfy, but it was way to empty. For hours, she would lie and stare at the ceiling, and she kinda got the feeling that four hours of sleep a night at most couldn’t be good night after night. Caffeine and sugar were quickly becoming faithful friends.
The pitiful tone of that thought made her snort and bang her spoon against the edge of her mug.
Always said she’d never get mushy over a guy and now, here she was, getting all messed up because she’d gotten used to having someone pressed against her, holding her while she slept.
“Stop being dumb,” she muttered to herself. “Not like he isn’t on his own too.”
Putting her spoon down with a bit more force than she otherwise would have used, she downed a mouthful of lukewarm coffee, grimacing. Only ever used the stuff when she needed to be really awake.
She had reclaimed her spoon and was halfway through completely soaked cereal when the door opened. Her spoon halfway to her mouth, she gave Xander a nod, then bit down on the pile of chocolate-and-corn mush.
“Everyone else someplace else?”
Nodding, she swallowed the mouthful of goop. “Slayery things to do,” she replied, giving the pile of mush in the bowl a quick stir. “Buffy said they had some of the new girls staying for Christmas.”
Wandering over, Xander sat at the end of the table, a seat away from her. “Yeah,” he said. “Kam’s gone to see what Slayer Central is like. Her cousin’s training here, so she’s getting the tour from Kennedy.”
Scooting the covered plate of pastries towards him, Dawn returned her attention to her cereal. “She’s nice,” she said.
“Yeah, she is.” Xander selected a doughnut, but turned it over between his fingers rather than biting into it. He frowned at it, putting it down on a plate in front of him, dusting the sugar off his fingers.
Licking her spoon clean of chocolate milk, Dawn cocked her head. “What’s up?” she inquired. “Doughnut rage?”
“You know I worry, Dawnie.” He looked up at her. “Buffy told me where you’re living now.” Dawn’s spine went rigid and clenched her jaw with a curt nod. “You don’t have to prove anything.”
“What makes you think I’m trying to prove anything?” she asked quietly.
“I know Buffy’s a great role model to follow,” Xander gazed at her seriously. “But you don’t have to do what she does. You’re tough, Dawnie, strong in your own way. You don’t need to do what she did.”
Dawn stared at him. “What she did?”
“The vampire-thing,” Xander replied, looking down. “Dawn, it never ends well.”
She stared at him a little longer, then grabbed her coffee cup, gulping down several mouthfuls to stop herself yelling at him. “What makes you think I’m anything like Buffy?” she asked, when she put the mug down carefully.
“Aren’t you?” he challenged, looking up at her. “Dating a vampire?”
Dawn gave him a smile. “Did they tell you that he’s the most powerful vampire this side of Europe?” she asked.
“Yeah...”
“Even more powerful than Dracula?”
The colour seemed to fade from Xander’s face, but he rallied quickly. “Dawn, look at what he did to Will the other night,” he said. “Look at what his... vampire-son-thing did to Buffy!”
“Buffy attacked Herbert first,” Dawn said. “And he won’t touch her again.”
“You’re defending vampires now?” Xander leaned closer to her, one arm on the polished surface of the table. “Dawn, they’re evil. They always have been. You and Buffy just seem to not notice that when you find yourselves boytoys.”
Dawn gazed at him steadily, didn’t say anything for a moment. “My ‘boytoy’ hasn’t been feeding from humans for years, Xander,” she said quietly. “And he doesn’t go out to destroy the world like other vampires we know you’re talking about.”
“He’s still a vampire,” Xander replied. “You remember what this school is for, right? Vampire Slayers. Not Demon Slayers. Not Monster Slayers. Vampire Slayers. There’s good reason for that.”
Dawn felt her teeth gritting together. “I’m not dumb,” she said, her voice quiet, but with a dangerous note in it. “You think I don’t know what they are? I know. I’ve known for almost as long as you have.”
“Then why?”
Dawn lifted a shoulder. “Maybe I wanted a guy who didn’t try and force his hand down my pants the first time we were alone together,” she replied. “Or someone who didn’t try to get me drunk so he could get some.”
“Speaking for my gender, hey! We’re not all like about the sex!”
Blue eyes levelled at him. “So, why should all vampires be all about the evil?”
“You know that’s not the point,” Xander said flatly. “Vampires are demons and they live on blood. You can’t tell me that’s a good thing.”
“You don’t even know what Johannes is like,” Dawn observed quietly, pulling up her legs in front of her. “What did Buffy tell you about him? Or did you even let her get past ‘vampire’?”
“She told me enough,” Xander said.
“Enough as in she said I was living with three vampires and none of them has hurt me or even touched me in evil ways since I got there?” Dawn turned her mug on the table. “Or as in, I’m living with the smartest guy ever who is teaching me stuff that no school could teach me about the world?”
“I bet he is.”
Dawn’s eyes flashed. “Ask Giles about him, then,” she said quietly, icily. “Or Wills. Or Faith. They all met him as well. Giles spent hours geeking out with him in the library. Hell, Johannes lives in his library. He’s all about the books.”
For a moment, Xander looked confused. “You mean you get actual lessons?”
“What did you think?” Dawn said incredulously. “He was keeping me there as his hypnotized sex-moppet?” Judging by the look that skipped across Xander’s face, that was exactly what he’d thought. “God, Xander, I thought you said you weren’t all about the sex!”
He had the grace to look embarrassed, fiddling with the button on his shirt. “I didn’t hear about that part,” he admitted grudgingly.
“You really didn’t let her get past ‘vampire’, did you?” Dawn felt the half-grin slip onto her lips. “Trust me, Xander, this guy is nothing like any vampire any of us have met before. And he thought Angelus was a jackass with no manners.”
Xander blinked. “I thought Angelus was a big hero in the vampire world.”
Dawn shrugged with a grin. “So did I, but Herbert told me that his dad didn’t like him. Apparently, Johannes and Herbert laid a super-vampire smackdown on all of them when Angelus was rude, right through from Darla to Spike.” She shook her head fondly. “Johannes likes his manners.”
“I know I’m singing an old tune, Dawnie, but he is a vampire, even if he is a polite book-geek.” Xander’s voice was quieter, less hostile. “You know we worry.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dawn replied with a faint smile. “But he’s a gentleman. Has been for four hundred years. You don’t get much more Honoury than that.”
“And what about when he isn’t so honoury?” Xander said. Dawn had to admit she was impressed. He was talking to her like an adult, instead of down at her like a kid. This was a proper, mature debate. “Angel was all good until he went evil. Spike was the same.”
