13592/A second family dinner with the Summers

A second family dinner with the Summers
Date of Scene:	04 July 2021
Location:	Summers House, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Buffy invites Thomas to another family gathering. Things get Weird.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Thomas Raith

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Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers had invited Thomas over for a second family gathering - this time it was an evening dinner gathering. While the first gathering had gone rather awry (thanks a lot, Dawn!), Buffy had hoped that she hadn't scared her dad away from ever meeting Thomas again. Which is why she had arranged the dinner herself after learning her dad would be in town.

Now, as night falls and after another crazy car ride courtesy of Thomas - which admittedly she is getting used to - Buffy leads him up,the front steps of the house, fumbling with the house keys, "Alright, guess things couldn't possibly get worse than the last time, right?" she laughs nervously, knowing the kind of trouble that tends to follow her..

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith pauses, then turns to Buffy and tilts his head. Barbara Anne summers. I love you more then life itself, but if you ever say 'It couldn't possibly get any worse again, I will run away, screaming like a little girl, and hide under my bed." he says it totally deadpan, though the amusement is obvious in his eyes. Under one arm is a large bowl of potato salad, and under the other a watermelon. He takes a deep breath and smirks ,"First time meeting your dad without back up." He adds, amused.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles, "Domt worry, the whole family will be there, including.." she rolls her eyes, "Dear little Dawn.." she opens the door and peers around...Ohh...It's really..Quiet. "Huh? Where is everyone?" Buffy frowns, peering into the living room. "Oh hey Thomas, why don't you set the food down on the kitchen counter, I'm gonna check upstairs."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith nods slightly, happy to divest himself of the "Not-heavy-just-awkward" load. He sighs and looks around the kitchen, as one might do in a space they have been in, but not frequently. Hopefully no demon attacks. don't demons take holiday's off occasionally? Hell he gave the staff at the Lady a four day weekend..

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers disappears into the living room, quiet for now. When Thomas steps into the kitchen, presumably turning on the light, he may notice a letter there. It says "Sorry honey! Work called me in at the last moment. I'll be home as soon as I can. Dinner is already cooked and in the oven. Just needs to be heated for 20 minutes. Dont wait up for me, Love Mom." Odd, the house seems unusually quiet, and all the lights are off. Is there anyone else here?

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith finds the note and sighs. and he spent /minutes/ whipping up that potato salad too. "Buffy?" He calls out into the void, "Your mom apparently has to work. which means dawn has probably flaked on us, ran off with werewolves or gotten kidnapped."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers doesn't respond as she heads upstairs, still searching for Dawn..Seriously, why is her family soooo weird?! While she's looking around for her sister upstairs, the doorbell rings downstairs. Buffy is apparently too preoccupied upstairs to even pay attention to the bell. Looks like Thomas will have to answer that..

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs shaking his head. Of course compared to /his/ family, Buffy's is practically as Norman Rockwell painting. He sighs a bit, roughing his hair slightly and walking to the door, achieving an effect that would take a stylest hours to craft in mere seconds. Dressed casual today, he opted for a t-shirt so tight you can count his abs through it and jeans so tight you can tell his religion... the irony being that /is/ Thomas in a casual look. He opens the door then looking like a particularly well fed big cat and says simply "Hello?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy's father is waiting on the other side of the door, carrying a rather large home baked apple pie by the looks of it. As Thomas answers the door he is just fixing his hair, smiling as he waits for the door to open..Although his smile quickly fades at the side of Thomas.

"Oh! Mr. Raith, I wasn't expecting you to answer the door.." he peers over his shoulder. "Is Joyce here?" he seems a bit...Surprised.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith cocks an eyebrow and looks a bit amused. He steps back and shrugs, "looks like our hostess had a more pressing engagement I'm afraid." he says casually as he steps back. "Got called into work. Buffy and I just arrived ourselves. House seems to be empty, but Buffy is verifying that right now." He says as he gestures the man to Joyce's note.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Hank Summers frowns a bit at that but nods, stepping inside. "Oh! I see., I guess for once, I'm not the late one." he chuckles rather nervously but heads to the kitchen, setting his pie on the table. He finds the nite, frowning as he reads it. "Hm. Hope she'll be back soon, and I suppose Dawn's not back yet either, hmm?"

He seems rather..Disappointed. "Oh well, now that you're here, we may as well have a little..Chat.."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith raises his eyebrows at that, but nods. "Will this be the "Just cleaning my gun" speech he asks curiously with an amused smile on his lips. He has been feeding heavily on Buffy the last few days, with the bullet wound almost fully recovered. It's given him an almost tiger like presence. Smooth , silky and very confident in his own power...

Buffy Summers has posed:
Hank Summers smirks a bit and shrugs, "So etching like that perhaps.." he shrugs as he sets the oven to warm the dinner in the oven, then opens the freezer, pulling out a pair of beers, popping one open and offering the other to him.

"We already discussed how you won't hurt my daughter like her former boyfriend before you did. And frankly, I like you. You seem like a nice guy. You look even better than last time we met in fact. I can't help but wonder if you're actually some sort of...Bowflex model or something?" he chuckles as he takes a sip, considering.

"However, I know something..Odd went on the last time I was here. Dawn did..Something, although I'm not exactly sure what. I heard screams, and mist coming from her room. Buffy and her rather unusual assortment of...friends..And you of course..Seened to.Handle the situation well, however.." he frowns.

