blessingone | FIVE.

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FIVE.

[Action]

[Ever since Shirley disappeared to another dimension, Fenimore hasn't been getting much sleep. The previous night hasn't been an exception, as she spends most of it tossing in her bed. Eventually, in the wee hours of the morning before it's even light out--possibly even just a few minutes before everyone returns from the Closed Space and she could stop worrying--she gives up.

Throwing on some clothes, she leaves the house to start wandering the village, keeping to the roads. She's not entirely sure what she expects to accomplish by doing so. She's come to the conclusion that Shirley has probably been mallynapped and the only other possibility she can think of is that Shirley was kidnapped by a villager. In either case, she isn't going to be able to help her any by walking through the streets in the dark, but she has spent the storm day yesterday cooped up in the house surrounded by people who were fretting just as much as she was, in their varied ways. She didn't want to spend any more time sitting in the kitchen, wondering what Shirley would be doing if she were still there.

Early dawn finds on a bench in the village centre. It seems four nights of little, restless sleep had caught up to her. She's asleep, with her head resting on her open journal, her legs curling slightly, and her arms crossing across her chest. Too tired to notice the light that filters through the clouds today, she'll be asleep either until mid-morning or until someone interrupts her.]

[Accidental "Voice"]

[It seems that before she fell asleep, she was debating asking whether such a silent mallynap as this one was normal--the only ones she had encountered were either the loud ones that made it over the journal or one that had involved a smashed window. So, with the journal half-ready for an intentional post, it doesn't take much for it to accidentally turn on in her sleep as they are wont to do.

This results in an extreme close-up of Fenimore's face and, due to the proximity, a fairly loud rendition of the normal slow breathing of someone who is fast asleep. At least she's not snoring.

The page also looks like it's getting wet, though the actual moisture is not transmitted any more than the actual ink in an ink spill would be in more standard written transmissions. Since it's not raining today, that water must be coming from Fenimore. Perhaps...tears?

...But a closer examination of its source will easily determine that it's just a little drool as she breathes open-mouthed on her journal-pillow. Her eyes are dry and there's no sign that she's upset at all as she drifts in peaceful unconsciousness.

~~To anyone who wakes her up, I apologise in advance. Fretting over her best friend + four nights of restless sleep = a very rude and cranky Fenimore. ...Correction: a ruder and crankier Fenimore.~~]

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Maybe we need dramatic! Way too many people here are under dramatic about it! They act like they don't really care that they're exp--that they're trapped here under their thumb!

Panic is exhausting. [Buffy answers with no small measure of sadness.] After a year and some change, you don't want spend every day emotionally exhausted.

[Fenimore knows this is true--she accepts it to be true on most days and usually follows it herself--but she doesn't feel like being rational now. Yet there isn't anything that she can argue against it, so instead she looks down, biting her lip, as her face turns red from suppressed emotion--mostly anger, but also a mixture of others she doesn't want to come to the surface.]

[Buffy acts on instinct. Although her stint as a guidance counsellor had been brief and only barely successful, she still considers herself vaguely qualified for this kind of conversation. She reaches out and sets one hand lightly on the young woman's shoulder.]

It's frustrating and it's one of the worst feelings in the world. I know that. But until they come back? Well, all you can do is get exceptionally ready to help them.

[Says the hypocrite. If someone close to her had been kidnapped (as they have been in the past), she would be out hungry for justice.]

[For a moment, Fenimore lets Buffy's hand rest on her shoulder, even if she is tense both by touch and by sight. But then she tries to push Buffy's arm away with her own, a clear message of "don't touch me."]

What do you know?! You have no idea! The things that happen out here are a joke! But when they kidnap people, it's just like.... [She stands, suddenly, but doesn't turn to face Buffy again.] She should never have had to go through that! Even when-- And now she has to deal with it! It's not fair!

[Her low sleep state and high stress from Shirley's disappearance makes her even more selfish than usual and causes her to entirely forget the possibility that Buffy could have easily been mallynapped in her time here.]

[Twice, in fact. The most recent occurrence of it had left her, for five months, in the weakest position she'd been since the age of fourteen. But she respects the boundaries and pulls her hand back, folding it demurely with its twin in her own lap.

She stares hard at the back of the other's head.]

It's like they take that last bit of power from us. I get it. Really, I do. It's bad enough that they leave us in his disgustingly domestic attempt at a prison...but then they add a second kidnapping on top of that? Just so they can get their science on? [Buffy's eyes drop.]

