13400/Bedtime for Buffy.

Bedtime for Buffy.
Date of Scene:	29 May 2021
Location:	Apartment, the Blue Lady
Synopsis:	visitors come and go, Thomas and buffy have a heart to heart.
Cast of Characters:	Thomas Raith, Willow Rosenberg, Rupert Giles, Mercy Thompson, Buffy Summers

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Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sent up the Scooby Signal. Not as fancy as the "Bat signal" by any mends. More accuately he "Sent a group text to the various relevant parties." But the Scooby Signal sounds cooler. The message in this case, specifically sent to Giles and willow was simple and direct. "I took Buffy out of the hospital and brought her home. I would consider it a personal kindness if either or both of would check on her and give me your personal assessments of her condition. Thomas Raith S.W.C." The last meaning Scion of the White Court, a formality he never uses normally... Ever really.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
SWC. Scion of the White Court.

Fiddle faddle.

He meant business. Willow thought to herself: What did they see in the past. Because, *that* was really what that was about. Oh.. And the Ankh and the Scythe. Something about the two things.. except she didn't know what. Yet.

Thank-goodness this was a Saturday! She hurried along. So much so she forget her regular cookies (or something bought at the bakery).

"How is she?"

Rupert Giles has posed:
The Scooby signal is a handy thing. When Giles remembers to charge his phone. Which, or once, he had. He doesn't even have a modern style phone, but one of those old style flip phones. And he /still/ doesn't like computers. And still calls them 'dread machines'. He'd sent a reply, that had gone close to ten minutes before he was finished with it, that said simply, 'on my way'.

To the Blue Lady he goes, Mercy in tow, who happened to be with him at the Magic Box when he got the text. The shop was closed and locked up for the duration. Now they're here, and there's a knock on the door stating their arrival.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Though she might not entirely know quite what she might be getting into, that was pretty much the usual state of affairs for Mercy. She tends to leap and then look, especially when it involved frieds. When the message had come in on Giles's phone, she'd glanced towards the device but not made any effort towards seeing the message. She'd sipped her tea and watched him whilst he toiled over the response to the message. And she'd gone along with him, to the Blue Lady, waiting outside with him whilst he knocked on the door, and tucking her hands into the front pockets of her jeans.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith answers the security door waving the entire trio in and closing it behind them. "Under the laws of hospitality under the unseelie accords, I greet you as my guests." he says simply, and formally, the rage just below the surface and boiling. "Buffy is sleeping in the other room. I fed her some liver and orange juice to help her body from blood loss, but I assume you both know far more about a Slayer's health then I do, and certainly more then some bonesaw in Sunnydale hospital. So I would take it as a personal boon if you would examine her yourselves and be certain that there is no damage beyond the physical." The glass of orange juice he was holding in his hand shatters and he adds, still in a level tone, "Furthermore if you can tell me why her first words upon waking were 'Spike, Why?' and why she then proceeded to tell me it was him that cut her like this. Drained her of a near lethal amount of blood? I would /also/ consider that a personal boon." Pepto bismol colored blood now dripping from his hand onto the tiled floor..

Rupert Giles has posed:
Rupert Giles has figured out a thing or two about the shadow caster, but not much of importance just yet. He glances to Mercy standing beside him, and there's a certain.. something.. about him when he looks at her. Something Thomas, at the very least, would likely recognize. Affection, if not more.

When the door opens, he walks in first, and nods at the ritualistic words of the unseelie accords. "He did it to save all our lives, including hers," he says, after listening to Thomas. "If it hadn't been him who did it, it would have been me." He steps up to Thomas and looks him straight in the eyes. "I tried using my own blood first. It didn't work. The trap needed a Slayer's blood. Her blood. If Spike hadn't done what he did, we all would have been killed and dragged down to hell, and certain apocolypse set upon this planet." Wow Giles. Really? Doom and gloom much?

He shakes his head and turns to step past Thomas and toward the room he'd indicated. Then pauses and looks back at him, the vampire's fury bringing his own to the surface in turn. "And perhaps if you weren't feeding from her, she wouldn't be in the terrible state she's in now." Oh yes. That. He turns away and marches toward the bedroom now. The anger is barely held in check as he takes a deep breath.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
That one Willow can answer.

"Spike took the.. Well. Before we watched the past, and for some reason Buffy was drawn to the dias where she was put in a sorta coma." She can't put it into words adequately. "Then Giles figured to put the sigils back in place, we had to use the opposite element." Really basics here.

