And just like that, Spike hated everything. If it weren't for the fact that he had only met the guy today, and if he weren't on the other side of the room, that comment might have earned him a broken nose. Sure, that would have been an overreacting. Probably. But there was only so much he could be expected to keep a level head around. As it was, he felt weirdly sick at the sudden comparison, but still managed to hide it in the shadows of his corner.

"Are you a poet?" It was the first time Spike had spoken up after entering so silently, and his voice came out of nowhere.

Luckily any hostility in his tone was easy to gloss over if you were drunk.