Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Second Dream Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Forwarded to late night

[byakkoyagirl]

[Around the afternoon, Paprika was released from the experimental alternate universe and went back to being her cheery dream girl self. And, like most others, she thought she was spared from the continued experiments.

Oh how wrong she was.

Like on the first night she arrived in Luceti, Paprika is going to be dropping into people's dreams through teleportation. Prepare to get your dreamspace invaded citizens of Luceti. Please don't kill her for this - she really doesn't want to imagine the crazy stuff you dream of.]

[ooc: please read this and fill out this (if you haven't already) before posting here o/]

Comments

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

[She frowns.]

I don't know when I'll leave. I was brought here by the experiment.

...Giles, if you don't want to forgive yourself then that's fine. I forgive you, for whatever you did that was beyond your control.

[consultmybooks]

[Buffy hurries off towards the tower, leaving the wounded man on the ground.]

He was completely within my control.

[Then Giles forces a smile and glances at Paprika.] But we were discussing my actions as a vampire, weren't we? Sorry, I seem to have completely lost my train of thought.

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

No he wasn't. If he was then the things that happened wouldn't have. You might have had a subconscious grasp on it, but nothing tangible enough.

[She shakes her head.] If you don't want to discuss it anymore then don't force yourself.

[consultmybooks]

[Giles takes a few steps nearer to the man, apparently not entirely aware that he's doing so.]

...I really do enjoy your company, Paprika. Like many things, I just wish it could be under better circumstances.

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

...I don't think it ever will be. [She sighs. It feels even worse because the one time she could talk with Giles in person she was completely insulting and rude.] No one wants you to feel like this.

[consultmybooks]

I know they don't. Because, as I mentioned a while ago, I seem to always find myself making friends with very kind people. Helios and Okita-san have both told me I should take a vacation. [A few more steps.] It's a thought, I suppose.

I was going to leave Sunnydale entirely, before I was brought here. But that was before I knew that Buffy would be brought back.

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

It isn't just because they're kind people. It's because they care about you. You should get through your head that there are people who genuinely think you're a good person and they have every reason to.

[consultmybooks]

[Giles...pauses. And thinks. There's real affection in his voice, when he speaks again. He sounds almost happy.]

And so a cake is a fair trade for pulling a knife out of someone's hand.

Seems like that sort of logic can only work when there are friends involved.

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

Call it whatever you want. I'm just telling you what you should already know. Please don't make me beg - it isn't professional.

[consultmybooks]

Of course, they only see what I've let them see. What I want them to know.

Is that like lying, or is that like reading a book and not being told everything on the first page? It's not just me - I've met some people here that have really turned out to have something unexpected about them.

[Then, almost defensively] But they're still good people. Some of the best I have ever known.

You don't have to beg, Paprika. That wouldn't be fair of me, especially when you've already been so patient. I can pay attention. I'm very good at that.

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

A book on someone's life that hasn't died is unreadable. I'm not going to bother reading a book that hasn't even been finished and no one else will too. But, not telling everyone everything all at once isn't too shocking.

Not saying they aren't. I just think you're almost insulting them if you say that you aren't a good person, worthy of their friendship.

[consultmybooks]

Perhaps you're right.

Helios in particular may be a little naive, but I know they all have better judgment.

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

It's not perhaps. I never say anything I don't mean.

[consultmybooks]

I believe you.

[The tower and the town fade away, and now they're sitting in what Paprika might recognize to be the village's Welcome Center. Okita Souji is in the small kitchen, going through the motions of making tea.

While the dream before has been stark and harsh, tense and strange even when it wasn't actively nightmarish, this scene is evidently peaceful and safe, equal parts dream and memory.]

I've known people like you before, and you can usually be trusted to be quite straightforward in the face of all odds.

...I think I'd like to stay here for the rest of the night, if that's all right.