10642/A New Year's Hangover

A New Year's Hangover
Date of Scene:	05 January 2020
Location:	Braddock Castle, Caernarvon
Synopsis:	Fred warns about the dangers of Wake-Up Juice
Cast of Characters:	Captain Britain, Buffy Summers, Winifred Burkle

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Captain Britain has posed:
Brian had thrown quite the party last night. So much so that it was still going on, in a manner of speaking, come morning. The staff had been invited, if they wished to attend, and given the day off, which meant they were either in their room, or for those who lived off site, with their families.

Most of the mansion was fine. The party had been largely contained to only a few rooms. But it was a mess, and there were people, sleeping on the floor, couches, wherever they were. Some had woken up and gone home. The rest, well, they were sleeping off the New Year's partying.

Brian alternated between being a teetotaler, and an alcoholic. He didn't need to drink, didn't care to, but whenever he was in a situation where you were expected to drink, he had a habit of overdoing it. So if he went to the pub, a party, he'd drink like a sailor. He could also hold his liquor, which meant he would drink copious amounts.

This party had been done in the British style of being a fancy dress party. He was currently dressed like a Lumberjack from the famous Monty Python sketch by Eric Idle. He wore a red flannel shirt, blue trousers, with suspenders keeping them up, a woolen grey hat, and black boots. And he was lying on the couch, asleep for now. There also happened to be a certain blonde laying atop him, using his shoulder as a pillow.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers had been up all night, partying the night away and thoroughly enjoying popping around at random places, shouting, "By the Power of Greyskull!!" As the night wound down, she had drunken herself to sleep and had slept pretty soundly next to Brian. If only their costumes matched. She's murmuring funny random words in her sleep as if reliving one of her favourite childhood cartoons - the very same that she dressed up as.

Captain Britain has posed:
Well, had their costumes matched, he would have been dressed up as her brother, He-Man, or Bow, who was permanently trapped in the friend zone. Much like a certain guy dressed as Charlie Brown, who had his face smashed against an open pizza box.

As Brian began to stir, he looked down at Buffy, who was decked out as She-Ra, the Princess of Power, and he didn't have the heart to wake her. Instead, he looked down at her, admiring her, and waiting for her to wake up on her own. He listened intently at her cooing and murmuring, listening and wondering if she might say anything that would embarrass her later.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers yawns and stretches, falling down on the ground as she forgets for a moment that she is actually laying on a crunch. "Ooof! I'm awake!" she springs up rubbing her eyes and falls to rely on top of Brian again, groaning. "Ooooh, major hangover...How do I look?" she rubs her eyes tiredly.

Captain Britain has posed:
Brian tried to catch her when she began to stretch and lost her balance, but she fell too quickly for him, and she landed on the floor. It was a short trip at least. As she got back up and returned to her place on the couch beside and partially on top of him, he brushed a few strands of blonde hair out of her face, "you look beautiful." Brian didn't get hangovers. He never had. He always assumed it had something to do with the magic, but he would sleep it off, waking up right as rain. "Sorry to hear that. Do you want anything, coffee, maybe some Wake-Up Juice from Back to the Future, Part III?" Yes, he knew how to make it. He could be such a nerd.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers grins, hugging him tightly, "Hey there handsome, I guess you take your liquor really well...I suppose being as big as you are.." she chuckles a bit, apparently she does t take her liquor as well. "Hmm coffee sounds good, but I'm curious what this wake up juice is about?" she grins, leaning over to kiss him briefly on the lips, "Great party last night, just wish I didn't drink so much.."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred feels...a little out of place. Last time she'd even SEEN a castle, she was in Pylea, But here she was, at a party she was told she should come in costume for. She'd actually been recently attacked and had a blood transfusion...so irony led her to dress up as...a vampire. Unfortunately for her, all the vampire costumes were the 'sexy' type, and she couldn't find any traditional ones, and ends up looking more like Vamp Willow than anything else. The Corset makes it a little hard to breathe. She feels pretty shy, and, "Ummm...hi?"

