Arf Arf, Psycho

The blond haired slayer is sitting outside on the front steps, letting the sun hit her and warm her skin. It's been awhile since she's had a second to stop and rest. But with everything happening with The First, with the uber vamp kicking her ass, and Spike's sudden outburst, it seems her life is on fast foward constantly.

+It is indeed bizzare that today Kennedy and Willow offered to take the girls out to the mall, leaving her almost alone. There is still Giles, Xander, Andrew, and Wood lurking about, keeping her on her toes.

+A soft growl, a call for attention, draws her head to the side. A smile creeps out, her eyes softening as they travel the length of majestic creature beside her.

+Beautiful, silky coal black fur covers the powerful limbs, with an occasional spot of silver around the tips of pointy ears and around caramel colored eyes, bringing them out. A bushy tail whips from side to side as Buffy scratches behind the wolf's ears.

+At first she was freaked when the animal suddenly started appearing around the house, thinking it was a demon or something else sent to attack them. But a few days had passed, and all the wolf had done was follow her around. Twice already the animal had saved them. It had perched on the side of the house last night, howling dreadfully until Buffy had finally payed attention. She was shocked when the beast dragged a vampire out to her, an uber vamp with it's throat ripped out. The other time had been when Andrew accidently left the stove on after they all left to school and work. The wolf had made an apperance at the school, howled and yipped until the slayer followed it home, arriving just in time to put out the small fire in the kitchen and avoid a tragedy.

+After that everyone seemed to accept the lithe she wolf. Dawn even went so far as to play fetch with it, and Andrew had taken the animal a bath, groomed it, and allowed it to sleep with him on the couch. The wolf had become the family pet, but everyone knew who the animal was after, it wsa plain as the noses on their faces that the wolf was there to keep watch over Buffy mainly.

+Buffy had attempted getting rid of the seemingly domesticated canine several times, but the wolf would have none of it, it always found its way back to the petite blond. She had given up, finally surrending.

+It was good she had allowed it to stay, she found the beautiful she wolf was her constant campanion, always there by her side, and strangely, she felt a connection with the creature on some level.

+A deep growl rumbled deep in the she wolf's chest, eyes trained on the blond, but body relaxed and at ease. It lays out across the porch, legs kicking out with the slayer's ministrations.

+"You're like a puppy," Buffy giggles, rubbing the warm belly, paws flailing about. "Too bad you couldn't show up earlier, you know, when everything wasn't so hetic, I would dress you uo with little clothes."

+The she wolf sneezes in response, pawing at her nose, as if to wipe it.

+"And there you go again, with the freaking me out. What are you, like a civilized wolf?"

+Buffy has seen some pretty corny dog movies and a few National Geograhpic shows, and no matter how smart the dogs are, their tricks are standard. But the she wolf, it creeps her out how much like a human she can seem sometimes. Willow has told her she's just awed because she's never had a dog before, but if they could see they way she looks at her, the way she reacts to her questions, how she almost seems to nod or appears to be thinking. She caught the wolf, listening to rock on the radio once, almost head banging with the music. That isn't a standard trick.

+And the way the wolf carries herself, with confidence, with a swagger to its hips. The last time she checked, dogs didn't swagger.

+"You know," she started, the wolf perking it's pointed ears, scooting closer to the blond, laying a big paw over her own hand. It was doing it again, "you remind me of someone in some ways."

+Buffy couldn't help the admiring grin making its presence, the wolf had cocked its head to the side as if to ask 'who.' She knew the canine couldn't possibly understand, but they were on a hellmouth, weirder things have happened.

+"Well you don't totally remind me of her, just in some ways. Like the way you walk, all superior and stuff, and how beautiful you are, and those big brown eyes, sheez even the color of your fur."

+Buffy stopped herself, surprised she was revealing her inner turmoil to a wolf. Well, didn't people say dogs were the best listeners? She had always wanted a dog to talk to, tell it things, secrets that she couldn't even tell her best friend.

+A wet tongue sweeps under her chin, ushering her on.

+"She was really something you know. I don't know what happened to her though. She disappeared a few days ago, I haven't heard from her since. It was kind of my fault, I told Willow to keep her from coming here." Buffy runs a hand through her loose hair, fustrated and troubled. "I should've just let her come here, I could have used her help, it's just, I didn't think I could deal with what happened."

+Buffy pauses to look into the wolf's almost human eyes, finding a familiarity in them, she's comforted by them.

+"When she first came here, I kind of had a crush on her."

+The wolf pulls back, head cocked to the side, small whimpers pushes out of its snout, ivory fangs and canines glistering in the sun. Its fur was catching the sun's rays, shining beautifully as the wolf sat perfectly on its haunches, eyes dropped down to the deck. Was the wolf...embarrased?

+"You're really giving me a head trip," Buffy pats her lap, beckoning the animal to her. Within seconds she's laying sprawled across her lap, head resting on its paws, eyes shut to the beaming light.

+"So anyways, I had a major crush on her, I mean, she was beautiful in every possible way, everything about her was beautiful, her deep raspy voice, the way she sauntered, her gorgeous eyes. I remember we hung out on the job, and man, what a feeling. We had a connection, it was crazy. Over the time she was here in Sunnydale I stated falling, but hey, you know Buffy here, not gay, so I pushed her away." She sighs, dropping her head into her hands, "That was the bad enough, but then...then there was an accident, and I, I freaked, and instead of helping her, I let her go. That's the worst thing I could have done."

