buffy summers (thebuffster) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-07-27 23:27:00 |
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"Can't believe no one's made you sit down and watch Up yet. I was totally not expecting those first ten minutes to make me cry like a baby. Like, you think, it's a cartoon, it's supposed to be all happy and comedy, but nope. BAM. There's the waterworks. And there's not even any talking!" She knew she was talking a lot. It was her nature, of course, but she was babbling more than usual. She could pinpoint it to two things: her own nerve. If she'd had any doubts about it being a date, his arm around the back of her chair at the movies erased those. Buffy Summers was having a good day. It wasn't necessarily a rare thing or something unusual, but there was a smile on her lips and a spring in her step as she walked down the stairs toward the 23rd Street subway station. After more than a year, she thought she was getting a handle on this being a New Yorker thing, even if she still felt like everyone saw a California girl. Sometimes she felt like people might be judging her for it, but well, that usually turned out to be people wanting her autograph. The heat wave, truthfully, barely bothered Buffy at all. Having lived in LA for about fifteen years, heat was nothing new. She was still wearing boots because you never knew when you were going to have to run, and heels were just too much for a movie in her opinion. Besides, she hadn't had time for a pedicure, not with the vampires and the human bombs the last few weeks. She wasn't going to subject the good people of New York to her feet just yet. Not that the tangent mattered much. Buffy was thinking about what was going to happen once they got back to the Tower. The arm around her at the movies was promising, but she wasn't sure that saying anything about it or the date was a good idea. Instead, she settled for asking him, "Have you even seen Toy Story at least?" “Hey, that came out awhile ago, so give me some credit,” Ben said with a laugh before making a face. “Even got to live the movie for far too much time. Not as fun as you’d think it is, especially when all the toys are attacking you.” He tilted his head to the side in thought. “There’s three of those films now though, aren’t there? But hey, tumblr. Tumblr means you never actually have to watch anything right? Because I know the squirrel thing. And the dog with the eyes.” Which of course needed a demonstration. Just a bit farther down with the head tilt, lower lip sticking out just a tad, and then the eyes. Maybe he was a bit too silly here, but the evening was going great. He still didn’t know if this was under the date or not-date category, but whatever it was, he liked it. And he’d needed it more than he realized. The idea had come to him weeks ago in a place even hotter than this heat wave (granted he didn’t have to deal with the suit there). But then Pete got called away on Avengers business, the bombshell of the truth of Reilly’s complicated life hit, SHIELD business shipped Buffy away, and then semi-apocalypse across the USA. The fact that Saturday came and they both made it through pizza and the movie was... well... impressive. And nice. Very nice. Something he wanted to do again, whether it turned into more or not because boy he still didn’t know how to navigate that after already being a jackass to Reilly about his mom. “You do realize just how many new movies have come out, right? I’ve only got so many hours of insomnia,” he teased. “And no super time powers or a time turner to help along.” It took a moment for Buffy to lose the stunned expression she gained when he pouted, but he was talking just as much as she was, and before she knew it, they had moved onto another subject. She'd have to remind herself later to come back to it. She'd just have to figure out when. "Yeah, but you're into the whole pop culture, snappy comeback thing, aren't you? 'Cause I had a huge problem when I showed up here. Almost no one got references from ten years ago. I was seriously disappointed." She pushed her lips to the corner of her mouth. "And really feeling old." With Willow back in this dimension, she had been reminded of the first time she'd hung out with Willow. The vampire who was dressed like a reject from the late 70's disco era. Out of date, out of touch. It wasn't that hard to figure out what he was, if you knew about his little condition. This particular subway station was in the heart of Manhattan. The Flat Iron building was right over there, and it was early evening on a Saturday night. It was busy. As soon as they were nearly down the stairs, Buffy noticed an alcove under the stairs. There were a group of loiterers strutting and talking amongst themselves. She kept her eye on them, but continued talking. "You know what you need? A Netflix Instant account." “Should I start going on about how great it is to have another Bond movie after so long, rave ‘bout new fad called Pokemon, or show how good I can do the Macarena to make you feel better?” Ben teased, his elbow flipping out to nudge Buffy lightly before he shrugged. “Word play and puns are timeless. No matter what decade, people groan at them. That and the classic