Ooshy-Gooshy 
by Saber ShadowKitten 

He woke up with his face plastered against Spike's ass again. 

Cross-eyed, Xander groggily stared at the half-rounded lumps he was drooling 
on. [Comfy. No! Not comfy. Bad pillows. Squishy pillows. Comfy pillows. 
Sleep more.] 

Fifteen minutes later, Xander woke again, sat up, and rubbed his eyes. Bugs 
and Elmer were involved in an aria on the television [seen it a billion 
times.] Yawning, he absently scratched his thigh as he tiredly studied the 
vampire sprawled across his sofa bed. Clad in only his jeans, Spike was 
soundly sleeping on his stomach, his blond head turned to the side and his 
thumb stuck in his mouth. [Still stressing. Although last night was pretty 
stress free.] 

When they had arrived back at the Harris Hellhole, also known as the 
basement, the night before, things could've been awkward, but they weren't. 
Spike had stripped down to his jeans and flopped across the end of the 
fold-out bed that Xander had opened. Xander had turned on the television, 
turned off the lights, changed into a pair of shorts, and plopped down 
beside the vampire, as if watching movies with Spike was an everyday 
occurrence. 

Erica Eleniak still had the tits to give Xander a boner, and it hadn't been 
until he caught Spike wiggling, too, that he'd ceased to be embarrassed 
about it. The two had exchanged knowing grins, adjusted themselves, and 
continued watching the movie. 

About mid-way through the flick, Xander had gotten up to use the facilities. 
When he'd returned, he'd rejoined Spike on the fold-out, only turning so he 
was laying with his feet on the pillows and his head propped on his hand 
near Spike's hip. It had taken the Brave Little Toaster several failed 
attempts before Xander had laid his hand on Spike's lower back. The vampire 
had stiffened and looked back at Xander. Spike had studied him for what had 
seemed like an eternity, his blue eyes unreadable in the light coming from 
the television. Finally, Spike had given him the tiniest smile that turned 
the Big Bad into Shy Little Boy, and the blond had returned his attention to 
the television and arched against Xander's hand. A soft purring had 
underscored the remainder of the movie and the one following, until Xander 
had succumbed to sleep. 

[And woke with my face stuck to Spike's ass again,] Xander thought. He was 
waiting for embarrassment to hit him, but it seemed not to be forthcoming. 
With a shrug, he leaned down, kissed the soft skin of Spike's lower back, 
climbed out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. He hit the bathroom light, 
shut the door behind him, clicked the lock, and stared at himself with 
horror in the mirror. 

"I just kissed Spike," Xander whispered. The embarrassment attacked then, 
coloring his entire face, ears, neck, and upper chest a lovely shade of 
chartreuse. Kissing Spike had been as natural as breathing, just like 
putting his hand on Spike's lower back at Giles's house the prior evening. 
That he didn't notice what he was doing until after the fact only testified 
to how normal and right the actions felt. [And I'm going out of my mind!] 

***** 

After a shower that left him with frostbite, Xander felt much more 
clearheaded. So, he kissed Spike. So what? The vampire had been asleep, 
and no one else had been witness to Xander's illicit smooching. Xander 
could [would!] pretend it never happened. 

With that mind-set, Xander left the safety of the bathroom. He took one 
look at the sleeping blond, panicked, and fled. 

***** 

Several fruitless hours job-hunting later, Xander gave up pretending that he 
wasn't freaked by having kissed Spike and threw himself upon the mercy of 
the gods. The gods laughed. Xander whacked them over the head with a 
rubber mallet. He won a can of green slime. [Interesting message, oh 
Whack-A-Mole gods. Don't know what it means...] 

With a sigh, Xander pocketed his slime and headed out of the arcade. His 
stomach rumbled, reminding him that food was of the necessity and yummy 
goodness. [What type of grease shall I pollute my body with today, huh?] 
Mark Pi's Chinese was right next door to the arcade, and Xander's stomach 
directed his feet into the establishment. Then Xander's stomach took 
control of his mouth, ordered double of what he could usually eat, and used 
his hands to pay for all the food. He attempted to give his stomach a stern 
talking to about the value of money and the lack thereof, but his stomach 
ignored him in favor of making his feet walk him home. 

Xander caught on to what his stomach was doing and he preempted the hostile 
takeover of his mouth before his stomach asked Spike if he liked Chinese. [I 
can handle my own affairs, stomach, thank you very much.] Wait a minute. 
Affairs? [Ack! No! I am *not* having an affair!] Anya would eviscerate 
Xander if there was even the hint of infidelity. [And, besides, why would I 
want to have an affair with *Spike* of all affairees? Aside from the fact 
that he looks kinda cute in a sexy, ruffled way all snuggled in the blanket 
like that... ] 

The vampire was, indeed, snuggled in a blanket and curled up in the corner 
of the sofa bed, with his blond hair sticking up every which way. He was 
sitting up, but asleep, his cheek resting against the back of the couch, his 
left thumb in his mouth and his fingers hooked over his nose. [He must've 
woken up and fell back to sleep watching tv. And I've got a squooshy 
feeling in my chest. This is of the good that is not. Ho-boy.] 

