001 - Every time that I wake it's like I only wake into a dream

[want_take_have]

[she dreamt of a picnic.

Mayor Wilkins was there. Happy. Whole. Cracking his stupid, corny jokes that should have made her roll her eyes...except they didn't. There was a nagging sense of deja vu, like she'd seen this before and it hadn't ended well, but they finished their meal and he talked with her and...nothing happened. It was perfect.

She was content enough that she laid back on the grass and closed her eyes, just enjoying the breeze against her face and the fact that, for once, she didn't have to be on edge.

When she woke, she could still feel the hint of that breeze. An illusion, of course. Something left over from her imagination, because you didn't get wind in prison cells. She kept her eyes closed though, trying to pretend, because she wasn't quite ready to let it go...except there was a dull ache between her shoulder blades that wouldn't let her fully relax. Finally, she swore, grit her teeth, and opened her eyes-





...And stared.

It takes a few minutes of quietly freaking out before she finds the journal, and a few more before she gets ahold of herself enough to attempt to use it. She was from Sunnydale...She could handle screwed up. She'd figure it out as she went. Right?

When she actually speaks, she sounds pretty chill, especially to anyone who doesn't know what she sounds like when she's wigged.]

So...not saying I totally buy the whole "this is real" thing, 'cause this is all kinds of messed up...but pretending I did...where's a girl gotta go to get a hard drink around here?

[because she really, really needed one]

Comments

1/??

[herotypical]

[ that. voice. ]

[herotypical]

[ brainfrizz. ]

[herotypical]

[ this could be awful. this could be marginally okay. but there was no way this could be good. ]

4/5

[herotypical]

[ she takes a deep breath. ]

done.

[herotypical]

Me, Faith. I'm the one you see about getting a drink of most any kind, here.

[ not true, really. there's cloud nine. there's seventh heaven. but there was something satisfying in staking her claim so early. ]

1/?

[want_take_have]

[it knew her name. It knew her name and it sounded like-]

2/?

[want_take_have]

[oh god. Oh god oh god oh god.]

3/4

[want_take_have]

[she drops the journal like she'd been burned, backing away from it like that would change what she'd just heard. Calm. Deep breaths. It had to be some kinda dream, right? It made no kind of sense, otherwise]

Right. Okay. I get it. I'm dreaming.

[voice]

[thedicearecast]

Good Spirits. The bar.

[Given the season, Amelia only pauses for a moment before she adds:]

Need directions?

[voice]

[want_take_have]

Bar works.

[she just needed a chance to gather her thoughts...and ditch the terribad sundress she was wearing. Talk about bad memories. She tried to keep her voice even, though]

I'm gonna guess I just gotta head towards the light.

[she means the lights of the village, but there's a heavy dose of irony coating those words]

[voice]

[simplestgift]

Any number of places. As I am sure someone has recommended Good Spirits--an excellent alehouse--I might as well recommend Cloud Nine. It's a night club and I didn't think of the name, but I do seem to be running it at the moment.

[voice]

[want_take_have]

[kidnappings, freaky wings, and Buffy. The thought that there was someplace other than Good Spirits to get a drink should have been a relief, but hearing a British accent really wasn't helping with calming her down right now]

Damn...punk town like this has a night club? Who'd have thought?

[the words are there, but the brave edge that she usually flaunted was a bit strained, tonight]

[voice]

[godbent]

I actually recommend getting tea before a hard drink, so I'll put something in for that one - Celsius Tear. It's even above the Welcome Center.

[voice]

[want_take_have]

[voices over the journal. Directed at her.

Okay, so she'd half expected it, but it was still freaky as hell]

Sorry, Sister, but I not really in a halfway sort of mood.

[an awkward pause] But...thanks.

[snikting]

Good Spirits. There's another place, but if you're wanting to drink to believe, that's the best place for it.

[Hell. It's where he is now.]

[want_take_have]

[this would be funny if it wasn't so damn messed up] Guess this is really a one bar town, huh?

1/eh

[jewitch]

...

2/eh

[jewitch]

[Huh.]

3/3!!!

[jewitch]

[And here she was, just recently being so happy that the Malnosso had released her.

Silly her.

Well, she was about to go find Buffy anyway. In the meantime, she'll offer an extremely awkward piece of half-hearted, drowsy advice.]

Good Spirits.

[Yes, direct her to the Slayer's place of employment. Buffy will know what to do.]

[voice]

[cop_an_attitude]

All too real, I'm afraid. Lucky for you, there's more than one place here to get a hard drink, but it sounds like that's been covered.

Need any help? I take it you woke up close to the village.

[voice]

[want_take_have]

[Jesus]

...this place is just crawling with Good Samaritans. [the words weren't particularly friendly, but they lacked the bite they would normally have. The British accent has her on edge, though]

[Voice/Let me know if the first-person prose is a problem]

[quicktoanger]

Another evening of browsing the journals, and another face new to town. I managed to catch her pretty quick after she asked, even.

She didn't ping my celebrity radar. Still, anybody who gets stuck in this hole deserves directions to the freaking bar, if nothing else.

"It's a nice little place called Good Spirits. If you can find the plaza, it's just a little ways from there, near the fork in the road."

I paused.

"And I'm sorry to tell you this, ma'am, but that thing where you pretend it's a dream never works for long."

Re: [Voice/ It's a bit confusing,but whatever you're most comfortable with is cool]

[want_take_have]

[ma'am? Definitely not someone who knew her. But her real focus was on the Good Spirits suggestion] Damn...are you all gettin' paid to advertise for it or something? Or is that really all there is to do around here.

[if she didn't know Buffy was there, she'd have been fine with it. But ignorance wasn't really a possibility at this point]

[hisdarkmark]

"All kinds of messed up" is very, very much an understatement. Check Good Spirits. Or Seventh Heaven. Or Cloud Nine. Loads of people have a tendency to want a quick fix.

[want_take_have]

Surprised the lot of you aren't sloshed just talking to me.

[really. How do any of you deal with this?]