references. You can never go wrong if you go towards the classics. And the people who don’t get it tend to just want to shoot you up anyways.” He chuckled as he shook his head. “How do you think I’ve gotten this far in my pop culture education already? One of the first purchases I made with those handy dandy fast cash cards.” "Can you?" Buffy asked, widened her eyes and grinning broadly. "Show me just how well you to the Macarena?" But as soon as she asked it, she noticed that the group began hooting and hollering at someone who had just come down the stairs. When she looked, she noticed that they were definitely a pack, and there was a nagging voice in the back of her head saying that they were just too pale for a hot summers day. Her smile slowly turned serious as she inclined her head in the direction of the group. Five guys, two girls, all of them wearing a little too much clothing to be comfortable. "I think we're going to have trouble, and I think it might be the fang-y kind." Ben followed Buffy’s nod, his eyes narrowing at the faint buzz in the back of his head. “These dudes aren’t so subtle on who they go after once they’re on the attack, right?” he murmured before raising an eyebrow. “You got a lunch packed or are all the steaks in the mini-freezer at home?” "Not particular, no, but they usually like to work up an appetite. Makes 'em feel all manly and powerful." She withdrew two stakes, one from each of her boots. Hey, a girl had to be prepared, especially with the arrival of vampires from her world. They bred like crazy, and for all she knew, there could already be hundreds of them. She passed one over to Ben. "Through the heart. Otherwise it does nothing to them. Not even a stumble." One of the guys gave a guttural groan and sidled up behind the blonde who hurried her steps to get away from them. Buffy didn't need to change, of course, so she began to saunter toward the group. She turned back. "If you need to get gone, find that Spider-man guy, would you?" His lips pressed together as he looked down at the stake before pushing it back to Buffy. “Hey, thanks, really, but no thanks. I’m on a diet. And y’know, already stole one guy’s schtick, gotta use that up fully before moving on.” He still didn’t like this location to start out a full fight, but if they were already hunting... “I don’t know, that pizza was a lot, might have to work up an appetite to go and find him.” He shot her a grin and nodded towards the tunnel as he did a hop skip past her. One step farther and a mask of confusion covered his face as he looked all around the station, turning in circles as he kept his forward momentum. Full tilt right into the guy stalking the blond. “Oh, dude, sorry!” he gushed out as he pretended to steady himself as well as straighten out the other guy’s clothes from the impact. “I’m like so, so sorry. I’m just hella turned ‘round here. It is totally embarrassing how lost I am and there’s supposed to be this awesome party somewhere. Like one of those secrets ones they throw in old abandoned stations. It’s like pitch black except for the lights from the trains and glowsticks which has gotta be the best trip ever if everyone’s as high there as all the sites say. But Gawd, I’m never gonna get there at this rate.” Buffy watched him for a few seconds after, before backing away toward the tunnel. She tucked her arms behind her back, mostly so they wouldn't see the stake in her hand. It didn't take long for her to reach the corner. Her skirt, unfortunately, was too tight to jump down in without looking ridiculous, so she reached down and ripped the seams on each side before hopping off the platform onto the tracks. The vampires, on the other hand, were having none of it. The biker that Ben had run into didn't take kindly to being handled, and the girl they had been stalking hurried away down the platform and disappeared into the crowd. He grabbed the front of Ben's shirt and picked him up. "Look at that, you made me lose my lunch." Ok, not exactly to plan, but then when did anything go perfectly for him. At least the girl had gotten away and he had their undivided attention. Mission accomplished there. Go him. He wrinkled his nose. Boy, the vamp look of Buffy’s world was just as ugly in real life. “Look at you, I just ‘bout ready to lose mine. The plastic surgeon is your friend. The dentist too.” He made a face as he leaned his head back. “Ugh and a breath mint.” He threw his weight back, continuing with the motion. Not full strength, but enough as he ‘walked’ his feet up the biker’s body, kicked off his face, and tucked into a tight back flip. Enough of a surprise to break the hold. And judging from the growly faces and that familiar jangle in his head when he landed, enough to piss them off more. “Hope you like your dinner to go,” he taunted, kicking back an attack and pushing past another vamp before running for the tunnel. An easy jump down, a sprint into the shadows of the tunnel, and then a twisting leap up to the ceiling, the shirt already off over his head before he even touched down. They followed all right. Buffy could hear them making about as much noise as a pack of elephants. They had to be pretty new then, but at least Ben had pulled them away from the