CHAPTER THREE ♔ heaven rain the colors down to form another prize

[romanticidal]

♬ someone like you (acoustic) - brian vander ark

WHO || Rafael, Buffy, Des
WHAT || The OT3 escapes Italy
WHERE || Venice --> etc
WHEN || June 8th
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

It's already about ten or eleven in the morning by the time Raf, Buffy, and Des made it to a hotel in Venice and got a couple rooms to crash in for a few hours, since they were running on zero sleep and a lot of adrenaline after their escape from Rome and subsequent barrage of revelations.

A few hours of rest is all they're looking for before they make their way back to London, but they're still cut off from the Knights, thanks to Iscariot taking all their phones.

When Buffy's eyes flutter open after some very, very satisfying sleep, it might take her a moment to realize that she's actually awake. Rafael's face is remarkably close to her own since they're sharing a pillow, and his own eyes are open, studying her face with a thoughtful, fond expression and the shadow of a smile on his cheek. One of his arms is still wrapped around her, and he squeezes her side when he sees she's awake and greets her gently.

"Buongiorno, carina."

Comments

[romanticidal]

[ he doesn't seem put off in the least by the intimate gesture, although a hint of concern works its way into his gaze as he asks: ] How are you feeling? [ it's clear that he means more than just emotionally, by the way his eyebrows knit together. how's that... lack of slayer strength doing bb :( ]

[slay]

Good. Really good. And very superhuman-y. [ buffy abandons her attempts to mask her smile in the face of his concern. she sits up finally, moving her hand from where it rests on top of his at her side and instead using it to turn on her back and prop herself up with that elbow. she makes no move to otherwise disentangle herself from him, nor does she draw back in any capacity. ] This demon slayer's back in business, Iscariot be damned. [ her nose crinkles at that, but her expression evens out into one of slight concern as well. ] You?

[romanticidal]

[ he flinches a little bit, because man, thinking about himself means thinking about... yesterday and last night and all of that is not a grand old time for his melon. or emotions. ] I am... still wrapping my head around many things, I think.

For now, though, [ he raises his other hand to brush the back of his hand against her jaw ] I am here, no? [ bittersweet smile. at least he hasn't committed suicide, buffy. ironically, unlike so many others in this finale. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Oh yeah, there was a third person on this vacation, wasn't there?

And he's probably responsible for that OBNOXIOUS FUCKING BANGING ON THE DOOR.]

Wakey, wakey, you two. We got a big fucking problem. Open up.

[slay]

Here is good.

[ reassuringly, she offers a smile. des hastily steals her attention with his pounding and she jumps up quickly as if she ... has something to cover up.

she casts a quick look over at rafael, squeezes his hand, and then gets up to answer the door. ]

Just a second!

[ she flips open the deadbolt and pulls the hotel door open, leaning on it to greet des. ]

What problem?

[nothingsodivine]

[Yeah, 'sup. Morning. Hi. Des looks like he's seen some shit, which given the night they've had should scare anyone.]

I take it you two weren't watching cable this morning. Turn on the TV.

[romanticidal]

[ rafael looks at him like wut, but fine, he'll grab the remote and turn it on.

to news reports from nyc of THE MASS SUICIDE OF SHADOWKIND LAST NIGHT ] ... What is this?

[slay]

Do you actually sleep, or do you just sit around waiting for the next opportunity to throw bad news around?

[ she scowls, turning to walk further into the room and back to where rafael is on the … only bed that has mussed covers. whoops. des is a detective he gets that one. she assumes des will catch the door and follow her inside ok.

and then any humor and sarcasm drains out of her, watching the footage from above the hudson river. she freezes. ]

… Turn it up.

[nothingsodivine]

Well, I was hoping for free HBO, but sucks to be me.

[Oh hey. There is one bed with mussed covers. And I'm gonna blame his wis roll of 13 on the fact that he doesn't care right now, but lbr did HE REALLY NEED A GOOD ONE TO ASSUME SOMETHING HAPPENED HERE.

He does close the door, though.] Weren't Vi and the others in New York last night?

[romanticidal]

The timing seems somewhat suspect, if so. [ but he sounds... worried as fuck now :( ]

[slay]

[ well, buffy crit failed her wisdom check to remember if any of the knights were swanning off to nyc, so. she’s just shaking her head with uncertainty. she suffered head trauma and was drugged since she was in the castle last, ok. she doesn’t know what day it is. or who was going where. except they were almost murdered. that happened. ]

I don’t know. [ useless. ] We need to get back. Something happened, and I’m willing to bet Sarandis was involved in one way or another.

