Fanfiction || One Hundred || "Beauty" || Buffy/Faith
Title: One Hundred
Prompt: Beauty
Table: Here.
Author: Sapphire Smoke cuzimastripper
Beta: tamswitter
Fandom: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Buffy/Faith
Word Length: 6,801 words
Summary: Beautiful was never something Faith enjoyed being called.
002. Beauty
Beautiful was never something Faith enjoyed being called.
She didn’t mind people saying she was hot; cause hell, she was. You’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to notice that she had that special little something that made even the most decent man unable to comprehend anything else besides the feeling of his cock straining against the crotch of his jeans. Even women couldn’t help but stare as she grinded on the dance floor, whipping her hair back and not having a single care in the world. The feeling of dancing, of being completely free - even for just one moment -was completely intoxicating and it never failed to draw people in. Everyone wanted to either screw her or be her and Faith enjoyed every single moment of it.
Sexy was a great adjective too. Her body was toned, hard, and fucking damn near perfect. She never even had to work at it either, which she figured was just another perk of being a Slayer. She liked the word sexy; she liked the way it felt when someone called her that. It was powerful, like she had control over that person just because they viewed her like that. The way she’d sit aside some faceless, nameless fuck, watching them take in her naked body like they wanted to suck the cum right out of her; it felt wicked good, to be desired in that way. To know that she was probably making someone’s dream come true just by going about her regular Tuesday night; nearly two hundred thousand people in this shithole of a city and at least a third of them would classify her as their dream girl.
It fed her ego, made her cocky and probably a little arrogant, but Faith couldn’t care less about what other people thought of her attitude. Maybe she measured her self-worth by how many people wanted to fuck her, but it was better than no one wanting to fuck her at all.
Hot and sexy, yeah, those were fine. Beautiful was not. Beautiful was a fucking joke.
The only time anyone had ever called her beautiful was when they were using her. Her worthless shit of a step-dad, he used to call her beautiful while he ripped away Faith’s childhood innocence. His stale breath on her face, that crooked smiles of his that made her sick to her stomach. She was nine when that started and it went on far longer than Faith would ever like to admit. After she ran away at the age of twelve, she met a guy named Ricky. He was like a big brother… until he wasn’t. They got into some really bad shit, the both of them, and suddenly he was persuading her to trade sex for... “product.” He used to call her beautiful too; all the time. He’d smile at her and tell her she was his beautiful flower; that she lit up his goddamn life. She was too young to realize it was just a line so he could get what he wanted from her.
It didn’t matter though, any of it. Just another part of this shit walk we call life, yeah? Live and learn and grow stronger from the shit that used to make you weak. Faith definitely wasn’t weak anymore, so she lets it go; forgets. It’s easier that way.
She left Ricky when she was fourteen though, not wanting to become just another statistic, and met her Watcher shortly afterwards. Her Watcher took her off the streets and gave her a warm bed and a roof over her head. She was like the mother she never had. But like anything else good in Faith’s life, she was ripped away from her too. So she ran; ran all the way to Sunnydale, only to find herself wrapped up in more bad shit.
The Mayor… he told her she was beautiful. But he only did it to make sure she’d stay on his side; he didn’t mean it. He was a good actor though, she’d give him that; all smiles and cheer while he planned to rip apart the world. For all the love Faith held for him, it fucked her sideways to realize he probably never loved her back. He just used her, just like everyone else that liked to call her “beautiful.” He was the closest thing she ever had to a real father figure and the whole fucking thing was built on lies and manipulation.
Some Dad he turned out to be.
There was this girl in prison, Sofia; a little speck of a thing, her big Latina attitude making up for what she lacked in strength. She used to call her beautiful too, used to kiss her ass like nothing else because she wanted the protection. Faith wasn’t interested in getting prison bitches though, somehow that felt like a huge fucking step backwards. Besides, if she was going to protect someone it was gonna be on her terms, not because some bitch thought flattering her with that fucked up word was going to help her survive. Sofia didn’t mean it anyway; Faith overheard her one day confirming her suspicions that she was just using Faith because she was the strongest woman in the joint. Slayer hearing; nothing like it. Not that it mattered; Sophia was less than nothing to her, as was anyone else in there. But it just stood as a reminder that no one bothered to call you beautiful unless they wanted something from you.
So yeah, Faith wasn’t overly fond of the word. So when Buffy called her beautiful, Faith didn’t take it well.
The fact that Buffy even called her beautiful in the first place was a mind fuck and a half. Ever since they got to Cleveland, they haven’t exactly been on the best of terms. They tolerated each other, sure. They had to because of all the new Slayers running around with their training wheels still intact. They were supposed to be “role models,” or whatever. Faith never figured she’d made a great role model, but then again maybe Buffy was keeping her around as a walking demonstration of what not to do.
Regardless, Faith found some comfort in Cleveland. It wasn’t forever, but it was for now. She had an apartment of her own and after Giles created the new Watcher’s Council, she was getting paid to do what she did anyway; slay. It could have been worse. Hell, could have been a lot worse. The teaching left something to be desired, Faith never really did have much patience, especially not when it came to overactive brats; but hell, it was extra money.
The building Giles’ got for training was kinda small, but wicked sweet regardless just because it was theirs. It needed a bit of fixing up; but hey, that’s why they had Xander. Faith would help him out sometimes, just needing to smash a hammer into something if she wasn’t the one scheduled to go out for patrol that night. She figured it was a productive way to get rid of her excess energy. Better than going out and doing something stupid and reckless, which is apparently what she’s known for. She’s been trying to work on that.
But back to Buffy, since she was the sole reason she was drinking right now in the Slayer Academy basement-slash-gym.
Faith swears this shit came out of left field. The way Buffy looked at her as she watched Faith working out with the punching bag, it… fuck, it was hard to explain. Buffy wasn’t like… fawning over her or anything, cause hell, she’s Buffy (not one of those underage recruits who all seem to think she’s like, a fucking sex goddess personified or whatever), but she was still staring at her in a way that made the tingles on the back of Faith’s neck increase tenfold. She always had the Slayer tingles when she was around Buffy, more so than with anyone else, but this was something different; stronger.
Eventually, the feeling got so distracting that Faith stopped what she was doing, holding the punching bag to keep it still as she panted from the hard work out, turning her head to look at her over her shoulder. “What?” she asked defensively. She didn’t get why Buffy was just standing there in the doorway, arms crossed, and looking at her in a way that screwed with her head.
“I… nothing,” Buffy faltered a little, looking like she just snapped herself out of some kind of daze. “I was just… watching. Critiquing,” she added, almost as an afterthought. She idly picked at some invisible lint on her sweater.
“Yeah, figured as much,” Faith responded with a sour tone, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her arm. “So?” she asked, holding out her arms, ready for Buffy to let ‘er rip. God knows she’ll take any chance she’ll get to tell Faith she’s wrong.
“So what?” Buffy asked, looking at her confused. Wow, that was quite an act; almost convincing.
“So ya gonna bitch about how my form is fucked or… whatever else? I know you got at least five complaints up your sleeve; so have at it, Princess.” Yeah, Faith was a little bitter. Nearly every time she was working out, Buffy always had ways to ‘improve’ it. Which okay, wouldn’t be such a big deal if she didn’t say shit in that attitude that made her sound like she was talking down to her.
“No, it’s… good,” Buffy faltered a little, looking a mixture of confused, surprised, and annoyed. Faith had no clue what was going through her head, but Buffy’s head wasn’t very into the conversation, that was for sure. Maybe it wasn’t an act after all. “I just-can you not snap at me, please? I wasn’t attacking you.”
“That’s a first,” Faith mumbled as she walked over to the bench, grabbing her water bottle and taking a long swig. The tingles were making her grow more on edge, which was probably why she went right to bitchy instead of letting Buffy get there first, like she usually did. She just wanted her to get the hell out of the gym so she could finish her workout and stop feeling like she popped a couple tabs of X.
“Sorry,” Buffy apologized, sighing softly. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked down at the ground for a moment as she admitted, “I know I can sometimes get a little… preachy. But that’s not what I came down here for.”
