There’s a baby Hippo peeking out of the bubbles.

This is a deleted scene from part nine of Damned if I don’t, damned if I do. It would have taken place the day after 9.25: ‘The things we do for love 2’. Unbeta’d.

-------------------------------------------

There’s a baby Hippo peeking out of the bubbles.

“What are we doing up here?” Buffy asked as she looked warily around Troy’s apartment. “I thought you said you wanted to meet for ‘lunch’.”

She made finger quotes around the last word. Their code wasn’t very sophisticated, but it didn’t need to be yet.

Faith had met her at the grand front door, but instead of naming a place to eat she led her through the elegant and not so elegant hallways to the elevator and then up to the apartment. Buffy had been up here a few times since the foot-crushing first time, but not since their new arrangement. It felt wrong to even be standing awkwardly in his living room.

“We are.”

Faith closed and locked the front door with one hand while pointing to a fancy table laid out with an embroidered table cloth, fine plates and cutlery, wine glasses, even a candle. Buffy could smell the pre-prepared food waiting in the kitchen. It looked great, it smelled great, but she couldn’t help a little disappointment when she responded.

“Oh, I thought…”

Faith cut her off as she walked away across the room. “You gave me the impression yesterday that quick bathroom fucks weren’t really your thing. I’m here to change your mind.”

“Huh?”

“Come on.” Faith beckoned with her fingers as she walked backwards into the bathroom. “Serena’s meeting us up here for lunch in just over an hour to go over the travel plans for the wedding; so we don’t have that long.”

Buffy didn’t need asking twice, she all but ran to the bathroom door, but stopped – tilting forward on her toes - at the threshold.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“Yeah, for an hour anyway. Can’t have you up here any longer than that without it looking suspicious.” Faith said as she pulled her into the bathroom.

“Why?”

Buffy looked around. She’d been in the bathroom before; she’d been in the bath before, but it hadn’t been filled with bubbles that time and there had been no tealight candles around the rim of the huge tub.

“They have two hundred rooms to check every hour and only six monitors.” Faith explained as she made sure the bathroom door was locked tight. “Unless they got reason, they don’t check the tapes, but if they get around to this apartment twice and you’re nowhere to be seen either time, that’ll probably count as good reason. That’s why we have to be sitting out there waiting for Serena, dressed and looking as unfucked as possible an hour from now.”

“You’re talking about cameras?” Buffy checked. “How do you know there’s not one in here?”

Faith pulled her close and kissed her hard, long enough for Buffy to whimper as her knees seemed to melt. Dropping her just suddenly, Faith cocked her head to one side, listening for nearly a minute, her smile growing as the time passed.

“I think we’re good,” she said eventually and started swiftly undressing. “Come on, get naked already.”

“Please tell me you already knew there wasn’t a camera?” Buffy begged as she did as she was told.

Already nude, Faith kissed her again as she helped push and tug at her clothing to get it off quicker.

“I’ve had this place figured out since long before you arrived in the city,” Faith mumbled between kisses.

“Why?” Buffy teased as they stumbled together into the tub. “Were you always planning on doing me in your fiancé’s bathroom?”

Faith pulled her down until they were sitting. Bubbles tickled her shoulders and neck as the warm water lapped around her at chest height – it was a big bath.

“I never really planned it, but the few fantasies I’ve had sure came in useful when I was prepping all this earlier.”

“Oh yeah? Think they’ll come in useful right now?” Faith’s hands felt deliciously wet and soapy as they slowly toyed with her breasts.

“I don’t know.” Faith grinned. “How long can you hold your breath underwater?”

“When I realised how many demons were gonna try and drown me I started training.” Buffy smirked. “So I’d say a reasonably long time.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right… Hey, where are the hands going?”

Faith chuckled as she lay back against the side of the bath and Buffy looked down at the unusual sensation of feet smoothly running up her body, big toes cleverly tweaking her awakening nipples just before they emerged from the steaming bubbles like sea monsters from the mist. Sea monsters with cute toes and painted nails. Faith didn’t stop until they were over her shoulders, ankles locked behind Buffy’s neck.

Buffy raised a quizzical eyebrow, but she had a feeling she knew where this was going.

“Prove it,” was all Faith said, and her ‘I dare you’ smile was good for all occasions.

“Okay.” Buffy rearranged her legs under the water so it was easier to bend down. “You know CPR right? Just in case I stay down too long to come back up in time?”

“No, but I feel your tongue stop moving I’ll drag you up for a quick kiss of life, alright?”

“Last of the great romantics… isn’t you,” Buffy told her as her hands sought out Faith’s pussy, not wanting bubbles stinging her eyes to get in the way once she was under.

“Candles, bubbles… what more do you want? A freakin’ unicorn playing a harp in the corner?”

