13347/A heartfelt return

A heartfelt return
Date of Scene:	21 May 2021
Location:	Apartment, the Blue Lady
Synopsis:	Buffy and Thomas enjoy a heartfelt reunion after a long absence
Cast of Characters:	Thomas Raith, Buffy Summers

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Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas had had to go out of town on business, something he was, well to be honest more secretive then usual about. He'd left Yosa in charge of the Blue Lady in his absence. So it's almost Midnight, the Blue Lady is in full swing. Sasha on stage singing about the man she loves (Who according to the song she wants to have kill her husband). The crowd is exuberant, but not overly so. Not much for a bouncer to do... at least until DiDi comes up carrying a drink and a smirk. "Handsome guy at the bar wanted to buy you a drink Sugah.." She offers in that magnolia laced accent, offering Buffy a cocktail she's seen a hundred times... a Slow comfortable Screw up agienst the wall...

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers has been pretty busy lately, what with all the new threats that not only threatenned Bludhaven as per usual, but were spreading out towards New York as well. In addition, a number of her newfound allies had been badly injured in the last seige against a newfound vampire stronghold, which left her running around trying to patch them up in between increased patrols..

All in all, she was exhausted, and missing Thomas more than anything. So an early afternoon finds her lurking at the bar at the Blue Lady, trying to relax with a strong glass of white wine as she listens to the catchy yet disturbing long on stage, and sighs. "Thomas, where are you.." she murmurs between sips..

And then Didi arrives, offering her a familiar drink. "Huh? Is that..?" she glances around, knowing only one person who likes to buy her that particular drink.

Thomas Raith has posed:
And there he is. He's forgone the white suit tonight, which is somehow a form of camouflage. Every regular in the Club knows The-Man-in-White, so simply changing into something a bit less monochromatic makes him invisible to those who might want to bend his ear. His long flowing hair pulled back into a loose pony tail. When their eyes meet though, he offers that wicked smile, raising his highball glass, no doubt full of iced tea, in her direction. Did smirks a bit, "Sugah, you don't get that cute mopey butt of yours over there and kiss that man I'm gonna kick it for you." the White Court waitress says playfully.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles at Didi, climbing to her feet and nods. "Thanks, Didi. Appreciate it." She takes a sip of her cocktail before moving through the crowds towards him, locking eyes with him. It's pretty crowded right now, but she weaves in and out of the traffic, never leaving his gaze.

When Buffy reaches him, she doesn't say anything, just rests her hands on his shoulders, kissing him deeply, making up for all that lost time, apparently.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith kisses her back. Deep, long and slow. Over a week away from her she can feel his Hunger close to boiling in the kiss. His arms slide around her, pulling her close as he almost trembles...with passion... with relief... with just the overwhelming presence of being in her arms again. When the kiss breaks he smiles. "so I know your boss can be kinda a hardass, but think he'll let you knock off early?" he asks playfully.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs softly, relaxing in his grasp as she reaches around to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. At this point, she doesn't care much about PDAs bothering anyone else, as she just gets lost in his kiss, his scent, his much missed pressence.

"Thomas.." she murmurs. "I was starting to wonder if I'd ever see you again.." Buffy pauses only briefly to glance at him with a smirk. "Oh yeah? I couldn't tell ya. He can be a real jerk sometimes..Just leaves me in the lurch to pick up the pieces. But sometimes, he's super sweet and totally generous. Gimme a sec and I'll ask him?"

She winks playfully, knowing that her 'boss' is, well, kinda biased towards her.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Yosa, the bartender (who kinda looks like a grizzled Bruce Willis with an eye patch), just grunts at the pair. In all the time they've known him he's only said two words to buffy, saying simply "Good luck," when she went to be swapped back into her own body from Tiffany the wonder skank's. Now he rolls his good eye at them and says "Get out of here, both of you." And goes back to wiping the bar. Thomas just grins, "well he is still technically your boss tonight..."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers beams at Yosa and nods. "Thanks! You're awesome." hey, she's been working extra hard in the last few weeks, that on top of leading the Scoobies into a new Vampire war, and having to tend to wounded allies. She totally needs a break.

