Buffy woke up to the sound of dull heavy thumping.
At first she thought it was someone at the door, but the thumping was too light and wasn't coming from downstairs. Next she thought it was a demon, but as she glanced towards the window, she found herself looking at a warble of colors mixed with the morning light. Buffy quietly reprimanded herself for being so paranoid, it was only raining, something that happened a lot in Scotland. Buffy looked up and finally identified where the sound was coming from. The rain was thumping against the roof, making a sort of pattering rhythm. Growing up in L.A. and Sunnydale had made experiencing rain a rarity. There were a few times it rained, like that time with Angel...
Buffy immediately cut off the rest of the thought. She didn't want to go in that direction. She was already licking her wounds over one problem.
Buffy laid back and curled into the bed hoping to fall back to sleep, but it seemed like her thoughts were brimming on the edge, threatening to spill over. Finally, she quickly got up and decided that sleeping was no longer such a good idea, she had to keep busy.
She went through her usual morning routine, although the shower took a bit longer to get warmed up, everything else was fine.
The kitchen was the old kind gas kind and at first she was afraid of touching it, lest she let out too much gas and blow up the house. But after the fifth try, she managed to get one of the stoves up and running. She was currently cooking some ham and eggs and cheese she had found in the refrigerator and the delicious smell was wafting warmly through the kitchen, making the grey dreary house not as dank and cold.
It was as Buffy ate breakfast that she thought of a TV, because she usually watched the news while eating at home. So after she washed out the dishes, she went in search of a TV.
After making five circles around the house and looking in every closet there was, she realized that there was no TV.
'And no laptop because Giles wouldn't let me bring one!' Buffy thought in irritation as she sat down.
What was Giles trying to do? Kill her from boredom?
Buffy suddenly felt like she was transported back to the technology-less seventeenth century, if she ignored the ugly red colored plastic phone that clashed with the rest of the living room.
'What was Giles thinking when he bought that monstrosity?' Buffy thought as she glanced over at the offending object.
'No, Giles doesn't think when he buys thing, like that car of his. His red mid-life crisis convertible...' Buffy thought with a scowl, it wasn't until she leaned her head back that she realized she was sitting in the same old, high, wing backed, green chair.
'I must have some sort of affinity to this thing." Buffy thought as she looked up. The wings on the sides of the chair were a bit too high and she could barely rest her head against the side. But it was comfortable and the smooth curved armrests on both sides seemed to agree with her.
Buffy hummed and got out of the chair. Then she spotted one of the large windows at the other end of the living room, and the long cushioned bench that was conveniently placed under it. A nice idea came to her.
Buffy hurried up the stairs and came back down with the large dark blue comforter and sat there curled up in the blanket and watched the rain for a while, just staring into nothingness. Watching the rain turn the grass along the hills into a lovely bright healthy green, there were streaks of water that slithered down the window's surface, like fickle moving rivers.
Buffy's warm breaths fogged up the lower part of the window slightly and it disappeared onto reappear when she breathed again.
She maintained a blank state of mind as she sat there until lunch, allowing herself to indulge in the childish fascination in the rain. At some point she even breathed heavily on the window and wrote the word 'hi' which then slowly disappeared.
She eventually moved because the slightly hunched position was making her shoulders ache. This was another thing that she never really felt when she was a Slayer. Sure she'd felt her shoulders ache with soreness from a fight. But she never felt the weariness in her bones and joints. It was all catching up to her now. Buffy stretched, causing the corner of the comforter to fall off of her lap and touch the dusty floor. The ex-slayer gingerly picked up the blanket and dusted off the white coating off of the blue surface before bundling it up and putting it onto the couch. She'd remember to take it back upstairs later.
Lunch passed and Buffy searched the refrigerator, but she really didn't feel hungry and nothing appealed to her. So she gave up and settled for randomly wandering around the empty house. The dull ache in her shoulders and stomach seemed more prominent now that she had nothing else to do.
'I'm going to go mad in here' Buffy thought desperately as she sat down at the dining table in the kitchen and buried her face into her hands. ~~~ Two more days passed like this. There would be occasional showers, but other than that it seemed that the clouds were never ending. Buffy partially blamed the weather for her semi-depression. But she knew most of it was actually an accumulation of her thoughts and the self doubt and the worry that came with them.
"I think I really hate Giles." Buffy said out loud. She didn't bother to keep her thoughts in her head anymore since there was no one here to hear her. And hearing herself talk seemed to fill in the silence that threatening to swallow her.
