"I don't know why I'm even talkin' to you two!"
Faith stared intently at the two canoodling girls in front of her and then sighed in resignation.
"You're not even listening are you?"
Buffy was standing leaning against one of the library tables, Willow was seated behind her on the table with her legs wrapped around Buffy's waist and her arms around her neck. Buffy glanced at Faith and realised that some sort of response was expected.
"We are listening Faith, honest." said Buffy.
Willow stopped nibbling on Buffy's ear and also faced forward. They wore matching 'very interested in Faith's predicament' expressions. Faith seemed satisfied that she had their attention.
"So....what do you think I should say?"
"Well, that depends, do you want to go to the dance with Scott Hope?" asked Willow, still a little surprised that quiet, clean-cut Scott had asked wild-child and friend of leather Faith to the homecoming dance.
"I...I don't know, I mean he is a definite hottie, cute, tight little butt and all that but...dances really ain't my thing. And what the hell is homecoming anyway? Who's coming home?" Faith avoided the issue.
"You're gonna have to give him an answer Faith, you can't leave the poor guy hanging." Buffy advised.
"Yeah, well, I'm thinking I should just say no."
Faith crossed her arms across her chest and looked like a petulant 6- year-old who was refusing to eat her broccoli.
"Why?"
Buffy wasn't letting her off the hook this easily. This date was Faith's chance to get more involved with the real world and do something other than slay vampires and bed guys.
Faith sighed and raised her eyes skyward.
"I...I don't know...I don't really date, I'm a lay 'em and leave'em kind of gal. I wouldn't know how to act at one of these shindigs."
Willow and Buffy exchanged understanding looks.
"Faith, do you want us to give you a few pointers?" Willow prodded gently.
Faith shrugged in a non-committal way as if the thought had never entered her mind.
"Whatever." She pointed a warning finger at them. "But this doesn't mean I'm gonna go."
"OK." Buffy studied Faith for a moment, thinking. "The thing to remember is to be yourself."
She paused as Willow noisily cleared her throat and subtly, but vehemently, shook her head.
"What I mean is, Scott asked you to the dance right? He wants to go with Faith, not some ditzy air-headed debutante. So go with that, and try to be a bit more...feminine...and we'll be fine."
Faith appeared surprised.
"Hey girlfriend, I'm plenty feminine."
To demonstrate her femininity she ran a hand down her body, accentuating her ample curves.
"Oh, there's no denying you've got all the right girlie parts Faith - I mean, anatomically you ooze 'Woman' - but...it's more...the way you act." Willow pointed out helpfully.
Buffy was about to elaborate on this sentiment when she stopped short and turned to face Willow.
"Why are you noticing her girlie parts?" she demanded. Willow blushed.
"I wasn't...I mean...I didn't look or anything...it's just they're sorta out there...in your face." Willow stammered. Faith smirked, taking this as a compliment.
"They better not have been anywhere near your face!" Buffy spluttered.
"Guys, guys can we focus here? Relax B, I told you before, chicks don't float my boat." said Faith, obviously enjoying her counterpart's jealousy.
"Hmmmm" Buffy narrowed her eyes at Willow before turning back to Faith.
"So, this actin' feminine thing, you mean like let him open doors for me and shit like that?"
Willow cringed.
"Yeah... but also, you might want to cut down on the swearing and the crude stuff."
"What? You're kiddin' me right?"
Buffy shook her head.
"It is kinda butch, and guys don't always like that...plus it's out of place at a formal dance."
Faith rolled her eyes. Buffy sensed that she was about to call the whole thing off so she decided to change the subject for the time being.
"What were you planning on wearing?"
Faith seemed to brighten a little.
"Oh, I got this kick-ass dress, it's black with these high slits up both sides and this great pair of knee-high biker boots."
"Ummmm..." Buffy and Willow began in unison.
Further comment was cut off.
"Knee high biker boots to homecoming? Oh please."
Cordelia swept into the library with Xander trailing in her wake. She came to a halt in front of Faith, sizing her up.
"Are you taking fashion advice from these two?"
She indicated Buffy and Willow with a dismissive flick of her thumb. They failed to notice this as Willow was whispering into Buffy's ear all the ways she planned to make up for noticing Faith's girlie parts. Buffy was becoming rather flushed.
"Well... I uh..."
Faith found herself unusually stuck for words. Cordelia had barely said two words to her since they'd met.