She smiles happily at Thomas, grabbing his hands to pull him to his feet. "You heard the man..Let's go, take a load off." If he'll let her, she'll lead him upstairs, of course. They're totally needing some alone time, after all the chaos of the last couple of weeks.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith follows her to the back of the Club, Crush smirking at them in that way that friends will when they know their friends are likely about to go get frisky. For what it's worth, Thomas, with the self restraint of a saint, manages to get all the way up to his office, and almost to their apartment door before he spins her around, pins her to the wall and kisses her again.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers says nothing as she pulls him out of the eye of the crowd, leading him up to the office, and pauses, taking a breath. "Thomas, I--" But she's cut off, and doesn't really fight it, eyes fluttering closed as she presses eager lips against his again. "Mmm...She murmurs." wrapping a leg around his, "You really missed me huh?" she grins, glancing towards the door, but cant be bothered to fumble with it. HOpefully no one will pop in on them as they didn't exactly have time to lock the office door..

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith reaches around her, pinning her agienst the wall and lifting her up as his mouth slowly explores her's. "Well I haven't fed in over a week." He says playfully, "Could have but my girlfriend has this weird thing about monogamy...and she also has a big axe so I thought it best just to miss a few meals till I got home.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs, grabbing his shoulders, steadying herself against him and nods. "I'm sorry..I didn't want you to suffer like that. Thought you'd be back sooner. You know you can feed on me as much as you like.." she frowns for just a bit as she says that. Hadn't she recently been in an argument about that with Spike, telling her how he's just using her?

The memory causes her to frown, shaking her head, muttering something about 'that idiot'. "Shall we go to the apartment..? Somewhere more comfortable? You must be tired..And hungry." she smiles as she wraps her legs around his waist, nuzzling against him.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith smirks just a little bit and lifts her up, more then strong enough to carry her slender frame without the aid of the wall or anything else, walking straight to the bedroom and laying down with her on the bed. He pauses then, just grinning like a love struck fool. "Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers doesn't protest as he carries her to the bedroom, just hugging him tightly, sighing a bit. To be honest, she's been pretty tired lately herself, and hasn't made enough 'me' time lately either.

"Mm, all the time, but I'm sure it's not the real reason you keep me around." she yawns and stretches out on the bed, hoping she has enough energy tonight, reaching her arms up to him.

Thomas Raith has posed:
What happens next is not exactly proper for publication. If you are reading this log use your imagination of what happens when two beautiful people deeply in love fall into a massive bed together, you're probably not far off. Unless you think they decided to play parcheesi, then you are not only far off, but a little weird. Suffice it to say, as the curtain rises again, Thomas sighs breathlessly beneath the short end of the L shaped blanket, his skin quite literally glowing after having not just fed but feasted. With a content sigh he pulls Buffy closer. "So catch me up. I know when you're stressed.."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs, a bit more tired than she already was, a little streak of white hair showing among those blonde locks. Or is she just generally stressed? She smiles though, curling up against him, pulling him close to her in a loving embrace.

"Oh, you know, the usual..Patrolling, fighting vamps..I suppose there was a sudden surge of vamps in New York around the time of that major solar eclipse. More like a vamp army. I met another Vampire slayer named Blade. Oh right, you called him a Daywalker, whatever that is? Well, he thinks something big is gonna happen real soon. Oh, and Constantine is back but Giles is nowhere to be found.."

She's counting off things on her fingers. "Looks like the vamp army we fought had a stronghold in the subway system, but I think they relocated after we took a big chunk out of their army. Oh, and I guess we have some new allies. Hellequin wants to help us, so does, Deadpool.." she smirks, "He's a bit of a loose canon. Oh, and I guess Spike is back in town." that last part makes her frown. Did she leave anything out? "Willow seems to be growing in power all the time, a little frightening really.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith props himself up on his side, looking at her with amused affection even as she goes through the litany of things that have been going crazy lately. "Well on the plus side, Dawn wasn't kidnapped right?" he says with a smile shaking his head. Still he sighs, "Not /a/ Daywalker. /The/ Daywalker." He says with a sigh. "you know how I told you before that the Slayer tends to be a bit of a Boogyman..err boogywoman in certain supernatural circles? Well the Daywalker scares us on that level. Maybe a little more. You've been known to be reasonable on a rare occasion.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks a bit. "Well..Yeah, guess that's one thing in our favor. She's at a friend's house out of town, but she's staying safe, which is good. One less thing to worry about.." she bites her lip, thinking. "Soo...What IS a daywalker? Should I be worried..? He..Doesn't seem evil.."

