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| Starlight The Wish |
| Look at the stars! look, look up the skies! O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air! The Starlight Night - Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| November 26th Miss Lillian Mintaka arrived at 53 Orion in her '56 pink Cadillac on Thanksgiving morning. Mr. Nilam, wearing very large and thick spectacles, sat next to her in the passenger seat examining a large map. “If you turn right on Sirius Street and then make another…” he wheezed. “We’re here, you silly old fool. Put down the map and get that box out of the backseat.” Miss Mintaka stepped regally out of the car and proceeded up to the front gate. She gazed around the front yard and gave a little sniff, and then muttered under her breath, “Oxygen.” * * * * * Buffy and Spike were arguing in the kitchen about what to cook for the holiday meal. Spike had forgotten to pick up the turkey Buffy had ordered from the supermarket and was explaining to her that the whole holiday dinner was a massive waste of energy and wouldn’t she just like to spend the day in bed, with him of course. Dawn, Rigel and Maisa were out in the back garden planting daffodil bulbs around the spring. Rigel had bought a hundred pounds of the bulbs in bulk from the local nursery. Maisa thought the whole exercise was one big game of hide and seek. As soon as Dawn or Rigel planted a bulb, she’d gleefully dig it up and then look around to wait for praise for her accomplishment. “Bad dog!” Rigel shouted, finally frustrated at his fruitless attempts to keep the bulbs under the ground. He chased her around the corner of the house and then stopped short when he saw the pink car and its occupants. He dashed back around to the back of the house and sputtered to Dawn, “I’m not here.” “You look here to me.” Dawn shoved her spade into the ground and turned over a large clump of dark soil. She dropped three bulbs into the hole, and patted the dirt down firmly. Dawn gave Maisa, who had slunk back around the other side of the house and was now sitting next to her, a stern look, “Don’t even think about it.” Rigel glanced nervously around the yard looking for a place to hide. He decided the attic would be the safest bet, and quickly scurried inside the house. * * * * * Buffy opened the door and invited Miss Mintaka and Mr. Nilam into the house. Mr. Nilam was huffing with the effort of carrying the large cardboard box. Buffy took it from him and held it effortlessly in one arm. She stared at the two strange visitors. The woman was dressed in a pale pearl grey silk suit; her white blonde hair was caught back into a severe bun and held in place with three silver, star shaped clips. Around her neck was a triple strand of plump, luminous pearls. She appeared to be ageless-- thirty or ninety or perhaps even older. The elderly man was dressed in an old fashioned suit complete with a long tailed coat and a frayed and slightly yellow, formal white shirt and bow tie. He reminded her a little of Rigel. “Ah…who are you?” Buffy stammered as she put the box down on the floor. “Tsk…Such manners,” Miss Mintaka turned to the old man. “Take that back into the kitchen, please.” Buffy picked up the box before the old man could get to it. “Spiiike! Get in here!” she yelled. “Just a minute,” she said to the visitors. She hurried back to the kitchen, rolling her eyes at Spike as she passed him in the hallway. “This is your problem.” She gave him a mischievous smile. * * * * * Spike recognized Mr. Nilam immediately, and greeted him affectionately. “Al, my friend! What brings you and this lovely lady here so early in the morning?” “Spike. It’s my very deepest, and decidedly wonderful honor to present you to the most illustrious…” “I’m your landlady, or employer, should I say?” Miss Mintaka interrupted. She raised her hand toward Spike, palm down. Spike gave Miss Mintaka a quick look and then, taking her hand in his, raised it to his lips, and planted a discreet kiss on the top of her hand. “My lady,” he said, “Please come in.” He ushered them into the living room. * * * * * “Who was that young ruffian who answered the door? Am I to believe that she lives here with you?" “You mean Buffy?” Spike smiled. “She’s my…ah…my friend.” “Don’t lie to me young man. She’s sleeping with you. Who else do you have living with you in my house? Other tenants weren’t part of your employment contract, you know. Trying to make a little money on the side, were you?” “No…No. It’s