Buffy entered the living room as the doorbell rang,
and Willow went to open the door of the apartment she
shared with her friend. She smiled widely at the
blonde vampire who was leaning against the door frame
and waved him inside.
"What's this?" the slayer asked, flashing Spike a
perturbed glare. "Valentine's Day, and no flowers? Or
isn't it considered manly for vampires to buy roses?"
"He isn't allowed," Willow told her. "Right, Spike?"
"Why not?" Buffy's brow crumpled in confusion as the
vampire nodded.
"It's a long story," the redhead answered. "Part of
the craziness that's been following us around for
months. No flowers. Not ever."
"Oh," the Buffy murmured.
The slayer plopped silently down into an armchair,
sincerely saddened by the thought that her best friend
would never receive roses from the man she was
obviously in love with--even though Willow hadn't
actually admitted those feelings aloud, and even
though that man was a vampire who infuriated the young
blonde woman to no end.
"I brought you something else, though," Spike said to
Willow, and Buffy was drawn out of her gloomy musings
as he dug into a pocket of his duster and pulled out
a
small box.
Willow's emerald eyes glimmered up at him as his mouth
quirked into a sexy grin, and he pushed the black
velvet case into her hands. She pulled him over to the
sofa and sat down next to him, turning to face him and
tucking her legs in under her.
"Oh!" the redhead gasped as she lifted the lid.
Curiosity won out over her dislike of the vampire, and
Buffy rose and moved over to the arm of the sofa as
Willow pulled a ruby pendent out of the box. The
blood-red gem glittered in the soft light of the lamp
on the end table, and Willow put her arms around
Spike's neck and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
"It's beautiful!" she whispered. "Where did you get
it? No. Wait. Maybe I don't want to know."
Spike chuckled and took the pendant from her fingers,
"From the jeweler in town. And I didn't bite him to
get it. Not even a nip."
Willow grinned and swept her hair away from her neck,
turning her head slightly as he worked the delicate
clasp and fastened the gold chain around her. Buffy
rolled her eyes as the vampire's gaze drifted to the
redhead's chest, obviously more captivated by the
cleavage above which the ruby rested than he was by
the gem, itself. She smiled as Willow's eyes moved to
her.
"It looks wonderful on you, Will," Buffy told her.
Spike raised an eyebrow, "I think the slayer just
complimented me on my taste, pet."
"Don't take it to heart--not that you could since
yours doesn't actually *work*--I'm sure this was an
anomaly," Buffy shot back.
"Anomaly?" Spike echoed dryly. "Has the watcher been
making you read the dictionary again?"
"Oh, shut up," the slayer grumbled.
"Okay, guys," Willow sighed and grabbed Spike's hand.
"You promised me dinner, remember?"
He nodded and stood, pulling her up beside him, "I
hear they hire some tasty waiters over at that French
place."
Buffy bristled at Spike's statement, and he smirked
coldly over at her and continued, "Unless you'd rather
have fast food, though dragging those checkers through
those narrow drive-through windows can be a real pain
in the bum."
"Would you just go!" the slayer shouted, finally
losing her patience.
Willow squeezed his hand and dragged him over to the
door, pushing him outside and closing the door as his
deep chuckle of satisfaction drifted back over his
shoulder.
***
Willow slid the pizza box back onto the coffee table
and leaned back against Spike's arm, patting her flat
stomach as she smiled lazily.
"And I thought you fancied an expensive dinner at a
posh restaurant," the vampire grinned down at her.
"When all the time, what I really wanted was..." she
shifted against his shoulder and raised her head to
brush her lips softly against his, "...you."
He grinned against her mouth, and his tongue darted
out to sweep across her lips. They parted, and Spike
gathered her up onto his lap as he explored her mouth
with slow, sweet strokes. Suddenly, she pulled away
from him, her eyes widening as she looked quickly
around her.
"Pet?" Spike asked.
"Did you hear it?"
"Hear what?" his eyes traveled the room to try to find
whatever it was she was looking for.
