CLOSED ♔ YOUR PRINCESS IS IN ANOTHER CASTLE

[slay]

WHO || Buffy Summers & Spike
WHAT || Buffy and Spike play more Mario Kart
WHERE || Knights HQ, Game Room
WHEN || July 30
HOW || Prose

A girl like Buffy shouldn't have been spending the sunnier part of a summer day inside. And she hadn't been -- for most of it. She'd had plenty of hang around outside and enjoy the sun time. It was just that, well, it was muggy and gross and the sun wasn't even that sunny, more of a partly cloudy, and who ever thought England was that great anyway? Even when it wasn't foggy, it was icky in one way or another.

Anyway. She'd wound up inside, pacing the halls, restless, and found her way to Spike's door. We're not discussing how she knew which bedroom was his. Theirs is a forbidden love. She hung around outside of it for what felt like a great long while, tongue pressed against the inside of her cheek, warring with herself.

He was probably sleeping was the primary excuse she used to try and convince herself not to knock. It was better than addressing the million other actual reasons she might not have wanted to, like the fact that even when they were friends it felt baggage-y. And it did nothing for the twitchy feeling in her spine and she was starting to think it was just ... Spike-sense. Which was a whole 'nother ballpark of don't wanna acknowledge.

She reached out decisively and rapped her knuckles on his door with a few hurried knocks.

Comments

[slay]

"Are you ever gonna let that die?" Her mood shifted - outwardly, anyway. She buried the heavier stuff down deep and ignored it, the way she always did, and she brightened, shooting him a look that walked the line between amused and annoyed.

[bigbad]

"It's unlikely." His smile softened a little. "I mean it, though. Any way I can help. Let me know."

[slay]

They looped back around on the path, returning in the direction of the stables. Buffy gave a little bit of a nod, appearing to legitimately consider this.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. We can work on your Mario Kart skills." She hesitated, glancing over at him more fully. "Do you even sleep when we're mission-ing? Creature of the night forced to be up all hours of the day for work purposes. When do you find time?" Admittedly, she only squeezed in the odd three or four hours, but for different reasons.

[bigbad]

"I can sleep during the night, you know." He shrugged as they trotted up to the stables. He was almost sad to see the rid end. He might have been opposed to begin with, but he'd enjoyed himself. Or maybe he just enjoyed spending time with Buffy. He didn't want to stop. "Mostly when I'm tired. Usually during the day if I can, and at night when I can't."

[slay]

"Well, in that case, I'll be sure to bother you only in the case that my insomnia suits your swing shift." She nudges her heels into the horse's side to try and encourage it to move faster, looking down and cracking the reins a little. "How do you make it run?" There was a whine edging in her voice at her own inability to urge it onward (ride 14). "So much for racing."

[bigbad]

"You got to kick harder. Like this." With a new nat 20 ride check, he digs his heels into his horse's sides and starts galloping around the trail, passing the stables with ease.

[slay]

A slack-jawed, indignant look quickly followed that, and Buffy gaped a little, straightening up in the saddle. She looked down in a hurried way, trying to figure out how to bridge that gap and succeed this time, particularly now that Spike was showing off. She took another shot at getting her heels in the horse's ribs, and this time it hurried up, galloping after Spike's (ride 22).

[bigbad]

He laughed as his horse galloped, leaving the path when he saw Buffy behind him and just letting loose through the field with only the bright moon guiding them.

Finally, he let the horse slow to a trot, circling around to look for Buffy.

[slay]

Buffy kept up decently, but didn't gain on him until he slowed and circled back. She pulled back on the reins to slow her horse down as well, gaze playfully narrow as they reconvened.

"Oh yeah, that's cheating."

[bigbad]

He grinned at her, not looking at all ashamed as he brings his horse up beside her. "I'll take that as a compliment." At this point it didn't make any sense to get upset by her accusations. She was teasing. Or being far too prideful. Either way, it didn't really matter. They were just having fun.

[slay]

"I thought you said you'd never ridden before," though her words were grousing, her expression maintained the good-natured feel of the conversation. She began to guide her horse back towards the stables, glancing over at him curiously. But then, she realized, he might just not remember. Muscle memory was stronger than the regular sort.

[bigbad]

"I don't remember riding before. Maybe I'm just a natural." He smirked at her as they trotted back towards the stables, simply enjoying her company now. "You weren't half-bad either, you know."

[slay]

"That's because I come out and butter them up when I'm here. Horses remember that kinda thing." She leaned forward to pet the mane of her horse, then sat straight as they reached the stables. The stablehand approached and she handed the reins off to him, while she grabbed the horn of the saddle and moved to dismount.

[bigbad]

"Horse bribery. There's an idea." He dismounted smoothly, handing the reins back to the stablehand. "I enjoyed that." Maybe he was the sort of person who enjoyed riding horses after all. Though his love of leather made him think he was more a motorbike kind of guy. Maybe he was both.

[slay]

"'That' of course being the winning part, not necessarily the horse-riding part," Buffy commented with a look of amusement. She adopted a considering expression and then continued. "Well, considering how often I beat you in a fight, I guess I can let one horse race go." Her smile quirked and her gaze darted sidelong towards him.

[bigbad]

He shot her a look, but he couldn't hide the amusement enough for it to be truly biting. "Does it really count when I can't hit you without getting a headache?"

[slay]

"Of course it counts," Buffy scoffed dismissively. She dusted herself off once she was off the horse, and then moved back in the direction of the castle. "And even if it doesn't, I wiped the floor with you at Mario Kart today." She glanced upward, realizing just how much of the day they'd spent. "I should probably get some sleep in."

[bigbad]

"Oh, right. That's one of the things you humans do at night." He smiled at her a bit, then glanced back at the castle. "I had a nice time." He paused, shooting her a playful look. "Mostly when I was winning." Though also watching the way her face lit up when she won. He enjoyed that too.

[slay]

"Someone's a poor sport," Buffy quipped, despite her own grouchiness at her losses. She said it with humor, though, which made it clear she was aware of that irony. "I'm sure I'll see you before too long." It was added as she began her journey up the castle steps.

[bigbad]

"Yeah. We are teammates, after all." He stopped at the steps, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket as she walked away. It was something to do that wasn't kissing her goodnight like he wanted to. "Good night, love."