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The next morning, Willow made cinnamon rolls and aromatic
cinnamon coffee
for breakfast.  She sat back in her chair and idly licked
icing from her fingers as she
watched Spike and Angelus eye the last roll on the platter.
Spike reached for it.
Angelus pulled the platter out of his reach. "It's mine!"
"Piss off! You don't even like 'em all that much."
            Willow sighed, they had both eaten three rolls
already. "Why don't you each
take half of it?" She suggested.
"You would begrudge, me, your sire one little cinnamon
roll?  After all I've done
for you?  I gave you eternal life, taught you how to hunt-"
"Fine.  Eat the damn roll.  I hope you choke on it!" Spike
fumed.
Angelus grinned.  Guilt trips, gotta love 'em.  He may
have been defanged but he
could still manipulate with the best of them.
Willow reached out and snatched the roll from the cocky
vampire.
"Hey!" They shouted in unison.
"I've only had one and I made them!" She bit into it and
chewed slowly.  "Tastes
good." She gave them a superior smile.
"That was cold, Red. You should have taken it and given it
to me."
"You should have split the roll, then you would both have
some of it now.  It's
called sharing! See?  I've taught you a valuable lesson."
They stared at her with
furrowed brows, this was a new topic to them. Just then,
the phone rang and Willow
answered it.  Buffy had a request.
                             *******
"I don't want to go bowling." Angelus said as he surveyed
the bowling alley
with trepidation.  Xander had suggested a bowling night and
Buffy had liked the idea.
He was bringing Anya.  Buffy would go with 'Angel' and
Willow had asked Buffy it
was alright to bring Spike.  Buffy was not amused, saying
that Spike would probably
try to hit on her the whole time.  But, Willow had assured
her that would be unlikely
because of 'Angel's' presence. The Slayer had grudgingly
agreed.
"Buffy wants to go on a date and have a little fun.  You
are going to cooperate,
you'll make her laugh, you'll flirt with her  or I'm gonna
stake you!" Willow shoved
him closer to the entrance.  Spike just smirked as he came
up behind them.
Once inside, Angelus was even less enthused.   Spike had
given him instructions
on how to play the game on the car ride over and he thought
it sounded like a colossal
waste of time.  This place only enforced that notion.He
followed Willow and Spike to
the counter.  "What size shoes ya where, buddy?" The man at
the counter asked as he
peered down at Angelus' feet over the edge.
"And why do you want to know that?" Angelus growled
menacingly.
"If ya wanna bowl, you gotta wear the shoes, buddy." He
slapped a pair of
enormous red and green bowling shoes on the counter.
"And just what are those?" Angelus was horrified.
"Just put on the damn shoes, nancy boy. " Spike said.  He
didn't relish wearing
the ugly shoes but he loved to bowl. Spike was extremely
competitive.
Angelus took the shoes from the man and sniffed them.
"Ugh.  Someone else has
worn these.  I need a new pair."
"You never been bowling before have you,  buddy?" The man
asked.
"Do not call me 'buddy' anymore.  That's not my name.  I'm
infamous. I was
called the Scourge of Europe."
"Scourge.  I've heard stranger names.  Just give me your
shoes, Scourge and be
on your way."
"I'm NOT giving you my shoes in exchange for these ghastly
used ones.  They
don't even match my outfit.  I'm wearing black, do you have
anything in black?" He
spoke slowly, hoping the man would understand.
Willow watched the exchange, it was amusing to see Angelus
so concerned
about his footwear.  He was a lot like Cordelia.  But,
Buffy would be here soon.  "Give
him your shoes, Angelus.  He'll give them back to you when
you're done bowling."
"Alright."  Angelus slipped off his Italian loafers and
handed them to the man.
He glared for effect.  "If anything happens to my shoes.
I'm talking about a scratch,
even if the shine on them seems duller. . . I will hunt you
down and-"
"Thanks!" Willow said, effectively cutting him off.  She
threaded her arm
through his and went to join Spike who had saved them a
bowling lane.  "Word to the
wise, Captain Ahab.  Don't make threats you can't back up.