Dawn grinned minutely. “Johannes can’t go evil like them,” she replied. “He doesn’t have a soul. He’s as bad as he can go right now. He just doesn’t do anything evil, because it’s uncivilized.”
Xander rubbed his eye. “So,” he said. “Lemme get this straight; you’re involved with a super-powerful magical vampire who’s only not a real bad guy because he has good manners?”
Dawn shrugged. “Pretty much.”
Leaning back in his seat, Xander gazed at her seriously, then reluctantly let one side of his mouth curve up. “At least it’s not Angel again, I guess,” he said, a familiar twinkle in his eye. “Or Spike, so that’s something.”
“Yeuch!” Dawn made a face. “Please! I have some taste.” She hesitated, then slowly, wickedly grinned. “But I am kinda Spike’s step-mom-in-law now, you know.”
If Xander had looked surprised now, it was doubled now. “What and a how now?”
“Spike,” she replied, grinning widely. “He’s known them since he was just made into a vampire, he says. He’s had a thing with Johannes’s son for years but now...” She feigned a swooning sigh. “They’re in love.”
“Spike’s turned gay?”
Dawn snorted, imagining the look on Spike’s face if he heard that. “No, dummy,” she laughed. “Spike’s a vampire. They do who they like, when they like.”
She saw the argument shaping itself in his mind.
“Like he did to Buffy...”
“That was different,” she said, calm, quiet. Her nails, though, were sinking into her palms. “And anyway, Spike has a soul now. He’s still Spike, but without so much of the grr-ness. And his hair is all floofy.”
“But you said your fangy one doesn’t have a soul,” he observed. “What if he tries to hurt you like...”
“Like Spike hurt Buffy?” Dawn shrugged mildly. “Not gonna happen. Buffy didn’t want Spike, and that’s why he did it. Can’t see a time he’ll need to do anything like that to get me to say yeah.”
“Skipping past the part where I was just given way too much information,” Xander said, screwing up his face. “What happens if he turns on you, just because he wants to? I mean, you’re ripe, mortally goodness and he... well, vampire. Known for liking the tender juiciness of mortals.”
“What if he tries to eat me?”
“See, you make it sound so simple when you put it like that.”
Dawn motioned to her throat. “He can’t bite my neck, for one thing.”
“But you have a whole lot more nibbleable skin,” Xander said.
For a moment, Dawn gazed at him pensively. Then, she undid her watch strap, slipping it over her hand. Turning her inner arm towards him, she saw his frown of confusion, then watched his eye dart over the inside of her wrist.
Abruptly, his chair was shoved back and he was sitting in the seat beside her with her wrist in his hand, touching the healed wound.
“What...?”
Her smile was crooked, faint. “I let him bite me,” she replied, then raised her other hand, quickly, to silence him. “No, not in the Riley-vamp-suck-job way. Kinda like a gesture. And hey, turns out he can’t eat me anyway.”
Xander’s eye rose to her. “You let a vampire bite you?” he said, staring at her as if he had never seen her before.
“And look how alive and rosy-pink I still am.” She stared back at him, worry written on her face. “Xander, don’t hate me because of this.” She reached out, clasping his hand. “I... I think it was meant to happen. I mean, I’m non-edible, because of the key-thing and Spike’s there and things...” She laughed weakly. “Things are really, really great and crazily normal, considering there are three vampires and a retired demon-god living there.” She bit her lip, staring at him staring at her. “Say something?”
Drawing his hand from hers, he stroked her cheek gently. “How could I ever hate the Dawn-monster?” he asked softly, giving her a hesitant smile. “You’re as much my sister as Buffy and Wills are.”
Despite herself, Dawn could feel her eyes stinging and she reached up to squeeze his hand again, her own smile as shaky as his. “Thanks.”
“Doesn’t mean I like it, though,” he added with a serious look. “You know what I think of vampires.”
“Yeah, but it means a lot that you don’t wanna go rushing in with flaming torches and stakes,” Dawn countered, as he sat back. “Buffy tried to attack them when she arrived and Vitto tried to smoosh Herbert. Johannes doesn’t like it when people attack him for no reason.”
“He hurts you,” Xander said quietly. “I’ll be there, flaming torches, stakes and quite possibly a tank at the ready. I can get one, y’know. When you work for governments, you can get anything.”
Dawn grinned a little at that. “I don’t think the guys’d be pleased if you drove a tank into the castle.”
“Then,” he said, his smile growing warmer. “You tell ’em they better not piss me off, okay?”
“You got it,” Dawn nodded firmly. She poured herself another cup of cooling coffee and spooned some sugar into it. “So, your turn to spill.” She turned an innocent look on him. “When did you start dating real humans?”
“Hey!”
Laughing, Dawn gave him a look. “Seriously, how many of your exes didn’t end up as demons in some way or other?”
“Cordy!” he exclaimed heatedly. “Cordy was human!”
“Until she got turned into a half-demon when she was in L.A.,” Dawn made a game-show buzzer sound. “Wrong answer.” Her eyes danced. “So... how is it dating a human, huh? Not like I know, right?”
Xander rolled his eye. “You just get worse and worse.”
“Oh, if you think I’m bad, wait until you meet Herbert...”
Wincing, Xander looked at her. “Do I have to?”
Dawn just grinned.
___________________________
Part Two.
RATING: Upper PG
FANDOMS: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series & Tanz der Vampire
SPOILERS: Buffy S1-7, Angel S1-5.
SUMMARY: Dawn visits home for a time.
SERIES: Part of Carpe Noctem series.
In order: As Aught of Mortal Birth, Per Ipsum, et cum Ipso, et in Ipso, Til The Moon Is Abed, Unwritten Words, What Remains, The Gentler Sex, Visitation, After the Storm, In The Name Of and In The Air and Makes Us Stronger and Three's a Crowd, then this chapter.
PAIRINGS: Spike/Herbert, Dawn/von Krolock etc.
WORDS: 11814
NOTES: Yes, I know it's May tomorrow, but this is the Christmas chapter, k? :P
__________________________________
To anyone who might have strayed too close to the grounds of the castle, it would have looked like any fond farewell, though it was being bade by the light of the night, rather than the day. Gathered by the large Landrover, the group of half a dozen were exchanging words and fond embraces.
“Don’t wreck the place while I’m gone!”
“Would we?” Spike grinned as he pulled back from Dawn. “You take care, y’hear, Nibs?”
