milliways_bar | (no subject)

Buffy spots Xander and limps over with the first aid kit, setting herself up once again at enough of a distance that Xander is unlikely to smell the stink of Homja-Maleev demon on her.

"Hi."

She seems very tired, small and vulnerable.

Xander looks at Buffy with great concern. "Whoa, you okay? What happened?" He sits up straight hoping he can find something to help her with.

Nope, she seems to be doing okay it seems. Still, at attention.

And he remains oblivious to the badly scribbled, now smeary, smiley face and words "I like tea" (http://www.livejournal.com/community/milliways_bar/1718430.html?thread=65046430#t65046430) on his forehead.

She sighs, cleaning what appears to be a bite wound on her arm.

"Never mess with the demon-mafia. It's a bad idea."

Glancing at him, she pouts slightly.

"When did you join the ranks of the British?"

Xander furrows his brows in confusion. "What?" Both to the demon Mafia statement, and the Buffyism about the British or something.

"Someone wrote something on your forehead."

She goes back to cleaning wounds.

Xander looks upwards, as if that'll let him read what's on his forehead. "Really? What's it say?"

He imagines it says something like 'Kiss me, I'm British' or something else straightforward like that.

She doesn't look up.

"I like tea. With a smiley."

Xander quirks an eyebrow while continuing to look upwards. "Well that's a lie if I ever heard one." Then, "I bet it was Meg. Or... one of the other Meg's." He shrugs.

He gets a napkin and makes an effort to wipe it off, only managing to make it slightly more blurry and not any harder to read.

"Other Meg's?"

She finishes the last few wounds that aren't wrapped, and begins wrapping them.

"Yeah. Last night was... confusing. There were three Meg's. But they kept changing to different people. Then there were these little Meg's dancing everywhere, and swimming in the tea." Suddenly the realization of how insane that all sounds hits him, and he snickers.

She raises her eyebrows slightly.

"Oh."

Not really so insane, considering what she'd just done herself. Which she has yet to come to terms with.

"Sounds interesting."

"It was crazy, yeah." He looks Buffy over, "So... What happened to you?"

"Materials run. Someone needed something. Lives at stake. You know the drill."

Xander nods. He knows he shouldn't really ask for anything more in the way of information. This isn't his Buffy. The paradoxes could be dangerous. Blah blah. He just nods and smiles.

Glancing up at him, she smiles a little.

"It was someone here. Which is why I'm not doing this at home. Dawn wouldn't understand."

She doesn't even think about the fact that Xander might not even know about Dawn yet. That whole thing created such a huge paradox, its insane.

Xander quirks an eyebrow, catching onto exactly what Buffy probably wishes she didn't bring up (or maybe she just doesn't care, which would make Xander somewhat happier). "Dawn? Who's Dawn?"

For some reason he suspects a boyfriend.

She blinks and looks up at Xander again.

"Dawn is... my sister. She, um... she lives with me now."

It's normal. Everything is fine. She finishes her bandaging, taping everything into place and looking it over. Satisfied, she asks a passing rat to bring her a bowl of fresh water and a clean washcloth. It scurries off.

Normally, given the circumstances, he'd just let it go. But he can't. This is a bit too much.

"Sister? Since when have you had a sister?"

"Since some monks decided that they needed me to protect something important. Instead of just asking me, they turned it into a sister. And messed with everyone's memories so that nobody would notice."

Xander is... angry, for some reason. He's not sure why he's angery, and he knows he has no right, but he is. "Well that's just fuckin' great, isn't it? It's just perfect and fantastic and everything I know is bullshit. It's all bullshit. Where the- Where did my world go, huh?" He pauses, takes a breath. Then, "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." He buries his head in his arms and sighs heavily.

"Well, since you didn't know about her, its not bullshit yet. But it will be."

She's quiet for a few moments. Very tired.

"At least they gave you good memories. She always had a crush on you."

