taxonomites | 02: [Visual] + [Location: Caritas]

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02: [Visual] + [Location: Caritas]

Casey punches the broadcast button on the tablet which is sitting on the bar counter and leans into frame. He's got a bruise or two, maybe a laceration on the cheekbone but it's minor and woe betide anyone commenting on it.

"I've got this leather duster here," he holds it up, "from the warehouse rescue. If you're the owner of said coat, I'm at Caritas, the demon bar in Osten. Ask for Casey."

He turns off the transmission and tosses the coat under the counter out of the way.

"So, where were we?" He starts grabbing some bottles of liquor and setting them on the bar in front of him.

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"So you've got one, then. Good for you." He pours the drinks and sets them on a tray and delivers them. Once he gets back, he reaches under the counter and grabs the coat, holding it out for Spike.

"Actually, I do kinda understand. I'm the same way about my car. She's a 1985 Ford Crown Victoria. Sleek, black, beautiful. GPS tracking...The prisoner containment area was re-upholstered. And now she's gone."

He gets a dark look on his face and the swizel stick in his hand snaps suddenly.

"...sounds like a nice car, mate." He doesn't bother correcting Casey on the girl thing. It's not important.

Spike takes the coat and slips it over his shoulders, visibly relaxing. "That's better. Didn't like leaving it. How's the girl, by the way? Did you get her out of there? Felt bloody awful leaving her there like that."

Casey recovers quickly and tosses the pieces of broken plastic in the trash.

"Lady Morgana? She's alive, resting. Was in pretty bad shape when I found her, though. I think one of them screwed with her head. Guinevere's pretty torn up about it. We're still waiting to hear how she's doing. If she's better and all."

Buffy (who has been... a non-specific elsewhere since Spike arrived) comes breezing back to the bar, unaware of the sombre nature of the conversation going on between the two men.

"Hey Spike," she smiles in greeting. "Oh good, you got your coat."

Spike nods at Casey. "Keep me updated," he says, then he turns to Buffy and smiles back.

"Buffy," he says. "Yeah, I did. How's being employed?"

She leans her elbows on the bar, mulling that question over for a second before concluding:

"It's good. I feel like a valuable member of society, I have money, I get to work with two great guys," Hi Casey, have a mildly playful look. "There's music and I don't have to wear a neon orange uniform or a hat with a cow on it. These are all things of the good."

Unfortunately the reference to the Doublemeat Palace reminds her of how Spike used to come and meet her on her breaks... which always ended up longer than they were supposed to be. And now Spike's here where she's working and the memory is bringing a minutely noticeable blush to her cheeks. She clears her throat, standing up straight again. "So, can I get you anything?"

That question did not help.

Casey nods to the vampire, deciding that maybe he's not half bad for an evil blood-sucking night creature. Then he watches the exchange between Spike and Buffy with growing interest. He grunts with amusement at her calling him a great guy.

Is that a blush he's spotting? He looks back and forth between the two of them. Then addresses Spike:

"This your girl?"

Buffy's blushing. It's pretty easy for Spike to guess what she's thinking about. He remembers those meetings pretty well himself. He doesn't blush, but he does look down for a moment.

When Casey speaks, he looks up sharply, then glances at Buffy. "No," he says quickly. "I don't have a girl." Is it really that obvious?

To Buffy, he asks, "You learned to mix anything yet? Wouldn't mind seeing what you've got."

Apparently it really is that obvious - and if the ground could swallow Buffy right now, she'd be exceptionally grateful. "No." She answers, just as quickly, in response to Casey's (awful) question, and then absorbs herself with a really interesting piece of lemon. That is until Spike speaks again and she stares at him for a second. 'Wouldn't mind seeing what you've got'??? Talk about unfortunate word choice, given the situation. She recovers quickly though, after some mental flailing.

"Umm, yeah, actually I was just learning how to make a Casablanca. Casey survived the taste-test, so I can't be that bad. Want to try?" And as those words leave her mouth, she realizes that they aren't the best words ever, and adds, hastily: "The cocktail. Try the cocktail."

Oh dear god, this is horrible.

Casey gives a cynical 'yeah, right' grunt. Like hell they're not knocking boots. Or at least wanting to.

"Careful, she nearly poisoned me." He warns Spike, then moves off to serve a customer who's been trying to get his attention.

This is awful. Spike glares after Casey because it's easier than looking at Buffy. Just because they have a history that included romps in Buffy's workplace doesn't mean he should have to avoid visiting her now. They can control themselves. Or should be able to.

Right, enough accidental innuendo. Spike looks back at her.

"Yeah, I'd love to try. And I know you'll be great. At this, I mean. Cocktail mixing."

Bloody hell.

Yes, control. All the control. Lots and lots of control, even if there's some truth in Casey's observations. Buffy watches Casey go, feeling more self-conscious than she ever would've believed possible. Finally she looks at Spike again, feeling an odd urge to laugh at the sheer awkward of the situation. She doesn't though, pinching the bridge of her nose with rueful amusement instead.

"Thanks," she replies, dropping her hand and giving Spike a smile. "He's exaggerating about the poisoning." She starts preparing the cocktail as she talks. "So how'd you lose your coat? I thought it was surgically attached."

"Unless you've started using holy water in those cocktails, I'm not too worried." Though he does eye what she's doing a bit apprehensively.

He shrugs, pulling his coat closer "Gave it to a girl during the big fight and rescue. I couldn't pull her out then since I needed to fight Drusilla, but I felt I ought to do something."

"I'm pretty sure Lorne has a no-dusting policy," she comments wryly in reply, doing the double-flip reverse pour thing with a bottle of white rum that she learnt from Casey earlier. Yes, she's absolutely trying to impress Spike.

...though as it turns out, she's impressed by him. Of course the 'big fight and rescue' was pretty much chaos and she got split up from the rest of Angel's crowd, so she didn't see everything - Spike giving his coat away, for example. She knows he's a different man from the one he used to be, a better one, but it still surprises her sometimes. "That's really sweet, Spike," she says, genuinely touched. Then, because she doesn't want them slipping into awkward territory again, she slides his finished cocktail across the bar towards him. "There. One non-toxic Casablanca."

"Knew there was a reason I came here." Though Spike doesn't say anything, the bottle flippy bit does impress him. She looks the part, though whether she can actually mix a drink remains to be seen.

He shrugs, glancing down. "Least I could do." Not that Morgana appreciated it much. He smiles and takes the drink from her. He raises it to her for a moment before taking a sip. "Mmm, not bad, love."

"You mean aside from the amazingly talented bar staff?" She asks, with a raised eyebrow. That's a joke, evidently, because she watches apprehensively as Spike takes a sip of his drink, clearly worried that it'll be horrible and he won't like it. She looks relieved when that doesn't seem to be the case.

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

He gives her a reassuring smile. "Could use a bit more lemon, maybe, but I've had a lot worse. Mostly at the Bronze. They had some spectacularly bad bartenders there sometimes." Possibly because so many vampires went there for snacks. He takes another, bigger sip and smiles. "It's pretty good, actually."

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02: [Visual] + [Location: Caritas]

[location | Caritas]

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[location | Caritas]

[location | Caritas]