taxonomites | 011: [visual] & [location: Hyperion Hotel] Trying hard not to remember that I didn't

She had just finished cleaning up her room in the Hyperion Hotel. It had taken her a few days to find the right place for all the things she owned - and she had quite a lot of stuff. Clothes, shoes, accessories... there were so many. The person she was trying to remember - Cordelia Chase - was obviously fond of them. It comforted her to discover that little tidbit about herself.

With a small smile, she looked around her room. She opted to stay here, rather than going back to her apartment. Not that that place didn't suit her taste. It was just that staying here in the hotel and knowing that Liam and Wesley were just around the corner was enough to make her feel safer - especially since Taxon gave off a weird, scary vibe.

"Okay," she said, finally reaching the bottom of the last box. "I guess that's--"

BAM.

Much like last time, the pain and the buzzing in her head surprised her. She took several steps back until the back of her knees collided with the bed. Sinking on the mattress, she rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Any moment now, the dizziness and nausea would pass. It should.

And after a few minutes, it did.

"Damn it you alien freaks! That was not funny!" she said loudly, looking up and addressing the ceiling. That had to be a glitch. She'd just been glitched, with the whole forgetting-everything-and-then-remembering-that-she-did-forget-everything part! God that was confusing, not to mention embarrassing. Yeah, not a good feeling in general.

Cordelia stood and crossed her arms. Ugh. What a nightmare. "Thought it'd be great to mess with my head, didn't you? Oh yeah, let's see how fabulous it would be after I figure out a way to make you pay, you ugly, bald, bug-eyed... retards!"

[OOC: Glitch over! :)]

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[Cordelia doesn't exactly sound happy, so this makes Tara curious and concerned and she has to ask.]

Hello? Are--are you okay?

[The question was, of course, rhetorical, but it seemed like the best way to start a conversation at the moment.]

[Well hello there, person whose voice she doesn't recognize! Still immersed in anger over her less-than-stellar week, she doesn't hold back on her irritation as she replies:]

Yes, because naturally I rant like a crazy person when I'm okay.

[...cue a sigh.]

Sorry about that. Just... just woke up from a crappy glitch, that's all. I didn't mean to... you know.

No, no, i-it's okay. It was a dumb question. S-sorry. Um...I know glitches can be...I-I had a bad one before.

[She takes a deep breath to stop herself from rambling further]

Are-are you okay, now?

You did? Wow. This place just gets suckier and suckier.

[Cordelia smiles now. For some reason, this person reminds her of Fred.]

Yeah, I am. A bit on the edge, but generally? Very okay now, since my memories are now... you know. Here. Thanks.

Yeah, it...I-I went...crazy? It was the same thing that happened to me before, um, we had this...I-I know it probably sounds weird, but my friends and I, we-we had this hellgod after us back home. Her name was Glory. She did something to my brain and...this place glitched me so the same thing h-happened again.

It's done a-a lot of weird things. But some good things, too.

[Tara relaxes a bit, knowing the woman is all right, if not a bit perturbed. And rightfully so.]

That's good. I-I'm glad to hear that. I'm Tara, by the way.

No, don't worry. Hellgod? Doesn't sound weird at all. Kinda like something we usually encounter in LA every Thursday, to be honest.

...really? Ugh. That must've been horrible to go through again. I'm sorry. Although my glitch was... I don't think it's happened to me before. You know, back home?

[Tara? Hmm. That's a familiar name, although Cordelia couldn't really place why it is.]

I'm Cordelia Chase. Have you been here long, Tara?

Oh. That's...that sounds a bit like Sunnydale. What, uh, what other stuff you encounter?

It's...okay, now. I-I hope there aren't anymore awful glitches for you, or-or anyone.

[Tara always stutters a bit around people she's unfamiliar with, although...that name sounds familiar to her, too. Then, she realizes where she's heard it.]

