12816/A much needed vacation getaway.

A much needed vacation getaway.
Date of Scene:	22 March 2021
Location:	Driving to New England
Synopsis:	Buffy and Thomas enjoy a Bed and Breakfast. A surprise question(!) is popped.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Thomas Raith

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Buffy Summers has posed:
Finally, it was time to leave gloomy Bludhaven for a bit, and enjoy the warm and sunny B&B vacation in New England. Buffy had been anxiously looking forward to this much-needed vacation, even though she was just as anxious to leave all her problems behind in Bludhaven.

As they drive along the highway, it's at least warming up enough that she didn't have to wear anything super thick, although she'd brought her wool coat along just incase. The skies were sunny and the highway, if not monotonous was at least scenic.

"...Just saying I hope i'm not making a mistake. I mean, this Alex guy, he seems friendly but..If he's the son of Ares, that could be problematic, you know? I mean, is it really okay for me to just take a vacation from all that?"

Ahh Buffy, ever the paranoid workaholic.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith gives her a sideways look that is none the less filled with love and affection, "You do realize who you are talking to right? I mean when it comes to the son's of bad father's?" he says with a slight smirk. "And like I said, things will be fine. Anything truly apocalyptic the other supers can handle. Anything further down the pole, Harry can handle. And anything else can wait till we get back." Then without warning he slugs her in the arm. "Punch bug."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers groans and nods, rolling her eyes. "Ohhhhh riiight. I mean, I totally forgot about you and your...Very interesting family. I mean, what a total surprise, meeting your sister like that and all?" she chuckles a bit even. "Guess she's not quite as scary as you made her out to be."

As for Ares, Buffy just shrugs. "Hmm, well that's the thing, I thought the god of war would be more..Well, warsome. But just the opposite. I attacked him first, I stabbed him, and he...Seemed to be there only trying to make peace, to s top some apololyptic thingy from stirring in Sunnydale, awoken by his presence.."

She wrinkles her nose briefly at the memory of those detritus demon thingies.

And then she gets punched in the arm and smirks, "Heeey!" and she playfully punches him back, "Right back atcha!"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins a bit, rubbing the spot where she punched him, "Hey there are no give backs in Punch bug. It's like one of the sacred laws in the universe." He says with a grin. He slides his hand over, entangling his fingers with her's and grinning slightly. "So you realize that, at this very moment, you are fretting about the son of someone being in town, when the father was, by your own admission, wasn't that bad in the first place." He gives her hand a squeeze. "So for the fear of Empty Night, relax. Please?" This weekend is about us. No Slayer stuff, no White Court stuff. Yosa is under orders to only call me if the Club catches fire.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers draws a deep breath and nods, squeezing his hand. "I know..I guess you're right, just...It just doesn't add up, but..I'll try not to think about it til we get back. Heck, maybe I'll ring up Wonder Woman and ask her to give me a run down on Greek Mythology when we get back.."

She smiles faintly and nods, "Annd..Maybe I'm being a bit too paranoid, I mean, Willow and Faith can take care of themselves, right? Not like they'll blow up Sunnydale in our absence, right?" she chuckles and nods, making a zipping motion with her lips.

"Riight, no more slayer stuff til we get back. Soooooo are we there yet?" wink wink.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith eyerolls and taps a button on the steering wheel, which has the in-dash cosoul reply "You are two...hours and...twenty seven...minutes from your destination." He smirks at he a little bit, considering they are just leaving the Greater Bludhaven area. "So did you tell your mom you were going out of town for a weekend retreat with your boyfriend?" he asks playfully.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers groans. "Really? Two more hours? I mean, I hope I don't have to go to the washroom soon.." although she DID make sure to go before they left. "Really though, I dont remember the last decade I went on a real vacation, it wasn't exactly easy with all my duties.."

As for her mom, she just shrugs, "Uh, well...She's been out of town again sooo...Not really. I did ask Spike to check in on Dawn though during our absence.." she sighs, "Just hope I'm not making a big mistake, trusting him.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shrugs a little bit, "Trusting a hundreds years old blood sucking parasite to check in on your barely teenaged little sister with latent magical talent? Nah can't see what can possibly go wrong with that..." Thomas says dryly. Nope still doesn't care for Spike that much. Still he gives Buffy a look. "Your mother hasn't gotten sick again has she?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers shakes her head slowly, sighing. "He's changed. He's not evil anymore. And he'd never harm Dawn. Even if he and I dont always see eye to eye. For all our...Complicated history entails, I still trust him, enough to know he'd never let danger come to my little sister."