Buffy flicked a handful of water at her face and, spluttering, Faith retaliated by pulling Buffy face down with her ankles. She just had time to take a deep breath before her head was submerged beneath the water.

The bubbles didn’t sting her eyes at all and Faith lay open like a pink sea flower type thing directly in front of her. Pretty! Figuring she was probably good for about four minutes if she didn’t exert herself too much, she covered Faith’s clit with her mouth.

She had Faith writhing under the water almost immediately, which was flattering seeing as she still felt so new at all this, but not great for her lungs. Trying to hold her breath and a slippery Faith at the same time while licking and sucking the hip-bucking Slayer was an interesting challenge to say the least.

You will come… you will come… you will come if it kills me… She thought as the back – and more sensible part – of her mind started to count down the seconds of oxygen she had left. Faith was shaking now, and strange, distorted sounds filtered through the water that could only be a baby elephant sharing their watering hole or…

Buffy resurfaced fast, water cascading down her face and neck. She pushed her wet hair back behind her ears as she glared at Faith.

“Am I doing something funny down there?”

“No… no… why’d ya stop?” Faith looked disappointed, but she was still laughing.

“I wanted to see what I was missing?”

“Just your cute little ass wiggling around in the bubbles.”

“Huh?”

“When your head goes down, your ass comes up,” Faith explained, calmer now, but still grinning widely.

Buffy nodded, she’d noticed a bit of a draught. “So while I was down there, risking death to give you a happy, you were making fun of my butt?”

“Ye…”

Pulling hard on Faith’s calves, Buffy had her skidding along the bottom of the bath on her own butt, and before she managed to get her word out she’d been dunked. Buffy was still laughing triumphantly when Faith rose up like the creature from the Black Lagoon and spouted a mouthful of water straight into Buffy’s smiling face.

“Ew, Faith, gross!” Buffy slid backwards across the tub, causing a mini wave that took out the closest of the candles, as she ran both hands over her face.

Faith followed her, causing a bigger wave, scooting up tight between her thighs and pinning her to the smooth edge of the deep bath.

“Now what are you going to do?” Buffy asked sarcastically. “It’s going to be pretty hard to top laughing at my butt and spitting in my face.”

“Thought I’d start with…” Faith kissed her gently on the lips.

Buffy resisted the urge to kiss back, but that only lasted five seconds, it was just too hard when she had a naked, wet Faith between her legs.

“This doesn’t mean you’re forgiven,” Buffy said as Faith licked at the droplets running down her neck.

“Not looking for it,” Faith assured her before sinking face first into the water.

“Oh, now that’s not fair,” Buffy groaned weakly as a tongue ran up the length of her pussy.

A long stream of water whooshed out of Faith’s mouth directly against her clit.

“Oh boy.” Buffy spread her legs as far as they’d go as Faith did it again.

She hooked her arms over the cool edge of the bath as Faith pulled her forward a little by her hips and then her head thunked back with an enamel-y clank as lips closed around her clit.

She stared at the ornate ceiling, panting lightly and trying not to writhe too much as Faith continued to pleasure her beneath the water. Faith hit a particularly sweet spot, making her head pop up as she bucked unexpectedly. As Faith clamped down on her thighs, keeping her still, Buffy’s eyes went wide.

There was a dancing baby hippo in the bath with her!

She could see the top of its head poking out of the bubbles as it swayed to and fro. Or it could be Faith’s ass. Either way it was cute. She bit her lip, she couldn’t laugh. Laughing was not an option, it might make Faith stop for one thing, but… a breathless giggle escaped… look at it go!

Thirty seconds later she was ‘a go’; thrashing about in the water and still giggling helplessly all the way through.

When Faith popped up, gasping for air and wiping long, dark tendrils of hair out of her face, she took one look at Buffy and said,

“Hah!”

“I wasn’t laughing,” she insisted, out of breath, and still laughing.

“Sure looks like it to me.”

“Nuh-uh, not laughing, just happy.”

“And what made you so happy?”

Buffy grinned. “Sharing my bath with a baby hippo.”

Faith stared at her blankly for a moment or two and then started to rise. “Okay, can’t say we didn’t try, but I think its time we went our separate ways.”

Laughing again, Buffy caught her around the waist and pulled her back into the water.

“That was a term of endearment,” she promised.

“I’m against ‘Snuggle-bunny’ and ‘Cuddle-monkey’ and you think I’m gonna be okay with ‘Baby-Hippo’?” Faith protested, but let Buffy pull her back down.

She pushed herself back against the side again and pulled Faith with her until she was sitting snugly between her legs.

“Baby Hippo’s are cute.”

“Then that can be your pet name. You wanna call me something stupid, at least make it something red-hot and stupid.”

“So something red-hot and stupid… I think that pretty much just leaves me with ‘Faith’.

“So now you’re calling me stupid too?”