She did try to keep herself occupied. She tried reading, but it was always too dim to read well and the lack light was making her eyes ache. She tried reading outside once, but the chill was enough to keep her from concentrating on the book. She wanted to garden, but the showers were so random and unexpected that she could never decently weed the front yard.
She tried writing, but it was the same problem with the books. Not to mention, every time she wrote she'd start going off on a ranting tangent that she disgustedly threw away.
Then late in the afternoon, the phone rang.
Buffy jumped and froze as she registered the second ring. Buffy made a mad dash towards the ugly red phone and picked it up, trying to keep the crazed need for contact out of her voice, "Hello?"
"B-buffy." The speaker started. Buffy gave the phone a slight glare. But didn't hold her grudge, the last person she wanted to talk to on the phone was better than having no one to talk to.
Giles continued, "So how is your stay? Are feeling better?"
"Lots better! I want to go home now! This place is driving me crazy with boredom. And Giles! There's no TV!"
Buffy heard muttering on the other side of the phone.
"So do I get to go home now?"
"Uh... unfortunately no... I've been in contact with... Wolfram and Harte..."
"Angel?"
"Y-yes. Apparently they have a branch in Scotland they're sending someone over to investigate something. We should keep an eye on him. I ... no, it's your break. I shouldn't..." Giles trailed off.
Buffy immediately jumped on the opportunity to be in contact with outside world again, "Yes! Whatever it is. I'll do it! I just want to get out of here. It's been raining like crazy and it's been making me crazy. Giles, there's nothing to do here but mope." Buffy said, she could feel her voice rising despite her attempts to not sound desperate.
"W-well in that case...T-the investigator is going supposed to be at the Bouzy Rouge. We'll send someone over with a car and map as soon as possible. He's supposed to be there tonight, please be careful and try not to make it look like you're spying on him."
"I'll be as quiet as a mouse. Promise!"
"A-alright, but remember if there's trouble..."
"I'll call you. Mother hen doesn't suit you Giles." Buffy teased, hoping to sidetrack the road the conversation was going down.
"S-sorry, it's just that..." Giles continued and Buffy felt her self sag into the couch. It didn't work.
"I'm no longer the Slayer. Right." Buffy replied carelessly and let out a sigh, "I'm still competent even without the powers. Don't worry. I can take care of myself, I'm a big girl. I'll talk to you later."
Buffy then quickly hung up, not wanting to hear Giles counter what she just said.
Thankfully the phone didn't ring again. ~~~
At first she thought it was someone at the door, but the thumping was too light and wasn't coming from downstairs. Next she thought it was a demon, but as she glanced towards the window, she found herself looking at a warble of colors mixed with the morning light. Buffy quietly reprimanded herself for being so paranoid, it was only raining, something that happened a lot in Scotland. Buffy looked up and finally identified where the sound was coming from. The rain was thumping against the roof, making a sort of pattering rhythm. Growing up in L.A. and Sunnydale had made experiencing rain a rarity. There were a few times it rained, like that time with Angel...
Buffy immediately cut off the rest of the thought. She didn't want to go in that direction. She was already licking her wounds over one problem.
Buffy laid back and curled into the bed hoping to fall back to sleep, but it seemed like her thoughts were brimming on the edge, threatening to spill over. Finally, she quickly got up and decided that sleeping was no longer such a good idea, she had to keep busy.
She went through her usual morning routine, although the shower took a bit longer to get warmed up, everything else was fine.
The kitchen was the old kind gas kind and at first she was afraid of touching it, lest she let out too much gas and blow up the house. But after the fifth try, she managed to get one of the stoves up and running. She was currently cooking some ham and eggs and cheese she had found in the refrigerator and the delicious smell was wafting warmly through the kitchen, making the grey dreary house not as dank and cold.
It was as Buffy ate breakfast that she thought of a TV, because she usually watched the news while eating at home. So after she washed out the dishes, she went in search of a TV.
After making five circles around the house and looking in every closet there was, she realized that there was no TV.
'And no laptop because Giles wouldn't let me bring one!' Buffy thought in irritation as she sat down.
What was Giles trying to do? Kill her from boredom?
Buffy suddenly felt like she was transported back to the technology-less seventeenth century, if she ignored the ugly red colored plastic phone that clashed with the rest of the living room.
'What was Giles thinking when he bought that monstrosity?' Buffy thought as she glanced over at the offending object.
'No, Giles doesn't think when he buys thing, like that car of his. His red mid-life crisis convertible...' Buffy thought with a scowl, it wasn't until she leaned her head back that she realized she was sitting in the same old, high, wing backed, green chair.
'I must have some sort of affinity to this thing." Buffy thought as she looked up. The wings on the sides of the chair were a bit too high and she could barely rest her head against the side. But it was comfortable and the smooth curved armrests on both sides seemed to agree with her.
