Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and Charmed belongs to Spelling Entertainment.
Author's Note: Written for Day 22 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: I'm just going to keep using my creative license in regards to the number of rooms in Halliwell Manor, although this time it's about what is or isn't located in the basement.
Buffy's attempt to call Xander just connected her to his answering machine. It wasn't the kind of question you left in a voicemail so she hung up. She was about to start typing up a text message when she realized that wasn't the right way either. Then a thought hit her.
"Hey." The others were busy talking among themselves and didn't pay her any attention as they expected her to be busy with her conversation for a while. She had to repeat herself several times at an increasingly higher volume before she got their attention again.
"What if we use this opportunity to make some more space?"
The question was met with humor and mild incredulity. "And where are you going to conjure that space from? This bathroom is going to be teeny tiny and it's the only space left up there." Piper was the voice of reason, but there were other floors than that one.
"I know that, but this house has three floors plus the basement."
Prue interrupted her before she got any further. "There's no room for anything else on the first floor and we can't add anything to the attic, it would just risk being destroyed the next time a demon shimmers in and tries to kill us."
"I know that, too. But there's room in the basement. Right now, all that's down there is Phoebe's make-shift gym, Prue's darkroom, and a lot of old furniture and junk. We could add another bathroom there so when Phoebe and I practice and need a shower afterward we won't monopolize the other ones. We could also add office space, and maybe a guest room or two.
"Those are some lofty ambitions you've got there..." Prue was looking at her with something she couldn't quite decipher.
"But it is a good idea," Phoebe interjected. "Even if you ignore the wonderful idea of a bathroom down there, we should use the extra space. There are so many of us now, so we need to spread out a little."
Piper had been quiet for some time but suddenly decided to speak up. "What if we wait with the additional plans until Leo and this Xander person gets here and can evaluate what is possible before we run off making all kinds of plans?"
Both Phoebe and Buffy grumbled a little, but Buffy lifted her phone again and made a new attempt to contact her old high school friend. To her slight surprise, he picked up this time. A short conversation and he agreed to come but informed her she would have to wait for at least a week as he was busy with another project and needed to finish that first.
As she ended the call she turned back to her sisters, "Good news!" She smiled happily. "Xander agreed to come and take a look, and if it's possible he'll make the changes we want."
More celebrations were had, but then Prue brought it all down. "Why don't we go down to the basement and do a walk-around and see if what we want to be done is possible. We might have to settle for a couple of bathrooms and be happy with that."
It was unlikely. Buffy had been down there a lot to practice, teach Phoebe, and to get the other three started on a schedule of their own. The basement ran under the entire house, so using a few extra rooms down there shouldn't be a problem. They just needed to be smart about how they stored everything down there without compromising the space or somehow damaging the antiques. Several generations of Halliwell's had managed to accumulate a lot of furniture and other stuff over the decades.
She didn't know why Phoebe had chosen to place her home gym right next to where the stairs were, but she had. There were protective mats attached to the walls from about knee-height and thicker ones in the corners so there was little chance of real injury. An array of different weapons were aligned on the wall behind the stairs. Buffy had happily added a selection of her own. A higher ceiling would've been preferable, but she would make do with what she had.
They trooped down the stairs from the kitchen and took a left through the first archway. It led to a smaller room full of boxes in various sizes. Including what she was told to be the Christmas decorations. A walk around the other rooms revealed tables, chairs, wardrobes, and other large furniture, plus even more boxes.
When they returned to the stairs again, Dawn commented. "That's going to take days to sort through, and Buffy, Paige, and I don't even know what you want to keep and what's ready to be thrown out."
"How about this, we" Phoebe indicated herself, Prue, and Piper, "go through everything and throw out whatever we're not keeping. Then Buffy can burn off some of her excess energy by moving the heavy stuff into the rooms we've decided to keep using as storage, and if anyone wants to use any of the furniture we can move it wherever."
"Can I call dibs on the wide ornate wardrobe with the mirrors from about 1910'ish?" Paige gave the three Halliwell's a hopeful look. She had fallen head over heels for it as soon as she'd laid eyes on it while they toured the basement.
"That won't be easy to get up two flights of stairs, even with a Slayer on hand," Piper said.
"Hello? Part Whitelighter here! I can just orb it up. Duh."
"Right," Prue said into the laughter. "Paige can have the wardrobe as long as she can get it up to her room." She looked at everyone else. "Did anyone else see anything you'd like?"
A discussion broke out and continued for a good ten minutes before Buffy broke into the hubbub. "The landline is ringing upstairs." Phoebe ran up to get it while the rest of them followed more leisurely. It turned out to be one of the employees at P3 and Piper was late for her shift at the bar. They had spent more time than expected just getting an overview of everything, and that didn't bode well for the upcoming reorganizing they would have to do.
Not long after Piper was out the door and on the way to her club.
Prue left at the same time as she had a late meeting at 415 Magazine and wanted a little extra time to prepare.
Phoebe went upstairs to get ready for a date with Cole. Which left Buffy, Dawn, and Paige in the sitting room.
"I think I'm going to change into some other clothes and then go downstairs and exercise for an hour or two. There are very few vamps and demons of my kind here, so I need to do something to get it out of my system."
"Have fun!" her little sister replied, only using mild sarcasm. Then she turned to Paige, "Want to play Scrabble?"
Buffy smiled as she went upstairs. They would be fine. Adding more room for them to use would help though. A quick sprint upstairs, a change, and then down two flights of stairs and she was ready to get to work.
She started easily with a few stretches to get her muscles warmed up, then she continued with Tai Chi. The area was a little small and she was going to put in a good word to move their home gym to one of the bigger rooms once they had gotten them cleared. If she was outvoted then the back garden was an option, at least for Tai Chi and similar exercises when the weather permitted it. As long as she didn't do anything that could be seen as impossible or unlikely for someone her size, she should be fine. Wouldn't want the neighbors to start talking about them more than they already did.
When she found her inner calm, she picked up one of her favorite swords and began doing a series of katas. Emptying her mind, she concentrated solely on her body and its movements. It didn't take long for her to be entirely absorbed in her work.