[ visual ] [ location:summers castle ] i'm empty and aching and tumbling and breaking
The switch between poodle skirts and pajamas is instant, but Dawn doesn't register it until that morning when she wakes up, snug in bed in the castle. Where she should be. Not that the whole having a father that didn't suck thing was bad, but modern Dawn is better. Largely because she's the real one, and there's the part where she can wear short skirts and pants when she wants.
...The somewhat incriminating picture of her and Kirk now on her nightstand is not as it should be, though, and Dawn blushes bright red before stuffing it in a drawer. If the hamsters ever do a Q and A, Dawn is asking why they seem to want her to make out with all Buffy's exes.
And oh hey, there's a thought. Where is Buffy? Dawn doesn't remember her being around during the glitch, but that doesn't mean a whole lot with the new backstory they all got. Which means now is the time for a sisterly reconnect. Maybe some waffles could play a co-starring role.
It's a quick walk down to Buffy's room, and Dawn knocks on the door. "Buffy?" Rolling her eyes, she knocks again. "Buffy, I swear to God if you're all... you know with Spike when I open the door, I'm suing you for emotional distress." Another knock, this one louder. "Buffy?" Shoving the door open with a little more intensity than needed-- it bangs again the wall, a loud thunk that makes Dawn jump a little-- she moves into the room, then stops.
It's empty.
No clothes, no shoes, no weapons; no Buffy-related clutter at all. Just one bed-- neatly made like Buffy never keeps it-- and the basic room stuff all the castle has, and a cold draft blowing through. "...Buffy?"
Shaking her head disbelievingly and swallowing hard, Dawn fishes her tablet out of the pocket of her robe. "Not funny. I'm going to--" she breaks off, hand flying to her mouth involuntarily. Where there should be a beach on the map, no beach is; and the castle now has Dawn's name attached. And more importantly (heartbreakingly) the normal Buffy Summers dot is nowhere to be found.
"Buffy?" Dawn knows she sounds like a little kid, and in a quick angry movement she throws her tablet across the room and slides down against the wall, tears already falling.
Buffy's gone. She's not supposed to be gone (just like Xander wasn't supposed to leave either) but she is and now Dawn's the one alone.
It takes her a little bit to get the crying under control, and once she does Dawn raises her head to look at the empty room, the still un-broken tablet shining mockingly bright in the sunlight coming through the windows.
The castle is hers. It still sounds weird. Not right. But it is, and she rises slowly to grab the tablet, moving like each breath hurts. The castle's hers, and Buffy's gone. There's... things. Things she should do.
It would probably be better to keep this on voice, but Dawn barely has the presence of mind of give the heads up at all so visual it will stay.
"So. For anyone who didn't know," she clears her throat, voice scratchy. "Sorry. Buffy Summers went-- went home. And I guess the castle is mine, now." Letting her hair swing down in front of her face for a moment, she sighs. "I just... thought I should say. Or something."
She inhales, about to say something else; then it hits her again that Buffy's gone; not a continent away, not reachable by email or cell but gone, and Dawn feels like part of her got ripped away too. She's echoing and hollow, aching inside. Shaking her head, she switches off the tablet abruptly.
[ ooc | slightly forward dated to just after the glitch ends; i know i'm still technically on hiatus but with me being gone for so long, i wanted to get this up because i couldn't not have dawn react to the loss of buffy. tablet or action for castle denizens/dawn's friends. ♥ ]