#buffybubbles

Marsh was relieved to have a night off from Pizza Planet; all the younger kids who hung out there were probably still apeshit from whatever drama they'd caused on Halloween night, and he'd much rather chill than have to overhear all the bullshit serving pizzas all night long. He had no idea where the fuck Kitten was and he was happy to keep it that way, and with Hattie off with her boyfriend or something, that left the house to him and Buffy. He didn't have free food for her like he would have if he'd worked today, but he did have his excellent company, and hopefully that was more than good enough. Plopping down on the couch beside her, he pointed to an unmarked DVD on the table, asking, "What's this? You got a surprise movie for me or something?"

Buffy looked up from her phone as soon as Marsh sat down and shrugged at his question about the mysterious dvd that she'd gotten in the mail. "I don't know actually. But someone delivered it in the mail for me today and I didn't want to watch it myself in case it was something scary. Wanna see what this is with me first and then binge something stupid on Netflix? I can make us some edibles after this is over of you want?" She offered, picking up the DVD to stick it in the player

Marsh quirked an eyebrow. Who even still watched DVDs these days? It seemed a little weird, but he was definitely intrigued by it. "You better make lots of edibles 'cause if this turns out to be some kind of 'The Ring' shit we're gonna die in seven days anyway," he teased, leaning back on the couch and spreading his arms out across the back of it, kicking his feet up to put on the table while he waited for Buffy to put the movie in. "Should we take bets on what it's gonna be or just hit play?"

Buffy rolled her eyes at Marsh and kicked him softly before getting up and putting the dvd in. "Don't jinx us, jerk! But it's probably not a Ring tape, this dvd looks petty new." She remarked, sticking the dvd in and then picking the remote up before sitting back down on the couch longways so that she could put her feet up in Marsh's lap. "I'm not letting you guess anything after that ring comment, so lets just watch it already." Buffy laughed, turning the video on.

Marsh shrugged, pointing out, "They make new Ring movies all the time -- or they could, at least. I'm pretty sure they just made a new Saw and there was no way that shit needed a sequel, they could do anything." Marsh rolled his eyes fondly at her as she decided to use his lap as a foot pillow; he didn't mind being pinned to the couch like that, it wasn't was though he had anywhere better to be than hanging out with one of his favorite people. Now all that was left was to squint at the TV as he waited for the video to actually show something... although he was sure some of the color drained from his face as it started playing and he recognized the start of the Shiggles interview he'd agreed to do with Gwen. He snuck a glance towards Buffy, worried about what her reaction might be. It wasn't a secret; it was on YouTube and all, but he doubted she was a big fan of Lui and Gwen's show.

Buffy was trying to think up a response to Marsh's comment about the saw remake when she was suddenly distracted by the screen. Even though Marsh was the only one on the screen, she knew exactly who's voice it was interviewing him and it was not a voice she'd been expecting in the slightest. Buffy wasn't really one for having people that she actively disliked very much, she considered such negativity to be way too toxic but Gwen Shell was a MAJOR exception to that and she was sure Marsh knew that very well. "Oh. Since when are you friends with Gwen enough to do an interview with her?" She asked, in a monotone that gave away absolutely nothing about her emotions as she continued to stare at the screen almost passively as Gwen's voice giggled and cooed and the camera moved in a way that clearly meant that Gwen had moved to sit on Marsh's lap.

Marsh shrugged, pointing out, "I've known her forever, we just started running in different crowds in high school." He was sure he'd mentioned that to Buffy before, although it had probably been more of a complaint than a comment at that point in time; being in Walt at the same time and in the same kind of bodies hadn't exactly gone the way he'd always hoped it would. Still... Gwen wasn't as terrible as she'd made herself seem, he saw glimpses of the girl he'd always liked all the time now that he wasn't too stubborn to look for them. He just doubted Buffy would want to hear that, though. "I figured she'd leave me alone if I just agreed to do her stupid show," he added, trying to keep his voice level and act chill about the whole thing. "It's no big deal, there's really nothing interesting on here, we can just turn it off." Marsh tried to lift Buffy's feet off of his lap so he could shut the thing down as a horrible thought crossed his mind -- what if this wasn't just the YouTube edit? He knew exactly what came after that part but if it was on this DVD, he was screwed. He just didn't know how to get the DVD stopped without making Buffy really, really suspicious, so he prayed that she wouldn't put up a fight and would just shut it down now.

Buffy shrugged, only vaguely remembering Marsh's complaints about the other girl. And continued to watch the video with absolutely no expression on her face, even as it got kind of uncomfy to watch with video!Marsh clearly turned on by the girl in his lap while talking about their other roommate Kitten. Even though it wasn't technically that bad, just hearing Gwen derisively refer to the shy band geek as Pussy and Marsh not even reacting to it, irritated Buffy to no end and made her want to actually reach out to the girl who's only crime had been not wanting to get married at 18. "Actually, I'm super interested, Marshmallow. Or wait, do you prefer Dewdrop?" She asked, pinning Marsh down hard with just the strength of her legs.

Marsh grimaced to hear the nickname rolling off of Buffy's tongue like that; he already didn't like it, but it felt even more off coming from somebody who wasn't Gwen. Like it was their private thing -- not that he cared, because since when did he need private things with Gwen Shell? Except apparently rooms... which he really hoped that Buffy wasn't about to realize with her very own eyes. "Actually, I fucking hate that nickname," he said offhandedly, narrowing his eyes at her when she pinned him to the couch. "Damn, have you always been this strong or does Gwen hate make you go Hulk mode? This thing's been on YouTube since we filmed it, you were never interested before, it's not suddenly more interesting now," he lied.

