strangetrip | [Locked to Kitty] What, you just tripped and fell on his lips?

Entry tags:

[Locked to Kitty] What, you just tripped and fell on his lips?

You'd think that with spending time in a desert environment, that you'd get sick of the heat. Normally, you'd be right but after a workout, especially being able to give her all - or most of it anyway, Buffy always liked to relax and recoup in the sauna. She always invited Kitty or Jane, sometimes they'd say yes and sometimes not. This time, Kitty had decided to join her in the pampering. It lacked some hot guys giving massages, but what it lacked in that, it made up in sweat pouring down her temples. Maybe it actually was a good thing that there weren't hot massage guys to see her.

She reached over and poured more water on the hot rocks to make more steam. "Remind me again, why this is such a good idea? Well there is the fun fact that we don't pay to get hot and sweaty. But, besides that." Buffy was teasing, she actually enjoyed her time in the saunas. It gave her time to think about things, especially life as a 'normal' girl without Slaying. It could also be dangerous to be left alone with her thoughts, especially when they flicked between family and friends, Angel and Carlos... here and home....

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Because it cleans our pores and leaves us toned and glowy," came Kitty's vaguely snarky response from where she lay facedown on the sauna bench. She was too relaxed to be actually snarky, and she liked Buffy, so it was just a snark sideswipe at trophy wives somewhere who probably didn't deserve it anyway.

"And it's better than sitting around waiting for nothing to happen and solving zero scientific problems of note."

"You had me until the solving zero scientific stuff. Though Willow would have agreed with you on that one." Buffy sighed, she missed Wills and Xander so much. Sure she had friends here but it wasn't the same. "I do keep thinking another shoe will drop but it's more I'm used to the unexpected happening all the time."

"You and me both, sister." Kitty turned her head to the other side so she could see Buffy. "This is the longest I've gone without someone trying to kill me since I was thirteen."

They hadn't actually talked-talked about what they did in their own worlds, and they hadn't really compared notes on powers. But neither of them pulled punches in sparring and Buffy hit hard.

"Wow thirteen. I was in high school." Buffy knew that Kitty had 'extra' because while she held back, she didn't have to as much as with others that she sparred with. Both at the hotel and with Giles. Faith didn't count since she was a Slayer, too.

"What big bad wanted to kill you?" She knew that Carlos had to deal with vampires, too but he also had other supernatural things after him as a Warden.

"What big bad didn't, is probably an easier question." Kitty sighed and gave Buffy a wry twist of a smile. "Start with half of humanity and work your way out from there."

Not wanting to give up her comfortable lounging for simple demonstrations, Kitty just reached over, rested her hand on Buffy's arm, and then when she was sure Buffy knew she'd been touched, she phased her hand through Buffy and shrugged.

"I'm a mutant. Special powers. A lot of people are threatened by that. But most of the time my team was too busy saving their asses from inter-galactic threats or other mutants for that to matter a lot." Most of the time.

"Woah, just like Willow." It popped out of her mouth before she could stop it,when she felt Kitty's hand go through her. Then she went on to explain, "Sorry, my friend Willow had something happen when she temporarily had that same ability. Hers was magically created instead of having special powers like that."

Her expression turned a little sad, "half of humanity wasn't after me. I never had to go through that, but I get what it's like when someone close to you looks at you like suddenly you're a stranger." Buffy and her mother worked it out once she learned she was a Slayer, but it was hard. "I'm a Slayer. Uh, a vampire slayer that's born in every generation." Sure there was more than her now, but Buffy didn't include Faith. She didn't think that she'd ever get out of the coma and Buffy was surprisingly okay with that. Probably had to do with that weird dream she had, but still.

Willow's magical phasing probably wasn't exactly the same as Kitty's, but it didn't really matter. Buffy's reaction, I recognize this, was good as gold with Kitty. Of course it was only a few seconds later that she was realizing why.

"Are there that many vampires that need slaying in your world?" There weren't that many in hers. "That's a big job for one person. How long have you known it was your responsibility?" Because Kitty didn't doubt for a second it was. She and Yana and plenty of their friends had done their turns as Destiny's Bitch too.

"Yeah, there are. Not just vampires but all kinds of supernatural big bads." Buffy made a face, "I went to school over a literal hellmouth so lots for me to do." She grew serious as she thought of learning about being a Slayer. "I was fifteen years old and I had no idea what was going on. Then I wished someone else got picked."