not like that. Yeah…oh, well hell…let’s see, there’s Buffy of course, and her sister Dawn, and Maisa the dog. And Rigel. They’re not really tenants…you see…well they’re my…my family.” He blushed, realizing at that moment that that was exactly what they were. His family. “They’re my family,” he repeated, a little look of joy passed across his face. “Rigel?” Miss Mintaka rose suddenly to her feet. “Blue? No teeth? White hair?” “Well, yes. Do you know him?” “I knew it! Send him to me immediately!” Miss Mintaka commanded. She gave Mr. Nilam a withering look. “Did you know this?” she demanded. He shook his head and quickly followed Spike out of the room. “Oh dear lord, it’s going to be such a fuss. She really doesn’t like to be crossed.” “Well what’s the old bint doing here anyway? Why didn’t you warn me she was coming?” “It was all so sudden. She just showed up and demanded we come here immediately. Something about a spring, and interfering around with other people’s fates. And oh dear, is Rigel really living here with you?” “Yeah…what’s going on here, Al?” “Miss Lily and Rigel. You might say they were old flames…they had a little…falling out.” He gulped. “I think I’ll just go help Buffy with that box.” He slipped away towards the kitchen. * * * * * Spike searched Rigel’s room and the backyard. He went upstairs and searched the second floor. Finally he crawled up the ladder into the attic and found Rigel sitting in a corner on the floor. “Come on Rigel. Take it like a man. What’s this I hear about you and the flashy piece of skirt downstairs? And I had to listen to you for hours yammering on about not running away from love!” He grabbed Rigel’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “You don’t know her! She can be very rough when she’s mad. She’s not what she appears to be!” “Tell me about it, mate. I know exactly how you feel. But you don’t see me running anymore, do you?” He dragged Rigel down the ladder and downstairs and shoved him into the living room. “Here he is. I’ll leave you two alone.” Spike closed the door on Rigel’s pleading face. * * * * * He found Buffy and Al in the kitchen unpacking Miss Mintaka’s box. “Look, Spike!” Buffy exclaimed. “Food! It’s a whole feast! A huge turkey and ham and every sort of vegetable, fresh baked bread and pies. A sack of soup bones! Six bottles of Chardonnay and, what’s this?” She pulled out a very large crystal decanter of thick red fluid. “I believe that’s for me,” Spike laughed. “She’s always very well prepared,” Al sighed. * * * * * They had a glorious Thanksgiving dinner. Clem and Willie showed up just as they started eating and Xander and Anya wandered in during dessert. Miss Mintaka thrilled them with tales of her travels and described in intricate detail every observatory she’d visited. She sat next to Rigel, who glowed bright blue every time she touched his hand. “And Hubble,” she said. “What can I say?” Rigel and Al sighed deeply. “Of course it’s not as good as the view from…” she stopped suddenly. “Well, I have been talking far too much here.” “Not at all!” Rigel and Al spoke in unison. She turned to Spike. “So Spike…what’s your plan? Are you going to let this lovely young creature slip through your fingers again?” She nodded toward Buffy. Spike looked nervously around the table. At his friends, his lover and ex-lover, his partners in crime and his former enemy. “You want me to announce something in front of this crew?” He turned back to Buffy. Her eyes were soft and she gave him a little smile. “Not much to say. I love her. She loves me. I plan to keep on loving her…well forever!” “Forever is a long time. And not everyone has forever, you know.” Miss Mintaka stood up and looked down at Rigel and then over to Al. “Dishes!” she said. Rigel and Al scrambled to their feet. The three of them marched out to the kitchen. * * * * * Rigel, Al and Lily, as Miss Mintaka had instructed everyone to call her, sat on the back porch sipping wine and watching the others finish planting all the daffodil bulbs. “Isn’t it about time you came home?” Lily asked Rigel. “I don’t think they need you anymore. Remember what I always said about interfering with humans?” “Spike’s not human.” “Human, demon, vampire…What’s the difference? I miss you. And your little dog. I’m tired of all this gravity. And look at him.” She nodded toward Al, who was sleeping in his chair. “Nearly burnt out in all this oxygen. Let’s leave tonight.” “Next Orionid. I promise. You go back. You take Al with you now. Let