Dawn laughed. “Always do, Spike,” she retorted, then swept into an exaggerated sweeping bow to Herbert, who had disentangled himself from Alfred. “And don’t you break him too bad, k? I wanna see him able to walk when I get home.”
Herbert pouted sweetly at her. “Would you ruin all my fun, cherie?” he inquired, though he stepped forward to kiss her lightly on both cheeks. “Do be sure to kill both your sister and that other charming Slayer for me.”
“Only if you promise not to screw Spike once while I’m away.”
“You evil little bitch!” Herbert exclaimed, horrified.
Dawn grinned widely at him. “Hey, I’m going cold-turkey here, too! You could be kinda sympathetic!”
Leaning close until his cheek brushed hers, Herbert whispered apologetically, “I am deeply sorry for your situation, cherie, but I am also evil and do not care that you are not... ah... boning my father.”
Tilting her head, Dawn bit his earlobe sharply. Leaping back with an exclamation of surprise, Herbert gaped at her, astonished.
“You bit me!”
“You chained me to my bed,” she replied with a grin. “I think we’re even.”
He stared at her until his father’s hand gently guided him aside. Von Krolock gazed down at her with a flicker of a smile. “You are utterly incorrigible, liebling,” he murmured, capturing her hands and lifting them to his lips.
“I try,” she replied, her merry expression giving way to a more sombre one. “Gonna miss you.”
Kissing her knuckles softly, his dark eyes closed briefly as his lips pressed to her skin. “And I you, liebling,” he said, the dark glitter of his eyes visible between his dark lashes. Pulling her hands free, she shoved his hands aside, and surged into him, kissing him hard, fiercely.
She felt the familiar pressure of his hands slipping over her hips, splaying at the base of her back and at the nape of her neck. Nails touched against her throat, scratching lightly, making her cling to him all the harder.
Around them, she guessed that the others would be looking around the yard, feigning disinterest. To be honest, she didn’t give a damn if they were watching and had cameras out.
Two weeks without him was gonna be Hell.
No, not quite Hell, because been there, done that, burned the T-shirt, but pretty damned close.
When she broke from the kiss, panting, her hands were clutching at his shoulders and she was trembling from more than just breathlessness. His forehead touched hers lightly and she looked up at him, a smile tripping across her lips.
“You better be waiting for me when I get back, Mister,” she whispered, her chest heaving as she gulped down breaths.
“Counting the moments, liebling,” he replied softly, dragging his hands from her body as reluctantly as she untangled her fingers from the folds of his dark waistcoat. Dark eyes glanced past her. “Be sure she arrives safely.”
“Of course,” Sarah replied from behind her. “We should make good time and arrive well before the check-in time.”
Fingertips touched her cheek and Dawn’s eyes closed as his lips touched hers once more, gently. “Be safe,” he whispered into the kiss, then he simply was gone. Dawn shivered and sighed.
“You should probably get going, Nibs,” Spike volunteered as she forced herself back to the present, the brisk chill of the night growing more noticeable. “Snow might slow you down a bit.”
“Yeah...” Pulling her winter coat closed around her, she looked at Sarah and Alfred, noticing that Alfred seemed to be further behind his lover than he had been a few minutes earlier. “You guys ready?”
Sarah nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Alfred. “I think so.”
“I am.” Alfred mumbled, stooping to grab a last bag and hurrying towards the car, scrambling into the back seat and pulling the door closed behind him, warily peeking out through the window.
Staring at him, Dawn suppressed a grin and looked back at Sarah. “So, still kinda scared of me, huh?”
“Petrified,” Sarah looked both amused and mildly concerned.
“Don’t think it helps that you just bit one of his big crushes,” Spike added with a chuckle. “And then, there’s the whole jumping-on-his-Boss too. Bound to throw you for a loop, that.”
“And cos of that, I get front seat privileges?” She grinned widely. “Huh! This being claimed thing is all kindsa cool.” She saw the looks exchanged between the vampires and her smile softened. “Seriously, not mocking.” Three sets of eyebrows rose. “Well, not much.”
“Now, be off with you, cherie,” Herbert said, making a shooing gesture. “We are not getting any warmer, and I doubt arriving at your sister’s with hypothermia will endear you to her.”
Dawn gave him a look. “You trying to get rid of me, Herbert?”
“Obviously.” He stepped closer and caught her by the arm, turning her towards the car. “You have made the castle smell like mortal girl. I must go and scrub every inch of it until it is at least a little tolerable.”
“Spike, your boyfriend is an ass!” she called over her shoulder.
“Don’t mean he’s not right, Nibs,” Spike retorted, laughing. “You go on, enjoy the thanksgiving-birthday-Christmasy crap and leave us to be evil for a bit.”
Lifted bodily into the passenger seat and strapped in by her lover’s son, Dawn made a face at the gold-haired vampire. “When I get back,” she said. “I’m gonna rub myself on every wall.”
Herbert’s nose wrinkled. “Darling, you really are quite disgusting.”
“You want for me to do it naked? I will, you know.”
“I dare not doubt it.” Still, he turned her face to his with a hand, thumb brushing the tip of her chin. “Do not stay away too long, petite cherie. Who would I come to for embarrassing tales of my William and his penchant for marshmallows?”
Smiling faintly, Dawn reached up and squeezed his hand. “You just want someone to freak out, Herbie,” she said as Sarah slid into the driver’s seat and pulled the door closed behind her.
“Well, yes, but you have the occasional uses.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, go, and enjoy those silly mortal festivals.”
“See you,” she replied softly, with a faint smile. “Make sure your dad’s okay.”
“You know you need not ask, cherie,” Herbert said, stepping back and closing the door. He raised his hand in a half-salute, half-wave, lips curved in a smile as brief as hers was.
The engine roared to life and Dawn closed her eyes, sighing. She tried not to look in the wing mirror as they headed down the long driveway, leaving the castle and her lover behind.
____________________
“How much are you expecting to buy?” William asked dubiously, looking into the empty car and, most noticeably, into the vacant space for shopping. “It’s a bloody big car, y’know.”
“I know,” Herbert replied cheerfully, folding the last seat down and examining his handiwork. Clapping his palms together, he beamed at William. “I have never had a Christmas before! This will be lovely!”
William looked like he was trying not to grin. “Don’t you think it’s a bit daft for a bunch of vampires to be celebrating the birth of the bloke who made the holy symbol that burns you holy?”
“Bah! Details!” Herbert replied. “And anyway, this is for Dawn.”
