THE BLUE BOY
by Lynn K. Hollander
Chapter 10 - Introspections
SUNNYDALE
At dawn, Spike kicked open Ann's door and stomped in, ignoring the growing daylight that had begun to fill her room. "I want to talk to you," he said.
"This is early for you, Spike. Or is it late?" Totally unperturbed, Ann yawned and waved one hand at the windows on three sides of her bedroom. Curtains appeared on the south and east, blocking the first shafts of morning sunshine.
"Late. I was too mad to sleep. I'm still mad. Did you decide I needed to get laid? And that I needed your help to get laid?"
"I did form opinions on those subjects," Ann said. "But if that is actually a question, if you mean did I slip a girl into your bed, the answer is no."
"The baby yunü with the punk hair mentioned that you had said something to them. They're about Dawn's age, dammit!"
"Yanghao and Jiding?" Ann tossed the sheet back and got out of bed, white silk pajamas appearing on her tall figure as she stood and glared at the vampire, who didn't retreat and glared back at her. "Yanghao is almost three times Angel's age and Jiding is more than twice yours. They just like being 15; once you get the hang of it, it's a comfortable, irresponsible age, not unlike being a surfer drop-out or an idiot vampire."
"Oh. Ah..."
"Yes?" Ann snapped.
"So what were those kids doing in my bedroom?"
She gave a short laugh and relaxed a little. "They're not children. The way they look is not indicative of their age, even if they were human, which they certainly are not."
"I hadn't thought of that. So why were they there?"
"They were trying to take you to bed, yes. Apparently they won the draw." Ann looked at Spike and smiled at his surprise. "The last time Gang Long was home, his grandmother wanted to see what you looked like. He conjured an image for her. All the girls saw it before they volunteered to come."
"His grandmother wanted a picture?"
"That was in the spring, when you were all dealing with Glory. He was very worried about you and the Eldest Dragon wanted to know what you were like."
"Because I'm an idiot vampire?"
"Because you're not a dragon."
"Well, there's nothing I can do about that."
"Spike," Ann said. "In human terms, Gang Long is a very rich and potentially powerful youngster, who is willing to share anything he has with you; and you have a very great influence over him. I don't think you realize how much he's changed since you've met him. His grandmother was worried you'd exploit the friendship. You could do very well for yourself."
"You make him sound like a Kennedy."
"More like Prince William or Athina, the Onassis heiress."
"I just like the kid. I enjoy running around with him."
"I know that. So does he. He likes you, too. Not only is his house your house, his yunü are your yunü. These yunü all say so, too. No one is making them sleep with you, but each of them expressed an interest in at least meeting you."
"Ah..."
"Now, you're right: I did speak with them. I have interfered to this extent: the girls will not use magic to seduce you."
"What?"
Ann smiled at him and, very softly, whispered his name.
Heat washed over him and everything but Ann and his immediate need to possess her fell away. All he could see was her, all he could hear was her breath and heartbeat. Her scent went straight to his head and his hands tingled as he reached out for her. He took a step forward.
Ann clapped her hands.
He almost stumbled, the change was so abrupt. Ann was just Ann again, friendly, enigmatic and dangerous. As calmly as he could, he asked: "Oh. They could have done that to me?"
"Yes. I didn't think that was fair."
"Bloody hell. No, that's not fair." He was silent for a moment, then said, "Sort of ecstatic, though, and I bet it can get even better. But you're right, it's not a fair thing to do." He heard Ann chuckle. "Thank you."
"My prohibition only limits their preliminary tactics, Spike. It will not stop them making sexual advances to you or inhibit them after you agree; if you choose to do so."
"That's all right. Are any of them as young as they seem?"
"No. Each of them is older than you are, and they all are counted as consenting adults in their home. I certainly consider them all old enough to make up their own minds about any lover they may wish to take, and you can handle your love life without any further interference from me."
Spike nodded. "Right. Ann? Why have you never taken the Viper back--I mean permanently? Or canceled the credit cards I stole from you?"
Ann laughed. "What brought that up?"
"I've been worrying about it off and on for some time, and you seem sort of accessible at the moment."
"I owe you one because I damaged your dignity just now?"
