My heart is pierced by cupid; I disdain all glittering gold

[noprevaricating]

Who: tothelibrary and noprevaricating.
What: Stretching Dawn's legs after her mallynap.
When: July 11, early morning, before it gets hot.
Where: The forest path, not far from town.
Summary: Archie wants to make sure Dawn has lots of sensory experiences after being kept in a cell for a few weeks. And by "sensory experiences," we mean "intentions here are totally chaste

Comments

[tothelibrary]

Being a morning person has never been among Dawn's skills. Translating ancient texts, yes. Exorcisms, yes. Buying too many shoes, very yes. But being up and alert and moving around before ten thirty or so? No.

But Archie is the one asking her, so she agrees with a minimum amount of grumbling, leaves a note on the fridge and heads out. She's quiet for the first bit of the walk, yawning every so often and just trusting Archie to lead the way. But between movement and fresh air she starts to perk up, and with one last yawn she slides an arm around Archie's waist, shaking her head.

"Okay, I have to admit it. I'm still not a morning person but you were completely and totally right, this is beautiful."

[tothelibrary]

"I know exactly what you mean, I think." Not about Tara, but the summer Buffy was dead; the months after she came home.

[noprevaricating]

"It gets better. Sometimes it gets worse again after, but it always gets better. I don't think anything can go in one direction too long."

[tothelibrary]

"It's cyclical." Sighing quietly, Dawn looks over at their stash of food. "So, I think we just earned ourselves some post-serious face stuffing."

[noprevaricating]

Nodding, he takes two bowls out of the bag and begins to fill them with strawberries. After, he pours a little carton of cream over them and hands one to her with a spoon. "No more melancholy. We'll enjoy the morning."

[tothelibrary]

"This is why you get to be the idea-guy for today. I'm just going to eat--" she takes a bite, then one more for good measure-- "Really really delicious strawberries and let you be the boss of me."

[noprevaricating]

"As it should be, at least for now." With that, he pours her hot chocolate and simply enjoys her company.