open ♔ november/december socialization

[wynn]

WHO || Everyone! [ota]
WHAT || Shenanigans.
WHERE || Anywhere in the castle, surrounding environs, London, Andres Isle, etc!
WHEN || November & December [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

[ The castle can be a happening place, even on more mundane days. This log is for random interactions over the course of November and December.

You are encouraged to start your own threads and tag around, and feel free to threadjack into any on-going threads that aren't specified as 'closed' in the subject lines since people can enter into rooms even in the middle of what's going on. WE ARE BIG ON THREAD-JACKING HERE. You can also specify 'single thread', meaning you want only one response for all participants, rather than multi-thread, where a number of different scenes/threads can be done as replies to the top prompt.]

On this log:
Wynn & Section Heads @ Andres/London
Cheryl @ Reception desk
Sam @ Various
Elena @ Andres/London
Drax @ Dragon's Hide Wing
Des @ Pub / Castle
Paige @ Caste Grounds
Grimrot @ the Library
Vi @ Andres
Matt @ Andres/London
Alisha @ bars in London
Cora @ Library/ Castle Grounds
Will @ Castle pond / Hoard wing/ Firing range / Castle grounds
Malina @ Dragon's Fire wing/ kitchen/ bar / castle grounds
Alainn @ Dragon's Fire library / kitchen / Andres
Jordan @ Andres/ London
Sylar @ Kitchen
Logan @ Castle Bars / London
Faith L @ London / kitchen / training room / castle grounds
Dean @ Rose's room / bars / armory / training room/ firing range / kitchen
Rose @ Andres / armory / training room / bedroom
Des & Buffy | Closed
Thea @ Training Room / Castle grounds / kitchen / TV rooms / bars
Sam & Buffy | Closed
Alex @ Firing Range / Airfield / Room / Garage
Failboat @ Breakfast
Alice @ Andres/ London
Sweets @ Dragon's Light Wing
Lydia @ Medical / Training room / etc

Comments

[slay]

[ Buffy's expression falls, overwhelmed by the extent of the information in such a short span to process it. But then, that's always been Faith's M.O. She can't bring herself to be embittered or entirely surprised by the nature of it: she knew who she was asking.

Still, it staggers her. Visibly. And her hands steady on the bag.

The once in a lifetime kind. Despite everything, her mind goes to Rafael and Jade on that NOVA stage. There were skeletons in their closet—more than either could know—but it was the kind of love that kept him from ever really giving his heart to someone else. The kind that wrecked him.

She can't fathom it, someone loving her like that. Can't begin to imagine. But then, if what Faith's saying is true—and she has to believe it is because she has no one else she can really ask—he'd never really gotten the chance to. A curse. ]

Sounds like my life. [ She settles on a certain degree of cynicism. ] You'd think I'd remember something like that.

[ That's when it hits her that Jade certainly hadn't. What a joke. ]

[msattentionspan]

[She doesn't know any other speed - it's all or nothing with her and while she's a bit unsure about putting it all out there, she's also aware of the fact that the last time Buffy and her had this sort of talk it went South fast. Getting it all out there, might be just her safety plan.]

Sorry -- I would've spaced that out, but you're kind of a flight risk.

[slay]

I get it.

[ She holds her hands up in a gesture of surrender, ready for it this time. ]

You don't have to explain. It's just— [ Her hand waves then, trying to indicate all that has been said between them. ] A lot to process.

[msattentionspan]

[Faith nods.]

You can hit the bag if you need to think. It's what I do.

[slay]

I don't know. I — [ She's sure it would help. Looking at the bag, she knows that venting her frustrations would be easiest that way. But she wrings her hands in front of her all the same, shrugging her shoulders. ] Do you ever feel like ... Like maybe you need a break from the hitting and the punching and the ... [ Her hands drop and she exhales the word, as if trying to cover it with her breath: ] Death?

[msattentionspan]

[Faith steps away from the bag, wringing her hands together as she balances her weight there.]

Yeah, but it's kind of part of what we are. If it didn't get to us, then they'd have to worry. [Hell, that's why she ended up in prison. She didn't get that at the time, but it's funny how prison can give someone perspective like that.]

I hear Hawaii is nice. I've never been, but it's what all the movies say.

[slay]

Now that's what I call a vacation.

[ Her nose crinkles, but the cavalier reply also effectively stems the flow of any navel-gazing on Buffy's part. Faith, it would seem, has this all figured out: troubling her over it seems, well, troubling. Trivial. She isn't here to be Buffy's on-call life guide. ]

I'm still on-call, though. Dimitris and the Mind Master are out there, and we need to stop them before they get the chance to repeat what happened in New York.