"I made the connection between the Ankh and Scythe as something to do with resurrection and death. We had the right idea, but Giles wasn't the intended victim." What? Victim was the right word!! "Then Spike took over. And really he was the best person for it, he knows how to put the exact amount of blood and not a drop more." And here Willow frowns. "He had to go about the chip to do it."

"Really, he was integral in this."

Which made her frown. Spike was the good guy?

Thomas Raith has posed:
Long inhale. Long exhale. Thomas nods simply, not saying a word, but his eyes transition from silver white to something closer to artic blue, though no where near his normal ocean blue color. Th large open floorplan of the apartment would let them easily just walk up to check on Buffy, with no real walls or doors between them. Wordlessly he kneels to pick up the bits of shattered glass.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers had been sleeping all this time, out for maybe an hour, maybe two before guests showed up. Before Giles enters the bedroom, she steps out, fully dressed in her street wear, no longer looking weak and pale as she strides down the hall with renewed vigour ..Then pauses as she sees Giles.

"Giles.." she blinks, recalling the last time that they'd talked had been on rather bad terms. They hadn't even exchanged words during the second trip to the vampire stronghold. But now she's just glad to be alive, and she's glad he's okay too.

She doesn't say a word, just runs and hugs him tightly.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
There is the slightest upwards quirk of a brow at the greeting from Thomas, and Mercy faintly tilts her head to one side. That... was not what she expected. The rights of hospitality. She gives a small nod to him, accepting what's been said. "Thank you," she says softly, her tone respectful. She isn't sure what sort of situation they're walking into, with that. There is a glance towards Giles from her which is as equally possessed of affection as the one she'd been gifted first, and then she looks back to Thomas, but she says nothing about Buffy's current state of health. There are no explanations that the coyote has to offer, and so she offers none.

And when Giles heads for further ito the room, Mercy follows after him, and fairly closely so. One of her hands moves, the one closest to him, retreating from out of the pocket of her jeans, and she seeks to faintly brush the fingers of her hand against his. Though as Buffy rushes forward and towards Giles, she sidesteps a bit, to be out of the way of the incoming hug.

Rupert Giles has posed:
The only visible signs of the ordeal the previous day is a fading bruise on Giles' forehead. Whether it had gotten there from one of the skeletal vampires or from falling debris isn't certain. And he has a faint limp on his right leg, and a bandage about his left hand. Otherwise, he looks... normal. Except for the anger yet blazing in his normally calm blue eyes. He glances toward Willow. "He saved us all." Which... really, when one thinks about it? A vampire saving the day is almost mind boggling.

Giles doesn't look at Thomas again as he walks toward Buffy. He breathes deeply as he walks, trying to calm his anger back to what it was before he walked into this room. Which wasn't really there.

Yes. The last time they'd talked, it hadn't really been overly good. And yet, here he is. Despite everything. Despite everything, he'd been with her at the vampire stronghold. He stops in his tracks and blinks as she runs over and hugs him. And he hugs her back after a moment. With the hug, he'd quite missed Mercy's touch. There's been nothing more than a moment's brushing of skin to skin, then there was hug pounce! "It's alright, Buffy," he says, tone soft and gentle.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas remains silent for a few more moments, cleaning up the mess of glass and orange juice and pink blood from where the glass shattered in his hand. His eyes shine slightly with unshed tears as he tries to get himself back in order, the anger the only thing that had been keeping him at going until now.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow come up behind Giles and Mercy, just in time to see her *pounce* Giles. Clearly, she was looking much better! But that didn't mean the whole piece..

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers miiight have heard how Spike saved the world from Spike himself..You know, when she was delirious, confused and drained of blood. It kiiinda sounds vaguely familiar, but she doesn't remember much. She glances between Giles and Mercy, surprised. "Really? Spike did that for a noble cause?" she sighs and just shakes her head.

She does notice Giles' injuries, frowning a bit. "You hurt yourself, nothing too serious I hope?" Buffy for the most part, does not look like she nearly got totally drained several hours earlier. But a nod and smile is given Mercy and Willow as she sees them too. "Shey, you all came too.." for a moment, her gaze flits across the room..wondering if Spike came too, even though she knows Thomas would never allow it. And she did make that promise to Thomas too, Afterall.

Speaking of which, she blinks slowly at the sight of him, quickly moving to close the gap between them, grasping his hands gently in hers, her grasp so much stronger now than it was just a few hours ago. "Thomas? Where's all this blood from? What happened? Why are you crying?" she reaches up to gently touch his face, wiping a tear away..