Even so, he knew he would never tell his father’s mortal such a thing. He would never hear the end of it if she found out it was his suggestion. Especially as it was a Christmas away from her family and she was not expecting any such gesture.
“Yeah, right,” William snorted. “You just want to go shopping.”
With a prim look, the elder vampire reached out and swatted William’s backside. “I will not deny that I am taking advantage of the circumstances,” he said gravely. “And, besides, I wish to go driving with you. If all else fails, we have room to sleep.”
Blue eyes twinkled. “Sleep, eh?”
Herbert’s lips twitched irrepressibly. “Of course.”
“So, that’s why you’ve tucked a fancy cashmere blanket under my seat?”
“Naturally, darling. I would not wish for you to be chilly.”
William laughed and shook his head. “You really are a daft bugger, y’know,” he said, wandering around to the side of the car. “So, where we off to, anyway?”
“Well,” Herbert replied, slamming the boot of the car down firmly and brushing his hands together. “I know a charming city which tends to have some rather delightful fairs arranged during the winter.”
William looked surprised and gratified. “And you’re sure your old man doesn’t mind staying home alone with Illyria?”
Herbert grinned as he pulled the door open and slid into the driver’s seat. “I suspect he will appreciate the peace for a few days,” he replied as William clambered into the passenger seat.
“Wait a minute.” Blue eyes darted to him suspiciously. “What d’you mean ‘days’?”
Slotting the key into the ignition, Herbert smiled innocently as the engine purred to life. “Nothing, cheri,” he replied.
“Herbie…”
“Oh, hush, darling,” Herbert replied with a laugh, reaching over to pat William’s thigh fondly. “Just sit back and enjoy yourself.” Before them, the garage doors slid open and he steered them out into the moonlight.
_________________________
“Dawnie!” With a clatter of heels, Buffy threaded through the crowds in the arrivals hall to collide with full force into her sister, making the younger woman stagger with a squeal that turned into a laugh.
“What did we tell you about embarrassing scenes!” she exclaimed, though she was grinning widely.
“You think this is a scene?” Buffy said, looking up at her. “What about them?”
A small finger pointed in the direction from which she had come and Dawn groaned aloud, clapping a hand over her eyes at the sight of balloons and a banner she had been avoiding looking at in case she had been right about what she thought she had seen out of the corner of her eye.
“Can I kill you yet?”
Buffy laughed, looping her arm through her sister’s. “Only after we get presents,” she said firmly. “C’mon. Everyone’s here for once.”
“Even Xander?”
Buffy nodded. “Even Xander,” she confirmed. “He’s come up from Nig... no... Ghana?” She frowned and shrugged. “Some country in Africa. Wherever it was that he was, he went somewhere else and that’s where he came from.”
Weaving and ducking between the rest of the arrivals as easily as two people locked at the arm could, Dawn was promptly grabbed and hugged by a beaming red head, beyond whom two brunettes were lowering the colourful birthday banner.
“Long time no see, Dawnie!”
Returning Willow’s hug, Dawn smiled. “You know what a drag school is,” she said flippantly, looking deceptively innocent when her sister and one of the approaching dark-haired girls snorted. “What?”
“How’s the Principal?” Faith inquired, with a lazy roll of her hips and a grin.
Dawn couldn’t help laughing. “He’s... uh... keeping on top of things,” she offered, smirking at the look that crossed Faith’s face. “So, Xander and Giles back at the school, huh?”
“Yeah!” Willow beamed. “Xander’s got himself a new girl!”
Dawn blinked. “Seriously?”
“They arrived yesterday,” Buffy nodded. “Her cousin’s a Slayer with us. Xander was the one who found her a few months back and now, he’s all kinds of snuggly with her big cousin. Kammy?”
“Kambiri,” Willow corrected.
Dawn grinned. “Good for him,” she said. “Wondered when he would get his groove-thing back on.” She looked at her sister. “And, hey. What about Vitto?” Judging by the grin the crossed her sister’s face, all badness of a month or two earlier was gone.
“He’s good,” she replied with an enigmatic little twitch of her lips. “He’ll be coming over this evening for dinner.”
“And Andrew,” Kennedy added. “Can’t forget him, can we?”
“He’ll be upset if you don’t give him hugs.” Willow leaned closer to Dawn. “He’s been practising his pout, I swear.”
Laughing, Dawn shook her head. “And he’s still teaching?”
“Trying to,” Faith said, snickering.
“He’s doing fine,” Buffy interrupted. “Can’t find many guys who want to teach an army of girls who can kick their ass.” She glared as a middle-aged couple shoved past them. “C’mon. We better move it. Too many people here.”
Kennedy grinned widely. “We can always clear a path, if you want,” she said with mock-innocence.
“Baby,” Willow gave her a chastising look. “For the greater good, only.”
“I’d say saving us money on parking is the greater good.” Kennedy’s eyes danced.
“K’s got a point,” Faith noted. “I forgot my wallet.”
Shaking her head, Buffy groaned as they started moving towards the exit. “And they let me be in charge?” she mumbled. “Why?”
____________________________________
It had barely been two days since the house had been abandoned by the son, Spike and the Morsel, yet even in that brief span of time, Illyria could see the change in the Sorcerer. Retreating to his library, he sank himself and his emotions into the books, so that they might divert him.
Striding down the room, she acquired one of the books, returning to him. The sound of the heavy tome dropping on the table echoed and he raised his eyes to her for the first time in several hours.
Strange, she noticed, that his studious silence could make her feel so uncertain, causing her to deliberately rouse him, to ensure that he was not ignorant to her continued presence.
“Highness?”
Watching his face, she remained standing beside the table. “Does this silence make their departure more tolerable?”
Black eyes, empty of emotion, gazed back at her. “It does not please you?”
Tilting her head, Illyria considered that. “I have grown accustomed to the noise of the younger mortals,” she said.
His mouth moved, but it was not what she would qualify as a smile. “As have I, but I will not waste time lamenting their absence, when I have such silence, a rare gift they have granted me.”
Flexing her fingers, the remnants of mortal bone within them clicking, she watched him curiously. “You find their absences strange,” she observed. “It displeases you and you seek refuge in study.”
“There is no shame in such a thing,” he replied, returning his attention to the notes he was taking.
“Why do you remain?”
His eyes rose to her, though he did not look up. “This is my home,” he said quietly. “I see no reason to depart.”
“You seek knowledge, yet you remain closed within the walls of this prison you have made for yourself,” she countered. “You see nothing of the world. All you know comes to you through the words and deeds of others.”