As for her mom, she smiles, shaking her head. "She's been doing fine lately, sometimes she's tired and I always worry but..."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith nods slightly, giving the small grunt which is translated from male to mean "I recognize and acknowledge your point, though I stand firmly behind my own." still he smiles a bit, "Well that's good to know. I like your mom... Though between you and me, I think she checked out my butt when you weren't looking."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers just bites her lip, looking away on the topic of Spike. There are things she's not yet told Thomas of her history with the blonde vamp, things that happened between them years before Thomas came into the picture even. Maybe one of these days. She still seems guilty about what she did though..

"Thank you, I know both my parents are pretty fond of you too, even if my dad was pretty weirded out about what happened last time.." she smirks, "And of course there's this whole expectation that we'll...Get married soon..." Buffy rolls her eyes at that.

As for her checking him out, Buffy just chuckles and shrugs, "Well to be fair, all my college friends are jealous of me and check you out when you come to pick me up too. It's totally your fault, you know.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins a little bit, "Well yes, lets face it I am a delectable piece of man-meat." He says with a wink, Taking his eyes off the road to give her that dazzling smile and bring her knuckles up to his mouth to kiss lightly. Still doing close to ninety without looking at the road he asks, "Is that something you'd want one day?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks a bit as he takes his eyes away from the road, but really, she's used to it by now. The other question however, catches her off-guard a bit.

"Um, I mean...I've never really given it much thought, y'know, I mostly just live in the now, largely because of..My job and all. You know, most slayers don't live past their first year.."

Still, it's not typical for the guy in the relationship to even consider marriage and she smiles a bit, blushing at that. "But..I could see us being a long term thing...I mean, how would Buffy Raith sound?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins a little bit, considering it. "Kinda scary actually." He says with a bit of a grin, turning back to face the road and making a sour face, "Of course there would be the fact it would be seen as 'The Slayer' throughing her weight behind a particular supernatural faction. That might cause issues." he shakes his head. He gives her a wicked smile and adds, "But damn we'd make some good looking kids, huh?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers shivers a bit as he says that word, 'scary', and nods slowly, "You know, it really is kinda..Scary. Making a life with someone, putting your faith and trust in them. Constantly thinking of the future...Wait, kids?" she makes a face, "You know, I never really thought I could even have a normal life, let alone having a relationship and kids but.."

She smiels and nods. "It would be nice, I've never been this happy with anyone else before..And..How would that affect you and teh white court?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith considers a bit. "Fatally most likely. Right now I'm an annoyance to my father... but if I were to produce an heir of my own? A Male heir even?" he shakes his head, "Yeah he likely would feel the need to dispose of me much sooner rather then later." He says with a sigh, shaking his head. "Of course with the Slayer right there beside me, that might help."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns, shaking her head. "You know I'd never let that happen, right? I mean..I met your sister, and she didn't seem so tough, how much worse could your father be? Not that I want to kill your dad or anything, but if he starts threatenning you..that's a different story."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith says, "Belladonna doesn't seem that threatening either." He says in a mildly dark tone, shaking his head. "Don't underestimate Lara. One of her primary weapons is that she cam make people underestimate her." he says it calmly and shakes his head. "As for my father, he's even more--Punch bug-- dangerous. I've never seen it but stories are that he's literally drained a person dry with just a kiss. Lara's seen him do it.""

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers's smile fades a bit at the whole 'Death kiss' thing. "Ooh, that's...Gee.." she actually shivers a bit at that. "I mean, I figured, I'd just punch his lights out but I know that even you could mind control me if you wanted...Make me do things I didn't wanna do. And even if I might be able to resist you a little..I dunno about someone with that level of power.."

Of course she still remembers the time she was foolishly curious enough to ask Thomas what it would feel like to be under his thrall..She bites her lip at the thought.

"Well gee, that's a conundrum. And if he's really that much of a problem as is, why don't we just go for the jugular now? Well...Why dont *I* go for the jugular. I mean, I cant'....Expect you to....I should really shut up now, shouldn't I..." she sinks a bit lower in her seat, and sighs, staring quietly out the window for a few moments.

