11034/Wither the Witch

Wither the Witch
Date of Scene:	10 February 2020
Location:	McAnally's Pub
Synopsis:	Fred meets Willow...they get drunk, and end up headed in the same direction...
Cast of Characters:	Winifred Burkle, Willow Rosenberg

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Winifred Burkle has posed:
It's a pub. Aye, a good old fashioned pub. Unlike most pubs, however, this one is well known as a 'neutral zone', so people don't automatically attack each other here. Which makes it much safer than most. And here is Fred, enjoying one of those stake sandwiches. Notably, she is not drinking yet. She actually thought Buffy was going to be here, but that has turned out to not be the case. At least not yet.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg has been away on a spiritual journey back in England, visiting some wise folks, sitting with stones, dreamwalking under the open stars. Y'know, witchy stuff. She's honestly a little nervous to see her old friends, even though it doesn't make sense to feel that way. They stayed in touch and everything. But coming back home means stepping back into the fight - becaus there's always a fight - and Willow, in her heart, will never be fully comfortable with her life of danger and derring-do.

"Um, I'll have, uh...uh..." she says, realizing she's not a beer person and wine seems weird at a bar especially since it will probably be bad wine and she doesn't really know any drinks except ones she hears about in songs, which is how she ends up saying, "Pina colada?"

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred...has to giggle at that one. "Let me guess, you like getting caught in the rain too?" Referencing the Pina Colada song. Fred waves Willow over to sit by her. "I haven't seen you for a while. How was England?"

It's definitely a life of danger...Fred's caught sight of the grim reaper a few times already in her time since getting out of Pylea, and should have died twice, but for the efforts of a couple mutants with healing powers.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg is taken off-guard by Fred's presence, which proves that some things never change: Willow's always been a bit of an introvert, prone to getting lost in her thoughts, "Um, yeah, sure, I mean, who wouldn't? Bring on the rain, right?" she says, giving an awkward laugh.

"England was good. England was needed," she sighs. "How are things here? Please tell me the world isn't about to end, I want to at least get a few good night's sleep sans apocalypse."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Pretty sure the world's ending pretty much daily and twice on Tuesdays. Fortunately, there's a lot of bigger heroes around to handle that sort of thing. Still, the danger I've been in recently has been more from robots and humans than monsters. I got blasted by a sentinel, set on fire by the friends of humanity, and got bit by a vampire since you've been gone. Angel has not done a great job protecting me." Fred sounds very bitter about that.

"Did they make you do Yoga in England?" Continuing with Pina Colada references. Unsurprisingly, the TV in the pub has the Oscars on.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg gets her fruity drink, stirring it with the little red straw and pulling out the umbrella, "They didn't make me. I know it looks silly, but it's actually pretty cool. Makes you really flexible, too, which is nice."

"Angel's a complicated guy. He's always got more going on than he says. All those big hero types are secret keepers. Try to cut him a little break. But don't let him get away with it either. Basically, I have no advice," she grins.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Thanks. But, ya know. I keep nearly dying. And I'm kinda scared that one of those near deaths will be an actual death, and he just...won't be there. Can't exactly chastise him if I'm 6 feet under, can I? Secretive heroes are only OK if they manage to save you when you need saving." Hmmmm.

"Buffy invited me to move in, cause she thought you'd be gone longer. But now you're back, and it's still super lonely at Hyperion..." Of course, she can't take the offer if Willow's come home.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg bites her bottom lip, "I don't wanna keep you stuck in a bad place," she says. "I mean, it's okay with me if you still move in. We've got plenty of room. I always wanted to have bunk beds as a kid, although the only person who would've slept in it might've been Xander and my mom would've flipped her lid. Of course, she didn't know then what I know now. Heck, I didn't know then what I know now!"

She shakes her head, "And yeah, like...don't die. It's okay to protect yourself and not throw yourself into danger all the time. Not all of us are slayers or vampires."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"It's not that I'm trying to get myself killed or anything, it's more of a thing where...if people are in need, I'm not great at sitting there. I keep remembering being enslaved, and I don't want people to go through that. So...even though I can't do anything useful, there's still an instinct in me to try. You've probably felt that yourself before, even if you're now a super witch."

Fred struggles with herself, her desire to stand up for people combined with her inability to actually do that due to lacking the power.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg handwobbles, "I dunno about super witch. There's a lot of witches who are a lot better at it than I have. I'm lucky because I seem to have a sort of intuitive gift for it, but that's a double-edged sword, too. Learning magic too fast is like driving a race car when you've still only got your learner's permit. Easy to crash."