Buffy hummed and got out of the chair. Then she spotted one of the large windows at the other end of the living room, and the long cushioned bench that was conveniently placed under it. A nice idea came to her.
Buffy hurried up the stairs and came back down with the large dark blue comforter and sat there curled up in the blanket and watched the rain for a while, just staring into nothingness. Watching the rain turn the grass along the hills into a lovely bright healthy green, there were streaks of water that slithered down the window's surface, like fickle moving rivers.
Buffy's warm breaths fogged up the lower part of the window slightly and it disappeared onto reappear when she breathed again.
She maintained a blank state of mind as she sat there until lunch, allowing herself to indulge in the childish fascination in the rain. At some point she even breathed heavily on the window and wrote the word 'hi' which then slowly disappeared.
She eventually moved because the slightly hunched position was making her shoulders ache. This was another thing that she never really felt when she was a Slayer. Sure she'd felt her shoulders ache with soreness from a fight. But she never felt the weariness in her bones and joints. It was all catching up to her now. Buffy stretched, causing the corner of the comforter to fall off of her lap and touch the dusty floor. The ex-slayer gingerly picked up the blanket and dusted off the white coating off of the blue surface before bundling it up and putting it onto the couch. She'd remember to take it back upstairs later.
Lunch passed and Buffy searched the refrigerator, but she really didn't feel hungry and nothing appealed to her. So she gave up and settled for randomly wandering around the empty house. The dull ache in her shoulders and stomach seemed more prominent now that she had nothing else to do.
'I'm going to go mad in here' Buffy thought desperately as she sat down at the dining table in the kitchen and buried her face into her hands. ~~~ Two more days passed like this. There would be occasional showers, but other than that it seemed that the clouds were never ending. Buffy partially blamed the weather for her semi-depression. But she knew most of it was actually an accumulation of her thoughts and the self doubt and the worry that came with them.
"I think I really hate Giles." Buffy said out loud. She didn't bother to keep her thoughts in her head anymore since there was no one here to hear her. And hearing herself talk seemed to fill in the silence that threatening to swallow her.
She did try to keep herself occupied. She tried reading, but it was always too dim to read well and the lack light was making her eyes ache. She tried reading outside once, but the chill was enough to keep her from concentrating on the book. She wanted to garden, but the showers were so random and unexpected that she could never decently weed the front yard.
She tried writing, but it was the same problem with the books. Not to mention, every time she wrote she'd start going off on a ranting tangent that she disgustedly threw away.
Then late in the afternoon, the phone rang.
Buffy jumped and froze as she registered the second ring. Buffy made a mad dash towards the ugly red phone and picked it up, trying to keep the crazed need for contact out of her voice, "Hello?"
"B-buffy." The speaker started. Buffy gave the phone a slight glare. But didn't hold her grudge, the last person she wanted to talk to on the phone was better than having no one to talk to.
Giles continued, "So how is your stay? Are feeling better?"
"Lots better! I want to go home now! This place is driving me crazy with boredom. And Giles! There's no TV!"
Buffy heard muttering on the other side of the phone.
"So do I get to go home now?"
"Uh... unfortunately no... I've been in contact with... Wolfram and Harte..."
"Angel?"
"Y-yes. Apparently they have a branch in Scotland they're sending someone over to investigate something. We should keep an eye on him. I ... no, it's your break. I shouldn't..." Giles trailed off.
Buffy immediately jumped on the opportunity to be in contact with outside world again, "Yes! Whatever it is. I'll do it! I just want to get out of here. It's been raining like crazy and it's been making me crazy. Giles, there's nothing to do here but mope." Buffy said, she could feel her voice rising despite her attempts to not sound desperate.
"W-well in that case...T-the investigator is going supposed to be at the Bouzy Rouge. We'll send someone over with a car and map as soon as possible. He's supposed to be there tonight, please be careful and try not to make it look like you're spying on him."
"I'll be as quiet as a mouse. Promise!"
"A-alright, but remember if there's trouble..."
"I'll call you. Mother hen doesn't suit you Giles." Buffy teased, hoping to sidetrack the road the conversation was going down.
"S-sorry, it's just that..." Giles continued and Buffy felt her self sag into the couch. It didn't work.
"I'm no longer the Slayer. Right." Buffy replied carelessly and let out a sigh, "I'm still competent even without the powers. Don't worry. I can take care of myself, I'm a big girl. I'll talk to you later."
Buffy then quickly hung up, not wanting to hear Giles counter what she just said.
Thankfully the phone didn't ring again. ~~~