10495/Christmas in a Castle

Christmas in a Castle
Date of Scene:	20 December 2019
Location:	Braddock Castle, Caernarvon
Synopsis:	Buffy and Brian spend Christmas together, with little sister Dawn..And a random stray dog tagging along.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Mercy Thompson, Captain Britain

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Buffy Summers has posed:
With Christmas fast approaching, and with Buffy's relationship fast developing with Brian, it was only a matter of time before she would feel the need to introduce him to her family. Unfortunately her mom is feeling ill again, which left her bratty kid sister Dawn in her hands over the Christmas holidays. Which is a lot less fun than it sounds.

At least from Buffy's point of view. And even though she now has a key to a *castle* of all places, Buffy still feels obligated to knock politely on the door as she and her sister stand on the steps outside, each of them carrying small gifts and some baked cookies that they made together.

"Alright Dawn, just remember, dont touch anything or say anything weird. Or emberrass me. Or get lost. This castle is really big, and I don't want you causing trouble or falling out of any third floor windows or something. Got it?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Dawn's perfectly willing and able to embarrass Buffy on any given moment. The fact the Slayer said not to is just more fuel to do it. Because impulsive little sister wants to. Plus, she's waiting outside a /castle/. It's awe inspiring, really. She's curious, excited, nervous, and just a little reacy for Buffy's hand. it's like Dawn's a little kid going into school for her first day.

Mercy, on the other hand is driving around Bloodhaven in her little Rabbit. If anything, she's out of place heere in an 80s car. Still, she too has made her way to the door....post-disrobing, stashing her clothes in her car, and stepping into being a coyote, and staring at Dawn and Buffy, a tenative sniff of the door. Because scratching and whining only works for house pets. Mercy's gone fourr pawed...because she figured a castle will have fuzzy little things to chase. Oh the joys of being Coyote's daughter

Captain Britain has posed:
Uncharacteristically, Brian answered the door. Julian was in the garage, trying to sort out an issue with his car, and Brian had told Julian to take his time. Brian was a big boy and able to answer his own door, even if it was a bit of a walk from the living room he had been in.

The man was a veritable giant among men. At 6'6", 257 lb, and carrying a very low body fat content, he filled that ugly Christmas sweater, giving it definition in the upper chest and arms, around the biceps. "Ah, Buffy, you don't need to knock, as the Spaniards say, mi casa es su casa."

Seeing Dawn beside her, he offered a large hand, not on a basketball player level, but large all the same, "hello, you must be Dawn. My name is Brian Braddock. Come in, please, come in."

The Christmas jumper he wore was blue on top and white on the bottom. It depicted a penguin going down a hill on a sleigh, as three more at the base of the hill held up score cards, judging the other one on form and technique. Below that, he had on grey trousers. He seemed to be wearing a white collared shirt underneath the jumper. "Please, come in. Would either of you care for some drinking chocolate?" Yes, he was British, like Giles... very British.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers rolls her eyes at Dawn, "Heey, quit tugging on my arm! You look like a kid in a candy store. Honestly, Brian may live in a castle, but he's a pretty normal guy. I mean...well not really *normal* normal, but like, you know what I mean, and..." Waaait, is that a coyote? What's it doing here? Buffy frowns, having heard stories of wild animals feeding on little girls. Okaay, so Dawn's not like, 'little' little, but..She can sure act like it sometimes. She pulls Dawn protectively closer, waving a hand at the coyote. "Shoo, what do you want? We don't have any food.."

It is pretty odd that a wild animal is bold enough to come up to them though. If she wasn't so overprotective about lil' sis, Buffy might actually try and talk with the little critter. But then the door opens and she smirks, leaning over to kiss Brian on the cheek (which of course involves climbing on her tiptoes and letting go of Dawn - at least she's made it a habit to wear some decent heels on her shoes by now). "Hey there, handsome. And I know you got me a key and all but it just feels weird, breaking into a castle.."

She nods to Dawn, "Yeah, this is my lil' sister, Dawn. Dawn, this is my boyfriend, Brian. C'mon.." she nods to the entry way, stepping in the threshold. "Nice ugly Christmas sweater, I mean really, it's kinda......Well," she just stifles a giggle. Unfortunately Buffy doesn't have anything nearly so tacky, and is wearing a simple green sweater underneath, and black leather pants. And a cute gold jingle bells necklace around her neck that jingles softly with every step she takes.