Wow, this really was a first. An apology and no preaching in one day? What is it; her birthday? It was either that, or Buffy was just having one of those self-reflection moments where she goes around and apologizes to everyone for being General Asshat. She does that sometimes; Faith thinks it’s a guilt thing. Or maybe she just hated everyone talking shit behind her back because she took the Big Boss on Campus thing a bit too seriously.
“Then what’dya come down here for, then?” Faith asked, replacing her water bottle back on the bench and looking directly at her as she grabbed her towel, starting to wipe the sweat off of her body. She figured she can play nice if Buffy was going to. Well, as long as she didn’t get any closer to her cause Faith didn’t know if the tingles would get any worse; she didn’t really plan to find out either. Shit was already driving her nuts. Can’t Buffy feel it too?
By the way Buffy was fidgeting a little, Faith guessed probably.
“I just… I needed to get out some energy,” Buffy admitted as she let out a breath, leaning against the basement stair railing, drumming her fingers softly on the wood. “And as good as some of the other Slayers are, they still don’t match up to you. I need a challenge.”
“You came down to spar?” Faith asked, half in surprise. They hardly ever did that anymore, unless it was for demonstration purposes for the wannabes. But she smirked as she ran the towel along her the back of her neck, watching as Buffy’s eyes followed it intently. She knew what type of energy Buffy needed to get out; Faith could feel it through the connection and it was making her antsier than hell. “You horny, girlfriend?” she asked with a wicked grin. The look on Buffy’s face was hilarious.
“What? No! I’m just… hyper. Oh my god, Faith, can you think of nothing else?” Buffy spluttered, looking mortified. Faith laughed.
“Hey, ain’t nothin’ wrong with it. But don’t lie, B; I can feel ya vibin’ me from here. That new boy toy of yours ain’t givin’ ya what you need?” Faith asked, smirking.
Buffy had a “boyfriend” - quote, unquote - that was really fucking obnoxiously boring and normal. They had been seeing each other for a little over two months now, but Buffy still hadn’t told him that she was a Slayer. She told him she was a personal trainer, ha. Whatever. Faith didn’t even know why she bothered pretending that she could have a normal life and date normal guys; shit was bound to fail.
“Okay, first of all, Queen of Cockiness; I’m not ‘vibing’ you. I’d have to be drunk out of my mind to even contemplate the idea of…” she shook her head, like she was getting impatient, “sending you signals, or whatever you think I’m doing. Second, what me and Dave may or may not have done is none of your business,” Buffy told her, folding her arms in front of her chest.
“Didn’t say you were sendin’ me signals, just that you were vibin’ me,” Faith corrected with a cocky grin since now that Buffy mentioned it, she must have been trying to do just that, even if she didn’t mean to. Faith knew what it was like to be so turned on and on edge that you couldn’t control who your pussy’s pointing at. “Slayer connection, B; you start gettin’ antsy and I can feel it from a mile away. Don’t know why you try to hide it; ya should know better by now. Besides,” Faith went on, sitting down on the bench and grabbing her water bottle again as her lips turned up into a smirk, “we’re both adults. So cut the crap and just be real with me. Ain’t gonna judge you.” She raised her eyebrows at her with a grin before she took another sip of her water, looking at Buffy intently.
She just wanted to hear her say it. Buffy never talked about sex. It’s like she’s a fucking nun in a convent sometimes; pretending to be all virtuous and shit, but she ain’t fooling anybody. Faith understood why when Buffy was younger, but come on. She’s an adult now. There ain’t no shame in wanting to get down and dirty with someone.
Buffy sighed, rubbing her fingers on her temples for a moment as she closed her eyes. She was quickly growing agitated. “Fine, I’m a little worked up, okay? Is that what you want to hear? Dave and I haven’t…”
“Been doin’ the naked Twister?” Faith finished, smirking. Buffy looked disgruntled and after a moment of staring at her like she wished Faith would just drop it; she finally shook her head no. She knew Faith wouldn’t quit asking about it until she told the truth. “Damn,” Faith said, letting out a long breath. “Two months and still no action? Ya gotta get another guy, B. That’s ridiculous.”
“We’re trying to take it slow!” Buffy defended.
“More like tryin’ to kill yourselves,” Faith corrected, getting off the bench and stretching her arm out across her chest, and then behind her head. “But yeah, I’m up for lettin’ off a little steam. Least it’ll make ya calm down and you can stop makin’ me feel all twitchy.”
“Is it really that bad?” Buffy asked, looking a little embarrassed as she crossed across the room to stand on the mats with Faith. The closer she got, the stronger the tingles felt as they raced down Faith’s spine. She tried to shake it off, figuring they were gonna let out the energy anyway.
“You’re makin’ me want to jump the next guy I see, so yeah, I’d say it’s pretty bad,” Faith told her, looking a little amused even though what she said was completely true. She was about ready to jump on a cock and ride it like there’s no fucking tomorrow. “Especially if the next guy I see is like, Giles.”
“Oh, ew!” Buffy exclaimed, making gagging noises that made Faith crack up. “God, bad visuals! Bad visuals!” She waved her hands erratically, like she was trying to ward off the thoughts from her mind.
“Hey, G’s kinda hot for an old dude,” Faith told her, shrugging lightly. “I mean, ya gotta admit that at least.”
“Ew, no! God, no; please shut up,” Buffy begged, looking like she was actually getting nauseous. “I think my brain is starting to contemplate suicide because of those images.” Faith shook her head, laughing softly as she started to circle her, flexing and unflexing her fingers to keep them limber.
“Sometimes you’re too easy, B,” she told her before she launched herself at her, throwing the first punch. Faith was sure she’d connect since Buffy was still kind of off in her ‘Faith + Giles = vomit’ world, but the punch only narrowly missed her face, Buffy dodging it at the last possible second. Faith chuckled as Buffy glared at her.
“I wasn’t ready,” she complained.
“Ya gonna tell that to the vamps when they come at you at an inconvenient time, B? You gonna whine and call a do-over?” Faith teased as they circled each other again, this time Buffy having her head in the game. Buffy smiled at her sarcastically in response.
“I never need any do-overs, Faith,” Buffy told her as she started assessing her weaknesses. Faith was doing the same. “I always win.”
“Yeah, ya think so, do you?”
“Yeah,” Buffy replied with a cocky grin of her own. “I do.” She launched at her then, throwing herself entirely into this almost immediately. Faith always loved when Buffy really let herself go when they sparred, but it usually took some coaxing to get her fully out of her shell. Not this time. Buffy came at her with all she had; running on pure feeling rather than that annoying little thing called a brain that she always relied on. Faith had been trying to teach her for years that the Slayer inside of them isn’t something that thinks, it just does. Like a wild animal, completely untamed and free.
But just as Faith was trying to teach her about letting go, Buffy was trying to teach her some control. There had to be a balance between the two, which both of them had been trying to work on since they came to Cleveland; taking the parts from each other that they needed to make the Slayer in them complete. If Faith was mushy, she’d almost call it poetry. But she wasn’t, so she’d never actually say that kind of shit out loud.
Their movements were smooth and in sync with each other. They each landed a couple of blows, but for the most part they were evenly matched. The buzz surrounding them - the Slayer connection - instead of calming down due to excess energy being released, only seemed to intensify until it seemed like the tiny hairs on their skin were vibrating. They were both breathing heavily, both for the same two reasons; the workout and the feeling that was slowly crawling up their spine, teasing them.
Sparring with Buffy always seemed sexual to Faith; fucking and fighting were along the same lines, as far as she was concerned. But Buffy always denied the tension, whether it was to preserve her “straightness” or her sanity, Faith wasn’t sure. But Faith’s sanity has long since been proven to be a little off the rails, and while she’s never fucked a girl before, she wasn’t entirely against the idea either. At least, she wasn’t when she was feeling like this.
