21st Slay [Video] Ain't gonna go to work no more.

[whattingawhat]

[There's a very up close shot of Buffy's face. It pulls out to show a punching bag that's been broken off it's chain. The target on the wall has a cluster of throwing knives at the bulls eye. The training dummy is more splinters than training dummy. Someone has been venting rage and pain. She's never killed a human before. She's killed vampires, demons, witches and things she can't name but never anyone entirely human. It's about the advantage she has over people--the whole using her power for good not evil thing.]

I quit.

[And she turns the camera off]

Comments

I love you but I've chosen darkness

[perspectiveguy.livejournal.com]

Xander's down the steps in a flash. By the time he's at the top, he speaks. They're not going through this again. Had she quit before? Since sophomore year? He can't remember. But, maybe she means something else. Maybe she quits punching bags. Maybe, training altogether?

"Come again?"

Re: I love you but I've chosen darkness

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

"What was confusing?" Buffy looks up at Xander. She has her arms crossed over her chest watching him and just daring him to say something else.

I love you but I've chosen darkness

[perspectiveguy.livejournal.com]

"Buff..." He stopped himself, studying her while trying to form the right words. "What happened?"

Re: I love you but I've chosen darkness

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

Buffy shakes her head at Xander. "They wanna watch something? They can watch me do nothing."

voice

[sings4dragons.livejournal.com]

... you're letting a curse beat you.

Re: voice

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

No. I'm refusing to play their game anymore. I don't let anyone pull my puppet strings.

voice

[sings4dragons.livejournal.com]

So what will you do, then? Sit and do nothing?

Re: voice

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

I don't know yet. Movies, popcorn, shopping. Maybe teach people how to defend themselves but if they want a gladiator, they can get another one.

[srsbusinessk.livejournal.com]

Buffy...

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

Sam.

[She'll wait to let him ask what ever questions he wants to or give her whatever speech he thinks she needs to hear. And who knows, he could be right. He's certainly got similar experiences.]

[srsbusinessk.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry.

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

[She appreciates it more than Sam knows. She likes not having to defend herself to someone]

Me too. Were you in the 'games'? I didn't see you.

[Action]

[the-dawnster.livejournal.com]

[Dawn is standing in the doorway within a few seconds. She doesn't say anything, just looks at her sister in a half worried half upset manner... possibly a little confusion. Her sister never quit, not as long as she'd known her. Well there was that one time she heard about when she'd been taken but that was because of her not because of some battle. Buffy had thought that a world Dawn was in was worth fighting for. So this was definitely confusing to her.]

Re: [Action]

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

[She quit when the watcher's council refused to help Angel too. She'd nearly died then because she'd quit and she'd woken up knowing exactly how to kill the mayor. Probably not going to be any shared dreams with Faith to help out here]

Want to do pop corn and a bad movie after I get this cleaned up?

[Avoiding the issue? yup]

[Action]

[the-dawnster.livejournal.com]

[She stares for another moment before giving her sister a wrinkled nose and an indignant shake of her head. This was not like her sister at all, not since the whole making of the slayers. She was the general. The general didn't quit because she had everyone to take care of and keep safe. But then, Dawn and Buffy had never really discussed what points in time they were from, so maybe she was from before then. Still... this felt wrong.]

You can't go from 'I quit' to pop corn. What's going on?

Re: [Action]

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

I'm not playing their games anymore.

[Action]

[a-bad-guy.livejournal.com]

[Okay so Eliot might not be the most tuned in guy in the world but he knows this isn't good. And he knows he should say something but... what do you say to someone who's quit when he himself doesn't know the definition of quit. It's not that it isn't understandable, it's just not something he knows how to be a good boyfriend about. It's out of his range of anything he's ever dealt with before.

So anyway he'd been at the arena between fights when he saw the network post and then decided to blow off the rest and head over to the warehouse. He ended up outside of her window, taping lightly on the glass.]

Rocky?

Re: [Action]

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

[It's not about that. This is about having everything Buffy believes she is completely shredded. She killed a human. Something she judged Faith for so harshly. Something she watched destroy Faith and something she had never done before. She looks up at him, opens the window and gives him a brief smile.]

Hey, Sugar Ray.

[Action]

[a-bad-guy.livejournal.com]

[He leans in to give her a brief kiss. It wasn't a full on kiss cause he was still covered in dirt and grime and blood from the arena fights. See? He is a good boyfriend... kind of.]

Got me all worried about you.

action][catching her somewhere outside?

[commarogue]

B...?

Re: action][works for me

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

[Buffy rakes her fingers through her hair but doesn't look at Faith]

F?

[commarogue]

Pretty sure this isn't how it works.

[Do the awkward shuffle.]

/coughs and hides the posting date

[heart-at-stake.livejournal.com]

Short and to the point anyway. [He's concerned.]

/ignores posting date.

[whattingawhat.livejournal.com]

Not feeling speechy.

[heart-at-stake.livejournal.com]

Are you feeling drinky?