Buffy flicked her eyes over at Marsh at his response about the nickname and then returned her gaze to the screen, not even bothering to reply to his question about how strong she was. If the video really wasn't more interesting than the video that was apparently online, then it made no sense why someone would purposely deliver the tape to her cottage and Marsh would have no reason to want to turn it off the way he did. "Shut up already. Can't you see I'm trying to watch something here? Don't be rude."

Marsh was filled with dread as he waited to see if the tape kept going after the interview or not... but with every second the DVD creeped forward, he felt more and more sure that Buffy was about to get a real eyeful of something she did not need to see. As nonchalant as he'd acted about the whole thing, he didn't really want anyone to see it, besides maybe him and Gwen. It felt like a private thing between the two of them, and he wasn't prepared for it to turn into any kind of deal. "I'm not being rude, this was dropped off against my will, I don't need the world seeing it," he grumbled, not sure what to do. He didn't want to physically force Buffy to get off of him, but... Shit. Even if he had, it would have been too late anyway, and he cringed as the screen before him started to play the beginning of his and Gwen's hookup. "Seen enough now?" he asked feebly, wishing she'd grab the remote and shut it off already.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'm not the whole world, Marsh. Why's it such a big deal?" She asked, almost too late when it became intensely clear that it wasn't just a recording of Gwen interviewing Marsh. Someone, more than likely Gwen, had sent her an actual sex tape of her best friend and her mortal enemy. Completely ignoring Marsh's question, Buffy tightened her hold on Marsh while keeping her gaze locked onto the screen. "You know, I never took you for such an easy lay, Marshmallow."

Marsh groaned as Buffy tightened her grip on him; it wasn't a big deal, not really, and they were all pretty open about their sexual experiences with each other; it was just what friends did. But he'd hid this one from her because he knew she hated Gwen, and maybe he'd hidden it from everyone for other reasons he couldn't quite explain. "I didn't make it easy for her," he snapped back instantly. He'd been kind of an asshole to Gwen for months before he'd caved, honestly; but he didn't talk about that with Buffy, either. Shrugging, he said, "It happened one time, it's no big deal, right?"

Buffy crossed her arms and glared pointedly at the screen. "Really? You sure could've fooled me. I'm pretty sure I just saw her get your shirt off with verrry little difficulty." Buffy hated how slut shamey all her words were coming out, but she was still trying to figure out how to properly express how upset she was about what they were watching. "She also fucked my boyfriend one time and that was a pretty big deal to me too. And you KNOW that, Marsh. Why did you do this and not even bother to be honest about it?" Buffy's voice began to crack on the end of her sentence and despite her best attempts at not displaying too much emotion over the situation, tears began to well up in her eyes as well.

Marsh chewed on the inside of his cheek; he didn't know how to explain it to Buffy. How could he explain something that he didn't even understand himself? "That was a long time ago, Buff," he said feebly, but he doubted that changed anything. He was pretty sure Gwen would still do the same kind of thing now; he couldn't make excuses for her actions because what she'd done to his friend sucked. But it was Lui's fault, wasn't it? Lui was the one who owed Buffy something, not Gwen, but somehow he didn't think that would go over well, either. He opened his mouth and shut it... once, twice, three times, unsure what to say. "I'm sorry," Marsh said finally, hoping that that would be enough. "No excuses, no bullshit, just... I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about how you'd feel."

Buffy finally turned her attention fully from the screen to glare daggers at Marsh. "I know it was, but what about this video, Marsh? She sent this today. She likes hurting people and you clearly don't give a shit." Buffy yelled, her statement almost hilariously punctuated by a particular loud sound from Marsh on the tv. "But you know what, Marsh. It's fine. I completely accept your apology because that's the kind of loving amd forgiving person I am." Buffy sniffed once and released Marsh from her grip as she rubbed hard at her eyes. "But maybe this is a sign that our friendship has reached it's conclusion. It's not good for my energy to hang out with people who don't care about my feelings and you and your new bestie Gwen just did me the courtesy of showing me how much you don't. Thank you for letting me know."

Marsh 's jaw dropped at Buffy's statement. She didn't even want to be friends with him? Because he'd hooked up with Gwen one time? Because he had some weird, lingering attachment to her from when he was a kid that he didn't know how to get out of his system? It felt like an overreaction to him, but then again, Marsh didn't let much get under his skin... but he'd let Gwen get under it, hadn't he? How could he expect Buffy not to do the same? "Buffy..." he protested feebly, but he wasn't sure there was anything he could say right now to make her feel better. She just needed time to cool off. "I don't want to not be your friend anymore," he told her. "And I'm not going anywhere, but if you need a break or whatever, I guess that's... cool." The word rolled awkwardly off his tongue, but he didn't know what else he could do right now as she let go and rubbed her eyes. "I care about you a lot, I'm sorry I screwed that up."

Buffy opened her mouth to respond to Marsh's apology not entirely sure if she was going to accept his offer for just a break in their friendship or to deny it, when the front door of the cottage opened and Kitten walked in, clearly fresh off her shift at Pizza Planet. "Hey Kitten! How was work today?" Buffy called out, getting up from the couch to speak to the other girl in the cottage rather than respond to Marsh any further.