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Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by TalesofSpike
 
Chapter 3.05
 
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Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 3 - PARTY FEARS TWO

And what if this party fears two
The alcohol loves you while turning you blue
View it from here from closer to near
Awake me



(The Associates)





Chapter 3.05
Saturday, May 18th, 2002

Lori sidled into a gap next to where Tara stood with Wes to watch the vampire perform. "Hey there. I didn't know Spike could play," she whispered.

Tara turned with a smile. "Neither did we. So far as I know, he doesn't even own a guitar... but I kinda get the impression that Cutie there, gets to see a whole different persona from the Big Bad."

"I won't even ask," Lori replied.

As Spike finished, tossing the guitar to Giles with a, "Hoi, Rupert, you're up," Tara turned to chat to the other woman, missing the gentle prompting that Lily gave the older watcher. "Have you just arrived?"

"I wish... I got cornered by the boss about ten minutes after I got here, wanting my opinion on whether we should upgrade to Windows XP or not, as if I'm going to know without ever having seen it."

"I think that's what's on Spike's new PC at our place if you did want a look."

"S'okay, I eventually convinced him to speak to the IT team and go with whatever they recommend." The brunette gave Tara a curious look.

"You look a bit different. I think it's the lack of a redhead on your arm."

"W-w-we broke up." Tara watched Lori through a curtain of hair as she spoke.

"Permanent or break?"

"I think this time it's beyond anything a break could fix."

"I'm sorry," the older woman offered. "When you get to the stage where you begin taking an interest in other people again, I know a couple of nice women who're fairly cute, and if you like men I've got a younger brother who's just transferred to UC Sunnydale for his final year."

Tara shook her head. "Not into men at all, and I think it could be sometime next decade before I'm looking to start dating again."

"Don't you know? Romance only comes along when you don't expect it. It's a statistical impossibility to find a decent guy, well, partner, when you're looking for one. As soon as you decide you're off the market. up comes Mr or Ms Right.

Isn't that right, Wes?"

"What? I'm sorry. I didn't catch what you were saying." Wes drew his attention away from where Giles was singing, 'Love the One You're With', apparently inspired by Spike's foray into the works of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The younger Watcher was beginning to feel that there was a conspiracy against him, which was only confirmed when Lori repeated her question.

"I was saying to Tara that it's generally when you swear off love that you finally meet 'The One'?"

"I'm afraid as a bachelor, I can't really comment."

"Not even any near misses?"

"That would very much depend on how you look at it," Wes replied thinking of the night, not even a year ago when all the AI staff except Lorne had attended the ballet. "I think maybe I missed my chance."

Having seen how the former watcher's glance had strayed in Fred's direction whenever he wasn't otherwise occupied during the long hours while they had waited for Lorne to be rescued, not to mention the obvious tension between him and Gunn, Lori's words weren't really a stab in the dark. "My mom used to say that dating's like opening up one of those parcels where you've got boxes inside boxes and layers and layers of wrapping. The more layers you get off, the better chance you have of guessing what's in there, but you never know till you get to the final layer of gift-wrap and open it on up whether it's gonna be something you want to keep, whether it's something good but maybe it just isn't you or whether it's something you'd just as soon drop straight in the trash. Seems to me like you might be hankering over some pretty gift-wrap and a nice bow."

"I think she's a pretty special package," Wes said sadly. "I just hesitated too long and didn't say anything."

"If you're talking about the twig with the excessively hostile boyfriend in LA, I take leave to quote something I overheard one of our esteemed hosts say earlier. Now, I'm paraphrasing here. 'She's an incredible woman, but I'm still hoping that I'll find an incredible woman whose first choice is the cute, wrinkly guy with floppy ears'."

"But that's only fair if you can give the other person the same thing in return."

"True, but if you keep chasing after someone when you never even got to know her well enough to see her bad habits, you're gonna miss more than one chance."

"Have you been talking to Lily?" the Watcher asked.

"Not tonight. I guess she's been giving you the same advice?"

"You could say that." The Watcher glanced over to where Spike was holding Rosa in his arms, as he chatted with Buffy and Marie. Lori caught the direction of his gaze and realised that maybe all her groundwork was going to end up benefiting someone else. Then again, maybe this was one of those parcels that held something nice, but it just wasn't for her, and Rosa could really do with some little brothers and sisters.








Bee walked up to the group including Spike just as the vampire was giving the young girl in his arms an Eskimo kiss. She swatted him hard enough on the butt to make her palm sting.

"You could have told me your friend's name was Rupert. Now I'm going to have to wait till he finishes and go and apologise for treating him like some sort of lunatic."

"Hey! Trespassin' on the slayer's property there, short stuff." The vampire nodded toward Buffy. "'Sides somebody needs to take the starch out the Watcher's knickers now and again."

"Spi-ike!" Buffy protested. "Unwanted images."

"You're talking to a guy that you helped force into sharing a basement with Harris. Don't talk to me about unwanted images until you've been around when the builder's changin' his grunties."

Bee cleared her throat.

