This follows Prophetic?, and is the tie in between Prophetic and Reality (which is yet to come.) You should probably have read Prophetic? to really get this one.

*****

Willow looked at the distracted Buffy across the breakfast table from her. She watched as the Slayer filled the little squares on the waffle with maple syrup intently, yet with a far away look that boded no good. "So, end of the world, Riley or midterms?" Willow threw the three most likely options out on the table.

Buffy looked up blankly, focusing quickly on Willow's curious face. "None of the above actually." Buffy paused, unsure of how exactly to tell Willow about the dreams she'd been having for the past couple nights. "I've been having these... dreams. And I'm not sure if they're of the foretelling variety or just of the Buffy needs to get some version of a real life variety." Seeing the confusion clouding her best friend's face, Buffy pushed her breakfast away and plunked her elbows down on the table. "I've been dreaming about Riley." The confusion on Willow's face broke, and the closest thing to a sly grin that the redhead could conjure up slowly slid up to replace it.

Buffy shook her head weakly. "Not that simple, Wills. See, Riley and I are, uh, joined by another party in my dream." Willow smiled, arching an eyebrow in an inquisitive fashion. Buffy sighed, "I've been dreaming about Xander and Riley." The Slayer sighed. "And I can't *sleep* anymore. These dreams have to *stop*!" Willow voiced the obvious solution. "Have you talked to Giles about these, uh, dreams?" Buffy shook her head violently, colouring a slight pink. She thought for a couple moments and shrugged, "Looks like I'm going to have to. These dreams aren't going away and I *need* more sleep."

___________________________

Buffy walked slowly up the path to Giles' apartment, dreading the idea of talking to Giles about her smutty dreams. She knocked, almost hoping that he was out doing *something*. Her hopes were unfounded, however, as Giles threw open the door, clearly pleased to see his protege on his doorstep. "Why, hello! And to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure? Training isn't scheduled until tomorrow." Giles' face clouded. "Is there a problem? Something askew?"

Buffy pushed past her ex-Watcher, determined not to lose her nerve. "Giles. I've got to talk to you about something. Its not easy, its not pretty and I wish I didn't have to ever, *ever* mention this sort of thing to you, but you're it." Seeing the fear and worry darken Giles face, Buffy hastened to clarify her vaguely foreboding statement. "Oh, don't worry, its not the end of the world or anything. Its just, well, a personal problem."

Buffy flopped down on the couch, staring intently at her feet. "How serious are my dreams? Like the whole prophecy thing? Like, if I'm having recurring images..." She trailed off, hoping for answers that didn't involve her verbalizing her erotic dreams.

Giles cleared his throat, "Well, uh, are there vampires? Some form of death, dismemberment?" Buffy laughed, almost bitterly. "I wish. More like, um, pleasure?" Buffy whipped her head around, staring directly at Giles' confused face. "I have had, for the past four nights, an extremely erotic dream. It involves Riley and Xander. *Doing* things. And I'm there." Growing agitated, Buffy almost whined "And I can't *sleep*!"

Giles chuckled, his amusement at odds with the colour slowly staining his face. Buffy groaned and buried her face in her hands. Patting Buffy awkwardly on the shoulder, Giles took a seat next to her. "Its okay Buffy, or at least it will be." He cleared his throat again. "The dreams of a Slayer are often prophetic, but there are two ways. One way involves the foretelling of certain events in the future. Another, less common version is when the dreams of the Slayer influence the events and the people around her."

Giles schooled his face in inscrutable lines, careful that his Slayer would not see either condemnation or encouragement written in his expression. "These second type of dreams will eventually subside. But until they do, the only way to stop them is to act out the events your subconscious desires. The dreams are quite powerful, influencing those whom they concern. Free will is *far* from forfeited, but your power makes the events more likely."

Buffy shook her head and groaned, tortured by the remnants of erotic thoughts and dreams about Xander and Riley. "I can't help but want this just to be done." Giles chuckled. "I'm sure. These sorts of dreams and situations are far from unheard of. They seem to be something that many Slayers are hardwired with, perhaps to encourage some sort of sexual release in a life that is often devoid of sensuality and imbued relentlessly with brutality." He gave a Gallic shrug. "Discuss the situation with Xander and Riley. Both of them love you, each in their own way. They *will* retain the power to refuse, but your power of suggestion will enable them to view the idea with an open mind."

_______________________

Buffy barreled into Xander's basement, intent on talking the situation over with both the guys before she lost her nerve. "Wake *up* Xander. I need to talk to you." Buffy plopped down on Xander's bed, jarring him awake. "Huh, Riley?" Xander clapped his hands over his mouth as he realized what he had just said. Buffy smiled, realizing that she wasn't the only one having the dreams.

"Don't worry, Xander. There's a reason. Just, uh, hear me out?" Buffy gently and concisely explained her dreams, their potential effect on her surroundings and potential options. Xander's eyes got progressively wider and wider as he registered the fact that Buffy had been dreaming the same dreams as he had. Buffy blushed a particularly charming shade of pink and concluded "So, in the interest of helping me sleep again, and roto-rooting my subconscious, would you *consider* playing the dreams out with me? I'll guarantee that it won't go any further than us three, that is if Riley agrees?"

Xander thought long and hard. Swallowing audibly, and twitching kind of nervously, he slowly nodded his head. "I'll give it a shot, Buff. You know how important you are to me." Buffy leaned down and hugged him. "I appreciate you, y'know. Go back to sleep and I'll give you a call later, let you know whats up with Riley."

The Slayer was out of the basement as quickly as she entered, hearing as she exited, Xander's howl "Yeah, like I'm going to *sleep* after *that*!"

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Buffy whirled toward Lowell House, hoping desperately that Riley would be as open minded as Xander. She quickly strode into the building, up the stairs to Riley's room, feeling a sense of deja vu as she relived her dream in her mind. Knocking on the door, she entered to Riley's "Come in", seeing her boyfriend sprawled out on his bed in some sort of contemplation.

Dropping to her knees by the bed, Buffy kissed Riley's cheek, then blurted out, "There's no real easy way to say this, but have you been having crazy erotic dreams?" Riley started and began looking everywhere but at Buffy. "No. I don't have any idea what you're talking about!" Observing the careful evasion, and jumpiness, Buffy hurtled right into her speech, summing up the information she'd gotten from Giles, and its import on all three of their lives. "So, I guess, I'm here to ask if you'd ever consider"

Riley cut off Buffy's ramble with a hurt look and "Does this mean you want to sleep with other people?" Looking away again, "Am I not, enough?" Buffy hugged Riley, "You're *more* than enough. Its just, to make the dreams go away... We just need to reenact them. I don't know why my subconscious decided to seize on Xander." Hesitating, Buffy realized something. "Actually, I *do* know!" She quickly filled Riley in on the situation where Xander first saw the Initiative and his fateful "Can I have sex with Riley too?" comment.

Buffy saw Riley visibly relax, now that there was some form of explanation. Riley considered his options. "I guess it would be worth the whole scene to get Xander the *hell* out of my dreams. I've been going crazy, trying to figure out why in the name of *god* I was having such crazy dreams." He nodded as Buffy explained that she'd try to set something up for the next night. "I'll call you when I figure out details."

Riley looked forlornly at Buffy as she moved to whirl back out of the room. Wistfully he asked, "Does that mean we can't, you know, til after we do this?" Smiling broadly, pleased with the events of the day, Buffy snuggled up next to Riley on the bed, "I think I can spare a couple moments."

*****