"That's pretty much my thought."
"You're pressing your luck. All right: I do not second guess Fate."
"What?"
"Do you recall what I once said, when we were discussing your use name?"
"William Parker? The bit about omens?"
"Yes: Omens come to everyone and only a fool ignores them. Willow has never satisfactorily explained why she picked that extremely inopportune moment to release you from my stasis spell, but her act did enable you to steal the car and the wallet at the only time they were vulnerable to theft. I repeat, I do not second guess Fate. That's only asking for trouble. The car and the cards are yours."
"I see. Actually, I don't."
Ann shrugged. "Don't worry about them. I would appreciate it if you didn't steal anything else in Sunnydale till further notice, however."
"You serious?"
"Please. This isn't a whim, Spike. I have reasons I won't discuss at the moment."
***
Spike came out of his bathroom, looked at the woman seated cross-legged on his bed, tossed the towel he had been using to dry his hair back through the bathroom door, and looked over at the door to the hall. He checked the lock. It was still locked. He turned back to the woman.
"I don't know why Ann bothered to put a lock on my door when almost everyone in this house but me can teleport," he told Xiuling.
"Possibly it figures in some arcane human ritual?"
"Everyone in this house, including me, is not human, so I don't think that could be the reason." He pulled a robe out of the closet and put it on.
"That lock would stop most of the people who have been trying to kill you recently, Spike."
"That's true, but how do you know?"
"I wanted to know more about you, so I spied on you."
"How?"
"My mirror."
"Vampires don't show up in mirrors."
Xiuling looked at his closet door. Spike followed her eyes.
"Ann's mirrors are special," he said.
"As are mine. I helped her with that," Xiuling said, nodding at the mirrored door. "Not just to show vampires, that was simple, but to integrate the mirror into the supply spell. Everyone has a favorite way of expressing magic. We use mirrors. You were very popular."
"Like Spikecam?" The vampire was appalled.
"Life size display," Xiuling said.
"How long did you watch?" he asked, wanting to know how bad it was, how much she knew about him.
"I backed up a bit, so figure, oh, from the time you first met Anyuanjun Jingwu until about two days ago."
"That's quite a while. I hope you can adjust the playback speed." He had met Ann--somewhat informally, it was true--shortly before he tried to get Buffy killed by spreading lies about her and all her friends, more than a year ago. The Buffybot? Cheating at solitaire? Extorting sex from Harmony? Oh, shit--Harmony? Petty theft, although he had mostly stopped that.
"I zipped over a lot of the dull spots. You're cute when you're asleep and you made a charming birdbath, although you were a really ugly lamp." She considered silently, then added: "A lot of that was the awful shade, although your pose didn't help at all."
"I'm glad I was so entertaining," he said bleakly.
"I didn't like a lot of it," the yunü said.
"I've done some bad things." God, she would have seen everything he did, from simple lapses in taste, to stupidity and venality, to real treachery.
Xiuling nodded again. "Yes, you have." She was just stating the truth, not judging him, not condemning him. "Some bad things were done to you." She uncoiled from her lotus-style posture, her brocade trousers and tunic rustling as she rose to her feet and approached him. With both of them barefoot, and her hair loose and not up in her high chignon, he could see that she was still nearly two inches taller than he was. She touched the corner of his mouth, tracing the faint scar the god's hand had left on him. A tingle ran through him. It was nothing like what Ann had just done to him, nothing like what he had felt for Buffy, but it did make him remember that he was male. Xiuling continued: "You defied Glory to keep your friend safe -- the little girl Yanghao and Jiding remind you of. That was a spectacular, if painful, initiation into adulthood. I liked it when you tricked the god into freeing you."
"I was lucky."
"Luck is real, so is resolve, endurance, and a willingness to give up childish things. I liked much of what I saw of you, Spike, and I would know you better."
"You may not like what else you find out."
"I may not," Xiuling agreed.
"If you can risk it, maybe I can. I'd like it if you stayed."
***
"He's south again," Gries said.
"All right," Baudier said. "Can you do another casting?"
"Yes, at least one more," the witch said. "The local supplies are working more smoothly for me."
"Rest, while Cham drives east."