"Sure! chocolate sounds good.."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Dawn makes an 'ew' face at the kissing, looking away for a moment, then perks up at the mention of chocolate. Oh it's neeeded. She looks back to the door and to the coyote, Dawn having come in with Buffy.^R
Mercy stares, then watches them for a moment, a playful yip from her as she's pawing the ground and the door frame too. It's like she's trying to get invited in to join in on the fun. Admittedly, she brought her collar and name tag, too. Totally can act the part of a lost pet that is trying to stick around.

Dawn does shake the hand when it's offered. "My castle is your castle?" she asks. "Are you selling this place? Or do you want Buffy to move in with you? Thtat's just gross!" Dawn says....mind diving all over the place

Captain Britain has posed:
"The castle is not for sale," Brian says in answer to Dawn's question. Technically he didn't mention that he had invited Buffy to move in, but he didn't say no to that either. Though the little coyote at the door gets Brian's attention. It had a collar. Carefully, he approached, kneeling down. He was pretty tough, so even if it did bite at him, he was confident that he'd survive, but it was still an animal.

"She's got a collar. Shh. It's okay. I just want to see what your name is and who owns you." He spoke in soothing, cooing tones, as he tried to approach, hoping to read the collar. Though he was thinking who keeps a coyote as a pet? As if by magic, another member of the castle's staff would approach with a tray, offering Dawn and Buffy each a cup of drinking chocolate, as well as a plate of chocolate biscuits. Perhaps Dawn could offer one to the coyote. Buffy would just 'love' that.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs and rolls her eyes at Dawn. "Hey Dawn, honey? Why don't you go put these gifts under Brian's tree?" anything to get rid of her. She pulls out the cookie tin, offering it to Brian, "Here, these are for you too, we baked 'em together. Hope you like gingerbrea..." oh, that coyote is still there, pawing at the door.

"Umm...That your pet? Looks like she's got a collar round her neck.." she doesn't let the seemingly wild animal in though, leaving that to Brian to decide what to do.

"Oh, weird, I guess someone's pet..coyote..Ran away. Does it have any identification on the collar?" ooh, chocolate biscuits! She sets the cookie tin on a nearby shelf, reaching for one. "Don't mind if I do! Thanks! I could never say no to chocolate.." and hot chocolate to! Yum..

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Dawn goes 'oooooooooh', a long, drawn out one at the chocolate, both drinking and on plate. She goes grabby hands and asks for some. She's got manners, good. She fumbles with the chocolate as it falls, seemingly in slow motion. Though Dawn does keep a hold of the drinking chocolate, looking wide eyed at the falling biscuit.

Mercy's watching it. Given she can run up to 65 miles an hour, Mercy's in a blur running for the chocolate. She's /there/, with a tongue and munching as Mercy peers up at them againn, patting Dawn with a paw, then looking to the biscuits again as if sayin hey, she needs one, she gave me hers'. Given she's on four paws, it's body language. She does thoughh peer to Brian, then Buffy, then Dawn with a yip, as if thanking her for being clumsy and 'giving' her a biscuit.

Captain Britain has posed:
Brian would have loved a cookie, though the coyote has his attention. If it hadn't been pawing at the door and had a collar, he'd probably have just tried to scare it off, let it figure out where it wanted to go. "Coyotes aren't generally dangerous. More people got hurt by flying champagne corks than coyote attacks. Just don't feed them and you'll be fine."

"She's not mine. Never seen one on the property, though, coyotes are... well, they kind of took over this continent in the past forty years. Originally, they were native to the western states, but now, it's kind of easier to mention where they aren't found, than where they are."

