(Untitled)

[not_that_spike]

The sounds are different and the smells are different and the language is different. By now he's used to only hearing female voices; he doesn't really miss the sound of other men but that's mostly because he hasn't had the luxury to miss a hell of a lot of anything. This has been the most perilous part of their travel, getting across the damn ocean

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[stbethadettes]

"It's been over three years, bounty hunter," she answers almost as quietly. "Somebody better have their shit together by now."

But she's seen that tower lit up in the distance, and she can't say she's not suitably impressed.

Maybe not as impressed as little Beth is, but that's all right.

She's glad Spike is, though, and there's a part of her that thinks it's a damn shame he didn't get a better tour of the states. They went through a lot of small towns when they could get away with it, used back roads where it made sense to, slept in places they were less likely to get discovered when it was at all possible. And the bon voyage party they got in New York was pretty fucking worrisome.

She'd hoped to keep him from ever getting even that close to amazons. It's small comfort, but now he knows exactly what she's disliked so intensely all this time. Now it has to make a little more sense to him.

But she still thinks it was Junior that initially attracted the attention. Vlad is old enough that as long as they didn't stick a sign

[not_that_spike]

He can think of a few things she probably misses: privacy, for one, and that big claw-foot tub in the House of Arch for another. Fresh clothes, fresh food, a really good sour apple martini, being able to smoke.

Sex at leisure; moments in the rain.

At least those are things he misses, things he thinks Beth misses, but he's not going to put words in her mouth by saying them aloud.

Besides, there are other things he misses too, like being able to walk around without wearing a cloak that makes him invisible, and holding Beth's hand in public, making out with her whenever the mood strikes them. Watching movies together, or playing those damn video games Shipwreck gave him. Rubbing her feet, brushing her hair.

Changing Junior. Feeding Junior. Holding Junior.

Holding Beth.

Taking vacations to locations that are so exotic for her: Venus, Europa, Mars. To him they're just... places but to Beth and with Beth they're adventures

[stbethadettes]

"The way you smell."

It's just one thing on a long, long list.

"Especially after a shower."

Her smile gets a little wider.

"Especially after a shower I took with you."

A laugh escapes her, and she shrugs unapologetically. It's a combination of so many of the things she misses all rolled up together: Spike smelling like soap and smoke and sex.

When he can curl up next to her to sleep, she can smell him. But it's mostly the cloak. And the cloak doesn't have much of a smell, but it seems to her that it always smells like... the outdoors. Like wherever they've been that day.

There's not usually a whole lot that's exciting about that.

"What do you think about France?" Turning her head toward the hand he put on her shoulder, she kisses the back of it. "This could be it, you know."

Something's going to give eventually. They'll find Yorick or they won't, Ciba and Natalya could finally decide to go on to Russia, they could discover the Israelis on their tail again"This could be where we stay

[not_that_spike]

He's never been one to really give a damn about location. Maybe that's a result of being moved around every year or whatever by his dad, or maybe it's because he got so good at surviving wherever he was in his years on the run from the Dragons, or maybe it's because as a bounty hunter he always had to go where the action was, and that was rarely even on the same planet time after time. Whatever it is, though, it's served him well.

Especially lately: they haven't had the opportunity to stay in any one place for long at all. A day, two days, that's about it. And fuck if he can even really remember what New York was like, except Junior started crying and attracted a lot of attention from the local amazon contingent, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it except shoot at them from his hiding place. He couldn't even take her to try to comfort her, swing her around like he used to, and that always made her smile