Mercy Thompson has posed:
For Mercy, it doesn't seem all that strange to have a vampire save the day. Not all vampires are bad, after all. Lifting her right hand, she lightly brushes one of her pigtail braids to her back, and then she lowers her hand back to tuck it into the pocket of her jeans. And for the moment, she pays attention to listening as people speak, and watching. Tone and body language are important, and she does her best to pay attention to both of those things.

Mercy tilts her head a touch to one side, then turns to look in Thomas's direction, her brow wrinkling a little bit. "Things happen, sometimes, and there isn't a way of predicting them," she says softly, a gentle tone to her words. It's not as though it had been known in advance what would happen. Life gets a little unpredictable sometimes. Then her attention turns to Buffy, and she gives a small nod, a smile coming to her features as well. "You're a friend, I wouldn't not come," Mercy says, her smile easily returning. She watches Buffy head then for Thomas, and then edges a bit closer to Giles.

Rupert Giles has posed:
Rupert Giles is pretty focused on Buffy right in this moment, but some part of him is aware of what Thomas is doing, and what Willow and Mercy are doing. He nods. "Yes. Spike acted nobly. I wouldn't bet on it happening again." It's Spike, afterall. He shakes his head. "Nothing too serious. Bumps and bruises." Casually, he tucks his left hand into his pocket. To hide the bandage?

"You're looking rather well, all things considered." He steps back, watching Buffy and Thomas. "He broke a glass," he says, perhaps unhelpfully. He steps closer to Mercy just as she steps closer to him, and looks down as they bump into each other. He smiles at her, rather sheepishly.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith looks into Buffy's eyes, the tears spilling out of them. "You needed me, and I wasn't there." He says softly. The pain in his voice as if he were confessing the deepest of betrayals. And the love in his eye? Well pretty much undeniable. He looks down at his cut hand and the mess on the floor. "Empty Night, the thought of it. I would have killed him if something had happened to you."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow shakes her head, quietly. She doesn't have to explain. No, Spike is not here.

Then she smiles. "Of course we're all here. D'uh. And what Giles didn't say, is, he tried to bring you back by trying to bleed for you." Take that Giles!

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers is suddenly tuning out everything and everyone except for Thomas, clearly worried at his sadness. "Not your fault, sometimes things just happen..Stuff gets in the way..Wrong place at the wrong time.." she smiles faintly,

"Trust me, I've been there. Had a few friends die on me because I wasn't in the right place at the right time. So don't go beating yourself up about it, okay? And to be fair, I didn't die, so don't go making crazy claims like that either. I won't let you..Nor will I let anyone blame you for my having the occasional off-day, or not healing fast enough." A pointed look is given to Giles before Buffy focuses on Thomas again.

She gives him a tight hug before peering down at his cut hand and frowns, attempting to pull him towards the kitchen sink. "Come on, let's get you patched up.."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"I don't know... Spike seems like the sort that could," Mercy says softly. She tilts her head slightly to one side and looking towards Giles, a small smile touching at the corners of her lips. "The unexpected happens sometimes, y'know," she adds. She glances briefly towards his hand when he moves to tuck it into his pocket, but she doesn't say anything about it. She's seen the wound already, she knows how bad it is and how bad it isn't.

When she ends up bumping into Giles, she lifts her gazes to his, a bit shyly, a bit sheepishly, and she stays close to him. Her gaze flicks towards Willow, and she tilts her head a bit to one side, and then her gaze tracks back to Giles, studying him a moment. A smile tugs at the corners of her lips, and she gives a small and single nod, but otherwise stays quiet, at least for the time being.

Rupert Giles has posed:
Rupert Giles takes a calming breath as he looks to Thomas. "He would have been dead too," he points out, tone dry. And then Willow says what she does. Giles doesn't try to deny it. But he doesn't say anything either.

He doesn't miss that look Buffy gives him either. All Giles does, though, is raise a brow. As though to ask, 'What of it?'