It was always Buffy that did this to her. Faith never really had an interest in the same sex until they started sparring. Then she couldn’t help but let her mind wander; wondering how the sweat on Buffy’s neck would taste if she licked it off, wondering what it’d be like to fuck someone who had enough stamina to keep up with her. Would Buffy lie down and take it submissively, or would she put up a bit of a fight for control? She always figured it’d be the latter; Buffy never really was good with surrendering control to someone else, just like Faith. Maybe it was the Slayer in them, begging to fucking be connected again or some shit. Whatever it was, the feeling always got to both of them.
It’s funny, because everyone told Faith she didn’t have any self-control. But she thought that this right here proved she did. They’ve done this for years, sparring, and not once did Faith let her instincts get the best of her. So fucking kudos to her, damnit, since no one else seemed inclined.
It was fucked though in a way, since Faith never really looked at Buffy like that outside of these times. Half the time she can’t even stand being in the same room as her. But now? Fuck, the way Buffy’s breasts heaved as she panted… Faith couldn’t help but stare. Which, of course, cost her her concentration, and Buffy landed a clean punch right across her jaw.
Buffy smirked in victory and they backed away from each other for a moment, back to circling one another. “You should pay more attention,” she told her, amused as she watched Faith idly rub her abused jaw.
“You should wear shirts your tits aren’t falling out of then,” Faith replied, cocking an eyebrow before looking at Buffy’s shirt pointedly. That made Buffy look down to see if her boobs really were falling out, which gave a perfect opening for Faith to come at her again. She clocked Buffy right in the face, which made the blonde stumble back for a moment, annoyed and surprised, before she retaliated with a punch of her own. It didn’t connect, but they were back to doing their dance again.
It went on for what seemed like forever, both of them caught up into their own world. They didn’t speak; there were no more witty quips and jests thrown each other’s way. Instead there was just the feeling of their skin connecting as blows were either deflected or connected and the sound of their ragged breathing as they fell into a vigorous step that would seem like blurs to anyone who was watching. Buffy and her… they were made for each other, at least in this way. The way they fought was nothing like it was with the recruits, or even a skilled enemy. It was like a drug and Faith couldn’t get enough of it.
“Stop,” Buffy panted finally, pushing herself away from Faith, trying to establish some distance. Faith paused, looking confused. Was Buffy giving up? She never gave up. But Buffy was looking flushed and a little like she was going to pass out as she moved over to the bench, sitting down.
“B?” Faith asked through labored breathes, looking worried. “You alright? Ya look like you’re gonna pass out on me.” But Buffy waved her hand at her, signaling she was going to be fine.
“It’s just… too much all at once,” Buffy admitted as she grabbed Faith’s water bottle, putting it to her reddened cheeks to cool her down. She tried to suck in more air to get her breathing a little more regulated.
“The fighting?” Faith asked, confused as she crossed the room to the benches. Buffy looked up at Faith, who was standing over her, and shook her head.
“You,” she admitted as she slumped against the wall, sliding the water bottle down her neck. Faith’s eyes followed it carefully. “Doing things like that,” Buffy pointed out, still a little out of breath.
Faith smirked. “You sayin’ I’m gettin’ to ya?” Her ego may or may not have inflated about ten times its normal size.
“No, it’s just… it isn’t helping. It’s making it worse. The connection and that… that feeling? It’s driving me insane. The last thing I need is to make how I’m feeling worse,” Buffy told her honestly, which Faith accepted since Buffy rarely told the truth when it came to anything sexual.
“Was your idea,” Faith told her, cocking her head to the side as she looked down at her.
“A really bad one,” Buffy admitted with a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment and groaning. She slid the water bottle down across her chest and didn’t even open her eyes when she told her, “Stop looking at my boobs, Faith.”
“Well you’re the one puttin’ on a show,” Faith defended, chucking a little as Buffy opened one eye, looking at her a little disgruntledly before she flipped her off.
“I’m hot,” she defended.
“Didn’t have to tell me,” Faith said with a suggestive tone, which made Buffy roll her eyes before she threw the water bottle at her. She probably meant to hit her in the stomach with it, but Faith caught it easily.
“You’re really not helping,” Buffy told her, sounding beyond frustrated.
Faith smirked in response, but put the water bottle back down on the bench and grabbed her towel to dry herself off as she told her, “You really need to get laid, girlfriend.”
“Yes, thank you, Faith. Because I wasn’t painfully aware of that already,” Buffy sniped at her. She groaned again, banging her head slightly on the wall as she closed her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I was like you,” she admitted softly. Faith’s eyebrows rose practically off her forehead. That was a first.
“What, like fuckin’ random guys every other night?” she asked, making sure they were talking about the same thing. Buffy nodded. “Well then why don’t you?”
“Because,” Buffy sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t sleep with someone I don’t have feelings for. I just… can’t. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Sure ya can; it’s easy,” Faith told her, moving to sit on the bench next to her. But Buffy shook her head and warded her off with her hands.
“Uh uh, too close.”
Faith looked at her a little disbelievingly, but stood back up and took a couple steps back from her. She smirked a little as she observed, “Man, you’re really on edge, aren’t you? The Slayer tingles getting’ a bit too low for ya?” She bit the inside of her cheek as she teased her.
“Shut up,” Buffy responded, grabbing the extra towel on the bench and rolling it into a tight wad to try to slap Faith with it. She jumped away just in time though, chuckling. Buffy narrowed her eyes, but admitted her defeat as she put the towel back down. “You don’t know how miserable I feel right now. Sparring was my only hope.” She sighed as she opened the water bottle, taking a sip.
“There’s always masturbating,” Faith mentioned casually. Buffy nearly choked on her water, which made Faith crack up as she watched Buffy splutter it all over herself. “Damn, B. Learn to swallow.” Then she smirked as she realized the implications of that. She started to turn it into a sexual joke, but Buffy put her hand up to stop her.
“I know what you’re about to say, and don’t. I got it, so let’s move on,” Buffy requested, trying to hold herself with at least a little bit of dignity as she wiped the excess water from her chest. The blush coloring her cheeks though gave her away, and Faith smirked. Even though Buffy was being a little more open than usual, she figured that would be a little too much for her to handle. Which was half the point in saying it; it was entertaining for her to embarrass Buffy.
“Look, I’m just tryin’ to help out; give some tips to help scratch the itch.” She smirked a little bit at her rhyme, though Buffy just rolled her eyes at it. Faith shrugged though, going on, “I mean, if ya want to stay like that all day be my guest, but from personal experience I can tell you that it sucks. We’re Slayers, B, we’re meant for two things: fighting and fucking.”
“I really don’t think our destiny is tied up with our sex life, Faith,” Buffy said, looking at her skeptically; one eyebrow raised.
“No? Then why do the Slayer tingles get us horny?” Faith countered, matching her raised eyebrow with one of her own. Buffy stared at her for a moment, like she didn’t know how to answer that question. Either that or she couldn’t believe that she asked it.
Buffy got up suddenly though, waving her hand at her a little, dismissing that as she walked past her. “I’d really rather not go into that,” she told her as she started heading for the stairs. “I need to go get a yogurt.”
“Whoa,” Faith exclaimed, jogging to get to the stairs before Buffy. When she stopped at them she held out her hand, halting Buffy in her place and successfully blocking her. Buffy didn’t look too happy about it. “Ya can’t just say something like that and walk away.”
“Say something like what, exactly?” Buffy countered, folding her arms across her chest. “I only said I didn’t want to go into it. Now can you move? I’m hungry.”
“It was more how you said it,” Faith replied. Buffy went to move around her but Faith took a step backwards, getting up on the first step and holding her hands out to grasp both of the railings. She wasn’t going to let her leave yet. “And really, B? You think a nonfat yogurt is really gonna help? I can’t believe you’re still on about that.”
“I didn’t say it was going to help, I just said I wanted one. And can you move, please? Being this close to you is making me…” she trailed off, not being able to find the word.
Faith could though. “Twitchy?” she guessed, watching Buffy’s hand repeatedly smack against her leg like a kid with a serious case of ADD. “And you’re free to move as far away from me as ya like, Princess. Just not up the stairs.”