“Just as well you love me, right?”

“Just as well ya got your hands where ya got them, you mean?”

Buffy smirked, “I thought the extra precaution was a good idea.”

From behind she could thread her arms under Faith’s and reach around to just about any red-hot bit she wanted. Faith relaxed, resting her head back, as Buffy played languidly with one breast while her other hand swam south.

“Don’t give me a hickey,” Faith said suddenly, disturbing Buffy’s leisurely sucking of her water-speckled neck.

She moved her mouth up to lick around the shell of Faith’s ear before asking, “Why? It’ll be gone in a few hours anyway.”

“Yeah, and we’re meeting Serena in about half an hour.”

“Wear a polo neck.”

“It’s like eighty-five degrees out there.”

“Please?”

“No.”

She applied more pressure as she rubbed her fingertips over Faith’s clit. “Pretty please?”

“No! What’s the big deal anyway?”

Buffy ran her other fingertips up the side of Faith’s neck, feeling the way Faith trembled against her as they brushed the fading scar she’d only just spotted. Normally it must be covered by her hair and it didn’t look anywhere near as prominent as any of hers. She wouldn’t have even noticed it now if she hadn’t pulled Faith’s wet hair all the way back to kiss her neck in the first place.

“Is this who I think it is?”

“Troy’s not a vampire,” Faith reminded her.

“I wasn’t thinking of Troy.”

“Oh. Then, yeah, probably.”

Faith reached up to pull her hair over her neck, but Buffy just pushed it straight back out of the way again, still strumming her fingers between Faith’s legs.

“You never told me.”

“I told you shit went down between us.”

She nodded. “Uh huh, but you never told me he drank from you.”

“’Hi, Buffy, the love of your life’s just been sucking on my extremely succulent neck’ didn’t seem like the best opener for rebuilding our friendship.”

“You may have a point. You do have an extremely succulent neck.” She bent her head to first kiss and then lightly suck at the scar.

Faith trembled some more in her arms. Buffy rubbed her fingers faster and seconds later Faith came. She continued to stroke her lightly and kissed up her neck to her ear as Faith sank back deeper into her body, relaxing again.

They lay there quiet for a while, just listening to the water lapping at the sides, until Faith said,

“You better have been thinking about me then and not him.”

Buffy laughed. “Definitely you.”

“Good, ‘cause it was Angelus who bit me anyway, not Angel.”

She didn’t say it, because the resultant bickering would ruin the mellow, but Buffy felt extremely relieved by that news. Not that she cared who Angel chose to bite these days – presuming it was consensual of course – but she did still have a little lingering jealousy over how close Faith and her ex had become.

“We’ll have to swap Angelus stories one day,” Faith decided, sounding a little spaced still.

“Sure. Soon as you buy a truck load of Jack Daniels, I’m there. And I mean that literally about the truck load.”

“I can probably afford that. We should get dressed.”

“Five more minutes please?”

“What time is it?”

Buffy looked around the bathroom but there was no clock in this one either. It had to be a time-related conspiracy if even a bathroom this lavish failed to have a single clock.

“I don’t know, but we must have long enough for five more minutes.” She pulled Faith’s chin around a little to distract her with a kiss.

That garnered her maybe another minute, but then Faith disentangled herself and scooted to the other side of the bath.

“Come on, we can’t risk it.”

“But you like risk,” Buffy wheedled, scooting too and trying to wrap her arms around Faith again.

“Yeah, but I also like this thing I have going with you and I’m prepared to trade one off for the other.”

That argument won Buffy over and, smiling broadly, she allowed Faith to climb out of the tub. She waited until the show was over and Faith was wrapped in a towel before she did the same.

“We can do this again, though?” she asked hopefully.

Faith handed her a towel. “Troy’s not back for another few days, so maybe.”

Buffy couldn’t help frowning a little. She hadn’t realised Troy was going to be back so soon. There was still three weeks until the wedding, couldn’t he have stayed gone for another two and half of them at least. It was true he’d already been gone nearly a month, but she and Faith had wasted most of that time fighting the inevitable.

Faith noticed her long face. “What’s up?”

“I just wish Troy wasn’t coming home so soon.”

Now Faith frowned. “Yeah.”

She didn’t sound very convincing. Probably because she was glad he was coming home. It hurt.

“You really have missed him, haven’t you?”

Faith was rubbing her hair dry, but the comment made her stop and she frowned down at the floor for a little longer in silence.

“Sorry, silly que…” Buffy was pulled into a deep kiss which went on for at least half of the extra five minutes she had asked for. “…stion.”

Faith stroked her face as she let their foreheads rest together.

“Yes I have,” she said softly. “But not as much as I miss you every time I say goodbye.”

Faith turned and pulled the plug out of the bath, missing Buffy’s silly smile as the water noisily drained away.