eswareinmal | RD14: Morning

[A red-haired woman in her early twenties can be seen in the orb. She sits straight-backed and looks quite dignified as she smiles. In the background, one of the very fine rooms of the castle can be seen. When she talks, her voice is very cultured and the refined English accent of an upper-class Londoner.]

Tell me, loves, where can I find a dressmaker? I want something with a little more style and I’m afraid the hideous rags provided simply won’t do. These frills and extra fluff in the skirt, no, no, I want a dressmaker with a sense of style and elegance.

[She sighs. Concerned about her situation? Oh, sure, it's mildly distressing opening a book and waking up in a different dimension, but you learn to roll with the punches.]

And if you do not know where I can find a decent dressmaker, any information about this world will do. Do keep it fun, that dreadful old man was such a bore, droning on about saving the world and defeating thorns. Do I look like a gardener? No, of course not. I don't suppose I can find a decent spa around here, hm? Even natural hot springs will do.

Sophronia, if you're out there, I'm staying at the castle.

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[It would work except for one small problem; she knows he's dead. She attended his funeral, met with Angel and Faith, oh, she knows quite well. Which is why seeing him so so distressing.]

So it comes down to the merry band brought in from who knows where. How... Hm, quaint.

[Lavinia looks closer at the orb and hums disapprovingly.]

You should remove that illusion or disguise or whatever it is. It's quite unseemly and disrespectful, though I don't suppose you care about respecting the dead looking like that. And if this is a trick of the world, well, I don't find any humor in it.

[...huh?

Giles looks left, looks right, looks for whoever his aunt is suddenly talking to. But, of course, there's no one there. There are people passing by, of course, but the only one she could be talking to at all is...]

S-Sorry? Um, no, I-I assure you, I'm actually speaking to you through, um, through the orb. Really, it's, it's a lot like a telephone, only a bit more mystic, and...

[..."respecting the dead"...]

...oh.

What sort of demon are you? Or is that a spell you're using? Either way, you have some nerve looking like dear Rupert. If you think you can collect because you look like that, well, you have another think coming.

No, n-no, Aunt Lavinia, y-you've got it wrong...

[...sigh. Giles takes off his glasses and rubs at his eyes. He's had to break the news of his death to those he loves already. This? This is a new one on him.]

I, I am him. Rupert [hastily amended:] Giles. And, um, yes, I am dead, back home, but...it hasn't ended there. Sorry. I'm, I'm not sure I entirely understand it myself.

[He doesn't entirely expect that to work as an explanation, even if it is true, but it's a start.]

[Lavinia looks at him with a scrutinizing eye. The mannerisms are spot on and he physical appearance too, but that is the wonder of magic and other things. As much as she wants to believe he is truly here and alive, Lavinia can't bring herself to believe just yet. It opens all sorts of other questions too if he's living here. For example, is she dead then?]

Prove it. You're a smart lad, I'm sure you can think of something.

[Hmmm...Giles is indeed a smart lad, but his aunts are more than a little on guard just by default, given their general lifestyle and the sorts of attention he knows its attracted in the past. Whatever it is, he needs to make it good...]

You could never remember Willow's name when we were staying at the house in Bath.

You're over a hundred years old...a hundred and eight, actually, if I've got it right.

I gave you some of the books I dug out of the wreckage of the Council...let me think... [And then Giles rattles off four of the titles that he'd passed along to the aunts for safe keeping.

...and then, after a longer pause:]

And, um, and you fixed up my plane, after Gran... [...broke it.]

[Oh, Rupert, you're such a smart boy. Too smart maybe. It's the last memory that gets her. Just another thing she and her older sister didn't see eye-to-eye on. Even young Watchers could play with planes.

She's quiet as she looks away and composes herself. By the time she turns back, she smiles as she always does.]

Shame on you, Rupert. Here I am and you haven't even come over to say hello.

[Giles finds himself letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. An angry or even a paranoid Aunt Lavinia is not something they need right now.]

I, I-I should point out that I didn't know you were here until just now, actually.

...I'll stop by now, if you'd like. [He has things he'd been meaning to do, but first of all he knows Lavinia wouldn't see that as an excuse, and second of all because...well, she's his aunt, and it's been forever and a day since he's seen anyone from home besides Buffy.]

[Certainly not. Goodness, Magical books? being brought to another world? This calls for wine. Or tea. or both.]

Very good. I'm at the castle. Tell the attendants to bring you to the room of Princess Lavinia. [that happy tone in her voice? Oh yes she likes the title of princess. Princess~] No, no, wait, I'll meet you in one of the waiting rooms. They must have one of those. I'll have a bit of food and drink set too.

[And because she is not completely without manners and because he is her nephew:] ...How are you, Rupert?

RD14: Morning

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