Ch.13: Gonna take it slow, babe

                                    

                                          

    I would have gone on patrol with Buffy, but she said she was taking Riley, and the last time I joined them....well....they got couple-y, and I got sickly. So, I just stayed home and ate food to my heart's content....well, my stomach's, anyway.
~
  "There's always been great discord between them. And yet you say that the vampire went to the demon's aid? The two of them were working as a team?" Pops questioned.
  "Everything except giving each other little pats on the behind." Buffy popped off. We were at the college campus, sitting around and discussing what Buffy and Riley had seen during their patrol. Pops had his own chair while Buffy and Riley shared, and Tara, Willow, and I sat on a couch in that order.
  "Extraordinarily odd." Pops said while leaning back in his seat. "As a rule," He pointed with the rolled-up papers in his hand. "demons....have no empathy for any other species other than their own. In fact, most think of-" He leaned in and lowered his voice as people walked by. "vampires as, uh....abominations, mixing with human blood and all."
  "So what brought these two together?" Riley asked.
  "Not what. Who."
  "Adam." Giles took off his glasses.
  "Think about it. Who better to bring together a bunch of demon types than someone who's made out of a bunch of demon types." Buffy said.
  "So he's, uh....bridging the gap between the races." Tara sat cross-legged on the couch.
  "Huh. Like Martin Luther King."
  "Uh....ahem.... I-I suggest that, uh, over the next several nights, you two concentrate your patrol in that same area." Giles put his glasses back on while looking at Buffy and Riley. "If there's any other peculiar pairings or groupings, you let me know."
  "I'll let the squad know as well. They're patrolling. We'll have a, uh, reserved unit out during the party."
  "Party?" Pops tilted his head.
  "Tomorrow night. We're having a thing."
  "At a time like this? Whose idea was that?" I face-palmed. 'Pops, I mentioned this to you already.' I mentally sighed. 'You probably had your head too far into a book....'
  "Mine. Boys are pretty ragged. Need to let off steam." Riley said.
  "Point taken." Pops nodded.
  "You're welcome to come."
  "As much as I, uh....you know, long for a good kegger, I, uh, I have other plans. The, uh....Espresso Pump." Pops leaned back in the chair again.
  "What are you doing there?" Tara asked.
  "I'm, um....it-it's a-a meeting of-of grown-ups. It couldn't possibly be of any interest to you lot." Raising a brow at Pops, he gave me a look telling me not to say anything.
  "Buffy, hey, look at the time. Don't you have a class?" Riley asked.
  "Yeah, in about 20 minutes."
  "Yeah, but....I have that thing...." They looked at each other, and I cringed.
  "Right. That thing....we could squeeze in before." 'Guys, we aren't stupid.'
  "Yeah." Buffy and Riley rose from their seat and quickly left.
  "Bye!" Buffy waved.
  "Gotta run."Riley added.