me and Maisa stay another year. I still have some unfinished business. What’s a year to you?” “Alright, a year,” she sighed. “That’s all. And If I have to come looking for you again. Well…I hear there’s job openings in one of those southern constellations.” * * * * * They said goodbye to their guests. Before she left, Miss Mintaka handed Spike an envelope. “Don’t open it now. Wait until next October 20th. I’ll know if you open it sooner.” She gave him a hard look. “And you.” She went over and stood before Rigel. “You come back to me? Remember? I’ll be waiting.” * * * * * Later that evening Spike found Buffy sitting by herself next to the spring. “What are you doing out here all alone?” he asked. “Just looking at this little pool. Sometimes you can see the reflection of the stars. It seems so deep.” Spike shook his head. “All the way down to heaven or hell, Rigel says. Come on, love, come inside with me.” He knelt down beside her and ran his hand through her hair. “It was nice, you know. What you said at dinner.” “What was that?” “That you planned to love me forever.” “Meant it. Truly.” He put his arm around her and buried his face in her hair. “I’ll always love you.” “But we don’t have forever, do we? At least I don’t.” “Don’t think about it now, love. We have this day. Lots of days ahead of us.” “Will you miss me? Miss me when I’m gone?” She turned to him and gazed solemnly into his eyes. “Buffy...” He pulled her tightly against his chest. She was suddenly fragile and so very human at that moment. He gathered her in his arms, stood up and carried her into the house and up the stairs. * * * * * He undressed her in silence. As he removed each piece of clothing, he caressed and kissed the soft skin that was slowly revealed to him. He carefully folded each garment and placed them in the old bureau. When she was completely naked, he gently placed her in the middle of the bed. He undressed and then sat down next to her, his thigh nestled against the flair of her hips. He traced his fingers along her face, over her lips, under her chin and down to the beautiful curve of her neck, rich and pulsing with her sweet blood. Her eyes were wide and heartbreakingly warm. “So beautiful.” He slid his hand over her breast and cupped it lightly. “If I could never see you again…I would go mad.” He bent over and kissed her breast. His lips found her nipple, and he took it between his lips, his cool tongue circling and teasing it until it stiffened in arousal beneath his touch. She cried his name softly. He stood up, walked over to the window and opened the curtains. Moonlight flooded the room. He climbed onto the bed and, parting her thighs, he knelt between them. He bent over and placed a kiss between her legs, his tongue lightly tasting the musky wetness that glistened on the delicate lips, now flushed and swollen. He inhaled deeply, and shuddered as the strong, wild scent of her arousal washed through him. He licked her contentedly, not rushing, but pleasuring her with long, slow strokes. “Lovely, lovely cream,” he sighed, as he explored her moist lips with his tongue, lapping and tasting each tender sensitive fold. He felt her shiver beneath him. “Harder. Oh god. There.” She grabbed his head and held him in place. He increased the pressure of his tongue and she began to tremble. He loved her like this-- all abandoned in her lust and wantonness, the moment just before she came. Her body tensed, her face flushed and her nipples erect and swollen. She moaned deeply and pressed her knees against his shoulders. Her hips undulated mindlessly as she drenched his lips, tongue and face with the warm rush of her come. “There’s my girl, my sweet girl, coming for me.” He raised his head, and sliding up her body, rubbed his face against her stomach and the swell of her breasts. He knelt back on his knees. She watched as his delicate hands and fingers slowly slipped back up her legs and kneaded the soft and yielding skin of her inner thighs. The moonlight fell across his body, calling into sharp relief, the subtle beauty of his face, the strong curve of his chest, his long firm arms. He slid several fingers deeply inside of her, and then, removing them gently, rubbed them in languid movements down his long beautiful cock, which rose pale and hard from the dark hair between his thighs. She could feel him aching to possess her. She could smell the feral need upon him, felt him holding back his animal, demon metamorphosis. She trailed her hand down his chest, and dragged