Willow pushed away from him and rose to her feet,
swatting her hand through the air, close to her ear,
"There! Did you hear it?"
He stood slowly, "Willow, what's wrong? I don't
hear--"
His head snapped around as a quiet buzzing, not unlike
that of an insect, whispered close to his head. The
redhead beside him ducked as she felt a faint motion
brushing quickly past her right cheek.
"Bloody hell. What is it this time?" Spike grumbled.
"Ow!" Willow squealed and clapped her right hand over
her left shoulder.
Pulling her hand away, Spike eyed a small dot of
blood, no bigger than the point of a pin, resting on
the curve of her pale shoulder. Willow's eyes traveled
upward to where the attack--if it could be called
that--seemed to have come from.
"Look!" she gasped, pointing up at the overhead light.
"What is it?"
Spike crooked his neck to see a small, winged creature
hovering close to the light shade, "Hell if I know."
The intruder swooped down, and Spike snarled as he
felt a small prick on his forearm. He raised his arm
and lapped away the tiny splotch of blood. The
miniscule being buzzed around the length of the sofa,
stopping in mid-air above the arm at the far end.
"Is that...is that..." Willow's mouth dropped open as
she squinted at the little diaper-like loin cloth that
served as the creature's only garment. "Cupid??"
"Can't be," Spike muttered. "Cupid's a myth."
"Yeah? Well, so are vampires, according to most
people," she pointed out. "But Cupid isn't supposed to
be *that* small, is he?"
"I'm telling you, ducks, that isn't--" he stopped as
the little whatever-it-was suddenly darted toward
Willow and stopped a few feet in front of her.
"Bloody hell," the vampire growled as the creature
shifted until it was perfectly level with its intended
target. "It's the neck--"
Willow squealed as the creature nailed its target and
the ruby against her chest suddenly radiated with a
power that sent the redhead toppling over onto her
rear end. Spike's eyes watered bloody tears as the
luminous flash of red light ripped through his
eyeballs with an intensity that he could literally
hear. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision as
the creature zipped through the air and hovered
directly over Willow's body, directly over the pendent
that still hung around her neck.
Spike growled angrily and flung himself on top of her,
ignoring the irritating prickle of a tiny stab on his
back as he shielded the little redhead. He grasped the
chain of the necklace and ripped it off of her, then
leapt to his feet and let it dangle from his fingers.
The creature immediately darted toward the ruby, and
Spike's free hand swung out and scooped the annoying
intruder out of the air and curled his fingers around
it, trapping it inside his fist.
"You okay, baby?" he asked as he reached down to help
Willow up off the floor.
She nodded and looked up at him, "Damn, you're good."
He chuckled and headed toward the hallway.
"What are you going to do with them?" she asked,
following quickly behind him.
He turned at the bathroom door and stepped inside.
"This," he answered, dropping the pendent into the
toilet, where it landed with a small plop. "And this."
He shook his fist and felt the little creature inside
tumbling around in the palm of his hand. He opened his
hand and flicked the being into the water, then
quickly depressed the handle, flushing both the
creature and the pendent away. Turning back to Willow,
he raised his arms apologetically.
"Sorry, luv. No ruby and no Cupid."
She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his
waist, "Don't need no Cupid."
"No?" he asked and stole a quick kiss from her soft,
willing lips.
"No," she whispered, pulling his mouth back down to
hers.
"Luv, I just flushed your Valentine's Day present AND
Cupid, or a poor demonic excuse for Cupid, anyway,
down the loo. You're not in the least bit upset?"
"Do you want me to be?" she asked.
"Well...I was kind of hoping," he admitted.
Her eyebrows shot up, "Why?"
He grinned and pulled her closer to him, "So I could
make it up to you."
"Oh," she smiled and shrugged playfully. "Oh, go on.
Make it up to me, anyway."
Spike laughed and brushed her hair away from her cheek
and bent to take her mouth in a long, deep kiss before
scooping her up off the floor and carrying her to the
bedroom.
End