"Everyone, this is Kate, Kate this is everyone," said Cordelia dismissively as she led the cop into her apartment. Kate looked surprisingly nervous, wondering who the hell all these people were and why she had been invited over in the first place. She saw Buffy almost straight away and recognised her from the photographs that Angel had. So that was the big love of his life then. Pretty. She could see why he had fallen for her. She smiled at the Blond who was waving at her.
"Kate, you're Angel's friend aren't you?" Kate wasn't too sure she liked the emphasis on the word friend. After all... Cordelia walked back in with a lite beer.
"Yeah, this is the cop Angel's got the hots for. No offence, Buffy," said Cordelia with her usual tact as she handed Kate her beer. "He asked me to invite her over." Faith looked up from where she was going through Cordelia's CDs.
"Just be careful not to do the yunno," she gestured with her fists and hips. Kate blushed a little.
"There's not much chance of that happening," she smiled. "Yeah right," snorted Cordelia. "He wants you, and I mean in the worst way."
"No, its not that, its just, I," Kate took a deep breath, wondering why she was such a masochist. "I'm a lesbian," she blurted finally. "Oh, me too, me too," chirped Willow from her place on the couch, jumping up and down excitedly and grabbing Tara's hand as if that would prove the point.
"Watch out everyone, it appears to be catching," said Cordelia dryly, noticing by the sudden chill passing through her that Phantom Dennis had decided now was a good time to leave.
"Well," said Buffy, reaching into her bag and pulling out a copy of Cosmo, "Apparently its really fashionable." She handed the magazine over to Cordelia.
"Careful C," said Faith, seeing a clear opportunity to wind her up. "Stay straight and you might become, like, so yesterday." She began to laugh as Buffy snorted at her impression.
"It's true though." Buffy continued. "I mean there was that kissing scene between the two girls at the start of that movie, what was it, Cruel Intentions."
"Yeah, B, yunno she kinda reminded me of...someone I knew. Once. Long time ago." Faith stammered as she began to feel a little flustered. "And there was that other one. Bring It On. I mean, the character of Missy was just so queer." Willow tucked into the Chocolate Chip cookie dough ice cream in front of her, as Buffy looked at Faith. Hmm, so that was who she had reminded her of. And Willow was right, she was kinda, oh God, did that mean Faith might be kinda...she trailed off into thought. She drained the rest of her glass and got up out of the chair.
"Well, with all this lesbianism or whatever going round, no-one's even looked at me yet," she joked, walking into the kitchen, oblivious of the fact that the rest of the women were avoiding making eye contact with her. Or each other.
"So," Willow cleared her throat nervously, "what are the plans for tonight then girls?"
"Hmmnn?" asked Cordelia, holding the magazine at arms length in front of her. "Wassat?" she looked up and noticed that everyone was staring at her. "That dress makes her hips look like a Grishlack Demon." She said a little too emphatically, stabbing the page with her index finger.
"Grishlack Demon?" asked Willow, raising an eyebrow. "Soooooo, what are we all up for?" She glanced at Buffy, who was walking back in the room, wondering what she had missed that she might have to be up for. With a Grishlack Demon. She decided to blame it on her hearing. "Well, as this is a girly night in, how about we drink wine, with the exception of Kate who appears to be a beer drinker..."
"Very butch," smirked Faith, with a look in her eye that seemed vaguely familiar to Buffy.
"Anyway," Buffy shot Faith a look, "drink wine, watch a movie, and pig out. Then we can play games."
"Play games? You graduated high school, not Kindergarten." Scowled Cordelia. "I thought we would do something a little more sophisticated than that."
"Oh," whined Willow. "I like the sound of games. And fun, and...erm, what games exactly Buffy?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure after a few drinks we'll be able to think of something."
After toying briefly with the idea of watching Thelma and Louise, the finally all agreed on Wild Things, which Faith appeared to have casually lying around in her bag.
"Okay then, what about Truth or Dare?" suggested Buffy. "With so many of us it could be fun. And I'm sure you've all got skeletons in your closets. Or, um," she stammered flicking her gaze between Willow and Kate, "Out of your closets?" she added hopefully. The two women rolled their eyes. Cordelia, certain that she was probably the only one who didn't have anything to hide, and even if she had, would not be in the slightest bit bothered about telling a lie, was the first to agree.
