1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, California, A Few Hours Later (Tuesday Fandom Time)
Okay, so the first official Field Trip O'Slayage had been, Kennedy had to admit, pretty cool. It had been nice to go out and just hang with people who were into the same stuff she was; all that time in a city of 8 million and it had been next to impossible to get that. Demonology jokes just didn't go over well with most people in New York, which was its own kind of go-figure. (Okay, they might go over well, but it wasn't fun when people didn't, you know, get the jokes.) Plus they'd gotten to go to a demon bar (it was so cute how some of the girls got wide-eyed over their underaged selves being in a bar, never mind its denizens), and once everyone had gotten over the ew-factor of the yak urine spritzers Kennedy had maybe had a little too much fun telling them about Fangtasia and its stripper pole.
So by late afternoon and after an inevitably long round of showers, they were all feeling refreshed enough to debrief (not Kennedy's word, though Rona joked that she expected it to be) each other on the action, and squee a little more over the fight in the crypt.
In practice that really meant another giggly gossip session, although Kennedy, still basking in the sense of accomplishment from her conversation with Buffy earlier, was learning not to mind too much. They were up to their ears in dire; whatever fun they could find probably shouldn't be missed. Plus they finally had a chance to meet the new girl, Amanda, who'd come over after school with Dawn, and everyone was eager to welcome her to their group. (For her part, Kennedy was pleased to note that Willow's spell had worked. Not surprised, but pleased.) Of course, they all had to bombard her with questions about taking on a vampire all by herself. Which was fine; the girls had been congratulating Kennedy on staking their vamp in the crypt, and she'd rather they figure out that they could do it themselves.
It was cute, their enthusiasm, but after a while it made Kennedy feel a little... not old, really. Maybe just tired. Leaving Amanda to Molly, Vi, and the others, she headed into the dining room just to get a little peace and quiet. Kennedy thought she'd spotted Xander in there a little while ago, but he'd gone off somewhere else and now it was just Dawn, sitting at the table with a pile of books.
"Hey," she said after a moment. "Mind if I take a breather in here?"
Look, she even asked and everything.
Dawn
"Sure," Dawn said absently, still staring at the book in front of her. She had a lot to think about just now. Not least what Xander had just said.
Kennedy
"I'm just gonna let the newbies get their newbieness out for a while." Kennedy chucked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the living room, rolled her eyes playfully, and took a seat at the other end of the table. "Nice work, by the way. Heard what you did."
Dawn
It was easier to say it and mean it now, especially since Kennedy was acknowledging she'd done part of the work. "Amanda did most of it. She didn't even flinch. It was like she was-- well. Born for it."
Kennedy
Kennedy huffed a laugh, because Buffy had been more or less repeating that phrase about ten times an hour every time she worked with them.
"And she didn't even know it until then, huh?" Amanda had filled them in on the whole deal with the Bringers coming after them in the chemistry classroom, and the tall, gawky, goofy kid definitely impressed Kennedy so far. "That's the head trip."
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, thought about trying to check her messages, then shrugged and just spun it around on the tabletop instead. "Probably kind of a downer for you, though..."
Dawn
Was Kennedy -- trying to be nice? Maybe? In her kinda tactless way. Dawn snorted, then leaned back in her chair, thoughts starting to settle down from the churning of the day. "No. Mostly a relief. You know what Anya said, when we thought it was me?"
Kennedy
She was trying to be nice, actually, weird as that might seem to be.
"Oh, god." Kennedy made a face. "Do I wanna know? 'cause I have a few guesses, and luckily I'm already sitting down."
Dawn
"'One second, you're a klutzy teenager with a history of kleptomania, then you're a hero with a very abbreviated lifespan.'" Dawn shook her head. "And, I felt like I had to try, you know? Buffy did it. She's died twice." She swallowed. "So no ducking out."
Kennedy
"Little sis doesn't slack." Yes, that was a touch of respect in Kennedy's voice, and not even a terribly grudging one. "Hey, props for that."
She spun her phone around on the table again, idly watching the way the light reflected off the screen. "So, like, even being on the sidelines for all the stuff Buffy's done, you weren't too freaked when you thought that could be you. Cool."
Dawn
"I was totally freaked." Might as well be honest. "All I could think was, if I got Chosen, it would mean Buffy was dead." She let out a shaky breath. "No power in the world would be worth that." She looked over at Kennedy. "I'm relieved. It was -- scary, for the couple hours I thought I was. But not being Chosen doesn't mean I can wait for anyone to save me."
Kennedy
"Dramatic nick-of-time rescues are way overrated anyway," Kennedy said, deadpan, then cracked a tiny grin before sobering again. "You know, I knew what I was by the time I was six, and it took me eleven years before that not-so-happy part of the deal sank in."
Constance hadn't neglected that part of her Potential's education; Kennedy had just been too focused on the rest to really think about it.