As he dished the Chinese onto two plates and settled on the other end of the 
sofa bed, Xander told himself that in no way would Spike look as adorable 
sucking his thumb awake as he did asleep. Then Spike opened his eyes. He 
was still adorable. [Whimper.] 

"Hey," Xander said as if it was normal to have the Evil Thumb-Sucking 
Monster wake up in his bed. He picked up the second plate and offered it to 
Spike. "Chinese?" 

Big blue eyes stared at Xander, and the brunette wondered why there wasn't a 
law against vampires that would eat your liver for breakfast looking so 
young and innocent. All Xander wanted to do was take Spike in his arms and 
snuggle the badness away. [Again - whimper.] 

Spike's thumb came out of his mouth with a small slurp. His nose crinkled 
as he rubbed the back of his knuckles over his eyes, and he made sleepy 
childlike noises. Then the thumb went back into his mouth, two fingers 
hooked over his nose, and those big blue eyes focused on Xander again for a 
short moment before drifting shut. 

Xander set the second plate of Chinese down, picked up his fork, and resumed 
eating. He pointedly ignored the ooey-gooey, ooshy-gooshy feeling in the 
center of his chest. 

***** 

The next time Spike woke, Xander was paging through the local newspaper. 
The extra Chinese had been covered and stuck in the refrigerator, waiting to 
be nuked and eaten. Xander still sat on the pull-out opposite from where 
the vampire was curled up. The brunette just sort of knew Spike was truly 
awake this time, even though the other man hadn't moved. 

"I was thinking about catching the 5:30 show at the Sun," Xander said 
without preamble. "'Gladiator's' playing, and I feel the need to see 
maiming and bloodshed outside the normal course of slaying." He glanced 
over at Spike. "Wanna join me?" 

Those innocent blue eyes looked more aware as they steadily met Xander's 
gaze. The thumb slipped out of Spike's mouth which immediately turned up in 
a grin. "Xander Harris, are you asking me out on a date?" 

Heat suffused Xander's face, and he dropped his eyes to the newspaper. 
"*No,*" he replied emphatically. "I'm going no matter what. I just though 
you'd might want something to do, since I doubt you'll be going 
bar-hopping." 

Silence. Xander didn't dare look at Spike, for fear he would do something 
embarrassing, like admitting that maybe he was asking the vampire on a date. 
[Mother Mary and Joseph, maybe I should've used the Whack-A-Mole mallet on 
my *own* noggin.] 

"Does this flick include popcorn?" 

Xander's gaze whipped to Spike in surprise. The blond was studiously 
picking fuzzies from the blanket that was around him. [Cute.] Ugh! Spike 
was *not* cute! He had to stop thinking that! [Must see blood, violence, 
and death.] "Yeah, popcorn's included. So are Ju-Ju Bees, if you're good." 

Spike looked up at him from beneath insanely long eyelashes. One corner of 
his mouth quirked. "Believe me, pet, I'm always good," he said coyly. 

[Now there's the Big Bad I know and lo- hate! Hate! Know and *hate*!] 
Xander cleared his throat, crinkled the newspaper, and nodded. "How nice to 
know," he said as blandly as he could. "We'll leave at five." 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 



Spike stared up at the marque with an expression akin to awe. The bright 
lights of Sun Cinema's sign cast a garish glow on the vampire's platinum 
hair. High school students [and the unemployed] stood in line for tickets 
to the 5:30 show, shivering under their winter coats. The sun set early in 
the winter months, making it seem colder than it really was in Sunnydale. 

"I haven't been to a show in a bloody age," Spike said, looking around as if 
he were visiting Disneyland for the first time, rather than going to the 
movies. 

"The films have sound now," Xander commented with amusement. "And they're 
in *color.*" 

Spike shot him a look that read: 'when I get rid of this chip, I will do bad 
things to you.' Xander only laughed as he stepped up to the ticket window. 
"Hiya, Max," he said, recognizing the theater employee behind the plexiglass 
window. "Two, please." 

"Two?" Max looked past Xander as he took the brunette's money. "I don't see 
Anya." 

"That's because Anya's not here." 

Max gave him a sly look. "You got a little sumthin-sumthin on the side?" 

"Hey, pet," Spike appeared at Xander's side, glanced at Max, then looked up 
at the taller man, "this theater have those stadium seats I've read about?" 

"This is Sunnydale, Spike," Xander said. "They don't have stadium seats. 
Heck, half the seats don't even have backs." 

The blond vampire's lower lip thrust forward in a pout. Xander chuckled, 
and without realizing what he was going, tapped the tip of Spike's nose in a 
plainly affectionate gesture. "Some of the seats do rock," he placated. 
"Although I don't think they're supposed to." He took the tickets from a 
stunned-looking Max and partially saluted. "Later, man." 

