[GP] Check-In and Check-Out?

[st_alksthroughwalls]

For several days the doorway to Room 137, The Caveman Room, has been glowing. Then last night the occupant of Room 137 was assigned to a different room. Today, the room is open and at the back, instead of a wall, there is daylight.

Bird song fills damp, tropical air, heavy with sweet floral perfume. From all sides, voices rise and fall in a pattern universally recognizable as haggling in a marketplace. Fresh citrus wars with the copper and iodine of freshly butchered fish and shellfish, freshly baked bread, and newly tanned leather. A fountain with a cupola tiled in jade green and gold rises in the center of an oval space surrounded by a riot of colorful stalls and from the far side you hear the ringing of metal on metal.

Those who investigate find themselves amidst several hundred shopkeepers and their patrons dressed in colorful fabrics and leather boots. Beyond the market lies a city of thousands, and beyond it, an ancient temple and vast jungle that opens into what the natives call "The Land Out of Time."

~ * ~
As much as Kitty wanted to investigate this new phenomenon, and she would, it seemed especially important to have at least one person in the cafe in case of new arrivals. It was her turn, so whether Caroline and the others joined her or not, Kitty would spend at least part of the day here behind the bar. Hopefully, whatever it was wouldn't swallow anyone up. Or if it did, Lara or Wyatt or both would come get her.

Comments

[st_illavirgin]

"All on your own?" he asked, impressed at the thought of it. "We were at war with one court of Vampires until recently, and it took every available wizard to fight them, and we only just managed to survive it." So many friends lost. So many empty spaces in barracks. He was grateful to get back home and be around family... people.

[st_accato]

"I had help. Friends, but mostly it was me." Buffy shifted her weight and looked back out over the area. "At my graduation, the mayor did a ritual to become an Old One, a pure bred demon. He brought a vampire army to the celebration. My friends fought the vampires and did a great job." She turned to look at Carlos, "but it was my job to stop the Mayor or by then giant snake guy. I kind of blew up my school."

[st_illavirgin]

That got a raised eyebrow from Carlos. "You did that at eighteen?" he asked, shaking his head a little. "We're generally still only part way through our apprenticeships by then." Generally. His was a little different, as he was thrown in at the deep end with the war against vampires and all that. "I'm impressed."

[st_accato]

Buffy felt a faint flush on her cheeks as she turned to him, "thanks but it's not like I had a choice, like you did. I mean you might not have chosen to be a wizard but you chose to be a Warden and fight vampires. It was my destiny." She paused thinking about it, really thinking about it, "don't get me wrong, I couldn't walk away from it now even if I could. You can't stop seeing the darkness or protecting people after you know what's really out there."

[st_illavirgin]

He accepted what she said with a gesture. "Well, I suppose there was some degree of choice in it." Fight, or run the risk of dying, in his case. His skills were most suited in that direction. He knew his use of entropy magic was on the more unusual side of things, but even so, if he hadn't shown signs of being a combat specialist, he'd have been dragged into the fight somehow.

"No, you can't, can you?" A non-wizard who got it. Although there were a fair few normals who knew about the supernatural life, there weren't that many, and Carlos couldn't go and just chat about it to them. It was a relief in a way. He hadn't realized how much he'd taken on his shoulders after Harry died.

[st_accato]

"I'm not saying that I don't sometimes wish someone else had become the Vampire Slayer. But I also know the person that I was and I'm honestly glad the other me seems like someone else now."

Buffy knew that she would have outbitched Cordelia if she'd never been given a role greater than herself. "I like that I know that I make a difference, even when other people don't." She shot him a grin, "but people notice more than you think. I was voted Class Protector at Prom." She loved that umbrella.

[st_illavirgin]

He nodded, getting it. "Adversity makes the best out of us?" he said with a grin at her.

Carlos laughed a little. "Okay, that's cute," he agreed. "Class Protector sounds like they cared a lot. That's fantastic." He's not sure that any of his class mates noticed there was something different about him - apart from the fact that technology tended to blow up in his wake. Pure coincidence right there.

[st_accato]

She liked that he didn't think it was cheesy, even if it was a little bit. Buffy had been very proud to receive it. "Yeah, I thought it was. It made it all worth while. Not that getting a pat on the back is why I do it, it's just nice when people notice."

[st_illavirgin]

He wasn't one to complain about cheesy. Sometimes cheesy was the best and only way. "But can't it be dangerous if people notice?" he asked. "The admission that the supernatural is real... it's never going to be easy for most people to take."

[st_accato]

"It can." Buffy agreed with a nod, "I didn't tell my mom for a really long time, but I finally told her last year." It was a painful subject because it had been after everything with Angelus. "A part of me wished that she never had to know but a bigger part of me is really glad she does. Not because I don't have to hide it anymore, but if she's more aware, she'll be safer."

[st_illavirgin]

"I remember what it was like when I told my parents that I was a wizard. It was shocking for them, magic wasn't in the family at all, and it's hard to control your magic at first. I kept blowing up the tv." It was that that really gave everyone the idea that he was different. "But I keep them away from the worst of it, or at least I try to. Ending up in hospital too many times kind of gives them the idea that it's difficult and dangerous."

[st_accato]

"Man I so get that." Buffy made a face, "well Slayers have really good healing but my friends and I are in the hospital emergency room more than normal." Sure, ninety percent of that is because poor Giles got concussions but she and the others spent their fair share time there as well.

She thought of the argument with her mother when she'd told her about being a Slayer. "How'd your family take it? When they learned why you were different?"