Except if she were honest, Buffy kind of missed being a Slayer.

"I went to a special school for kids like me. But school was only about half of what we did there. The other half was training to fight things that were bigger, badder, meaner than us," Kitty said and it was clear she wasn't playing Big Bad Olympics, just sharing. "I was part of a team, but most of them were older than me."

She tilted her head and studied Buffy. "I was thirteen the first time I phased and fell through my bed into the kitchen. How'd you find out?"

"My first Watcher, Merrick, came up to me one day and said I was the 'Chosen' one. I thought he was just some creepy old guy, ya know? Turns out he was right. It was kind of a baptism by fire, my first kill without training, I was in a graveyard and instinct just took over. I missed the heart the first time with the stake." She thought about the difference between her life and Kitty's training.

"I didn't even know what a Watcher was before everything. They're sort of like trainers and sort of like mentors. At least my next Watcher was, Giles." There was obvious deep emotional bond tied to that name when she said it.

"Professor X was like that," Kitty said, a fond smile touching her lips. She hadn't thought about him like that in a very long time. "At least if we're going to have shit lives, they have awesome people in them."

Even if some of them didn't stay for long. Kitty suppressed a sigh over the unbidden thought of Lara. She still missed her. But Wyatt was no consolation prize.

"Yeah and it helps to have people in our lives that totally get or at least try to get what it's like." Buffy agreed with Kitty. "Even here." She thought of Dean and especially Carlos, even Alex in his way. "I might not have my friends and Watcher here, but it's nice having people around that get it."

"If you haven't met Laynia and Piotr, you should. They're from my world, or versions of my world. They'd get it too." In their own ways. But it seemed like Buffy needed people to talk to, and both of them would listen and be supportive.

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but I'm really glad to have them here."

"I keep thinking I'd love for Wills to show up but that's selfish me. I mean don't get me wrong I've met some great people here." Buffy grinned, "present company included. And some wizards which makes me miss Willow even more, even if Carlos has a different kind of magic. But, I miss my best friend."

It was on the tip of her tongue to warn her about other versions of her friends, but she wouldn't put that thought into Kitty's head. Besides, the other versions probably didn't come from a Wishverse. Probably.

Kitty'd been about to say something about friends but there was something in how Buffy mentioned Carlos, the hot restaurant guy, that made he stop, tip her head, smile.

"Carlos, huh? Is that the sound of a crush I hear?"

Buffy felt her face heat but she blamed it on the sauna. That was her story and she was sticking to it.

"No, well, maybe." Buffy finally admitted. "I don't know." She was still confused not trusting what she was feeling wasn't something weird left over from Valentine's Day.

"You remember the wonky on Valentine's Day? Yeah, Carlos and I got caught up in it. I like him and think he's a hottie but is it real or left over wonky, ya know?"

It wasn't like Buffy had experiene in this. The only other time she'd had sex it wasn't the best either. On the bright side Carlos hadn't turned into a killer.

"I had the same experience with Wyatt," Kitty told her and then stretched and turned to her side with her head propped on her hand. "Only kissing, but we decided we'd wait awhile to see if we were still interested in each other."

Kitty smiled, remembering that first awkward conversation about their feelings, then brushed a hand through the ends of her ponytail against her shoulder. "We've been dating since then. I'm pretty sure it's not leftover wonky."

Buffy's muscles in her shoulders relaxed, she hadn't realized they'd been that tense. It was nice to know someone else had gone through that, if not the same thing, sort of.

"We haven't talked about it. It's kind of the elephant in the room and I'm okay with that." Buffy hastened to add, not really wanting to discuss that night with Carlos. "But our paths have crossed and," she looked over at Kitty, "I've told him a lot of stuff that I haven't told many people about my life back home."

Nothing about Angel, that was still a raw spot for Buffy, but other things.

"Sounds like you like talking to him and you trust him," Kitty observed. She might not be a relationship guru (hah), but she could spot positives a mile away.

Probably because she'd spent so much time looking really hard for positives in negative situations. cough Pete Wisdom cough.

"So why not ask him how he feels about what happened, or if not, maybe if he wants to hang out?"

Buffy wasn't quite ready to ask Carlos how he felt. She was okay with being the Queen of Denial, but hanging out? That she could do. "Yeah, I'm not ready for how he feels about it. I'd rather face a den of vampire than that." She flashed a smile to show she was kidding, a little. "But, hanging out that could be date not date, yeah I'm good with that."

