The Other Half Lives
by Patti, Rae, Rob, and Spring - Summer of 2003
Chapter 2 – In The Buff
(Patti)
by Patti, Rae, Rob, and Spring - Summer of 2003
Chapter 2 – In The Buff
(Patti)
Buffy screamed, and then choked it back at the sound of her deep baritone voice! "Oh god, oh no! I so did not need this!" Buffy looked down and moaned, "or that. . . or those!" Buffy twisted around and looked behind her. *Though gotta say . . . nice butt!*
Hurriedly Buffy grabbed up her clothing from the floor. Glancing down again, she grimaced and tossed the bikinis aside, not a chance THOSE would fit . . . She struggled into the trousers and yanked them up, carefully zipping the formerly loose uniform pants.
The ugly orange shirt stuck around her biceps and refused to meet in the middle. "Great! You too can enlarge your bust size . . . !"
As Buffy stared bleakly into the bathroom mirror, trying to recognize something of herself in the short but really cute guy reflected there, the motel room doorknob rattled and she heard the sound of a key . . . SPIKE! Spike was back and he couldn't see her like this! Buffy slammed the bathroom door and leaned against it in a panic.
"Buffy? Sweetheart? You're not taking another shower are you? Pet? I've got something good here for you . . . oh, and I brought bagels too!" Spike was using his 'happy sexy' voice. Well, that would be changing soon enough . . .
Buffy closed her eyes and cleared her throat. Consciously pitching her voice as high as she could, she called, "Um . . . Spike? There's . . . something I need to tell you . . ."
"What's wrong with your voice? Are you crying? Do you have laryngitis or something?" Spike tried the door, but Buffy pushed back against it and kept him out. "Buffy, come out of there. What's going on?"
"Spike, I’ll come out, but you have to promise me you won't look, ok? Just . . . turn your back and listen. Ok, Spike?"
Silence. Then, Spike's 'calming her down' voice. "All right . . . I promise . . . Just, uh . . . come out of the bathroom. I've got my eyes closed and my back is turned . . . you can come out now."
Buffy eased the door open and stuck her head out and went sailing through the air, slamming against the wall with a crash, a snarling vamp-faced Spike in her face. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO BUFFY! Where is she? I'll kill you, if you don't start talking NOW!"
"Spike . . . get off me! Ow! It's me! OW! That hurts! Why can't I -" Buffy pushed at Spike but her super-strength was gone! She was as weak as a - a regular guy! "Spike . . . honey!" Buffy put her hands on Spike's cheeks and looked into his eyes - for a split second, until he jerked away with an oath and leaped to his feet.
"Bloody hell! What was that about, you ponce! No way . . . !" Spike's shock and confusion were reflected in his now human face.
Buffy struggled to her feet and approached her vampire honey, part of her mind registering the fact that her uniform shirt was now torn beyond repair. And the cost of a replacement would be taken out of her pay!
"Spike - it's me. That guy - Greg - the one you chased off . . . it was him. Some kind of magic . . . he turned me into . . . into a MAN!" Buffy threw her arms around Spike and burst into sobs . . . big honking loud masculine sobs . . .
Spike stood there, arms at his sides, head back, flinching, trying to make his body as concave as possible . . . "Uh . . . right . . . ok . . . maybe you could just . . . back off? For a minute?" Spike frowned, leaned forward, sniffed . . . and realized that he had painlessly hit this guy without the chip going off. "Buffy? Is that you in there?" Gingerly he lifted one hand and lightly patted the short, blonde buff little guy on the top of his head.
"Yes! That's what I said! Oh Spike, we have to get Willow! She can do something! And then we have to find Greg and hurt him, or kill him or hurt him AND kill him . . . " Buffy wrapped her muscular arms tighter around Spike and sniffled.
Spike put his hands on Buffy's broad shoulders and pushed her back firmly. "Uh . . . Buff. . . could you umm . . . you're freaking me out. Can we . . . not hug right now?" Spike grabbed the phone and handed it to . . . Buff. "Here. Call Willow. Get her to fix you. Now!"
Buff dialed the number, noting how her fingers had a tendency to hit two buttons at once. Fortunately Willow was home, and Buff explained the situation, (after Spike spoke to Willow and convinced her to listen to the totally strange guy who was begging Willow to help him . . . ) which was even more complicated than she had expected, since she also had to explain why Spike was there with her. The enormity of the 'being a man' situation really brought her 'my boyfriend's a hot evil dead guy' problem into perspective however, and in short order Willow understood that a: Buffy and Spike were lovers and b: Buffy was now a man.
Finally Buff stopped talking and just listened. She nodded once or twice, then her eyes closed and she blinked and gulped . . . then slowly hung up the phone. Her cute guy face was pale and she slowly sat down on the bed, resting her head in her blunt tipped fingers.
'What's wrong Buff? Can't Willow help? She can undo the spell, can't she?" Spike sat down a short distance away from Buff, anxiously waiting for her to answer.
"Willow said . . . she said without knowing what Greg did . . . what spell or ingredients he used, she can't reverse the spell. She said . . . she said the best she could do is . . . she can change things so that uh . . . since I'm in a guy's body now . . . but I'm still Buffy inside . . . it's going to be confusing, for us . . . you know . . . "
Spike's voice cracked in horror as he asked, "Buff . . . what are you saying? What did Willow say she could do?"
Buff looked at Spike in misery. "She said . . . she said she could gay you up . . . "
***
End of Chapter 2