"No, no, no, no. If you want to knock Scott Hope dead you ask me for help - not Miss Fluffy Jumpers over there."
Cordelia continued to scrutinise Faith.
"You've got to use your body to its full potential - and a body like yours has plenty of potential."
Faith felt strangely happy at this comment.
"We're going shopping for our outfits this afternoon if you want to join us." Buffy offered.
"I'd better come along to supervise this little shopping spree, can't have you two embarrassing yourselves at the dance can we?"
Something struck Cordelia. She turned back to Faith.
"Can you dance?"
Faith gave her a look of incredulity.
"Can I dance? Of course I can dance - you've seen me."
"Uh huh."
Cordelia looked sceptical. She grabbed Xander and pushed him towards Faith.
"Show us how you plan to dance with Scott."
Faith thought this was stupid. Xander was approaching her looking very keen to help her practise. So she obliged. She grabbed him and thrust her body against his so that every inch of their frames were touching. She started to grind her hips into Xander, and before long, another few inches came into play. Cordelia sighed. This was gonna be hard work. But there was no point in sending a boy to do a woman's job. Sighing again she separated the gyrating bodies in front of her and pulled Faith into a dance position, with her taking on the role of the man.
"Now, this is how you dance at a homecoming dance."
"We're supposed to be putting clothes on, not taking them off," said Willow, slapping Buffy's hands away.
"Well we can't try this stuff on without removing what we're already wearing now can we?" For once Buffy's logic was sound. "And there's no-one to say we can't have a little fun while we're doing it."
"Maybe sharing a changing room wasn't such a good idea." Willow thought out loud.
"What? Are you kidding?" Buffy was taken aback at Willow's apparent lack of enthusiasm for her. "No..it's not...I want to...and...it's just...knowing our luck the assistant, or the manager, or the whole damn store will walk in and I'm not really into spectator sports..." Willow sighed. " And plus, I know the sight of your naked body will make all of my self control fly out of the window and..."
In three seconds flat Buffy was stark naked and Willow had lost the ability to think or speak coherently.
"Oh, what the hell?"
And with that she grabbed Buffy in a suffocating kiss. After a few enjoyable moments they were disturbed by a loud exclamation coming from the adjoining cubicle.
"There is no way I'm wearing this."
"Come out"
"No."
"Come out so I can see you." "No."
"Faith, get your ass out here now. I have a pedicure in two hours and we still have to get shoes and accessories."
Unhappy mumbling, including a number of very rude words, was followed by the opening of a door. Buffy and Willow held their breath, eagerly anticipating Cordelia's reaction.
"Oh my God. You look fabulous."
"I look wicked stupid."
"You do not!"
Three short sharp bangs on the door made Buffy and Willow jump out of their skins, seeing as this was the only thing they were wearing at the time.
"Buffy, Willow, come out here and tell Faith how great she looks."
"Uh, we'll be out in a second." Buffy called as they both frantically tried to get into their chosen outfits.
"Rough translation: they're both naked and trying to get dressed and pretend like they weren't up to anything in there" Cordelia told Faith. Raising her voice again she shouted "My God, can't you two keep your hands off each other for two minutes? We're trying to shop here."
The door opened and Buffy and Willow stumbled out breathless and still trying to do up zippers and buttons. Both were shocked at Faith's appearance.
"Wow. Faith. You look..."
"Ridiculous." Faith finished Buffy's sentence.
"I was going to go with 'stunning' actually."
"See, I told you."
Cordelia beamed as proudly as if she'd been Faith's mother. The dress she'd picked suited Faith perfectly. As if there'd been any doubt - Cordelia always knew how to dress people, now if only Xander would start taking her advice. And Faith certainly looked good in the deep purple dress Cordelia had picked. It clung to her assets in a most fetching way. Cordelia found herself entertaining thoughts about Faith that disturbed her profoundly. The kind of thoughts she normally reserved for rich college boys with flashy cars and trust funds. Not for brunette slayers with a penchant for leather and a skanky motel room. Faith was beautiful, there was no denying that fact. But this wasn't just the appreciation of another girl's beauty. There were definite low down stirrings taking place. Cordelia shook herself and took charge of the proceedings once more.
"OK, we'll take it."