"sorry, I guess we weren't gonna talk about slaying or white court, or demons or potentially dangerous gods or anything while we're on vacation, right? Sorry, bad habit.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith laughs a little bit and smiles, considering. "But by the same token, if we avoided Slaying and Court politics all together then what /would/ we talk about. We don't even like the same baseball teams. I mean I'm a Cubs fan." He says with a bit of playfulness. He shrugs a bit, "The power vacuum for one thing," He says with a shrug. "For all his flaws my father is /far/ from the worst that the White Court has to offer. If Cesarina Malvora or Skavis, or my cousin Madrigal..." He actually shudders. "Empty Night, It would be a nightmare

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers laughs, "I mean c'mon, it's not like all we have in common is fighting demons, right? I mean...I guess your family is a tad bit...Odder than mine. Which is too bad. Can you imagine if your dad and my parents met? Wouldn't that be something? Like, as if that disastrous barbeque wasn't nuts enough.."

She smirks, "But still, I'm curious to see this island you once spoke of, and even if it'd be a bad idea to meet your dad...I dunno, I wanna know everything about you, about your family, about your past, yknow?"

It's hard to ignore the lovely scenery though and Buffy's gaze drifts towards the window thoughtfully. "but seriously though...Where exactly are we going, in New England? It's a big place right? Are we going by the seaside? Cuz I totally packed my bathing suit, y'know, the cute red one you liked so much the last time." she smirks.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins slightly and leans over to kiss her, again taking his eyes off the road at high speeds...because Thomas. "No we have more in common then that." He says softly. He smirks a little bit tilting his head slightly, "Might be a bit too cold yet for swimming," he cautions though a slight smirk touches his lips, and his eyes flash a bit paler, "Though I'll be happy to warm you back up."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers doesn't seem to notice the dangers of driving on the highway wile your eyes are looking the other way - not at the moment while she's distracted with kissing him. Oh and at least there's not a lot of traffic on the road right now..Hopefully it'll stay pretty clear a little longer.

"I know, I'm sorry if I'm so caught up in 'work' stuff all the time. I think we both need this vacation, a chance to get away. It'll be better than last time even, y'know, with the fair and all? To be honest, I've never really travelled much beyond Sunnydale, Los Angeles and Gotham. So..It'll be an adventure, right?"

As for the swimming part, she just shrugs and smirks, "Heey, if Russians can jump naked into ice holes, it couldn't be that bad right? Besides, how could I say no to a warming up?" she grins.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins and simply slides his arm around his lover, the close confines of the sports car making it rather cozy for them. They drive for a little over two hours, simply being with each other before, /finally/ pulling up to a classic New England Bed and Breakfast. Thomas grins a bit, looking around. "well this is the address...

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles and snuggles up against Thomas, although really he should know better about driving while 'distracted'. But of course Buffy is used to his rather inane form of driving which, somehow he never manages to crash (probably because of his inane level of co-ordination).

Somewhere along the way, she falls asleep, not worried about waking up in a coma or something. Because. Yeah.

When she does wake up, it's probably fairly later in the day, and she's probably pretty hungry and stiff. She blinks, glancing around at the adorable little country-style house that they drive up to and smiles.

"Ooh, is this the place? It's so charming!" she yawns and stretches. "I hope we can get a nice evening walk in later, although I'm so tired."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins playfully. "You're tired? You slept the whole way. I did all the driving." He says grinning and heading to the back seat to get their suit cases. His blue eyes sparkling with no small amount of amusement as he takes in the form of her stretching and enjoying the warm spring sun.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers rolls her eyes and makes a face. "Heey, well, I had to keep an eye on the road to make sure you didn't crash into anything with your careless driving. It just *looked* like I was sleeping to the casual observer..." she gives him a mischevous wink before climbing out of the car, yawning and stretching a bit as she climbs to her feet.

She pulls open the back door and grabs some of her stuff. They're planning on spending a few days, so she did grab some clothes and essentials in her trusty oversized duffle bag, but didn't want to overdo it.

"soo, you been here before? Looks nice and peaceful.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith head shakes and looks around, grinning as he points to the front door, trying to do the "Manly" thing of carry almost all of their luggage in a single trip. He does at least let Buffy open the front door to the place for him though. He sets them down, giving the little silver bell a tap. Then a second because he is five.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers glances over her shoulder as he takes most of the luggage and rolls her eyes. "You know, I could easily carry all that myself. I mean, I still dunno which of us is stronger, but..." she reaches over and grabs one of the heavier pieces of luggage. Just because Buffy always has to 'prove' herself that way.

Of course that makes openning the door a little harder. Thankfully someone opens and the door and she grins at the uniformed man on the other end. "Awesome. Bell service! I mean, I've never been to a place with a bellhop. Since we rang it twice, do we get two bellhops? Because that'd be kinda funn.."

