Myshuno! 13: Stuck in an elevator between floors
Prompt: Stuck in an elevator between floors
Universe: A Buffyverse Apocalypse
Word Count: 1086
Notes: Takes place during the prologue to the BC. I did spend some time thinking about which characters I wanted to use for this - my original thoughts were my simself and Liam, though I did consider Round Robin sims as well - before I figured out what would work. I realized that even though the issues here weren't as big as the ones that got resolved in the prologue (Liam really needed a kick in the pants to just get over everything), there was still some awkwardness that was going to need to be resolved between these characters.
Los Angeles had grown quite a bit since the apocalypse ended, to the point where there were actually buildings with elevators now. It made Rose happy, to see how much things had gotten better.
...She also had to admit she was kind of lazy, and so she used the elevators whenever she could. And, hey, this new mall had six floors, no way she was going to climb to the top of it when she could take an elevator, right?
The door opened on the third floor. "Rose," Buffy said politely as she stepped inside.
"Hey, Buffy," Rose said in return.
The doors closed and the elevator began to rise.
Unfortunately, it didn't get very far before it suddenly ground to a screeching halt, causing both women to stumble. At the same time, the main light went out, leaving the elevator lit only by the much less bright emergency light.
"What was that?" Buffy asked.
Rose shook her head. "Power outage, I think." She pressed the Door Open button, but nothing happened. "We must be stuck."
"...That's possible?"
Rose nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. My boss got stuck in an elevator once - not due to a power outage, but just because it was old and a mess - and couldn't get out til someone pressed the button from the outside."
Buffy frowned. "Huh."
"Luckily, this building isn't too tall or isolated or anything...let me check something." Rose pulled out her purse and began digging through it until she found her cell phone, which she pulled out. "We still have reception, good."
"Good?"
"Too many nightmare stories on the news of people not having cell phones or not having reception and getting stuck for hours or days. While I don't think we need to call for help right away - I'm sure the power companies know about the outage, and there are probably people worse off than us, especially if traffic lights or public transportation are out - this way we can if we're still here in a couple of hours."
Buffy nodded. "Okay, I see your point."
Rose slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor of the elevator. "This may take a while, we might as well sit."
Buffy frowned, but joined her.
The silence was awkward. Rose honestly wanted to start playing games on her phone - at least it would be something to do - but she knew that was an incredibly stupid idea. Running down the battery on her phone was probably the worst thing she could do right now, considering she might actually need the phone soon and it would be utterly useless with a dead battery. So instead she sat, trying not to watch Buffy, who was just as clearly trying not to watch her.
It only took ten minutes before Rose simply could not take it any longer. "So...read any good books lately?"
A quick, startled laugh came from Buffy's direction. "Is that supposed to be a bad pickup line?"
Rose shook her head. "No, just...not a big fan of silence, here."
"I figured that one out."
The quick conversation didn't last long. They continued to sit in silence as Rose got more and more fidgety.
This time, Buffy was the one who broke the silence. "Whatever it is you have to say, go ahead."
"What?"
"You're drumming your fingers on your leg, you keep glancing at me, and you're clearly nervous. Just...say it already."
Rose looked down, then back up. "I'm sorry," she blurted out.
"What?"
"For, you know, everything."
Buffy shook her head. "It's not your fault."
"But you're still upset with me."
"I'm not."
"You are. You've barely looked at me since we got in here together, this has been, like, the most awkward silence ever, and this conversation isn't much better. Not really."
Buffy sighed. "I'm not...I'm not angry, not the way Liam is angry. I'm just...I don't know."
"Upset?"
"A little."
"Well, I'm here now. I can't leave, or do anything. Go ahead and yell at me if you want. It's not like I don't deserve it."
Buffy shook her head. "I get it, I do. You didn't mean for anything bad to happen, other than the apocalypse itself, but not all the stuff that happened after, with the deaths and all."
"You want to know what really happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"I was an idiot and bit off more than I could chew."
"Huh?"
"I'd never played an apocalypse before and had no idea what I was doing, Buffy. I thought I was prepared, but the truth is, you can never be prepared enough, because no one knows what's going to happen. Frankly, you have a right to be angry, even more of a right than Liam does - you're the one who paid the most for my stupidity. Everyone else just died. You had to live a life you didn't want, lost all chance at the life you did want, and then died just like everyone else. So yeah, events happened beyond my control, but I thought I could control everything, and when it turned out I couldn't, things got fucked up. And you paid for it. So I wanted to say that I'm sorry."
As Rose talked, Buffy tensed, then slowly relaxed, until she looked far looser than Rose could remember seeing her. She'd been right - no matter what Buffy said, she felt at least a little upset. Hopefully this enforced conversation would help.
"I...thanks. I think I did need to hear that."
"I definitely needed to say it."
"Do you think Liam will ever..."
"Apologize? Admit that he doesn't know everything?" Buffy smiled weakly and Rose shrugged. "Maybe, if we're lucky. He's doing a bit better now, I think - being away from everyone has helped, both with letting him figure out who he is and letting everyone else calm down some. It'll take something big, but...I think there's a chance."
"I hope so. I don't want my little brother hating me forever."
Rose nodded sadly and placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder. "No one wants that. He'll figure it out. I think."
This time, when they fell into silence, it wasn't nearly as awkward.
Luckily, they didn't have to sit for long, as the lights came on and the elevator started back up with a whirr. When the doors opened, they both got out immediately.
"You know, I think I'm gonna take the stairs down," Buffy said.
