After Dinner Men

[bible_beater]

Before I'd even fully swallowed my goodly share of Mears' fancy swill, supper was over and the room just plum cleared out. No introductions, no allusions to what made an alliance an alliance -- or even this an alliance -- not even further civilities beyond "mmm, this is tasty" and "pass the salt." Supper was just over, scant moments after it began

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[bible_beater]

The Lady grinned broadly up at me and it warmed me in the best and most wicked ways. Or perhaps it was the hooch doing the warming. Didn't matter much, because Her approval was a special kind of grace that I needed in my days. I smiled back at Her and wished for the millionth time that She had some kind of hand that I could take.

I can't claim to know what kind of dark alchemy that creature could manifest, but She certainly wasn't able to be ...of the flesh, so to speak. To be honest, most of the time I can do without the flesh. Especially the flesh of the typical woman -- the fallen sows. I had something better in The Lady. Best "woman" on God's green Earth, I don't mind telling you.

All the same, when I reached the john and prepared to piss into the gilded inset urinal, I couldn't abide by Her watching. I paused, pecker in hand, and cleared my throat.

"If it isn't too much to ask..." I smirked.

She let out a small, girlish noise of shock and answered, "Prudish, now, are you? Need I remind you that the first time--"

"You needn't," I cut Her off, and blushed a bit at the inference. She needn't remind me that the first time She offered to infuse me with Her sacred power, that I stripped myself bare in preparation. Right down to skin, throwing my skivvies off to the side like I was a debutante on her 18th birthday. Standing naked and unashamed in front of the First Evil might've seemed like the right thing to do, but, I soon realized that it worked just as well -- just as terrifyingly, stunningly and ecstatically well -- with my pants on.

After I was finished with my business, I spat in the receptacle and flushed. The meat was a little overdone for my tastes at dinner and I wanted more drink to wipe the taste from my mouth. If I had it my way, it'd still be mooing on its way out from the kitchen. Zipping up, I turned to Her. She still had Her back to me and I took a moment just to admire Her taste in forms. Beautiful silken hair, a sweet, round behind, and graceful, willowy limbs. Quite a sight. And, in my own pathetic experience, much more motivating than showing up as my dead sister, Loretta.

She faced me, eyes dancing and falsely alive -- it was enough to make a normal man's heart stop. But my heart beat for one reason and one reason alone: She wanted it to.

I sighed and moved to the sink, washing my hands with the ridiculous, feminine-scented hand soap: "Am I wrong, or are strange things afoot at the castle? What was that dinner all about? No introductions, no offers, no nothin'... am I meant to assume that I am part of the team? What are they talking about up there? What is it that I'm to do here?"

[first_class]

"Am I wrong, or are strange things afoot at the castle? What was that dinner all about? No introductions, no offers, no nothin'... am I meant to assume that I am part of the team? What are they talking about up there? What is it that I'm to do here?"

"Oh, they're just this and that. It's amazing the things boredom can drive a man to. And for the man who has everything, well, he can find some pretty interesting ways to amuse himself. He controls so much, yet still falls prey to the same temptations that your average Joe would."

I leaned against the sink, despite the fact that should I wish it, I could fall straight through it. I didn't have any real weight, and if I had the inclination I could do the whole floaty-specter thing, but it had always been most effective for me to retain the semblance of life within the dead form that I took.

"He's responsible for the disappearance of the Slayer two years ago, and now that he's brought order to this country, he misses the chaos that was her opposing force. I have to hand it to him, though. There are few activities more entertaining than manipulating the lives of others."

I made sure that the Slayer's smile was constant upon my face, as if Caleb and I were discussing an upcoming picnic rather than the systematic corruption and destruction of the mortal world.

"Although I'm not particularly interested in the Slayer right now. Let her deal with what's to come and we'll get to her later. You asked what we're doing here? Why, just picking up a few valuable resources. Warren is the ultimate power in this country, and he can affect worldwide change as fast as our bringers can prevent the awakening of a single potential slayer. Everyone here in this building right now has a connection to Warren's power. Power corrupts. And so do we."

I tilted my head to one side as I regarded Caleb.

"Anything we want to do, Warren can do it faster. For every potential pawn we stumble across on the road, there are twenty more inside this compound. All we need to do is secure a few connections here and we'll have gained the ultimate resource."

Standing upright again, I moved to Caleb's right side, leaning in towards him so that he would feel the fabric of Buffy's lavender shirt should I have obtained corporeal form, but for now he would feel nothing. I could have given him more instructions, but I knew I didn't have to. When it came to right hands, I could really pick 'em.

[bible_beater]

As typical, The Lady only told me what I most needed to know. Connections, resources, power... but nothing named. No hard facts. No literal instructions as to how I would identify and possess these resources.

I whispered near to where Her ear would be if She were bodily present, "Oh master of subtlety, I am ever your most pious servant."

"If not the most humble..." Her retort was as good natured as The First Evil's nature could be, I expect, and I grinned. I never was capable of being humble enough to be a proper servant to the son of god, so it was a stroke of luck that humility wasn't a requirement for my present affiliation.

"Why would I need humility when I have the strength you so generously have bestowed me?" I answered, opening the door to the restroom to find Her waiting in the hall for me. Raising an eyebrow at my least favored of Her magic tricks, I suggested, "Speaking of bestowin'..."

Falling in step with me, we made our way back toward the dining room. She glanced at me, looking as lascivious as an angel ever good, and smiled, "I'm aware of your desire for congress. We'll get to that later. Perhaps even in this very compound, under the nose of those boys. Now, you need to put some time and effort into the other ones. They despise him, but they'll bow to him. And if they'll bow to him, they'll bow to you."

Opening the door to the dining room, I murmured under my breath: "And if they'd bow to me, they'll throw themselves at Your very feet."