She saw the flicker of emotion in his eyes, and when he spoke, it was quiet, but she could hear the ice beneath it. “It is my way.” He returned his gaze to the page. “I have knowledge enough to last an eternity.”
“What do you fear?”
Those eyes lanced through her like a blade. “I fear nothing, Illyria,” he said, soft and deadly as poison.
“You lie,” she said flatly, simply. “All that has the capability of suffering pain and death fears in some form. You conceal yourself within a fortress of stone and books, away from a world of life. What causes you to do so?”
“It is my way,” he said softly, dangerously, rising from the seat.
Tilting her head in the other direction, she watched him. “It grieves those who care for you to see you so,” she said. “They know there is much for you to see, yet you do not look.” She looked towards the open door. “Even this festivity your Blood chooses to delight in, you ignore.”
The Sorcerer stepped closer to her, and she felt the sweep of his power about him.
Black eyes stared at her, and she shuddered as that icy mental touch raked through her mind, reminding her sharply of what she had lost, of what she had become and what she was reduced to.
“When you do not haunt my halls,” he said softly, like the whisper of a blade through the air. “You can speak to me of fear, little God.”
Drawing the shadows around him, he vanished.
______________________________
“Heads up, D!”
A parcel was tossed from under the Christmas tree by Faith and was snatched out of the air by Dawn, who shook it experimentally. “Sounds kinda broken,” she said, then grinned at the look on Willow’s face. “Kidding!”
“Meanie,” Willow mumbled.
They had gathered in the large living room after dinner, the four sofas covered in a miscellany of limbs and wrapping paper.
While it was still several weeks until Christmas, with their timetables being what they were, so few of them could be in one place at one time that they had agreed on an annual celebration combining half a dozen birthdays, a belated Thanksgiving and an early Christmas and New Year into one holiday.
Unfolding the paper and the square box nestled within, Dawn uttered an excited squeal that turned into a more puzzled “Huh...” She picked up the round crystal ball and gave Willow a bemused look. “You’re giving me my fortune?”
“If you look into it,” Willow beamed, “It’ll show you your dreams.”
“Oh my God!” Buffy laughed aloud. “You are totally doing a Goblin-King on her!”
On the couch, Xander groaned, clapping a hand over his good eye. “How long have you been waiting to say that line, Will?” he asked.
“Told you.” Kennedy nudged Willow, who blushed as brightly as her hair.
“So... uh... what is it?” Dawn inquired, looking around at them.
“It’s a crystal,” Buffy intoned gravely.
“Nothing more,” Xander finished.
“You guys!” Willow exclaimed.
Xander snickered. “Looks like we moved in on her territory, Buff.”
The blonde Slayer looked contrite, snuggling comfortably against Vittorio’s chest, her eyes dancing. “Our bad, Wills,” she said without any trace of sincerity. “We’ll stop stealing your lines.”
Making a face at him, Willow sniffed and looked at Dawn. “It’s something that’ll let you see whatever you wanna see, Dawnie,” she said, scooting from her position by her lover towards Dawn. She reached out to turn the crystal towards the light. “You just gotta look real hard and then you’ll see.”
Dawn glanced at her, frowning marginally. “So it shows what I think of?”
Willow looked like she might burst with glee. “Nope!” she said. “It shows you what you wanna see when you wanna see it, wherever it is.”
“Willow, super-witch and purveyor of spy-gadgets that would make the CIA green with envy.” Xander raised a hand to ward off Willow’s mock-glare. “Hey, don’t judge the one-eyed man for what he sees!”
While the others laughed, Dawn cradled the crystal ball in her palms. “I just gotta look in it?”
Willow nodded eagerly. “Go ahead! Try it!”
Licking her lips, Dawn nodded, staring down at the crystal. All she could see was her own distorted reflection squinting at her, like she had something in her eye. “It isn’t working,” she said, frowning.
“You’re thinking to hard about thinking about how to make it work,” Willow said briskly. “Just look in it and imagine what you wanna. I had to try it a load of times before I got it right.”
A little doubtful, Dawn nodded and peered at the shimmering surface again. She could see the flicker of the flames in the fireplace through it. She could even see the reflection of the baubles on the huge Christmas tree, but she couldn’t see Johannes, not even a glimpse of him.
It shocked her just how much thinking about him made her ache for him.
What was he doing? Was he in the library? Yeah, probably. He always went there when he wanted alone time. Probably surrounded by books, and he always liked to read by candlelight more than electric.
It felt like something was prickling in her hands and she gasped, staring at the crystal. Within the heart of it, a figure was coming into focus. She felt the smile come to her lips as she recognised it.
“It worked,” she whispered, drawing the crystal ball closer to her chest, shielding it, making it hers alone.
“Told ya.” Willow patted her on the knee. She could hear the smile in the witch’s voice. “You like?”
“Yeah...” Tracing the tips of her thumbs around the shape of her lover, Dawn saw his silver hair slide against his waistcoat, head bowed over a tome, candlelight flickering softly, warmly. Yep. Library. “Thanks, Will.”
Sitting back, Willow snuggled against Kennedy. “Wanted to give you something so you could peek in on us if you wanted to,” she said happily. “Don’t get you visiting as much anymore, so this way, you can have a look and see how we are.”
“Only during the day!” Buffy warned.
“And not on a Tuesday,” Kambiri added, her soft, rich accent filled with mirth. The Nigerian girl had deep, chocolate-coloured skin and laughing mahogany eyes. With a gap between her white teeth, her smile was broad and impish and, once seen, never forgotten. “Or early in the morning, either. We don’t want to be watched. Unless you make a profit, then we want a cut, okay?”
“Honey...” Xander mumbled.
His girlfriend laughed. “What? You think that because I’m a normal girl in a house of super people, I should stop talking like I always talk?”
“I can hope,” he replied.
Dawn could hear his smile, but didn’t look up as she noted, “You know how to pick them, Xan.” Against her palms, it felt like the ball buzzed and she gasped as dark eyes within the depths of the crystal rose, looking straight at her. “Oh my God...”
Beside her, she vaguely registered Willow tensing with a yelp.
In the crystal, she saw Johannes touch his fingertips to his lips, almost as if blowing a kiss, and he smiled before the crystal went clear.
“What...?”
Willow was shivering, her nose wrinkled. “Oh... oh...” she whimpered, flapping her hands. “Ohhhh...” She squinted through one squeezed-shut eye. “Is my brain splooshing out my ears?”
“No... no brain splooshiness on this side...” Dawn frowned.
