Bunnies, Parties, and Cowboy Hats

by Annie

Rating: BBE (Basic Buffy Episode)
Summary: Buffy, Easter Style. This is a response to Rose's Birthday/Easter challenge. The requirements are at the bottom.
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, Angel, or it's characters. They are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox. I wish I owned them, because I'd be nicer to them, but we don't all get what we want.
Notes: This is for Rose, on her Birthday, Easter Sunday. Happy Birthday Rose!!!
Feedback: is what I love and live off of! Please send me some!!


"Oh God."

"This is it."

"Life, as we know it, is over."

Buffy, Willow, and Xander were standing on a corner of one of Sunnydale's streets, watching the horrific event. A pokemon store was being built.

"Every kid within a five mile radius will come running to buy those cards, and stuffed animals, and video tapes, and the games, and dear God can we survive?" Xander asked.

"Pokemon scare me if you want to know the truth. I mean, that Pikachu that just says "Pica-chu" scares the willies out of me!" Willow said, shuddering.

"Yeah. I don't understand what's so great about them," Buffy said as they started to walk off. Xander reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

"Candies?" he asked, putting a bag in Willow and Buffy's face. Buffy took one and popped it in her mouth. Her face scrunched up and she spit it out. "Eeeww! Sour much?" she asked. Willow silently put hers back in the bag.

"So Buffy, do you and Angel have Easter plans?" Willow asked. Buffy got a goofy grin on her face and nodded. "Yeah, me and Oz are going to go on an Easter egg hunt!" Willow said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, since Anya's afraid of bunnies, we're just going to by regular chocolate and eat that," Xander said. "But what about chocolate bunnies? It's like, Easter tradition!" Willow said. Xander just shrugged.

Buffy and Xander were just about to turn the corner of the street they were on when Willow stopped them.

"What?" Buffy asked. Willow pointed to the street. Riley Finn was riding a cow in the middle of it.

"Oh...my...God," Buffy said between laughter. "Oh he's a manly man," Xander said with false bravado. Riley heard voices and turned to see Buffy, Willow, and someone else. He turned the ropes he was holding and his cow started walking over towards Buffy.

"Buffy! Hey! Care for some cheese?" Riley asked as he approached them. He slid off his cow and opened a bag that was slung around his shoulders. He handed her a piece of cheese.

"Don't worry, it's still edible! It's a great cheese!"

Buffy forced a smile and said, "No thank you Riley. I'm all cheesed out today. Um...we were just about to...be somewhere else. Sorry," Buffy said. Riley just smiled and nodded. "No problem! Will I see you later?" Riley never got an answer, because Buffy, Xander, and Willow all looked down and started to laugh hysterically.

"Have fun with you cow!" Buffy said as they walked away. Riley looked down at his feet. His cow had left an attractive pie on them.

*

Angel opened the elevator and stepped out into his office. At least, it was *supposed* to be his office. There were yellow, pink, purple, and turquoise streamers hung everywhere, and a big bunny shaped piņata hung in front of the door. Cordelia suddenly appeared, wearing Bunny ears.

"Happy Easter Angel!" she yelled, handing him an egg that had something liquidy in it. "See, I made blood eggs for you, so you could enjoy them."

Wesley walked in with Doyle at that moment. "Did you just say blood eggs Cordelia?" Wesley asked, taking Angel's egg from him. "That's just not right," Doyle said.

"What's with the piņata princess?" Doyle asked, pointing to the large bunny hanging from the ceiling.

"Oh! That's after we have the bunny cake I baked! Don't worry Angel, I have blood frosting for you!" Cordelia said. Doyle and Wesley looked sick.

"I didn't know Easter meant so much to you Cordelia," Wesley said. "Oh, it doesn't, but if you people had any feelings, you would know that today is Angel's birthday!"

Doyle and Wesley looked at Angel. Angel looked at Cordelia. "Don't you remember? You said that you remember your birthday being around the first of April, so you just decided to make it Easter? And since Easter isn't on the first Sunday this year, we're doing it now."

Angel smiled and looked around at the first birthday celebration he had had in the past 200+ years.

"I love it," he said.

*

Buffy looked at her watch. "Where is he?" she muttered, sitting on a bench in Sunnydale Park, waiting for Angel to arrive. She stood up and started pacing. She sat back down after a while.

She took her watch off, dropped it and bent down to pick it up. It was then that she noticed an Easter egg under the bench. She picked it up and opened it.

'Took you long enough' the paper said, written in Angel's handwriting. She turned it over and read 'You, beloved, are going on an Easter egg hunt. There are 5 eggs hidden in this park. And you have to find them in order. The first one you are holding. The second one won't be so easy to "pine-d".'