"Right. Time to go. Buffy, if you need anything, call." He turns and walks purposely for the door now. And goes out, if he isn't stopped.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes a few breaths, trying to get everything in check in his own mind. He stands letting buffy take his hand to bandage it. As Giles turns to leave he takes a deep breath and then says simply, "Giles. We'll talk soon, alright. I'm not sure where you got that barb you shot a minute ago, but I'm fairly certain your information is either faulty, or incomplete."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow is happy that Buffy seems to be okay, even if it seems too close. "Maybe we should come back later, and leave you two alone?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers is busy cleaning his wound, falling into silence for several minutes once she's certain that she has plucked all the glass from his hand, then carefully wraps it with bandages. It doesn't seem to be a huge injury and with his abilities, Thomas should be able to heal fairly quickly, although it did dig deep.

"Yes, thanks for stopping by. Giles, Wil, maybe you can fill me in on what I missed while I was unconscious. I'll see you folks later, okay?" she arches a brow at the barb, and draws a deep breath, shaking her head but saying nothing more of it.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
There's a glance towards Buffy at the look that Giles gives her, and Mercy shifts her weight just a touch on her feet. She lifts a hand, brushing back her other braid so it rests against her back. Then she gives a small nod to Buffy. "Rest well, Buffy," she says, a smile rising to the corners of her lips. There's a glance and a nod to Thomas and to Willow. And when Giles turns to head for the door, so does Mercy, to follow close behind him and just a touch to one side as well. She'll head out with him, unless anyone stops her as well.

Rupert Giles has posed:
Rupert Giles pauses long enough to murmur a wordless sound of agreement to .... well. He doesn't make that clear. Then he's gone.

Thomas Raith has posed:
As their guests leave Thomas just sighs shaking his head, letting Buffy care for his hand. "I'm sorry." He says softly, shaking his head. "Giles said, well he implied that my feeding on you might have, I don't know... something." He takes the grey streak in her otherwise blonde hair. Fingers it gently between his fingertips. "I know, in my head he's wrong but..."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns, stepping towards the window to peer out and draws a deep breath. "Umm..Well...I bumped into Spike the other day and when he saw the white streak in my hair, he started asking questions. Seemed to think I was getting slow, off my game, because I didn't dodge that back attack from a vamp last time we see in the subways..You know the one that he took for me?"

She shrugs, "Anyways, he kept asking me questions, drilling me. It's true I've been really busy lately, working extra shifts, sometimes double shifts, scrambling to finish up final projects for my last year in college..And of course things have been extra crazy in New York with a sudden surge in vamps. Not to mention having to tend to wounds inflicted on Deadpool, Constantine and Spike.."

Buffy closes her eyes, shaking her head slowly as she grips the edge of the sink, still staring out. "I..Think he drew his own conclusions? He knows that you...Feed off of me, just insisted that it's unnatural for someone my age to suddenly get white hairs just like that. Naturally he jumped to the unfair conclusion that you were feeding too much, making me sicker, weaker..Somehow he's convinced Giles, Mercy and who knows who else that you pose a threat to my livelihood. Even though I keep trying to convince them otherwise. Got into a fight with Giles over it."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs and pinches his nose slightly with his unwounded hand, going to the fridge and taking out two bottles of Mac's Dark, and tossing one lightly over to Buffy. "I'll talk to giles. probably make him pretty uncomfortable in the process, but I'll tell him how you got the streak." He shakes his head, "You ruined me Buffy, you know that? The thought of telling him the truth puts a knot in my stomach. I've never had any hang ups talking about sex with anyone untill I met you." he shakes his head slightly. Then he looks at the ceiling and asks a question completely out of left field. "Can Slayer's get pregnant?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks, catching the can, popping it open and taking a sip. "Sorry.." she smiles faintly, turning around to lean with her back against the sink. "I guess he's kinda like my dad..I even suspect he and mom...During one of Ethan's many spells gone wrong.." she shakes her head and laughs, "Well honestly, I don't want to know.."

