14548/Meeting each other - this time for real!

Meeting each other - this time for real!
Date of Scene:	22 October 2022
Location:	Apartment 214, Hugo Building
Synopsis:	Buffy, Vitali, and Willow meet over supper, wherein Buffy has an idea!
Cast of Characters:	Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers, Vitali Svyatoslav

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Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow was nervous. Extremely nervous. Today was the day she had planned on reintroducing Buffy and Tali - and she wasn't sure how it would go.

Of course she had pizzas, and popcorn, and a bowl full of jelly beans. Plus she had just baked two types of cookies beside: chocolate chips, and oatmeal raisin (that she actually was chuffed about. They had finally turned out the way they were supposed to!!)

Everything was ready.

Now she waited.

Buffy Summers has posed:
The trip over from Sunnydale had been uneventful. Thankfully there was plenty of public transportation to get here from there to hear and vice versa. Ride share was a thing but cost more and right now, she was saving for other things so keeping herself on a strict budget.

There was a knock a the front door, announcing the arrival of Buffy. It sounded a like Shave-and-a-Haircut but was lacking the two bits. She had a key. Well, unless they had changed the locks. But she felt it would be a little rude to just let herself in since technically she didn't live there anymore.

Vitali has posed:
Sometimes, waiting was the hardest part with this sort of thing. It was something that often turned out to be worth it, in the long run, and hopefully this time would be no exception to that.

The Siberian shaman made use of public transit for part of the trip, and walked the rest of the way to reach Willow's apartment. He wears a pair of black boots, black jeans, and a light blue turtleneck shirt. A necklace of braided leather is visible, with its four carved bone beads upon it. His long black hair has been pulled back and neatly braided at the nape of his neck, to keep it out of his face.

Vitali doesn't come to Willow's apartment alone -- he comes with his eagle companion, who stands easily on his left shoulder, her feathers slightly fluffed up. She's comfortable and relaxed. In his right hand is carried a divided container which holds pelmeni -- a type of dumpling made in his home, which he made this morning thanks to a bargain he'd made. He tends to barter for things rather than accept payment in money. His steps are even and relaxed as he approaches the apartment -- and the woman who already waits outside the door. The eagle on his shoulder gives a soft screech of sound that seems inquisitive, and the shaman lifts an eyebrow slightly and looks to his feathered friend for a moment, saying nothing.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Little does Willow know that both of her friends were standing at the doorway waiting for her to let them in. One because she had moved out a long time ago. And because for no reason she could have thought.

Then again, it had been a weird couple of months and for all she knew maybe the boys had moved. Which would be okay on a whole other level.

Opening the door, she squealed quietly. "Come in! Come in! Food is on the coffee table. And I can bring you drinks?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
And BUffy found herself facing someone with an eagle. On their shoulder. In Gotham. Had she seen weirder? She considered a moment, a slow blink as she looked to the strange figure. "Hi." But when he doesn't walk by, she puts two and two together. "Guessing you're going to visit too?"

And with that, the door opens and she turns her attention to the redhead. "Wil!" Immediately stepping in and giving her bestie a hug, if that is okay with Willow of course. "Some dude in the hall with a really big bird," she warned. "Does he need a permit for that in Gotham? Cause it didn't seem like a parrot or a budgie or something."

Vitali has posed:
When Vitali had been possessed by a spirit, things had become a little bit complicated in regards to his living arrangements. He'd not been welcome at the apartment then, and he'd understood the reasons behind it. During the possession, he'd had only brief moments of being himself, and each of those had been fought for. It had been a weird stretch of time. And since then, time simply had a way of passing without him really realizing quite how much of it had gone by.

There are no bindings upon the eagle that sits upon the Siberian's shoulder. She's a placid and calm bird, or appears to be so. Her attention is more on the hallway than on the woman who waits outside of Willow's door. Listening and watching. Vitali inclines his head towards Buffy at her greeting, and there's a smile that turns up the corners of his lips. "Good evening," he offers in greeting, the words touched by his Russian accent. Then he gives a nod, to her question. "Da, I am here to visit, as well," he replies.