"Okay Buffy, truth or dare?"
"Truth." Truth always seemed the safest option as far as Buffy was concerned, because she secretly agreed with Cordy that if you didn't like the question you could always try to lie convincingly.
"Uh-hu" said Willow, guessing Buffy's train of thought. "No cheating. From anyone." She shot a look at Cordelia and waved her finger in the air. "Veritas vos liberabit!" There was a little whoosh that seemed nowhere and everywhere all at once. "Go on Cordy, ask Buffy a question."
"Let me think. Is it true what Faith says about slaying making you hungry and horny? I always wondered about that one."
"Um," Buffy desperately wanted to say that she really did only ever crave a non-fat yoghurt afterwards, but her mouth just would not form those words. "Yes. Always." She blushed to hear the secret come spilling out of her mouth, while everyone around her, especially Faith she noted, had a smug 'I knew it' look on their faces. She decided to continue before her mouth decided it wanted to 'fess up some more. "So Willow," Buffy said, determined to get revenge on the redhead who had made this game even more embarrassing than it usually was. Truth or dare?
"Truth," sighed Willow weakly.
"When was the first time that you kissed a girl?" She started to laugh as she watched Willow go even paler than she usually was, and began to swallow nervously. So she was right, Tara had not been the first after all.
"Um, I um...." Willow struggled against the effects of her own spell, silently cursing herself for not making herself immune to it. "The last year at High School."
"You were with Oz then!"
"Don't forget Xander!" Cordy and Anya cried in unison, shooting daggers at the redhead.
"Well, who was it?" Buffy asked excitedly.
"Ah that wasn't what you asked Buffy. You said when, and I answered." Willow grinned, glad that for once Buffy's poor choice of phrase had been of some good to her. "My turn. Cordelia, truth or dare?"
"I might as well keep things going and ask for a truth as well. Though I still don't understand why we have to play these stupid games in the first place."
"You were the first one to agree to truth or dare Cordelia. Let's see. Have you ever thought about sleeping with Angel now that he is your boss?"
"Grrr," snarled Cordelia, beginning to feel the same effects of the spell that the others had been subjected to. "Yes. Okay? Happy now? I have thought about sleeping with Angel. Jeez. Buffy, stop laughing at me."
"I'm sorry, Cordy, but the thought of you and Angel! He faces demons everyday but the ice queen C would probably scare him more than anything."
"Whatever. Anya. Truth or dare?"
"I will choose a dare." Everyone raised their eyebrows in expectation. Cordelia tapped her chin thoughtfully as she looked around the room. Her eyes fell to the tub of ice-cream melting on the coffee table. She walked over and taking a big scoop with the spoon, dropped it onto Willow's bare feet. Specifically her big toe, as Willow squeaked and eeked like it was going out of fashion. "I dare you to eat that off Willow's toe." Cordelia looked smug while Willow bit down on her lips as the gooey mess began to slide through her toes.
"I will choose a truth," said Anya emphatically as she watched with disgust as the first blob dropped to the floor.
"Game doesn't work that way Anya, we have to go with your first answer. Now suck!" Cordelia ordered. With a grimace, Anya leant towards Willow, who had somehow managed to push herself as far back into the couch as possible, and was gripping Tara's hand for dear life. Hesitantly, Anya stuck out her tongue and licked the very top of Willow's toe, while Willow squealed a little more. A little more excitedly that is. "You've got to have more than that Anya," Cordelia grinned, obviously pleased with herself. Closing her eyes, and pulling her face into a grimace, Anya opened her mouth and took in the whole of Willow's big toe, sucked it quickly and then stood bolt upright.
"I am now going to use the bathroom, where I will brush my teeth copiously and at length. Please excuse me." With that she bolted out of the room, while Tara looked at Willow with a knowing look.
"Okay," said Tara. "I'll choose for Anya." Everyone nodded as the sound of water gushing extremely fast from the bathroom taps filtered into the room. "Kate, truth or dare."
"There is no way I am going for a dare after that. So I guess I'll take a truth."
