034: [ location : the sky ] the blues walked in and met me

[likeajoan.livejournal.com]

It's not the first time Buffy's woken up with a shiny new set of memories, but the other times haven't been like this. The other times she hadn't found out that she's a monster. A vampire. A thing.

Losing her powers for two months, the ordeal with Angelus, losing Dean, going through that cruel glitch with Ethan, losing Giles for the second time... the combined weight of the past year spent in Taxon is finally beginning to take its toll on her, and in epic fashion.

Which is why she's decided to take matters into her own hands. Literally. Anyone looking up at the sky will see an odd, vaguely discernible blur, flying into an invisible barrier, impacting hard and then bouncing off again, only to repeat the action. Over and over. She's trying to break through the wall, and it isn't working.


[ooc: canon bump to issue #33, but before the big Twilight reveal. Gonna be slowtagging on this one due to hiatus, but there we go. ALSO she has her tablet with her, so is contactable.]

Comments

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[aregulargirl.livejournal.com]

That has her pretty worried about what could have happened - another memory upgrade? A glitch? Someone bad arriving from home? But she promised she wouldn't make her talk about it.

"I'm gonna be, so get over it," Max eventually replies with a sad smile. "You've done it often enough for me." She glances down at Buffy's hands, wincing when she sees the damage she's done to them.

"I'm gonna get you some bandages," she says, squeezing her shoulders gently. "Don't go anywhere, okay?"

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[likeajoan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, Buffy's not really in a position to return that smile, though maybe later on when she's in a less irrational frame of mind, she'll appreciate Max's kindness.

"Okay," she nods, barely listening and staring down at the grass.

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[aregulargirl.livejournal.com]

Max nods to her briefly, then stands and runs as fast as she can to the nearest hatch. She comes up with a first aid kit, a couple of bigger bandages, and a bottle of water, then gathers them all together and runs back to where Buffy's sitting.

She kneels beside her again and opens the bottle, handing it to her - maybe she's not thirsty, but it doesn't hurt to offer it anyway.

"Can I take a look at your hands?"

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[likeajoan.livejournal.com]

She doesn't drink from the bottle - in fact she almost looks at it as though she doesn't know what it's for. Max's question appears to wake her up, however, although her response isn't exactly positive.

"What's the point?" She laughs, shaking her head mirthlessly. "They'll just heal in a minute anyway. That's what monsters do, they don't break."

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[aregulargirl.livejournal.com]

That makes Max stop in her tracks - something about the way she said that reminds her of Ben. But she shakes herself from it. Buffy needs her right now.

"Don't say that," she says, taking one of her hands and opening the first aid kit with her free hand.

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[likeajoan.livejournal.com]

"It's true." Buffy doesn't stop Max from taking her hand, just watches instead, in a detached sort of way. She's silent for a moment though, as she considers how to word her confession.

"These powers I have? The flying? I'm getting them from dead Slayers. Every girl that dies I get stronger. Like a vampire."

[ location: outside castle summers ]

[aregulargirl.livejournal.com]

Max quickly finds some peroxide and gauze in the kit and begins cleaning the wounds, though she's looking at Buffy's face as she does it.

"That isn't your fault," she insists, though she's admittedly still a little confused about how the whole Slayer thing works. "You obviously didn't know it was happening, so how can you blame yourself for something that's out of your control?"

That having been said, she knows that that knowledge isn't going to stop her from feeling guilty. So she tries again, taking Buffy's opposite hand and beginning to clean it as she speaks.

"Do you know how it started? Do you think you can get it to stop?"