“Or on this side,” Kennedy added, squeezing Willow’s shoulder. “Will, what is it?”
Willow touched her temples, managing to open her eyes. “Feels like brain freeze.”
“How’d’you get a brain-freeze without ice cream?”
The witch looked at her. “Your boyfriend,” she replied, shaking her head as if to clear it. Exhaling a breath, she blinked watery eyes. “Okay, better now.”
“Whoa... what do you mean her boyfriend?” Xander demanded. “Her boyfriend who is a different country?”
Carefully placing the crystal ball back into the box and hastily closing the lid, Dawn looked nervously at Willow. “Um... maybe it was accidental?” she offered, knowing that if it involved Johannes and magic, there was no way it was accidental.
Blinking again, Willow shook her head. “He doesn’t like me peeking in on people like that,” she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose gingerly, as if afraid it might drop off. “Specially not on him.”
“And he can make you feel that not-like from three countries away?” Xander looked almost as wigged as he sounded. His dark eye moved from the white-faced Willow to Dawn, brows drawing down.
“He is a powerful Sorcerer.” Giles was the one who spoke, to Dawn’s relief.
“Yeah, getting that,” Xander said, though he was still looking at Dawn, who shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “The whole blow-back-from-three-countries-away is what you call a not-small hint.”
“Xander...” Buffy sighed.
“Voice of reason speaking here...”
“Hey!” From beside the Christmas tree, the second-eldest Slayer knelt up, hands on her hips. “We gonna stop pissin’ around and gettin’ to my presents or what? Just cos D decided to visit don’t mean she gets all the attention, k? My birthday too.”
Dawn could have kissed her with relief.
Dealing with Xander and his anti-vamp league was not what she needed right now, not when everything had been going so well.
“Yeah,” Kennedy said quickly, nodding from Xander to Faith. “Let her open her presents already. We want to get her kitted out with her new toys so we can stop her complaining about how many Italian Stallions there aren’t.”
Xander went a strange shade of puce, but sank back on the couch beside Kambiri. “I don’t want to know,” he mumbled, covering his face with one hand.
Dawn threw a weak smile Kennedy’s way and saw the Slayer wink as she gathered Willow in her arms. Another glance took in Faith, who was burrowing under the tree like an excited kid.
“Fuck, yeah!” The Slayer exclaimed, erupting triumphantly with an open package in her hands. “Supersize vibratomatic!”
Despite herself, Dawn burst out laughing.
_________________________
“Still think I look bloody ridiculous.”
Herbert turned to smooth William’s lapels once more, smacking his hands away when William tried to move them again. “You no longer look like a vagabond, cheri,” he replied, lifting his own hands to tuck curls behind William’s ears.
As he looked down at the clothing that had been awaiting him in their luxury suite, the younger vampire’s nose wrinkled doubtfully. “Not the kind of thing I’m used to wearing,” he mumbled.
With a deep blue, turtle-necked woollen pullover and perfectly cut black trousers, he looked refined, almost elegant. Over it, a thick, warm, black winter coat hung to just above mid-thigh. With the lapels smoothed, Herbert’s fingers slipped down to fasten the buttons, pausing only to arrange William’s scarf more neatly.
“I think you look marvellous, cheri,” he said softly, raising his eyes from his task to admire the faint bloom of colour that splashed so briefly and beautifully across William’s cheekbones.
Leaning forward, he kissed him softly, revelling in the sigh that escaped William.
“And soon,” he added fondly against William’s lips, one fingertip coiling an errant sandy coil of hair around it. “Your hair will be long enough to tie back once more.” The tip of his nose brushed William’s. “So much more dashing.”
“Kind of two centuries late for that, you silly poofter,” William mumbled against his lips, and though the dear boy was trying to scowl, his lips were twitching into the first glimpse of a bashful smile.
With a merry laugh, Herbert caught him by the arm, tugging him out of the elevator as the doors slid open. The lobby of the hotel was quiet, with only a few guests here and there, though not one of them could ignore the presence of the two handsome vampires as they emerged from the elevator.
It was a discreet, elegant establishment, or it had been until Herbert had swept them both in shortly after sundown, only two hours before, making several of the clerks sigh and most of the maids blush.
“Don’t know why you picked such a posh place,” William muttered.
Herbert laughed. Such a silly darling, sometimes. “Only ever the best, cheri,” he replied over his shoulder, inclining his head with a broad smile as the doorman pulled the thick glass panel open, letting them out into the snowy streets of Vienna.
Above them, the facade of the building towered imperiously, the pillared columns and tall windows stretching onwards and upwards.
“Too bloody posh,” William said flatly.
“And you complain, cheri, when you live in a castle more than thrice the size of this place,” Herbert laughed, loosing William’s arm for a moment and fishing for his pocket watch. “Ah, we still have plenty of time to wander the evening market.”
William made a faint sound of disbelief. “Herbie, we only just arrived,” he protested, but without much conviction. “Do we have to go rushing in already? Can’t we say my new wardrobe counts for today’s work?”
“Ah, darling,” Herbert sighed, looping his arm through William’s again and dragging him onwards down the street. “I have had this new wardrobe in various stages of collection from some charming designers for over three months.” He caught a rose from a stall as they swept past, lifting the scarlet bloom to his nose and sniffing. A glance over his shoulder silenced the seller and he smiled. “If you consider that one night’s work, then you are deluding yourself.”
William was strangely silent and three paces later, Herbert stopped and looked at him, brow arched expectantly.
“Three months?” William echoed faintly.
Ah, silly, darling William.
“Yes, cheri.” Herbert smiled warmly, eyes glinting. He turned to face William fully, carefully slipping the rose into William’s topmost and unused buttonhole, arranging the leaves against the dark wool. “As I said, only ever the best.”
Blue eyes stared up at him and, abruptly, Herbert was gifted with a fleeting kiss that drew a smile to his lips. Those bright eyes darted towards the cloud-dashed sky, lashes flickering quickly, nervously.
The precious darling, still so bashful about openly displaying his affection.
The snow-flecked wind whispered around them and he watched the way the loose curls of William’s fair hair caught and lifted in the breeze. Slipping his hand down William’s arm, his fingertips ghosted the edge of William’s cuff, traced across his palm, then threaded between William’s own pale digits.
Startled blue eyes darted to their hands and Herbert saw the brief, bashful smile.
“Come, darling,” he said warmly, lifting that hand to his lips and kissing William’s knuckles. “We have much to do.”
“Lead the way,” William replied, giving Herbert’s fingers a tentative squeeze.
