𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 ● BTVS

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌

all six pairs of eyes watched the redhead chant calmly and steadily, her own eyes settled on the cards she held in her hands. xander sighed with annoyance as anya waited impatiently.

"you know, magic at the poker table qualifies as cheating," xander disturbed her, luckily just as willow had finished.

"that wasn't magic, i was praying. two please," willow responded innocently, handing xander two cards in return for some more. 

anya watched xander intently before stating, "five". 

"an, i keep telling you, four's the max and only if you have an ace". 

the ex demon's eyes didn't move for a second while she tried again, "okay, four".

xander sighed, "lets see the ace". 

then anya sighed, finally pulling her gaze away, "three". she reluctantly gave up her cards, "what a stupid game. all these rules just to win little plastic disks". 

"exactly why i don't play," dakota piped up from the end of the table, her arms flat on the surface, chin resting upon them. "you don't play because you don't understand the game, dee dee," willow smirked at her friend, taking a bite of the pretzel she held.

dakota merely poked her tongue out at the redhead. it was true, dakota never understood the rules of poker and would lose her temper, resulting in her having to stop playing and be put in 'timeout'. 

"and we don't want anymore crumpled cards, sis," xander pointed out the few cards dakota once had that had been crushed in her hands.

"it's not my fault the cards are so delicate," the younger harris justified her behaviour, making willow giggle. 

"anyway," xander turned to his girlfriend, "these are chips, not disks. they represent money, since none of us has any money to represent money. but that's gonna change once my merchandise hits the streets".

xander looked at the three girls, awaiting one of them to say something about his latest task of gaining money. "whatcha got in those boxes? drugs?" willow asked in a raspy voice, making dakota grin fondly at her comment. then her voice turned stern, "it's not drugs, is it, xander?".

"not drugs," the eldest harris answered, getting to his feet. "awh, that's a shame," dakota pouted. xander clicked his tongue disapprovingly at his sister, clapping her around the head gently. "ow!" dakota whined despite not feeling a thing. 

ignoring her, xander reached into a box, pulling out a bar of some kind. "you are looking at the new local distributor for boost bars," the boy displayed the purple candy bar to the girls, "the natural food bar that provides a nutritional energy boost for active, health-conscience people". xander read whilst he sat down again. "want one?".

"no thanks," willow answered immediately, "those things usually taste... tasteless. and then leave a bad after-tastetastelessness". 

xander fiddled with the bar, pointing to the label and reading out the ingredients to try and convince will. "give it here," dakota pushed herself up, snatching the bar from his hands and beginning to unwrap it.