Captain Britain has posed:
"I try," he said humbly, as he rubbed his hand up and down Buffy's back in a comforting manner. He returned the kiss, but would have to get up, and with her on the normal access side, he climbed up over the back of the couch they had laid upon, giving her the whole thing, "Some Wake-Up Juice coming right up."

Heading over towards the bar area, where he poured about 1 oz or 30 ml of olive brine into a glass, then shook 10 to 15 ml, or 2 to 3 teaspoons of onion powder, 5 ml or 1 teaspoon of cayenne powder, the same again of chili flakes, 10 ml or 2 teaspoons of mustard seed, at which point he began to crush the seeds inside the glass with a toddy stick.

At that point he lifted it up to his nose, taking a smell, and it was the sort of thing he might marinate a steak with at this point. "Forgot the Tabasco," so he added four teaspoons or 20 ml of Tabasco sauce, which he again mixed with the toddy stick. He garnished it with chilli peppers, and served it over ice, and brought it back to Buffy.

"Here you go Buffy, this should help." And with Fred waking up, he said, in a thick English accent, "Good morning Fred, care for you drink?" There was more Wake-Up Juice in the bar area, and he'd gladly pour some into a glass for her.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles, snuggling against him for a moment and is a bit sad when he gets up to mix the drink...Too bad he didn't tell her what's in it. This is totally gonna suck, isn't it? She spies a Fred and waves to her with a faint, pained smile. "Heeey did you enjoy the party? You look a lot like someone else in that costume..." she laughs weakly. Sure she can take on any number of demons but give her alcohol and she's a puppy. She takes the glass and sniffs it, wrinkling her nose. "Ewww, What the heck is this?"

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred looks at the drink, then looks at Buffy, then looks at Tabasco sauce, and, "Umm...I don't know if that's such a good idea. It probably does wake people up, but just eyeballing the chemical composition of that drink...It just might hurt me. Maybe Buffy can take it with the whole Slayer thing, but..." Fred seems very, very nervous. And decides to fill the largest glass she can find with water. Ice cold water...with some ice, that she also finds. "This is probably safe." Hmmm? Party? She was terribly nervous during that party, as she hadn't really regained her party spirit, and had to be nudged into fun. "...I guess...it was okay."

Captain Britain has posed:
Brian explains to Buffy, "Wake-Up Juice, guaranteed to end your hangover, or you get your money back." She didn't give him any money, so it wasn't much of a guarantee. With Fred not wanting any, he'll pour a glass for himself, if for no other reason than to prove it's safe. He drowns it all, in one gulp. "Yep, I'm awake." And then it hit him. He tried to ride it out. If he had a hangover, it'd be gone, replaced by whole different feelings. Too bad Fred decided to go for ice water. Was there anything more plain she could go for? "That's all right, okay is a good start. Next year, we can aim for good, and then great, and then who knows?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers arches a brow at Fred, quite concerned. She hadn't heard about the blood transfusion but Fred seemed out of it for most of the party. At least when she occasionally glimpsed her between the chaos. "You okay, Fred? Need to sit down?" she shuffles over, patting the seat next to her. When given the glass, she arches a brow at Brian then laughs, nit wanting to be outdone by him. "No sweat, I can handle this..." and she attempts to down it in one swig, which doesn't work so well as she starts to cough sputter and snuffle. But hey, she sure feels more awake now. "....Whoa!"

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Well...it was a pretty big blood transfusion. Vamps caught me in the park, and I had to get saved by someone else. Blood transfusion in the hospital...don't really feel great...probably still trying to recover." And when Buffy coughs, Fred appears to half smile, "Called it." And then she offers Buffy the ice cold ice water, in hopes it might make her a little more comfortable.

