"Why are we doing this again?" Spike asked. He leaned against the doorframe and glowered as Xander cleared off the kitchen table.

"It's supposed to be fun." Xander placed the napkin holder and Spike's collection of hot sauces onto the counter and turned back to grab the placemats.

"We've never had any trouble finding ways to have fun on our own. Don't need to pretend we're old ladies."

"It's a present from Willow." Xander opened up the jigsaw puzzle box and dumped the pieces out onto the table before nudging Spike toward his chair. "You wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you?"

"I'm not stupid, Xander," Spike said, sitting heavily. "What's the real reason?"

Chewing on his lower lip, Xander sorted through the pile until Spike grabbed his hand.

"What's the real reason?" Spike asked again.

"It's nothing much. Willow just thought that it would be good for you to learn some patience. She thought working on a puzzle might help. And it would be fun."

"Patience? If I were patient, love, I never would have hauled you against that crypt and kissed you. We'd still be glaring at each other across the Magic Box table instead of shagging each other under it when we're supposed to be patrolling. If I had been patient, I would never have gotten so worked up that I let Dru turn me. Why the bloody hell would I want to be patient? The best things that have happened to me came from being impulsive."

"Because you rushed into Willow's spell last week and nearly got us all killed," Xander said quietly.

"The demons were about to break through the portal."

"I know, but she had it under control. Because you barged into the middle of things, they did escape, the portal went totally out of control, and we almost got massacred."

"We killed 'em, didn't we? And you didn't even get a scratch on you."

"Yes, but if you had held back until the spell was complete none of it would have happened at all."

"I was trying to help," Spike said sullenly.

Xander reached out for his hand.

"I know you were. But maybe you can see why Willow wants you to be a bit more patient."

Spike glowered but nodded.

"I'll do the sodding puzzle, but I won't promise about anything else."

"Thank you," said Xander, squeezing his fingers once more. "And, for the record, I'm glad you pushed me against that crypt and kissed me."

"Damn right you are."

Spike poked through the pieces scattered across the table.

"So what's this a picture of, anyway?" he asked.

"Flowers." Xander flipped over the lid to show him, and Spike groaned.

"Daffodils. Of course they're bloody daffodils. Couldn't be a poppy, which is a proper color and has those nice associations with death, not to mention opium. No, they have to be poofy daffodils."

"Better than a picture of puppies, which was the other option," said Xander.

"Were they dead puppies?"

"Ugh. No! They don't make jigsaw puzzles with pictures of dead puppies."

"Well, they should. Would do really well with the demon market. Or maybe scenes of mass slaughter. All of the red from blood would make it really challenging."

"Just put together your alive, non-bloody, corpse-free daffodils," Xander said.

"I think your witch is trying to drive me insane," Spike said after a few minutes. "There are a million pieces here. No wonder they don't fit together."

"There are only five hundred pieces, and they do fit together. See? I've got some of the bottom edge done."

Spike peered over to Xander's side of the table. Sure enough, Xander had about six inches of the bottom edge fitted together.

"I must not be doing it right," Spike said, arranging two of his pieces next to each other. "These obviously go together. They're both yellow. Just need to try harder."

"No, they should go together easily if they're -"

The table shook as Spike's fist slammed onto the puzzle pieces.

"Ha!" Spike held up his pair in triumph. They were flattened and slightly mangled, but they were stuck together. "Got it. This'll be more fun than I thought."

"That's not exactly how..." Xander watched Spike's shoulders slump and his grin begin to fade. "You know what? Never mind. I think you've got the hang of it."

Smiling, Xander watched as Spike made quick work of the puzzle. He smashed the rest of the pieces together, incorporating Xander's bottom edge somewhere in the upper left corner. The end result was an uneven, pulpy tangle of yellow and green cardboard.

"Doesn't quite look like the picture on the box," Spike said, glancing back and forth between the lid and his messy creation.

"Looks perfect to me," said Xander. He stood up and unobtrusively pushed the pieces on the floor under the table.

"So did I pass the patience training?"

"I think you're just fine." He gave Spike a quick kiss.

"That's what I said. What now? Did the Watcher send along chopsticks for me to try to catch a fly?"

Xander laughed and shook his head.

"Nope. We've got the whole afternoon to ourselves. Think we can find something to do?"

Spike slid his arms around Xander's waist and nibbled just beneath his ear.

"I've got some ideas. Could take hours, though. When it comes to you, I can be very, very patient."

"Yeah?"

Spike's low laugh sent shivers up Xander's spine.

"Oh, yeah," Spike said. "Think you'll be the one begging me to get on with it by the end."

"I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it," Xander said, grinning and walking Spike backwards toward the bedroom.

"Think we can get another puzzle tomorrow?" Spike asked a few minutes and a lot fewer clothes later. "That one was kind of fun."

"I think we can manage it."

"No pictures of puppies, though," said Spike, dipping his head to kiss along Xander's ribcage.

"No puppies. Not unless they're dead." The last word came out as a gasp, and Spike smiled against Xander's skin.

"Knew I loved you for a reason."

~end~