her nails across the hard muscles of his stomach, and reached down to stroke him. He clasped her wrist and pulled it away before her hand could reach its goal. “Do you want me?” “Oh yes,” she begged, and raised her knees and spread them far apart in submission. She felt the deep ache rising again between her legs, moving swiftly up to the center of her body. She could feel his longing in every movement of his limbs, from the tips of his fingers to his pale, hard cock as he stretched exquisitely above her. And she cried out again for him to take her. He wanted her. Wanted her, his golden skinned love, so fragrant and ripe. He wanted to lick and devour her, bathe her from head to foot with his tongue, taste her, savor her, drink the liquid fire that poured from her womb. Wanted to plunge inside her, fill her, make her cry out his name, feel her heat surround him. Move inside her fast and hard. But he held back, shaking with the effort of restraint. He paused and stretched his arms and hands, in cat-like, almost predatory motions. He wanted to keep this moment forever. This delicious moment on the edge of ecstasy. Her wanting him, splaying herself before him, all wet and burning for the relief that only he could bestow. Here time was suspended, was non-existent. He felt a sudden arc of electricity spring between them as she cried and arched her back, ground her hips greedily against him. And he was lost. She clasped his hips forcefully with her hands, pulled him down to her. She closed her eyes as he plunged his cock inside her. She came again, gasping with the sweet relief of him stretching her wide, and filling her so completely. He rode her gently. He rode her wildly. He poured his cool seed inside her, and became hard again for her, over and over. This was his sweet girl, his woman. This is what she needed from him now. For him to be inside her. Home, deep inside her. Deep inside her love always, making her come endlessly, making her feel as if she would live forever. * * * * * October The following year Dawn and Buffy moved into the house at 53 Orion. Maisa bore a litter of one on New Year’s Day. They named the puppy Sirius. Sirius had grown quickly over the past months and he now stood about two feet tall and was definitely no longer a puppy. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Spike complained. “Eats me out of house and home. Do you think he’s really a dog? More like a wolf, I reckon. And who’s his dad, I’d like to know?” “Sirius is not a wolf. He’s a prince among dogs. A princely beast,” Dawn proclaimed. “Would you ask his majesty to leave his bones outside, then?” * * * * * They became a family of sorts. A very strange family – the vampire, the vampire slayer, the key, the mysterious water spirit, and two dogs of unknown origin. Yet they had come together at this singular moment in time and space and had found solace and friendship and love. In early February through March, the garden was thick with thousands of daffodils, all golden and creamy yellow, pale pink and deep orange. Summer arrived and life was good, if not always happy. There were certain things about living with a Slayer that Spike felt he would never get used to. But eventually they came to an understanding that, though they loved each other deeply, they were very different, and in some things would never be of one mind. For example, he hated the way she expected him to pick up his things off the floor in the bedroom. ‘This is not a crypt’ she’d yell at him and he’d slink off up to the attic where Rigel would occasionally join him, especially if she’d gone on a rampage about the state of the kitchen. “I think it’s a mental illness, this obsession for putting things exactly back where you found them,” Spike groused to Rigel, “An obsessive desire for control. I blame Giles, myself.” But all in all, their life flowed smoothly along and they found that one day merged into another until October arrived. They noticed that Rigel was becoming a little secretive; he would disappear for several hours and come back strangely excited. They remembered the promise he’d made to Miss Mintaka and realized their days with him were slowly coming to an end. Rigel, however, refused to talk about his leaving. He’d quickly change the subject whenever anyone brought it up. * * * * * October twentieth dawned crisp and clear. Buffy and Spike had spent a very long night fighting some particularly nasty demons and were still asleep when Dawn pounded frantically on their