2354/Out and About

Out and About
Date of Scene:	06 September 2017
Location:	Sunnydale, Bludhaven
Synopsis:	Buffy and Spike, while on patrol, meet up with a group of vampires.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Spike

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Buffy Summers has posed:
    Things have been quiet in Sunnydale recently. The patrols still happen every night but sometimes, they end sooner than others. Tonight is just such a night. There will be another round later through the graveyards and areas where the monsters like to spend time but for now, it's time to relax a little. Thus, Buffy has opted to go to The Bronze for a drink. Normally, she would have part of her entourage with her but they all had things to do.
    It isn't alcohol she's after, since that isn't what they sell here. Instead, she goes to the bar and orders a bottle of water. No need to put too much sugar in her system. Alright, she already has more than enough since she caffeined up before she went on patrol.
    She turns to lean her elbows back on the bar, finding herself nodding in time to the music they have playing as she looks around the bar. Though she seems relaxed, she's also taking the time to scan for anything she might need to eliminate before the night is over. The Bronze is usually good for a creeping monster or two.

Spike has posed:
The bronze is good for a creeping monster or two. Case in point, Spike is currently by the pool table, where he's furrowed his brow as he pays off some other brutish like fellow. He's counting as he puts the money into the larger man's hand, "forty-five, seventy-five, eighty-five, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight..." hejust gave a couple of twenties, a ten, and a few ones, but seems to be a bit short. He reaches for his pockets, clutching to his chest, his jeans, "looks like I'm a mite short, mate? Can I get you next time?" Of course, by the look of the 'man' he was playing pool with, chances are Spike's about to spill some of that precious blood he's gotten from the blood bank, pigs, or what have you.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    Which is the moment when Buffy should jump in and help as she sees what is going on. Yet, she waits. Her bottle of water is delivered and she turns long enough to pick it up then twists off the top as she watches the goings on at the pool table. There is a smile on her lips because, well, Spike has a tendency to get himself into these things. He should be able to get himself out.
    Even as she is thinking it, she's shifting her weight to the balls of her feet and pushing away from the bar, ready to interfere if the big guy tries to turn things physical. Not because she wants to protect Spike. Right?

Spike has posed:
Spike could have used the backup, as shortly after he's short, the Vampire ends up being hefted up into the air, and flown sideways at a column, which stops Spike dead. "Owe, my back!" If he had been human, that might have paralysed him. Actually, as Spike found out, even Vampires can get spinal cord injuries. But he healed from it, eventually. So he's just in a lot of pain. Rolling around on the floor, he coughs up a bit of blood, "I'm good for it, ask anyone. You'll get it, and double, next time?" He was trying to bargain as he got his bearings and looked for a weapon, like a dropped pool cue.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    "That's enougn of that!" Buffy says, having gotten there an instant too late. She hadn't expected him to be picked up and flung. She'd expected a swing or two and then she'd have helped out since Spike couldn't really fight back. Which was wrong at moments like this. Wait. Big Bad. We don't want him able to hit or bite people, Buffy. Use that brain.
    "Here." She pulls a few bills out of her pocket and offers them to the behemoth. "See. Money. You're all paid up now, right?" She's hoping that twenty was enough. She keeps herself firmly planted between Spike and the bully. Wait? What? No no no, that was so wrong to think of someone else s the bully.

Spike has posed:
Spike looked up at Buffy's back, since she had put herself between him and the behemoth. He couldn't help but smile. What had he come to that he was being defended by the Vampire Slayer, and even better, she was paying his gambling loses. The behemoth, once paid, grunted, "he's all yours" before walking off to some other place. Meanwhile Spike had managed to get to his feet, "so, just how am I going to work off this debt?" How come he managed to twist even the most mundane of things to sound so very wrong? It was a gift.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    Turning, Buffy was going to offer a hand to help him get to his feet but he already managed it without assistance. "You owe me twenty bucks for starters," she says as she moves back to the bar and her waiting bottle of water. Which was unsupervised. She frowns and sniffs at it then looks over at Spike. The bottle is held out. "Anything in here other than water?" Wait, is he really trustworthy to answer that question? Probably not.

Spike has posed:
"Twenty bucks, right," Spike was glad to set his debt to her at twenty dollars, and thus nullify the rest of the money he owed her from previous instances, many of them where he nicked something that she, or more likely, Xander had bought for the table. He loved stealing from Xander. He sniffed at the water, using his vampire sense of smell, "magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, salt, and oh yeah, there might be a bit of water in there too."

Buffy Summers has posed:
    None of those words sounded like ruffie so she nods and takes a sip of the water, resuming her lean against the bar. "You really should try to stay out of trouble since you can't fight back," Buffy suggests every so helpfully. "What would you have done if I wasn't here? Hit him with a pool cue and managed to knock yourself in the head at the same time?" She shakes her head as she looks him over critically. Seems to be moving okay. Nothing broken. She does offer the napkin that came with her bottle, bringing it up to his lips and wiping at the spot of blood there. "You've got a little...yeah."