"What is this nonsense about my daughter being a 'Slayer'?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes the beer and nods, raising it to the other man in a sort of salute before taking a sip. Can't expect a vanilla mortal to have proper manners after all, right? He shakes his head slightly and consider the other man thoughtfully. "Let me ask you something, Do you believe in the supernatural? Ghosts and goblins, things that go bump in the night?" he asks mildly amused and wondering where buffy is. Is the house /that/ large?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Hank frowns deeply at Thomas, and after what he says, he takes a very looong sip of beer before setting his drink down, a bit harder than intended. "Are you *kidding* me? There's no such thing as ghosts! Or goblins. Or vampires for that matter..What sort of nonsense have you been feeding my daughter? Did she not tell you how she once spent several months in a mental asylum for similar delusional thoughts?!" his tone raises up a bit on the last word, clearly angry but doing his best to contain himself.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith takes a long inhale, a long exhale and then laughs pleasantly, the sound almost melodious in the air. "A breath of Sanity, thank God." he says with an easy smile. "The game is called Arcanos. You can look it up online. It's a bit of fun nothing more. Like a modern day horror fantasy thing. buffy plays a slayer. Like a modern Van Helsing type thing. some people go absolutely overboard with it." He takes a deep drink of his beer and adds "Willow is a witch, and I am, if you can believe it, possessed by an incubus. Like a literal sex vampire. It's just a bit of fun though." The lie coming out smooth as smoke over silk.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Well, at least it's better than the truth...Marginally. Hank seems to relax. just a bit anyway, and laughs even. "Hahah, you're an amusing man, Mister Raith!" he takes another loooong sip, chugging down his beer, reaching fir another couple, tossing another at Thomas. "You kids and you're role playing games. And for a moment I thought you were being serious..l" that last part though causes him to narrow his eyes.."Sex.lDemon? What the heck? what kind of ridiculous thing is that? I hope you two aren't involved in some sort of kinky dares?!"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith gives the man a sort of "Just us guys," sort of look and shakes his head with an amused smirk, "Mr. summers, and I say this with /all/ do respect, please don't ask questions you /really/ don't want the answers to." He smirks a bit, "Regarding the game, or for that matter what sort of dares your daughter and I get up to." He pops the cap off the top of the bottle and slaps it out of the air, causing it to sail across the room and land in the trash can.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Hank narrows his eyes at him for a moment, shaking his head, hands clenched into fists..Looks like he miiiight just punch him..

And then he just laughs, patting him on the back all comradely like, "You really are something,Mister Raith, but I suppose my daughter is a grown woman now and I really don't need to know the details. All I need to know is that you're testing her right.."

And that's when Buffy steps in. How long has she been standing there? "Dad...? What are you two talking about?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
And how many men have really, really, /Really/ wanted to punch Thomas in the face? Heck Thomas doesn't even react to it any more. I mean seriously, did the man think that he and Buffy shared an apartment, and they stayed up playing board games and tiddly winks? Still when Buffy comes out he smiles simply at her, looking very relieved. "Oh your dad heard someone refer to you as 'The Slayer,' and I had to give him the super abridged version of Arcanos." he says trying to convey as much as possible with a look and not words..."

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Honey, it's so good to see you again..Sorry I had to cancel on you last time.." he steps towards her, spreading his arms out to welcome her in a hug.

Buffy smiles warmly at him, having clearly missed him since the last time they met several months ago, and hugs him tightly. "Dad.." she murmurs, "I'm sooo glad you came this time.." he chuckles as he pulls away, but his smile quickly turns to a frown, reaching out to wrap a finger around the few strands of grey hair. "...What's this? You're going grey prematurely? At your age?!" eyes narrow suspiciously at Thomas.

Because of course it's his fault. "Is this man stressing you out?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith rolls his eyes slightly, shaking his head and giving Buffy a look behind her father's back, as if to say "Oh, like it was entirely /my/ fault." though he doesn't say anything, instead going to get Buffy a beer himself and letting her field that one herself.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers draws a deep breath, looking up at her dad with a grown. "Dad, don't blame Thomas for this. I just have a busy life..I'm working two jobs, I'm finishing up college and hoping to be a cop one day, and..."

She swallows, wondering if he's ready to hear the truth but a quick glance tells her probably not. "And things.."

"Like this silly role playing game you're talking to about? Buffy what are you doing with your life..With him? If he's hurting you.." more daggers are glared at Thomas.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith rolls his eyes while the man glares at him, as if to say "I've heard this before. Then when the man turns back he sticks out his tounge... and then makes wiggling "Moose Antlers" at him as well. Still after that bit of childishness is out of his system, he says "Oh it's a gasme, Buffy's role as the Slayer is possibly the second least stressful part of her life right now." He says with a smirk,

Buffy Summers has posed:
Hank Summers blinks slowly, peering between the two of them. He reaches for another beer, letting go of Buffy and checks on the food in the oven.

"Well dinner's ready! And we're still missing two people but I'm sure Joyce and Dawn will be along shortly.."

Buffy chuckles nervously, but nods, slipping into a seat next to Thomas. "I texted Dawn, she said she was in a study session with some friends but will be home any minute. Not sure on Mom.." she casts a worried glance at Thomas. What a day..