“Don’t make me put you down, Faith,” Buffy replied flatly, not looking amused. “This isn’t funny; we’re not twelve.”
“Ohh, I’m trembling,” Faith mocked, grinning wide. Buffy narrowed her eyes. Faith just shrugged at her lightly as said, “If you want to go up the stairs, just tell me what you meant.”
“Why are you pushing this? You’re reading too much into it,” Buffy told her, quickly growing impatient. “It’s not because of me, if that’s what you think.”
“No? Cause I was just fine and dandy till you came down here, horny as hell, and making me feel the same,” Faith retorted. “Now I’m stuck with the same problem you have. Thanks, by the way,” she finished flatly. She wasn’t planning on going out tonight, but now she would have to. So much for game night with Xander.
“Oh and like it hasn’t worked both ways? Don’t blame this on me, Faith. You’re usually a walking ball of sexual energy and that always gets reflected on me whenever you’re around. The tingles turn into like… sparks. It’s frustrating. Keep your overactive libido to yourself.”
“Pot; kettle, much?” Faith scoffed. “Seriously B, get off your high horse. Right here, right now, you started this. Besides, this ain’t even the fucking point I was trying to make. It wasn’t blaming you, just sayin’ that the tingles get us horny because that’s what we’re built to do; the Slayer in us wants us to fuck.”
Buffy’s eyes go wide, mouth dropping open. “I am not having sex with you!”
Faith stared at her for a moment, confused. “What?” she asked. Where the hell did that come from? It took her a second until she realized how Buffy construed it though. “I mean fuck other people, B, not each other.” She shook her head, like she couldn’t believe Buffy came up with that possibility as her first guess. “And you wonder why I read too much into shit sometimes.”
“I…” Buffy started, but words failed her. So she chose instead to get aggravated and tried to storm past Faith since she had moved her hand during her rant, but Faith slaps it back on the railing and Buffy stomps her foot in irritation. “Will you just move?”
“Nope.”
“Why? I cleared up what I said earlier, and now I would like to eat,” Buffy replied, than as an afterthought added, “and get away from you.”
Faith smirked. “Cause now I’m just havin’ fun rilin’ ya up.” It was true; she got off on getting Buffy pissed sometimes. Something about it just got her going and she was already horny, so it was like a train barreling down the tracks at this point. There was no hope in stopping her.
“Fine, you want to have a war over this?” Buffy asked, though rather rhetorically since Faith could practically see the steam coming out of her ears now. “Then this is your fault. I’ll get around you one way or another; watch.”
Faith was just about to ask what was her fault, but she didn’t get the chance. Buffy grabbed her shirt and pulled her towards her, her lips colliding with hers almost violently. Faith nearly had a stroke, at least that was until she realized why Buffy was doing it; to distract her. It nearly worked, but when Buffy tried to break the kiss and make a dash for the stairwell, which was now cleared, Faith grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back towards her. “Faith! Damnit-” Buffy tried to protest, annoyed that her plan didn’t work as well as she had originally hoped, but she was silenced by Faith’s lips pressing against hers again. Fuck it, if Buffy wanted play around like that, Faith was damn well going to get something out of it. Buffy opened the floodgates anyway, so it’s not like she could be faulted in the end.
Buffy tried to push her off of her, but Faith only retaliated by kissing her harder, holding her more firmly. After a moment of struggling though, Buffy seemed to forget her plan all together as she parted her lips, allowing her inside for a taste. Faith knew the only reason Buffy wasn’t kicking her ass from here to New York was because she was already horny, which she planned to take advantage of while she had the opportunity. Besides, the connection between them was almost crackling with electricity and it clouded Faith’s mind to anything relatively sane - like not going down this fucked up road, for example - so she knew it must be doing that to Buffy too.
Faith had let go of her grip on Buffy to keep her there, but Buffy didn’t move. Instead the blonde wrapped her arms around Faith’s neck, sliding her fingers through her hair as she kissed her deeper, her body pressed so firmly into Faith’s that she was sure she was about to fall backwards if she didn’t keep her grip; which did eventually end up happening once she heard Buffy whimper softly against her lips. The sound was confirmation that this was really happening and it kind of threw her for a loop for a second.
Thankfully, Faith was able to stumble back a couple steps so her back landed against the wall instead of on the floor and she grabbed Buffy’s shirt to take her with her. Their lips connected again, but only for a moment. Buffy broke the kiss finally, breathing heavy as she leaned her forehead against Faith’s, eyes still closed. “Shit,” she breathed. “That… wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You started it,” Faith breathed, keeping one hand on Buffy’s hip. Buffy didn’t move to get it off of her like she thought though; she just stayed there for a moment.
“Yeah, well… my plan involved ‘kissing and running’, not ‘kissing and more kissing’. It was supposed to shock you enough so that I could get away. It seemed like a solid plan in my head at the time; however, obviously not one of my best.”
“Yeah, figured that’s what ya were tryin’ to do,” Faith replied, chuckling a little under her breath. “But nothin’ really shocks me anymore after living on a couple hellmouths, so...” She kept expecting any minute for Buffy to get off of her and take off running, finally realizing what it was they had just done, but she stayed motionless. Almost too motionless; it was like she was frozen in place, not really knowing what to do now.
Buffy slowly opened her eyes to look at Faith pressed up against the wall. The urge to just rip off Buffy’s clothes was becoming more predominant, so she squeezed Buffy’s hip to try to fight against it. Kissing was one thing, but if they fuck it’s gonna open up a whole new can of worms that neither of them are ready to deal with. Buffy let out a shallow breath though when Faith squeezed, which didn’t help matters any. Her eyes dropped to her lips and then back up to search Faith’s eyes before her hand slid gently from her hair, down to her neck; caressing her skin as if mesmerized. Buffy didn’t say or do anything else for a long time and Faith was starting to wonder if she broke her, until Buffy whispered a barely audible, “You’re beautiful…”
Faith instantly stiffened. “What?” she asked, voice hardened; her defenses instantly taking over.
Buffy’s eyes widened after she felt Faith tense. “What?” she repeated. Then realization set in and fear crossed her features, “Oh god, did I just say that out loud?” By the look on her face, Faith was sure Buffy was hoping the answer would be no. But it wasn’t her lucky day; Faith had heard her loud and clear.
Why the fuck did Buffy have to go and ruin a good time by throwing that word around? Fuck that, she’s not about to let herself be used by someone again. No wonder Buffy kissed her; fucking ulterior motives and shit. Well screw that.
Faith pushed her off of her gently, starting to walk away. “I gotta go,” she told her dismissively.
“No, Faith, wait!” Buffy called out after her. She grabbed Faith’s arm, but the brunette wrenches it out of her grasp, glaring at her. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t-I don’t know why I said that. I’m not… not hitting on your or anything. I just… I don’t know, it just popped into my head! I’m sorry.”
Hitting on her wasn’t the problem, but Faith wasn’t about to tell her that because then Buffy would demand an explanation that Faith didn’t want to give her. Some shit in her life is meant to stay private.
“I just… gotta go, okay? Ain’t you, B,” Faith lied, and by the look on Buffy’s face she knew that she was lying. But it didn’t matter. Faith retreated up the stairs anyway, leaving Buffy standing there not knowing what the hell just happened.
So that’s why she was down in the basement again, hours later, drinking her problems away. It fucked her sideways, what Buffy said, just because it was Buffy who said it. For some reason, that bothered the hell out of her. Not that she didn’t ever expect Buffy to use her, she expected that from anyone, but it bothered her that she would, at least more so than it did with anyone else.
Faith didn’t know why though.
It was all a joke anyway; beauty. Even without all the shitty connotations that word held for her, Faith knew it was a lie. She was hot and sexy sure… but beautiful? Beauty was something different. It wasn’t a nice rack and killer abs, it was something inside, and Faith knew what was inside of her was rotten. Hell, everyone knew that, so she didn’t understand why anyone would even bother fucking lying to her face like that. It was insulting. Faith would never be beautiful; that was just the way it was.