Buffy looked around. "Pined," she said. "Okay, I'm in a park, and the clue was pine, so I'm obviously looking for a pine tree. Does this park have a pine tree?" Buffy wondered out loud. She saw a small one just a little ways a head of her, so she started running for it.

She got to the tree and stuck her arm in. "Ow!" she exclaimed as the pine needles poked her. She looked down and saw another egg at her feet. "Oh sure, be obvious Angel," she muttered, arm still hurting.

She opened and egg and a small chocolate rose fell into her hand. She popped it into her mouth with a smile and read the piece of paper. 'Hope you didn't poke yourself looking in the pine tree' "Smart alec," she muttered as she turned the paper around. 'Okay, you've now found 2 eggs. Next, I want you to look somewhere wet.'

"Wet? This park has a creek? Since when? Can we *be* more vague Angel?" Buffy said as she went in search of something wet. She glanced over to an area that had some missing grass.

"Of course! There's holes over there. They would be filled with water because it just rained!" She ran over to the grass-less area and started looking. She saw something pink bobbing in a small hole. She grabbed it. And then looked down when she realized she was standing in a puddle.

'Hope you weren't wearing good shoes love'. "Ha ha Angel," she said as she looked on the other side of the paper. 'Wow, three eggs. Only two more! And on the subject of numbers, your next egg is by some."

Buffy smiled. "I know this one Angel. The cement thingy that says the park and when it was founded. Think you're smart, huh?" Buffy said as she ran across the park. She reached the cement stone and stopped when she saw someone holding an egg. Her egg.

"Hey!!" she yelled, running towards them. She knocked the egg out of the person's hand. She looked up to see who's it was, and groaned inwardly when she saw that it was Riley Finn.

"Riley? What are you doing out this late? What is it, seven? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Buffy asked, picking up her unusually heavy egg.

"I was just thinking that this was an egg for tomorrow's Easter egg hunt. I wanted to scout out the area, make sure I know all the good hiding places."

"That's great Riley, it really is, so I'll let you get back to your egg hunting, okay?" Buffy said. Riley nodded.

"Bye Buffy," he said, running off and waving. She rolled her eyes and opened the egg. 'Ha ha ha' was all the front said. She turned it over and read the back. 'Your last egg is in the center of the park'. "Okay, let's make it a mystery," Buffy said sarcastically. Then she remembered that there was something else inside the egg. She looked in and saw her claddaugh ring.

"Where did he get this?" Buffy whispered, slipping it on, making sure it was facing the right way. Letting people know she belonged to someone. To Angel. Wiping a tear off her face, she headed to the middle of the park.

When she got there, she looked around, she looked on the ground, she looked everywhere, but she couldn't find anything. Thunder rumbled in the distance and then it started to rain.

Buffy started to turn in circles, looking around. She turned and came face to face with Angel, holding a yellow egg. He smiled at her, the rain soaking his hair and causing drops to fall from the tips of it.

She took the egg and opened it. All there was was a single piece of paper. And all it said was 'Here I am'.

Both were drenched, but that didn't matter to them in that moment. Their minds read each other's perfectly, and they both met for a kiss. It was passionate, and it made Buffy's knees buckle and her stomach churn.

Angel pulled apart when he felt Buffy shiver against him. "Come on, we need to get you out of this rain," he said as he took her hand and they ran out of the park and down the streets of Sunnydale.

Angel stopped when they passed the pokemon store. "Good God," he said. "I know," Buffy replied. They started running again.

"Where are we going?" Buffy called. "You'll see," Angel replied. They ended up on her front porch.

"My house?" she asked. "Well, I was going to have a picnic in your backyard with you, but since it's raining, we can have one by the fire instead."

Buffy smiled and she and Angel went inside. What they weren't prepared for was the whole gang, plus Doyle, Wesley, and Cordelia to be there, shouting "Surprise!"

"Oh no..." Angel whispered. "What?" Buffy asked.

"It's Angel's birthday!" Cordelia exclaimed. Buffy turned to Angel with an angry expression. "It's your birthday and you didn't tell me?" she asked. "Well, I'm not sure when my exact birthday is, but I remember it being at the beginning of April, so I just use Easter as my birthday."

"You should've told me. I feel bad because I don't have anything romantic and birthday like planned. I don't even have a present for you," Buffy said.

Angel cupped her face in his hands. "You are my present Buffy. Everyday. And not everyone has such a wonderful present everyday."

They started kissing and everyone groaned. They pulled apart with smiles on their faces.

"Presents!" Cordelia said and everyone went into the Summer's living room.

"Here deadboy, this is from me and Anya," Xander said, handing him a present in black paper. "Wow, what a birthday like wrapping paper Xander," Buffy commented with sarcasm. Angel opened it and said, "The Shining. Thanks." Xander smiled. "You're welcome."