"If you could sleep with anyone in this room, who would it be?"
"Jesus, do you all have sex on the brain?"
"Pretty much," grinned Faith, wiggling her eyebrows at Buffy. "And not just on the brain," she purred.
"Well, baring in mind that I only know Cordelia, that makes the question a little difficult."
"Feel free to go purely on looks," preened Buffy.
"Hmmm." Kate made a point of eyeing each of them in turn. "Based on looks, huh?"
"Yup."
"Guess I'll still have to go with Cordy," grinned Kate, knowing that this would possibly terrify the girl in an amusing kind of way. She noticed that Willow was grinning madly at her. At first, Kate thought it might be because she agreed with her choice. Then she remembered the truth spell. Dammit. At least everyone was too busy watching the colour drain from Cordy's face to realise. Kate decided to push her advantage before anyone else caught on. "Tara, truth or dare?"
"Erm, t,t,truth." Tara swallowed nervously.
"Hmmm." Kate looked at the obvious discomfort of the girl and debated whether or not to go easy on her. And quickly dismissed the thought. "How often do you masturbate?"
"M...m...masturbate?" Tara asked, shocked to the point where she sounded as if she had no idea about the whole thing.
"Yes..." prompted Faith with a grin that threatened to split her face into two halves. Tara gulped repeatedly, silently cursing her girlfriend for the whole truth spell, and expressing her anger by holding Willow's hands and sinking her nails into the flesh, satisfied by the yelp that the redhead emitted. She opened her mouth to say never, but once again, the wrongs words came out.
"Twice a day, and sometimes when Willow wants me to!" she clapped her free hand across her mouth as the words came out of their own volition. She looked down into her lap with embarrassment, while every pair of eyebrows in the room raised, and Faith thought `go Tara' to herself. Tara realised that the only way to draw the attention away from herself and Willow (who was now blushing furiously at the fact all her friends knew she liked watching her girlfriend finger herself stupid), was to ask another question. Instinctively, she chose Cordelia. This stupid game was her fault after all. "Cordelia, truth or d,d,dare?"
"Truth."
Tara grinned, seeing the chance for revenge. Inside information could always come in handy. Especially when she knew that Xander had secretly been shagging Harmony's brains out.
"Have you ever had any kind of STD?"
"STD?" Cordelia paled, knowing that this was too cruel for words, and the spell would make her answer correctly. Her image of Tara as sweet and innocent was suddenly replaced by one of her as a cruel hearted bitch. Vaguely reminiscent of herself in High School in fact. What goes around comes around.
"Yes. Xander that two-timing, so called virgin bastard, lying son of a bitch..." she tailed off as Anya walked back in the room, and forced an over-bright smile. She also shot a nasty grin at Faith, who had gone as pale as she had. This was turning into a game of `kill or be killed' rather than `truth or dare'. "Okay then Faith. Truth or Dare?"
"Gimme a dare."
"That's not fair though. With your slayer strength you can do most things." Willow pouted.
"Then give me something completely unslayer related." Faith rolled her eyes, exasperated.
"Hmmmm, well in line with our earlier conversation, I dare you to kiss one of us. Properly, not a peck on the cheek." There was a silence throughout the room. Had Cordy gone to far the time and stepped over the line? Especially in picking Faith to do this dare. Everyone knew that Faith never backed away from anything, and her determination became greater the more extreme things got. And on top of that, who would she choose? All the women in the room found that they were holding their breath as a huge lopsided grin spread across Faith's face while she looked at each of the women in turn.
Willow. She was quite cute but there was that whole Tara thing. With the two of them sitting there side by side holding hands it kinda ruled them both out. Kate. Hmmm, definitely a hottie and more likely to be up for it than the others. But that just took the edge off it. It was no fun if it was too easy. Anya? Not really Faith's type and highly unpredictable when it came to the response. Buffy was the next in line and Faith could feel that good ole deep down tingle just at the thought of it. But that was a card that Faith was holding close to her chest for a time when it was just the two of them, with the aid of a very large bottle of tequila. But Cordy. Now, there must be a reason why she had issued the challenge. And Faith had seen the way that she had been reading that Cosmo article. The Queen C kissing a skanky slut like her did have a certain appeal to it. She stood up slowly, drained the rest of the wine from her glass, wishing that she had had a beer like Kate, and walked to the centre of the room.
