4460/Tinker Who

Tinker Who
Date of Scene:	16 May 2018
Location:	Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Don't drink magic potions. Ask Dawn.
Cast of Characters:	Dawn Summers, Buffy Summers

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Dawn Summers has posed:
Tuesday in Sunnydale. And the old maxim "Dawn's in trouble...must be Tuesday" is in full effect. There's a sound outside as if of a motorcycle...and then, a few moments later, there's a light shining in the window nearest the front door. Maybe a criminal trying to break in to what is absolutely the wrong house?

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy is in the living room with the tv on, watching something on television although it is more for noise than actual need to watch it. She has no idea what it even is. In front of her is a pair of textbooks and she has a notepad on her lap where she is making notes as she works. Only a couple of weeks before graduation but the teachers still insisted on homework. She was pretty sure they were all evil creatures in disguise. Giles had disagreed and told her she could not stab any to be sure.

He was such a joy killer.

As the light flashed in the window, she was suddenly off the couch and heading to the front door. She'd picked up a hand axe on the way, a give from a certain god that she'd assisted in the past. Ripping open the front door, she raised her voice. "I have been fighting with advanced geometry for the last 45 minutes so I'm pretty pissed off at this point. I suggest you run away now before you make bad choices!" She steps out on the porch and looks in the direction of the light.

Dawn Summers has posed:
When the door opens, and Buffy steps out, it turns out to be...not a burglar's flashlight? Instead, there's a floating lightball there, roughly the size of a tennis ball. Now that the door is open, it begins a zippy but somewhat erratic flight in Buffy's direction, apparently trying to go by her and fly in the house.

In any other town, miniature will-o'-wisps might be something to freak out about. This is Sunnydale.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Immediately Buffy reaches back and slams the door as the light ball comes her direction. No, it is not getting in the house. Mom would flip out. As it gets close, she leaps out of the way in a diving roll, coming up with the axe held ready. "Okay, Tinkerbell, no going in the house unless invited. And I'll tell you now, I didn't clap my hands like everyone else at the end of Peter Pan so there's that. What do you want?"

She's talking to a ball of light. Definitely a Tuesday.

Dawn Summers has posed:
The lightball stops as Buffy slams the door, and attempts to zip over to hover in front of Buffy. It really does bring to mind a lot of thoughts of Tinkerbell, so Buffy's not off the mark. It even looks like it might be a tiny little glowy person, but it's a brightly-enough-glowing tiny person to be hard to look at, so hard to make details.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"So Peter lost his shadow? Lost Boys lost? Wendy being a bi--" She stops herself before she says that outloud, tilting her head to the side as she gets the feeling it isn't trying to attack her. Maybe just get her to follow it. "Did Timmy fall down the well, Lassie?" She keeps that axe in hand but at least she hasn't tried to take a swing at the ball of light. It hurts to stare at it too closely so she doesn't even try.

"Seriously," Buffy says, the light tone shifting to a more serious voice. "What do you want?"

Dawn Summers has posed:
The ball bounces there a couple times, before floating back down to the doorknob and bobbing around /it/ a bit. There doesn't seem to be hostile intent, but the lightball does, indeed, seem to want to get in the house. Of course, Buffy's also right; if mom sees it, there will be freakout factor.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"I know I'm going to regret this," Buffy mutters as she moves to the door. She grabs the knob and is about to turn it when she stops and looks at the light. "If my Mom sees you, we don't know each other." And she opens the door, giving the will o'the wisp access.

Dawn Summers has posed:
The lightball zips inside, quickly, and will land on the nearest flat surface to the door as soon as it's opened. Once the thing isn't flying anymore, sure enough, the glowing diminishes, by a lot. It does, indeed, turn out to be a tiny humanoid figure. It's a fairy.

It's also, apparently, Dawn. Buffy's sister is less than six inches tall...with a pair of dragonfly-style wings sprouted out of her back. She's also, at the moment, entirely in her birthday suit, using one arm to cover her chest, the other to cover things below, and a /bright/ red embarassed blush covering everything else.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"What the..." Buffy stares at her sister. Not because of the naked thing. But because of the wings. And the light. And the whole being a /fairy/. "Dawn! What happened to you?!" She quickly reaches into the drawer, digging around for something, anything, and she finds a napkin. It isn't great but it'll allow her sister some sense of modesty. "How did you get turned into that? Who did this?" The Mama Bear is threatening to come out again.

Dawn Summers has posed:
Oh, thank god. Dawn clutches the napkin about herself like an improvised bedsheet, giving herself some measure of modesty. She starts to vehemently explain. Unfortunately?

Every single thing she's saying is coming out as a series of musical chimes. She sounds like Tinkerbell absolutely going /off/ on somebody...but not a single bit of it is intelligible as language.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Okay, whoa whoa whoa. That's not going to help. I can't understand a thing you are saying." Buffy glances around, as though she might espy someone in the room who can suddenly speak fairy. No such luck. It's just her and her sister. She looks back to Mini-Dawn. "Do you know who did this to you? Can you lead me there? Otherwise, we need to get with the gang. Maybe Giles knows a way to understand you. Or Willow might have a spell."