+By now the wolf is pacing the length of the porch, whimpers and soft growls proceeding her. Buffy can't see why the wolf is so worked up all of a sudden, maybe it can sense her stress, animals can do that, sense unease and sickness.

+"But she came back with a vengence, and I snapped. The line between love and hate is so thin, sometimes you can't tell which is which. I hated her for hurting my friends, for hurting my mother, and most of all, for hurting me. I felt so betrayed by her. Jesus, I stuck a knife in her gut." The self loathing in her voice is evident. "And even that didn't stop her from coming back to haunt me... I wish I could have told her how I felt when I had the chance, maybe things could have turned out differently between me and Faith."

+The wolf yipped, seemingly in distress, leaping about, tossing her head from side to side wildly.

+Buffy leapt to her feet, afraid the wolf might attack her, it certainly seemed that way, until it stopped, looked at her, then whimpered, crawling on her belly towards her, eyes downcast, growling softly.

+The californian is uncertain, hesistant to approach the wild animal, but she looks so sad, those big eyes gazing up at her with something akin to regret.

+Buffy lets out a sigh, taking her previous seat on the steps, the wolf licking her hand tenderly.

+"We need a name for you." The words are not thought, simply spoken, her mind is still brushing up with the past, unable to leave just yet. "Would it be weird if I called you Faith?" Another sympathetic lick is her answer.

+The door opens and shuts quickly, the heavy thud of boots annoucning the principal's arrival. "Buffy, are you ready?" Wood looks upon the slayer and her new pet, she seems to be spending more time with the animal than anyone else.

+"Time for patrol girl," Buffy rises to her feet, scratching the wolf's head. A bark is her reward, Faith seems excited.

+"Um, Buffy," Robin reaches out, grabbing her arm, spinning her around, "I don't think taking her is the best idea. She could distract you."

+"She hasn't distracted me before." Buffy defends, irratated already after her long chat with the she wolf. "Actually if it wasn't for her you'd be dead right about now."

+The principal holds up his hands in surrender, "Hey hey, okay. I was just saying okay? I'm concerned about you Buffy that's all. You've been spending too much time with, uh, Spiffy over here."

+Buffy rolls her eyes at the man, starting down the sidewalk, her attention on the sun going down on the horizon, "Stay here girl." she commands the she wolf, "You too Robin. I need time to think, call Willow and tell her to get those girls back here before sunset."

+"Buffy-"

+"Not now principal Wood." Her tone of voice makes it clear there will be no further arguing.

+Robin Wood watches the blond girl disappear into the sunset, his jaw locked, eyes cold and hard. A snort beside him attracts his attention. The she wolf seems to have a smile on her face, if that's even possible.

+"What are you looking at?" He snaps at the wolf, expecting it to shy away. The wolf bares her fangs, then turns, troting in the direction opposite Buffy. "Weird dog," Wood mutters, returning inside the house.

+-------------------------

+(Fpov)

+God. Asshole much? I don't understand why Buffy keeps that tool around, he's such a mama's boy.

+Buffy, I wonder how long it'll be before she figures out her puppy is actually me.

+Yeah. Fucking Red screwed up the spell, and now I'm stuck like this, a fucking wolf! I couldn't believe it, I still can't. Me! Hot, sexy, kick ass Faith Lehane, a damn wolf! I thought about following Willow's scent right after I turned. Turned! That was a horrible experience. Everything was wrong, everything got rearranged, my bones, my organs, even my damn mouth and eyes! Freaking would be sugar coating it. I know what a ruebic's cube feels like, I feel sorry for the damn thing, I might raise a protest when I'm me again.

+I've been walking around for a good five minutes now, the sun is almost down, and even though I'm not exactly me, I'm still the slayer, I still have the power, and I can still sense vampires around, the same way I can sense B. There's a small upside to being an animal with such a good nose, even if I didn't have the slayer connection I could find B with my eyes glued shut.

+Speaking of B. Holy freaking crap! She had a crush on me?! That was not something I ever expected from little ms golden girl, talk about loops. When she started talking about me like that, my heart just kind of stopped. I would have never in a million years even dreamt about that, even though I'm happy though, I always kinda thought about B and I together, it was nice. Of course it was just my little messed up head pulling my chain... I wonder how Buffy will feel when she finds out she poured her heart out to me...

+God. I always thought I was the victim back then in Sunnydale, that's what I told myself, but now, from Buffy's point of view, I feel truly horrible, I feel like a monster for what I did. No amount of redemtion can fix it. I can't do a good deed or two and expect everthing to be okay. I can't even begin to describe how bad I feel right now. I wish I could make it better somehow, but that's just reckless wishing. Heh. I'll be lucky if Buffy doesn't skin me alive when she finds out.

+...Maybe this isn't so bad...I've never been closer to B, never her felt her so near. I love the way she stroke me, how her eyes shine whenever I come around. I love how she trust me, how she enjoys my company... I guess I can't kill Willow after all.