With a broad, merry smile that could not be disturbed by the snow dashing against his cheeks and lashes, Herbert started along the snow-crusted pavements, William at his side, hands still twined happily together.
_____________________________
Squashing her still-dry and crispy cereal down under the cold milk, Dawn watched the chocolate spread through the liquid, staining her spoon. When she scooped up a mound of the just-soggy-enough flakes, she bit into them with a moan.
It had been months since she had choco puffs, and as often as she and Spike had tried to find somewhere, none of the stores that delivered food to the castle or manor had been able to provide them.
You could say what you liked, but toast and plain cereal got boring after a while.
Still in her pyjamas, she pulled one sock-decked foot up under her body and poked at the cereal some more as she chewed on a mouthful.
For the first time in the four days since she’d arrived, she had the whole huge table to herself in the dining room, and while the lack-of-fighting-for-the-best-cereal was good, she was missing the company that she usually had during meals.
It wasn’t a proper breakfast until Herbert had made either her or Spike snort so hard that cereal got lodged in their nose for the rest of the day.
Kneeling up, she dragged the coffee pot towards her and filled up her mug, adding a couple of spoons of sugar for good measure.
Yeah, her bed was great, big, soft and comfy, but it was way to empty. For hours, she would lie and stare at the ceiling, and she kinda got the feeling that four hours of sleep a night at most couldn’t be good night after night. Caffeine and sugar were quickly becoming faithful friends.
The pitiful tone of that thought made her snort and bang her spoon against the edge of her mug.
Always said she’d never get mushy over a guy and now, here she was, getting all messed up because she’d gotten used to having someone pressed against her, holding her while she slept.
“Stop being dumb,” she muttered to herself. “Not like he isn’t on his own too.”
Putting her spoon down with a bit more force than she otherwise would have used, she downed a mouthful of lukewarm coffee, grimacing. Only ever used the stuff when she needed to be really awake.
She had reclaimed her spoon and was halfway through completely soaked cereal when the door opened. Her spoon halfway to her mouth, she gave Xander a nod, then bit down on the pile of chocolate-and-corn mush.
“Everyone else someplace else?”
Nodding, she swallowed the mouthful of goop. “Slayery things to do,” she replied, giving the pile of mush in the bowl a quick stir. “Buffy said they had some of the new girls staying for Christmas.”
Wandering over, Xander sat at the end of the table, a seat away from her. “Yeah,” he said. “Kam’s gone to see what Slayer Central is like. Her cousin’s training here, so she’s getting the tour from Kennedy.”
Scooting the covered plate of pastries towards him, Dawn returned her attention to her cereal. “She’s nice,” she said.
“Yeah, she is.” Xander selected a doughnut, but turned it over between his fingers rather than biting into it. He frowned at it, putting it down on a plate in front of him, dusting the sugar off his fingers.
Licking her spoon clean of chocolate milk, Dawn cocked her head. “What’s up?” she inquired. “Doughnut rage?”
“You know I worry, Dawnie.” He looked up at her. “Buffy told me where you’re living now.” Dawn’s spine went rigid and clenched her jaw with a curt nod. “You don’t have to prove anything.”
“What makes you think I’m trying to prove anything?” she asked quietly.
“I know Buffy’s a great role model to follow,” Xander gazed at her seriously. “But you don’t have to do what she does. You’re tough, Dawnie, strong in your own way. You don’t need to do what she did.”
Dawn stared at him. “What she did?”
“The vampire-thing,” Xander replied, looking down. “Dawn, it never ends well.”
She stared at him a little longer, then grabbed her coffee cup, gulping down several mouthfuls to stop herself yelling at him. “What makes you think I’m anything like Buffy?” she asked, when she put the mug down carefully.
“Aren’t you?” he challenged, looking up at her. “Dating a vampire?”
Dawn gave him a smile. “Did they tell you that he’s the most powerful vampire this side of Europe?” she asked.
“Yeah...”
“Even more powerful than Dracula?”
The colour seemed to fade from Xander’s face, but he rallied quickly. “Dawn, look at what he did to Will the other night,” he said. “Look at what his... vampire-son-thing did to Buffy!”
“Buffy attacked Herbert first,” Dawn said. “And he won’t touch her again.”
“You’re defending vampires now?” Xander leaned closer to her, one arm on the polished surface of the table. “Dawn, they’re evil. They always have been. You and Buffy just seem to not notice that when you find yourselves boytoys.”
Dawn gazed at him steadily, didn’t say anything for a moment. “My ‘boytoy’ hasn’t been feeding from humans for years, Xander,” she said quietly. “And he doesn’t go out to destroy the world like other vampires we know you’re talking about.”
“He’s still a vampire,” Xander replied. “You remember what this school is for, right? Vampire Slayers. Not Demon Slayers. Not Monster Slayers. Vampire Slayers. There’s good reason for that.”
Dawn felt her teeth gritting together. “I’m not dumb,” she said, her voice quiet, but with a dangerous note in it. “You think I don’t know what they are? I know. I’ve known for almost as long as you have.”
“Then why?”
Dawn lifted a shoulder. “Maybe I wanted a guy who didn’t try and force his hand down my pants the first time we were alone together,” she replied. “Or someone who didn’t try to get me drunk so he could get some.”
“Speaking for my gender, hey! We’re not all like about the sex!”
Blue eyes levelled at him. “So, why should all vampires be all about the evil?”
“You know that’s not the point,” Xander said flatly. “Vampires are demons and they live on blood. You can’t tell me that’s a good thing.”
“You don’t even know what Johannes is like,” Dawn observed quietly, pulling up her legs in front of her. “What did Buffy tell you about him? Or did you even let her get past ‘vampire’?”
“She told me enough,” Xander said.
“Enough as in she said I was living with three vampires and none of them has hurt me or even touched me in evil ways since I got there?” Dawn turned her mug on the table. “Or as in, I’m living with the smartest guy ever who is teaching me stuff that no school could teach me about the world?”
“I bet he is.”
Dawn’s eyes flashed. “Ask Giles about him, then,” she said quietly, icily. “Or Wills. Or Faith. They all met him as well. Giles spent hours geeking out with him in the library. Hell, Johannes lives in his library. He’s all about the books.”
For a moment, Xander looked confused. “You mean you get actual lessons?”
“What did you think?” Dawn said incredulously. “He was keeping me there as his hypnotized sex-moppet?” Judging by the look that skipped across Xander’s face, that was exactly what he’d thought. “God, Xander, I thought you said you weren’t all about the sex!”