"Alright, pet. Yes, I should have told you, but are you tellin' me you wouldn't have done exactly the same anyway."

"We-ell... Maybe... but at least I'd have been in on the joke."








"What d'you say, mite? Who's doin' the honours tonight? You've got a whole house full of people to choose from. Who d'you think's gonna do your bedtime story?" Spike turned so that Rosa could see almost everyone in the room.

"Think your Uncle Clem might be a bit busy." He pointed to where a small group of people seemed to have picked up on the fact that Giles' rendition of 'Freebird' might be their only chance for a slow dance. Clem was trying to waltz with a slim, young demon, who was a couple of inches taller than him and dressed in tight blue leather. Her pale, yellowish skin formed three small pouches on either cheek and her dark brunette hair fell forward over both their shoulders as she rested her forehead against Clem's. "What about Glinda? Remember her from this morning? Auntie Buffy's witch friend." Tara seemed to notice the attention in her direction and waved at the youngster.

The little girl nodded. "She's nice."

"You want her to read to you?" Rosa seemed to consider, glancing toward her mother and frowning slightly almost as if she were trying to work something out before she answered. "Want him. It's s'posed to be him."

Marie leant forward. "What do you mean, it's supposed to be him, baby?"

"He was in the picture, reading Willow book."

The gaze of all the adults in the group seemed to meet over Rosa's head before turning in Wes's direction. "Willow book?" Buffy asked.

"The Wind in the Willows," Marie answered. "It's one of her favourites."

"Come on, munchkin. Let's go tell Wes he's the lucky winner. Now, if you see any pictures of the winning lottery numbers, you'll ring Uncle Will and let him know, won't you?"

"Silly!" The young girl shook her head as if to say that the vampire didn't understand at all.

"Guess it doesn't work like that, huh?"

She, again, indicated a firm no. "You need to put me down. If you ask he'll get grumpy."

"Well, we definitely can't have that." Spike lowered her to the floor and sent her off with a smile.








Wes tried to pretend he wasn't aware of the attention of the group of people and demons. It was ridiculous. He was actively avoiding a woman who he actually liked, and who by all appearances found the situation almost as awkward as he did. Spike had said that, of her own volition, Marie probably wouldn't push the situation and it seemed the vampire was right. She had been polite and friendly but she had seemed relieved when her duties as hostess took her elsewhere. Perhaps, she too, was suffering from 'panda' syndrome. Wes was definitely feeling as if his whole life was on display, with all his friends and Marie's watching to see if there would be a successful 'mating'.

He saw Rosa heading his way, but assumed she was going to bypass him and go to Tara until she tugged at his hand. "Would you dance with me?"

Wes looked down. "I think the song's just about to finish."

"If I ask mommy, she'll play, and then the cat lady can get the old man to dance, too, so she can say sorry."

Wes looked down and found himself unable to deny the pleading eyes that looked up at him. Certainly, compared with dancing with Marie, this seemed the lesser of two evils. "Okay, you go see if your mommy will play and I'll do my best to dance, but I'm not very good."

"It's okay. If you pick me up, then you can't step on my feet," Rosa answered before running back to her mother.

There seemed to follow a brief discussion, Wes getting particularly wary when he saw the blond vampire conferring with Marie, even more so when the vampire gave Buffy a parting kiss and accompanied the young girl when she returned toward him and Marie and Bee moved toward Giles. However, as it turned out, this one time, Wes really was being paranoid.

Spike extended a hand toward Tara. "Marie tells me she thinks she can manage something from 'Rumours'. How about that dance, gorgeous?"

Tara smiled. "Best offer I've had all night, so long as you're allowed."

"Allowed and even encouraged. Buffy says she wants a chance to talk to Lily." Spike smiled and led the Wiccan toward the impromptu dance floor, where Clem and his lady friend were still swaying gently. The vampire held her in a soft embrace, his hands on her back as Marie began to play. Nearby, Wes swept Rosa into his arms, and the girl knew that before the end of the song he would agree to read to her.

Soon, Bee and Giles joined them, though Giles was more than glad to end their sojourn on the dance floor at the end of the song. He found it hard to believe that such a small woman could exert so many pounds per square inch of pressure when she stood on his toes, at least until he got a decent view of her footwear. By then, however, Bee had managed to find out about Giles' former employment at the British Museum and was regaling him with the sort of intelligent questions he had once dreamt of Buffy asking. As far as the former watcher was concerned, the party was definitely looking up. The only thing that could have made it better was if Olivia could have been there.








"So, has Clem found himself a date for the wedding or is it going to fizzle?" Buffy asked Lily as she gave the small demon a hug.

Lily shrugged. "They like. They hopeful. Is early days."

"I wanted to say thanks for talking to Tara earlier. I think it probably helped a lot. We're kinda lacking in the mom area, and I think sometimes it's good to get advice from someone with a bit more experience."

Lily shrugged again. "Tara, she already wise. She no need advice. She need friends and hugs and maybe little mothering. You , I think need advice. You look at our William and you scared."

Buffy sighed. "Don't suppose we had you fooled for a minute?"