Faith looked ready to protest again until she caught a glimpse of herself in the full length mirror. May be she didn't look as silly as she'd thought. Cordelia was right, the dress did show her off well. And Cordelia looked so pleased with her choice that Faith really didn't want to disappoint her.
"Yeah, OK." Faith said, still gazing at herself in the mirror.
"Good, that's settled then." Cordelia tore her eyes away from Faith's backsi....er...back, and turned to Buffy and Willow.
"So, are you two taking those?" In the commotion of getting dressed and the surprise at Faith's ability to look classy they had failed to register what they were wearing. They each appraised the other and were pleased with what they saw. Willow nodded slowly.
"We'll take them." Her eyes smouldered into Buffy's.
"Hmmm, and lets open the betting on how long you manage to stay in them at the dance," said Cordelia.
But they hadn't heard her. Buffy reached out and took Willow's hand and urged her back into the cubicle. The door was closed and much fumbling and soft moaning could be heard. Cordelia rolled her eyes and was about to leave them to it when she heard Willow's indignant voice and couldn't help but stay to listen.
"Hey!"
"What?" Heavy breathing and bewilderment from Buffy.
"You said Faith was stunning!"
"So?"
"So?!? So I'm not allowed to notice a couple of things that she displays for all and sundry but you're allowed to be stunned by her beauty?"
Cordelia could almost hear Buffy's brain ticking over, trying desperately to come up with a convincing response.
"I was momentarily distracted by the fact that she looked almost girlie in that dress. You on the other hand are so intoxicating that it's a wonder I can function normally at all when I'm around you, stunned doesn't even begin to cover how you affect me."
"Awwww, Buff."
The noises coming from the cubicle now were obviously a bit more than kissing and Cordelia decided it was definitely time for her to go. She spun around and found herself nose to nose with Faith.
"We good to go girlfriend?"
"Girlfrie...oh, right, I mean, sure, let's go."
Cordelia impulsively linked arms with Faith and mentally cursed herself immediately afterwards. Faith seemed surprised but didn't object. She smiled that sultry, sexy smile of hers with those pouty, kissable....no, no, no! Cordelia Chase does not think this way about people of the female gender. She smiled back and hoped to God that it didn't look as goofy as it felt. As they walked arm in arm to the cash register Cordelia couldn't help thinking that this was gonna be one hell of an interesting dance.
The big day had finally arrived and Faith had a strange feeling in her stomach. Sort of like the sensation she got when there was a vampire or other supernatural nasty in close proximity, but not quite the same. She wasn't...she couldn't be...was it nerves? Faith laughed out loud at this thought. She was a slayer, people were afraid of her, she could kill things with her bare hands. And here she was, nervous about going to a high school dance with a normal teenage guy. Scott would be by to pick her up soon. She checked her appearance in the mirror. She no longer felt weird in the dress. It felt as it it had been made just for her. She supposed that she had Cordelia's fashion sense to thank for that.
Cordelia. Now there was a puzzling girl. At first she had regarded Faith with a thinly veiled air of disdain, making some less than nice comments about her hair colour. But lately she seemed to want to talk and hang out and stuff. If she didn't know better Faith would have sworn that Cordelia was crushing on her. She considered this. Would it be such a bad thing? People were often surprised to find out that Faith had never experimented with girls. She had never really thought about it until now. Not the best time to start really, what with her very male date coming to collect her and all. Was there something in the water in Sunnydale? Faith had never seen two people more in love than Buffy and Willow. Could it work for her and.... She was prevented from going any further in this thought by the shrill sound of the telephone startling her.
"Hello?"
"Hey Faith, ready for the big date?" It was Buffy.
"Ready as I'll ever be B." Faith swallowed, noticing that her throat had gone dry.
"Just remember what we talked about."
"Right, yeah, OK, no swearin', no sex talk, no sittin' with my legs apart, no hittin' people, no sexy dancin', no feelin' Scott up on the dance floor, no spikin' the punch and...what was the other thing again?"
"Just be yourself."
"Be myself, right." Faith rolled her eyes, thinking that if she adhered to all those rules she'd be the exact opposite of herself.
"What's that honey?"
Faith was about to reply when she realised that Buffy was talking to Willow. She listed to their conversation over the phone, straining to hear Willow's voice in the background.
I said, I'm never going to forgive you.
"I said I'm sorry."
Our first homecoming dance together and you go and do this!
Faith wondered what monumental crime Buffy had committed.