[msattentionspan]

[It's not that Faith has it all figured out. Far from it. She just tries not to look further than the next few days because if she wants to start a five-year plan she'd buy a day planner or something dumb like that. It's just easier not to look to far ahead and when she looks back -- it's easier to not dwell on the things she can't change. Maybe it's a bit zen of her, but Angel told her that they're never going to be done. They're always going to be on that path to redemption. There's no point in looking back when she's got a helluva lot more ahead of her.]

Alright, so maybe Hawaii is out of the question for now. There's got to be some nice places around here that can give you a bit of away time. Along the Devon Coast - pretty sure that's a beach. It's close too. I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of beaches.

[slay]

Mm. Winter beach weather in England? Pass. But Hawaii's a good dream. Maybe when this is all over, we can all pack up. Family vacation style.

[msattentionspan]

[Faith looks at Buffy - more than slightly skeptical about that last remark.]

I'm not sure we'd be okay in a small space for an extended length of time.

[slay]

You think? [ Amusement colors her expression, easily picking up that maybe that's a powder keg. Of course it would be. Buffy nods, accepting this, and adds, ] Short vacation then.

[msattentionspan]

Maybe just a weekend.

[slay]

[ She laughs, finally. ]

Ye of little faith.

[msattentionspan]

The most faith I have in things is usually just my name. [She's learned to rely on herself a lot more than anyone else.]

[slay]

Come on. You signed up for the knights: you must have some faith in us.

[msattentionspan]

[For Faith, trust and faith are different. You can trust someone, trust a cause - a skill. Having faith means a bit more than trust to her. It means that you trust them to be there no matter what happens and she's gotta say that sort of situation doesn't really come to her that easily.]

I trust the knights and I signed up, sure, but that means they had to be cool with letting me in. Pretty sure they could kick me out if they wanted to.

[slay]

Could, but won't.

[ She shrugs simply. ]

Look at Elena. She freed the enemy and disappeared for months—but we had faith that it was for the right reasons. That's why she's still one of us.

[msattentionspan]

[Faith nods, but doesn't really say much about that. She sets her hands onto the bag.]

You want another go?

[slay]

How about we skip the bag?

[ As a whole, Buffy avoids sparring with people who aren't Spike. Most of them can't handle it, and she remembers the incident with Arthur all too well. But Faith is a Slayer too. Surely, if anyone can hack it ... She nods her head towards the middle of the mats. ]

[msattentionspan]

[Faith lets go of the bag and shrugs. They've gone at it before - but Buffy doesn't have the recollection of how those times went down.]

Alright. [She'll move to the mats with Buffy, flexing her fingers as she hears knuckles make snapping noises.]

[slay]

[ She starts slow, pacing out to the center of the mat and rolling her shoulders. She bounces in place to loosen her knees, then goes at Faith. It's obvious she's holding back—nonlethal only (-4 penalty on attack rolls when using a lethal weapon, which Buffy's unarmed strikes are). Even if it hadn't been for Arthur, Andres would have been enough to leave her unable to trust her own strength.

Still, her blows are well-targeted. She makes a series of quick jabs for Faith (atk 30, nonlethal dmg 17). ]

[msattentionspan]

[Her hits connect, but Faith isn't phased by it too much. They're both meant to be at their peak and Buffy's been here training and on missions for a lot longer than her. Training hadn't been a priority in prison and since being here, she's been a bit lazy on that front.

When she goes to swap from her defensive to offensive, her weight shifts and she moves forward with her far more reckless habit of fighting (atk 34, nonlethal dmg 13) opting for faster motions over targeted ones.]

[slay]

[ Staggering back from the blow, Buffy raises one leg to kick out at Faith—and the force of her kick snaps too strong, taking her weight out from under her (crit fail! Buffy is now prone, giving her a -4 to her defense). But as she rolls, she doesn't stop, instead trying to kick upward into Faith's gut from her position on the ground (atk 32, dmg 13). It hits, and she goes for the trip with her other leg only to get her foot caught on the seam of the workout mats (crit fail AGAIN WOW). ]

[msattentionspan]

[Faith takes the hit, but sees the foot catch and when she's back to upright she reaches down to offer a hand up to get her off the ground.]

C'mon, we're sparring not battling for some belt.

[Once they're back - as long as Buffy doesn't try to haul her down - she'll start another series of blows (atk 37, nonlethal dmg 20).]

[slay]

Thanks. [ Faith's punch hits her in the chin, knocking her back, but she comes back at her with equal force in a flurry of blows (atk 31, 38, 23—i think the last one probably doesn't hit? so dmg 16 & 18. + another 16 if i'm wrong and the final attack does hit). ] But I don't need the help.