Rose laughed. "Probably a good idea," she admitted.
Universe: A Buffyverse Apocalypse
Word Count: 1086
Notes: Takes place during the prologue to the BC. I did spend some time thinking about which characters I wanted to use for this - my original thoughts were my simself and Liam, though I did consider Round Robin sims as well - before I figured out what would work. I realized that even though the issues here weren't as big as the ones that got resolved in the prologue (Liam really needed a kick in the pants to just get over everything), there was still some awkwardness that was going to need to be resolved between these characters.
Los Angeles had grown quite a bit since the apocalypse ended, to the point where there were actually buildings with elevators now. It made Rose happy, to see how much things had gotten better.
...She also had to admit she was kind of lazy, and so she used the elevators whenever she could. And, hey, this new mall had six floors, no way she was going to climb to the top of it when she could take an elevator, right?
The door opened on the third floor. "Rose," Buffy said politely as she stepped inside.
"Hey, Buffy," Rose said in return.
The doors closed and the elevator began to rise.
Unfortunately, it didn't get very far before it suddenly ground to a screeching halt, causing both women to stumble. At the same time, the main light went out, leaving the elevator lit only by the much less bright emergency light.
"What was that?" Buffy asked.
Rose shook her head. "Power outage, I think." She pressed the Door Open button, but nothing happened. "We must be stuck."
"...That's possible?"
Rose nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. My boss got stuck in an elevator once - not due to a power outage, but just because it was old and a mess - and couldn't get out til someone pressed the button from the outside."
Buffy frowned. "Huh."
"Luckily, this building isn't too tall or isolated or anything...let me check something." Rose pulled out her purse and began digging through it until she found her cell phone, which she pulled out. "We still have reception, good."
"Good?"
"Too many nightmare stories on the news of people not having cell phones or not having reception and getting stuck for hours or days. While I don't think we need to call for help right away - I'm sure the power companies know about the outage, and there are probably people worse off than us, especially if traffic lights or public transportation are out - this way we can if we're still here in a couple of hours."
Buffy nodded. "Okay, I see your point."
Rose slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor of the elevator. "This may take a while, we might as well sit."
Buffy frowned, but joined her.
The silence was awkward. Rose honestly wanted to start playing games on her phone - at least it would be something to do - but she knew that was an incredibly stupid idea. Running down the battery on her phone was probably the worst thing she could do right now, considering she might actually need the phone soon and it would be utterly useless with a dead battery. So instead she sat, trying not to watch Buffy, who was just as clearly trying not to watch her.
It only took ten minutes before Rose simply could not take it any longer. "So...read any good books lately?"
A quick, startled laugh came from Buffy's direction. "Is that supposed to be a bad pickup line?"
Rose shook her head. "No, just...not a big fan of silence, here."
"I figured that one out."
The quick conversation didn't last long. They continued to sit in silence as Rose got more and more fidgety.
This time, Buffy was the one who broke the silence. "Whatever it is you have to say, go ahead."
"What?"
"You're drumming your fingers on your leg, you keep glancing at me, and you're clearly nervous. Just...say it already."
Rose looked down, then back up. "I'm sorry," she blurted out.
"What?"
"For, you know, everything."
Buffy shook her head. "It's not your fault."
"But you're still upset with me."
"I'm not."
"You are. You've barely looked at me since we got in here together, this has been, like, the most awkward silence ever, and this conversation isn't much better. Not really."
Buffy sighed. "I'm not...I'm not angry, not the way Liam is angry. I'm just...I don't know."
"Upset?"
"A little."
"Well, I'm here now. I can't leave, or do anything. Go ahead and yell at me if you want. It's not like I don't deserve it."
Buffy shook her head. "I get it, I do. You didn't mean for anything bad to happen, other than the apocalypse itself, but not all the stuff that happened after, with the deaths and all."
"You want to know what really happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"I was an idiot and bit off more than I could chew."
"Huh?"
"I'd never played an apocalypse before and had no idea what I was doing, Buffy. I thought I was prepared, but the truth is, you can never be prepared enough, because no one knows what's going to happen. Frankly, you have a right to be angry, even more of a right than Liam does - you're the one who paid the most for my stupidity. Everyone else just died. You had to live a life you didn't want, lost all chance at the life you did want, and then died just like everyone else. So yeah, events happened beyond my control, but I thought I could control everything, and when it turned out I couldn't, things got fucked up. And you paid for it. So I wanted to say that I'm sorry."
As Rose talked, Buffy tensed, then slowly relaxed, until she looked far looser than Rose could remember seeing her. She'd been right - no matter what Buffy said, she felt at least a little upset. Hopefully this enforced conversation would help.
"I...thanks. I think I did need to hear that."
"I definitely needed to say it."
"Do you think Liam will ever..."
"Apologize? Admit that he doesn't know everything?" Buffy smiled weakly and Rose shrugged. "Maybe, if we're lucky. He's doing a bit better now, I think - being away from everyone has helped, both with letting him figure out who he is and letting everyone else calm down some. It'll take something big, but...I think there's a chance."
"I hope so. I don't want my little brother hating me forever."
Rose nodded sadly and placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder. "No one wants that. He'll figure it out. I think."
This time, when they fell into silence, it wasn't nearly as awkward.
Luckily, they didn't have to sit for long, as the lights came on and the elevator started back up with a whirr. When the doors opened, they both got out immediately.
"You know, I think I'm gonna take the stairs down," Buffy said.
Rose laughed. "Probably a good idea," she admitted.