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn gives an exasperated "Ugh" which Buffy has seen a million times. Of course, it comes out as a jangling note, not an ugh, but her sister's seen the expression enough to know what it is. She nods in agreement when Buffy asks her questions, though...apparently she can still understand things just fine, it's just that whatever she's saying is coming out wrong. She does, however, point to the napkin, and point upstairs.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Yeah, we'll get you upstairs. Do you have some old doll clothes or something that might fit?" With that she actually offers her hand to her mini sib. This is on the list of one of the weirdest things Buffy has had to do. Carry her fairy spelled sister somewhere. Although technically, she might be able to fly but she would she be able to take the napkin with her. Interesting question.

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn nods, and hops onto the offered hand. She probably couldn't fly with the napkin around herself; there'd be an issue with the wings. Plus, proportionately, the thing's the size of a bedsheet to her. But once she's on Buffy's hand, she'll sit, continuing to clutch it around herself to get the ride up to her room.

Buffy Summers has posed:
It doesn't take long for the trip upstairs. Buffy has her cradled very carefully, making sure not to jostle her too much. Her mind is spinning out of control through, trying to figure out how this could have happened. Who could be behind it. Were there fairies in Greek mythology? If so, she might consult with Ares. Too many questions, no answers.

Once they reach Dawn's room, she hesitates just over the threshold and looks around. "Where can we find them?And some scissors. We need to be sure there is a spot for your wings. That is a sentence I never thought I'd say ever in my entire life."

Dawn Summers has posed:
    Dawn rolls her eyes, overdramatically, but she nods. She drops the napkin, and flitters over to where her old toys are. Like every kid ever, of course she had Barbies. She gets out a dress for one, and holds it up in front of her, covering herself again, while making scissor motions with her other hand, then pointing to the back of the dress, and the bottom, since it's sized for a Barbie, and Dawn is currenly about 2/3 that size.

Still beats a napkin, though. Wings flutter, and it's back up to Buffy's hand, where she'll transition back into wrapping the napkin around herself and offering the dress over to her sister with a few more musical-chime-excuses-for-words.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Once Dawn is in hand again, Buffy heads for her room. She knows she has some scissors in there on her desk. She offers to set Dawn down on the desk as she opens the drawer with her other hand, pulling out the scissors. Then she will go to work on the dress, again wondering how much weirder life can get for them. Soon it is trimmed short enough and there is a cutout in the back to allow the dress to fit under and around the wings instead of trying to fit them through anything. "It's a good choice. Your color," she says as she offers the dress back then turns around so her sister can change without being watched.

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn gets into the dress. It's not exactly couture, but it keeps her from showing things she shouldn't be. She then zips up and around, glowing in front of Buffy, before moving to land in her hand again. Neither of the sisters wants Buffy to have to explain why there's a lightball in the house. Or why said lightball is Dawn. Once there, though, she'll point to the door, and there's a couple more chimes, which /probably/ translate as "Let's go".

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Just a sec," Buffy says as she walks over to the bed where she laid her axe. She picks up the messenger bag that is on the floor, opening it one handed and putting the hand axe inside. Then she carefully slings it over her shoulder, ever aware of her sister balanced on the other hand and trying not to bounce her around too much. A little movement for Buffy is probably like an earthquake for Dawn if she isn't careful. Once she has her bag, she pulls out her cellphone and slips it into the front pocket of her jeans. Then down the stairs. "Mom, I'm going to the Bronze to meet Willow!" she yells even as she is opening the front door and heading outside. She doesn't wait for an answer before starting down the walkway. "Alright, where are we heading?"

Dawn Summers has posed:
Once outside, Dawn can go back from passenger to independent movement. It turns out fairies can fly pretty fast. Which is good, since Slayers can run pretty fast. The path is going to lead...to Sunnydale High. Specifically, it leads out back of Sunnydale High. Buffy can remember it from her own time there; it's one of the spots students go when they're playing hooky and trying not to get caught.

Laying there on the ground in a pile of disarray is a stack of Dawn's clothes, some of them inside of others, very much like, oh, she was wearing them and then proceeded to turn into a fairy in them. And not too far from them there's what looks like...well, there's no better analogy: it's a potion bottle.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Upon arrival, Buffy takes her time to look around at the clothing then the bottle. Then to the glowing figure of her sister. "You drank a potion? Please tell me you did not. I mean you are not Alice and there should've been no Drink Me instructions followed either." She crouches down to look at the bottle but she doesn't touch it. No telling if it was something that had to be taken into the system or simply touching or breathing was enough. "I need to call someone over here. I don't dare touch it."

Dawn Summers has posed:
There's another rolled-eye expression, but it's followed by a sheepish nod. Yes, Dawn apparently drank the potion. The bottle itself has traces of liquid in it; the kind of thing that's probably going to be useful to someone more magic-spell-y than the Slayer and her sister, but at least it's in Buffy's hands now. Well, metaphorically, since she hasn't taken it.

