one [ holo ✝ location: sanctuary ]

[slaying]

This was supposed to have been a victory. Buffy blinked against the brightness of the room; she already missed the comforting sunlight of Sunnydale, California. Or what used to be Sunnydale. She continuously had to compensate with the knowledge that the town she had spent years protecting was gone. Crater'd. Ka-freakin'-blooey. And yet it seemed to

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[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

[ there are a lot of things dawn expected today. snow, being trapped in an alien cave, missing buffy, eating some popcorn, missing buffy more.

what she wasn't expecting was buffy's voice to come over the tablets, wary and frustrated but her, and the tshirt dawn was folding slips out of her hand, hitting the floor with a soft whump where it is then ignored in favor of moving closer to her tablet and reaching out a hand towards the tiny projection of her sister. ]

...Buffy?

[ voice ]

[slaying]

[That voice. God, but she would know it anywhere. Buffy turns back to the pedestal and its freaky new-fangled device. That had been where the sound came from, right? She swallows hard.]

Dawn. [Not a question. Just the concerned and agitated strains of a Summers older sister.] Dawn -- where are you?

[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

You're here. [ she sounds a little shell-shocked, but then she repeats herself and there's nothing but excitement. ] You're here!

...My room, but hold on. I'll fix that and come get you.

[ voice ]

[slaying]

[Your room? What a whirlwind. Buffy pinches the bridge of her nose and tries to think. Is this real life? Could she be...dreaming? It happened, occasionally. But whatever prophetic thing this was? Well. She didn't want it.

Except...except Dawn.] And I'm just supposed to wait? [A slightly needling, impatient remark. Just enough Summers' snark to show she's not entirely rattled.]

[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

Futuristic cell phone thing on the pedestal. If you pick it up, it'll let you out of the room. Until then, you're stuck in the alien green room, so picking it up is probably best.

...I'll be there in like, seven minutes. Maybe ten.

[ if she sounds kind of breathless it's because she's already grabbed boots-- clothes? why get dressed, pjs are fine because buffy's here-- and is running breakneck through the castle, to the door. ]

I'm so glad you're back. I missed you.

[ voice ]

[slaying]

Cell phone? Right. [This she grabs, palming it a moment before looking for the exit. She won't stray far -- though what is this feeling? Dawn coming to get her? Shouldn't it be the other way round?]

I don't...Dawn, I've never been here.

[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

It's called a tablet, but I can do the whole speech in person. It might seem less crazy when you can see my face and tell it's not an elaborate off-season April Fools' joke.

[ the thuds of her boots on stone don't cease, but dawn's voice goes confused here. ]

Buffy, what are you talking about, you just-- left. [ ...she's seen this before. ] You don't remember, do you?

[ voice ]

[slaying]

I don't even know what I'm supposed to be not remembering. Except that apparently I should be having a case of deja-vu that I am definitely, definitely not experiencing.

[Popping her head out of the initial arrival room.]

[ voice ]

[tothelibrary]

It's okay, I'll-- okay, the lack of running for my life lately has ruined my converse and run skills. I promise, I'll explain as soon as I get there, okay?

[ she can run faster if she stops talking. this is a good reason to be quiet for once. ]

[ voice ]

[slaying]

[There is a pit-of-her-stomach instinct to trust Dawn. Why not? Unless it isn't really Dawn at all which is a possibility her mind does not shy away from. But Buffy simply isn't sure whether it's a possibility she wants. Because what could be good about being here?]

Right. I'll...right. Consider me both patient and waiting. [Only not.]

we belong together now forever united here somehow

[tothelibrary]

The run (and, admittedly, quick hop on a tram for part of it when Dawn realized that her grand running gesture would lead to needing a water break halfway through) is worth it when Dawn shoves through the doors of the Sanctuary, heading for the corridor where the arrival room is, just off from the entrance.

She's speaking before there's even the slightest chance Buffy can see her; half warning for what's probably a very jumpy Slayer, half just not being able to wait. "Buffy? Buffy, if you didn't pick up the stupid tablet and you're still in the newbie room I might actually kill you."

we belong together now forever united here somehow

[slaying]

Buffy is definitely no longer in the "newbie room". Instead, she congregates in a lonely pack of one just beyond its door. The scythe is rather at home, leaning against her right shoulder. Buffy herself looks to be less at home.

Though it is hard to suppress the relief at Dawn's voice and she turns to take in her little sister -- who for all intents and purposes she has last seen less than an hour ago, but whose dedication to the reunion has kindled its own kind of sisterly longing in the Slayer.

"I'd like to see you try. I'm the supernaturally tough Summers. You're just the freakishly tall one."

we belong together now forever united here somehow

[tothelibrary]

"You're the cheater who should carry in the groceries more and I have better shoes, so there." Dawn takes in Buffy for a second-- she looks... younger? Not so much it's obvious unless you spend 24/7 around her (which Dawn does) but there's something lighter about her; some tense, tautly wound control Dawn never noticed was there until now, when she's confronted with its lack-- and then launches herself into a hug, wrapping her arms around Buffy and holding tight.

"Hi." If she sounds teary, ignore it please. It's allergies. Or dust. Or both.

we belong together now forever united here somehow

[slaying]

It is supposed to be a victorious levity; however, this detour into whatever-this-place-is seems to have stolen some of that thunder. Buffy feels a little like waking up late to a very important function. Like missing the first few bars of a song or skipping to the middle of a book. So frustrating for a girl so usually on top of things, albeit precariously so.

"I never cheat." She lies, tugging Dawn hard into a hug. Buffy does not hold tightly because it is a reunion -- after all, she has seen her sister recently. She holds tightly because it is an expression of everything that had just happened. How glad she is to have made it through with most of the crew intact. "But...can we move out of what kinda feels like it could be, I don't know, a facility possibly used for horrible, horrible things?"

we belong together now forever united here somehow

[tothelibrary]

"You cheat all the time, you're worse than Andrew." Dawn's retort is somewhat muffled by the side of Buffy's head. You didn't need to breathe, right big sister? "Behind your back we call you She Who Cheats A Lot. It's like your Indian name."

From Dawn's point of view, it's been almost a month since she last saw Buffy; which isn't long in the real world of cell phones and emails and Skype and actual snail mail when you're feeling vintage, but feels like forever in Taxon. "People live here when their houses don't come with them, it's not that bad." But she reluctantly disentangles herself from the hug and steps slightly back. "Come on, I can take you on the 'stuff that's on the way home' tour."

we belong together now forever united here somehow

[slaying]

"Better than She Who Seriously Needs A Tower To Be Locked In. Catchier, too."

Buffy is sad to see the hug go, but understands that things need to move on. They cannot chill out in welcome-ville forever. Not when there are questions to be answered and -- apparently -- sights to be seen. She nods and then takes a cue from the fact that Dawn is not freaking out about being here. "Does any of said stuff include some way to procure food? I am famished."