The door man just ignores her. Because that's a really weird question and they are ushered in. "Uh, soooo those tickets. Um...Do you have them?" Because that'd be super embarrassing if they were lost.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith chuckles a little bit and kisses her lips softly in a method that she's likely come to learn means "Buffy, I love, worship and adore you. Stop talking for a moment." He smiles, "When I called to make the reservations, they took all the information off of the vouchers. Just because I am pretty doesn't mean I'm dumb." He says with a grin, loading the bellman's cart and adding a $50 for the guys trouble. It's about then a sweet old lady comes out and smiles "Oh, are you the Raith's then. aren't you a beautiful couple. Celebrating your honeymoon?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks slowly, easily distracted with his kisses and she relaxes, knowing when to shut up and enjoy the moment. She smiles and nods as they break, her hand sliding down his arm to clutch his free hand and nodding.

"Of course not, I mean, you probably catch people off-guard with your intelligence, which is almost annoying, but in a cute kinda way." she grins and winks at him, nodding to the hostess with a smile..Although that smile freezes on her face when she seems to imply that they're y'know, married.

"Uh...Well..We're just...." For a moment, Buffy is tempted to just go along and pretend they ARE married, just incase they get some sort of freebies for that. And because it might be kind of fun. So she just lets that sentence hang there, letting Thomas finish it.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith smirks a little bit and grins slightly, looking at Buffy as if to say, "Oh really? You wanna play game?" his eyes daring her for just a moment before he says to the woman behind the counter, "Actually if you'll hold that thought..." He says and then drops to one knee and pulls out a blue velvet box...

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks and shrugs as if to say, 'Heck, why not!?' And thenn, just to give her a freakin' heart attack, he pulls out A Box. A nd her eyes widen, holding her breath for just a moment. "Um...Thomas? What are you doing?" oh crap, is she even ready for this!?

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith opens the box slowly and and inside is an antique gold ring with a pink diamond setting. Thomas blue eyes looking at her with wicked amusement in them. "From the first moment I laid eyes on you, all I could think was that you were one of the most remarkable creatures I'd ever seen." He says playfully, "I offered you some cheesey pick up line and I thought you were going to punch me in the throat. But I kept after you. Kept chasing you until one day I realized, you had caught me."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers's eyes widen all the more when she sees the beautiful ring. Woow, is that real? Is that a real diamond? How old is it, how expensive? Did it belong to his mother...? Oh, she has sooo many questions, and she swallows slowly, glancing between the ring and Thomas.

"Um..." she licks her lips. "Are you...For real?" she actually blushes rather self consciously, reaching down to touch the ring, deeply touched by his words. "Thomas.." she murmurs..

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith smirks a little bit, It's not often he gets to knock a few points off the Slayer, but when he does, he does it with grand style. "We don't live lives anyone would consider normal." He says with a smile, taking out the ring and sliding it onto her finger. OF course he knows her ring size. "So this isn't an engagement ring. It's not about the furute or about white dresses and ceremonies. This is a pledge ring. I promise myself to you. Right here. Right now. I promise to love you for as long as we walk this stupid, sometime dangerous, sometimes funny, always suprising road together. I'm not asking for something as nebulous as your forever. I won't settle for anything less then your right now."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers bites her lip, her heart pounding about a hundred miles an hour. He's really doing this, right here, right now...On the steps of this elaborate bed and breakfast. In front of this old lady they just met.

And yet, it's surprisingly sweet in its own way. Not like he could ever not be sweet and romantic. She does relax a bit however, when he clarifies that it's not in fact an engagement ring, but..A promise ring? And somehow that makes her eyes well up in tears, not only because of the incredibly sweet and heartfelt gesture, but...

But because she remembers what happened last time someone gave her a promise ring. "Thomas..." she murmurs softly between sniffles. Is she crying because she's happy or sad? It's really hard to tell, although at least she doesn't reject the ring. She *does* fall towards him, hugging him tightly, burying her face against him as she chokes out an "I love you.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
And as she is collapsing into his arms the sweet old lady is dabbing at her eyes and telling the bellman to take their bags up to the honeymoon suite, that she is going to comp them the upgrade. He cups her face, kisses her slowly and intensely... slips just enough hunger into it to make her knees buckle. "I love you." He whispers in return.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers shivers a bit at his touch, as always addicted, drunken either by his mere touch, even if she went into this with eyes wide open. Her knees do buckles as she falls against him, shivering softly. Damn, it's been a long drive and she could really use some R and R.

"So tired.." she murmurs, clutching his arms. "But..We should talk..About this.." Still, she can tell him what happened last time someone gave her a promise ring some other time. She smiles softly at him, closing her eyes as she wraps her arms around him.