What will the pictures be like?
"They'll be fine, you can't even see it. The concealer worked really well."
Can't even see it? Buffy, there's a hickey the size of Nebraska on my neck, I think people might notice!
Faith had a mental picture of Willow's distress and had to stop herself from laughing out loud. Buffy seemed to remember that there was someone on the other end of the phone.
"Uh, Faith, I gotta go." "So I hear. Spendin' too much time around vamps B? Pickin' up their habits?"
Buffy lowered her voice.
"Please just don't mention it when you see her. My life'll be a living hell if someone comments on it."
"I thought you said you couldn't see it."
"Well...it's faint."
"OK, I promise I won't mention it."
"Thanks, see you in a little while."
"Yeah, see ya B."
Faith hung up the phone and checked her make up in the mirror. Almost immediately the phone rang again.
"Hello?"
"Hi Faith, it's Cordelia."
"Oh...hey."
"Yeah...so, listen, I was thinking about what we talked about earlier, about how you should act at the dance."
"It's OK, B just phoned and went over it again."
"Oh...well, I was going to say that I think you should forget it. All of it. I think you should just be yourself. I think that Scott Hope should think himself lucky that he's going to the dance with someone like you and if he doesn't like the way you act then tough, you should find someone who likes you for who you are, not the way we've made you think you should be. Just be yourself Faith."
Cordelia held her breath, unable to believe that she'd just said all that. Faith too was a bit shocked.
"Uh, OK, I probably woulda forgot half the stuff I wasn't meant to do anyway."
"Yeah...so...I'll see you at the dance."
"Yeah."
"OK...bye."
"Cordelia."
"What?"
"Thanks"
"No problem.
"Bye."
"Bye."
Faith hung up the phone this time with a sigh. OK, so there was no doubt now, Cordelia was definitely crushing on her. The question was, how did she feel about that? And what was she going to do about it? And how was she going to act normal around her now? A car horn honked outside.
"Oh God. Here goes nothin'."
Faith opened the door and stepped out, ready for what would be one of the most bizarre nights of her life. And with Faith, that was really saying something.
Cordelia stood by the refreshment table, keeping an eye on the door. Xander hovered nearby, unsure why Cordelia was acting so strangely.
"You OK Cordy?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"If it's the vote you're worried about then don't be - you're a shoo- in."
Cordelia smiled at him. He could be so sweet sometimes, when he wasn't being infuriating. And he looked pretty damn hot in his tux. She wished the vote was all she had to worry about. All thoughts of Xander suddenly flew out of her head when the cause of her nerves swept into the room on Scott Hope's arm looking like a million dollars. Faith caught Cordelia's eye and winked causing her stomach even more turmoil. Cordelia attempted a casual smile in return. This little exchange went unnoticed by their respective partners and Scott whisked Faith towards the table where his friends were sitting. Cordelia didn't know whether she was relieved or disappointed.
As the night progressed Faith found herself becoming very bored with Scott. He was a nice guy and all, but insipid? He redefined the word. Faith's eyes wandered to a certain brunette who was returning her stare. Again Faith found herself contemplating things she hadn't considered up till this point. As Scott rambled on about some guy called Buster Keaton, Faith was wondering how it would feel to kiss Cordelia. She shook her head and forced herself to listen to Scott, which was probably a good thing as he was asking her to dance. She allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. She tried to remember Cordelia's dance lesson but for some reason the only parts she could remember were Cordelia's arms around her and the feel of her body pressed against her own. She stole a glance at the girl in question and saw her dancing with Xander but looking over his shoulder, watching Scott and Faith.. They remained this way - locked in each other's gaze until the song ended. Scott went off to get himself some punch after Faith had declined his offer to get her some. She steeled herself and walked over to join Xander and Cordelia.
"Soooooo, how's it going with you and Scott?" asked Cordelia, not sure of how she wanted Faith to answer.
"It's...not really going at all," said Faith, looking earnestly into Cordelia's eyes. "Guess he's not my type after all."
Cordelia's heart was in her mouth. Was Faith hinting at what she seemed to be hinting at?
"Where the heck are Buffy and Will?" asked Xander, scouring the crowd for them.
"Speak of the horny devils." Faith muttered, as Buffy entered dragging Willow by the hand.
Willow was wearing a stunning long black dress and a frown. Buffy was overcompensating by smiling so wide she was afraid her lips would split. She spotted her friends and headed towards them.
