Vhesthine puts her hands on her hips, "Buffy, you will put that soldering iron down right now."
Buffy looks up from where she's about to start soldering a timing chip onto the board she's working on, "But, it's so close."
"Buffy, I know this is a part of home that you are bringing here. But you are neglecting your other responsibilities. Or had you forgotten that you need to pick Dawn up from school today?"
Buffy frowns, "I thought she was with Anya today."
"That was yesterday. They've both taken the day off to go to a wedding show in LA today."
"But it will only take…"
Vhesthine unplugs the soldering iron at the wall, "No, Buffy, it won't only take a few minutes. You almost missed work yesterday."
Buffy puts the soldering iron down with a sigh, "I'm sorry, it's just…"
Vhesthine gives Buffy a kiss with a brief exchange, "I know. I was the same with Dawn while she was a succubus remember."
Buffy smiles and pulls Vhesthine into her lap, "Says the sexy succubus who has started to have her own Dawn time. You're teaching her magic, aren't you."
Vhesthine nods, "I am, do you mind?"
Buffy smiles and kisses her, "Of course not. As long as you are also teaching her restraint."
Vhesthine smiles, "Of course, though, I think your own lessons are having a better effect for that."
Buffy nods, "She's doing something, with the Vazarin Way, that's for sure. But it's not void energy."
Vhesthine nods, "See. Now we both need to get going if we're not going to be late."
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As they're both walking up to Mikes, Dawn asks Buffy in Orokin, "Buffy, why can't I get the Vazarin Way to work?"
Buffy smiles, "Let me ask you a question instead. When are you trying to use it?"
"When we're having out sister time."
"When am I using it?"
"All the time, except… Oh… Right, now I feel stupid."
Buffy hugs Dawn, "Don't feel like that, as it's often the simplest lessons that evade us for the longest. That doesn't make us stupid, it just means we were overthinking something. How are your magic lessons going?"
Dawn looks down, "It's hard. Vhesthine has me learning about all the different dimensions, and not just the hell dimensions. Did you know they have prisms to split out all of the different colours that the dimensions use?"
Buffy shrugs, "I didn't, but it makes sense. It seems to me that many demonic species treat magic more like a science than humans do. Given what was happening to Willow, I'm not that surprised. It would be like playing with N dimensional phasic shifts without the proper equipment."
Dawn looks confused, "Huh? I don't understand."
"Oh, it's the scientific principles that the emitter works on. If you just wire up the emitter and pump power into it, you could disrupt maybe two meters of space, including the emitter. Shifting it 90 degrees along the 4th dimensional axis. At that point, everything would be irretrievable without knowing exactly which 90 degrees it shifted across."
"Um, isn't time the 4th dimension?"
Buffy ruffles Dawn's hair with a laugh, "No, it's an emergent property of the universe working. It just makes a lot of 3 dimensional science easier if you treat it as a dimension. But, up at around 11 dimensions, treating it that way becomes actively detrimental to investigating it properly."
"How did they even start working with those sorts of…"
Buffy laughs again, "No idea. The acid wars wiped out all of the history and records that was on the home world. That's when we started colonising the solar system. A few more wars over archaeological treasures put paid to those too. Legends say, that's when the Archimedeans came into being. Anyway, we're here, so no more ancient history lessons for you."
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As the two of them walk through the door to Mikes, with Dawn going first, a chorus of "Surprise!" has Buffy yanking Dawn back out the door at the same time Dawn spins to grab Buffy's left hand.
"Buffy, Buffy! They're celebrating your birthday."
After a few minutes of talking Buffy down, they both enter the workshop again.
A shivering Buffy looks at her co-workers, "I'm sorry about that, I don't react well to surprises without my implants."
Roselyn scoffs, "Buffy, you must be the most dense intelligent person I know. That excuse wore thin a month ago, and whatever that shit was with the portal laid it to rest. You're never going to get your implants back, that means doing what every other human, or demon that can pass as human, has to do. Get therapy!"
Buffy steps back as though slapped, "But…"
"There's nothing wrong with me? If Dawn wasn't here, how many of us would be dead now?"
Buffy looks at the floor as though it's the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. As there's a moment of silence while Buffy digests that, Buffy can hear Vhesthine controlling her language into her ultra professional tone. There seems to be a human male arguing with her.
Looking up, Buffy frowns, "What's going on upstairs?"
Ir'in shrugs, "Don't know, don't care. The boss is in, so Vhesthine has all the backup she needs."
Buffy turns away to go up the stairs, only for Dawn to tug her back, "Buffy, your girlfriend has handled herself for years before you came along. But your co-workers have something to give you."
Buffy spins back, a hysterical, and vulnerable tone in her voice, "What?"
Aglomal and Surkos both hold out a brown cardboard box each, and Andrew carefully claps her on the shoulder, "It's not exactly cake or fun stuff. But we all chipped in, and these are for you."
With a practiced motion, Buffy pulls out her dagger, opens both boxes, and sheathes it again, almost faster than the eye can see. When she takes a pamphlet out of the larger of the two boxes, she sinks to the floor with a thump as she stares at the front page.
Welcome to Dark Side of Sunnydale
Home of The Slayer and The Hellmouth
There are a few rules you need to be aware of before you go on your murderous rampage.
1) No Eating civilians
2) No Enslaving civilians
3) No Hurting civilians
4) No Kidnapping civilians
5) No Killing civilians
If you have specific dietary requirements that could be seen to contravene any of the above, check the contact details on the rear of the pamphlet.
With shaking fingers, she opens the front cover and reads the rest of the tri-folded pamphlet, where it emphasizes that being human does not exempt you from these rules. That summoning a demon, or enslaving a civilian, makes you responsible for any actions they make while they are under your command.