platform. She could do it, fight a bunch of vampires in the middle of the city, but the last thing she wanted was for a dozen cell phones to start video taping. Especially given that she was sure Ben might pitch a fit if someone managed to capture him on film. One by one, the vampires touched down. Gravel crunched under feet. It was almost comforting, the sounds of their snarling and growling to one another. It felt kind of like home, which in turn, made New York almost feel like home. Buffy began to smack the stake against her palm as she walked toward the gang. "You guys really should have learned not to follow strange men into dark places. This is not going to end well for any of you." She got a roar in return, and sensing the direction, she squatted faster than the speeding vamp could catch her. She heard it hit the ground behind her. "How's that gravel taste?" Ben shook his head as he webbed his clothing to the ceiling and pulled his mask on over his head. “They didn’t even wait for the candy and creepy van bribes,” he said with a laugh as he crawled along the ceiling. “How lame is that?” He stopped when he felt he was at a good spot, attached a webline, and swung down- “No answer? I think you need a second opinion!” -his feet connecting solidly with a vampire’s back. A neat flip as the vampire sprawled on the ground and he crouched beside Buffy. “Well, you can’t say I don’t take you out to the most happening parties.” "Aw, you shouldn't have! How'd you know I wanted - " Buffy lifted her chin, pretending to count the number of vampires in the tunnel. After going through the fingers on one hand, she moved onto the other to finish off. "- seven baby vampires for my unbirthday?" Two vampires directly in front of them, one just getting up off the ground behind her. Buffy surveyed the area quickly, making a calculated decision. She flashed a smile at Ben before sweetly asking if she could borrow this, without further explanation. A few seconds later, she'd launched herself up onto his knee then his shoulder to kick off him while pivoting in the air. She struck the first vampire squarely in the chest, knocking him backwards and into the second vampire. She used the momentum from that to send herself into a back flip. Her boot caught the vamp behind them in the back of the head before she landed on his leg. Her stake plunged through the back of his jean vest, and before he could make another sound, the vampire was dust. Straightening, she grinned again. "So! Who's next?" Ben braced against the step up, twisting a bit at the end to give her a bit of extra momentum. He kept with the movement, turning to punch one of the vampires sidling in on the side. Ok, and watching. Just a little. Out of the corner of his eye. Him and multi-tasking were best buds and Buffy kicking butt in a ripped skirt wasn’t distracting at all. Or kinda sorta hot. Nope. Not at all. The multitasking worked too. At least until the vampire crumbled away. Right. The other reason he stopped watching the show. The reaction was too quick and didn’t look exactly the same, but close enough to make him uneasy on top of the whole killing thing. Kinda sorta because they were already dead, right? The familiar buzz interrupting his thoughts had him ducking quick under a vampire swipe. Yes, focus on the fight, Ben. He spun out of the way, flicking his wrist to give the vampire a face full of web. It worked with the sparkly vampires after all. “Nope, sorry, spider’s off the menu tonight,” he said before kicking out at the vampire. “Don’t suppose there’s any kind of capture and release program for this guys, is there?” "What?" Buffy's eyes widened a little. Her and capturing these guys always ended badly. Especially when the government was involved. The vampires didn't like it, and then Buffy had to feel bad that they went on a rampage when she could have just dusted them and taken them off the streets. They had a tendency to go for the all-out slaughter and mayhem when they'd been trapped for too long. "No. These guys are soulless" A kick interrupted her thought process as she put herself directly into the middle of the vampires. "Another vampire killed these people." A spin followed by an elbow to the face. "This is a demon setting up shop in their bodies." These vampires were sloppy. Newborns, Buffy guessed. They had the power and that innate sense of I know kung-fu now, without the experience to make them truly formidable. Unfortunately, they had numbers on their side, and one of the women managed to grab her by the neck and lift her off the ground. Ben grimaced, thankful for the full face mask. Wow, two buttons pressed at once in the middle of a fight. Ok, the middle of a fight part wasn’t that bad because here he had things to punch and kick and do instead of letting that unintentional button pushing swallow him whole and dig up all the attached issues. Instead just punch, spin, duck, punch again. Maybe a bit too hard, but these weren’t your usual gangsters, right? “Hey!” he called out as he kicked a vampire back to get some wiggle room. “Cute, blond slayer’s off the menu too. We’re having a deep talk here.” He shot out two weblines at the lady vampire’s legs, tugging them hard once they hit their mark. “Aren’t there