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

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

[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]

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[That sparks any number of questions, but it distracts her enough to dampen some of the panic and the sick feeling she gets remembering her escape from the hospital and the poor girl she beat up for clothes that time]

...the dress? You tellin' me this is normal? [some kind of sick freak was kidnapping people and putting them in new clothes? That was messed up. Even for her]

Unfortunately.

[Amelia doesn't hold any love for the thing herself, so she can definitely sympathize.]

People get brought here, then they wake up in the dress if they're female, or pants if they're not. They also get the wings, but those you shouldn't try to take off. It'll kill you.

Great. Just what I need.

[she doesn't want to go into town. What she wants is to wake up. Or maybe go screaming in the opposite direction, just to be as far from Buffy and wings and sundresses as she possibly can be. But, instead, she swallows hard, gingerly picks up the journal, and reluctantly begins walking.

...Heaven help anyone who startles her right now. She'd probably give them a concussion before she could help herself]

It gets worse.

[Amelia waits when she hears the sound of the book moving though, and the footsteps, letting Faith get started on her walk before she speaks up again.]

If you want, I can find you. Show you the places you'll need to go.

[her first instinct is to turn her down. She's a take-care-of-herself kind of girl...and, really, she's got no reason to trust anyone here.

But she really doesn't know where to go.

The reluctance is clear in her voice, but she gives in] ...Yeah. Why not. If you feel like playin' tour guide.

There's not much else to do right now.

[Mostly because Amelia has been trying to give her housemates space, with the new baby. As cute as the kid is, Amelia still isn't exactly comfortable around him.

So out the house she goes.]

Are you close to a river, or buildings? That'll probably be the easiest way for me to find you.

I'm leaving behind some grove with a bunch of flowered trees. [the perfect place for a picnic, really, which only made this feel like a continuation of her dream] And there's a river on my left.

[thankfully, finding the village itself wasn't hard. Just follow the yellow window lights]

You might not be that far from me, then. If you're heading south?

[Though Amelia knows the woman might not be able to tell. Different stars.

Still, she goes with it. North it is. Amelia sticks to the path, but keeps an eye out for anyone wearing the dress in question.]

...Can't really tell you. [it's a grudging admission] Nature walks really aren't my thing.

[but it's a good guess, and with both of them heading in the right direction, it wouldn't be long before Faith would become visible. She certainly doesn't look like much, pale and barefoot and dressed in white, but a closer look would reveal muscled arms (however lean), and all the caution in the world in her stance. She slows when the other woman comes into sight, though she doesn't completely stop]

That'll probably change. At least you'd seen trees before, yeah?

[Amelia doesn't get out much more than that, however, before the woman comes into view. Even if she might not look like much at first glance, neither does Amelia to most people, so she knows better than to underestimate.

Just to check though, Amelia does stop, then raises a hand to point over her shoulder.]

Bar's that way. So's south.

...Guess that makes you my guide.

[she slows to a stop as well, though, not quite sure what to do now that the other woman is there. Her dark eyes are wary, and observant, taking in Amelia's outfit...the way she carries herself. Faith might not have been the best at school, but she was pretty damn good at reading people. At least when it came to determining threats.

Nothing about Amelia's body language said danger, but Faith wasn't fooled into thinking she was harmless, either. She could recognize a fellow fighter when she saw one]

Looks like.

[It's been a long time since Amelia's come across someone who seems so wary. She's honestly surprised she doesn't see it more often, but it doesn't phase her. Instead she reaches up, takes the edge of her coat and purposely pulls it back so the woman can get a better look at the gun holstered at her side.]

I mostly carry this around because of habit. Back home it was stupid to walk around without a gun. Here it's almost weird to. There's no money, and everything's free. Food, water, shelter. Almost everyone gets along, or seems to. We're all trapped here, so there's not a lot of point in doing otherwise.

[Amelia turns then, slowly, before she starts walking in the direction of the village. Faith's free to follow, or not, but Amelia isn't going to do her harm either way.]

[her back is to her. Faith could picture it...how easy it might be to jump the woman. Take the clothes and the gun and just...flee.

Where are you gonna go, Faith? Back out into that darkness?

She closes her eyes for a moment, breathing in, fingers closing in a fist at her side, and then lets it go, slowly falling into step a few feet behind the other woman.]

So what...it's some kind of hippie commune thing?

[Faith may have thought so, but Amelia definitely doesn't make it easy for people who try and touch her. Turning her back isn't a show of naivete, but of confidence.

Luckily, it doesn't come to that, and Amelia keeps on walking.]

Not really. Just a bunch of people trying to make the best of their situation. All the stuff I mentioned is provided for us, by a group called the Malnosso. They're the ones who keep us here, and they're the ones responsible for that "worse" I mentioned.

And no one's put them down?

[She makes no move to close the gap between them. Despite her stress, she's fairly accomplished at keeping her gait smooth and confident, but the tension comes out in the way her hands fidgeted with each other. She pressed a fist against one palm, and then the other, cracking her knuckles, or rolling her shoulders. Easy enough to write off as adjusting to the wings or being stiff from waking up in a field, but it helped soothe her nerves]

No one can.

[Amelia's fine with whatever Faith wants to do back there, so long as the woman keeps her distance. It's comfortable enough for Amelia.]

At least not that I can tell. There's a barrier surrounding this whole area. If you head away from the village, you'll hit it eventually. We're here, and they're there.

[For the most part--there had been that thing a few weeks back, but Amelia had only heard about the aftermath. If Faith is really interested, she can find out about it from someone more aware of village and Malnosso politics.]

[it's enough, for now, and surprising enough that Faith can't help but laugh. It figures]

...Guess that makes this a prison, after all.

Pretty much.

[But Amelia can't be entirely cynical about it. Not anymore.]

There are good things, though.

Hey, I've dealt with worse. Usually without the promise of free shit to soften the blow.

[oddly enough, the explanation that they were trapped seemed to actually lighten her mood, rather than make it worse]

You might want to wait until I finish before you say that.

[Although hey. Whatever Faith wants to take comfort from. Amelia turned a corner, then headed for a bridge.]

I've been here a year and a few months. So far I've been turned into some sort of furball, deaged into a kid, had my independence stripped away, had my entire life's history rewritten, been forced to fall in love--twice, and fought in the Malnosso's war in some place called a rain forest--which isn't all that great if you've never been to one.

And I've seen my friends go through worse.

[she stopped walking about half way through Amelia's list.

Maybe she'd been wrong about this chick. Maybe she was the crazy one.

Or maybe this really was a dream. Because she was used to unbelievable, but this kind of took the cake]

[No more footsteps?

Amelia stops and turns around, realizing she's left the woman behind. Though she knows she shouldn't find it funny, there's a faint grin on Amelia's lips--not exactly light-hearted, but bitter humor is still humor.]

Told you there was worse. I had planned on waiting until you'd started drinking to say it though.

[And then she shrugs.]

Sister, drunk doesn't mean crazy. [there wasn't enough alcohol for this]

No. And I didn't really believe it at first either. Except it was coming from someone I know from back home--except he's from a few years into my future, apparently. Same with the other people I knew before I got here.

Don't expect it to make any sense. It doesn't.

[ugh]

Guess they got that part right, anyway. [as far as she was concerned, nothing ever made sense]

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