∞ 87: Rooftops [action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Around mid-morning, Albert can be seen picking up small things in the plaza -- nails, pens, groceries. He doesn't often do this, but it's been a week since he gave Caesar the task of repairing the stable, so he finds himself inspecting and repairing the amateurish work. That requires a few extra building supplies. Might as well take advantage of

Comments

[action] oh man i spam you way too much, i fear

[slaying]

[Late afternoon, Buffy walks by. Now, she often gets a little nosy 'round Albert and Raine's place because--frankly--she hates to pass up a chance to talk to either of them. So, wandering around to the stable, she looks pleased to find the tactician there.]

Need some extra hands?

[action] but it's such lovely spam, my dear!

[chikaidestroyer]

[Albert tilts his head down when he sees the familiar blond, pleased to see her once again looking ... well, comfortable with Luceti. Had it been that long since he had last spoken to her?]

I'm not sure. I'm considering this something of a punishment upon myself.

[action] <3.

[slaying]

Punishment for what?

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[He shakes his head faintly, though he does in fact look amused.]

For thinking Caesar could complete this roof by himself.

[action]

[slaying]

Nothing wrong with giving family a chance. Younger siblings gotta grow.

[She smiles. She's been there.]

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

You sound as if you know from experience.

[They had never spoken about such things before. It had pretty much always been business.]

[action]

[slaying]

I've got a little sister. Dawn. She's--well? She could be a handful, growing up.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[...]

I see. I take it there's an age gap? [Her phrasing made it sound as if they weren't close in age.]

[action]

[slaying]

She's nineteen. Kinda. [A hiss through her teeth.] It's a little complicated. She only really became my sister about four years ago. Before that she was--uhm--a bunch of mystical energy?

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[That's definitely a new one.]

You magically came into possession of a sister?

[action]

[slaying]

Some monks needed to protect a supernatural...key, of sorts. So they figured what better fail-safe than create a little sis for the Slayer and give her some fake memories so she'll feel uberprotective over it. Her.

[Buffy shrugs.] She's real, though. And the memories feel as real as they can. I love her, and she's my sister.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[This is perhaps the first time he's heard of one's mind being manipulated and someone being accepting of the change. He carefully climbs down the ladder.]

You must have developed quite a bond if you can overlook the facts like that.

[action]

[slaying]

She never asked for this to happen to her. It's...kinda tough, to see your little sister go all slicetastic on her own skin with a knife just 'cause she doesn't believe she's real. We...adapted, y'know?

[Buffy did so much more than overlook the facts.] She's the one I died for.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Self-mutilation. He frowns, however, when he hears Buffy admit just how important this "sister" was.]

You were very emotionally invested in her well-being. Was the outcome worth it?

[action]

[slaying]

A Hellgoddess was trying to use her to open a portal that would swallow the world. She was a key, after all. Her blood opened the portal. But her blood also closed it.

[Buffy hugs herself with her arms, unsure of what else to do with them.] But the monks? They made her into my sister, entirely. Which means our blood? Summers' blood. But the portal had opened so wide...I wasn't going to let Dawn take that dive. I was already living on borrowed time.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

So you made the decision as you were already dying. [A situation like that would make the decision an easy one. One casualty where there could have been two.]