She sips on her fruity drink and replies, "But yeah. I know. I'm not saying you sit on the sidelines. I'm just saying...maybe the way you can help is less in the bashing things in and more in the thinking stuff through. You're a smarty pants."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Well, I do invent things pretty good. That's why SHIELD hired me. It's a pretty good job, and it pays well, so I've at least got that going for me. I'm making them train me too, so I'm not quite so useless if a vampire does decide I look like a snack. Or if I end up in Pylea and get enslaved, or set on fire, or..." She trails off, with all her near death experiences, it's more than a little traumatic.

"...You won't crash as long as you're not alone. Maybe I could support you when you cast spells on things." If that's how that works. She doesn't know how magic works, just how science works.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg nods, "Honestly, that's not the worst idea. Buffy and the others tend to want to go out and fight on the frontlines, so I kind of need someone to watch over me while I"m in the m iddle of rituals and stuff. Used to be Xander, but with him gone for now, I don't really have anybody to do that. Oooooooo, maybe you could build like a bubble for it. I could be a bubble girl!"

"SHIELD, huh? Secret agent stuff. I mean, I've known some not good secret agent, but most of them are probably good, like you, so that's good. Can I say good more?"

Winifred Burkle has posed:
"Maybe. Tech and magic don't usually work so well together. One of Buffy's other friends named Harry nearly exploded by phone just by standing next to it. But you don't seem to be causing any harm to phones, so maybe it might work better with you." Fred nods, "Yeah, okay. I'll stay with you while you cast, and hopefully I can help you. I just...I'm not sure if it'll be a device that helps more, or simply human contact. Magic doesn't follow science rules." Which is truly unfortunate sometimes.

"I'm not much of a secret agent. More of a secret lab worker." She can't say what she's working on, of course, that's a no no.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg nods, "Yeah, I've heard of some magic users having that problem. Never been one for me. I've been hacking in one hand and spellcasting with the other. I've cast some spells on my computer, even. Maybe it's just cause I knew a bunch about computers and stuff before I learned about witchcraft, so it's all kind of just mushed together in my my brain like a DQ blizzard. Only with magic instead of Oreos. Hey, do they have a booze that comes with Oreos in it? That sounds good," she says.

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Turns out, they do! Mac will make any kind of booze customers want, and he just happened to have some oreos. Granted, he was probably munching on a couple behind the bar here and there, but if a customer wants 'em in a drink, he will oblige. Fred's been sipping on wine this whole time. "We should probably go home soon. I reckon we might have a pretty decent buzz by now..."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg looks at what's left of her drink, which is nothing and nods, "Yeah, I'm a little fuzzy. I mean, obviously, in my brain, is what I meant. Not that there's anything wrong with being fuzzy. I've met many great fuzzy people. I even dated one, even though it didn't work out, which wasn't his fault, it was just he wasn't right because he was...well, cause he was a he," she admits. "But yeah, let's get back to the apartment. Have you moved your stuff in yet? Buffy should help do that, she's way better at carrying stuff. I want to use magic to cheat, but I keep remembering that Mickey Mouse cartoon where he has all the brooms and I get scared I'll flood the place by accident."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Fred starts to wonder if Willow's the type that's always a little fuzzy. But...warm and fuzzy. The warm part is key. Some part of Fred's science brain took into the fact Willow said her last relationship didn't work out because he was a he. Which means...Fred kinda giggles, and teases her with, "What, you think I'm sexier than he was?" But still, it's time to stagger home, before anything too crazy happens. Well. Unwanted craziness at least. "Most of it yeah. Hyperion doesn't have much left for me."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow Rosenberg blushes deeply, "Uh, I mean, that's...I would...you are definitely, like, a hottie. Like, super cute nerd hot. Which is great, I mean, I love that, that's like the best kind of I mean..."

She just trails off and doesn't try to figure out exactly what to say, "Well, then, get out of there, for sure. That's not even a good name. Hyperion. It sounds like an attention deficit drug or, like, a terrible first person shooter where the main character has a buzzcut and talks about tiddies all the time."

Winifred Burkle has posed:
Aha! Fred called it. "I see how it is, you're just dragging me to your room so you can do wicked despicable things to me." Despite the word choice, she's giggling and doesn't seem all that opposed to the idea.

Some part of Fred's logic brain must still be working, cause, "I thought he was some kind of sun god or something. I don't remember anymore..." But still, the staggering home commences...