"For while you hide feelings, but William he take ten minutes to go to shop and back, no long time like before."

"I don't suppose you've got any blood in that kitchen of yours?" Buffy asked.

"No fresh. Just frozen." Lily got to her feet as she answered and began moving toward the kitchen.

"As long as we heat it up to body temperature, I'm sure 'our William' will like it fine... And maybe we can talk."

It took a little time to find the blood-bags at the bottom of the freezer and set a couple of them to defrost in the microwave allowing Buffy to delay for a while before telling Lily what the problem was. "Spike didn't want to say anything to spoil the party or worry Dawnie, but he's ill. He had stomach pains last night and then again tonight and he threw up earlier, so it's like he hasn't eaten today at all. I guess there's a chance he won't be able to keep this down either. He thinks it's some sort of voodoo thing.

He's being all British about it, but I know he's more worried than he wants to let on, and what if we're in the middle of a fight or something and he starts throwing up?" she asked. "What if he gets hurt or worse? I know he won't stay home."

"So what he say to do?"

"Well, I'm going to try this trance thing tomorrow to see who's doing it. I mean, I think I know. There's this guy who's been asking questions about us, but Spike doesn't seem to be convinced. After that, I don't know," the slayer admitted. "I guess it'll depend what Tara and the Watchers have to say. Spike seems to think we might have a problem in a direct confrontation with anyone who can do this."

Spike pushed the door open and slid his arms around Buffy's waist. "Blabbermouth," he whispered in her ear before nipping gently at her earlobe with blunt teeth.

"She pretty much knew, anyway."

Lily smiled consolingly at the vampire. "No much go by this old woman. You need to find people who know vaudun, maybe Marie she can help. She still speak to lot of her and Thomas's friends down in Miami. Many people in Miami from Caribbean. Maybe one of them know someone who know someone."

"Thanks, Lily. If maybe you could mention it to her tomorrow, see if she can come up with any contacts. I've seen the spell or curse or whatever before. I just don't know if there's a way to counter it."

"So what happened to the guy who was cursed?" Buffy asked.

"After a month of starving, not being able to hunt, throwing up anything she did manage to catch, she eventually took a walk in the sunlight."

"It must have been agony."

"She tried to kill Dru," the vampire announced flatly. "Thought she could step into her shoes. She deserved it."

"Oh!"

"Look, pet. You want to stay at the top of the food chain in vampire circles, you make sure that if someone messes with you, then you see to it that they wish they hadn't and you make sure that everybody else knows that they wish they hadn't.

I'm sorry if it upsets you, but I'm not sorry I did it. After that, no one even tried to hurt Dru again, which was pretty much the point of the exercise."

"So this could maybe be someone to do with her?," Buffy asked. "Someone she sired, or her sire or something?"

"Can't rule it out, love."

"I guess now I know why you didn't want to go straight after Wood. How the heck did you stay alive this long when you seem to spend all your time making enemies?"

"Well, up until I met you," Spike pointed out, "it's not like I left many of them alive."








"I normally make Spike some hot chocolate so that it's ready when he's finished," Marie mentioned nervously. "I don't know if... I mean, would you like some?"

Wes considered for a few seconds. "I think maybe I would."

He read to the little girl until her eyelids were drooping shut and then he checked that she was still snugly tucked in, before he asked her a quiet question. "Rosa, what made you ask me to read to you tonight. Did your gran say you should, or your Uncle William?"

"Nobody told me. It was just right."

"And what about things between your mom and me?"

"You're not ready for kissing and things, but you should still come visit and take mommy out and stuff. She never gets to go to the cinema to see grown up films or go dancing or anything since daddy went away. You like us, don't you?"

"Yes, Rosa, I do. I think I could get to like all of you very much indeed. I just don't want to build up either your hopes or your mommy's and then let you down."

"Just be mommy's friend, then."

"You think that would make your mommy happy?"

Wes became aware of a strange echo and Marie appeared in the doorway, two mugs in one hand and the other half of the baby monitor that lay on Rosa's bedside table in the other.

"It's sort of routine. I guess I should have mentioned it. I wasn't deliberately eavesdropping."

"It's okay, mommy. Just tell him."

"Tell him what, honey?"

"I think she means tell him whether you think it would make you happy, if say we were to start going out now and again, just as friends."

Inside, Marie heaved a sigh of relief. It was fine for Lily to wish she would find a new husband, but Marie didn't feel that she could afford to get Rosa tangled up in a romantic relationship with someone they barely knew. If Lily was right about Wes, then things would fall into place in their own time. For now, she was more than happy to simply get to know the former watcher better. "I think maybe it would."

Rosa gave a contented smile. "'Night, mommy. 'Night, Wes."

"Goodnight, Rosa," the watcher said softly taking one of the cups from Marie's hand as he left the room.

"Goodnight, baby. and don't think I won't be asking why you didn't tell Wes about the monitor in the morning."

"Maybe I forgotted," Rosa suggested.

"And maybe you're as bad as your grandmother," Marie countered. "Sleep tight, honey."
 
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