Sam's mention of Dean made Buffy feel like the floor was unbalanced and she might very possibly lose balance and fall. Appetite lost. But Sam, who had time to deal with the idea of Dean being dead, was still talking.
"It's good to be handy," she said, giving a firm nod and an unfocused smile. Sam seemed to be moving, so she zapped herself from her trance. Putting the box down, she pulled open the plastic Twinkie wrapper of the one she had, and took a bite as she trailed behind.
Buffy took the seat that was offered to her, sitting down and feeling less-stiff than previously. He then seemed to be gearing up to tell her some bad news, and she felt stiff all over again. She hated bad news. Especially bad news on top of bad news. She shoved the twinkie into her mouth and bit down. The sugary sweetness tasted just the tiniest bit stale.
She swallowed her mouthful, making an audible noise as she did so. He was right. She didn't exactly want to hear that about Dean. However..."I didn't come just because...I mean," she sat up straighter. "I'm here in a more official capacity as a Slayer who wants to help someone, than as an old flame. I mean, I didn't think he was sending me a letter so he could tell me that years later he wanted to hook up. Not that I would - I mean, like that. I'm not like that. I didn't expect him to be holding a torch for me - I'm sure he wasn't." She secretly hoped maybe, a tiny bit, he maybe had. "I wasn't," she said. "I actually, I just went through a really messy break-up, so it's kind of like, I'm sick of all men." Trying to explain what happened with Angel, how she'd dated a soulled vampire, and then had to send him to hell when he went evil after a night of intimacy...well, that was more than she was going to tell Sam. Or anybody. It was all just a bad memory now.
She realized that in insulting 'men' she had insulted Sam, and even Bobby. Even the good ones, like Giles, and Xander and Oz. "Sorry," she finally said. "I'm just kind of worn out by things in the male-related department in terms of..." She didn't want to say 'love'. "Relationships."
She wanted to clarify something, "And Dean and I never had a relationship. It was almost a nothing, which wasn't exactly a nothing. It's... kind of complicated. But, I think you were trying to compliment me, which - thank you." Pause. "I tend to get rambly unless somebody stops me. I guess for a while, that somebody will be you. If you're up for that charge. I know you've offered your body guard service, but this would be even more helpful. When I need things off of a tall shelf I can just throw stuff at it until it falls down to me." She smirked. She liked bantering with Sam, it felt natural and easy.