Twenty Bells: [Action/Voice]

[simplestgift]

[He'd won her a stuffed penguin. She'd been hanging on his arm and squeezing it with a giant grin on her face. Everything felt, finally, like it was going to be okay. Like this trouble between them since sleeping together was just a little thing.

He turns away to grab a strawberry daiquiri for her, still holding her hand. When he turns back, she's gone.

He wanders Lucetiland for a while, looking for her, shaking, still holding the drink, but he knows what's happened. When someone dematerializes while you are touching them...

She was just there, grinning, cheeks rosy. The warmth of her hand hasn't quite faded yet.

He sits on a bench in the middle of the park, staring into space, and nothing in the world draws his attention until, mechanically, he draws out his journal. He's shaking too badly to write, so he has to voice it, and he sounds weak.]

Dawn Summers was sent home.

Comments

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

[A breathy laugh at "monkey brains."]

What about the cheesecake?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...We fought about a lot of things, you know. All the time. Stolen clothing, whether she could come out on patrol, whether she could date Xander. [ dawn was barely a teenager at the time of that crush. buffy's gently rolling eyes should suggest how non-serious that had been. ] But we never fought over the last slice of anything. Cake. Cheesecakes. Squares. Pie.

Summers sisters always split slices.

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

...You still don't.

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...Ah. Right. Tenses. It's not -- it's just that...for me? Back home? When I left? Dawn's not even at the castle. So when I say "we never" rather than "still don't" -- it's 'cause I'm missing her there, too. Not like this. Never like this.

[ but she'll see her again soon. dawn has told her as much. she comes home from college -- for a variety of reasons that the slayer will not remember when she returns and may never be told.

this she keeps to herself. no reason to flaunt it. ]

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

...If you do see her. If you go home, and you remember...

[That's stupid and he knows it.]

[ action ]

[herotypical]

We're working on a plan -- to remember. Jack and me. Have you seen his tattoo? He's restarted it. It's not really a plan, I guess. More like a dream. A...a fairy tale.

[ she presses one palm against her shoulder. she's asked the pirate to give her a mark as well. a terrifying prospect. buffy is never keen on being claimed so boldly but this? this is so different. this is about memory. this is about claiming her own experiences. ]

If it works, Archie? If I remember? I'll sit her down. I'll tell her kindly.

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

That I love her?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...Who you are -- how she ever managed to know you. And then -- yeah -- that you love her.

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

[He turns his face away as another tear is knocked down. Then another.]

[ action ]

[herotypical]

H-hey. [ she tilts her head, her own eyes brimming. ]

You don't have to look away.

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

[He glances at her, briefly, then compromises by simply ducking his head, taking a shuddering breath as the tears renew.]

[ action ]

[herotypical]

She's worth them. The tears. No need to hide them.

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

[So he doesn't. He leans his elbows on his knees and bows his head and lets them fall.]

[ action ]

[herotypical]

[ she presses a small hand flatly against his back -- just below his wings. and she sits close, setting her untouched tea aside. ]

[ action ]

[simplestgift]

[After a couple of minutes, he lets out a shuddering breath and draws in another one, blinking the rest of the tears away.]

Thank you.

[ action ]

[herotypical]

..Anytime, Archie. Anytime.