There was no use pretending otherwise.
- FIN -
Prompt: Beauty
Table: Here.
Author: Sapphire Smoke cuzimastripper
Beta: tamswitter
Fandom: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Buffy/Faith
Word Length: 6,801 words
Summary: Beautiful was never something Faith enjoyed being called.
002. Beauty
Beautiful was never something Faith enjoyed being called.
She didn’t mind people saying she was hot; cause hell, she was. You’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to notice that she had that special little something that made even the most decent man unable to comprehend anything else besides the feeling of his cock straining against the crotch of his jeans. Even women couldn’t help but stare as she grinded on the dance floor, whipping her hair back and not having a single care in the world. The feeling of dancing, of being completely free - even for just one moment -was completely intoxicating and it never failed to draw people in. Everyone wanted to either screw her or be her and Faith enjoyed every single moment of it.
Sexy was a great adjective too. Her body was toned, hard, and fucking damn near perfect. She never even had to work at it either, which she figured was just another perk of being a Slayer. She liked the word sexy; she liked the way it felt when someone called her that. It was powerful, like she had control over that person just because they viewed her like that. The way she’d sit aside some faceless, nameless fuck, watching them take in her naked body like they wanted to suck the cum right out of her; it felt wicked good, to be desired in that way. To know that she was probably making someone’s dream come true just by going about her regular Tuesday night; nearly two hundred thousand people in this shithole of a city and at least a third of them would classify her as their dream girl.
It fed her ego, made her cocky and probably a little arrogant, but Faith couldn’t care less about what other people thought of her attitude. Maybe she measured her self-worth by how many people wanted to fuck her, but it was better than no one wanting to fuck her at all.
Hot and sexy, yeah, those were fine. Beautiful was not. Beautiful was a fucking joke.
The only time anyone had ever called her beautiful was when they were using her. Her worthless shit of a step-dad, he used to call her beautiful while he ripped away Faith’s childhood innocence. His stale breath on her face, that crooked smiles of his that made her sick to her stomach. She was nine when that started and it went on far longer than Faith would ever like to admit. After she ran away at the age of twelve, she met a guy named Ricky. He was like a big brother… until he wasn’t. They got into some really bad shit, the both of them, and suddenly he was persuading her to trade sex for... “product.” He used to call her beautiful too; all the time. He’d smile at her and tell her she was his beautiful flower; that she lit up his goddamn life. She was too young to realize it was just a line so he could get what he wanted from her.
It didn’t matter though, any of it. Just another part of this shit walk we call life, yeah? Live and learn and grow stronger from the shit that used to make you weak. Faith definitely wasn’t weak anymore, so she lets it go; forgets. It’s easier that way.
She left Ricky when she was fourteen though, not wanting to become just another statistic, and met her Watcher shortly afterwards. Her Watcher took her off the streets and gave her a warm bed and a roof over her head. She was like the mother she never had. But like anything else good in Faith’s life, she was ripped away from her too. So she ran; ran all the way to Sunnydale, only to find herself wrapped up in more bad shit.
The Mayor… he told her she was beautiful. But he only did it to make sure she’d stay on his side; he didn’t mean it. He was a good actor though, she’d give him that; all smiles and cheer while he planned to rip apart the world. For all the love Faith held for him, it fucked her sideways to realize he probably never loved her back. He just used her, just like everyone else that liked to call her “beautiful.” He was the closest thing she ever had to a real father figure and the whole fucking thing was built on lies and manipulation.
Some Dad he turned out to be.
There was this girl in prison, Sofia; a little speck of a thing, her big Latina attitude making up for what she lacked in strength. She used to call her beautiful too, used to kiss her ass like nothing else because she wanted the protection. Faith wasn’t interested in getting prison bitches though, somehow that felt like a huge fucking step backwards. Besides, if she was going to protect someone it was gonna be on her terms, not because some bitch thought flattering her with that fucked up word was going to help her survive. Sofia didn’t mean it anyway; Faith overheard her one day confirming her suspicions that she was just using Faith because she was the strongest woman in the joint. Slayer hearing; nothing like it. Not that it mattered; Sophia was less than nothing to her, as was anyone else in there. But it just stood as a reminder that no one bothered to call you beautiful unless they wanted something from you.
So yeah, Faith wasn’t overly fond of the word. So when Buffy called her beautiful, Faith didn’t take it well.
The fact that Buffy even called her beautiful in the first place was a mind fuck and a half. Ever since they got to Cleveland, they haven’t exactly been on the best of terms. They tolerated each other, sure. They had to because of all the new Slayers running around with their training wheels still intact. They were supposed to be “role models,” or whatever. Faith never figured she’d made a great role model, but then again maybe Buffy was keeping her around as a walking demonstration of what not to do.
Regardless, Faith found some comfort in Cleveland. It wasn’t forever, but it was for now. She had an apartment of her own and after Giles created the new Watcher’s Council, she was getting paid to do what she did anyway; slay. It could have been worse. Hell, could have been a lot worse. The teaching left something to be desired, Faith never really did have much patience, especially not when it came to overactive brats; but hell, it was extra money.
The building Giles’ got for training was kinda small, but wicked sweet regardless just because it was theirs. It needed a bit of fixing up; but hey, that’s why they had Xander. Faith would help him out sometimes, just needing to smash a hammer into something if she wasn’t the one scheduled to go out for patrol that night. She figured it was a productive way to get rid of her excess energy. Better than going out and doing something stupid and reckless, which is apparently what she’s known for. She’s been trying to work on that.
But back to Buffy, since she was the sole reason she was drinking right now in the Slayer Academy basement-slash-gym.
Faith swears this shit came out of left field. The way Buffy looked at her as she watched Faith working out with the punching bag, it… fuck, it was hard to explain. Buffy wasn’t like… fawning over her or anything, cause hell, she’s Buffy (not one of those underage recruits who all seem to think she’s like, a fucking sex goddess personified or whatever), but she was still staring at her in a way that made the tingles on the back of Faith’s neck increase tenfold. She always had the Slayer tingles when she was around Buffy, more so than with anyone else, but this was something different; stronger.
Eventually, the feeling got so distracting that Faith stopped what she was doing, holding the punching bag to keep it still as she panted from the hard work out, turning her head to look at her over her shoulder. “What?” she asked defensively. She didn’t get why Buffy was just standing there in the doorway, arms crossed, and looking at her in a way that screwed with her head.
“I… nothing,” Buffy faltered a little, looking like she just snapped herself out of some kind of daze. “I was just… watching. Critiquing,” she added, almost as an afterthought. She idly picked at some invisible lint on her sweater.
“Yeah, figured as much,” Faith responded with a sour tone, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her arm. “So?” she asked, holding out her arms, ready for Buffy to let ‘er rip. God knows she’ll take any chance she’ll get to tell Faith she’s wrong.
“So what?” Buffy asked, looking at her confused. Wow, that was quite an act; almost convincing.
“So ya gonna bitch about how my form is fucked or… whatever else? I know you got at least five complaints up your sleeve; so have at it, Princess.” Yeah, Faith was a little bitter. Nearly every time she was working out, Buffy always had ways to ‘improve’ it. Which okay, wouldn’t be such a big deal if she didn’t say shit in that attitude that made her sound like she was talking down to her.
“No, it’s… good,” Buffy faltered a little, looking a mixture of confused, surprised, and annoyed. Faith had no clue what was going through her head, but Buffy’s head wasn’t very into the conversation, that was for sure. Maybe it wasn’t an act after all. “I just-can you not snap at me, please? I wasn’t attacking you.”
“That’s a first,” Faith mumbled as she walked over to the bench, grabbing her water bottle and taking a long swig. The tingles were making her grow more on edge, which was probably why she went right to bitchy instead of letting Buffy get there first, like she usually did. She just wanted her to get the hell out of the gym so she could finish her workout and stop feeling like she popped a couple tabs of X.
“Sorry,” Buffy apologized, sighing softly. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked down at the ground for a moment as she admitted, “I know I can sometimes get a little… preachy. But that’s not what I came down here for.”
