Friends
by Scorpio

*brrrrinnnng*

"Get that luv, would'ja?"

*brrrrinnnng*

Spike glanced up from his magazine to see his Xan-pillow in the midst 
of cleaning weapons. He was sitting in the middle of the living room 
floor with an assortment of medieval looking toys spread all around 
him. Stakes, his axe, a few cross-bows and a large pile of bolts. 
There were even an assortment of knives and daggers spread about. 
Also included in the mess were a variety of bottles and jars. 
Everything from wood oil to metal polish to whetstones and files. 
The brown haired young man was currently sharpening an old pole-arm 
that Spike had picked up during his time as 'William the Bloody' when 
he had toured Europe with his Sire.

*brrrrinnnng*

"Spike... Uh... I'm kinda *busy* at the moment. Can't *you* get it? 
Just put down your enthralling copy of... whatever the hell it is 
you're reading..."

"Rolling Stone." (TM)

*brrrrinnnng*

"Right. Just... get the damn phone."

Spike arched an eyebrow up at his pet. He had to admit, if only to 
himself, that the young mortal *did* look all scrumptious surrounded 
by weapons of death and destruction and it *would* be a pity to ruin 
such a lovely sight. And the demanding attitude was very cute in a 
fluffy puppy learned to growl kind of way. He sighed the sigh of the 
long suffering. He was turning into a bleeding marshmallow.

*brrrrinnnng*

Tossing his magazine down, Spike stood up and walked over to where 
the kitchen phone with the forty foot long cord hung in it's cradle. 
With a flick of his wrist, he lifted the receiver up and walked over 
to where his lover sat on the floor. With a grin, he held the phone 
out and gently tucked in up under his chin and wedged it between ear 
and shoulder.

Xander glared chocolate brown death rays from his eyes. Spike 
chuckled and wandered back over to the couch and his magazine.

"Um... hello?"

Absentmindedly flipping through to find his lost page, Spike watched 
as a bright happy smile erupted across his pet's face. Curiosity 
tugged at his mind. His pet had a few strange notions, so whatever 
had the power to make him grin like that would either be very very 
good... or very very bad. Of course, being a demon and all, *his* 
ideas of which was which differed greatly from most of the Scooby 
gang.

"Hey Wills! What's up?"

Spike rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Bloody Cor! What's the witch want now? Not another damn trip to the 
woods to forage for more bloody *fresh* spell components? I refuse to 
put up with you 'aveing Poison Ivy again! I'll kill you myself if 
I 'ave to, luv. You're a right gloomy arse when you're itchy." 

Xander covered the phone with his hand and shot him an exasperated 
look.

"Spike. Get bent."

"Anytime luv. Anytime."

Xan-pet rolled his eyes and turned back to the phone.

"Yeah Wills. Just a little Vamp humor. Nothin' to write home about. 
Someone is just under the false impression that he's a comedian."

Spike took offense at that.

"'ey! I'm a right 'umorous Vamp! Agree with me or I'll rip out your 
funny bone and bludgeon you with it."

Spike watched with amusement as Xander made shushing gestures and 
listened to the red-headed witch babble over the phone.

"Sure Wills. No problem."

Spike snorted as Xander nodded his head in agreement to whatever it 
was Willow had said.

"Speak up mate. She can't 'ear the bloody nuts and bolts rattlin' 
around your bloomin' skull."

His lover flipped him the bird, but otherwise didn't pay attention to 
him. He was still on the phone with the witch.

"No problem Wills. We'll be there right after sunset."

More silly nodding. Spike managed to refrain from calling his lover 
on it though. He was too busy wondering just what Xander had 
volunteered them for. The witch and her lover were both shy sweet 
girls who appeared to be shrinking violets to any who looked at them, 
but Spike knew better. He'd been along for their adventures before 
and those two were almost as dangerous to hang around as his Xan-pet.

"Okay. See you then Wills."

With a great heave, Xander shoved the large weapon off of his lap and 
lurched to his feet. He walked over to the kitchen and hung up the 
phone. He pulled two beers out of the fridge and wandered back over 
to Spike. Spike took the offered brew and pulled his lover onto his 
lap.

