whattingawhat | 47th Slay [Accidental Video]

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47th Slay [Accidental Video]

[The device is sitting on a table behind Buffy. When it comes on, it shows Buffy standing in front of a mirror. She runs a brush through her hair then her fingers before she looks up into the mirror. She startles at seeing her reflection, but doesn't scream then takes a step back. Hovering there above (or perhaps beneath) her reflection is a ghost of how she looked before Willow pulled her out of the grave, half decomposed. She turns to see the device on, still looking shaken and pale.]

So...curse day, right? Otherwise there's going to be some mirror breaking in my house and I seriously don't need any more years of bad luck. Or maybe if you break a creepy mirror it goes the other way. Seven years of good luck.

Fingers crossed.

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More like... a rubber band. With each decision you make, even the smallest of choices, it changes shape.

[With his hands, he mimics the motions of a rubber band in his fingers; tugging it and releasing it, spreading it apart and allowing it to contract.]

Yet for as often as it changes, it always and quite inevitably reverts to its original shape.

[Buffy watches his demonstration with her head cocked to one side. Slowly, she unwinds her arms from her waist and relaxes a little. She moves over to the bed and reaches under, nabbing the bottle of Jameson that Spike left there. She uncaps it, takes a swig, makes a face and holds it out to Barrons.]

So, regardless of how we change things, they end up the same. The way [finger quotes here]"fate" intended.

Fate was meant to be challenged. Fate implies a defined outcome.

[He arches a brow, impressed that she has a stash down here and also a bit confused by it. However, he takes the bottle and after giving it some inspection and a nice sniff, he takes a healthy drink of it.]

Every world has that point that it is constantly trying to maintain, that point at which it is most comfortable. And as each world has that point, so do each of our lives. As do our relationships with one another. Everything is in constant flux, under constant influence or strain and yet everything continually attempts to maintain that point of comfort. It is you and I who pull it out of that comfort zone and shape it to our will instead of its natural state.

[She considers what he's saying, plopping down on the bed as he speaks. It's not as if there's much else here. Spike was pretty sparten about his room and she never really furnished it beyond a bed. If he stays on any kind of regular basis, Buffy won't mind Barrons decorating and furnishing.]

I like that idea better. That we can change things even if it's resistant to stretching. Otherwise it's too tempting to want to drink that bottle and jump off a tall building.

A bit of an extreme reaction, Ms. Summers.

[A bit suicidal and dark. He studies her for a moment and then moves forward to offer her the bottle back. He can't get drunk anyway so drinking, while occasionally enjoyable, is a waste of time for him.]

You see, while time might be resistant in one direction, the case could be entirely different from another. Absolute fluidity.

I'm all about the extremes.

[Although really she's not quite as suicidal as that statement might make her seem. Unless it's for Dawn, Buffy's survival instinct is was too high to allow her to kill herself. She would have a hard time even letting someone else kill her. Part of it's slayer and part of it is just Buffy.

She takes the bottle, takes a sip and recaps it, putting it on the floor.]

So how did you get to be an expert on time fluids?

[His lips curl into another cat ate the canary grin. He offers a light chuckle that melts into an inhuman rattling sound in his chest. His hands clasp behind his back and he arches an amused brow.]

I pay attention. Now why are you seeing yourself as a corpse in your reflection?

[Oh good a smart ass, smart, something other than human--at least she thinks he is--that pays attention.]

I bet you were head boy at school. [She shrugs in response to his question.] The City thinks I'd rock the zombie look?

[So not the truth. She'll probably tell the truth with a little more prodding. Flippant questions are always her first defense.]

I never attended school.

[Said quite matter of factly since he has no idea what a head boy would be. And he can smell just a hint of untruth. Of course Jericho doesn't think the city thinks much of anything and therefore comes to the conclusion on his own that that isn't exactly the truth.

So he just watches her expectantly, waiting to see if she gets to the truth without any prodding.]

[Oh she hates that. Angel used to do that to her. She squirms a little then rolls her eyes.] Fine. I died. It's not like it was a big deal. My friends brought me back after four months. [She looks up to Barrons.]

Happy?

[Really she caves way too easily.]

Should I be?

[He shakes his head, unsure of why he should be happy about such a thing. But she also sounds very defensive about it which is a huge tell that dying bothers her, as it would most beings.]

Four months is enough time to decay. You should be thankful that you came back in so pretty a package as you did considering the alternatives... not to mention the numerous ways a spell such as that could go wrong.

It's a--nevermind.

[She flops onto the bed on her back. Yes she's taking over your space here, Barrons. She'll give it back.]

I know. I'm a lucky girl. I don't think they really expected it to work. Or it didn't work the way they expected it to. They left the coffin buried.

[It isn't really his space, he's only going to borrow it from time to time. He finds it amusing that she's getting her scent all over the sheets though. Barrons requires very little sleep and even when he does sleep, it isn't really what humans call sleep. It's more like a meditative moment of silence where he shuts everything off. However, make no mistake that he would be acquainting himself with that scent once she was gone.]