Xander doesn't lift his head from the safety of his arms. "That's always a good thing to know."

He feels very much like a jerk. A Jerk, with a capital J. This is Buffy he's yelling at, over stuff that isn't her fault, and he has a headache. He wants to be happy, but 'they' won't let him. Whoever 'they' are.

Though there really was no 'they' per se, so much as a magical bar with magical landlords. And even they weren't the only contributors to this mess.

Some rats show up with her bog bowl of water and washcloth, which she thanks them for and begins doing her best to wash the many colors of blood off herself.

After a little while she glances back at Xander.

"Been eating pig again?"

A reference to his hyena problem in school. He seems abnormally stressed. Not that she hasn't felt the same recently. But it breaks the ice.

Xander, muffled though not without sarcasm, goes "Har har. Me are possessed, me act like dick because me are hyena." He snorts, "I'll never live that down, huh?" He laughs and raises his head, his face red (and still covered in inky smiles and tea).

"I didn't mean to snap like that. Just... been here a while."

"So get out. I could hit you over the head. Or, hey! Possession! It worked for me!"

Completely joking.

Xander is completely not taking the joke. "I've had my share, would rather not do that again thank you." Then, "You'd do that for me? Hit me over the head? You'd be my bestest friend forever if you did." A smile appears.

"I completely would... except that I wouldn't actually be able to hit you cause I'm a big wuss."

Xander smirks. "I'd like to believe that, but I know you'd hit me in a heart beat." Xander suddenly throws his head back as if pretending to be hit, and knocks his head into the wall.

Oops, now he really IS unconcious.

She winces and sighs, setting the washcloth aside and grabbing his feet to drag him upstairs. His head gets hit a few times on the way up, but she figures he won't really notice. She takes him to her room, which she hasn't used since she became unBound, just so that she won't have to fish around in his pockets for the keys to his. And puts him to bed.

Chiana approaches Xander with a question. " Hi, could you help me take him" She points to the unconscious Crichton, " Up to his room? The black out and all, well it was crazy and I need to sleep, but Crichton needs to be in bed when he wakes up...."

She realizes she is babbling and quiets down.

" Please? "

Xander jumps at the sight of the gray girl, but makes an apologetic face for doing so. He sees John laying on the floor behind the girl.

"Holy crap, John?" He looks up at the girl. "Is he okay?" Then, "Yeah, yeah, sure I'll help you. No problem" He gets up and, in a fit of Millitime, grabs his wrists to help carry him/drag him.

She takes Crichton's ankles and starts up the stairs. " Yeah, I think so anyway. No one's told me anything so I'll be knocking heads later. " She will thank profusely later.

Xander walks backwards towards the stairs, carefully making his way around tables, chairs, and people. The duo climb the stairs and turn the corner towards the hallway of rooms. "Which one is his?"

" Ummmm, actually good question. " She randomly points at one and magically it is the correct room . " This one, here" It was close enough for her to open the door and start into the room.

Xander follows into the room, nearly tripping over... something... but makes sure not to drop John.

"Wow, good guess."

" Thanks, it's one of several talents." Thus answering the question if Chiana can flirt while carrying a body.

She goes the the edge of the bed and flops Crichton's lower half onto the bed.

" Thanks so much, otherwise well, he'd have woken up on the bar floor. " She thinks for a second. " Though there have been stranger places. "

Xander snorts. He doesn't doubt that.

He offers a hand. "Xander, by the way. Xander Harris."

" Chiana. " She shakes his hand. " Thanks for the help again. I wish I could talk for a while, but yeah. I'm kinda tired. " She smiles wearily.

" I'll look for you later, ok?"

Xander nods. "I'll keep an eye out too." He smiles, leaves the room, and heads downstairs to his couch again.

She nods and shuts the door behind Xander. What a wicked day it had been. She crawls into bed beside the unconscious one and digs under the covers, falling asleep.