Wow, this really was a first. An apology and no preaching in one day? What is it; her birthday? It was either that, or Buffy was just having one of those self-reflection moments where she goes around and apologizes to everyone for being General Asshat. She does that sometimes; Faith thinks it’s a guilt thing. Or maybe she just hated everyone talking shit behind her back because she took the Big Boss on Campus thing a bit too seriously.
“Then what’dya come down here for, then?” Faith asked, replacing her water bottle back on the bench and looking directly at her as she grabbed her towel, starting to wipe the sweat off of her body. She figured she can play nice if Buffy was going to. Well, as long as she didn’t get any closer to her cause Faith didn’t know if the tingles would get any worse; she didn’t really plan to find out either. Shit was already driving her nuts. Can’t Buffy feel it too?
By the way Buffy was fidgeting a little, Faith guessed probably.
“I just… I needed to get out some energy,” Buffy admitted as she let out a breath, leaning against the basement stair railing, drumming her fingers softly on the wood. “And as good as some of the other Slayers are, they still don’t match up to you. I need a challenge.”
“You came down to spar?” Faith asked, half in surprise. They hardly ever did that anymore, unless it was for demonstration purposes for the wannabes. But she smirked as she ran the towel along her the back of her neck, watching as Buffy’s eyes followed it intently. She knew what type of energy Buffy needed to get out; Faith could feel it through the connection and it was making her antsier than hell. “You horny, girlfriend?” she asked with a wicked grin. The look on Buffy’s face was hilarious.
“What? No! I’m just… hyper. Oh my god, Faith, can you think of nothing else?” Buffy spluttered, looking mortified. Faith laughed.
“Hey, ain’t nothin’ wrong with it. But don’t lie, B; I can feel ya vibin’ me from here. That new boy toy of yours ain’t givin’ ya what you need?” Faith asked, smirking.
Buffy had a “boyfriend” - quote, unquote - that was really fucking obnoxiously boring and normal. They had been seeing each other for a little over two months now, but Buffy still hadn’t told him that she was a Slayer. She told him she was a personal trainer, ha. Whatever. Faith didn’t even know why she bothered pretending that she could have a normal life and date normal guys; shit was bound to fail.
“Okay, first of all, Queen of Cockiness; I’m not ‘vibing’ you. I’d have to be drunk out of my mind to even contemplate the idea of…” she shook her head, like she was getting impatient, “sending you signals, or whatever you think I’m doing. Second, what me and Dave may or may not have done is none of your business,” Buffy told her, folding her arms in front of her chest.
“Didn’t say you were sendin’ me signals, just that you were vibin’ me,” Faith corrected with a cocky grin since now that Buffy mentioned it, she must have been trying to do just that, even if she didn’t mean to. Faith knew what it was like to be so turned on and on edge that you couldn’t control who your pussy’s pointing at. “Slayer connection, B; you start gettin’ antsy and I can feel it from a mile away. Don’t know why you try to hide it; ya should know better by now. Besides,” Faith went on, sitting down on the bench and grabbing her water bottle again as her lips turned up into a smirk, “we’re both adults. So cut the crap and just be real with me. Ain’t gonna judge you.” She raised her eyebrows at her with a grin before she took another sip of her water, looking at Buffy intently.
She just wanted to hear her say it. Buffy never talked about sex. It’s like she’s a fucking nun in a convent sometimes; pretending to be all virtuous and shit, but she ain’t fooling anybody. Faith understood why when Buffy was younger, but come on. She’s an adult now. There ain’t no shame in wanting to get down and dirty with someone.
Buffy sighed, rubbing her fingers on her temples for a moment as she closed her eyes. She was quickly growing agitated. “Fine, I’m a little worked up, okay? Is that what you want to hear? Dave and I haven’t…”
“Been doin’ the naked Twister?” Faith finished, smirking. Buffy looked disgruntled and after a moment of staring at her like she wished Faith would just drop it; she finally shook her head no. She knew Faith wouldn’t quit asking about it until she told the truth. “Damn,” Faith said, letting out a long breath. “Two months and still no action? Ya gotta get another guy, B. That’s ridiculous.”
“We’re trying to take it slow!” Buffy defended.
“More like tryin’ to kill yourselves,” Faith corrected, getting off the bench and stretching her arm out across her chest, and then behind her head. “But yeah, I’m up for lettin’ off a little steam. Least it’ll make ya calm down and you can stop makin’ me feel all twitchy.”
“Is it really that bad?” Buffy asked, looking a little embarrassed as she crossed across the room to stand on the mats with Faith. The closer she got, the stronger the tingles felt as they raced down Faith’s spine. She tried to shake it off, figuring they were gonna let out the energy anyway.
“You’re makin’ me want to jump the next guy I see, so yeah, I’d say it’s pretty bad,” Faith told her, looking a little amused even though what she said was completely true. She was about ready to jump on a cock and ride it like there’s no fucking tomorrow. “Especially if the next guy I see is like, Giles.”
“Oh, ew!” Buffy exclaimed, making gagging noises that made Faith crack up. “God, bad visuals! Bad visuals!” She waved her hands erratically, like she was trying to ward off the thoughts from her mind.
“Hey, G’s kinda hot for an old dude,” Faith told her, shrugging lightly. “I mean, ya gotta admit that at least.”
“Ew, no! God, no; please shut up,” Buffy begged, looking like she was actually getting nauseous. “I think my brain is starting to contemplate suicide because of those images.” Faith shook her head, laughing softly as she started to circle her, flexing and unflexing her fingers to keep them limber.
“Sometimes you’re too easy, B,” she told her before she launched herself at her, throwing the first punch. Faith was sure she’d connect since Buffy was still kind of off in her ‘Faith + Giles = vomit’ world, but the punch only narrowly missed her face, Buffy dodging it at the last possible second. Faith chuckled as Buffy glared at her.
“I wasn’t ready,” she complained.
“Ya gonna tell that to the vamps when they come at you at an inconvenient time, B? You gonna whine and call a do-over?” Faith teased as they circled each other again, this time Buffy having her head in the game. Buffy smiled at her sarcastically in response.
“I never need any do-overs, Faith,” Buffy told her as she started assessing her weaknesses. Faith was doing the same. “I always win.”
“Yeah, ya think so, do you?”
“Yeah,” Buffy replied with a cocky grin of her own. “I do.” She launched at her then, throwing herself entirely into this almost immediately. Faith always loved when Buffy really let herself go when they sparred, but it usually took some coaxing to get her fully out of her shell. Not this time. Buffy came at her with all she had; running on pure feeling rather than that annoying little thing called a brain that she always relied on. Faith had been trying to teach her for years that the Slayer inside of them isn’t something that thinks, it just does. Like a wild animal, completely untamed and free.
But just as Faith was trying to teach her about letting go, Buffy was trying to teach her some control. There had to be a balance between the two, which both of them had been trying to work on since they came to Cleveland; taking the parts from each other that they needed to make the Slayer in them complete. If Faith was mushy, she’d almost call it poetry. But she wasn’t, so she’d never actually say that kind of shit out loud.
Their movements were smooth and in sync with each other. They each landed a couple of blows, but for the most part they were evenly matched. The buzz surrounding them - the Slayer connection - instead of calming down due to excess energy being released, only seemed to intensify until it seemed like the tiny hairs on their skin were vibrating. They were both breathing heavily, both for the same two reasons; the workout and the feeling that was slowly crawling up their spine, teasing them.
Sparring with Buffy always seemed sexual to Faith; fucking and fighting were along the same lines, as far as she was concerned. But Buffy always denied the tension, whether it was to preserve her “straightness” or her sanity, Faith wasn’t sure. But Faith’s sanity has long since been proven to be a little off the rails, and while she’s never fucked a girl before, she wasn’t entirely against the idea either. At least, she wasn’t when she was feeling like this.
