towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: Dawn Summers and OPEN
Setting: Dormitory floors, later cafeteria
Format: Starts prose but will match
Summary: Dawn's just woken up and she's not taking this well.
Warnings: None yet

The first indication of this new arrival in the tower is a loud, high pitched scream as Dawn finds the initial sleep paralysis wearing off and falls out of her bed, having been mentally struggling uselessly against whatever had been holding her but suddenly no longer is.

She picks herself up, gazing around the unfamiliar room before her eyes fall on the letter. She takes one look at it and runs from the room, not caring that she's still in the white bodysuit she woke up in and not noticing the trunk at the foot of her bed.

Around the dormitories, therefore, there is a teenage girl running around calling out a single name: Buffy. Finding her now means finding her in a frantic, panicked state because she has no idea what's going on right now.

Later, however, you might find her in the cafeteria, dressed in her own clothes now and sullenly poking at a bowl of oatmeal.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Willow doesn't want to test the whole no-eating-other-things-until-after-oatmeal, but she obliges and shifts to let Dawn see what she has. "Nothing special, just the ol' breakfast for dinner. Pancakes and bacon. I spurned dinner like a jilted lover.

"--Oh, hey! If you want, after you finish your oatmeal, I'll make you some muffins?" She gives her a hopeful look, desperately wanting to be helpful. "I've been kind of on a baking kick since getting here, all bored when I'm not traumatized and everything. And it'd fit the breakfast theme, muffins."

Dawn can't help but pout a little because damn, Willow's food looks good especially compared to her little bowl of oatmeal.

"Are you sure it has to be after? I mean, I'd hate to be all outside the breakfast theme and, you know, drugged oatmeal not exactly my favourite."

"Sorry, but I don't want to risk it," she says apologetically. "I don't want to see you get hurt, Dawnie. They're merciless to people that don't do what they want."

Willow realizes that she's laying the bad news on kind of thick, but it'd never been the Sunnydale way to hold back the bad info from someone. Trying to protect people through ignorance lead to them getting dead. So she doesn't try to shield Dawn from what's going on, just what she shouldn't be doing.

A little more pouting but in a resigned way as Dawn spoons at the oatmeal again. "Well, it was worth a shot. I still don't get why they make such a big deal of it but I guess they have to get rid of the stuff somehow."

"Yeah, maybe they just have a big overstock of oatmeal. Whoever does their supply ordering has a hankering for it and got ahead of themselves."

Not her best diversion ever, but hey, she was doing her best.

"Shame they couldn't get ahead of themselves for ice cream. Or, you know, anything a little more exciting than this."

She was doing her best indeed and Dawn appreciates it.

"I could definitely get behind an excess of ice cream," she agrees wholeheartedly. "Way better than oatmeal.

"So... what kind of muffins do you want? Your pick as traumatized newbie and all."

She shrugs. "I dunno. What are my options?"

"Hmm... blueberry's a classic, but there's also chocolate, or yogurt multi-grain if you want to get your crunchy hippie on."

"Crunchy hippie's good but I think I've got the healthy part down already. I think having to eat this calls for chocolate dessert."

"Agreed," she says, firm. "Absolute chocolate situation. Maybe even double chocolate.

"You should finish your oatmeal so we can go do that," she hints meaningfully, giving her an encouraging look. Willow is always ready for stress-relief chocolate binges.

Dawn rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine. No need to look at me like that."

She dutifully starts making her way through the oatmeal, though it's obvious she's not thrilled to be doing so.

"No intent to pressure, I just really could use me some chocolate right now. You had the right idea."

She eats her breakfast-y dinner meal herself, not wanting to be a hypocrite.

She smiles a little at that. "Come on, when is chocolate ever not the answer?"

She falls quiet as she eats, wanting to get it over with. When she's done, she quips, "Well, at least it was just tasteless. And I don't feel weird or anything so that's good news."

"Yeah, pretty much never."

Willow brightens, immensely relieved that things are getting gradually more normal. "See, what'd I say, not so bad after all. And now I can ply you with baked goods and tales of silliness."

"There are tales of silliness?" Dawn grins. "I never get tired of those."

"Yes there are, and indeed you shouldn't. You don't think you've heard all the embarrassing Scooby stories, do you? The best ones haven't even been mentioned, on account of how very embarrassing they are."

"Well, I think I need to start hearing them. I always knew you all were hiding the best stories from me."

"But if we hadn't, I wouldn't have all the good stuff to tell you now," she says mischievously, grinning. "I have to swear you to silence, though. Absolutely no one can know that I told you this stuff."

"Got it." Dawn motioned as though to padlock her mouth and throw away the key.