Future Written in Blood ((Complete))

Sorry this chapter has taken so long. Chapter 9 will be coming much sooner. Please see the notes at the end of the chapter. ***Enjoy!!

Chapter 8: The New Look

For Sebastian and his traveling party, a new dimension meant new sights to see. In this case, this also provided more of the Leilor and Spike flirting show, which occurred during Leilor’s guided tour of the walled city. In all fairness, Leilor had been very polite and exceedingly friendly to everyone, including Buffy. And Leilor was a lavender beauty (Buffy just couldn’t bring herself to say, or even think, “purple beauty”), so Buffy couldn’t really blame Spike. But if the next dimension was all orange, Buffy was going to have to try real hard to find anyone that was anywhere near attractive in orange. Those Bozo and Ronald McDonald guys just kept coming to mind, grossing her out. After this dimension, Buffy thought, she would be ready for a good, regular kind of multi-colored world.

On the walk back to their lodging, Leilor invited Sebastian, Clara, Spike, and Buffy to attend dinner with her father, the Mayor, and some family. To quell any worries, Sebastian added that they would find appropriate clothing left in their respective rooms.

Once back in their suite, Buffy rushed into her room and instantly fell in love with the gown laid out on her bed. At first, she was a little scared to pick up the beautiful, bronze evening gown. Thinking back over her past, Buffy really didn’t have a great track record with long, fancy dresses. She thought back to her beautiful, white dress that the Master had decided to use as a bathing suit, when he threw her into a pond after biting her. Then there was that time she and Cordy had been competing for homecoming queen. What a night that had turned out to be, what with being hunted by some rich jerks, which certainly did nothing to enhance each of the girls’ gowns, hair or makeup. But, oh, this bronze gown was fantastic, and well worth a try. What could happen here? No one even knew her, or better yet, knew of her in this dimension.

Meanwhile, across the suite, Spike resolved himself to wear the suit Sebastian had provided. Spike grudgingly did, however, make a mental note to thank Sebastian for being considerate enough to provide him with a black shirt to wear under a sleek, black suit and a black tie with understated, red-stitched designs. Consequently, his trademark black and red made him feel somewhat less like a ponce, and more like a well dressed Big Bad. The crowning touch, though, was when he slipped on his boots instead of the poof shoes provided. Putting on those well-worn boots made him feel even better, he thought, and made sure his smirk was securely in place.

******

Thirty minutes later found Spike stomping impatiently around the living area. “Slayer?” That made the fourth time he had called for the silly bint.

Startled that he had not felt her enter the room, he spun around at the low sound of her voice, “So, Spike, patience is not one of your virtues.” Buffy wrinkled up her nose at him as she came in to the room, in a desperate attempt to not drool on him. He may look great in a leather duster, but he was simply gorgeous in a well-fitted suit.

Facing her from across the room, Spike suspected…no, to be honest, he feared that he was out and out gawking at the vision standing before him. However, both were saved from having to talk again by a knock on the suite’s door.

As Buffy made with the hellos and small talk with Sebastian and Clara, Spike took more time to admire the slayer. But “slayer” just didn’t seem to fit her tonight. This was all Buffy: tanned skin, golden hair and flashing, hazel eyes, all of which were enhanced by the beautiful, bronze dress. The dress covered one shoulder, but left the other bare for anyone to admire her bronze skin that the dress complimented so well. Admire or drool or leer as Spike thought he was in danger of doing.

Clara’s voice broke through his daze. “Sebastian, Buffy and Spike, I believe we need to make our way to the banquet hall.”

Sebastian bestowed a sparkling smile on his assistant, “Quite right, Clara, as you usually are. Why don’t you take Spike’s arm and allow this old man the opportunity to escort this radiant vision in bronze?”

Spike had been half-way across the room, attempting to retrieve Buffy himself, before the meaning of Sebastian’s words sunk into his brain and brought him to an abrupt halt.

Through narrowing eyes, Spike watched as Sebastian offered Buffy his arm, and she placed her petite hand in the crook of his elbow. Feeling a light touch on his own arm, Spike looked down into Clara’s soft, brown eyes. Giving Spike a sympathetic smile, Clara tucked her hand through his arm, and gently tugged the vampire toward the door.