It was always Buffy that did this to her. Faith never really had an interest in the same sex until they started sparring. Then she couldn’t help but let her mind wander; wondering how the sweat on Buffy’s neck would taste if she licked it off, wondering what it’d be like to fuck someone who had enough stamina to keep up with her. Would Buffy lie down and take it submissively, or would she put up a bit of a fight for control? She always figured it’d be the latter; Buffy never really was good with surrendering control to someone else, just like Faith. Maybe it was the Slayer in them, begging to fucking be connected again or some shit. Whatever it was, the feeling always got to both of them.
It’s funny, because everyone told Faith she didn’t have any self-control. But she thought that this right here proved she did. They’ve done this for years, sparring, and not once did Faith let her instincts get the best of her. So fucking kudos to her, damnit, since no one else seemed inclined.
It was fucked though in a way, since Faith never really looked at Buffy like that outside of these times. Half the time she can’t even stand being in the same room as her. But now? Fuck, the way Buffy’s breasts heaved as she panted… Faith couldn’t help but stare. Which, of course, cost her her concentration, and Buffy landed a clean punch right across her jaw.
Buffy smirked in victory and they backed away from each other for a moment, back to circling one another. “You should pay more attention,” she told her, amused as she watched Faith idly rub her abused jaw.
“You should wear shirts your tits aren’t falling out of then,” Faith replied, cocking an eyebrow before looking at Buffy’s shirt pointedly. That made Buffy look down to see if her boobs really were falling out, which gave a perfect opening for Faith to come at her again. She clocked Buffy right in the face, which made the blonde stumble back for a moment, annoyed and surprised, before she retaliated with a punch of her own. It didn’t connect, but they were back to doing their dance again.
It went on for what seemed like forever, both of them caught up into their own world. They didn’t speak; there were no more witty quips and jests thrown each other’s way. Instead there was just the feeling of their skin connecting as blows were either deflected or connected and the sound of their ragged breathing as they fell into a vigorous step that would seem like blurs to anyone who was watching. Buffy and her… they were made for each other, at least in this way. The way they fought was nothing like it was with the recruits, or even a skilled enemy. It was like a drug and Faith couldn’t get enough of it.
“Stop,” Buffy panted finally, pushing herself away from Faith, trying to establish some distance. Faith paused, looking confused. Was Buffy giving up? She never gave up. But Buffy was looking flushed and a little like she was going to pass out as she moved over to the bench, sitting down.
“B?” Faith asked through labored breathes, looking worried. “You alright? Ya look like you’re gonna pass out on me.” But Buffy waved her hand at her, signaling she was going to be fine.
“It’s just… too much all at once,” Buffy admitted as she grabbed Faith’s water bottle, putting it to her reddened cheeks to cool her down. She tried to suck in more air to get her breathing a little more regulated.
“The fighting?” Faith asked, confused as she crossed the room to the benches. Buffy looked up at Faith, who was standing over her, and shook her head.
“You,” she admitted as she slumped against the wall, sliding the water bottle down her neck. Faith’s eyes followed it carefully. “Doing things like that,” Buffy pointed out, still a little out of breath.
Faith smirked. “You sayin’ I’m gettin’ to ya?” Her ego may or may not have inflated about ten times its normal size.
“No, it’s just… it isn’t helping. It’s making it worse. The connection and that… that feeling? It’s driving me insane. The last thing I need is to make how I’m feeling worse,” Buffy told her honestly, which Faith accepted since Buffy rarely told the truth when it came to anything sexual.
“Was your idea,” Faith told her, cocking her head to the side as she looked down at her.
“A really bad one,” Buffy admitted with a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment and groaning. She slid the water bottle down across her chest and didn’t even open her eyes when she told her, “Stop looking at my boobs, Faith.”
“Well you’re the one puttin’ on a show,” Faith defended, chucking a little as Buffy opened one eye, looking at her a little disgruntledly before she flipped her off.
“I’m hot,” she defended.
“Didn’t have to tell me,” Faith said with a suggestive tone, which made Buffy roll her eyes before she threw the water bottle at her. She probably meant to hit her in the stomach with it, but Faith caught it easily.
“You’re really not helping,” Buffy told her, sounding beyond frustrated.
Faith smirked in response, but put the water bottle back down on the bench and grabbed her towel to dry herself off as she told her, “You really need to get laid, girlfriend.”
“Yes, thank you, Faith. Because I wasn’t painfully aware of that already,” Buffy sniped at her. She groaned again, banging her head slightly on the wall as she closed her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I was like you,” she admitted softly. Faith’s eyebrows rose practically off her forehead. That was a first.
“What, like fuckin’ random guys every other night?” she asked, making sure they were talking about the same thing. Buffy nodded. “Well then why don’t you?”
“Because,” Buffy sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t sleep with someone I don’t have feelings for. I just… can’t. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Sure ya can; it’s easy,” Faith told her, moving to sit on the bench next to her. But Buffy shook her head and warded her off with her hands.
“Uh uh, too close.”
Faith looked at her a little disbelievingly, but stood back up and took a couple steps back from her. She smirked a little as she observed, “Man, you’re really on edge, aren’t you? The Slayer tingles getting’ a bit too low for ya?” She bit the inside of her cheek as she teased her.
“Shut up,” Buffy responded, grabbing the extra towel on the bench and rolling it into a tight wad to try to slap Faith with it. She jumped away just in time though, chuckling. Buffy narrowed her eyes, but admitted her defeat as she put the towel back down. “You don’t know how miserable I feel right now. Sparring was my only hope.” She sighed as she opened the water bottle, taking a sip.
“There’s always masturbating,” Faith mentioned casually. Buffy nearly choked on her water, which made Faith crack up as she watched Buffy splutter it all over herself. “Damn, B. Learn to swallow.” Then she smirked as she realized the implications of that. She started to turn it into a sexual joke, but Buffy put her hand up to stop her.
“I know what you’re about to say, and don’t. I got it, so let’s move on,” Buffy requested, trying to hold herself with at least a little bit of dignity as she wiped the excess water from her chest. The blush coloring her cheeks though gave her away, and Faith smirked. Even though Buffy was being a little more open than usual, she figured that would be a little too much for her to handle. Which was half the point in saying it; it was entertaining for her to embarrass Buffy.
“Look, I’m just tryin’ to help out; give some tips to help scratch the itch.” She smirked a little bit at her rhyme, though Buffy just rolled her eyes at it. Faith shrugged though, going on, “I mean, if ya want to stay like that all day be my guest, but from personal experience I can tell you that it sucks. We’re Slayers, B, we’re meant for two things: fighting and fucking.”
“I really don’t think our destiny is tied up with our sex life, Faith,” Buffy said, looking at her skeptically; one eyebrow raised.
“No? Then why do the Slayer tingles get us horny?” Faith countered, matching her raised eyebrow with one of her own. Buffy stared at her for a moment, like she didn’t know how to answer that question. Either that or she couldn’t believe that she asked it.
Buffy got up suddenly though, waving her hand at her a little, dismissing that as she walked past her. “I’d really rather not go into that,” she told her as she started heading for the stairs. “I need to go get a yogurt.”
“Whoa,” Faith exclaimed, jogging to get to the stairs before Buffy. When she stopped at them she held out her hand, halting Buffy in her place and successfully blocking her. Buffy didn’t look too happy about it. “Ya can’t just say something like that and walk away.”
“Say something like what, exactly?” Buffy countered, folding her arms across her chest. “I only said I didn’t want to go into it. Now can you move? I’m hungry.”
“It was more how you said it,” Faith replied. Buffy went to move around her but Faith took a step backwards, getting up on the first step and holding her hands out to grasp both of the railings. She wasn’t going to let her leave yet. “And really, B? You think a nonfat yogurt is really gonna help? I can’t believe you’re still on about that.”
“I didn’t say it was going to help, I just said I wanted one. And can you move, please? Being this close to you is making me…” she trailed off, not being able to find the word.
Faith could though. “Twitchy?” she guessed, watching Buffy’s hand repeatedly smack against her leg like a kid with a serious case of ADD. “And you’re free to move as far away from me as ya like, Princess. Just not up the stairs.”