Dawn lands, and points to her shirt, making pantomime motions like wrapping something up, then points to the bottle. Even if the notion of seeing her sister in the same predicament gets that little sisterly smirk that Dawn does so well on her face.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Don't you roll your eyes at me. I'm not the one that got myself turned into a six inch tall fairy," Buffy mutters even as she follows the very instructions given by her sister. She picks up the shirt that is nothing but a pile on the ground. It is wrapped carefully around the bottle then she stands. "It never hurts to be cautious, you know. Wait, you don't know or you wouldn't have drank a magical potion of unknown origin, now would you." She slips her phone out of her pocket, quickly tracing her thumb over the screen to unlock it then pushing a speed dial. "C'mon, pick up..." After about a minute, she pushes the disconnect button.

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn puts her hands on her hips and jingle-jangles at Buffy, apparently giving the Slayer a piece of her mind. Unfortunately for her, nothing she says is any more intelligible than it was before. At least it gives Buffy a legitimate /reason/ to ignore what Dawn says this time. She mutters under her breath, which comes out as little tinkling sounds, then points to herself, mimes drinking something, then does the Superman up-up-and-away pose.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"So you figured you'd be able to fly if you drank it?" Buffy has to wonder if that's what the whole patomime is about. She always hated charades. This could get annoying in short order. "Where did you get it? Did someone give it to you?" Who might have tempted her sister with such a thing? A certain evil slayer comes to mind but no, not her M.O. Doesn't fit for Spike either, not that he can hurt anyone right now. Course, she wasn't hurt. Just altered. Still, it didn't seem his style.

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn nods. She looks thoughtful, then points at Buffy's cell phone, before pointing to the ground in front of her, as she looks up to her roughly-the-relative-size-of-a-skyscraper sister. Inspiration for communication.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Your phone." Buffy caught on quick that time. Next time they wanted to play charades, she'd be all prepared at this rate. She reached down into the pile of clothes with her free hand, after tucking her phone back in her pocket. A few moments and she came up with Dawn's cell. She held it in her hand, not sure if it was locked or not but offering it for Dawn to manipulate while she kept it steady.

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn flies up, landing in Buffy's hand with the phone. Didn't have to be hers, any phone will do, but Dawn steps up on it, having her own version of Dance Dance Revolution, as she uses tiny bare feet to unlock the phone, and then type out a message.

~Maria from school bought it from a shop in town. Was supposed to let you fly. Didn't expect THIS.~ Once again, Dawn's yearning to be something more than normal has gotten her in trouble.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Well, it works as advertised. You're flying. Just not Supergirl style, Tink." Yup, she just called Dawn that name. And Buffy is almost smirking which is probably just going to get her more angry chime sounds. Which just might make her laugh. She may need to laugh so she doesn't cry. What if it can't be reversed? No, it has to be reversible. Someone knows the spell to do it, there will be a way to undo it. "Which shop?"

Dawn Summers has posed:
Oh, sure, there's some annoyed chimes, and then another impromptu dance routine. ~it isn't funny stop laughing at me~ She doesn't bother with proper punctuation; when you're riverdancing your way to communicating on a cell phone, some shortcuts are permissible. ~enchanted grounds~ She types back, having a classic Dawn petulant expression. One more message. ~you really can't understand me?~ To /her/, everything she's saying is completely normal.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"You sound like windchimes," Buffy explains as she watches the dance routine. She really should be filming this. But not like she could really share it. And what if she lost her phone? Someone saw that video, she'd never be able to explain it away. At least she would have the information to blackmail her baby sister with in the future. Maybe even get her to stay out of trouble for a day or two. Just one Tuesday without the crazy!

"Enchanted Grounds? Have to go pay them a visit. See if they have a way to switch you back."

Dawn Summers has posed:
It WOULD make incredible blackmail material. Dawn sighs, running fingers through her hair. ~dam it~ (Yes, the phone autocorrected it). ~tell mom I'm having a sleepover?~ Because really, how do you explain that your youngest child is now a five-inch pixie? ~stores are gonna be closed for the night~ A pause, and then she adds ~we're gonna fix this tomrrow right?~ Because her older sister is not the only one who has had worries about the reversibility of this.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Of course we are. Just go over, buy the potion to fix you. Simple." Buffy sounds supremely confident. She even looks it. Inside, she is scared to death that it won't be that easy. Yet, stranger things have happened. Maybe, just this once, she wouldn't have to battle a demon to get something fixed. Maybe? Pretty please?

Dawn Summers has posed:
Dawn forces a smile. She doesn't feel as confident as Buffy sounds, but just like Buffy, she'll fake it for her sister's sake. ~thanks~ She types. ~this may be the only way we can talk till then. or I can talk anyway. I understand you just fine.~ She wipes her brow after that. ~this is a workout though~ Having to do a dance routine to text isn't the easiest of things.

~gonna have to figure what to do till then~ If she's at home, there's a non-zero chance of Mom finding her...a non-zero chance that goes way, way up if she flies, but if she doesn't, how does she get around? Of course...what's the alternative?