There's a soft chuckle from the man at the words chosen, and he gives a nod, his dark brown eyes reflecting a touch of amusement. "Da, a license is necessary. I have a Falconry License, and a license for the hunting of small game," he says softly. He lifts his left hand, to lightly brush the backs of his fingers over the eagle's chest. "Her name is Soraya. I believe her kind is called a booted eagle, in English," he says, a thoughtful note to his voice. Soraya ruffles her feathers slightly, and she softly clicks her beak as she tilts her head to one side to look at both of the women. Vitali's attention turns to Willow then, and he gives a small nod to her question. "Yes, please. A drink is good," he affirms, a smile easily coming to his features. He slightly lifts the container that he holds. "I brought pelmeni for you, made this morning."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Buffy gave her the giggles. "Not exactly?"

Though Tali's staying outside the door until she opened it was a bit strange. To which she frowned. "Are you coming in?" Sure that's going to mess up Buffy's mind. ..Wait a minute.. vampires had to be invited in. What if Tale and Soraya were turned??

"You are Tali, right? I mean you've not been turned?" Great, Willow. He wouldn't have told the truth if he was a vampire. Of course a vampire wouldn't have made pelmeni, now would he?

Yet, he did say 'visit'. Come to think of it, did the boys still live here? Willow had been so caught up between work, superheroing, saving Heloise, and getting ready for her Masters, she wouldn't have noticed.

Waving him in, and shutting the door, Willow hurried the guests over to the living room. "Anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water? Pop? Well it's the name brand of Pepsi. I mean I can afford this place on my own, but only just."

Buffy Summers has posed:
"You don't have to wait on me," Buffy said to her silly bestie. She moved to the kitchen, reaching up to open the cabinet where the glasses were kept. Thankfully it was still the same as when they had moved in. Otherwise she'd just start going through the cabinets one by one until she found it.

"Good to know," she said to Vitali as she came back in the living room with a glass of Pepsi since that was the cola Willow had on hand. She eyed the eagle again, shaking her head a little. "That's going to take some getting used to but nice to meet you, Tali. And Soraya." Just in case it was like a werebird or something and understood. No reason to be rude.

Vitali has posed:
There are times when Vitali is a bit strange, indeed. He was raised half the world away and with a birthright of magic in his veins. A smile quirks up the corners of his lips, and he inclines his head towards Willow. "Da, I will come inside, as will Soraya," he affirms. He waits for Buffy to have entered first, and only then does he step towards the door.

And at Willow's question, he stops, with one foot halfway across the threshold and the other yet in the hallway. One of his eyebrows lifts at her question. Is he himself? He gives a soft chuckle, and then he lightly shakes his head, his braid lightly swishing across his back. "Nyet, I have not been turned, nor have I been claimed by another spirit. The spirit which had me is quite gone. I am myself -- I am Vitali. You are welcome to test me in any way you wish," he offers. He has nothing to hide. It's only after he speaks that he moves to step the rest of the way inside, doing so with ease.

The offering of the assorted drinks brings him to quirk a bit of a smile. "Tea is ever my preference," he says. It always has been, and it always will be. He's never particularly developed a taste for soda -- it's a strange thing, with the bubbles in it and the sweetness of it. He looks to Buffy, watching her for a moment. "Soraya will not cause you any harm. She is obedient and well mannered," he says softly. The only time the eagle would hurt anyone is to defend either herself or him, or another if he'd directed her to do so. He gives a nod to Buffy.

"It is good to meet you as well," he says. Soraya moves then, to walk down his left arm in order to stand on his forearm. She gives a bob of her head that seems a nod. "Soraya agrees," he adds. The raptor is more intelligent than her brethren, and she understands what's said.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
There were two types of pizza: One with double cheese and that was it. And one supreme everything on it including ham, bacon, and extra pepperoni. She figured she would be left the extra cheese, while her guests munched on the supreme. Tali had brought some pelmeni so they were vegetarian. She hoped! If not, more for Buffy and Tali.

Right? Right.

Sitting on the couch, cross-legged, she smiled. "Everybody is here." With a few exceptions, of couch. "I guess I should ask you, Tali, if you are still living here?" Of couch that question coloured her whole face. She was embarrassed to say the least. "You see, with Buffy in her right mind she's looking for a place to stay. And since you were living here, we could get you another apartment in the building. If you wanted, that is? And then she could move back with me."

With that coming out with rush, and further blushing it's apparent that Willow didn't intend upon this couch of action, but in typical Willowesque fashion, it went this way regardless.