good ones though? It seems like there are always good exceptions to the rule. How do y’tell ‘em apart?” The woman's legs came out from under her, and Buffy landed on top of her. The air was knocked out of her for just a moment. A snap punch backward kept the vampire from focused on something other than restraining her. A split second later, Buffy used her to kip herself up to her feet. She flashed a look at Ben that made it seem as if she thought the answer was obvious. "Well, for starters... they don't usually form packs and attack people." Man, of all the days to not strap a bright and shiny, red scythe to your back. Of course, it would be the one day she had a date in what? Seven months? Buffy kept right on with the fight, spinning, kicking, taking punches, punching back. These vampires were a mess of hyperactivity. Good for a workout, but not exactly good for winding down with a cute boy - who was currently showing off a whole lot of muscle in that spandex, thank you Marvel universe for that - in the summer sun. She was afraid of smelling like, well, subway. "Besides, there were only two vampires in my world who had souls. Neither of them are here, and they had a lot of trouble getting theirs." “If those people are people who attack other people, I think you just described the Avengers,” Ben pointed out as he twisted past Buffy to slug a vampire. “Or the X-men.” Kick. “Or the New Warriors.” Elbow to the jaw. “Ok, pretty much any superhero group as long as we’re talking ‘woooooo get the bad guys’ here.” “Well, I’m only doing this because I’m bored and peer pressure.” Ben turned towards the vampire that spoke, jabbing a finger in his direction. “Private conversation here. No commentary from the peanut gallery.” The blaring spider-sense kindly notified him that turning for just a second was a super bad idea. He punched and dodged one way... right into another vampire’s arms. “Ugh, no, it is too hot to be wearing turtle-necks, so no hickeys on the first date.” There was a brief instant in which Buffy's features puckered up. Okay, when she'd said it like that, maybe it sounded bad, but really. These demons didn't just attack people, they killed them, they took over their bodies, and then tried to do it to the next person. If she'd had time, she might have been able to give him a longer run-down on how they knew, but now Ben was in trouble. That vampire's teeth were way too close to his neck. One more vampire went down with a supernatural scream and a wall of dust as she moved quickly to remove the vampire from Ben. She stomped her foot down on another vampire's legs as got into position. She grabbed the vampire's hair and yanked his head back. "HEY, if anyone's giving him a hickey, it's me, and that is just so tacky." Once upon a time, it used to be so much harder to find a vampire's heart from behind them. Buffy had to try over and over again until she got it right. Now, it was second nature. The wood jerked downward, the vampire exploded, and Buffy raised her eyebrows at Ben. "The difference is that as far as I'm aware? Avengers don't stalk victims to eat." Ben shuddered before wobbling his head side to side to loosen up the tension. “Point. Maybe. Might be a few man-eaters on the squad, but I’m just a noob.” Whose head still throbbed with that warning pulse that had to do less with the remaining grumpy vampires and more with that slight shift in air, the dull thrum, and faint approaching light. Riiiiiight, subway tunnel. Impact webbing met one vampire before he wrapped his arm around Buffy. “And that’s our ride! It’s been fun!” he called out as he pulled them upwards. His fingers and toes attached to the ceiling, Buffy wedged between his body and the concrete. “Stay flat and hold tight, it’s gonna get windy.” There weren't a lot of options. Ben's grip was pretty tight around her, and then her feet were no longer touching the ground. Probably for the best anyway, the light in the tunnel grew and grew until it was blinding and Buffy had to close her eyes. Her height was an advantage this time because she could tuck her face against Ben's neck. The only trouble was what to do with her legs. Gravity kept wanting them downward, which meant she had to use her abdomen and leg muscles to keep them up, which just felt awkward. She couldn't really see how much distance there was between them and the train. Best not to end up a Slayer with no feet. But she could hear when the train collided with the vampires. The yelling and running stopped soon after with the faint but familiar growls. Buffy couldn't tell exactly, but she was almost sure there were four. They'd have to wait till they were back on the ground to tell for sure. The train, on the other hand, had some other ideas. When you were standing on the platform, it seemed like there was never time to make it there from the stairs, but this felt like it was going on forever. Maybe it just seemed that way because she suddenly became very aware of just how close their bodies were or that with their positions, she could actually give him a hickey (not that she would; she really did think they were tacky and like marking your territory. Gross). Her arms were around his chest, and all it would take was a tiny gesture to reach down