And then Dawn inadvertently feeds it. "... at least she's got a leash and a name tag." He pets her, carefully, especially with Dawn so nearby. He's ready to grab and toss the poor thing aside if he has to. Whatever it takes to protect Dawn and Buffy. He tries to get a look at the name tag, "Mercy... no address or owner listed. Darn. I guess we have to call animal control."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers glares at Dawn as she 'accidently' drops the cookie, and the coyote snaps it up. "Dawn! Be more careful...Don't you know chocolate is bad for dogs?" except this is more a coyote than a dog. She sighs and rolls her eyes as she watches the interaction between the coyote and Brian, but he seems pretty good with animals. "Huh, a stray, maybe? She is kinda cute though..Mercy, what a weird name. I wonder how she got out here?" the coyote doesn't look dangerous though. "Yeaah...I can call 'em, but..I hope they won't like, put her down.." still, Buffy pulls out her phone, looking up the number for animal control.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy does that canine thing of raising her head to look to Brian when he pets her. First chocolate. Now pettings? Sweet! Mercy looks from Buffy, to Dawn, to Brian again doing that tongue wagging thing. Hearing the phone, Mercy skitters deeper into the castle and vanishes deeper into it. Come find me, Animal Control!

Dawn watches Mercy, then looks sad to Buffy as Mercy runs off. "Noooooo" she whines, "I like her. Mercy's a pretty name. I want a dog like her. Can we let her stay here?" she asks with her arms folded as if /daring/ Buffy no, she does though finish up her drinking chocolate first and puts the cup down to reach one handed for another chocolate biscuit.

Captain Britain has posed:
"She's got a collar and a name tag. I'm sure that there's an owner looking for her. Being in an animal shelter is the best thing for her, so her owner can come claim her. Anything else would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Naturally, the solution to that is to use a magnet." Unrelated, but Brian still explained.

Mercy seems to be pretty fast, even by superhero standards, as she moves into the castle on her own before Brian can stop her. Dawn certainly changed her tune. First she's thinking it's gross for Buffy to move in, now she's trying to get Brian a pet coyote.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns as she watches the coyote run off and sighs at Dawn. "Well, that's up to Brian if she can stay here until someone from the animal shelter arrives." and hopefully they will arrive. "Even if she's a stray, well, the owner DID leave the collar on her. They're probably searching for her. I just hope they find her soon. It'd suck to lose a beloved pet, especially around this time of year." she nods to Brian and sighs, "Sorry about this, I guess Dawn is a trouble magnet." Yup, stray animal is totally Dawn's fault! Still, while Dawn chases doggy around, Buffy is already making that call.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Footsteps are heard as Mercy comes back, clothed and on two legs. Hair's tied back as Mercy looks to Dawn, Buffy, then Brian. "Uh...hey" she starts and looks a bit sheepish. "I....don't mean to intrude, but..." she says with a sheepish smile. "I...uh....can I have chocolate please?" Mercy asks. She's more of a trouble magnet than Dawn.

Dawn pouts. Actually, full on pouts at Buffy. "Yeah but if she's a stray we can keep her" she persists, as Mercy glances to Dawn.

"Who?" Mercy asks as Dawn explains on the coyote. "Oh, she's my coyote" Mercy says softly.

Captain Britain has posed:
"Not to worry Buffy," he says at her apologising on behalf of Dawn. He gives her a gentle hug, whispering, "she's adorable," before breaking away. There was a coyote in the castle to find. Though the search may be premature, as Mercy returns wearing some of Buffy's clothes. "... hello" Brian says, even if he's used to unusual things, this was unusual even by his standards.

He looks to the strange and unannounced woman wearing Buffy's spare clothes, and offers chocolate, because she asked and he's kind. "All right... my name is Brian, this is Buffy, and that's Dawn. What's your name?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy takes the chocolate biscuit and bites into it, swallowing before speaking, following it up with a sip of drinking chocolate. "Mercedes. Or Mercy. Whichever you prefer" she offers, biting the biscuit more while watching them all. She looks to Dawn then Buffy, "You two are obviously related. And you're...." she pauses, "Her boyfriend right?" Mercy asks.

Dawn gasps. Mercy's good. "Yeah....y...yeah she's my sister" Dawn offers edging a little closer to Brian.

Mercy shakes her head. "Have any of you seen a coyote?" Mercy sks.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers rolls her eyes at Dawn some more. "Um. No. She's not a stray and no, we're not keeping her regardless!" and then....A strange woman is in the house, wearing Buffy's clothes! "Wait, what? Who are..? Oh don't tell me you're the coyote! But..You're a shapeshifter or...?" her eyes narrow, getting a bit defensive now. The only weird stuff she's ever experienced are demons. "What the hell, are you a demon? Did the Master send you?" she steps between the woman and Dawn, glaring at her warily.