[nothingsodivine]

[Yeah, Des is feeling very much like he'd like to not be on the run from fucking crazy people and back with the team. WHY WERE WE FORCED TO SPLIT THE PARTY?? WHY??]

Do you think it's safe to book a flight now? I'd like to think Iscariot's not stalking Priceline.com for suspicious flights from Italy to London, but I also thought breaking a deal was a sin.

[Although I guess if you break deals with heretics, you're doing God's work. Fuck if he knows.] We can't exactly drive across Europe and hope for the best either way.

[slay]

Yeah, I'm gonna take a vote against any more hours of driving or smuggling our way onto a ferry.

[ she starts combing her fingers through the giant knot that is her hair. ]

But won't the airport want passports? I don't know about you, but I didn't pack for an international voyage.

[romanticidal]

I would have to be careful not to be recognized at the airport. Unless--

[ he tilts his head ] Perhaps instead of trying not to draw attention, we draw enough that Iscariot cannot act without everyone watching. I might be able to argue us onto a plane - a temperamental singer demanding things would draw a crowd.

Or we might find a way to contact Burt to send a private plane for us. It might be less likely to be caught, given that they can monitor your Drakenet phone now that they have it, should we contact the Knights.

[nothingsodivine]

I have a feeling attracting the attention of a crowd wouldn't stop them after what we pulled. They'd figure something out or they'd wait until the airline booted you out. [He runs his hand over his face.] Also a temperamental singer and his entourage don't carry the kind of firepower we're packing.

[Which means... Ugh. He paces the room, fitfully.]

Calling Burt definitely has fewer risks, beyond the fact that once he hears about this shit, he's never gonna let us near you and I don't think breaking his kneecaps is gonna keep him from exposing the Knights if we argue. At least if we avoided why we're stuck in Italy, I could bullshit something.

[He paces a few more times.] You don't know anyone in Italy who can get us fake passports? Fake names. The whole deal. Stick you in a hoodie and big sunglasses and don't open your mouth, no one'll recognize you.

[THAT DOES NOT TAKE CARE OF THE GUN PROBLEM.]

[slay]

His entourage does when there was a shoot-out at his concert a year ago.

[ she turns to des. ]

We could offer to unload and check the guns under the plane.

[ buffy would like it on the record that none of the five guns they have between them are hers. you are both problem children. learn 2 superpowers like her, wow. ]

Or we could tell Burt that we came down here to set Vi and Luthir up for their honeymoon, and our baggage was lost along the way. No more passports. [ shrug. ] That’s not gonna make him less crazy, though. At this point, crazy NOVA exec doesn’t exactly have me shaking in my sensible shoes, though.

[nothingsodivine]

At this point? I don't think Burt is the one you oughta be worried about.

[and here is his first acknowledgement that ~something~ happened last night. he grabs a handful of the covers and holds them up before dropping them back down. LET'S NOT RISK ISA FUCKING THIS UP OUT OF JEALOUSY.]

[romanticidal]

[ his wisdom check of 11 means that he glances at des, furrows his brow a bit, but doesn't directly address what he was just talking about. for whatever reason. ]

He is right. Iscariot is the bigger threat. We are safer calling Burt. They might have all the major airports staked already.

[slay]

[ wow good save. buffy is slack-jawed for a moment at thAT INSINUATION but rafael’s save keeps her from stuttering out something stupid. she turns to him and nods. ]

Burt it is. So, uh, either of you know a number that you can reach him at?

[nothingsodivine]

[EXCUSE YOU WHAT OTHER LEAP IS HE SUPPOSED TO MAKE HERE. and wow that is the opposite of what he said. WHATEVER. Your funeral.]

Burt and I don't exactly exchange friendly texts every day.

[romanticidal]

[ no fucking shit, raf rolled an 18 wis for this and a crit fail to remember any others. even isa i guess. ]

I know Burt's number. Perhaps we can borrow a phone somewhere that we can leave quickly.

[slay]

We're in a hotel.

[ buffy walks to the night table between the beds and picks up the corded phone. she's from the 90s ok she's over this cell phones shit. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[des is just gonna flop on the other bed and observe.]

This'll go well.

[romanticidal]

[ rafael rattles off the number. meanwhile a spot check of 10+ notices movement out through the balcony drapes right behind him. ]

[slay]

[ Guess who crit failed her spot check.

Buffy is sitting with her back to the balcony, in her defense, on the unused bed that was supposed to be hers. She lifts the phone, dials a number to dial out, and punches in the magical code that will connect her to Burt. Joy. ]