And then that question catches her off guard and she nearly chokes on her drink. "Wait what? Umm...Why do you ask? Err..I mean, I guess so, but it's not like we can live normal lives so..."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shrugs, "It's another risk of you being with me." He says softly, not looking at her. "White Court males don't conceive often. My father is over seven hundred years old and has only had twelve children in that time." he sips his beer, "When a human woman gets pregnant by a White Court Vampire... the baby feeds on the mother. Just like a normal baby but also, it's Hunger is formed from the mother's own life force." He sips his beer shaking his head, "My mother was a Wizard of the White counsel. She was strong, and from what I understand from Lara, it nearly killed her. But at the same time, with the exception of my father and possibly Lara, my Hunger is more powerful then any in the Court. So that's another thing... Our child would be a White court Virgin. And then when his or her hunger was awakened... They would be like Superman compared to the rest of the Court.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs, shaking her head, setting down her can and closing the gap between them quickly. "Do you think I can't take it? Do you really believe what Spike and the others say is true? That you're slowly weakening me, killing me even? Cuz I sure don't believe it." she reaches up, caressing his face gently, "I'm not a normal girl..I'm stronger than they are..And in the unlikely case that I did conceive your child..I'm sure we'll be able to deal with it in the same way that we've dealt with everything else so far.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith turns and faces her as she says that, and then he nods. "Together." He says simply. Not a question, because there is no question about it. That is the way they have gotten through difficult situations in the past, and how they will get through them in the future. He sighs and leans in touching his head to her forehead and says, "Please don't scare me like that. It kinda pisses me off." he says with a slight chuckle.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks and shrugs, "Sorry, sweetheart, guess I'm just a trouble magnet.." she draws a breath closing her eyes as as she leans in, wrapping her arms around his neck. "But I'll try to be more careful in the future. Try and pace myself more. No more trying to do a hundred things at once. At least it turned out okay in the end..?" well for now anyway.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith nods agienst her forehead and smiles, leaning in and giving her a soft gentle kiss, but then he pulls away to look her in the eyes. "With all that said though," he says softly, "I still want you to stay away from Spike." He says simply. "It's unfair, and maybe even a little bit selfish. But if he is trying to start shit like this, then we don't need him."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks slowly, glancing back at him rather hesitantly. "Um..I guess I can understand that. I mean.." she swallows, "He's a friend, he's been supportive in the past..But..I understand. he's..Been kind of manipulative lately, getting me to question my every move with you, cozying up to my family..Cozying up to me. I know what he wants, and I've told him before that you're the only one I want. It'll be hard to keep him at bay when he's on good terms with Giles and the others though..But I'll try.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith nods, and brings her hands up to his lips, kissing her knuckles softly and nods. "Thank you." He says simply. He smirks a bit, "And when he tries to pull the jealous boyfriend card, I would thank you to remember how many fights we had at the start of this roller coaster we call a relationship over the fact I /never/ got jealous."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers bites her lip and nods. "I wasn't joking when I said he's not my ex, you know...I mean, sure we came close several times, but.." she shrugs, "But..I've been actually thinking. I mean, when you came back after a couple weeks starving..Maybe it's selfish of me, not to let you feed on others. I don't like it but. Maybe once or twice in extreme circumstances, just to ease the pressure? I mean, who knows the long term effects of feeding exclusively on me? I dunno..Maybe that's just opening another can of worms though." it's something to think about.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs a bit, shaking his head and taking her face in his hand. "alright before you even /think about going any further down that line of thought I am going to stop you." He says and lifts her up onto the counter so they can be face to face. "First, I thought I explained this before but let me make it clear. A White Court can go, potentially years without feeding. We lose our gifts obviously, including our ability to heal and thus stay young and gorgeous, but we can do it. So no I do not need to feed on others when I am away from you. I simply need to not get myself dead in the mean time. Secondly, will feeding on you exclusively have an effect on me? Yes, but not a bad one. You are what you eat, right? I can promise you I am better, stronger, faster then I have been in my entire life with you. Also I think my fashion sense has improved." He adds in a teasing tone.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns a little, tilting her head to look at him, but nods slowly. "Okay..I guess it just had me worried, is all. You know I'm happiest with you. And I don't care what the others think, I'm not slowly dying or being used by you. Every time we're together, I'm happier than I've ever been. When I don't see you for long periods, it makes me sad. All I know is I wanna be with you, no matter what." she smirks and winks, "Even if you're a tough boss sometimes."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith smirks leaning in and kissing her softly, giving her lip just a playful little nibble. "Which reminds me," He says a playful twinkle in his eyers, "You were fifteen minutes late clocking in on Thursday. I may have to dock your pay...Unless you make it up to me." He says teasingly.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers arches a brow at him and chuckles, "See what I mean? Stingy!" still, she smiles happily, leaning in to rest her lips against his as she rests her hands on his shoulders and hmms, "Annnd what exactly did you have in mind, hm?" she wriggles her eyebrows playfully at him.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith leans over and whispers a suggestion in the woman's ear that, if she were a /normal/ employee would set him up for a nice lawsuit, his eyes twinkling playfully as he adds, "you know, if you think you have the energy. Having nearly died and all." he says with a grin.