Open your mouth, and stick both feet into the gaping maw that was left. Pretty much.

has posed:
Buffy moves to sit on the chair, flopping into it and picking up her plate. She set down her glass nearby then reached for pizza. Supreme it was indeed! She took a bite and immediately was making puffing noises with her cheeks and fanning her mouth with her hand, trying not to scald her tonue and the roof of her mouth with the cheese. "Oh my god, that's good," she muttered. Joyce would be so ashamed of her speaking with her mouth full.

As the question came out, that had her looking over at Tali again. She swallowed before she spoke again at least. "Oh! You're one of the roommates." Now it made more sense. But then her brow wrinkled. "So why didn't you open the door?" But the question from Willow sank in. Maybe he did or didn't live here. To be honest, as busy as Willow was with her life? It didn't surprise her that Willow might not be sure herself.

Vitali has posed:
The container holding the pelmeni is a divided container. Half of the container holds vegetarian filled ones, the dough of them a vibrant purple from beet juice. The other half of the container holds meat (pork) filled ones, the dough of them a creamy white colour. The traditional meats of his homeland aren't very easy to find here abouts, though he does try when he happens to get a hankering for them. Both kinds have the same sauce to them, which is a mixture of sour cream and dill.

At the question from Willow about his living arrangements, he tilts his head a touch to one side and considers it for a long moment. And one of his eyebrows quirks up as she goes on to explain a few other tidbits of information. He gives a small shake of his head. "It could be said that I do not live here, at this point. I have not been here for many moons. Not since I was possessed," he says softly, a thoughtful note to his voice. "Xiang Zhao and I, we have been living elsewhere. It is not a bad place," he says softly. It's a roof over their head when they want one, and there's no technology to be interrupted.

"If she wishes a place to stay, and she wishes here to be that place, then I will not stand in the way of it," he adds, giving a small nod. "There is no need for another apartment to be found. We would not be able to pay the cost of it," he comments. He doesn't sound as though he minds. He steps forward to the coffee table, to set the pelmeni there, and then he makes his way to the kitchen. There, he fills the kettle to put it on a burner to heat, and he gets the teapot ready for it.

His attention turns to Buffy, and he gives a small nod to her. "Da, I am one of the roommates. Things became... complicated, it might be said, when I was possessed by a spirit," he says in a soft tone, a hint of a smile touching at the corners of his lips. Soraya lightly lifts from his forearm to wing across the room and find a perch, and afer she does, Vitali makes a slight gesture with his left hand. "I did not know if there was a ward in place yet, to keep me from entering. There was, when I was possessed," he comments.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"See!" Willow begins to grin. "That's where your wrong! You can apply for the rent geared to income, and they have a system that you only pay a bit of your entire income! Something like 150 0"

Of course Willow is not too sure what they would do if Tali had no income!

Picking out some pelmeni and putting them on her plate, with two slices of cheese pizza, she babbled around her mouthful. "We don't want you to go, but yeah, Buffy is my oldest friend, and she probably was someone else when she moved out.."

Buffy Summers has posed:
"At least we are guessing I was someone else. But I really don't want to kick anyone out. Though if you aren't staying here anyway, it'd be good to get out of the house with my Mom and sister."

Because everyone knew that had to be rough after seeing life on the outside of the family dynamic. It also helped with her Slayer duties since she could come and go as she wanted to. She considers Vitali's words though.

"You were possessed? Huh. Wonder if that's what happened to me. But being possessed for two years and no one here getting rid of whatever it might be seems....iffy?"

Vitali has posed:
The Siberian shaman tilts his head a touch to one side at Willow's words, and then he gives a small shake of his head. "I am not certain how this would work, Willow," he says, his brow furrowing. "The income I have, it is not what could be called steady. It is cash, sometimes. Other times, it is goods... food, clothing sometimes, or other things. I do not have a way to prove what I earn," he says. Fifteen hundred dollars is a lot of money to have on a monthly basis, and he can't rely on his family to send him funds if he's short, either.

He picks up a plate, then retrieves a piece of the meat pizza before settling on the couch. "You are best friends -- you need each other in ways which cannot be explained. If she was not her normal self when she left, then it would not be fair of me to do otherwise, da?" he poses, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. He used to live in a campsite out in the woods after he'd first arrived in New York.