It'll never be fair. Even when any of us get sent home, it's not because of anything we did. It's all random and it's all way, way unjust. I've seen a lot of people kidnapped in the past year. Friends, co-workers. Boyfriend and ex-boyfriend. Adopted family. Whatever. They've managed to turn all of us into victims.

[And now her own anger is bubbling to the surface. Clearly, she doesn't like being a victim.]

You don't-- [She still thinks that Buffy can't understand what she's going through, even with that. But most of the rationale behind it, such as there is, would involve explaining things from her world that she's not willing to share. Without that, even Fenimore at her most irrational could see that, in the face of what Buffy had said, her reasoning is only "it's worse because it's happening to me."

But Fenimore is nothing if she's not ornery and, when she's upset, she often tries to hurt other people. So she changes arguments and turns to glare.]

Out of everything we're going through, you pick on the prison being "domestic"? Do you want to be thrown in a cell?!

Hey. You're the one who said people've got to be more angry about being here. A cell'd do it, don't you think? [She doesn't seriously want a grimy little cell. But this was the unfortunate place where the conversation has ended up.]

The small town feel of this place is totally what's screwing us over. Don't you get it? It's making us into a little functioning group. Making us hate it less.

[Fenimore knows--assumes, at least--that Buffy doesn't actually want a cell, but it gives her a foothold to continue to be grumpy.] So what if it would make them angry? You can't do anything from a cell, even more than in this place!

I dunno. In a cell? There's bars the break. Or bend. Probably bend. [She goes for a sparky smile, trying to inject the teeniest bit of humour into the conversation.]

[Sorry, Buffy. Fenimore has +5 situational bonus against humour and she made her saving throw.] Bend? Bend bars? Do you really think it's that easy?!

[Buffy shrugs, trying rather hard to back peddle the heck out of this confession.] For--uhm--some of us? Sure. There are, like, superheroes, here.

[The first reaction is a mixture of anger and some jealousy. There may be some skepticism later based on the short (well, okay, so Buffy's taller than her, but in relation to other people) woman who doesn't look particularly muscular thing. And while she mightn't get the superhero reference, she knows each base word and can get an approximate understanding of it.] And then you'd just punch all of the guards and waltz right out, huh?

Well, I've never been so hot with the waltzing but--basically? Yeah.

[Buffy is so rarely taller than anyone. She may have to milk this moment.]

Even outnumbered? With that many people--not even Walter or Senel could do something like that!

[Enjoy those two inches! Though that may be slightly diminished by Fenimore's lofty pigtails.]

I've spent my whole life outnumbered.

[It was true enough. There were always, always more vamps to replace the ones she slays in an evening. One girl in all the world.]

Edited 2010-05-27 02:16 (UTC)

It must be nice to have everything so easy and straightforward.

[Which is not the normal response to someone living life outnumbered, but sadly Buffy is dealing with one of the more irrational teenagers in Luceti.]

[Mmhm. Because being the one teenaged girl against all the powers of Hell is exceptionally straightforward. It's really only when you fall in love with one of the bloodsuckers that things get complicated. But she lets it slide. She has had years to get used to what she is, plus a whole year to get used to this place. She is much more patient than she used to be.]

Nothing's easy and things are rarely straightforward. Especially if you choose to let them get all sticky and complicatedish.

[Buffy, your patience is to be commended. But Fenimore's not the one going to be doing the commending, crossing her arms and looking sulky.]

There's almost never a choice when things get complicated...ish.

What are you talking about? There's always a choice. Unless you'd rather just sit back and let the world make all those choices for you.

[An ounce of softness has left her voice--after all, this is the girl who has single-handedly refuted a few prophecies in her time. She's all about the agency, baby.]

Oh? So I guess you mean you've chosen to stay trapped here, huh? Must be a nice vacation spot for you. But for those of us who can't even bend bars and fight armies barehanded, it's different, okay?!

Right. Of course. This is a vacation for me.

[Buffy turns on the ubersarcasm, but doesn't defend herself. She doesn't feel compelled to.]

That's what you made it sound like. [But it's hard to argue with someone not arguing back, but being fairly clear that this isn't disturbing them at all.]

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FIVE.

[action] first person to become supreme ruler of Earth solely by power of a good resumé

[action] you pretty much get to hire yourself.

[action] this 500 year lifespan's sounding pretty good.

[action] i think you should let me in on your secret!

[action] only if you swear loyalty to my eventual new world order.

[action] will there be math involved?

[action] I can do the math.

[action] excellent!

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