BUFFY
The lock on the door was turning. Buffy startled, shuffling around quickly. She'd lost track of time, totally. Dawn must already be home from school. She made a desperate dive for the remote at the far side of the couch where it had been tossed into a basket full of newspapers. She flipped on the t.v., resettling herself on the couch, grabbing back up her wine, going for an 'i've been doing this for a while' pose of casual nonchalance.
The door opened, Dawn tromping in, dropping her bag at the door. Buffy really needed to pay better attention if she didn't want to be caught; she'd never hear the end of it if any one found out.
"Hey Dawnie" Buffy turned.
"Hey, how goes the leisurely life?" Dawn went for the fridge, grabbing a tab before turning to join her sister in the living room.
"Leisurely. How was school? Full of learning?"
Dawn popped open the can, nodding. "Very full, with the knowledge in two languages… knowledge in duplicate" Dawn smiled. She then turned to look at the t.v., watching it for a moment with her smile falling, and then turning to look at her sister closely.
Buffy glanced at the t.v. too. She hadn't really paid any attention to what channel she'd turned on. Hmm. She tilted her head to the side, considering the screen. That didn't look practical...
"Buffy, what are you watching?" Dawn asked.
"Travel Channel?" Buffy threw out the first thing that popped into mind, still considering the screen, knowing this was altering her mental-list of uses for a toaster…
Dawn snorted. "Yeah, the Soft Core Porn Travel Chanel maybe… and you get that because we're in Rome it's not actually 'travel'. It's local now." Dawn shook her head at her sister, standing. "You get weirder and weirder. I'll be in my room. WIth the door closed. Just keep the volume down."
Buffy watched as Dawn grabbed her bag and flounced into her room, shutting her door loudly, audibly using it to punctuate, really. That was way too close. Buffy let out a sigh of relief. She considered turning off the t.v. but, then, it was an amusing cover and kept Dawn away. Buffy stretched herself back out along the sofa, digging under the cushion where she'd hidden her book; she was currently feeding her addiction with Dickens.
She turned back open to the page she'd stopped on: Harold Skimpole continued explaining on to Mr. Boythorne the advantages of accepting everything. She didn't know whether to blame her mother for always reading to her when she was little and couldn't sleep from what ever book Joyce kept at her bed side or blame Angel and him reading his favorites to her and giving her poetry but she was a completely closeted book worm and not about to let it ruin her perfectly good reputation.
No-sir-e-Bob. The people on the screen were carousing and Buffy turned up the volume a few notches just to keep Dawn disgusted and out of the living room, settling back into the characters' lives with in the pages …