Spike has posed:
Spike licks his lips, tasting his own blood, and uses the napkin to clean it up more thoroughly. "I was just getting ready to make my move. I'd have gotten out, though, thanks for the assist Buffy." He didn't want to appear too weak, but at the same time, he wanted her to feel like he needed her. It was a delicate line to walk. "Would you have missed me? Is that it? Worried what might happen if you weren't around to take care of old Spike? Well, I'm glad you care. I really am." He had been teasing, but the last bit was said with sincerity.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    That earns a snort and Buffy tilts up her water bottle again to take a deep draw. She swallows and shakes her head. "It isn't fair for you to get beat up when you can't fight back. Unless I'm the one beating you up. Then it's okay." That really didn't sound right at all but she's already moving onward. "I don't worry about you at all. I'm sure you would've handled it. Had a headache from hell afterwards, maybe gotten arrested by the cops while you were rolling around on the floor clutching your head, ended up ashes in a jail cell. But handled it!"

Spike has posed:
"That's quite a tale you paint there, Slayer..." And he was reminded of his own mortality, being turned to ash in a jail cell. Then he looked to her, watching her neck muscles swallow the water. The way they bulged with the liquid, and cooled but it in the hot lights of the Bronze. He had to start thinking of something else, to get her out of his system. It was never going to happen, but he couldn't stop thinking of her. "Thanks." He said rather abruptly, and turned, heading for the door. He needed to get some space to think.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    That catches her attention. Buffy frowns as he just turns and heads for the door. It's not like him at all. But she's not going to go chasing him either. If he wanted space, she'd give it to him. She needed to get back out there after all. She downs the rest of her water, throws some money on the bar by the empty bottle, then heads for the door herself.
    It's just coincidence she's going the same way as him. Purely.

Spike has posed:
Turning to look at her as he can hear her behind him, "Slayer, won't you give it a rest? I'm a Vampire, you're the slayer, it'd never work!" Oh, so that's what he's on about. Wait, he thinks he has a chance with her. He had been making progress, but he was evidentally a lot further along than her. "So, why don't you just use that stake and get it over with already? Because I can't stop thinking about you. You're in my thoughts when I wake up, when I'm out and about, and when I go to sleep. You're always there, in the back of my mind, right behind my bleeding eyelids."

Buffy Summers has posed:
    Buffy skids to a stop. "What the hell," she mutters, her brow furrowing. "Spike, things are...weird between us, that's for sure. I know more about you than I did in the past and yeah, it makes me like you more than I did. To know who and what you were once. But you became something else. Something not so nice and you loved it. It's hard for me to know if this is genuine of if you are just talking cause that chip won't let you be the Big Bad now." She frowns and this time it is her who does the walking away rapidly. "Nevermind. I don't need to explain myself to you. I just..."
    She pause, her head snapping to the left as she picks up on something. She heads in the direction of a warehouse nearby, pulling a stake out of her messenger bag as she does so. "We'll talk later."

Spike has posed:
Spike grumbles and follows her, heading in the direction of the warehouse. "One thing's for sure Slayer... this isn't over." But there was trouble afoot, and time for the Big Bad to earn his reputation.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    "Go ...pout or whatever it is you were going to do!" Buffy hisses as he follows her. She slips into the door of the abandoned building, glancing around to see where the threat is. She can feel it. She just can't seem to see it. Moving into the main room, she pauses to examine the dusty surroundings. There are some paths in the dust on the floor, showing it's been traveled a lot lately. And by some of the footprints still visible, by more than one someone.
    At that moment, three vampires enter from various points, their faces already shifted into their monstrous form. Four more come down the stairs.

Spike has posed:
"Save the world first, pout later." Spike intones to her, still not terribly happy as he follows her into the abandoned building. He has better vision and better hearing than her, though he might not be as strong as she is, and certainly not as fast. She was a slippery little thing. Spike vamped up when he saw the others, and that definitely got a strange look. It was always strange to have a vampire attack another vampire, especially when there was a human around. He charged into the centre one, hoping to confuse the other two and give Buffy an opening.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    The hesitation cost them. They were thinking he might be joining the feast and instead, he barrels into one of them. The other two move to engage and Buffy is moving. The first one is caught in the chest before he goes three feet. She spins, still holding the stake and moves to intercept the third. They trade blows back and forth.
    The other four leap right in. They know what she is now. Normal teenage girls don't have stakes or turn their buddies into ash. She manages to kick one before another sucker punches her in the lower back. She goes down to one knee. A leg sweep brings one down and he too gets staked. "Spike, catch!" She draws another stake out of her bag and tosses it to him.
    Two down, five to go.

Spike has posed:
Spike is always careful when someone's tossing him a stake. A poor reception would lead to a pile of ash where once Spike had stood, so the look of horror is genuine, and shared by the Vampire near him when she tossed the stake. No vampire likes a stake, but Spike caught it, and used it, leaving four to go. He then punched another oncoming vampire, before kicking him even as he fell backwards. The term might be ass over teakettle. In fact, Spike caught him mid roll, staking his heart through the back of the poor vampire's jacket, "now that's what I'm talking about" he triumphantly proclaimed, and there were down to three.

Buffy Summers has posed:
    POOF!
    Another one goes down into a sudden pile of ashes but it gave an opening to the last two. They both rush Buffy at the same time. She is busy blocking blows, one after the other. They are backing her toward a corner and she is doing her best to get in a hit but they aren't giving her much chance. It's all defense and little offense though she manages to kick one back a few feet before he closes again.

Spike has posed:
Spike catches the one that was knocked back, and stakes him, leaving Buffy with the last one to deal with. But just in case, he'll go to the other side, tag teaming and hitting the Vampire from behind. They never stood a chance against a Slayer and a vampire of Spike's abilities. They might as well have just ran for their unlives. When it's over, Spike stepped forward, panting, heaving, and asked, "was it good for you?" to Buffy.