stupid cupid | spike

22 | DRACULA

"Oh yeah. Go team me!" Buffy said, giving Teddy a high-five. Then she looked at Riley and threw him the ball.

"Anybody ever tell Team Tuffy the quarterback throws like a girl?" Riley asked, using their made-up team name before throwing the ball back. Theirs was Team Captain Cupid, even though Riley's official ranking at the Initiative hadn't been Captain. 

"I do?" Buffy asked with a frown.

Riley simply shrugged as if to say, "Well, yeah." Buffy looked at Teddy for help, but he could also only shrug as well. Buffy frowned again before gripping the ball tight with determination. Then she threw it at Riley much faster than usual and it hit him dead in the face, knocking him down.

"Ooh, sorry!" Buffy asked, wincing as she rushed to check on him.

Kitty and Teddy couldn't help but laugh — even Buffy was smiling after she made sure Riley hadn't broken a nose or anything.

"Now that was a killer throw," Riley said, sitting up with Buffy's help.

"No kidding," Teddy said, chuckling. Then he picked up the football, which was now deflated. "She killed the ball."

"Oops," Buffy said sheepishly.

"That's alright. Let's see if Xand's started on lunch," Kitty said, grabbing Buffy's hand and pulling her back to the others. The boys followed after.

"Game over?" Willow asked as they approached.

"Uh, Buffy slayed the football," Riley said as Teddy tossed the ball to the side.

"It's because Captain Cupid was winning," Kitty informed them while sitting on her towel.

Teddy snorted while joining her. "Yeah, right."

"Where's my burger?" Buffy asked, looking at Xander pointedly.

"Yeah, man, I'm starving," Riley said, pulling Buffy to sit on his lap. "Cow me."

"The, uh, fire's not cooperating," Xander said, struggling to get the grill to light. "It's comforting to know that I lack the culinary finesse of a caveman."

But then Willow moved her hand toward the grill while muttering a spell. "Ignis incende."

The charcoal inside burst into flames, and Xander fell backward on his ass to avoid having his eyebrows burned off. They all looked at Willow, impressed with her progress as a witch — well, maybe not Xander, who would've appreciated a warning.

"Willow, check you out! Witch-fu," Buffy said, smiling.

"It's no big," she said, shrugging. "You just have to balance the elements so when you affect one, you don't wind up causing—"

Suddenly, a huge clap of thunder interrupted her. Dark clouds rolled in out of nowhere and rain poured before they could even think about packing their things. Kitty squealed and got to her feet, grabbing as much as she could carry as they all started to run back to the car.

"I didn't do it!" Willow exclaimed. "I didn't do it!"

♡︎

The following day, Willow sat at the desk in Giles' apartment, setting up a new desktop computer, scanner, and printer for him. He asked her to do so a few weeks ago as a reluctant attempt at embracing technology.

"There you go. All set," Willow said, tapping the top of the scanner.

"Thank you, Willow. Obstinate bloody machine simply refused to work for me," he muttered before walking off to get a few books.