"Later," Max said faintly. 

Walking inside the theater, Spike passed by the ticket taker without pause. 
But before the kid could tackle Spike for non-theater etiquette, Xander 
handed him their tickets. "He's with me," Xander said. [I can't believe I 
just admitted that in public.] 

"Next time, tell him to wait," the taker said with all his pimple-faced 
authority. "Be sure to keep your stubs." 

Xander gave him a wan smile and pocketed one of the ticket stubs as he 
walked past the taker into the main lobby. He joined Spike in the 
concession line, ignoring the glares from the patrons who stood behind the 
vampire. "Here," Xander said, giving Spike the second ticket stub. "Hold 
onto that. Some of the employees take their jobs a little too seriously." 

Spike stuck the ticked stub in his duster pocket without looking at it. His 
focus was concentrated on the lighted board above the concession counter, 
listing the products and [aack!] prices. They were next, and as they 
stepped up to the counter, Xander unconsciously put his hand on the nape of 
Spike's neck. He looked up at the lighted sign and answered the concession 
girl's query. "Yeah, we'd like two medium popcorns, extra butter. Unless 
you don't want butter, Spike." Xander turned to the blond... to find Spike 
staring somewhat dazedly at him. 

Xander frowned. "Spike? Butter? No butter? Parkaaaaay?" 

Slow blinks from Spike. [Did the prices blow his mind, too?,] Xander 
wondered. "Hello? Earth to bleach boy? Do... you ... want... but... ter?" 

Spike suddenly grinned brightly, and it was Xander's turn to blink from the 
blond's abrupt change of demeanor. [This vampire is so weird.] Right, and 
all other vampires were normal. 

"Extra butter for me, luv," Spike addressed the concession girl. "And a 
large Pepsi." 

Xander shook of his confusion over Spike's behavior and added to the order. 
"And a box of Ju-Ju Bees and SweetTarts." [Goodbye, money.] 

A few minutes later, loaded down with goodies and a small cup full of 
butter-salt [cause you can never have enough salt on popcorn], Xander led 
the way into the screening room and chose a seat, back row center. The 
theater wasn't very large - being in the back row at the Sun was like 
sitting in the middle row of an L.A. theater. Plus, the back row center 
seats had the most stuffing left in them. 

Spike dropped down beside Xander, and immediately put his feet upon the seat 
in front of him. Another giddy [weird] grin at Xander, and the blond dug 
into his popcorn with gusto. 

The lights dimmed shortly thereafter. Xander munched his own popcorn and 
let the movie draw him in. He had no more thoughts about kissing Spike. Or 
about how cute he was. Or how normal and comfortable it felt to touch him. 
[Nope, no Spikey thoughts here. My mind is Spike-free.] 

Then Spike started commenting - loudly - and cheering - even louder - every 
time someone on screen was killed. There was much shushing from the others 
in the show. Xander, in fact, told him to shut his mouth several times. 
Finally, enough was enough. Xander didn't want to get kicked out [not 
after all the money I spent!], and Spike's insistence that there'd be more 
blood if hit that particular way, was rapidly leading to theater ejection. 

"Spike," Xander hissed, leaning over so his mouth was inches from Spike's 
ear. "If you open your yap one more time, the employees will have to sweep 
you up in order to throw you out of here." 

Spike turned his head to reply, only Xander hadn't move away yet. The 
brunette's lips scraped across Spike's cool cheek and came to rest against 
Spike's lips. Their noses cracked together, but Xander felt no pain. Eyes 
wide, Xander stared into the equally large blue eyes centimeters away. 
[Oh... my... God... my lips... Spike's lips...] 

Neither of them moved as the movie played on. The whole Roman Army could've 
marched off the screen and into the theater, and still neither of them 
would've moved. Then, finally, slowly, Xander tilted his head a little, 
sealing his mouth completely over Spike's, and tentatively kissed him. 

It should've been Xander who was completely flustered when the soft kiss 
ended. But it was Spike who dropped his chin and gave Xander a tiny, wary 
smile before moving as far away in his seat as possible. It was Spike who 
fumbled with his popcorn and drink until he put both on the floor. And it 
was Spike who was now almost, but not quite, sucking his thumb. The back of 
his thumb pressed against his lips and his fingers hooked over his nose as 
he stared resolutely at the screen. 

[Adorable,] Xander thought, covertly watching the blond. He'd admitted to 
himself that he'd just kissed Spike and *liked* it. A lot. 
[Understatement, Xan-man.] And it hadn't even been a knock-out, drag-down, 
passionate smooch. Just a gentle meeting of the mouths [that left me 
wanting more. It's official -- I've truly lost my mind. Ooshy-gooshy 
feelings, do what you will. I'm just gonna sit here and enjoy the ride.] 


End