Captain Britain has posed:
"Kicks like a mule, don't it?" Brian says in his best western twang. He was pretty good at faking an American accent. Must be something they teach in British schools. But then he returned to his natural voice, which was quite similar to Giles, except Brian was deeper, and seemed to have more confidence. If he hadn't been awake before, he was now, and if he had a hangover, his attention would be more to how hot and spicy his mouth was. It also cleared his sinuses. With Buffy patting the seat next to her for Fred, he took a seat on the other side of the couch, on Buffy's flank, in case Fred would take up Buffy's offer.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers eagerly grabs the ice water, downing it faster than the spicy hot drink, although something milky or creamy might have done a better job. "Phew...That stuff....Wow.." she blinks and rubs her eyes which are now red and watery. Yup, totally awake now. But Fred's sad story causes her eyes to widen. "What?? A blood transfusion? Vampires? Geeez...I should have been there to protect you Fred, I'm so sorry.." she sighs and shakes her head.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Don't...feel so bad, Buffy. It was Angel's responsibility to take care of me, not yours. I don't know where he goes anymore...I don't know where any of them go anymore. I feel so alone in that hotel...it's like they're all gone, even if I see them, they're not there. I'm lonelier than I've ever been..." Which is saying something for a woman once trapped in another dimension. She finally sits down. She probably needed to, with such a recent transfusion from the hospital.

Captain Britain has posed:
Brian was already getting up to pour himself a glass of milk, and one for Buffy as well, as they both could use some after that Wake-Up Juice. When he sat back down, he heard Fred's tales of loneliness. The castle wasn't much better, but if she were a friend of Buffy's, she was a friend of Brian's. "If you want, you can stay here for a while, see how it goes," he wasn't quite ready to make it permanent, hence the modifier, but was willing to give it a try. He offered the milk to Buffy, and took a nice long sip of his own ice cold milk.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks slowly at Fred's sad story. To be honest, she doesn't know much about her and has only met her a handful of times, probably heard a bit about her adventures in Pylea. "Huh. That's odd, maybe they're just hungover from New Years too. I dunno, but definitely stay closer to me and Brian. Hate to say it but you are a bit of a trouble magnet..Hey maybe I can teach you some basic self defence?"

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Self defense...might be good. I don't know how much good it'll do, I'm only human, but...maybe I could at least be a little less of a liability." It's not much, but maybe it'd help. "I could always try building something for you guys...sometimes I just get...inspired to build things...and it could do almost anything."

Captain Britain has posed:
"Buffy's an excellent teacher. She's taught me some moves." Brian's combat skills are far more rudimentary. He has some training, partially from her, partially from an 'ordinary' instructor, in other words, not of Shang-Chi's level, but mostly, he just relies on his innate or Merlin-given abilities. "Ah, you have a background in engineering? I earned my bachelors in physics, and I'm currently working on my masters in engineering at Empire State University." Yeah, he didn't look the type. Not with those supermodel looks, or the superhero size.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Sure. But I still can't hit as hard as ya'll. You'd have to come up with something that doesn't take me being very strong to work against things that, well, can fold me in half backwards. Or bite me. Or barbeque me. Or blast me with mega lasers. Or whatever horrible thing is going to happen to me next." Cause, well, she's been attracting trouble like nobody else recently.

But then physics comes up, and she brightens! "Oh yes, science, I was a physicist before I got sucked into a demon dimension called Pylea. Science was always my calling, but now things keep trying to kill me."

Captain Britain has posed:
"There are martial arts that use your opponents strength against them. There are moves that rely on intelligence and cunning. Already from what I know, or have heard about you, I'm certain you could learn to defend yourself well. Giles is another great teacher... though," he eyes Buffy, who seems to have laid down and taken a bit of a nap, maybe the Wake-Up Juice didn't quite have its desired effect, "it really all depends on the student."

"Funny, I had a similar experience, except I was recruited by Merlin, as in the Arthurian legends, and now, things keep trying to kill me."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Well, I guess that'd be a good place to start then. I really should learn how to fight...maybe I could pick up some crossbow training or something else ranged...with a crossbow, it does all the work, not me so much. And if I get a good pull on it..." Maybe a crossbow will be her next invention.

