Buildings and bridges are made to bend in the wind to withstand the world...

[shealone_stands]

A car loaded with teenagers pulls up in front of the Conrad. Finding parking in downtown Chicago is never easy, and Buffy is not willing to wait. She springs out of the car and races into the lobby - only to realize that while she knows the basement is where they keep the wanderers, she has no idea how to get there. Um.

The Doctor is wandering

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[artischaos]

It's time. It's now or never - okay, wait. It's now or maybe later or possibly tomorrow or maybe next week... technically he has forever, doesn't he? Or not forever, but you know, years. He could easily stay in the basement painting for years, right?

A nip on the ear from his bat reminds him the real reason he's heading out - so Azeroth will stop complaining about being bored. It's not that he's lonely, see, it's that Azeroth gets so lonesome, right, and he's not adjusting well to being nocturnal, so they're heading out during the day...

Oh look. There's a fairly pretty blond woman in the lobby. That might be a good place to start. Struggling to figure out what to say, the young artist heads towards Buffy, carrying his easel and canvas, his paintbox tucked under one arm.

[shealone_stands]

Buffy doesn't notice the young man approaching her at first - she's too busy looking for a Willow or a way to the basement. It couldn't just be the regular elevators, right? That would just be silly.

She's just about to go to the reception desk when she notices Jamie (it's the red hair that catches her attention), and she blinks before smiling a little. As long as he's going to come talk to her... "Hey, you wouldn't know the way down to the basement, would you? I was supposed to meet a friend there, but I've never actually been down there, and I didn't think about it until I... got here... and I sound like a total ditz, don't I?"

She's pretty well convinced she does, anyway.

[artischaos]

He smiles, gently. This he can understand. Well, the word 'ditz' is new to him, but he can understand nervousness. "Ah, I actually just came from the basement." The basement - suddenly a thought occurs to him. "Are you from... elsewhere, as well?" he asks, interested.

[shealone_stands]

"Oh! Really?" Well, it's good to know she's talking to the right kind of person, who actually knows what the hell she's talking about. "Yeah, I am. I mean, I'm living at the Main Gauche now, so I know a lot more people from here than from... not here, but... yeah."

Oh, talking in code in public is always fun. Still better than trying not to talk about her life as a Slayer in high school, which always led to talk of umpires and trout. ...don't ask.

[artischaos]

He nods, shifting a little to keep his small bat friend on his shoulder despite his attempting to crawl down his arm to the paintbox. "I don't really know anyone. I'm kind of new here."

[shealone_stands]

"Yeah, it kind of... takes a while to get used to all of this and settled in. I mean, moving from one place to another is bad enough, but all of this is..." Buffy pauses. And blinks a little. And then... okay, she can't help but ask, "Is that a bat?"

[artischaos]

He gives an odd smile. "Actually, no." he says, simply. "It's a demon."

[shealone_stands]

Buffy blinks. Stares. Tilts her head to one side. "A demon?" Pause. "...that doesn't look like a demon." And this is coming from someone with quite a bit of experience, in this universe and her own.

[artischaos]

The small brown bat with the startling red eyes mutters, in a grumpy, male voice, "And you look like a twat. Wanna compare notes?" That gets him a vicious flick on the head by the youth's finger, as the boy blushes rather scarlet. "Ah, I apologize for that."

[shealone_stands]

Buffy starts a little - of all the things she's used to, talking animals? Not really one of them. She recovers quickly, though, and shoots the bat a look somewhere between baffled, amused, and vaguely offended.

She looks back to Jamie, eyebrows raised. "The bat-demon speaks." Pause. "The bat-demon speaks British." Because that's the weirder part. Or something.

[artischaos]

"Ah, I did mention.." he says, blushing a bit. How best to explain... "He used to be a lot larger?" he offers, reaching to wrap his hand around the bat's entire body. "He seems to have changed somewhat on our arrival," he mentions, stumbling a little over his words. Honestly, did the uncultured rodent have to insult everyone they met? At least he didn't have trouble speaking to women like his older brother did.

[shealone_stands]

Buffy grins a little, tilting her head to inspect the little animal. After the initial surprise, she's mostly just curious.

"Yeah, the Rift kinda... does that. Usually it's a little less noticable than that... How much bigger was he, before?"

[artischaos]

He gestures, indicating a slightly longer body, but much thicker around - about the size of a large fancy rat. Sheepishly, he then adds, "But I'm told before he was bound he was about three feet tall, maybe?"