Layers: Layers
by Always Angels Girl
Disclaimer: Inside my head, there are lots of voices. They tell me what to write, and I have to listen to them. So I am temporarily borrowing the characters of Buffy & Co. They belong to the evil genius Joss Whedon & his cohorts, as well as Marti Noxon, who wrote Surprise. I am a minor, and I get ten dollars a week for allowance, most of which I spend on Buffy stuff. Translation: don't sue me!

Author's Note: This is my second "episode review fic," and I'm planning on doing them for most new episodes from now on. Flames don't encourage me, but constructive criticism helps me write better. So please email me - alwaysangelsgirl@buffymail.com.



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"All I'm saying is that The Prom was a good episode. I didn't say it wasn't painful for you, but from a critical stand-point, it had the good acting, funny lines, and well, okay, the crazy guy's motives for ruining our Prom fell a little short, but hey, you can't have everything..." Willow was rambling on about The Prom, the episode that she and the others had just re-watched.

"The whole me-being-chivalrous and not telling everybody that Cor had lost her money - that was kinda cool. But the date with Anya totally sucked." Xander stuck his feet up on the table, and Giles just as quickly batted them away.

"Naw. You two make a cute couple," Buffy said from shadows on the stairs, snuggling a little closer to Angel. She was glad that her seperation from her boyfriend was only on the television show. Thank God Joss didn't control their real lives.

"Yeah, you know, there's already a 'shippers site for you two online..." Oz mentioned, grinning.

"Oz and I found it the other day. Called something like Xander & Anya - the new 'shippers site." Willow finished.

"Creative," Buffy commented.

"Well, maybe, if she didn't talk constantly about her life as demon during the past few hundred years, I'd be more inclined to wonder what she's really like as a person. I'm starting to understand what you feel like when Darla comes up, Buff." Angel grimaced at the mention of his former demon lover, but Buffy just let the name roll off her for once.

"Although, she did offer to save me from the Ascention... in a way..." Xander continued.

"Yeah, in the way that she wanted you to desert your friends and skip out on your Graduation to save your butt," said Willow with a small huff.

"Well, at least I got complimented. A lot." Cordelia had been checking her make-up in her compact, but now she set it down, taking interest in her own comments. "I work hard to look good, it's nice to know that my efforts are appreciated."

Everyone shook their heads or rolled their eyes. Typical Cordelia.

"Okay, so here's what I want to know," Buffy said, leaning forward and changing the subject. "Does it seem to anyone else that all I do is slay, go to school, or smooch Angel?"

Xander raised his hand, and Willow nodded.

"Does anyone think to mention that I collect seashells?" Buffy pouted a bit, leaning back on Angel's shoulder. "Or that I write poetry? It's as though I have nothing coherently intellectual going on inside my brain on higher levels than my trendy vocabulary. Although, Joss really does write the emotions deep."

Giles raised his eyebrows at this, but no one else batted an eye. Aparently he had been the only one in the cold about Buffy's poetic side.

"I know what you mean," Cordelia said, picking up on the deeper meaning for once. She was actually quite intelligent if she took the time to care. "Couldn't we mention my layers more?" Intelligent, but always self-centered.

"Well," replied Buffy, "At least we *know* that you do well on standardized tests. And that you sing, and draw."

"Draw? *I* draw. When did she draw?" Angel interrupted.

"Go Fish." Xander informed him.

"Well, I for one wish Joss would emphasize my artistic side more," announced Angel, his arm still around Buffy. "The only time he ever showed viewers I can draw was when that whole 'Evil Angelus stalking Buffy' was going on."

"And that was just plain creepy." Buffy shivered, and he put a comforting hand over hers.

"Just the tv show," he reminded her. "Not real." She nodded, and smiled.

"And you get an opportunity to 'act' on the Angel series," Oz said, bringing up the laughable idea of Cordelia as an actress.

"Well, if your acting is anything like your singing," said Buffy, stifling a laugh, "You'll be famous in no time."

"Maybe you mean infamous," Willow said, snickering.

"You know, it's really unfair of you guys to just *decide* that I wouldn't be a good actress. I'll have you know that acting is in my blood." Everyone looked at her curiously, and she waxed on the interest. "My grandmother was famous for her roles on the stage."

Drusilla suddenly waltzed around the group in the shadows of the bookcases, fluttering her lashes and humming softly. Then she paused, stroking the doll in her arms. "Miss Edith... I wish I could tell them... tell them about the slugs." She giggled.

"Slugs?" Cordelia made a face.

"She breeds slugs," Angel explained.

"Oh. Thanks for sharing," Cordelia replied.

"I just wish that I would date someone consistantly and have a decent emotional and verbal relationship with them..." Xander was never able to get past his relationships with girls. To him, there was nothing beyond that.

"Xander, you really have no life beyond girls, do you?" Buffy smirked, remembering the episode when she could read his mind. She had found some very interesting, albeit embarrassing thoughts embedded in the core of his mind. She was pretty sure he was born with raging harmones.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I played the flugel horn, and I had a train set-" Xander started, trying to salvage some shred of dignity, his voice rising.

"Shh," said Spike frantically from inside Giles's office, where he was glued to the tv.

"What is it, Pet?" Dru waltzed back through the group to her lover.

"Monica just married Joel, but she's really in love with Micheal, and she's vowed to him that she's only marrying Joel because he's the father of her son, and that she will divorce him soon and marry Micheal - she just wants Joel's money, see? She told him it was for their son, but now she wont sign the prenump..." This coming from Spike's mouth was a bit too much for Willow, and she snickered again.

"Bloody bitch," Spike muttered, turning back to his Soap Operas.

"I guess that answers the question for Spike," Buffy said, steering the conversation back on target.