to accidentally grab his ass. Once the immediate danger of the train passed, the exact situation Ben’d managed to put himself into slowly dawned on him. Hanging out in a subway tunnel was old hat to him. Avoid trains, ride on trains, and then there were all the other types of rides he hitched. But all those times were solo runs or maybe the occasional side by side. Not, well, this. Definitely not pretty lady in a torn up skirt pressed up close to him because the ceiling didn’t leave much wiggle room. Another plus of the full face mask. No need to worry about what shade of red your face was. And then the train was gone. And he should really drop them down. Except his brain had ground to a halt. Because it was nice, their bodies pressed together and her arms around him and her face against his neck. He cleared his throat. “So, wow, I’m really hoping I grabbed the right girl ‘cause otherwise this is gonna get real painful along with awkward. Aaaaaand really hoping I washed the suit within the past week...” Okay, so maybe she wasn't exactly keen on leaving this spot, but gravity was really taking its toll on her legs. Buffy managed to lift her head from his neck, even though she didn't really want to, to look at... his face mask. It was damn difficult to figure out what was going on in his head if she couldn't see his face. "'Cute blond slayer' off the menu? You think I'm cute?" Ben laughed, his head ducking slightly. “Either that or I’m going delusional and seeing multiple blond slayers. So, let’s go with, yeah, you’re cute. Um... bit more than cute actually.” He cleared his throat again before raising an eyebrow, his head tilting with the quirk. “You staking out icky hicky duty for just yourself?” Buffy could feel her face brighten, though she was thankful for the dimness of the tunnel. The light was actually pretty ideal for making a complete fool of yourself. He probably couldn't tell through that mask anyway. But her eyes still closed in embarrassment and her grin had turned a shade self-deprecating. "I kind of did - stake it out - didn't I? 'Cause if I gotta go through that again to get you to notice me... Well..." A wide grin spread under his mask as Ben shook his head. Really, he just needed to go with the straightforward approach. Not that those attempts had turned out all that great with a few minor exceptions. “Oh? And here I thought I was going to need to bring along some after movie vampires to get some cuddle time after every date,” he teased with a chuckle. Yeah. Date. He might not have been fully comfortable referring to it by that word before, but he was certain that the upgrade was needed and well deserved right now. "They probably wouldn't hurt." Buffy laughed under her breath, and now that he'd said the D-word out loud, there were suddenly expectations. See? This is why her last boyfriend was a century and a half and not a boyfriend. The whole dating game sucked. She used to be so good at it, making a guy wait on her and beg to see her. Now she had duties and priorities, and dating was took up time she didn't have. "I'll tell you what does hurt, though." She flicked a finger gently against his jawline. "This mask." “Man, I’m going to have to match or do better than seven next time, aren’t I? I knew I should’ve just lured one in. Maybe two,” Ben joked. The tension seeped out of his body. Still slightly awkward situation, but teasing and laughing he could do. That was easy. “Hey, the mask isn’t that bad. It’s not even fluorescent. That’d hurt. Or the ones with all the random fabric spikes off of ‘em. You could poke an eye out with those.” As he spoke, he made sure he had his balance before hooking a thumb under his mask and pulling it halfway up. Compromise for now. Secret identity safe just in case, but... He worried his lower lip a second as he brushed Buffy’s hair back from her face. He tilted his head forward hesitantly, waiting for some sign that the slayer would pull and completely veto this idea. When Buffy leaned in instead, he couldn’t help the nervous chuckle before he brushed his lips against hers. First kisses were always tricky and worrisome. Should you use your hands at all or just leave them to grasp onto his back given that they were still on the ceiling? Is that too much lip? Not enough? What about tongue? Would it distract him too much? Would you end up dropping them both onto the ground without thinking? The train was gone at least, and even in the dim light, she could see several piles of dust. Oh, what the hell. They were both superheroes. She'd fallen from worse, if it came down to it. Her hand tentatively moved from around his back, up his side to rest against his neck. This was way better than hopping the subway home and standing outside their apartments wondering if there would be a good-night kiss. In fact, she kind of didn't want to stop, which was of course, when a voice from below them said. "Oh God, just stake me now, would ya? I don't know how much more of this I can take." Buffy reluctantly broke away to frown and glance downward. She'd forgotten all about that guy. "If I had a stake, I'd throw it at you right now for ruining a first kiss. Instead, you'll have to suffer, webbed to the wall, until I'm ready to stake you." |