He looks to Buffy, listening as she speaks, and then he gives a small shake of his head. "I have not been staying here for a little while. Since I was first possessed. The spirit is no longer in me, but I did not know if the ward was still here or not," he says, lifting one of his shoulders in a faint shrug. Then he gives a nod. "Da. I was possessed. It was an old spirit, and I was not the first she had taken. She is in the Spirit World, now... another removed her from me," he explains. He's quiet for a moment as he considers what Buffy has suggested, and then he lifts one of his shoulders in a bit of a shrug. "I do not know if a spirit might have been in you. It is possible?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Depends?" Willow is quick to speak her mind on magic. "Things weren't so much that anyone could notice. I mean, it's like when you lose weight, if everyone sees you everyday, it takes a lot of weight loss for people to notice. And because nobody, like Oz, didn't come back, nobody noticed until you were really acting strange."

Like feeding Thomas? (Though, Willow didn't know that until long after she had guessed it.) Buffy was starting to look pale almost all the time.

She really didn't know how Buffy's and Vitali's possessions were alike though. Hrmmm..

As for Vitali, she was torn between helping to get an apartment here, and letting him find his own way.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Or...option behind door number three!"

Buffy offered as she came up with a brilliant idea. More brilliant than the pizza she was eating and honestly, that was pretty darn good for cheap pizza. "We could upgrade to a three bedroom? I mean with Vitali not having an income, it would still be what Willow and I make. But Vitali and ..." SHe already had forgotten the other name. "Him could take the third room and help out when possible."

She did glance around the room when the warding was mentioned. "I can't see to tell if everything is in place but if it was already in us, maybe the warding wouldn't keep us out? Depending on what it was. Yours was an old spirit you said. I have no idea if mine was even possession or something else. Like, time travel or something else. Our lives are weird. I don't put anything out of the realm of possibilities."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow nodded as she thought about that. "The only wards we couldn't recreate are the ones from Sam. But other than that.."

She smiles brightly.

"You're not saying this because he's my friend, are you?" Because, Buffy had it right. Willow had been covering the rent (which is how she didn't even know that they moved!) And now that she was working as a teaching assistant, and had a scholarship for the entire program - it wouldn't be a stretch.. In fact, with Buffy it would be cheaper for her! All they had to do was apply for a three bedroom.

Easy. Peasy!

She looked between Buffy, and Vitali, questioningly.

Vitali has posed:
"Da, this is a thing which happens," Vitali agrees, giving a nod to Willow. He takes a bite of the pizza, eating it and listening to Willow as she speaks. "This happened with my uncle. We were blind to it because we saw him every day. My brother, he was gone for a few months, to his wife's village... when he returned, he noticed because he had not seen him in so long," he says, lifting one of his shoulders in a bit of a shrug. Things are harder to notice in that sort of situation.

He looks to Willow, watching her for a long moment, and he gives a small nod to her. "All is well, Willow. I live with Zhaoshenka," he says in a reassuring tone, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. Granted it's not in an apartment but an empty building that no one else uses, but it works for them.

He raises an eyebrow slightly as he looks to Buffy, considering her suggestion. "I would not wish to impose, to make it be that you would both need to pay more than you do now," Vitali says. "The income Zhao and I have, it is sometimes very small," he explains, a bit concerned that they'd be a burden. It's something he'll have to speak with Zhao about. "I will not speak for him, in this," he adds, his tone respectful.

"The warding is not my own, so I cannot see it either. Da, the spirit in me was old... two hundred years, at least," he says. "Perhaps it is weird. Perhaps not. This, it depends on perspective. There is magic in the world and spirits exist. This, I have known since I was very young. Many people find this hard to believe, here. In my home, it is very uncommon to find someone who does not believe," he comments. It had been a given that he -- and his brother -- would develop magic.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Let's be honest. They base it on our income. So it'll be the income of Willow and I. Which will be the same if it was this place or a three bedroom. So I don't see why we can't just do it since it's no more money out of pocket. and I'll be helping again so..."

That should make it work out perfectly. Buffy was quite proud of herself for thinking of it.

Vitali has posed:
"I am not knowing how rent works, here. I did not have rent, when I lived in my home. I had a small house, where I lived," Vitali says, giving a small shake of his head. It's different, and by a lot. He eats another bite of the pizza as he mulls over the idea a bit more, and he gives a small nod. "This idea, it is one which is capable of working. The offer, it is appreciated. I will speak with Zhao," he adds, looking from one of the ladies to the other.

"Soraya, she will go where I go," he says, his gaze turning to the eagle. He watches her whilst she preens her feathers. "She is good. Obedient. Willow knows, from before," he adds, giving a small nod.