drakenet | Phone | Private to Buffy Summers

[ buffy's much more subdued. she still feels bad for what happened with rafael. dragging him halfway around the world just to get his heart broken: not what she'd call a success. her mood might be picking up a little with the phone call, but that doesn't mean she's gonna launch into it and bring the mood down. ]

Not near as good as what England must be like, from the sound of it. [ it's a deflection. not even a good one. ] You're ... peppy. What'd I miss?

[Oh, he'd hoped things had gone better. He pauses, unsure if he should press or not, but bragging wins out over concern for the moment. He'll ask later.]

I got promoted. [A beat.] D'you think you'll be back soon? I'd like you to come to the ceremony. If, uh, you can. Myri too.

... Oh! You're -- Promoted. Like ... Like knight promoted? [ her bafflement beats out her ability to be pleased for him but she fights back the instinctive feelings of oh god everyone but me is getting promoted why am i so deficient. and there's real enthusiasm in her voice when she speaks next. ] Spike, that's great! I -- Yeah, yeah, we're actually heading back tonight. I'd love to be there. I'll talk to Myri about it. She's gonna be so excited, maybe you guys can -- [ wait. maybe myri wants to tell him herself. OH WELL. ] Kat told her she'd putting in for Myri to get full knight, too. Maybe you'll get one big joint-ceremony.

Myri got promoted too? That's brilliant! [He's glad this seems to have improved her mood, at least, though he hasn't forgotten that first comment.] I've no idea if they do joint ceremonies. It's different from the squire ceremonies. Smaller. With just, you know, people you invite. [And there's no one he'd rather have around than his failboat family.]

I -- Don't tell her I told you, she might have wanted to say something herself, I just -- [ needed to blurt something out to avoid dwelling on the fact that she wasn't. ] Excitement. You know how it goes. Just ... pretend you're surprised.

[ anyway ... ] Who else are you thinking of inviting? [ there's shifting as she settles in to get cozier. ]

I'll pretend. I promise. [He sounds amused.]

For the ceremony? Rest of the team, I guess. Francesca too. Haven't thought about it much. [Past Buffy. He had to invite Buffy. He hesitates for a moment because party planning is kind of dull and he misses Buffy and she clearly hasn't been promoted, or she'd have said so.] You know, your knight'll probably promote you as soon as he has a chance to actually talk to you, right? You've been amazing. He'll have seen it in reports.

[ oh he just had to go there. buffy gives an exhale that's almost a laugh. on her side of the phone, she's shaking her head and rolling her eyes as a means of fighting back what's almost surprise tears that sneak up, because jack is a sore subject in and of itself. he's never there, and she's needed him. so many times, she's needed him, and it's just ... a voice on a phone.

besides. she's not so sure. ] What mission were you on? I almost beat you to death, remember? I told him. That I was -- That I was seeing stuff. [ she sniffs a little. ] He probably thinks I'm a psycho. Not knight material. [ she waves a hand. ] It's not a big deal. Besides, he's had ... Jack's had other stuff. Squire isn't really priority.

Sounds like Lan turned out to not be so bad though, huh? [ there's a bit of an urging strain in her voice as she scrambles to shift the subject back onto him. ]

He's all right. Not winning mentor of the year, or anything, but... [He shrugs, not that she can see it.] It wasn't nearly to death. A few punches. And you're not a psycho. You... [He frowns.] You should be priority. [She's worth more than a deadbeat mentor who's never around. She should have all the support she can get.]

I do all right. [ she takes a breath. ] Besides. Kat's way cooler. Just wait til you hear about Venice. [ proudly; ] This totally famous guy took me on one of those -- whaddyou call 'em? Garbanzo ... ? The boats.

Gondola. [Garbanzo, Buffy? Really? He sounds amused. And lets her change the subject. And doesn't feel even a twinge of jealousy at the idea of some famous poofter taking Buffy out on an extremely romantic boat ride.] Sounds like more fun than I had. I met the Bride of Edward Scissorhands and some giant tatooed bloke.

... Okay, this one I need to hear.

[He grins, more than happy to oblige, and immediately launches into the tale.] I was stuck in the record building doing some recon work with Mark of all people when we saw her. Wearing all black leather with these wicked-looking claws. Naturally, we followed. Not without incident. Mark's bloody scarf got caught in the elevator door.

All leather, huh? No wonder she got your attention. [ this is her color commentary that's here to encourage him to continue. she ain't even surprised by mark fucking up. ]

I do know what I like. [So Buffy should wear that outfit for him someday he'd just follow her around drooling.] So I left Mark standing guard and followed the bird into some sort of auditorium. Caught up with her and the tattoo guy in the lighting booth. They played the threat game, but that doesn't work on me. And lucky for me, the bitch wasn't human. [He smirks, the smugness leaking into his voice.] Didn't take more than one blow before she slipped up and cut off tattoo guy's fingers.

Oh, come on. We were only gone a couple days, how'd you get all James Bond so fast? [ she fidgeted with the seam of her pant leg, smile evident in her voice. ] I mean, really, how do I know how much of this is Spike's great imaginarium and which parts are actually true?

You think I'd lie to you? [The mock-offence in his voice can't quite hide the amusement.] It's all true. [He just couldn't show off his James Bondness before when they were fighting humans.]

Lie is such a strong word. How aboooouuut ... creatively interpret.

Do you want to quibble over details, or do you want the rest of the story?

Oh, there's more? Wow. And here I thought your crowning victory over a girl in leather was the climax. By all means.

Girl in leather with claws for hands. That bit's important.

You were saying? About more story? [ buffy's enjoying this far too much. she's rolled over onto her stomach because i've decided she's lying on the hotel bed in chicago. she kicks her feet up. ]

[Spike's in his room in the castle, so this'll work really nicely when they segue into phone sex.]

Right. Well, they had all this stuff they were questioning me about even though as the guy with all my fingers, I had all the power then. [His voice gets a little more serious, though he's not sure how much he should be divulging, now that he knows the Forge is bugged. But this much, at least, the bad guys would already know.]

They knew me. That I was with the Knights. But they believed me when I said I was just a fan of Eterna's, so they let me leave.

Knew you. [ she stops, growing serious. the smile cuts out of her voice. she sits up. phone sex boner killed. ] What do you mean, how could they know you?

[Spike's silent for a moment, trying to find a good way to put this.] I'll tell you back at the castle.

Spike -- [ her tone says she really doesn't like this answer, but she stops short because whatever she's gonna be there like tomorrow. ]

Fine. [ she's pouting. better find something to make it better. not your penis. ]

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