simplestgift | Nine Bells: [VOICE/ACTION]

[Archie doesn't do a lot of voice posts. They make him feel weird. So he's speaking this one like he's reading it from a piece of paper he wrote out beforehand. Which he is.]

This is Mister Kennedy. As some of you already know, I am attempting to organize a regular goodbye ceremony for the friends and family of those who have been sent home. In preparation for this, I shall need a list of names of those who have gone on. If any one of you has had any person you care for sent home, please tell me their name. These names are to be read aloud at the ceremony.

If any one of you has a suggestion or should like to volunteer help, your aid will be appreciated greatly. The ceremony will take place monthly, God willing, on a day that shall be decided before long. You may approach myself or Miss Dawn Summers about this.

Thank you.

[There's a relieved sigh cut off halfway as the transmission ends.

He'll be outside today, writing ideas and names and plans on non-journal paper, but looking like every movement hurts but still doing it without sound or complaint, as if absolutely nothing is wrong. Later, of course, he'll be at Good Spirits, drinking very, very, very stiffly, as if raising the glass to his lips is painful.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And it was. Vampires haunted the outskirts of Hanselstadt but never went nearer, not enough to hurt anyone. And that was because the Watchers found a demon there that vampires feared. A demon that could be kept from feeding on the people provided that they sacrificed a Slayer to it.

So in order to protect themselves from demons, they...sold their souls to one.

[This is the kind of horror Archie has only ever heard whispered but rarely believed.]

Precisely.

[And he sees it again, playing in front of his eyes like a film. Jonhson, entrapped by the demon and being dragged into its gaping maw, reaching desperately for help, and Giles not giving it. Denying it.] And killed several innocent girls in the bargain.

[He can't even. The most evil men he knew were murderers and rapists, but this was the blackest magic of all--not even magic, but dealing with devils. It raises his Anglican hackles.]

How do you suppose the Malnosso brought us here? You and me? Out of the hands of God, raising the ghost of Samuel? Do you think it was magic like that?

[He tries not to laugh, at that, and only stops himself by clapping a hand over his mouth. Raised they both may have been, but..."out of the hands of God?" In his dreams, Kennedy, only in his dreams.]

...I'm not sure it's the Malnosso. I think it's something about this place, really. They just take advantage of it.

And even if they are the ones responsible...in my world? Yes, it would be that sort of magic. But it might be different here. It usually is. Life and death don't mean the same here.

Like time.

Like time, yes.

[These thoughts are putting Kennedy more at ease with the nature of his current existence, but he's not out of questions yet.]

Do you think it's a waste of time to court Dawn when neither of us knows how long we have?

That's something you should discuss with her.

...but Dawn has spent most of her life with the knowledge that people she cares about could die any day. The end of the world is old hat to us. For my part, I think she'd be all right.

Well, she hasn't ended things yet.

And she will let you know in no uncertain terms when she wants things ended.

...Right. [Not reassuring, Giles.]

What if I told her something that might change things? Even if I wasn't to blame?

[Longer pause.]

Do you mind sharing?

Yes.

[An answer that takes no time at all.]

[Giles sighs, tapping his finger on the pages of the journal, thinking hard about how best to phrase his reply.]

It wouldn't be the first time she's had to deal with information of that sort.

She might be more willing to listen than you might think. Or to forgive.

[There is a long, long hesitation.]

I...I don't think she would hate me for it. Not her. I can't quite explain what frightens me. I think...I know her secret, so it isn't fair that I don't want her to know. I should like to know, if I were in her shoes. But I...I like the way she looks at me now, and I don't want it to change.

I understand. [It's a fear he has around most of his friends here - Buffy and Dawn are the only ones left who really know what sort of person he is, it baffles him just how much everyone else considers him to be a good person when he's not, he's honestly not.]

...everyone has secrets. Even from people they care about a great deal.

But you seem to think that it's best you tell her.

I don't know what would be best, Giles. I only think I'd like to know if it was me.

[Now that Giles' advice is edging towards "do what you already know is best," he's starting to panic.]

I don't know what would be best, either. She's your girlfriend and this is your secret.

[Don't you dare start going Buffy on him, Kennedy.]

Right.

[He hasn't known who to ask about this. Buffy is not really someone to ask about Dawn matters, considering it usually ends in "hurt my sister and you die."]

...if you tell her, at least you'll be able to stop fretting and start acting a bit more normally around her.

Yes.

[At least he'd know for sure what she would think.]

Thank you.

You're welcome. I hope I've been helpful.

I hope so, too.

See you at the end of the month, then?

[Locked to Kennedy - 75% unhackable]

simplestgift - 2011-04-10 23:12 (UTC) - Expand

Re: [Locked to Kennedy - 75% unhackable]

consultmybooks - 2011-04-10 23:24 (UTC) - Expand

simplestgift - 2011-04-10 23:24 (UTC) - Expand

consultmybooks - 2011-04-10 23:26 (UTC) - Expand