Quickly hiding his disappointment, Spike turned his considerable charm on Sebastian’s assistant, who seemed to be watching Sebastian the same way that he had been watching Buffy. “Ah, Clara, my Clara. Have I every told you how fascinated I find red heads?”

“Funny, I would have sworn you preferred blondes, small sassy blondes to be exact,” Clara replied with a wink that nearly floored the surprised vampire.

******

The two couples made their way through the spacious building that they were being housed to the large, elaborate dining room to join the Mayor and his family for dinner. The Mayor’s “extended” family, Buffy thought, judging from the hundred or so people that were eventually seated at the table.

Buffy was seated with Sebastian and Mayor Feltok at one end of the long table, while Spike and Clara were seated with Leilor and her sister, Shardra, at the other end. Buffy was surprised to note that both sisters, as well as several other women around the table, gazed at Spike as if he were a hero, instead a dangerous demon. However, whenever Spike looked down the table in her direction, Buffy made sure she was admiring the absolutely beautiful room, which was glowing with crystal, ice sculptures and candles. Lucky for her, or at least she thought, the room was beautiful enough to hide the real reason her eyes kept wandering down the table towards a certain blonde vampire.

Towards the end of the meal, the niece that Spike had saved from the frozen river came in and insisted on sitting in his lap for the dessert course. Both the mother and Leilor tried to move the girl, but Spike was having none of that. Instead he shared every piece of cake that he ate with the girl, charmingly alternating bites between them. The little girl and her mother could not have been more thrilled. Not to mention, Leilor was now finding any reason to help Spike with the young girl in his lap. After the cake was all gone, the adorable toddler next begged to see Spike’s fangs, bumpies and yellow eyes over and over. Everyone here in this dimension seemed to be fascinated by his abilities to change his appearance, asking for opportunities to touch him, to explore. But not only the fangs and bumpies were of great interest, but the people had no problem providing him with local animal blood, making sure that his glass was never empty.

To Buffy’s dismay, Spike seemed to bask in their appreciation, and Buffy noticed that Leilor looked at Spike unlike the others with hero worship in their eyes. To the contrary, Leilor looked at Spike with a sexual hunger and looked for any and every opportunity or excuse to touch and outrageously flirt with the vampire.

To Spike, Leilor’s beauty shown from within as well as her outside; she was kind, sweet, beautiful and intelligent. What Spike found most appealing, though, was that she was not repulsed by the fact he was a vampire, but fascinated. She was definitely interesting woman herself. Nonetheless, his eyes kept straying down the table to the Mayor and Buffy. If that masher patted the Slayer’s hand one more time, he was going to find a knife thrown through it, Spike thought. Didn’t the bloke know he was old enough to be her Da? Ok, ok, this was the man’s house, and he was the host, Spike thought. However, as he watched the Mayor laugh at Buffy’s jokes and pat her shoulder, Spike was getting closer and closer to patting the bloke sharply up side his purple head, wondering if he would bleed purple.

Unbeknownst to both the slayer and vampire, Sebastian watched the pair with great amusement, watching Buffy and Spike trying to watch each other without getting caught by the other. That pair just didn’t know how caught up they already were in each other, Sebastian thought with a smile.

******

When the meal finally ended, everyone followed the Mayor’s lead into the large ballroom. A quartet was set up at one end who began to play at his signal. Buffy bowed out of the dancing due to her currently state of healing, but observed Shardra lead Spike out on to the floor for a dance that Buffy thought looked like old fashioned ballroom dancing.

Leilor came over to stand next to Buffy, and after a couple of moments, leaned over to conspiratorially say, “I think he is *so* sexy.”
Buffy scanned the dance floor quickly and took a wild guess on the biggest hunk-like guy dancing by, “Huh…I guess. That guy in the burgundy, you mean?”

“No, not Hethlik. He’s rather handsome, but I meant Spike. His is so appealing.”

Buffy turned to give Leilor an are-you-crazy look, “You mean Spike? You know he is a vampire, don’t you? You did see him by the river? Fangs, yellow eyes? The only guy who drank blood with his dinner tonight and later making vamp faces for the kiddies?”

“Yes, Spike. And our people do occasionally drink the blood after a particularly successful hunt. I am just glad that Spike was able to find our animals compatible to his system.”

“But, he’s a vampire. Ya know, a demon, not man! Not some Joe Bob Billy BoB hunter who swills blood for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No special occasion needed.”