Standing to face Buffy she enjoyed watching the older slayer squirm for a few very enjoyable seconds, before quickly turning round, reaching down and pulling Cordelia up by the hand. She took advantage of her strength to make sure that Cordelia was pulled off balance and into her body, while her other hand snaked its way around her waist and made sure that she was firmly staying there. As she gasped in surprise, her lips parted slightly and Faith pressed her own against them. Keeping perfectly still, she waited for Cordelia to relax a little, and flicked the tip of her tongue against her lips. She could feel that the better looking part of Angel Investigations was not trying to pull away, so Faith turned her head to the side slightly and dared to slide her tongue forwards again, more firmly this time, and was met with the warmth of Cordelia's own half-way, pushing against hers, as their lips began to mould together. Just as she could feel Cordelia relax completely into the kiss, Faith abruptly pulled away, leaving her staring back in shock.
"Satisfied now C?" Faith murmured in a husky voice laced with double meaning.
"nahhugarerm" was about all that came from Cordelia's throat as she looked over Faith's shoulder to where everyone stared, open mouthed.
"C'mon C, you gotta have a pack of cards around here somewhere." "Do I look like the sort of person who is forced to play solitaire? I don't think so. The last time I played cards was when Daddy took me to Vegas. Before we lost everything that is."
"Erm, I might, er have a pack," Tara rooted through the bag at her feet. "For the journey. I get bored easily on journeys," she offered by way of an explanation.
"Cool." Faith snatched the cards from Tara's fingers, flipped open the lid and began shuffling the cards.
"What game are we going to play exactly Faith?" Buffy did not like the way that Faith was flicking the cards from hand to hand like a pro. Besides, somewhere along the course of the evening she had forgotten how much she had had to drink, but she had the feeling that even with slayer strength and speed she would have her ass whipped playing snap.
"Poker B." Faith grinned, and suddenly everyone saw where the phrase 'cardshark' actually came from. "If you're gonna play cards, you might as well play a real game."
"Forgive me for mentioning it Faith, but you're not exactly flush in the money department. Only Cordy and Kate have jobs."
"Don't forget me!" waved Anya. "I regularly receive payment in exchange for hours spent helping Giles."
"But he doesn't pay that well Anya. Certainly not enough for a few hours of poker."
"We could play for counters?" suggested Willow.
"No way!" Faith sat down. "If we're gonna play, it's got to be worth it. How about..." she paused dramatically, enough to get everyone's attention, "we play strip poker." She grinned at the automatic shaking of everyone's heads. "Unless you're all chicken. You scared B?"
"Not scared Faith, just -"
"What about you C? Worried that body of yours is starting to look a little saggy?"
"Saggy! I'll have you know-"
"That settles it then. Strip poker it is." She began flicking the cards at everyone. She put the remaining cards on the table and picked up her own set of cards. She looked them over, and whistled appreciatively to herself. This was going to be so much fun.
"A pair of twos," grinned Faith.
"What?" screamed Buffy. "how can you win with a pair of twos?"
"Because everyone else folded, that's how. Suckers" she muttered under her breath as an afterthought. "Everybody, off with an item of clothing."
"Are you sure this is how it works?" asked Kate suspiciously, as she shrugged off the shoes she was wearing, hoping that they would count as clothes.
"Sure it is. I won that round so I get to keep my clothes on. We always used to play it this way back home. And I get to deal again."
Willow looked at her set of cards. Thinking about it logically, which was quite hard to do with several glasses of wine fogging up her brain, if everyone but the winner was taking off an item of clothes each round, then it would only take another five rounds before at least one person was naked. And she had a sinking feeling that she was going to be one of those people. She had nothing with her cards again when Kate decided to call. She watched with some glee as Kate slowly laid her cards on the table in front of Faith. "Royal Flush."
"Dammit!" yelled Faith, throwing her cards down. "This is so not fair." She suddenly realised that she was at a disadvantage, and cursed herself for not thinking about it before. She was, after all, the only one of the group who routinely went without bra and panties...