Restaurant Scene

["Pat Kelly"]

Hey.

This is actually the first scene of Part 13 of Becoming One. I wouldn't normally post a piece of a part, but Willow said she wanted a restuarant bit, so this is for her. It's not exactly what I think she had in mind, but I hope she likes it.

Buffy entered the restaurant. She knew Willow was already here. She and her "Wiccan other half" were actually going to attempt a traditional date. The last time they had done that was a bowling alley and the ice cream shop. She smiled at the memory.

Willow knew she had been on edge lately. After talking to Giles about what Xander and Oz saw, they were all pretty sure that opening the Hellmouth was Angelus' plan. And that mysterious cloaked figure.for lack of a better term, "wigged her."

She and Willow had set up a slaying schedule. Three days out of the week, they would slay together. And the other four days, they would split up, and try going solo. To hone, and so they didn't get dependant on one another. After all, there were times that they'd get separated. It was a good system.

In all their nights, there hadn't been any major conflicts with Angelus, but weirder things were popping up. Slightly bigger problems than Hell snakes. Which were distracting them from concentrating on how to deal with the big picture of the Hellmouth, and how to keep the demons where they belonged, and close their exit permanently.

Tonight was one of her solo patrol nights and she promised Willow, that no matter how horrible she thought she looked afterwards, she would meet her here. In the restaurant. It was a nice place. Not stuffy, but not a fast food place either. All tables, no booths, candles in the center of the tables, and a straightforward menu.

She spotted Willow sitting at a table near the back, looking around. Probably looking for her. She made her way back to her.

"Here I am. Disheveled, but here." Buffy said.

"You look great." 'And you know you do.' "The waiter was starting to get impatient. I think this was my eighth glass of water."

"I suppose a bladder comment might be inappropriate, huh?"

"Could ruin the mood just a little."

Buffy sat down on a chair at the other side of the table. They had originally planned on this being a group dinner, but Xander and Cordelia were into serious "alone" time, Oz was at a practice, and Giles and Wesley wouldn't take a single break, which made all of them feel guilty. But the two men insisted that they all took their moments when they could. While they had them.

Which actually depressed them quite a bit. But sitting down and preparing to order, Willow and Buffy promised themselves that they would push all thoughts out of their heads. At least for a few hours.

"So."

"So."

They were quiet. Conversation topics weren't coming.

"Hellmouth, huh?"

"Big and scary."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't wanna talk about it.but I do. You know?"

"As in you'd like to ignore it, but you know we'll have to deal with it?"

"Hmm hmmm."

"Well.did you run into anything big during patrol?"

"Not really. Six of those flesh-eating lizard things, though."

"Buffy!" Willow said, worried.

"I have all my flesh."

"How'd you get them all?"

"They don't like matches. Especially the lighted kind that burns them till they keel over."

"And you avoided burning anything else?" Willow's look said, 'Please say you did.'

"Yes. There was carefulness and avoidance. Geez! But.if we can get a chance to actually get to the Master's lair, I say we just go in hard and fast, destroy Angelus' decorating, and then him."

"You think that's a good idea?"

"Well Xander and Oz were down there. They were fine."

"That was before Angelus knew we were onto him." Willow sighed. "But you're right. Let's not talk about this."

Buffy saw the waiter start to come over out of the corner of her eye, and focused to get a better look. The waiter, well, he wasn't the waiter anymore. The Master stood in his place.

"This time, I'll make sure you stay dead." He said.

Then Buffy felt Willow's hand atop hers. She turned around.

"Buffy? You okay?"

She looked over. The waiter was there now.

"Are you ready to order?"


"If I could just say a few words...I'd be a better public speaker." (Homer J. Simpson)

"You know what the secret of life is?"
"Your finger?"
"One thing. Just one thing."
"That's great, but what's the one thing?"
"That's what you gotta figure out."
(Jack Palance, Billy Crystal, City Slickers)

"I heard your heartbeat." (Buffy Summers, to Angel, ANGEL)