He had the grace to look embarrassed, fiddling with the button on his shirt. “I didn’t hear about that part,” he admitted grudgingly.
“You really didn’t let her get past ‘vampire’, did you?” Dawn felt the half-grin slip onto her lips. “Trust me, Xander, this guy is nothing like any vampire any of us have met before. And he thought Angelus was a jackass with no manners.”
Xander blinked. “I thought Angelus was a big hero in the vampire world.”
Dawn shrugged with a grin. “So did I, but Herbert told me that his dad didn’t like him. Apparently, Johannes and Herbert laid a super-vampire smackdown on all of them when Angelus was rude, right through from Darla to Spike.” She shook her head fondly. “Johannes likes his manners.”
“I know I’m singing an old tune, Dawnie, but he is a vampire, even if he is a polite book-geek.” Xander’s voice was quieter, less hostile. “You know we worry.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dawn replied with a faint smile. “But he’s a gentleman. Has been for four hundred years. You don’t get much more Honoury than that.”
“And what about when he isn’t so honoury?” Xander said. Dawn had to admit she was impressed. He was talking to her like an adult, instead of down at her like a kid. This was a proper, mature debate. “Angel was all good until he went evil. Spike was the same.”
Dawn grinned minutely. “Johannes can’t go evil like them,” she replied. “He doesn’t have a soul. He’s as bad as he can go right now. He just doesn’t do anything evil, because it’s uncivilized.”
Xander rubbed his eye. “So,” he said. “Lemme get this straight; you’re involved with a super-powerful magical vampire who’s only not a real bad guy because he has good manners?”
Dawn shrugged. “Pretty much.”
Leaning back in his seat, Xander gazed at her seriously, then reluctantly let one side of his mouth curve up. “At least it’s not Angel again, I guess,” he said, a familiar twinkle in his eye. “Or Spike, so that’s something.”
“Yeuch!” Dawn made a face. “Please! I have some taste.” She hesitated, then slowly, wickedly grinned. “But I am kinda Spike’s step-mom-in-law now, you know.”
If Xander had looked surprised now, it was doubled now. “What and a how now?”
“Spike,” she replied, grinning widely. “He’s known them since he was just made into a vampire, he says. He’s had a thing with Johannes’s son for years but now...” She feigned a swooning sigh. “They’re in love.”
“Spike’s turned gay?”
Dawn snorted, imagining the look on Spike’s face if he heard that. “No, dummy,” she laughed. “Spike’s a vampire. They do who they like, when they like.”
She saw the argument shaping itself in his mind.
“Like he did to Buffy...”
“That was different,” she said, calm, quiet. Her nails, though, were sinking into her palms. “And anyway, Spike has a soul now. He’s still Spike, but without so much of the grr-ness. And his hair is all floofy.”
“But you said your fangy one doesn’t have a soul,” he observed. “What if he tries to hurt you like...”
“Like Spike hurt Buffy?” Dawn shrugged mildly. “Not gonna happen. Buffy didn’t want Spike, and that’s why he did it. Can’t see a time he’ll need to do anything like that to get me to say yeah.”
“Skipping past the part where I was just given way too much information,” Xander said, screwing up his face. “What happens if he turns on you, just because he wants to? I mean, you’re ripe, mortally goodness and he... well, vampire. Known for liking the tender juiciness of mortals.”
“What if he tries to eat me?”
“See, you make it sound so simple when you put it like that.”
Dawn motioned to her throat. “He can’t bite my neck, for one thing.”
“But you have a whole lot more nibbleable skin,” Xander said.
For a moment, Dawn gazed at him pensively. Then, she undid her watch strap, slipping it over her hand. Turning her inner arm towards him, she saw his frown of confusion, then watched his eye dart over the inside of her wrist.
Abruptly, his chair was shoved back and he was sitting in the seat beside her with her wrist in his hand, touching the healed wound.
“What...?”
Her smile was crooked, faint. “I let him bite me,” she replied, then raised her other hand, quickly, to silence him. “No, not in the Riley-vamp-suck-job way. Kinda like a gesture. And hey, turns out he can’t eat me anyway.”
Xander’s eye rose to her. “You let a vampire bite you?” he said, staring at her as if he had never seen her before.
“And look how alive and rosy-pink I still am.” She stared back at him, worry written on her face. “Xander, don’t hate me because of this.” She reached out, clasping his hand. “I... I think it was meant to happen. I mean, I’m non-edible, because of the key-thing and Spike’s there and things...” She laughed weakly. “Things are really, really great and crazily normal, considering there are three vampires and a retired demon-god living there.” She bit her lip, staring at him staring at her. “Say something?”
Drawing his hand from hers, he stroked her cheek gently. “How could I ever hate the Dawn-monster?” he asked softly, giving her a hesitant smile. “You’re as much my sister as Buffy and Wills are.”
Despite herself, Dawn could feel her eyes stinging and she reached up to squeeze his hand again, her own smile as shaky as his. “Thanks.”
“Doesn’t mean I like it, though,” he added with a serious look. “You know what I think of vampires.”
“Yeah, but it means a lot that you don’t wanna go rushing in with flaming torches and stakes,” Dawn countered, as he sat back. “Buffy tried to attack them when she arrived and Vitto tried to smoosh Herbert. Johannes doesn’t like it when people attack him for no reason.”
“He hurts you,” Xander said quietly. “I’ll be there, flaming torches, stakes and quite possibly a tank at the ready. I can get one, y’know. When you work for governments, you can get anything.”
Dawn grinned a little at that. “I don’t think the guys’d be pleased if you drove a tank into the castle.”
“Then,” he said, his smile growing warmer. “You tell ’em they better not piss me off, okay?”
“You got it,” Dawn nodded firmly. She poured herself another cup of cooling coffee and spooned some sugar into it. “So, your turn to spill.” She turned an innocent look on him. “When did you start dating real humans?”
“Hey!”
Laughing, Dawn gave him a look. “Seriously, how many of your exes didn’t end up as demons in some way or other?”
“Cordy!” he exclaimed heatedly. “Cordy was human!”
“Until she got turned into a half-demon when she was in L.A.,” Dawn made a game-show buzzer sound. “Wrong answer.” Her eyes danced. “So... how is it dating a human, huh? Not like I know, right?”
Xander rolled his eye. “You just get worse and worse.”
“Oh, if you think I’m bad, wait until you meet Herbert...”
Wincing, Xander looked at her. “Do I have to?”
Dawn just grinned.
___________________________
Part Two.