Giles handed Angel his next. It was incense. "Thanks Giles," Angel said, giving Buffy a look as he took his next present. "We found out about this party about ten minutes before you guys got here, so all we had was that," Willow said, pointing to the gift she and Oz had given Angel.

"No, this is great. Next time I go out in the sun, my eyes won't burn," Angel said, holding a very large pair of sunglasses.

Having received his gifts from Cordelia, Wesley, and Doyle (money) earlier that day, there was only one person left.

"And what did you get me Spike?" Angel asked. Spike grinned and handed Angel a box, not wrapped.

"What am I, Martha Stewart? Just open the damn thing," Spike said.

"I don't think Martha Stewart..." Buffy stopped when saw what Angel was holding. It was a cowboy hat. "Spike, what is that for?" Buffy asked.

"You know, if you two ever decide to play around, Angel could ride you like a cowboy...or vice versa," Spike said with a grin.

Angel just smirked at his childe while Buffy tried to hide her blush.

Angel looked out the window. The rain had let up. "Buffy, it's stopped raining. We can go on our picnic now," Angel said.

"Picnic! All right! We're going on a picnic everyone!" Spike yelled. "Spike, it's only supposed to be me and Buffy, you can't-"

"Don't tell me your gonna tell all your buddies they can't come," Spike said. Angel sighed and said, "Fine, everyone bring your own food and meet us in the park in half and hour."

"All right!" Spike said with glee.

Buffy and Angel exchanged looks that said, 'Great...'

*

Just as planned, Giles, Willow, Oz, Anya, Xander, Cordelia, Wesley, Doyle, and Spike arrived at the park with food for the now group picnic.

They all sat down on the giant red and white checkered blanket Buffy and Angel had laid out.

"Hey Angel, if we had some pawns we could play chess on this baby!" Spike exclaimed, referring to the blanket.

Angel looked at Spike and then looked down at the blanket. "Yeah, I guess we could," he agreed. Spike and Angel started a conversation about chess, Giles soon joining in, while the rest of the gang watched some little kids playing nearby.

"Isn't it past their bedtime?" Willow asked. "Will, it's Saturday," Xander told her. "Oh," Willow said.

"Hey look, a giant bunny!" Anya exclaimed, pointing to a figure heading towards the group of children.

Buffy's eyes widened. "Is that...no, it couldn't be....it *wouldn't* be...would it?" she asked, trying to get a better look at the face behind the bunny suit.

The bunny approached the kids. "Hello kiddies! I'm Hippy, the hoppy bunny! Would you like an egg?" he asked. One of the little kids scowled at the bunny and kicked him in the shin.

The Bunny grabbed his shin and started hopping up and down. "He *is* a hoppy bunny!" one of the kids said.

From their place on the blanket, those who were watching laughed. Spike, Angel, and Giles turned to the rest of the group.

"What?" Angel asked. "That rabbit just got kicked by a kid," Anya said. Spike and Angel looked over at the rabbit.

"You mean Riley?" they both said simultaneously.

"I knew it!" Buffy exclaimed, and everyone started laughing again. Giles, Spike, and Angel went back to their conversation.

Two people were sitting on a park bench holding their dogs on leashes. Since the people weren't paying attention, the dogs easily broke free of the grips the owners had on their leashes. They started running towards Riley.

Riley noticed this and started running. One of the dogs chomped down on his large fluffy bunny tail. Riley screamed and fell the ground. Xander was clutching his stomach. "He sounds even worse than Wesley," he gasped out between laughter.

The owners finally noticed and ran over to stop their dogs from attacking Riley. He sat up and noticed Buffy and her friends laughing.

He stood up and started jogging towards Buffy. "Oh God, he's after me!" Anya screamed. She grabbed the empty picnic basket and started to whack Riley repeatedly with it.

Spike and Angel saw this and started laughing. Xander jumped up and stopped Anya from doing any further damage to the basket.

"Well, this bunny isn't having much luck," Riley said, putting his hands on his hips. Spike snorted and muttered something to Angel, which made Angel laugh.

Riley directed his attention to Buffy. "I got you an Easter gift Buffy," he said. Angel stopped chuckling at Spike's jokes and turned his attention to Buffy and Riley.

Riley unzipped the front of his rabbit suit a little bit and reached in. He pulled out a tiara. It was plastic, and it was silver and glittery. And in the center in a large white circle were the words 'Barbie' and under them was a picture of a Barbie.

Buffy threw her face into Angel's shoulders and Riley noticed that her shoulders were shaking.

"Is she crying?" Riley asked. "Um...yeah mate, she's just so moved, ya know?" Spike said, trying to hide his grin.

