eswareinmal | RD14: Morning

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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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You can, ah, p-probably find one in the t-town. [ Sorry if he sounds completely out of it and in pain. A broken arm will do that to you and with a distinct lack of paid medication...it's kinda getting to him. He gives a light laugh. ]

I'm not sure about any hot springs e-either. M-Maybe the mountains? W-Well those also have, um d-dragons you might want to watch out for. As for information...it d-depends on wh-what you'd like to know. [ He will try to be cognizant as he answers questions. But really he should be sleeping instead. Hopefully Ginia or Giles doesn't hear him talking to you instead of sleeping. ]

[...

...

...

Oh. Dear. Lord.]

I, um, I-I'm afraid Aunt Sophronia isn't here, at the, um, at the moment. [If she had been, Giles feels very definite that he would have known.] Um, and, and as for the thorns, they're...well, apparetly they're the s-sorts of thorns that devour human flesh.

[So, a bit more her range of experience.]

...hello, Aunt Lavinia.

[...

...

...

Goodness.

Lavinia stares, faint hints of composure gone as she looks into the orb at what appears to be her deceased grand-nephew. She knows there are illusions and all sorts of tricks one could use to make one person see another. After being brought to this dimension or world or whatever it was, she wouldn't put it beyond Those in Charge.

When she speaks again, her voice is level, controlled, careful.]

Flesh-eating? Goodness, that sounds dreadful. No one has tried taking a torch to them yet?

I, I-I believe the, the local soldiery has tried it. They have guards, stationed at the perimeter, wherever the perimeter happens to be on any given day. I haven't investigated for myself but, um, reports indicate that the thorns are, um, remarkably resilient.

[Giles has long ago gotten used to the idea that his death was some impossible, unreachable future for everyone else. Something no one had lived yet besides him.

And he'd also long ago resolved to keep it that way. Even from Lavinia, if that's what it took.]

[Well, well, hello handsome.]

Why don't you tell me more about this world? Dragons, you say?

[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.

[ He is so not handsome, not at all. Besides he's looks like death right now so, nope, no handsome here. ]

It's, um, a bit h-hard to describe. I believe there's a good few places left unchecked and discovered. The th-thorns that man told you about are quite dangerous though. However there's a-a type that surrounds this city at night to keep out the creatures from the Two faced forest.

[ A pause as he winces back some pain so he can shift and speak into the orb more clearly. ] I-I haven't seen any in particular but, then again, I haven't exactly gone and v-visited the mountains quite yet. [ Probably won't be for awhile. ]

The thorns are why you were brought here. Presumably if we can solve that little problem, we can all return home.

Then all of you should get on this little problem, hmm?

[ Oh, it's one of those. ]

Rest assured, miss, we're doing our best. Although a little help wouldn't go awry.

[...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.

Hey, if you wind up findin' a dress maker, could you ask 'em if they make robes too?

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.

I suppose I can. Are there no tailors around?

Beats me, but if you're already in the market...

[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.

[Nonsense, he is so very handsome even if he looks like death.]

My, my, this sounds like such a dangerous place. What's a woman to do all by her lonesome? Will I be safe within this city?

[Yes. She's one of those.]

Of course, I'm course. I'm sure there are all sorts of lovely folks willing to help out. I would only get in the way.

[Lavinia huffs slightly. The nerve!]

In the market for a dressmaker, not a tailor. [She looks critically over his appearance.] Though I do believe there are things far more fashionable than robes. Shapeless things.

I don't doubt it in the least.

Oh! Yes. You'll be perfectly safe here, miss. Ah...I'm sorry. I-I didn't get your name. I'm a bit...out of sorts today. I'm, um, Helios Sprensonne.

[ A pause. ] Is S-Sophronia your sister, friend? Sh-she might not have come with you. I-I'm not sure how that all works, the getting here part, m-magic most likely. [ He's not sure if you believe in that sort of thing though. ]

[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.]

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RD14: Morning

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