bedroom door. “They’re gone!” she wailed through the door. Rigel hadn’t said goodbye. Dawn was upset the most. Especially as he’d taken the little dog Maisa. But he’d left behind the dog, Sirius, two letters and a large package. There was a brief note, attached to Sirius' collar, from Rigel in which he explained that Sirius was to be Dawn's dog now. He gave Spike explicit instructions never to bite Sirius no matter what he did... or chewed. He apologized again for what Sirius had done to Spike's black leather duster. The package was a gift for Dawn. It contained a telescope and a very old and battered book entitled Phaenomena. The book was in Latin, a translation of Aratus by Cicero. “Guess you’ll have to learn Latin, Nibblet,” Spike smiled, "And get a job to pay for dog food." Spike opened the first letter and read it aloud. * * * * * My Dear Friends, Time is not what you imagine. It’s like the water, which springing newborn from the earth, rushes heedlessly down to the sea, is tossed and swirled in bitter salt waves, rises hot and fevered to the stars, only to fall to earth again, sweet and pure, sinking deep into stone and there, simmering beneath the surface, it swells up once again, new and fresh. Time and water. If you understand these two things you’ll understand the universe. I believe we shall meet again one day, Your friend, Rigel P.S. My dear Spike and Buffy, please take the second letter and drive up to the hill behind Sunnydale, you know the one I mean, Spike. It’s the one where we used to go and hide from Buffy when she was in one of her moods. Be sure you arrive before 10 p.m. and don’t be late. Inside the letter is a little surprise for the two of you. Open it when you get there. No sooner. * * * * * Spike and Buffy arrived on the hilltop at exactly five minutes to ten. They sat on a rock ledge and Spike opened the second letter and read it beneath the pale flame of his lighter. * * * * * Elizabeth and William, this is a map for you, so you'll always find your way back to each other. Forever together, not on this earth, perhaps, but somewhere in the skies. Name: Elizabeth, 20Psi Ori Magnitude: 0.8 Right Ascension: 5h10m33.3s Declination: -7° 11'4" Name: William, 21Omg Ori Magnitude: 0.8 Right Ascension: 5h10m44.4s Declination: -7° 11'3" Name: Rigel, 19Bet Ori Magnitude: 0.12 Right Ascension: 5h14m32.3s Declination: -8° 12'6" Notes: Variable * * * * * At 10 p.m. exactly, the Orionid meteor shower began. The sky glowed and hissed with a thousand streaks of light shooting down from the constellation Orion. They gazed in wonder at the sight above them, and so entranced with the beauty of the meteor dance, they didn’t notice two small, but brilliant points of light moving in the wrong direction. From the earth to the heavens. * * * * * An hour later they stood together in the darkness, still looking up at the sky. They saw a quick flash, much brighter than the meteor shower and watched as a star fell to earth. “We must make a wish,” she said. “Not me, pet. I’ve given up wishes.” “No, no. You must. You must.” She turned in his arms and gave him a kiss. “I wish you were a natural blonde, so you would stop stealing my peroxide,” he said. She punched him lightly on the chest. “That’s not a wish…that’s a…” She stared at him. “You were there. Snooping on me! You heard my wish..es…” “So what’s your wish, love?” She thought for a moment. “I wish... to fall asleep in your arms every night for the rest of my life.” “Just sleep, love?” he laughed, and slipped his hand beneath her shirt. She hit him again. “You are so very, very bad!” He kissed her again. * * * * * The Letter from Miss Mintaka Spike, I’m giving you the house. No one would be fool enough to buy it. That very irritating Miss Branch will handle all the details for you. And for goodness sake, see to it that Buffy drinks as much water as possible from the spring. It’s surprising what a little water will do for one’s longevity. Affectionately, Lily * * * * * And these the gems of heaven, her starry train: But neither breath of morn when she ascends With charm of earliest birds, nor rising sun On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower, Glist’ring with dew, nor fragrance after showers, Nor grateful ev’ning mild, nor silent night With this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon Or glittering starlight, without thee is sweet. Paradise Lost. Book iv. Line 639. John Milton (1608–1674) ~FINIS~ Comments & Feedback Back to Starlight Back to Dark Dreams |