"Hey!" she said, a little too brightly.
"Hey B, hey Red. You look great tonight."
Faith winked surreptitiously at Buffy. Cordelia meanwhile had tilted her head to the side and was looking closely at Willow.
"Is that a rash on your neck?"
Willow immediately slapped a hand over the blemish, shot Buffy a withering look and stomped off in the direction of the punch bowl.
"Thanks Cordelia." Buffy said before running after Willow shouting. "It's OK honey, no-one else would have noticed it - you know what Cordelia's like."
"Maybe I should go make sure they don't kill each other" said Xander. "Anybody want any punch while I'm there?"
Cordelia and Faith both shook their heads. Finding themselves alone, both girls suddenly felt acutely uncomfortable.
"Soooooo..." Faith began.
"Good music huh?" Cordelia said quickly.
"Yeah...yeah." Faith said, turning her attention to the band.
For a few moments they stood side by side desperately trying to think of something to say.
"Look, C..."
"Yes?" asked Cordelia in a voice 2 octaves higher than her normal one. She cleared her throat. "I mean, yes?"
"I just wanted to say thanks again, you know, for takin' me shopping and pickin' the dress and stuff...and for what you said on the phone."
Faith shuffled her feet and looked down at them. Cordelia was momentarily lost for words. Mainly because she was mesmerised by how adorable Faith looked standing like that. But she gathered her wits, remembering who she was - Cordelia Chase does not go gooey over girls just because they have big brown eyes to die for.
"Faith, I was just telling you to be yourself. Everyone should be able to be themselves, you should never be ashamed of who you are."
She reached out and touched Faith's forearm lightly causing Faith to look up. When their eyes met Cordelia was shocked at the vulnerability evident in Faith's eyes - obviously not many people had encouraged Faith to believe in herself before. Faith smiled.
"I gotta pee."
Cordelia laughed, the tension was broken. "Me too."
After a second's consideration, Faith grabbed Cordelia's hand.
"Well hurry up coz I gotta go bad!"
And they ran off, giggling like a pair of schoolgirls. When in reality, one was a schoolgirl and one was a slayer...who was beginning to see the merits of staying in school.
After waiting in a huge line for the bathroom, in which Cordelia had had to restrain Faith to prevent her form clobbering the people who kept bumping into her or brushing against her, or looking at her funny, they returned to the gym to find an extraordinary amount of people crowded around the punch bowls. Xander was staggering towards them with his arms outstretched. He grabbed both of them and hugged them, mumbling something about hot brunettes. Faith disentangled herself from the embrace and only just managed to keep the other two on their feet. She grabbed Xander by the front of his shirt and wound an arm around Cordy's stomach. Cordelia unconsciously leaned back into Faith's arms before collecting herself and standing up straight.
"OK X-man, what's up?"
"Up?" Xander tried to think. "Up, up and away!" he exclaimed striking a superman pose before collapsing in a heap and curling up with a thumb in his mouth.
Cordelia raised a questioning eyebrow at Faith.
"Judgin' from his breath, I'd say there's some wicked strong liquor in that punch."
"Fabulous!"
Looking around, the girls observed that Xander wasn't the only one who had overindulged in the punch. Jonathan was sitting holding an in depth conversation with a potato chip. Larry was teaching the YMCA dance to the football team, this was taking some time as their spelling was atrocious. Harmony had removed her top and was using two pointy party hats to show off her Madonna impression to a number of youths with glazed expressions and tongues hanging out. The band had long since abandoned their positions on stage, leaving a cassette of 80s songs playing in their place. They were now doing punch shots and a few members had lost consciousness. Faith looked around for her date and spotted him wearing his trousers on his head and chasing after Harmony, begging to be one of her dancers.
"What is it about alcohol that makes people want to take their clothes off and sing?" asked Cordelia.
Faith just shrugged and smiled.
"And then of course we have people who don't need to be under the influence to get naked."
Faith followed her gaze and saw Buffy and Willow coming out of the room where the sports equipment was kept. Lipstick was smeared over both their faces and Willow's dress was on backwards. As they drew nearer Faith noticed that Willow had returned Buffy's earlier compliment. Buffy's neck now sported a huge, dark mark. But she appeared unperturbed. Teachers were running around like mad people forcing people back into clothes and confiscating glasses of red punch. Buffy and Willow approached Cordelia and Faith wearing matching inane grins.
