everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

Yeah, they're real nice boys.

( Not at all what he's heard. He's heard while one is practical, the other is hardened, angry and doesn't play well with others. He tries not to dwell on it, because he would then be worrying about his sister and she's a grown woman. He's questioned her relationship decisions -- most of the time -- but usually kept it to himself.

Meanwhile, Buffy's arm is tiring from her Facetime with Dawn, but she places her phone on the nightstand by her while she applies her lipstick.

"I don't take it for granted that my boyfriend patrols with me," she says, leaning out of the frame. )

Of course you shouldn't. Because Stefan has never been anything but a nice boy who is totally into you because you're awesome. He only cares about your lipstick.

[She's teasing, clearly.]

How are things in Scotland anyway? I heard that his brother is visiting?

And the height of my heels. He'd old fashioned that way.

( She blots and sits back. She's about to ask what Dawn thinks, but she mentions Damon, which, if she thinks about it hasn't been the hindrance she thought he might be. )

Honestly? If he's not cavorting with Scarlett O'Hara, he's the invisible vampire. He has a bedroom and castle access, but other than finding him in one of the control towers, he keeps to himself. He coaxes Stefan to go wherever to do whatever but I'd rather he ever with Damon than let Damon ever by himself.

( She trusts Stefan, not Damon. )

Is that a good or bad thing, that he's making himself scarce?

[Codependent siblings are always messy, but she knows that Buffy would want Stefan's brother to feel welcome for Stefan's sake if nothing else.]

I think he's going through something, but I also think he has this giganto aversion to feelings. I think the distance is mutual, but I wouldn't say no to an assist.

( The impetus, as it were, is on him. )

Is Jeremy home?

No, he's on an airport run. We're having some friends of his visit from Mystic Falls.

[Not that she's aware of the connection between her sister's beau and hers, but she feels like it's a fun detail to share. What a cute sounding town, Mystic Falls. Kind of like Sunnydale.]

Apparently they got call up in the whole doxxing situation.

Mystic Falls has its' fair share.

( Of friends and doxxable friends. )

Glad they made it to safety. Stefan and I were already back in Scotland. Hence, his brother. ( A beat. ) What are the odds we would meet men from Mystic Falls on opposite sides of the world.

[She nods because yeah. It is a little weird.]

Especially that we meet them without actually going to Mystic Falls. I mean, it'd be one thing if we actively vacationed there, but nope. We found them in the wilderness, like lost puppies.

Stefan is - I want to think of something better than 'neutered'--

( She starts, not liking the puppy metaphor. Perhaps, neutering would involve turning off his humanity. She's still not an expert on Stefan's humanity or his type of vampire, but she believes it is more complicated than say Spike or Angel was.

The screen door in the front room pushes open as Jeremy arrives, yelling into the house.

"Dawn!" )

[Dawn would question how "neutered" he actually is, but Jeremy's voice cuts through the house and she makes a face.]

That's our guests. Gotta go. Talk soon, love you, bye!

[And with that she will hang up and head out to greet the rest of the group.]

Hello! You made it!

( -- Bye -- she says, hung up on. Rude.

Alaric holds the door open for Jo as he brings what little they were able to take with them. )

We made it. Traffic cleared on our way back. ( He meets Dawn halfway and brings her close for an appropriately timed welcome kiss. Turning to face Alaric and Jo, he introduces his girlfriend. )

Dawn Summers, this is Alaric and Jo Saltzman.

( "Summers?" Alaric asked, having spent quite a bit of time with or corresponding with Buffy Summers. Has to be a coincidence. )

Yep.

[It's her name, don't wear it out. Or something.]

Why? Is there something weird about it?

( "Coincidental," Alaric says. "A friend is in a relationship with a woman with the same last name."

It's more about it being a small world. )

Buffy's last name is Summers?

You know Buffy?

[And then, because she's smart enough to put two and two together, she turns to Jeremy, amused.]

You didn't tell me you knew Stefan.

I don't know him, he had this thing with my sister in high school. ( Which probably sounds problematic for all the reasons it was, but, vampires. He also lived in his house for like two years, too. That's true. ) They're still friends. Wait, you know Buffy?

Yep. Buffy's my sister.

[Not that there are a lot of Buffy's in the world, but it's hard to imagine that it would be quite that small.

She will pull out her phone and text her though: Alaric and his wife say hi.]

What a small world.

( Saltzman? I had dinner with them a few weeks ago. You know Alaric Saltzman?

Confused, slayer of one. )

Literally.

( "We had dinner a few weeks back," Alaric says, putting everything together. "What are the odds?" )

Smaller than you think.

[But at least this is a good coincidence rather than a bad one. They've had a few too many of those over the years.

Apparently they're our new house guests. Jeremy is Elena's brother. We're going to assume that Jeremy has referred to his sister by name at some point.]

She was just telling me about her trip to Mystic Falls. Damon is in Scotland, by the way, in case you were wondering.

( That's random. 👋🏻 Jeremy and Alaric and Jo.

Are they your house guests because of the doxens? He has of course, he's not a weirdo. )

We don't wonder about Damon.

( "Thanks," Alaric at least gives. Their friendship has since been strained. Very naturally, Alaric became more of a father-figure and made better choices. They still went on trips now and then but there were far fewer outings to the Grille. )

Is anyone left in Mystic Falls?

( "The Salvatore School opens back up at the end of September." But, no, he thinks that most everyone of relevance is out of town at the moment. )

["Lindsay is still there. But she's a Slayer, so not sure if she counts," Jo points out.

Dawn nods.]

She counts to me. Thanks for the heads up. Oh, and Buffy says hi.

( "Tell her I'm paying for the next dinner," Alaric says with a smile.

And slayers count. )

So, everyone knows everyone knows everyone.

I guess we do. That makes things easy to start with.

[It certainly provides a bit of shorthand, when Dawn has to explain what to do and what not.]

But we should get you guys settled. Welcome to our humble abode.

( "Thanks for having us," Alaric says, giving a look around Jeremy's home. It has Dawn's touches and Jeremy's rugged, barely-trying sense of style. Jeremy's done well for himself.

"Do you still have the gallery?" he asks. )

Yeah, we had a showing this past weekend. You just missed it.

It did really well, though. Hopefully, it will draw in other artists and we can get some wider exposure.

[Hopefully with no magic paintings that will endanger the clientele.]

And it only attracted one whole ( He holds a finger up. ) vampire.

( And he shows them the rest of the house and tells them tales of Dawn's badassery. )

the ground could open, he could still say please

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