It takes Eliot a minute to even register what he's seeing, because it simply unbelievable, confirmed proof that a person who is definitely fictional exists, in the real world, like all the rest of them. And yet Eliot can believe the picture, because this sort of ridiculous scene seems like exactly the type of thing Spike would get up to.

"Oh my fucking god," he breathes, in drunken wonder. "That is totally him." He half reaches out to the phone, as if touching it would make this fantastic illusion real, and he can't quite take that step yet. "Oh shit, I've met that other guy!" Eliot laughs a little as he realizes this. "I met him in the library, he was stealing old books or something and talking about Oscar Wilde, shit, what a nerd. But seriously though I cannot believe you're dating Spike the vampire like, oh man, what's he like?"