“Don’t make me put you down, Faith,” Buffy replied flatly, not looking amused. “This isn’t funny; we’re not twelve.”
“Ohh, I’m trembling,” Faith mocked, grinning wide. Buffy narrowed her eyes. Faith just shrugged at her lightly as said, “If you want to go up the stairs, just tell me what you meant.”
“Why are you pushing this? You’re reading too much into it,” Buffy told her, quickly growing impatient. “It’s not because of me, if that’s what you think.”
“No? Cause I was just fine and dandy till you came down here, horny as hell, and making me feel the same,” Faith retorted. “Now I’m stuck with the same problem you have. Thanks, by the way,” she finished flatly. She wasn’t planning on going out tonight, but now she would have to. So much for game night with Xander.
“Oh and like it hasn’t worked both ways? Don’t blame this on me, Faith. You’re usually a walking ball of sexual energy and that always gets reflected on me whenever you’re around. The tingles turn into like… sparks. It’s frustrating. Keep your overactive libido to yourself.”
“Pot; kettle, much?” Faith scoffed. “Seriously B, get off your high horse. Right here, right now, you started this. Besides, this ain’t even the fucking point I was trying to make. It wasn’t blaming you, just sayin’ that the tingles get us horny because that’s what we’re built to do; the Slayer in us wants us to fuck.”
Buffy’s eyes go wide, mouth dropping open. “I am not having sex with you!”
Faith stared at her for a moment, confused. “What?” she asked. Where the hell did that come from? It took her a second until she realized how Buffy construed it though. “I mean fuck other people, B, not each other.” She shook her head, like she couldn’t believe Buffy came up with that possibility as her first guess. “And you wonder why I read too much into shit sometimes.”
“I…” Buffy started, but words failed her. So she chose instead to get aggravated and tried to storm past Faith since she had moved her hand during her rant, but Faith slaps it back on the railing and Buffy stomps her foot in irritation. “Will you just move?”
“Nope.”
“Why? I cleared up what I said earlier, and now I would like to eat,” Buffy replied, than as an afterthought added, “and get away from you.”
Faith smirked. “Cause now I’m just havin’ fun rilin’ ya up.” It was true; she got off on getting Buffy pissed sometimes. Something about it just got her going and she was already horny, so it was like a train barreling down the tracks at this point. There was no hope in stopping her.
“Fine, you want to have a war over this?” Buffy asked, though rather rhetorically since Faith could practically see the steam coming out of her ears now. “Then this is your fault. I’ll get around you one way or another; watch.”
Faith was just about to ask what was her fault, but she didn’t get the chance. Buffy grabbed her shirt and pulled her towards her, her lips colliding with hers almost violently. Faith nearly had a stroke, at least that was until she realized why Buffy was doing it; to distract her. It nearly worked, but when Buffy tried to break the kiss and make a dash for the stairwell, which was now cleared, Faith grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back towards her. “Faith! Damnit-” Buffy tried to protest, annoyed that her plan didn’t work as well as she had originally hoped, but she was silenced by Faith’s lips pressing against hers again. Fuck it, if Buffy wanted play around like that, Faith was damn well going to get something out of it. Buffy opened the floodgates anyway, so it’s not like she could be faulted in the end.
Buffy tried to push her off of her, but Faith only retaliated by kissing her harder, holding her more firmly. After a moment of struggling though, Buffy seemed to forget her plan all together as she parted her lips, allowing her inside for a taste. Faith knew the only reason Buffy wasn’t kicking her ass from here to New York was because she was already horny, which she planned to take advantage of while she had the opportunity. Besides, the connection between them was almost crackling with electricity and it clouded Faith’s mind to anything relatively sane - like not going down this fucked up road, for example - so she knew it must be doing that to Buffy too.
Faith had let go of her grip on Buffy to keep her there, but Buffy didn’t move. Instead the blonde wrapped her arms around Faith’s neck, sliding her fingers through her hair as she kissed her deeper, her body pressed so firmly into Faith’s that she was sure she was about to fall backwards if she didn’t keep her grip; which did eventually end up happening once she heard Buffy whimper softly against her lips. The sound was confirmation that this was really happening and it kind of threw her for a loop for a second.
Thankfully, Faith was able to stumble back a couple steps so her back landed against the wall instead of on the floor and she grabbed Buffy’s shirt to take her with her. Their lips connected again, but only for a moment. Buffy broke the kiss finally, breathing heavy as she leaned her forehead against Faith’s, eyes still closed. “Shit,” she breathed. “That… wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You started it,” Faith breathed, keeping one hand on Buffy’s hip. Buffy didn’t move to get it off of her like she thought though; she just stayed there for a moment.
“Yeah, well… my plan involved ‘kissing and running’, not ‘kissing and more kissing’. It was supposed to shock you enough so that I could get away. It seemed like a solid plan in my head at the time; however, obviously not one of my best.”
“Yeah, figured that’s what ya were tryin’ to do,” Faith replied, chuckling a little under her breath. “But nothin’ really shocks me anymore after living on a couple hellmouths, so...” She kept expecting any minute for Buffy to get off of her and take off running, finally realizing what it was they had just done, but she stayed motionless. Almost too motionless; it was like she was frozen in place, not really knowing what to do now.
Buffy slowly opened her eyes to look at Faith pressed up against the wall. The urge to just rip off Buffy’s clothes was becoming more predominant, so she squeezed Buffy’s hip to try to fight against it. Kissing was one thing, but if they fuck it’s gonna open up a whole new can of worms that neither of them are ready to deal with. Buffy let out a shallow breath though when Faith squeezed, which didn’t help matters any. Her eyes dropped to her lips and then back up to search Faith’s eyes before her hand slid gently from her hair, down to her neck; caressing her skin as if mesmerized. Buffy didn’t say or do anything else for a long time and Faith was starting to wonder if she broke her, until Buffy whispered a barely audible, “You’re beautiful…”
Faith instantly stiffened. “What?” she asked, voice hardened; her defenses instantly taking over.
Buffy’s eyes widened after she felt Faith tense. “What?” she repeated. Then realization set in and fear crossed her features, “Oh god, did I just say that out loud?” By the look on her face, Faith was sure Buffy was hoping the answer would be no. But it wasn’t her lucky day; Faith had heard her loud and clear.
Why the fuck did Buffy have to go and ruin a good time by throwing that word around? Fuck that, she’s not about to let herself be used by someone again. No wonder Buffy kissed her; fucking ulterior motives and shit. Well screw that.
Faith pushed her off of her gently, starting to walk away. “I gotta go,” she told her dismissively.
“No, Faith, wait!” Buffy called out after her. She grabbed Faith’s arm, but the brunette wrenches it out of her grasp, glaring at her. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t-I don’t know why I said that. I’m not… not hitting on your or anything. I just… I don’t know, it just popped into my head! I’m sorry.”
Hitting on her wasn’t the problem, but Faith wasn’t about to tell her that because then Buffy would demand an explanation that Faith didn’t want to give her. Some shit in her life is meant to stay private.
“I just… gotta go, okay? Ain’t you, B,” Faith lied, and by the look on Buffy’s face she knew that she was lying. But it didn’t matter. Faith retreated up the stairs anyway, leaving Buffy standing there not knowing what the hell just happened.
So that’s why she was down in the basement again, hours later, drinking her problems away. It fucked her sideways, what Buffy said, just because it was Buffy who said it. For some reason, that bothered the hell out of her. Not that she didn’t ever expect Buffy to use her, she expected that from anyone, but it bothered her that she would, at least more so than it did with anyone else.
Faith didn’t know why though.
It was all a joke anyway; beauty. Even without all the shitty connotations that word held for her, Faith knew it was a lie. She was hot and sexy sure… but beautiful? Beauty was something different. It wasn’t a nice rack and killer abs, it was something inside, and Faith knew what was inside of her was rotten. Hell, everyone knew that, so she didn’t understand why anyone would even bother fucking lying to her face like that. It was insulting. Faith would never be beautiful; that was just the way it was.
There was no use pretending otherwise.
- FIN -