13735/Smarter than the average vampire

Smarter than the average vampire
Date of Scene:	18 August 2021
Location:	Darlington Park, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	A witch and a vampire hang out in the park
Cast of Characters:	Spike, Willow Rosenberg

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Spike has posed:
Spike had been making himself somewhat scarce among the Scoobies of late. He was taking a break from Buffy's lies, double speak, and incongruities. It was almost as if the woman were a completely different person half the time. Even her memory seemed to be suspect, but with none of the other Scoobies, to Spike's knowledge, knowing, or even caring, he had made himself scarce. He loved her too much to see her being manipulated, controlled, or whatever it was.

It was night, many people were camping out in Darlington Park, and despite the chip in his head, and the fact he had been doing 'good' for such a long time, it was still nice to get money for blood and smokes. So he had been scaring some of the camp goers into giving him money, or valuables.

He was now heading back towards the edge of the park, a bag under each arm of stuff, and a wallet filled with cash.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow really hadn't known he'd been scarce. What with her new job, her boyfriend (?) - that still feels weird, her time with Tala (which seems to have petered off), and various other things..

Tonight she was out in the park. Soon it would be September.. and the before you knew it would be Autumn.

She tried to think.. wasn't this the park where Spike had his lair?

Spike has posed:
Spike's mausoleum was in another part of the Sunnydale area of Bludhaven, but with the number of cemeteries and parks, it was easy to get confused.

Though on his way back, he spotted Willow, who he immediately thought of protecting, but then thought, wait, she was becoming one hell of a wicca these days, so she didn't really need his protection, did he. Instead, he moved towards her and asked in a friendly voice, "I didn't see Xander back there. Are you camping without him, or is the world about to end... again?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
*blink*

First he came up on her so suddenly! Really she shouldn't have been so deep in thought. And second..

"Why would I be out here with Xander?"

Willow cheeks went pink. Sure, she had that small affair (if you could call it that) in highschool. But then again, she's gone out with Oz, Tara, and don't forget Molock (ahem!)..

Spike has posed:
Spike thought of Willow and Xander as best friends, a rarity among people of different genders. Sensing her embarrassment, Spike gave her a curious look and didn't pursue it. "Best be careful if you're camping over there. I hear there's a vampire prowling about... in search of blood and beer money."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Oh.. that's what he had meant!

"No, I haven't seen him for a little while. And a vampire?" Willow worried at her lower lip. "I imagine someone should tell Buffy. I have a boyfriend, though. Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't be in trouble as long as I was truthful about being with, well, anyone." After all, Willow was bisexual.

Spike has posed:
"Oh, right, look, all that matters is that you, and the other... person, are happy, with each other. Man, woman, human, demon, cyborg, vampire, mutant, whatever. Two people, connecting, happy with each other. That's all that matters." Spike left the reference to the vampire, which was self-depreciating, alone.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Well, you know, everybody knows, the only human you have eyes for is Buffy." Yes, even though she and Spike had tossed around the notion of psuedo-dating - Him to give some jealousy to Buffy, and her, well, she guessed to up her street cred?

Then they had a blowout.

"Something the matter?" Now Willow was frowning.

Spike has posed:
"No more than usual," Spike replied back cryptically. Things were never good in Bludhaven, and for Spike, they were especially bad. But he had come to endure it. He was a vampire who wasn't able to feed on people, wasn't really accepted by the Scoobies, so he was very much on his own. Sometimes he liked it, other times not so much.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I like you?" As if that made it all better. "Remember that problem I was having?" The one where didn't feel liked, and more so, she felt patted on the head by the rest of the Scoobies. "It's about the same. Only, I have a new job, boyfriend, and a whole new superhero team."

Willow didn't sound happy about it though.

"Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and go somewhere else for university." Willow was definitely overshadowed by her best friend Buffy. "I'm glad I met Pietro. And my job is pretty awesome."

She avoids the Titans.

Spike has posed:
"Aw, isn't that sweet," Spike said. It did make things a little bit better, actually. He smiled. "You don't sound too happy about that. So, which is it, the job, the boy, the team, or might it be all three?" And then it drops. "So it's the team. What's stopping you from quitting? And about the university, well, I don't know if you've heard, but they have this thing called a transfer. I'm sure you could get into another one more to your liking?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Well," It seems that Willow has thought about this a lot. "I've only got one more year until graduation. Then I could go away. I just got an internship this summer that promises it will keep me on during the year, accounting for my schooling.."

The real bone of contention seems to be Buffy has grown out of her, and moved on. Oh, and her magic. Sometimes she feels proud of it, and other times she does not.

Today? She does not.

Spike has posed:
Spike gave her a look. It was subtle. He knew how conflicted she was. But if he gave her the right push, he could further separate her from the Scoobies. If he pulled her back, he could help to reinforce fractured relations. The problem was, he didn't know which way he wanted her to go. What would be best for her, and of course, what would be best for himself. So he considered it some more, giving away little. Instead, he simply asked, "and what about this internship?" An open ended question.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"The internship?" That wasn't what she expected to focus on. "Well, I can use all my skills, including magic. And it's flex days, so I can use my time effectively." All her time. "If I need a morning off to check in something, like for Giles, I can take it off, and catch up for it whenever I can. Like late at night. It's really good. It's for the X-Corporation."

In other words she works in a pro Mutant company. She's the only only who *isn't* a mutant.

Spike has posed:
"X-Corporation? I wouldn't have pegged you for mixing magic and mutants, but robots, demons, vampires, werewolves, creatures from the black lagoon, it might be one of the only subjects that hasn't come up in Sunnydale." Spike had no strong opinion of mutants, except that he's quite glad that telepaths struggle to read his thoughts. Some of the ones he's met would have hurt him had they read his inner thoughts, or paid close attention to his subtle outward hints.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"That's my day job? Things like vampires and demons, etc, don't pay the bills." Now Willow has two things to worry about, when prior to that she had one.

Spike has posed:
"Depends on what the bill's for," Spike says with a sly smile, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning. "Sometimes we just turn over the table instead. Start a bar fight, and the owner's happy for you to leave without paying, because you and the other bloke might cause property damage."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow is aghast and appalled. "I don't do things like that! Spike!"

Spike has posed:
"That's because you're a good girl, and Giles wouldn't approve." Giles doesn't approve of Spike in principal, and yet Spike still occasionally manages to lower Giles' view of him.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Spike?" Willow turns on him. "I am sick of everybody having an opinion about whether I should be acting this way or that. It's my life. Not Buffy's. Not Giles's. Heck, not even John Constantine's. I have got to go."

Spike has posed:
Spike was making more of a joke on Giles than her, but Willow seemed to take it the wrong way. Once upon a time he'd have followed her from afar after she stormed off, to make sure she got home all right. But Willow had become a highly competent witch. She didn't need him to be her protector anymore. She may not know the change, but he did.