Faith jerked her head back a little in surprise as Buffy practically threw the door off its hinges. She quickly surveyed the blonde Slayer and found that even though the girl had aย โnight offโ for the gut wound, sheโd done anything but get her beauty sleep. Which wasnโt to say Buffy looked bad, but sheโd taken wearing your heart on your sleeve and made a full New York Fashion Week ensemble out of it.
But Faith stayed her tongue, knowing how much stress Blondie was under. And it wasnโt exactly a secret that the would-be jailbird was definitely on that unwritten List of Awful somewhere, hence her trying to be as little trouble as possible. Five by Five on a Hellmouth that was Six by Six by Six.
โWoah, woah, slow down,โ she said, stepping inside, holding her hands up to try to calm down Hurricane Buffy.ย โI normally wouldnโt give a crap, but I know with everything youโve got going onโฆ and not that Spike and I stay up all night trading gossip and painting each otherโs nails or nothinโ, but his freakout had me freaked out, yโknow?โ Never mind that Faith had, at least twice in her stay, borrowed Spikeโs bottle of black polish to hide the misshapen manicure she was sporting after a year in prison.
โI just wanted to come check on you, make sure you hadnโt popped a scab and started bleeding again,โ Faith continued, following Buffy to the kitchen. She leaned heavy on the counter, forearms across the cool surface. Her brows knitted together in confusion at the other girlโs line of questioning.ย
โChemical waste? B, it was a walk from Restfield to Revello. You know the one,โ she said, stopping herself. Faith took a deep breath (counting and breathing, two things theyโd taught her in prison) and continued.ย โNo, sorry, I didnโt see anything.โ
While Buffy tended the coffee, Faith- rather boldly- busied herself in the fridge, pulling out some bread and jam. She was hungry (the crypt didnโt exactly come with amenities) but it looked like B needed something to eat, if only to keep her mouth busy.ย โYโknow, for a former Big Bad, Spikeโs a sensitive dude. Oh, and speakinโ of sensitive- G.I. Average Joe has definitely got some trouble playinโ nice with others.โ
Okay, maybe it was just a problem with Faith, which, again, she understood. But didnโt enjoy.
โHe tried to bring a firebomb on patrol last night and started barkinโ at me about who was in charge- can you believe him? I mean, who died and made him Slayer? Cuz it wasnโt me.โ
ย ย ย ย โ โ โ ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย โ Uh huh. Well, your care for my well-being is noted with a nice gritty little grain of skepticism but youโre more than welcome to put a big olโ check in the box next to Moral Obligations! โ She tried her best to sound chipper and cutting but the tonal quality of her barb was sorely lacking its usual bite. Buffy was too tired - too frazzled in the nerves - to treat Faith with the animosity that generally kept a very big, very emotionally comforting wall between them. Not that it helped, when Faith seemed to have a better understanding of her at times than her actual friends. Before...everything had gone down, the other Slayer had simply had a knack for scaling and hopping that proverbial fence like it was no big deal. Her infiltration technique would put a seasoned soldier to shame.
Oh, another reason to add to the long list of why Riley probably hated her! Fun with Faith just never stops!
โ No bleeding, โ she assured, more at ease this time as she pushed the little switch on Mr. Coffeeโs plastic side until the first perking noises could be heard. Only then did she begin rummaging through the cabinets for two mugs. Casual conversation with Faith worked so much better when Buffy wasnโt looking her in the eye. โ Honestly, the bruising to the ego will last longer than the wound itself. โ It certainly didnโt help that everyone kept giving her that gassy flabbergasted face when sheโd told them it was only the one vamp whoโd done it. Like she had to be fighting a whole undead army to merit a boo boo!
โ I donโt know what Spike has to be all sensitive and manic about, โ she groused, completely sidestepping any and all explanations for why she cared about the existence of a nearby plant. Buffy wasnโt ready to explain yet; she didnโt want to be vulnerable girl. โ I mean, really, heโs the one who tried to...to... โย
The words halted on her lips because she was still having a hard time believing it herself. The blonde was almost - almost - certain that Spike had tried to kiss her out in the alley. Just like she was almost - almost - certain that Riley was on a mission to get himself killed!
โ Men!ย โ The exclamation was mumbled under her breath, eyes rolling behind her lids as she began to pour them both a cup of coffee. Buffy didnโt know how Faith liked hers, but she was already making herself at home in the fridge, so she doubted she needed to play barista to the brunette. โ Can you grab the creamer out of the fridge?ย โ She asked absently, grabbing two spoons before pulling the jar of sugar from one of the cabinets for herself. What? Times were tough, which made it prime time for sweet tooth indulging!
โ Riley is having a hard time adjusting,ย โ she attempted to defend him, the sound of it more than a little hollow as she passed over Faithโs cup to her on the kitchen island. Even she was getting fed up with his inability to understand that he was no longer super commando guy. Sure, she understood! She empathized! Buffy was, without a doubt, in compassionate girlfriend mode twenty-four seven! But, GOD, did she not have time to cater to his insecurities right now! There was just too much going on and all he seemed to want was for her go damsel and cry on him without understanding that if she started sheโd never stop.
It wasnโt like she didnโt want to be held for hours on end while she did the whole ugly crying and wailing till her throat was hoarse thing, or that she didnโt want someone to kiss her on the head and lie to her about the fact that everything would be alright and this whole thing with her mom was just some really bad dream. She wanted those things! She wanted all the pretty lies the world had to offer! Only...the problem was that there wasnโt time for that. Not when she was the one who had to actually make everything alright for everyone else!
โ Heโll get used to you. โ She sighed, adding a few spoonfuls of sugar to her coffee. โ They all will...or theyโll just have to learn to deal. โ Buffy had already had to convince Will to step away from the books on curses, even if the Slayerโs heart had only been half in it at the time.ย