Dawn
"It's easier to see if you're standing outside of it," Dawn said, with a tiny smile back. "Watching what it does to someone else." Her gaze went toward the other room, where Buffy was talking to the others. "The good and the bad." She looked at Kennedy, who didn't get a choice. She got Chosen to be a Potential. She took a breath. No, that wasn't true either. "But your way of dealing with it... that's pretty sane. You know?" Her lips lifted. "Annoying. But sane."
Kennedy
Kennedy raised one eyebrow at her, more an I heard that than anything else.
"Most people thought I was pretty crazy for wanting this, y'know," she countered lightly. "Maybe I am. I don't really care."
Dawn
Dawn considered that, then said, "Why should you? You're the one that has to deal with it."
What worked for Amanda, and Kennedy, didn't work for her. But she thought that maybe... maybe she'd done pretty well, doing the Watcher thing with Amanda tonight. Xander had a point. More than one. "And you can choose this even if you're not Chosen, you know?"
Kennedy
The look Kennedy gave her now was full-on duh.
"Always wanted that anyway." She shrugged. "Hell of a lot better than following in Dad's footsteps, right? Yeah, this isn't gonna get me a plaque with my name on it in a museum wing, but whatever. Counts for more in the end."
...which was when she realized Dawn might not have been talking about her.
"Especially," she added quickly like she could cover up her gaffe, "for anyone who does this and doesn't have to. That's pretty cool."
Dawn
Dawn smirked at her, catching that. But still, Kennedy got it. So the smirk was only half-force sarcastic.
"Yeah." She thought of Xander, putting up the windows. Maybe Giles had wanted another life ages ago. Anya could have left once she was human again. But none of them had. Kennedy wanted to be here, and would be even if she wasn't the Next Girl In All The World. That was as much a brotherhood, or sisterhood, as being a Potential. "It is."
Kennedy
A particularly loud shriek of laughter came from the living room, and Kennedy glanced toward the cluster of girls with a grimace.
"Might be less eardrum-damaging, too, right?" she asked with a laugh, her own thoughts more preoccupied with the girls like Chloe and Rona who were in this now whether they wanted to be or not. (Well, and Willow, but that had become something of a given, apparently.) "Plus, not really in line with the rules. Kinda makes it even cooler, in my book."
Pfft, all that 'the Slayer works alone' crap. Whatever.
Dawn
"We make the rules now," Dawn said, determined. "So if we say it's cool, it's cool." There, that settled that. Which would have been less scary if there'd been old stuffy Watchers there to defy, but. They could still blow off tradition. "Reinvent it all."
Kennedy
And Kennedy was not going to point out that the Watchers' Council wasn't in much of a position to complain at the moment anyway.
Someone in the living room-- it sounded like Chloe-- yelped just before everyone started laughing, and Kennedy shook her head. "Not sure we had a choice about that part by now, but hey. Might as well reinvent it in style."
[[and done for the week! nfi/nfb/ooc-okay, et cetera et cetera and so forth. mostly made up but based on bits from the end of btvs 7x12, "potential," with thanks to the scintillating regretiz4suckas as inthekeyofme!]
So by late afternoon and after an inevitably long round of showers, they were all feeling refreshed enough to debrief (not Kennedy's word, though Rona joked that she expected it to be) each other on the action, and squee a little more over the fight in the crypt.
In practice that really meant another giggly gossip session, although Kennedy, still basking in the sense of accomplishment from her conversation with Buffy earlier, was learning not to mind too much. They were up to their ears in dire; whatever fun they could find probably shouldn't be missed. Plus they finally had a chance to meet the new girl, Amanda, who'd come over after school with Dawn, and everyone was eager to welcome her to their group. (For her part, Kennedy was pleased to note that Willow's spell had worked. Not surprised, but pleased.) Of course, they all had to bombard her with questions about taking on a vampire all by herself. Which was fine; the girls had been congratulating Kennedy on staking their vamp in the crypt, and she'd rather they figure out that they could do it themselves.
It was cute, their enthusiasm, but after a while it made Kennedy feel a little... not old, really. Maybe just tired. Leaving Amanda to Molly, Vi, and the others, she headed into the dining room just to get a little peace and quiet. Kennedy thought she'd spotted Xander in there a little while ago, but he'd gone off somewhere else and now it was just Dawn, sitting at the table with a pile of books.
"Hey," she said after a moment. "Mind if I take a breather in here?"
Look, she even asked and everything.
Dawn
"Sure," Dawn said absently, still staring at the book in front of her. She had a lot to think about just now. Not least what Xander had just said.
Kennedy
"I'm just gonna let the newbies get their newbieness out for a while." Kennedy chucked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the living room, rolled her eyes playfully, and took a seat at the other end of the table. "Nice work, by the way. Heard what you did."
Dawn
It was easier to say it and mean it now, especially since Kennedy was acknowledging she'd done part of the work. "Amanda did most of it. She didn't even flinch. It was like she was-- well. Born for it."
Kennedy
Kennedy huffed a laugh, because Buffy had been more or less repeating that phrase about ten times an hour every time she worked with them.
"And she didn't even know it until then, huh?" Amanda had filled them in on the whole deal with the Bringers coming after them in the chemistry classroom, and the tall, gawky, goofy kid definitely impressed Kennedy so far. "That's the head trip."