"Maybe you could invite him on a jog or a ride with me and Wyatt? I mean, double dates are kind of obvious, but at the same time, they're low pressure and Wyatt's a great guy." Both he and Carlos could use some guy friends, too.

"Jog would be good." Buffy scrunched up her nose as she confessed, "horses - well transportation and I don't mix well together. And a transportation that is living, wouldn't be a pretty picture."

She still didn't have a driver's license and being on a horse kind of scared her. If she couldn't control a car, how could she control something that had its own mind?

Kitty laughed and recalled her own first ride with Wyatt. She hadn't fallen off, but she hadn't been graceful, to say the least.

"Jog is easier to be casual about. He keeps pretty fit, right? And so does Wyatt, and you and I do, obviously. So we could just have a running group that starts with the four of us." She had no doubt it would catch on, and pretty quickly. There wasn't a lot to do around here.

Buffy perked up at that. "Oh I like that. It's casual and could turn into a group or not." Normally, Buffy wouldn't have any problem asking someone like Carlos out or to go do something. It was just that their introduction was very complicated.

"Wyatt wouldn't mind? I mean for the first run with just the four of us?" Or the three of them if Carlos didn't want to which Buffy was pretty sure that he would.

"He won't mind," Kitty replied confidently. If he did mind, she'd explain the situation, bat her lashes, give him a kiss and he'd do it for her. But she was pretty sure he wouldn't.

"Wyatt's one of the good guys."

Buffy felt a twist in her heart at Kitty's words and expression. She missed Angel. She understood that he couldn't or wouldn't be with her, and being at the Inn she had no idea if she ever would see him again. Angel was one of the good guys, too.

"It's nice when you can find one of the good guys." Buffy said, "I think Carlos is, too. At least he seems that way from our conversations. He's a Warden for Wizards."

"He seems cool." She worked with him in the kitchen from time to time. "And, hey, if we do this, I can get Wyatt to check him out, guy to guy." If Wyatt got warning bells off him, then Buffy could save herself before her heart got broken.

"That would be great. I mean, not that I'm expecting anything bad for Wyatt to notice." Buffy made a face, "Just that I might be a little gun shy. Sex complicates everything." That was the understatement of the century.

"Isn't that the truth." Kitty smiled and lowered herself back into a fully stretched position. "I was on a celibate streak when I got here. On purpose. To try to get my life in order and my head out of my ass."

Buffy scrunched her nose, then revealed, "I only slept with one person before coming here and that didn't turn out too good." Then she realized how that sounded and added, "I mean afterward. He was a vampire under a curse that would lose his soul if he found a moment of pure happiness. After that, he went on a killing spree. The second time I slept with someone was with Carlos. Complicated."

"Okay, I'm pretty sure that beats the guy you've loved for eight years showing up here and turning out to be gay." Kitty wrinkled her nose. "It isn't the same version of him, but it still definitely sucks. But having a guy lose his soul because he loved you that much... that goes beyond suck. Way beyond."

"And it would make you second guess yourself, wondering if there was something about you that made him admit to himself he was gay." Buffy said, though it might have been a bit of projection on her part and what she'd think.

"I get why they cursed him with a soul. Totally get it because they wanted him to feel the pain of what he'd done as a soulless vampire but the lose it again part, not so much? Sure they didn't want him to be happy, but to let Angelus loose on the world again? That was just dumb."

She had a flash of seeing Angel's soul return to him just before she put the sword in him and sent him to hell. It saved the world, but Buffy would always feel guilty for that and would never, ever tell Willow her spell worked at that moment.

"This version of Piotr didn't even know I had feelings for him," Kitty said, trying to imagine a world where she didn't have feelings for Petey and not really being able to wrap her mind around it any better today than she ever had.

"But yeah. I definitely would have a complex...and seriously, who says 'hey, I've got a great idea. Let's punish someone who has no impulse control but releasing him on the world if he fails to exercise impulse control?"

"Thank you!" Buffy nodded sharply. "I mean it wasn't well thought out." Her nose crinkled as she admitted, "not that I ever do most things well thought out, but still, when it comes to cursing a vampire, I think I'd think of everything." She flashed a grin, "or at least make sure everyone else thought of everything before I went in for the curse."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Locked to Kitty] What, you just tripped and fell on his lips?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject