9871/Letting the Dead Rest

Letting the Dead Rest
Date of Scene:	01 November 2019
Location:	Brendan Cemetery, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	It's halloween and Buffy runs into an Ex of Spike's while out patrolling. weirdness ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Cheetah

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Buffy Summers has posed:
Halloween had been pretty busy in Sunnydale, not only because of all the kids and trick-or-treaters, but because it allowed vampires and other demons to come out in the open without fear of being discovered, which just made Buffy's job a bit harder. After a late night party, she'd dropped out early to track a group of vampires out into the cemetary, although so far they were doing a good job of hiding.

Dressed in her costume as Red Riding Hood, which is probably rather ironic, she steps into the cemetary, carrying a stake or two and other demon repellants like holy water and crosses in her basket as she searches for vamps to dust. "C'mon, where'd you all go? Standing a girl up after a date? How rude.." she sighs as she wanders through the dark and extra spooky cemetary tonight..

Cheetah has posed:
Barbara-Ann Minerva is notoriously lazy. Heading back to her hotel, she decided to shave a few minutes off her trip by cutting through a spooky cemetery. As one does.

Sunnyvale had been a convenient detour during the last leg of a whistle-stop business trip. A local firm was being eyed by Minerva's company, Cat's Eye Cosmetics, for a possible take-over bid. Minerva had arrived in town the day before to hobnob with the directors of said firm and parlayed this into an invitation to their annual Halloween party, which went on far, far too long.

She's wearing a princess costume (naturally) that looks a little worse for wear: the crown on her head is slightly off-kilter and the dress has been hitched up here and there. If only that outfit could talk. Minerva pads noiselessly along, rather zombie-like, in her bare feet -- a pair of expensive heels clutched in her right hand. It's been a long night. Were she more alert, she might notice the fact that her human form has given way to her feline side. As it is, we have a literal cat-woman shuffling through a graveyard in a princess costume. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers narrows her eyes as she peers around, Slayer senses as sharp as ever. With a sigh, she realizes she may have lost the trail of the vampires for now..But after a few minutes, it seems that something more..Interesting has come along.

"What the heck...That's either a really convincing woman dressed like a cat demon, dressed like a princess..Or a REAL cat demon pretending to be a princess." she smirks as she moves to intercept the cat-woman-princess. "Gotta say though, either way it's a pretty awesome costume-in-a-costume! But seriously, what ARE you?"

Eyes narrow as she searches her basket, pulling out a dagger. Stakes don't tend to work so well on non-vamps, but she doesn't strike with it yet, just holds it in her hand at the ready, just in case she may need it.

Cheetah has posed:
Minerva shambles along, her green eyes hooded by drooping lids. As she goes, she becomes increasingly aware of an annoying sensation: unbeknownst to her, her tail is "trapped" beneath the carriage of her dress. The mystery feeling starts to rouse her mind more and more. Wait...is that? She raises her hand from her side to peer at it just as Buffy darts into her peripheral vision.

A trio of revelations suddenly explode on Barbara's mind: she's standing in a graveyard, her arm is hairy, and a crazy person carrying a pointy stick and wearing a blood-red cape has appeared out of nowhere.

Barbara does what any self-respecting dilettante would. She drops her heels and throws up her hands, palms facing the slayer, claws out. Her dark lips peel back from gleaming white fangs and her Kryptonite green eyes glow in the moonlight. She lets out a blood curdling scream of surprise, which, in her present form, sounds rather more monstrous then it otherwise would have: "Waugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks slowly, eyeing the cat-demon-princess warily as she begins to circle her.

"Okaaay. Wasn't the response I was expecting. I mean, is that like, a scream of anger, or a scream of fear, cuz no one's ever been afraid of Red Riding Hood. In fact, it's Red Riding Hood's job to be afraid of the big bad wolf..Or the big bad catwoman-demon-princess in this case, I suppose. So clue me in here, are you a *good* demon or a *bad* demon? Cuz if you're gonna try and eat me, then I'd like a little advanced notice.."

What the heck, who's she kidding? Why didn't this catwomanprincess just attack already? Sometimes it's so hard to tell the difference, especially since she has met some pretty crazy creatures in her time. Fortunately Buffy DOES have the demon sense, so she knows this woman is probably not just some harmless mutant..

Cheetah has posed:
The fine hair at the back of Cheetah's neck stirs to life as her predatory instincts elbow their way into the driver's seat. Her peripheral vision is fine enough that she only needs to turn her head slightly in order to follow Buffy as the Slayer circles her. Cheetah stands more or less frozen in space with her hands up and her lips parted though, subtly, she starts to draw herself inward -- likely for some sort of strike.

Having recovered her wits, Cheetah mutters under her breath, "Ugh. There are crazy people everywhere in this country." This is more than loud enough for Buffy to overhear though the words are not directed act her. The next bit is so directed: "Look, mentally ill people don't need money; the government takes care of you." This is a scientific fact in Cheetah's version of reality. "So why don't you..." her voice trails off and she abandons her efforts to 'reason' with her 'attacker', "Shoo. Shoo." This last is accompanied with a flicking motion, which is the universal sign for 'shoo'.

As Buffy's course takes her back into Cheetah's main line of sight the feminine feline squints, "...don't I know you?" Without thinking, Cheetah draws nearer to Buffy; hands up, claws out. Cheetah will be close enough to reach out and touch someone very shortly...

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers laughs, "So what, you'd have me believe you're mentally insane? Dressed like that on Halloween night? I mean..If it weren't for my Slayer sense, I might even buy your story but.." she narrows her eyes, tensing slightly as she senses a shift in the other woman's stance, no matter how subtle it might be. "Sorry, I'm not leaving til I get an explanation. Who are you, and what are you doing out here? And what's with the princess dress anyway? Kinda tacky on a cat-demon, dontcha thi...."

Waaaaait a minute, the voice sounds vaguely familiar. She narrows her eyes suspiciously. Was this a demon she tried to kill before or....."Uh, I don't think so....But your voice sounds awfully familiar. Why is that? Who are you, anyways?"

Cheetah has posed:
Tacky? TACKY!?! Cheetah's predatory inclinations are part and parcel of a curse inflicted on her by an ageless, all-powerful demon king spiting hellfire and wrath at humanity from beyond an endless void. Sadly, they are no match for her ego or paper-thin skin, and are quickly pushed aside.

Cheetah draws herself up to her full height and plants her fists firmly on her hips ."I BEG your pardon! This ensemble," she adjusts the once-forgotten crown on her head, "is far superior to..." her green eyes rake Buffy up and down, "...whatever *that* is supposed to be." Crazy or not, nobody denigrates Minerva's fashion choices! Nobody!

As far as why she's standing in this kooky graveyard: Cheetah sniffs haughtily and makes a show of 'admiring' the tombstones, "I have every right to be here. I rather like it, in fact." Were Cheetah a clock-work girl one might actually hear an audible 'click' as a subsequent thought suddenly occurs to her. She peers as the Slayer with overwrought suspicion, "Come to think about it, why are *You* here?" A clawed finger draws a bead on Buffy: J'accuse! The shallow thought-pool containing Cheetah's curiosity about Buffy's identity appears to have dried up.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks, baby blue eyes glimmering with amusement as she watches the cheetah's reaction to her off-handed comments. "Ooh, did I upset the evil cat-lady's feelings?" she strikes a pose, brushing the cape over her shoulders, showing more grace than Cheetah. At least she thinks so.

"This is a very sexy, very cute Red Riding Hood costume. Very popular, very hip. I think it looks especially hip on me." She didn't go with the silly 'sexy' version, opting instead for the more badass, scythe-weilding 'Ruby Rose' version of Snow White. In an outfit that's at least semi-practical for fighting in.

And then she attempts to explain herself and points that question back at Buffy! The nerve! "Me? Well....I was just taking a short cut through the cemetary on my way home.." eyes narrow suspiciously upon her. "The REAL question is, what are YOU, a cat-demon-princess...Doing, lurking about in a creepy place like this, all alone, clearly drunk...Oh..Don't tell me you just wandered aimlessly in here by accident.." she rolls her eyes. "What AM I gonna do with you..? As if I don't have enough on my plate trying to track down vampires.."
    hat last part is muttered a bit, but with Cheetah's potentially super hearing, she probably picked that up.

Cheetah has posed:
"Who said I was evil?" Cheetah checks her nails with an air of non-concern. Inwardly, she notes Buffy's grace and, as such, resists the urge to hike up her own dress to free her still trapped tail. There's just no way to do that elegantly. Listening to Buffy prattle on about being sexy and hip, Cheetah's mouth curls into a sneer to rival that of any captain of any squad of cheerleaders anywhere in Middle America. "Hip? Oh, Plea---who says 'hip' anymore? What are you, the head of the math club?" Buffy's obvious youth has only just become obvious to Minerva so the snipe came easily. She's rather proud of it.

Cheetah's ears perk. A mutter might as well be broadcast from a loudspeaker given the acuteness of her hearing. "Vampires?" Green eyes quickly dart left and right, checking the area. Until rather recently, Minerva lived a charmed life. The existence of vampires (among other oddities) has newly come to her attention. Turns out she once dated one of th---WAIT! THAT's where she's seen Buffy before! A devilish little smile starts to form. "Surely you can't be serious." Buffy is the bird William was going on about like a lovestruck puppy. How...delicious.