"Wait, Merlin? Does that mean you're a Knight? Do you have Excalibur?"

Captain Britain has posed:
"Uh, no," this was a friend of Buffy's, and Angel's, and seemed to be in the know. It unnvered him how often his identity would come up, his powers, but it was hard to keep a secret when people were living with you in such a tight knit group. He had tried to hide it at first, and eventually, just resigned himself to joining Buffy's extended circle of trust. "I have a suit and a mask, costume, the whole nine yards. But no, I'm not a knight, and I don't have Excalibur, but uh, that's the name of a superhero group."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"It is? Why would they take the name of the sword if they don't even have it? I mean, given that literally every legend ever seems to actually exist...from Thor swinging a hammer around to a vampire biting me last night...you'd think the sword probably is real, and probably exists somewhere. So...maybe you should go looking for it, especially if Merlin is a guy you know?"

Hmmm. "Ya know, if the sword exists, it probably has a unique energy signature. I wonder if I could track it. It's supposed to be in a lake in Britain, right?" For some reason Fred got inspired to go sword hunting.

Captain Britain has posed:
"It's a long story, and the sword is in Avalon, but, that too is complicated." In fact, the sword was expected to appear in Bludhaven soon. There was a reason part of the city was called Avalon. "It has to do with dimensional drift. Where and when it can be accesses changes over time. But the sword. It belongs to Arthur." Brian spoke with such reverence for it. He believed he was unworthy of it. How could he be? Arthur Pendragon wielded it. The Arthur Pendragon. "And Merlin..." he sighed, "they say that God works in mysterious ways, well, if he, she, it, or they exist, they have nothing on Merlin."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Well, if I remember my legends right, whoever wields that sword successfully is the next king of England. Which...Poor Queen Elizabeth, I guess. And poor Prince William too. Whoever claims Excalibur would just sort of toss them out on their ear." Wait a minute. "Isn't Arthur supposed to be not quite dead yet and in some kind of healing coma that he'll wake from at some point?"

Captain Britain has posed:
"Yeah, it's complicated all around; best not to disturb the sword unless we absolutely have to. And Charles is King now after Elizabeth abdicated after turning 95." With modern medicine, it was likely to be the start of a trend, monarchs ruling for long periods of time, or old children having brief reigns. He also nodded about Arthur, "yeah, the legend says he sleeps until the time he is needed once more, somewhere on the island of Avalon, at the behest of the Lady of the Lake."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Well, that's kinda odd, because we've had all sorts of horrible things happen...even Darkseid on Apocalypse attack...and he hasn't woken yet. Exactly what does it take for him to be officially needed? Just how bad does it have to get?" That seems to be a pretty big threshold. "I think we should research what's likely to trigger his return, so that we know when to expect him."

Captain Britain has posed:
"We've had all sorts of horrible things happen, he's not risen, and yet we've emerged victorious, so was he really need. God, now I sound like Merlin." Brian shook his head, and was not too concerned about it, if anything, he was trying to avoid it. He had a destiny. But he knew that it would come at the appropriate time. Worrying about it, trying to plan for it, would drive him insane.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"That's cause there's other heroes out there. Other people who fight for good and justice and stuff. Even if ONE of them appears to be asleep at the switch, the world's still full of heroes." One of them, in this case, actually refers to Angel who's failed miserably at protecting her, not Arthur.

"Everyone sounds like their mentor eventually. That's what happens when you actually learn from someones else. Their wisdom becomes part of you."

Captain Britain has posed:
"Then you couldn't ask for a better mentor than Buffy Summers, or Giles," though he wasn't too sure how much wisdom Buffy had absorbed from Giles, come to think of it.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"It'll take some work, but...I'm pretty sure I'll learn plenty. And...if I can engineer the right kind of crossbow..." That's probably the biggest thing she can do to help herself, engineer weapons that fire with more force than she ever could.