"So, what's the witch 'ave planned for tonight? Demons? Poltergeists? 
Summoning spells? Kinky foursome?"

Spike chuckled when Xander choked on the last suggestion. His pet 
turned a bright red and Spike idly wondered if it was because the 
idea was repulsive to Xander or if it was because the idea was a turn 
on. He promised himself to explore that idea in depth later. But for 
now...

"No Spike. Nothing like that. Um... actually. Wills needs our help to 
put something together and then she promised to host a movie-night 
type thingy. Popcorn with extra butter and everything."

Spike raised one eyebrow. Movie night?... Popcorn?...

"But, but... I *like* slaughtering demons!"

~~~

Spike watched with extreme boredom as Xander hooked up the last of 
the connections for Willows new TV-VCR combo unit. He pouted. This 
was not fun. He was fighting the temptation to start messing around 
with the witches spell stuff just to have something to do, but he 
figured that playing with incomprehensible magick should be a *last* 
resort to boredom intervention.

"Ya know. It's a good thing that you're strong enough to move this 
whole entertainment center with everything hooked up. It's *so* much 
easier to put together when it's not all mashed up against the wall 
already."

Spike rolled his eyes at his lover.

"Yea for me..."

Willow walked over and gave him a small smile and patted him gently 
on the arm. He turned to look at her and raised one eyebrow in 
question.

"Oh, it's not so bad Spike. I mean, I know you like to patrol and 
all, but, you know, we mere mortals need to take time to just, well, 
*be*. A night of calm to recharge the old batteries, so to speak. I 
promise that we'll all go out and look for big mean nasty thingys to 
kill tomorrow. Besides, I think that you'll, um, like the movie we 
got. It's, um... called Aliens. See, 'cause Tara and I figured we 
should at least *try* to find a movie that, um, you'd enjoy since you 
are being all, well, helpful."

Spike grinned.

"Red. You're cute when you babble, but I *still* don't know how you 
manage to say that much and still *breathe*."

Spike's grin grew even wider when she did that 'I know I'm blushing 
like a school-girl, but I refuse to admit it' thing with her face. He 
was about to comment some more when his Xan-pet announced he was done 
and that Spike could now move the large and heavy piece of furniture 
back into place.

~~~

The movie had started out sorta slow, but it was now beginning to 
pick up in excitement and drama. The body count was rising and the 
hero's were now on the verge of finding the alien. The alien reminded 
Spike of T'rothin Demons, but that was okay. He was curled up on the 
witches day-bed with his Xan-pet sprawled out between his legs with 
his warm back pressed against Spike's chest. He was comfy, warm and 
he was watching a violent Demon-type thingy slaughter stupid humans. 
Not as good as patrolling, but he'd spent worse evenings during his 
unlife.

Suddenly, a flash of movement and a sensation of warmth caught his 
attention. He looked over to the side only to see the witches cat, 
Miss Kitty, come walking along the back of the day-bed. It was a 
young cat, more of a kitten really, just a ball of fluff and claws 
and curiosity. Spike watched silently as the animal wandered along 
the length of the back cushions until it reached his arm. 

Then the fuzzy little beast began to sniff at him. The kitten's cold 
nose and long whiskers tickled and it was all he could do not to 
start giggling. As Miss Kitty sniffed along the length of his wrist, 
she stepped up on his hand with two tiny little paws. Spike grinned 
at the soft weight. Slowly, the little kitten walked up the length of 
his arm until she had reached his shoulder. Once there, she curled up 
in a little ball of fluff and began to purr.

Loudly.

Spike raised up one eyebrow and flashed a toothy smile at the animal 
cuddled up under his sensitive ear. She sounded like a small engine 
in overdrive. Careful not to knock her off, Spike settled down into 
the cushions and turned back to the movie. He wasn't even aware that 
he had started to purr right back at her in return. 

So there they sat in front of the telly. A mortal human curled up in 
the lap of a purring Vampire who held a purring kitten tucked up 
under his ear with two witches grinning at them in the dark. It was a 
good night.


END