strangetrip | [GP] Check-In and Check-Out?

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[GP] Check-In and Check-Out?

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.

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Of course it was Carlos because that was just Buffy's luck. Well Angelus would be Buffy's luck but this was right up there with wishing for a demon attack to distract them.

She couldn't deny that she was still attracted to him so it wasn't all weird mojo of the hotel - or Ethan. Buffy still liked to blame Ethan. With a determined smile, she answered him. "I am. Not happy that it's not connected to home but hey it's good to get away from all the pink. You look - uhhh - kind of magic-y."

At least he kind of looked like a cross between Harry Potter and the movie with the hottie elf. Gangolf or something.

Slightly embarrassing, but at least Buffy was pretty to look at. And where did that come from? Come on, Ramirez. Get a grip. "This old thing?" he said, indicating his staff, which to be fair, did look somewhat battered and older than it should. That was the problem in being a battle wizard, you used your tools to fight with. "I suppose it does a bit, yeah." How much of what they did did she remember? How much magic did he show off with?

"Huh, you didn't need that at the hotel." Buffy said before she realized that she'd put her thoughts to words and then felt her face flush and she stumbled over her words hoping he wouldn't notice.

"I mean your magic must be different from my friend Willow's. She doesn't use anything, well herbs and stuff but not a staff."

Carlos flushed in return, remembering why he used his magic with her. "It acts as a focus for me," he said, moving on quickly. "Don't need it for minor spells, but for bigger ones..." He paused for a moment, then the staff lit up, the runes etched on it turning green for a moment. "It just helps." Though his other foci hadn't made it here with him. "I didn't think about asking - you didn't seem surprised about magic." Yeah, let's keep any conversation very light about what happened.

"That is so cool." Buffy said honestly, and made a mental note to tell Willow when she saw her again about the staff and the focusing. There wasn't a doubt in Buffy's mind that she would see her friend again. Taht she'd see all of her friends again and her mom.

"Yeah, uh my best friend is a witch." And since she'd been a heck of a lot more intimate with him than with Dean and Sam Winchester and the Winchester brothers knew, Buffy added, "and uh I kind of hunt Supernatural things. Vampires." And she waited for the you're nuts look, though to be fair, she hadn't got any of those looks since her arrival.

"Eh, it's a cheap trick," he admitted. "Though it does look cool, true."

If Carlos had had his sword with him, the tassels hanging from the hilt would have no doubt caught Buffy's attention, filled as they were with vampire fangs. "You have vampires?" he said, all business for the moment. "Which court?" Ah, the joys of having such choice of vampires. "And don't worry, I know all about the supernatural, though a non-wizard hunting some of them is a little... different to what I'm used to." Though others did, they tended to have strong linked to varying forms of supernatural.

"Uh court?" Buffy made a mental note - not that she'd remember when she saw Giles again. "Yeah, I don't think there are courts of vampires where I'm from. At least I've never heard of them." She made a face, "but to be honest I usually just hear blah, blah, boring vampire stuff, blah. I'm more of an action girl. Point me in the direction of vampires and I'll slay them."

She grinned when she realized what she'd said and then elaborated. "I'm a Vampire Slayer. One born in a generation to fight vampires and other supernatural baddies."

He couldn't help but laugh at it. Somehow he could imagine Buffy just ignoring information in favour of action. "Be thankful, cause some of our vampires, you don't want to run into." Yeah, he might still be a little scared of Lara Raith. Sex vampires are no one's idea of a good time - or at least, not for long.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "That's a very specific kind of job," he pointed out. "Generally a branch of us wizards does all the fighting in mine. The Wardens." Amongst other things.

"It's not really a job only I guess it kind of is." Which sucked except here she didn't have to be a Slayer which was nice - and weird.

"So you have branches?" Buffy cocked her head as she walked along with him along the street. "Wardens are the soldiers and other kinds of wizards do other things?" A part of her would like a lot of other Slayers that could help (though not Faith or Faith-like) but another part wasn't sure that she'd like it.

Well, call it vocation. That worked as well.

He pulled a face. "Kind of? There's a whole hierarchical structure which is... incomprehensible, to be honest. Wardens just form one part of that structure." They weren't exactly high up on the food chain, just important. "We have other duties as well, but for the most part, we work on our own on whatever projects interest us. Some of us just get into trouble." Not him. Harry. Definitely Harry.

Buffy wondered if the Watcher Council did the same with her - talking about all the trouble she got into. Yeah she was pretty sure they did. "Wait. You get to pick what you want to do? That must be nice." She made a face, "usually for me, it's just another big bad wants the Hellmouth. Blah, blah, I'm going to turn Sunnyvale into hell. Blah, blah and then I kick their ass."

"Within reason. I tend to be kept busy with one thing and another." Mostly running round to do what he could with his fellow Regional Commander being somewhat absent. The USA was a big place when you had to cover it all.

He glanced around, and saw a seat to the side. "Mind if we sit down if we're going to discuss magic?" he asked. He was far better than he was, but if he wasn't careful, he could tire easily, and Buffy was a little bundle of energy. Not a bad thing, but could tire him out. "Hellmouth? That sounds... nasty."

Buffy sat beside him easily and shifted her weight so that she was semi-facing him. "Hellmouth is yeah... what it sounds like. There's a lot of demons and vampires around it all the time. Vampires are everywhere but they always come around the Hellmouth."

She sighed a little, "and it's my job to stop them." Sure she had help, but the reality was, it was her job to stop them.

"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.

"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."

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."

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."

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.

"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.

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.

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."

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."

"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."

"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."

"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?"

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[GP] Check-In and Check-Out?

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