Ahhh well we live in an age of no patience. Everyone wants immediate gratification, rarely considering that such a powerful spell might take a little time to come into fruition.

[Honestly, she isn't thinking about getting her scent all over the place. She probably should be considering how much interaction she's had with vampires. She would wonder why he'd be getting used to her scent though. She would get it if they were involved or anything.]

They were afraid I was in a Hell dimension. I get it. I really do. It just wasn't...really thought out.

As sentimental and thoughtful as that may be, it still does nothing to explain their stupidity in the matter.

[Considering how many times Barrons had died and resurrected again and how painful a few of those deaths were, he has tons of experience on this subject and that confidence clearly shows through in his manner and in the way he speaks.]

A pity you had to define the definition of repercussion for their hastiness.

[Buffy shrugs a little. She's not ready to call her friends out but she's not going to argue either. She appreciates the solidarity.]

Somebody's always got to be the object lesson. From now on, I'm guessing coffins get dug up first.

[Which implies that she expects to die again. That strikes immortal off of the list of things she might be. And it also suggests that her friends now make a habit of reanimating the dead, very dark magics that when used too much and too often could truly change a person. Knowing that this girl is friends with people like that, well... Barrons relaxes just a bit. Obviously she understands that things are rarely so black and white, light and dark, right and wrong.]

Or perhaps from now on death should be avoided... in your case.

[Well, she is mortal and slayers don't typically last that long. And yes, she expects, at this point, for Willow to raise her again. Which is complicated, since Willow doesn't have anymore magic. Oh, she definitely knows things aren't black and white. They're more a muddy gray, like the mud near a toxic waste dump.]

Note and checked. Sort of at odds with the rest of my life. It's a whole destiny thing.

[He arches a brow again, that look that says that he's not quite sure she understands the words she uses in everyday language. She's confusing to him. But then again, most humans are confusing to him. It amazes him that they've muddled their way through for as long as they have when there are things out there so much bigger than they are. That's what narcissism does though, it gives the weak just enough bravado to fake it and it gives the strong just enough of that little something extra to make it. And Barrons would know about the later.]

Now there is an interesting word, destiny...

[It's debatable. Sometimes she understands the words entirely, sometimes it's more of a context/buffy-speak understanding. Destiny though. She gets that one.]

Interesting in a world of suck way.

[Well, that look on his face doesn't change. Because again, she's mixing words up again. He's sure that if he were to spend some time with her that he would learn to understand her completely, but as of right now he's not sure he wants to understand. He's curious, of course. But having a conversation with her is both confusing and like pulling teeth. Or rather, getting information from her is like pulling teeth. She's right to be cautious, but most humans aren't all that cautious so this is new to him and he isn't sure he has the patience for it.]

What would you know about destiny?

Only a big fat load of knowledge.

[She sits up, considering him. Confusing and pulling teeth. Check. Pretty much how most people feel about conversations with Buffy except she'll eventually just unload and then he'll wish for pulling teeth.]

Slayer comma the. You're looking at her. Me. She is me. Hello sixteen and here's a stake, there's a vampire. Go get 'em. Also if you could save the world every now and then. Or maybe I should just give you the one girl in all the world spiel. That's popular.

[Amid that entire ramble, Jericho only latches on to one word: slayer. He decides she's a hunter of some sort, which really doesn't settle easily with him. He's met hunters before. He's been hunted before. He's been the hunter before. He's killed, wild and savage. He drank the blood of his enemies and laughed as they lay dying beneath him. He knows the ins and outs of death, despite being immortal. And he knows that most hunters know death as well, especially when they know that they are mortal and that their own death could happen at any moment.]

I care not for popularity. What do you hunt?

Oh good. I'm really tired of that spiel and it's not even accurate anymore.

[She runs her hand through her hair. What doesn't she kill is a shorter list.]

Vampires, demons, demi goddesses with wicked fashion senses, all of the magic in my world--that was an accident-- usually my clothing budget since slaying, hard on the wardrobe. Mostly I'm a equal opportunity 'don't hurt the humans' slayer. Sometimes I save the world. In one case I sort of destroyed it but then I saved it so cancelling out there.

[Her list is long, and while he can relate to it, he doesn't like it. It doesn't sit well with him. She hunts monsters and make no mistake about it, while he doesn't advertise the fact, Barrons is most definitely a monster. How many humans had he killed for one reason or another, sometimes just to get his way and sometimes to save a world that he enjoys visiting on occasion. Most humans are wretched little creatures that wouldn't even still be in existence if not for the very few superpowered heroes among them. He's met very few exceptions in how long has he been in existence? Too long.

For a long, drawn out moment, Barrons stares Buffy down, trying to evaluate whether she might come after him or not. He stares at her, suddenly his very being filling up the entire room in a most inhuman way. His eyes switch from blue to a coal black that fills them up.]

Not all of those creatures are always out to get you. Some try to exist peacefully. Are you a mercenary for hire?

47th Slay [Accidental Video]

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