She chuckles at the 'reasonable on occasion' thing. "Yeah, maybe I've been a bit too reasonable. Seems like half our new allies are a bit..Chaotic..Am I being too lenient? Should I be vaniquishing more demons instead of drafting them? I dunno.." She sighs..

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shakes his head slightly, "He's something that, by all reckoning, should not exist." He says simply, running a finger gently across her forehead brushing slightly at her bangs. "By all accounting he is the perfect vampire. All of their strengths, none of their weaknesses. For the most part the White Court has always stayed out of his way... save to discreetly feed him information of certain rivals... but he's the equivilant of fireing a cannon at a house fly." He smirks a little bit. "You see the good in people Buffy, even when those people are monsters. A fact I am always greatful for." He says stealing a quick, gentle smooch.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks, "Waiit..Wait a minute..A vampire without all their weaknesses? Sooo, that's why he could stay out in the sun without getting fried..And he could smell Spike and who knows what else. Probably you too." she frowns as she thinks back to how he helped her battle those vampires.

"Soo..How come a super vamp is hunting down other vamps? Does he even drink blood? I'm confused." Like way confused. Buffy shakes her head, pressing her lips against his, feeling a bit comforted by his touch, but..

"I think maybe I've gone soft. I can't let my guard down, I shouldn't be giving every supernatural creature I meet a free pass. One day it's gonna cost me.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shakes his head. "I don't know. Rumors and hear say go both ways on the blood issue. Same with why he hunts Vampires. My father believes it's a power play of some sort, but my father sees power plays around every corner. My vote? There are only so many reasons anyone kills. Sex seems unlikely, money is possible. But I go with revenge. For what I have no idea, but that sort of passion requires a hot fire." He smiles a bit stroking her face. "Maybe it will... but what will it cost you if you don't. It'll tear you up inside like cancer.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods slowly. "Okay, so..This guy definitely has an agenda..Kill every last vampire standing. He definitely seems fueled by..Some sort of revenge vendetta. Soo, at least for now, he's on our side. But.." She sighs, "I dunno, that may change, once this vampire war is over. Maybe he'll decide to come after my friends. But, that's not all. I mean, Deadpool, he's a loose canon, he said so himself. Said he has a reputation for going crazy, turning chaotic.

Buffy seems only more worried as she cuddles up to him, glad at least for the comfort, for someone to talk to about all of this. "Will he turn on us too? He's practically invincible. Heck, I had to play humpty dumpty with him the other day when he deliberately drove his car full of TNT into a pond, just to blow up a Kraken." she wrinkles her nose. "Do you know how incredibly difficult, not to mention gross, it is to go through a sunken car and look for bloody body parts, trying to stick 'em together like some sorta creepy puzzle?"

She shivers at the memory, "Of course, this was *after* the Kraken exploded and covered us all in slime.." Is that why she was at Spike's, dressed in her spare workout clothes?

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith blinks a little bit and just gives her a look... "You know in our little post coital debrief, you somehow failed to mention a Kraken... I mean... Babe I love you but how chaotic has this week been really that you don't mention blowing up a life time supply of calimari?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers laughs nervously, shaking her head. "I know, right? Well.." she sighs. "Okaaay, sooo, some brilliant idiot decided to summon a Kraken. I guess when we got there, all that was left of him was a finger. Fortunately willow managed to uh, de-summon him? She had to do all this fancy magic mojo stuff which just goes waaay over my head, this was like, a few days after the whole, vampire army underground that saw Constantine get stabbed in the back and Spike impaled through the chest.."

She takes only a small breath before continuing, "Oh, they're fine now, well, hopefully, I mean, Con insisted on us breaking him out of the hospital then after I got us scrubs to sneak out, because we scared the nurses away with Harry playing with his gun..THEN he just summoned a door, like, whyyy didn't you do that in the first place?!"

But of course, now Buffy is getting off-topic and she waves a dismissive hand. "ANYWAY, yeah, Willow's power is really growing, but she needed us to buy time. I guess Deadpool decided to be all heroic and self sacfificing and drove his car into the pond.." she sighs, "Next time Constantine alerts us of a 'little problem' I'm gonna pack a bazooka, I swear. Oh, and our friend Alex, is a litlte bit more than some modest quiet nice guy.."

Phew, information overload much!?