Cordelia? You-you lived in Sunnydale, right? You knew...Buffy and Xander a-and Willow?

Me too. Glitches? Never fun for anyone. Well, maybe to the aliens, but they're such idiots so.

[And now her eyes widen.]

Yeah. Sunnydale alumni reporting for duty! Buffy, Xander, Willow... you could say we've had a bit of history among us.

[What with her socially persecuting them before and all.]

Are you their friend?

Yeah, I'm, um, actually I-I'm Willow's girlfriend? [She pauses to let Cordelia absorb that, because she's aware that Cordelia would've only known Willow to be dating Oz once upon a time.]

That was another...weird a-and wonderful thing about this place. In-in my world, Willow was.... And in Willow's world, I-I was killed by...Oz.

[Tara pauses again, because that's a whole lot of strange information all at once.]

They-they've mentioned you before, so.

Oh. You're--

[And cue a little mental walkthrough, with the whole Harmony incident and Willow informing Cordelia that she had... changed.]

Well, that's um... that's great! Good for you two.

[Killed. By Oz? Hoboy. Cordelia sighs at that. So, not only does this place take people from different times, they snatch people from different worlds, too?]

Hmm. Now I get it. With you guys both here and alive, well that's just a beautiful, beautiful thing. I'm happy for you. God knows we all need a bit of happy in our lives.

[Wistful? Jealous? Yeah, just a bit.]

Th-thanks. Really. Um...it was...so strange, a-at first, but wonderful. I-I guess I'm also dead in Buffy's and Dawn's world, too, so it's...a little unnerving.

But. [Tara bit her lip.] Beautiful a-and good.

[Tara is something of an empath, gifted with a powerful sense of intuition. Even if she didn't have that ability, it wasn't too difficult to tell that Cordelia didn't sound quite so convincing. There was something missing in her voice, something almost like longing.]

D-do you have...are you...h-how are things with you? Apart from the glitch. I-I mean...do you have happy i-in your life?

I think I know how Buffy, Dawn, and Willow feel. I have a friend here, Doyle? He's... well, he died a few years ago. Somehow the aliens brought him here before he did. Unnerving... doesn't quite describe what I felt when I saw him again, actually.

[Cordelia thought about Tara's question. Does she?]

Well... to be honest? My life in LA was the exact opposite of what I was looking for. When I left Sunnydale I was hoping to find fame and fortune. Instead I found friends. Family. [A beat.] A purpose, too. So yeah, I guess I do.

[Of course, she wouldn't mind if that happiness included a bit of happy in the physical, literal sense, but she felt that part was a bit TMI to share with a person she just met today.]

Oh! I-I've met him, he's nice. [Tara's smile faltered.] He...died? I'm sorry, that must have been... [Well, having experienced Joyce's death and Buffy's death and then Willow's death, Tara knew precisely how that felt, and trying to describe it in words seemed inadequate.] It's always horrible.

That's good! I-I mean, friends and family are...worth more than anything. Before I met...everyone, I didn't have much of a family. I never imagined I'd...find one.

He is! A bit on the dorky, slightly annoying side, but he's very sweet. Please don't tell him I told you that?

[She nodded, as though Tara could see her.] It is, even though his death was... really heroic. You see, he died to save us. God, I hated him for a while after that. Angel did, too, I think.

[Cordelia paused. That sounded like her, when she first stepped in LA. No friends, no family, no money. Nothing. Until Angel found her, of course.] You mean the Scoobies?

I-I won't. He's...it's a little like what happened to Buffy. But we, um, we brought her back.

[Tara got quieter, because that was still a touchy subject, all things considered.]

The Scoobies...they're my family.

[She got quiet, too, because she remembered an ancient discussion on how that actually went down. Yeah, touchy subject indeed.]

What can I say, Scoobies get better with age.

[ooc: that's okay! ♥]

011: [visual] & [location: Hyperion Hotel] Trying hard not to remember that I didn't

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