You can't hurt anyone,
remember?"
Angelus' smile was sensual.  He pulled her into a corner.
"And that's a  shame.
Sometimes a bit of pain increases the pleasure, little one.
 Gives it an edge." He leaned
closer, whispering in her ear. " I was planning on teaching
you all of those wonderful
wicked things I could do to your body. And you would have
loved every single second
of it."  With that, he sauntered over to where Spike was
sitting.  The redhead fanned her
self with the back of her hand.  Words had escaped her for
the moment.
Angelus sat down at a chair and put on the hideous shoes.
He frowned down at
them, wishing he could wear the shoes he came in.
"Go pick out a ball." Spike said.  He had selected a black
one with red flames on
it.
Angelus found Willow over a the rack of bowling balls.
She hurriedly collected
a lightweight purple ball.  Angelus perused the selection.
He wasn't impressed.  "How
do you know which one to pick?"
"Feel the weight of it. And the size of the holes." She
inserted her fingers into the
holes of hers.  "See?  Its not too loose.  So you can get a
good grip on it. But big enough
that your fingers don't get stuck." Willow went over to
wear Spike was sitting.
He picked a black ball up.  His fingers wouldn't even fit
in the holes. Angelus
picked up several more before he selected a red one.  He
carried it back to where they
were sitting.  Just as he sat down again, Buffy, Anya, and
Xander all filed in.
Xander grinned at the chipped vampire.   He was relishing
this.  "Nice shoes,
Dead Boy."
"Xander!" Buffy reprimanded.
"That's okay, Buffy.  He doesn't mind that nickname
anymore.  Do you, Dead
Boy?"
Angelus' grip on his bowling ball tightened, he was about
to throw it at the
young man's head when he felt that now-familiar burst of
pain in his head.  "Smarts,
doesn't it?" Spike whispered in a tone so low the humans
couldn't hear him.
"Spike." Buffy said, eyeing him warily.  She had been
upset with Willow for
bringing him.  The last thing she needed to do was hang out
with the loved starved
vampire.
"Buffy." He said neutrally.
She turned to Angelus.  "Hi, Angel."  Her tone was
friendly.  She seemed shy
around him.  They hadn't been on a date in so long.  She
was glad she had taken Xander
up on his suggestion.  That way, she and Angel could see
eachother and still stay out of
temptation's reach. She had no desire to see Angelus again.
 Ever.
Angelus grimaced.  "Hi, Buffy." He was hoping he could get
through this
evening without being groped by the slayer.  She approached
him and tried to hold his
hand.  He pulled it away. "I'm going first."
They all chose teams.  Anya and Xander were team one.
Buffy and 'Angel' were
team two.  Spike and Willow were team three.  It became
evident who the good bowlers
were.  Buffy was doing very well, having superior Slayer
strength helped.  Being
supernaturally helped Angel and Spike as well.  Xander was
holding his own.  And
Anya and Willow were playing fairly well too.  Buffy and
'Angel' were winning
though. Until those damned bowling pin demons showed up.
Bowling pin demons were common on the Hellmouth.  Hence,
the lack of places
to bowl.  There was only one establishment in town and the
owner was a powerful
wizard who constantly warded the entrances against the
little pin-shaped demons.
They were vicious little demons.  They would move whenever
a ball would come close
to them, effectively losing the game for the hapless
bowler.  There favorite trick was to
use their powers of telekinesis to force balls into the
gutters on either side of the lanes.
Tonight, they had somehow slipped into the bowling alley
and now they were
causing Buffy and Angel to get gutter ball after gutter
ball.  "What is going on here?"
Spike said with a huff. "I've been throwing this same ball
the same way all night.  Why
is it suddenly curving to the left?"
"Bowling Pin Demons!" They all said in an urgent whisper.
The little demons stood on their feet in every lane,
drawing gasps from the
bewildered bowlers.  "Slayer!" They shouted and started to
charge Buffy.
"Bloody Hell!" Spike yelped and ran back to the chairs.
They all braced
themselves for the inevitable fight.  Hellmouth date nights
sucked.

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