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes a long...LOOOOONG moment just trying to process all of that and then finally comes off with "So wait, Spike's not dead? there really isn't a Santa Claus." He says it with a bit of a smirk in his eyes, butthe fact he doesn't like the Vamp and Buffy's Not-ex is hardly a secret.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers bites her lip, looking a bit tense for a moment, even pulling a way a bit. "No..." she sighs, "No, he's not. That just..Thomas. We may have a...Complicated past. But I..I still consider him an ally..A friend." The last part is said a bit more softly, maybe even guiltily. "When we were down in the subway, it was pretty crazy. While I was clearing a path for Constantine, a vamp came at me from behind, nearly stabbed me through the heart before Spike stepped in and took the hit himself. I owe him my life.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs a bit and gives her a soft look. "Buffy, I know all that." He says simply and strokes her face, "And I know that you would never do anything to betray us with him. I really do. I don't like him. I won't pretend to. But he's your friend, and I do accept that. Okay?" he says softly stroking her face.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods slowly, closing her eyes. "I know, I understand why you don't like him...I really thought he was happy in Gotham, with that other woman, but..." she shrugs. "Incase you were wondering, I was just there to rewrap his bandages after he ripped them out after the Kraken fight. We didn't smooch or anything. Although..I guess I was pretty tired and fell asleep on the couch." she winces a bit at the memory, but doesn't mention how he tried to cuddle up to her while she was asleep. "And I was pretty out of it after, but I got up early and left."

Buffy glances at him thoughtfully, "Just say the word and I wont talk to him again, if it makes you feel better..I know he keeps trying to convince me that you're bad for me, but I refuse to believe it. Even if I.." She sighs again, hugging her arms, seeming especially exhausted this time. As if the last couple weeks weren't enough of a toll on her. Did she give too much this time?

Thomas Raith has posed:
"Of course he says I'm no good for you. He's in love with you, or fancies himself in love with you, which is so close it hardly makes a difference. And you don't know how much I /want/ to say those exact words Buffy, but I won't. Because I trust /you/. I trust you implicitly, and so I know that there is nothing to worry about there." He says stroking her face. Still when she trails off his brow furrows. "Even if you what love?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs deeply, leaning into him. "I just...I guess sometimes I worry, like. I don't mind giving myself to you, letting you feed as much as you want on me. But sometimes. Like now..I feel so tired. Will I still have the strength to fight demons? Am I cutting my life short a little more every time I let you feed? I guess...It's selfish of me, just.."

Buffy shakes her head, pulling him closer. "It's just nothing, he's getting in my head, trying to convince me I'm doing the wrong thing. I'm sure it's fine..Right?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith tilts his head slightly and looks mildly amused at the thought. "Sweet heart, consider all the hats you try to wear at once. Slayer, lover, student, bouncer, friend, redeamer, warrior... It's no wonder you are tired. We really need to take that sailing vacation now that the weather is picking up. But as for my feeding on you?" he shakes his head slightly, "I don't know how to describe it beyond food, so we'll use that analogy. A normal woman your age? It'd be like, I don't know, a gallon of water. Could a person drink all that? Sure but it might be a bit of a struggle. It wouldn't last multiple settings though. You... It's more like trying to drink from a tanker truck. When Tiffany stole your body? It took me /and/ Didi feeding as hard as we could to just weaken her enough to restrain her. Even then she was back up to strength by the next day.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods and sighs. "I guess you're right..I mean, most Slayers go it solo, but I draw strength from having friends at my side. Guess I just wasn't expecting all these new, uncertain allies to suddenly pop up and everyone turns to me to lead them, to make the big decisions.."

She clutches his arm tightly, "Thought we had a bed and breakfast in New England not that long ago. I don't want to be slacking off too much but...Do you thing you could be my second in command? Many of our allies lack a level head, but you? You're intelligent, level headed, cunning..I need you, when I'm not there, when I can't be.."

Her grip on his arm relaxes just a bit when he describes her energy levels. "I guess when you put it that way..I suppose I just don't like feeling weak or tired, even for a moment. I mean.."

Buffy squeezes her eyes shut, thinking back to a particularly disturbing part of her life. "Well, once when Giles was still in good standing with the Watchers Counsel, they wanted to test me, make sure my instincts, my training, my combat skills were up to par. They wanted to ensure that I could be just as resourceful without my Powers, that I was worthy of my title as the Slayer. Sooo, they had him inject me with something that temporarily inhibited my powers.."

