Who: Spike & Buffy Summers When: Monday Night, May 18th Where: Lou's Bar What: Dinner and a walk down memory lane Rating/Warnings: TBD (possible language, but likely low) Status: complete and Closed
It had been two days since the bleach blonde vampire had arrived in town. Or technically, had re-arrived in Madison Valley for the third time. The place was familiar to Spike to be sure; as if he had walked those streets and alleys many times before. Flashes of memories popped up more frequently as the vamp strolled around the place too, yet all of it was still a jumble in his head. Three sets of memories, stirring and mixing together with what felt like dreams. None of it making much sense at all, but names and faces became clearer with every passing moment. Some parts of the whole odd experience were interesting to be sure. Picturing himself in a bowling shirt, surrounded by friends and drinking a few beers in between his turns at the lane. Other bits just left William feeling more baffled; like the memory/vision of pod people invading the strange town, or finding himself deep in the dungeons and caves beneath Waterdeep. Everything was there in his mind, rushing and swirling around, trying to sort itself out despite how fractured the whole mess of thoughts seemed to be.
He had been here before ever setting foot in Sunnydale, before having even met the Slayer...and yet met her here for the first time too. Only to return back to the 'real' world and have no clue about anything that had transpired in this magic little town. The dreams were there though, somewhere in the back of his noggin. Yet he could remember a time when he hadn't had those dreams at all. A time, a life where he never stepped foot into Madison Valley. Twice he had burned down in the Hellmouth too. No, not twice but three times...once in his normal timeline, then again when he returned to this place for the second time, and now yet again when Spike had been sent away from the town...right back to that place beneath the crumbling town while his soul was used to bring everything crashing down around him.
Then came the void, that period of nothingness that followed after his fiery death. Just darkness until William found himself standing there in Angel's office in LA. Not flesh and bone, a ghost...or a spirit of his former self with no ability to interact with the physical world. All of it blurred together inside his mind, twisting and turning around and around. Sleep didn't help matters by any means either. For while he slept the day away more memories came flooding back in. At war with his sense of reality, and leaving his rest far from restful. She was there, at the center of it all...his golden haired goddess. The Slayer was always there, through each set of new visions and dreams. That smile so sweet...the scent of her skin, and the warmth of her arms around him. A memory or a fantasy, he couldn't tell for sure. He wanted it to be real, with every fiber of his being. Wanted this life here to be the truth. Yet it conflicted with reality, with all he had seen back home in his world. Back there they hadn't...they had had their moments, few and precious, of closeness to be sure. But nothing like this dream life. No, back there she was happy, and had moved on with her life. And so Spike had tried to do the same; knowing that she would always be in his heart, but that Buffy deserved far more than a walking corpse could offer. It must have been a dream and fantasy, or so the vampire silently told himself for the hundredth time.
The image of two little girls, their children so sweet and beautiful, bouncing on the bed to wake up Spike and Buffy still haunted him. All those giggles and grins, all that golden hair and tiny precious smiles...that was too impossible to be real. Even now as he sat there in the back booth at Lou's; sipping on his cold beer while waiting for the tray of hot wings and french fries to be brought over, his piercing blue eyes drifted down to his hand. Feeling the missing weight of the wedding ring that never was. With a soft sigh to himself he shook his head slightly, trying to rid himself of the cobwebs and confusion that didn't seem to be departing at all. "Maybe a few beers will do that trick..." The vamp doubted it would, but was at a loss for what else to do. Had the dreams been real, and not just some fantasy lingering on, he knew she would have told him. But even here in this place it seemed like Buffy had found peace and happiness too, had said as much to him when they chatted the other day. So instead of saying a thing to the Slayer, Spike figured it'd be easier to just leave her be. To not make a mess of whatever life she had made for herself in this place. "Whiskey then...maybe a bottle."