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, thought about trying to check her messages, then shrugged and just spun it around on the tabletop instead. "Probably kind of a downer for you, though..."
Dawn
Was Kennedy -- trying to be nice? Maybe? In her kinda tactless way. Dawn snorted, then leaned back in her chair, thoughts starting to settle down from the churning of the day. "No. Mostly a relief. You know what Anya said, when we thought it was me?"
Kennedy
She was trying to be nice, actually, weird as that might seem to be.
"Oh, god." Kennedy made a face. "Do I wanna know? 'cause I have a few guesses, and luckily I'm already sitting down."
Dawn
"'One second, you're a klutzy teenager with a history of kleptomania, then you're a hero with a very abbreviated lifespan.'" Dawn shook her head. "And, I felt like I had to try, you know? Buffy did it. She's died twice." She swallowed. "So no ducking out."
Kennedy
"Little sis doesn't slack." Yes, that was a touch of respect in Kennedy's voice, and not even a terribly grudging one. "Hey, props for that."
She spun her phone around on the table again, idly watching the way the light reflected off the screen. "So, like, even being on the sidelines for all the stuff Buffy's done, you weren't too freaked when you thought that could be you. Cool."
Dawn
"I was totally freaked." Might as well be honest. "All I could think was, if I got Chosen, it would mean Buffy was dead." She let out a shaky breath. "No power in the world would be worth that." She looked over at Kennedy. "I'm relieved. It was -- scary, for the couple hours I thought I was. But not being Chosen doesn't mean I can wait for anyone to save me."
Kennedy
"Dramatic nick-of-time rescues are way overrated anyway," Kennedy said, deadpan, then cracked a tiny grin before sobering again. "You know, I knew what I was by the time I was six, and it took me eleven years before that not-so-happy part of the deal sank in."
Constance hadn't neglected that part of her Potential's education; Kennedy had just been too focused on the rest to really think about it.
Dawn
"It's easier to see if you're standing outside of it," Dawn said, with a tiny smile back. "Watching what it does to someone else." Her gaze went toward the other room, where Buffy was talking to the others. "The good and the bad." She looked at Kennedy, who didn't get a choice. She got Chosen to be a Potential. She took a breath. No, that wasn't true either. "But your way of dealing with it... that's pretty sane. You know?" Her lips lifted. "Annoying. But sane."
Kennedy
Kennedy raised one eyebrow at her, more an I heard that than anything else.
"Most people thought I was pretty crazy for wanting this, y'know," she countered lightly. "Maybe I am. I don't really care."
Dawn
Dawn considered that, then said, "Why should you? You're the one that has to deal with it."
What worked for Amanda, and Kennedy, didn't work for her. But she thought that maybe... maybe she'd done pretty well, doing the Watcher thing with Amanda tonight. Xander had a point. More than one. "And you can choose this even if you're not Chosen, you know?"
Kennedy
The look Kennedy gave her now was full-on duh.
"Always wanted that anyway." She shrugged. "Hell of a lot better than following in Dad's footsteps, right? Yeah, this isn't gonna get me a plaque with my name on it in a museum wing, but whatever. Counts for more in the end."
...which was when she realized Dawn might not have been talking about her.
"Especially," she added quickly like she could cover up her gaffe, "for anyone who does this and doesn't have to. That's pretty cool."
Dawn
Dawn smirked at her, catching that. But still, Kennedy got it. So the smirk was only half-force sarcastic.
"Yeah." She thought of Xander, putting up the windows. Maybe Giles had wanted another life ages ago. Anya could have left once she was human again. But none of them had. Kennedy wanted to be here, and would be even if she wasn't the Next Girl In All The World. That was as much a brotherhood, or sisterhood, as being a Potential. "It is."
Kennedy
A particularly loud shriek of laughter came from the living room, and Kennedy glanced toward the cluster of girls with a grimace.
"Might be less eardrum-damaging, too, right?" she asked with a laugh, her own thoughts more preoccupied with the girls like Chloe and Rona who were in this now whether they wanted to be or not. (Well, and Willow, but that had become something of a given, apparently.) "Plus, not really in line with the rules. Kinda makes it even cooler, in my book."
Pfft, all that 'the Slayer works alone' crap. Whatever.
Dawn
"We make the rules now," Dawn said, determined. "So if we say it's cool, it's cool." There, that settled that. Which would have been less scary if there'd been old stuffy Watchers there to defy, but. They could still blow off tradition. "Reinvent it all."
Kennedy
And Kennedy was not going to point out that the Watchers' Council wasn't in much of a position to complain at the moment anyway.
Someone in the living room-- it sounded like Chloe-- yelped just before everyone started laughing, and Kennedy shook her head. "Not sure we had a choice about that part by now, but hey. Might as well reinvent it in style."
[[and done for the week! nfi/nfb/ooc-okay, et cetera et cetera and so forth. mostly made up but based on bits from the end of btvs 7x12, "potential," with thanks to the scintillating regretiz4suckas as inthekeyofme!]