"I luv Willow!" Buffy announced triumphantly.
Faith and Cordelia were unsure quite how to respond so they settled for nodding.
"Awwww, I wuv you too!" Willow slurred, leaning heavily on Buffy for support.
They started to kiss but as their co-ordination was not at its best the kisses were very awkward and slobbery...and not at all attractive to watch so Faith intervened.
"OK girlies, I think it's about time you went home to bed don't you?"
"Bed?"
"Bed?" Buffy and Willow grinned at each other lewdly. They staggered off together but they didn't get any further than the stack of gymnastic mats piled in the corner before they fell on top of each other and started getting it on. Faith thanked whoever was listening that people were too preoccupied to notice the live sex show in the corner.
After helping the teachers get the drunkest of students into the waiting cars of irate parents faith returned to the gymnasium. She saw Cordelia standing in the middle of the dance floor, staring into space.
"Hey C, you OK?"
"Hmmm? Oh, yeah, fine." Cordelia smiled wistfully. "It's just, this was supposed to be one of the best nights of my life. I was going to look gorgeous, win homecoming queen and dance the night away." She sighed. "And what did I do instead? I helped to scrape drunken idiots off the floor and tried to convince my date that he's not Superman."
Faith looked at her coyly.
"Well, as far as the first part goes C, you were the hottest person in this hall tonight. And as for the second part...I know for a fact that you would've won Homecoming queen."
"Oh yeah? Slayers are psychic now huh?"
"Nope, but I did swipe this from the chairman of the Homecoming committee." Faith held up the envelope that contained the winner's name. Slowly she opened it and pulled out the card. She looked it and turned it around so Cordelia could read the name written in golden lettering. Cordelia gasped and took the card from Faith. She stared at it for a long time. When she looked up her eyes were shining. But before she could speak, Faith reached under her sash and produced something she'd had concealed there. It was the queen's tiara. She placed it gently on Cordelia's head, arranging a few stray hairs around her face.
"I hope you appreciate this - I had to fight Larry for it on the way out the door!"
Faith grinned and Cordelia made a sound that was half laugh, half sob. She took Faith's hand and squeezed it tightly, unable to speak. They stood silently, staring at each other, listening to the lyrics of the song that had started to play.
"I've been meaning to tell you,
I got this feeling that won't subside,
I look at you and I fantasise,
You're mine tonight,
Now I've got you in my sights"
Without realising it, both girls had started to sway in time with the music. Still holding hands it was a natural progression for them to move closer.
"With these hungry eyes, One look at you and I can't disguise I got hungry eyes I feel the magic between you and I."
Faith's arms made their way around Cordelia's waist, drawing her in so their bodies were moving together, in synch. Cordelia reached up and clasped her hands behind Faith's neck. Their eyes remained locked.
"I wanna hold you so hear me out,
I wanna show you what love's all about,
Darlin' tonight,
Now I've got you in my sights."
They were nose to nose. They felt each other's breath become quick and erratic.
"With these hungry eyes,
One look at you and I can't disguise
I got hungry eyes
I feel the magic between you and I."
They saw the need and the hunger in each other's eyes. As they danced on the deserted floor they forgot that they weren't really friends. They forgot that they weren't attracted to girls. They forgot everything.
"Not I've got you in my sights
With these hungry eyes
Now did I take you by surprise?
I need you to see
This love was meant to be."
Slowly, two pairs of hungry eyes closed as tentative lips connected. As the saxophone swelled the kiss deepened. All previous doubts were swept away by the emotions coursing through the two bodies intertwined on the dance floor. As the song came to an end so did the kiss. But neither Faith nor Cordelia made a move to break the embrace. Eyes opened again and were reassured by the desire mirrored in the eyes before them. Cordelia was the first to speak.
"What I was saying earlier? About this not being the best night of my life?"
"Mmmm hmmm?"
"Forget it."
"You got it."
"And the night is still young." Cordelia looked up at Faith through her dark lashes. "You think it could get better still?"
"Well, Queen C, I don't know, but I'll do my damnedest to make sure it gets better."
"I know you will. And you can start by kissing me like that again."
Cordelia blushed at how brazen she sounded. Faith just smiled.
"Your wish is my command my queen"
And the rest of the night was dedicated to making all of Cordelia's wishes come true.