"Everybody already knows that I hack and do spells and play the piano in my spare time, but I think they should tell the audiences that besides being in a band, Oz is also a very good chef. You should try his Creme Brulee," she recommended, turning to send a proud, sunny smile in her boyfriend's direction. She loved bragging about him.

"The key is the extra powdered sugar and vanilla," Oz informed them modestly.

"What about you, Giles?" Buffy asked, snapping the man out of his reverie. He had only been half paying attention to their conversation - he had also been examining the ratings from the July 13th showing of Graduation Day Part 2. Not bad.

"What about... Giles?" he asked, a little confused. Buffy smiled, but supressed a laugh at his usual state of disorientation. "Oh, oh-yes. Well, I-I collect stamps," he rendered, as though the information were some sort of offering.

"Wow, you really are as boring as they say you are," Cordelia remarked, tossing her hair back. But Giles only looked up at her, slightly irritated. Then he went back to the books that Joss had sent him.

He started humming, unconsiously at first, and above their continuing conversation and Dru's quiet serenade, it went unnoticed for a while. Then, when he came to the chorus, he was softly singing the words:

"Black throughted wind, keeps on pourin' in, With it's words of a life where nothing is new, Ah, mother American night, I pass from the light, Ah, I'm drowin' in you."

Everyone had gone silent, and even Spike and Dru had turned to look at him. Then Spike turned back to the television.

"I didn't know you were a Dead Head, Giles," remarked Oz.

"Yes, well, ah, it was the seventies..." Giles let his voice drift off in emberassment as the others turned back to their conversation. Angel had been complaining about his leather pants.

"All I'm saying is, couldn't I have a pair of jeans to kick back in?"

"Hey," said Xander, becoming somewhat defensive. "Be glad your character can pull them off. I wanted a pair of leather pants, but Joss said they were too out of character for me."

"Plus, you look really good in them," commented Buffy, turning back to look at her boyfriend.

"I must say, I agree with you there," Cordelia chimed in.

"Well, couldn't my character be a little more relaxed? I mean, couldn't I smile once in a while? Have a happy mood or something?" Angel wasn't whining, but he was boardering on complaining.

"You're the brooding-in-the-shadows guy," Willow informed him. "Although, since you're getting your own series, I heard that they're gonna try to give you more witty lines and stuff." Everyone looked a bit surprised.

"Dead Boy having wit. Who would have thought." Xander casually folded his hands into a steeple and looked directly at Angel, challenging him. Angel only growled, and softly at that. He was learning to let Xander's remarks slide off him - mostly for Buffy's sake.

"Another thing," Willow said, suddenly snapping her head up. "Joss makes it seem like the only thing that us romantically-involved couples do is... ah, stuff."

"Um, Will, you're forgetting that Angel and I tend to patrol a lot, too. But, yeah. Why doesn't he ever let us have a romantic dinner, or something fun together without the whole evening being physical." Buffy looked at Angel, then added. "Although that's fun too."

"Remember - he let us try to Ice Skate?" Angel reminded her.

"Yeah, but that doesn't count, cause we had to slay something." Buffy pouted.

"You know," said Giles, finally raising his head from the statistics books. "At least you have a romantic interest... the last time I had one, he brutally killed her off. And I loved Jenny..." his voice was subdued.

"Well, he killed Angel off," offered Willow, trying to make him feel better. "And Oz is a werewolf."

"Yes, but Angel came back, and Oz never left." Giles wasn't always this bitter, it was just the mood he was in.

"That's because the fans were screaming for blood," Buffy assured him. "Angel's too popular." She turned and grinned up at her boyfriend.

"And Oz is so sweet, if they killed him off, there would be just as many fans looking to resurrect him." Oz simply brushed his girlfriend's hand with a kiss and gazed at her with adoration.

"You know," said Spike, coming out of the office. "It would be nice, just for once to watch the soaps with out all of you whining. We could use a little peace and quiet in here."

"Remind me again why I can't kill him," asked Angel, moving to get up. But Buffy placed a restraining hand on his chest.

"Contract. Two more years with the show. At least this time he'll be on our side, thus ensuring that more choas will come raining down." She smiled wryly.

"Well, don't think I'm not unhappy about that," Spike said with a snarl in his voice. "I'm not sure how Joss is going to do it, but I can guarantee that I would never *really* join up with the bloody slayer. Not unless it was for Dru..." he said, turning to gaze at his lover, who was currently occupied tangling her fingers in Miss Edith's hair. He guided her back into the office.

"Yes, well, the contract certainly bars us from any, um, slayage. However, I think it might well be time to find them a new place to watch their, ah, soaps." Giles stood, frustrated at the fact that they wouldn't allow him in his office between twelve and three on week days.

"Why doesn't Dead Boy order them a big screen tv on that booming Swiss bank account of his? Who knows, he may be of some use after all?" Xander stuck his fingers under his chin, and grinned.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Buffy said, looking at her boyfriend.

"And we could get some heavy drapes for the library windows so that you're not always having to avoid the shadows, Angel," Willow offered.

Angel nodded. "Not a bad idea. Darken the place up."

"I want a new frock," called Drusilla, waving her hands about in the air. "The cards tell me that now is the time for a party..."

"Yes, well, then, that's settled," said Giles, pleased that he would regain afternoon access to his office. "Now, would please all find something useful to do? We've got a lot of work ahead of us if we are to combat the evil forces brewing in Sunnydale this coming fall."

"What is it now?" Buffy asked, sighing. Something evil always ruined their peaceful moments.

"Joss," Giles stated, the name striking fear and loathing in each of their hearts. Suddenly they all understood. And the library was once again quiet, all of them working hard, side by side, to see what they could do to stop the evil man who controlled their existence.


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