As her eyesight begins to blur, she wipes the water out of them, and turns to the back where there are details a magical addiction meeting, run by Willow and Tara, her own details as the Slayer, and Willy's bar.
Looking up, Buffy manages to get out "Thanks everyone." Before booted feet come down the stairs. Looking up and behind, she sees a man, dressed in black, with a large scar running over his left eye.
"Buffy." The man says in a voice that almost seems familiar.
Buffy nods, "I am. You seem familiar."
"I'm Riley, your ex?"
Buffy's eyes widen in recognition, "Oh, I thought you were shorter. Buffy Summers spent a lot of time writing about how she looked down into your eyes while she kissed you."
Riley shifts uncomfortably, "Yes, well. Look, I need your help."
"Oh? The big bad human supremacist needs help from little old me? What, not killed enough innocent succubae."
Riley hotly answers, "We didn't kill any innocent succubae, they're demons. And they were alive when we let them go."
"And doomed to starve, or kill demons to survive. Which would have got them killed. Congratulations, you are the first recipient of my pamphlets, and whatever is in the other box. Don't think being human will give you a pass. You are part of the dark side, and will abide by my rules while you're here."
Riley tucks the pamphlet into his jacket, "Look, I really need your help, otherwise people will die."
"You're not giving me any information here. I do not go on any missions without intel. That stopped when I got my memories back the first time."
Riley growls, "I don't have time for this, that thing could be killing people now."
"Then, why are you here? Or even better, why haven't you said what you're after?"
Riley hits a wall, "Fine, you want to be difficult, it's a Suvolte demon. They're killing machines, and they lay eggs."
Buffy smiles, "That wasn't so hard was it. Anyone know anything about those?"
Roselyn nods, "My partner thinks their eggs are a delicacy. He got two from the Doctor for a kitten. Ate both of them too."
Algomel shudders and seems to become bigger out of nervousness, "They're bad news. That's what they are. Bipedal, and pure instinct. Some idiots are always smuggling an egg out of their home hell. This needs to go upstairs, as it's likely to be a vacation until it's dead."
Riley reaches out to grab Buffy's shoulder, only to recoil at an angry spitting and hissing from a cat that's close to the size of a Maine coon, "What the fuck is that?"
Buffy smiles down at Emo, "He's Dawn's Emotional Support Cat, he's so cute, don't you think? And suitably protective too. I want to get a queen so that we can start breeding them once he's full grown."
Riley growls, "Look, are you going to help me with this demon?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Nope, I'm more interested in this Doctor person, so I'll be tracking him down to make sure the current eggs are destroyed or accounted for. Now, if you don't mind, I need to go and talk to my girlfriend about your conduct and what you're hunting."
Riley looks taken aback, "You're dating that thing?"
Buffy smoothly stands up and stalks towards Riley, "Riley, unless you want me to start asking pointed questions about your past exploits in this city, you will refrain from calling her a thing. While female isn't an accurate description of their species, it is what they generally prefer to be considered as by humans. If you don't leave your humanocentric views outside of town, I will kill you."
Buffy turns around and starts walking up the stairs. Halfway up, she turns back, "Oh, and it's my birthday party tomorrow night. So you're invited, presuming you survive that long."
As Buffy disappears through the door, Riley mutters, "What happened to her?"
Dawn smiles, "She got Awesome. Here, have a few more pamphlets and cards."
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Willow sits in front of Razial's desk somewhat nervously, because this isn't their usual pattern. Normally, they'd have started their discussions on magical theory and practice, before she retreated to her table to start filling crystals. She usually manages two or three mid-grade a night, and she's come close to a top grade once. She's been trying to get better at making the mid-grade crystals, but it doesn't matter what she does, by the second or third circle, her magic is too polluted to do more.
She's pulled out of her thoughts when Razial puts a necklace with a resin pendant on the desk, "Apprentice. It was most distressing when you were discommoded by excess of magic the other month. It cost me valuable days of research and trade because you were too far gone to recognise my presence and use up the magic yourself. Fortunately, my research into The Slayer's unique power has finally yielded a result I can use. My apologies that it took so long to find a solution, however my receptionist has rather too much self-control during her climax for me to gather the requisite data any faster."
Willow's eyebrows scrunch together, "Um, what do you mean by that?"
Razial cocks his head, "I believed it would be self-evident. She doesn't kill Buffy nearly often enough for my recording rituals to gather enough information over a short period of time. However, I have discovered the mechanism that The Slayers 'Oro' transports her body upon death and duplicated it in this necklace."
Willow looks at it sceptically, "Um."
Razial waves her off, "Don't worry, it's been tested thousands of times, just don't take a deadly injury to your head and you'll fine. You can also break it, and it will act as though you died. Don't do it frivolously otherwise I will ensure you learn how much work goes into making one. Oh, and never tell anyone what it does, as it won't do you any good if it's removed before you are mortally injured."
While Willow is fumbling to put the necklace on, Vhesthine knocks on the door and pokes her head in.
"I'm sorry to bother you Razial. That government idiot that refused to say why they wanted Buffy. Turns out they're hunting a Suvolte demon that has already laid eggs."
Razial looks up, "You're sure?"
Vhesthine nods, "Roselyn's partner bought a couple for a kitten."
Razial nods, "We're closing early, do the ring around. Oh, and let The Slayer know that if she can freeze a couple of eggs before they're too close to hatching, I'll pay her for them. As they are quite the delicacy."
Wisely, Vhesthine's expression doesn't change as she just nods and withdraws from the office.
As Willow finishes putting the necklace on, Razial mutters a spell, and the necklace feels like it shrinks under her fingers, "There, now I don't need to worry about you taking it off accidentally. Come, we will finish this evening in my workshop. I understand you have a celebration to attend tomorrow evening, so we will be working overnight to give you time to attend."