"East it is. How far?"
"We want a nice long leg," Baudier said. "I'll keep track of the turns, and you drive for at least a lyud, or two, always keeping the sun at your back."
"The lines cross here, on the street named Sacramento and the one labeled Fremont," Gries said.
"And we're here," Baudier said. "Go that way," he directed Cham.
"All right," Cham said. "We're here."
"There," Gries said.
"What?" Baudier said.
"It's a school," Cham said. "That yellow thing--it's a school wain, it takes children to school every day. I saw one just like it on the little theater."
"And those are teachers," Gries said.
"Yes," Baudier agreed. "They couldn't be anything else."
"Certainly a lot of them," Cham said.
"However, that," Baudier said with great conviction, "is a guard." He indicated a woman, wearing pants and a stiff little cap.
"Yes, I agree," the witch said.
"There he is," Cham whispered.
"Where?"
"The blond boy, over there."
The witch sighed. "Unless he's the blond boy over that way."
"Or one of the two blonds coming out the door," Baudier said.
"Not the one with blonde pigtails down to her waist, I bet," the witch said.
"The guard is looking at us," Cham said.
"Let's go," Baudier said. "We need Antrag. She's the only one of us who can tell one blond boy from another."
"And then what?" Gries asked. "Get in a fight with that guard? We need Ingelram alive, unharmed and ready to travel."
"We'll watch some more today," Baudier said. "Put the car on the road that leads to where we think he spends the night. You two, stay in the car and keep track of the cars that travel that road. I'm going to get closer through the woods and see what the rest of the school looks like."
***
"Ann's cooking something interesting," Spike said, in Alvish.
"That's not Jingwu, that's Yanghao and Lijin," Xiuling said. "And what they're preparing for dinner is roast suckling pig with peach and peanut chutney. One of their specialties."
"How old is Yanghao?" Spike asked.
"Older than you are, younger than I am. More to the immediate point, she's a very good cook."
"It must be dark out. Did we sleep all day?"
"Among other things," Xiuling smiled and kissed him. She left the bed. "I'm hungry. Are you coming down to dinner or going back to sleep?"
Watching her, Spike wondered how old she was. Xiuling looked as young as Jiding. Well, she seemed to enjoy him and he certainly enjoyed her. Ann has said the yunü were adults and he believed her.
"Is Yanghao likely to poison me?"
"Well, she should, but Gangdao Shaolong probably won't let her." Xiuling opened his closet and removed a rectangle of lined silk, black on one side, gold on the other. She shook it and tossed it up in the air. It floated up, spread out, dropped slowly around the naked yunü, and wrapped itself around her.
She brought the ends around herself, twisting them up between her breasts and passing them around again to tie at her back, like a Tahitian pareu. She reached into the drawer he usually found T-shirts in, and pulled out a gold ribbon, which she used to tie her hair back.
"I should apologize?"
"What do you think?" the yunü asked, putting her mirror, now a stick pin, on her dress.
***
Spike spoke quietly with Yanghao, then wandered over to Gang Long.
"Where's Ann?"
"Jingwu is visiting Taos, with Lindsay," the young man said.
"I thought he was going to trial?"
"A plea bargain was arranged at the last minute. Human justice is complex. And occasionally silly. He called, she left, she'll be back tomorrow morning. We're to stay alert and to keep Darcy's schedule. If Dawn calls, we're to tell her that Jingwu hasn't forgotten about the open house tomorrow."
Spike looked around: Gang Long, wearing only a red and gold robe, was on the chaise longue, with Roujin and Huixin seated next to him. Xiuling was over at the table, pouring wine while she talked to Binwen. It was all very pleasant, possibly a little decadent even, but not necessarily up to Ann's normal standards of safety. "What about security? Do we have someone on watch?"
"Besides the shouyu and all the wards and alarms? Yes. Jiding. Liangde is with Darcy and the cubs. You worry too much, Spike."
"A careless vampire is a staked vampire," Spike pointed out.
"No, it's not your vampire status, it's your Victorian upbringing," the dragon said.
"It's probably both," Xiuling said, handing Spike a glass.
"We're serving," Yanghao called.
***