“I am well aware of what a vampire is. Buffy, your dimension is not the only with such beings. We just treat ours better here.” Leilor’s eyes followed Spike as he made a pass by again. “Besides, look how he moves. Don’t tell me that you have known him longer than me, and you never noticed his attraction? He’s like a magnet!” Leilor turned her head to look directly at Buffy. “Do they have glasses where you are from? Maybe you should look into some.”

Cocking her head to the side, Buffy looked back at Spike as the current song ended, and Spike made his way towards her and Leilor. Buffy tried to look at him through a woman’s eyes instead of a Slayer’s. Sure, he was lean but muscular, graceful but masculine, and his face was handsome but, uh, handsome. Those cheekbones…

“Slayer? You ok in there?” Spike snapped his fingers in her face, abruptly ending her scrutiny, but then was surprised to watch a tell-tale blush appear on Buffy’s face.

As a new song started, Buffy had trouble putting any words together, but Leilor didn’t. “Oh, this is one of my favorite songs. Care to dance, Spike?”

‘Obvious much? That line has to be old, even for this dimension,’ Buffy thought as she watched the two head for the dance floor.

The Mayor interrupted Buffy’s thoughts by asking her for a dance. Buffy gladly complied, happy to have a new direction for her own thoughts. Buffy admitted that she had little experience in dancing, but when Mayor Feltok kindly offered to show Buffy the basics of dance in this dimension, Buffy agreed to try.

When another eligible man tapped on Spike’s shoulder to claim Leilor as a dance partner, it freed Spike up for a few moments. Taking the opportunity to watch Buffy, he leaned back against the wall and enjoyed himself immensely. A shy, awkward Slayer was a rare but beautiful sight to be hold. After a while, he had to beat down the urge to go over and teach her the dance himself. However, the song ended and another began. But before he cold take more than two steps in Buffy’s direction, he watched Sebastian claim her hand for the next dance.

Sebastian smiled down at Buffy, again reminding her of quite the posh Santa Claus. Sebastian nodded his head towards Spike, and surprised her with his unexpected words. “He’s just not what one would expect of a vamp with his reputation for killing.”

Rolling her eyes, Buffy shook her head indicating her own confusion, “No, he’s not, is he? I just don’t know what to think about him anymore.”

Sebastian thought he would stir things up a bit more than they already seemed to be. “Well, little one, I think Leilor knows what to do with your paradox of a vampire.”

As the current song ended, the local hunk that Leilor had called Hethlik asked Buffy for the next dance. Luckily, the steps turned out to be much like a waltz, and Buffy soon found herself enjoying the dance. As she began to feel more comfortable, she was able to look at the other dancers and caught a glimpse of Leilor snuggly held in Spike’s arms and promptly had to apology for crunching one of Hethlik’s toes again.

Deciding she had caused the man’s shoes enough damage for the evening, Buffy made her excuses to the Mayor and Sebastian to leave, claiming her injuries to be bothering her, and headed back to their suite. As she left, Buffy tried to tell Spike that she was leaving, but could not draw his attention away from Leilor. They were dancing another waltz. Buffy knew she wasn’t familiar with this dimension’s dance etiquette, but she was fairly certain they were a little too close. And she knew for sure in any dimension that Leilor’s hand shouldn’t be on Spike’s ass at such an important gathering.

Later, Buffy wasn’t sure what made her maddest: that Leilor’s hand rested briefly on Spike’s ass, or that Spike seemed to enjoy it so.

All Spike saw out of the corner of his eye was a very brassed off slayer leaving the ballroom.

TBC

Please Read:

I want to thank everyone for reading this installment, but I really need to hear from you. This chapter and the next one coming really developed minds of their own. I would love some feedback to know if these goofy, hardheaded chapters should get their way or if I should spank them into submission. So any reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Let me thank T_geyer, Catlimere, Meri, and TalesofSpike, and Neka for their kind reviews of the last chapter. And to the mysterious Little John of Lockland, I really like your ideas but would love to discuss them with you, if you don’t mind.

Thanks for all your support and be sure to visit the new site!!!!!

www.sunnydale-tales.com

Isis (my site-mate, beta, and friend) and I would love for you to speculate on the upcoming season with us on the site. Come on. Have some fun!

:) MadRog

Madrog@ev1.net