You're not the first to compare Spike's behaviour now to Angel in the first season; so no, not weird. :)
As for him "deciding he knows what's best for Buffy", that's true to a point but I think you need to consider the history of his interaction with her:
The very first time he met her again after a two-year absence, she was still in loved-up afterGlow mood after having sex with Angel - something Spike knew had happened. She was also abrupt and impatient with him (and everyone else, to be fair), having other things on her mind (like the apocalypse she'd just inadvertently caused).
Later on, they have a long intimate conversation. We see Buffy's internal dialogue/fantasies and see she's very much still sexually attracted to Spike, but he completely misinterprets her mood and assumes she's still thinking about Angel.
They meet the resurrected Master, who says he thought Angelus would be there too. Spike mutters "Don't worry, he'll be around later to take credit for everything."
Battle is joined. Spike fights alongside Buffy, it's all very spuffyesque. Then Angel shows up, Buffy's face lights up with a smile, and Spike sees this and says resignedly "Right then".
At this point, Spike returns to his bug ship. He therefore doesn't know about Angel killing Giles and Buffy breaking the Seed, but he does see when the apocalype is over, and he immediately assumes it's because of something Buffy did. But instead of rejoining her, he decides he needs to give the good guys "time to lick their wounds", and they should chase after a huge escaping demon instead because "somebodfy has to stop that."
You said you don't want interpretation here, just facts; so I won't suggest possible motives why Spike should choose to make himself absent, after several days of him misinterpreting Buffy's feelings to be all about AngelAngelAngel and not about him. :)
At this stage, Spike is gone for two whole months, because the bug's spaceship has a malfunction and they can't get back any sooner. He presumably finds out what happened, but Buffy is still being snarky and stand-offish. We, the audience, know she's conflicted emotionally, hiding her tears at his kind words and pretending to brush him off; Spike apparently just thinks she's being weird.
So what they've set up, it seems to me, is a situation where Spike has good reason to assume that Buffy has no stronger feelings for him than friendship. He can see she's acting strangely - at the party she flirts heavily with him, but the next day she's back to snark and insults. However, he seems to be putting this down to her being under stress, isolated and in a bad life situation.
Given all that - and here I am going to be guily of interpretation - I think his talk to Koh about Buffy "needing normal right now" is partly him deciding what's best for her, yes - but it's also very much him trying to rationalise his own feelings. Give himself an excuse not to pursue a relationship with her, because he thinks he'd only end up getting hurt if he did.
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As for him "deciding he knows what's best for Buffy", that's true to a point but I think you need to consider the history of his interaction with her:
The very first time he met her again after a two-year absence, she was still in loved-up afterGlow mood after having sex with Angel - something Spike knew had happened. She was also abrupt and impatient with him (and everyone else, to be fair), having other things on her mind (like the apocalypse she'd just inadvertently caused).
Later on, they have a long intimate conversation. We see Buffy's internal dialogue/fantasies and see she's very much still sexually attracted to Spike, but he completely misinterprets her mood and assumes she's still thinking about Angel.
They meet the resurrected Master, who says he thought Angelus would be there too. Spike mutters "Don't worry, he'll be around later to take credit for everything."
Battle is joined. Spike fights alongside Buffy, it's all very spuffyesque. Then Angel shows up, Buffy's face lights up with a smile, and Spike sees this and says resignedly "Right then".
At this point, Spike returns to his bug ship. He therefore doesn't know about Angel killing Giles and Buffy breaking the Seed, but he does see when the apocalype is over, and he immediately assumes it's because of something Buffy did. But instead of rejoining her, he decides he needs to give the good guys "time to lick their wounds", and they should chase after a huge escaping demon instead because "somebodfy has to stop that."
You said you don't want interpretation here, just facts; so I won't suggest possible motives why Spike should choose to make himself absent, after several days of him misinterpreting Buffy's feelings to be all about AngelAngelAngel and not about him. :)
At this stage, Spike is gone for two whole months, because the bug's spaceship has a malfunction and they can't get back any sooner. He presumably finds out what happened, but Buffy is still being snarky and stand-offish. We, the audience, know she's conflicted emotionally, hiding her tears at his kind words and pretending to brush him off; Spike apparently just thinks she's being weird.
So what they've set up, it seems to me, is a situation where Spike has good reason to assume that Buffy has no stronger feelings for him than friendship. He can see she's acting strangely - at the party she flirts heavily with him, but the next day she's back to snark and insults. However, he seems to be putting this down to her being under stress, isolated and in a bad life situation.
Given all that - and here I am going to be guily of interpretation - I think his talk to Koh about Buffy "needing normal right now" is partly him deciding what's best for her, yes - but it's also very much him trying to rationalise his own feelings. Give himself an excuse not to pursue a relationship with her, because he thinks he'd only end up getting hurt if he did.