She shivers, curling up at the memory, "I...I had my mom kidnapped, and I was thrown into an old dilapidated house with an ancient, starving vampire with nothing but my wits to survive him and his minions, It was..frightening, knowing what's out there, not being able to defend myself and..Well, I don't ever want to feel that vulnerable again.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shakes his head slightly and says, "Empty Night, their idea of testing their champion is to nearly kill her? The more i learn about these Watchers the less i like them... giles excluded, he seems to be a decent man." He sighs a bit propping himself up in the bed. "I mean I'm not sure I am properly suited for the job Buffy." he strokes her face, "For all your protests to the contrary, I am still one of the monsters."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers chuckles and shakes her head, grabbing his shoulders gently and rolling on top of him, looking down at him, "Uh, hello? Most of my allies and friends are demons, vampires, witches, werewolves and everything in between. At least I know I can trust you. I mean, Giles isn't around much now that Willow quit the magic box, and he's picking up major slack there..Willow is..Not really leadership material. Constantine isn't a co start and he's a cranky loner. Spike..Kinda has a one track mind. Your brother is another possibility although I haven't seen him in ever.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs a bit, "You know, sitting naked on top of me is an evil negotiation tactic. Highly effective I will grant you, but evil none the less." He says with a mild bit of amusement in his tone, his hands sliding to her hips teasingly. "what would you expect me to do?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers chuckles as she rests her hands on his shoulders, a playful smile dancing on her lips. "Ooh, you're not scared of me are you? It's not like I'm gonna stake you if you say no?" she shrugs, "Hmm, well, I guess..I just need so wine to second guess me. If I make a questionable decision like hiring a demon to help us, putting my faith in someone I shouldn't..Itd be nice to get a second opinion, you know? And heck, when I'm not there or when I have to deal with something in one place but something pops up elsewhere, just knowing I don't have to be in two places at once is always nice..Of course there will be talk..'Ohh, she's just taking him on because he's hey boyfriend..' you know, the usual stuff..I dunno.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs and smiles just a bit, hands moving from her hips to slide up her belly. "And since i do that most of the time anyway, how can I possibly say no." He says in a teasing tone.. "And they'd be right of course, I mean why else would you give me the position?" he asks playfully...

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers shrugs and smiles, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his face, "Well everyone knows I'm biased where you come in, and for a whole everyone was questioning our relationship, but with all the other questionable allies out there, I say screw it, take it or leave it." she chuckles as she leans down to kiss him softly, thoughtfully.

"But I'll let you think on it..There was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about, too.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith grins slightly, smirking just a little bit. "Well you do seem to have me at your mercy. What would you have of me Slayer?" he asks playfully, apparently feeling playful given the circumstances.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles sweetly, pressing in closer, sliding her fingers along bare skin..Knowing all his sensitive spots and pressure points, "Hmm..." she ponders aloud, "Well I'm gonna just leave it at that, and not threaten you at gunpoint or anything. But there was that other thing..Umm, Remember when we visited club Lux? That guy Lucifer..I know you felt nervous around him but at one point I thought he said something to you..I thought he said he could...help,you?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith mms softly, smirking just a little bit but shaking his head. "I remember, but I'd like to believe the man is a charliton. a fake. Probibly some low level sorcerer. I asked Harry to look into him, just to be on the safe side. I mean how /could/ he help me. I have a beautiful club, a beautiful girl, and not to mention good looks on loan from God.."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs, stroking his face softly as she ponders. "Hmmm, didn't you say your senses were going haywire around him? Mine too.." she shrugs, "Not sure what he's up to, but it's worth investigating. If he's a threat, I wanna know what I'm getting into. On the other hand.." she studies his beautiful features thoughtfully, tracing her fingers over his lips, "I'm not really sure..Are you saying you have everything you always wanted in life?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith smirks a little bit, shifting slightly under her and giving her a bit of a wicked grin. "well maybe not everything, but you said you were tired." He says in a playful tone.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers hmms, "I admit, it would be..Nice, if you didn't have that demon in you. Maybe people wouldn't give you a hard time. Maybe I wouldn't have to be exhausted occasionally, but..I really don't mind, as long as I can be with you, I'm happy. I don't care the cost. Just wish the others understood that.." well mostly she wishes Spike would stop giving her a hard time as the others have mostly accepted it.