Riley smiled and handed the tiara to Spike. "Just give this to her when she's better. I have to go fix the hole in my tail," Riley said.

It looked like he was bouncing off and Buffy sat up again. "Can I have this pet?" Spike asked Buffy, holding up the tiara.

"Why?" Buffy questioned.

"Because, I want to see how good it bends."

*

It was nightfall by the time the gang walked by the Pokemon store. Everyone adverted their eyes at the horrible sight, but Spike stopped them.

"It's that bitch that put in my chip! She's broken into the Pokefluff store!"

"Pokemon," Willow corrected, shuddering. "Wait, Professor Walsh? She's alive?" Buffy asked, pushing past Spike. "I thought I killed her when she tried to get me to date Riley!"

Sure enough, Professor Walsh was looking at all the Pokemon items, smiling with glee.

"Let's blow this place up," Xander said suddenly. The group was silent before they all agreed.

Spike pulled out a stick of dynamite from his duster. "Got a match?" he asked.

Everyone looked at everyone else. No one seemed to have one. "No problem," Oz said. He pulled out a piece of paper.

"I call upon a higher power
To make this light burn
Send to us your eternal flame
For the purpose that we yearn"

The stick of dynamite lit up. Spike smiled happily and was about to throw it in, but Buffy grabbed it from him.

She knocked on the window. Professor Walsh noticed her and her eyes widened. Buffy threw the dynamite through the window.

The gang ran as far away as possible. "Save the Pokemon!" Professor Walsh screamed before the whole store exploded.

The gang cheered.

"Oz, where did you learn magic?" Willow asked as the gang walked back to Buffy's house.

"I accidentally grabbed one of your spells when I wanted to grab the grocery list."

Willow just grinned proudly.

*

Buffy walked into her living room and saw that Angel was watching TV. "What are you watching?" she asked.

"Roswell," Angel told her. "Roswell? *You* watch Roswell?" Buffy asked. Angel nodded. "It's really interesting to see the media's version of the UFO crash of the late 1950s. What actually happened was that a demon dimension opened, there were some creatures, some ships and such, it was a pretty big mess. I left New Mexico as soon as I could."

Buffy looked at her boyfriend in disbelief. A sly grin crept up on his face. "You wanna hear how I killed Abraham Lincoln too?" he asked.

"John Wilksbooth killed-" Buffy stopped when she realized Angel had been kidding. The doorbell rang at that moment, and Buffy thanked TPTB that she could leave and not be embarrassed.

Although Angel's teasing was better than what arrived at the door. Riley.

"Buffy, I just wanted to invite you to come to the Easter egg hunt with me tomorrow. It should be really fun. I remember one time when I was a kid that me and my 10 brothers and sisters hid the chicken eggs from my ma and pa one Easter. It was so great. You see, we had hidden them all over our fields, and then we forgot where we put them, so we had to search all day for the eggs! It was wonderful fun! And then, after that, ma decided that-"

"Riley wait, I just remembered something. You're boring, and my legs work," Buffy said as she slammed the door in his face.

Buffy hadn't even turned around when she felt strong arms encircle her. "So, we have this house all to our selves. What do *you* want to do?" Angel whispered into Buffy's ear.

Buffy grinned. She had a few ideas in mind. Now all she had to do was find that cowboy hat....

The End

And to make the challenge complete, the only thing I need are the B/A Fluff members, so here goes:
The members of the B/A Fluff mailing list loved this story so much, they all sent Annie feedback!!
Happy Birthday Rose!!!!
Requirements:
> These are things I want to see:
> B/A together, no angst and no B/R at any time. He can be chasing her, but > she's not interested, or she can have dumped him, but at no point of the > actual story may they be together >
Someone's birthday being on Easter >
Riley dressed as an Easter Bunny and either getting kicked by a kid, chased > by dogs, or attacked by Anya(she doesn't like rabbits). All three would > really make me happy >
Doyle is alive, but Wesley has to be there too, because I like him. >
The gang having a picnic. Night or day, either is fine, but night would > probably be better because I want Spike there >
Should include at least a few of these: >
a pinata >
a cowboy hat (guess what Buffy's wearing right now?) >
Pokemon, preferably being destroyed. I hate them with a passion and would > love to see them all gone. >
A horror novel >
sour candies >
a tiara>
a chocolate rose
incense >
a pair of really big sunglasses >
someone watching Roswell >
This quote "Wait, I just remembered something. You're boring, and my legs > work." (Just Shoot Me) >
someone who normally doesn't do magic doing a spell >
The B/A Fluff members >
Professor Walsh coming back to life and getting killed again. We were > cruelly cheated out of seeing Buffy make her pay >

Send feedback to Annie

Back to the Fanfiction Archive