Moon And Memory

Xander woke to fluttering kisses along his shoulder, and a gentle murmur in his ear. "Pet. Wake up."

"Mnf? What time is it?" All attempts to pry his eye open and convince himself he was awake were unsuccessful, so Xander pulled the covers over his head. It had sometimes worked in high school after all.

Spike chuckled, sliding the blanket away with little yanks and tugs, then snatching the pillow before Xander could pull it over his head and clutch. "Local time? Only 'bout eight. Three in the morning back home though."

"God. Spike. Three in the morning barely existed when I was in High School. Three in the morning does not exist for me at all anymore."

"Does tonight. Promise, Xander, you'll like this. Then, we can come back to bed all toasty warm."

At the sound of his name, Xander rolled over at last rubbing at his eye and knocking his patch askew. Spike caught Xander's hand, reaching forward with his other to gently straighten the patch and set the band in place. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

For answer, Spike slid off the bed and tugged on Xander's hand, grabbing the comforter in his other and leading the way to the balcony. "Come on."

"Where're we going?"

"You'll see."

"Jesus, it's freezing out here."

"Here." Spike draped the blanket on the chaise lounge, sitting on it and holding his arms open for Xander to curl against him, wrapping the comforter around them both once he did.

"It would've been a lot warmer cuddling indoors," Xander muttered.

Spike combed a hand through Xander's hair, rubbing his cheek against the warmth careful not to let the cold air into their coccoon where Xander's body heat kept them both warm. "Indoors, we wouldn't have had all this."

"All what?" Xander asked, teeth chattering though he leaned against Spike instinctively still, as if Spike could contribute to the warmth instead of only maintaining it.

Once Xander's shivering eased, and the air within the blanket was comfortably warm, Spike kissed his hair, and worked his arm free again, pointing up at the sky. "Lunar eclipse, luv. Read about it in the newspaper while you were sleeping."

"Oh." Wide awake now, Xander exhaled a whitened puff of air, eye filling with the full moon, the first fuzzy bite already disappearing.

Spike lay his cheek against Xander's, watching the moon and speaking quietly. "Used to watch all the lunar eclipses I could with Dru. She'd know they were comin' whether we had a calendar or not. She'd just know, then we'd find some place nice like this. Some quiet place. And watch. She'd get me to make up stories, tell her what was eating the moon." Spike paused long enough for the earth's fuzzy shadow to nibble another bite. "Haven't watched an eclipse since she left me."

"Until now." Xander fumbled under the blanket until he caught Spike's fingers, twining them with his over his stomach.

Spike tightened his fingers with a small nod of acknowledgement. "'Til now."

Xander smiled, no more than a soft twist of expressive lips and they watched the moon together. "So, Spike?"

"Yeah, luv?"

"What's eating the moon tonight?"