there are prizes all around you if you're wise enough to see

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[imnot_likeyou]

Yeah, that you're not going to be able to fix for them. They have to figure that out themselves.

[And Sam remembers the way his father talked about the Council. A group of old money locals posing themselves as protectors of the people, while a lot of the less important members of the town got eaten.]

They're going to have to figure out how to deal with Caroline eventually, because I doubt that she's going to stay away from her best friend forever. And the Salvatore School sitting in their home town. And the fact that their kids are immersed in the supernatural, whether they like it or not. Especially if Elena stays here with Dean and you and Buffy's sister keep doing what you're doing which means Stefan is going to be part of things too.

[A pause.]

Eventually they're going to have to choose. And if they love you enough, hopefully they'll choose you over their prejudices.

[barely]

( Okay, he frowns at that, he's in a serious relationship and he's the hunter, Dawn's the academic, but Sam's point is made. )

What can we do. In the meantime?

[imnot_likeyou]

[Let's be real, Buffy may be the Slayer but Dawn was the trouble magnet. She was never just an academic, no matter what she tries to play herself as now.]

Listen. Answer their questions in good faith if they have any.

[Sometimes that's the easiest way to change people's minds. Just to answer their questions as though they're real questions and not just gotcha points trying to trip you up and prove you wrong.]

Sometimes all you can do is give them time.

[barely]

( He nods at that, thanks Sam, and takes the clothes back to his room. He uses the facilities, finally and properly washes up and then sits, pulling up his girlfriend's number. He tries to do math, tired from his conversation with his parents and dials Dawn's number anyway, settling up against the headboard. )

[ooglyboogleys]

[Dawn is up late, because sister time sometimes means roaming in a graveyard time, but she's climbing into bed when her phone rings. She smiles, and reaches for her device as she brings it to her ear.]

Hey, you. Miss me already?

[barely]

Hey.

( Already, he feels more grounded, calmer as he stretches a leg out under him. )

There's a little of that, for sure. But, there's also -- Elena called me back to Lawrence. ( He pauses, pushing the words out, slowly. ) Our parents are back. They're alive.

( And lost and disappointed. )

[ooglyboogleys]

[There's a moment of silence as she processes that. In some ways, it feels as though her brain's stopped working because she knows pain of losing a parent young - it's a record scratch with the idea that twenty years later, they came back.]

Oh my god.

[There's a couple more blinks before:]

Are you okay?

[barely]

I'm -- I don't know. I was sitting there across from them while Elena was explaining only the first year and a half they missed and, I just came right out and told them I'm a hunter. And, I feel like, somehow, we both disappointed em in our ways. And, I hate that I don't feel worse about it, like, I know who I am and where I come from and what I went through.

( But the disappointment is palpable. He knows his sister can feel it. )

[ooglyboogleys]

[She pauses for a minute, trying to discern what he needs when he isn't right in front of her for her to read. Not that Jeremy Gilbert is a particularly easy read, but he emotes in a way that you can feel, even if it doesn't show on his face.

So in lieu of not responding correctly, she asks:]

Do you want me to validate your feelings or help figure out their's? Because I think you're right to believe in who you are. You've put a lot of work into it, and I happen to like him a lot.

[barely]

Help me see theirs. At least right now. How I feel, it doesn't -- it can matter later, but I want to make sure they're good.

( And if not good, on the way to being good. )

[ooglyboogleys]

Okay.

[She shifts up into a sitting position, before tucking her legs under her.]

Did you know that my mom kicked Buffy out when she found out she was the Slayer? I mean, it was a little more complicated than that. She reacted badly, and Buffy ran away, but I remember that after Buffy was gone and we realized that Buffy was really gone, Mom spent the entire summer worried about her. It isn't that she didn't love her. She wanted to keep her safe, and didn't know if she could do that and let Buffy be the Slayer. She felt that she should be the one protecting Buffy, not the other way around.

[It still hurts to talk about Joyce sometimes, but Dawn also still needs to talk about her. She misses her every day, especially since her father is such a disappointment.]

I think they're grappling with what they feel is an either-or proposition. They can either keep you safe or you can be a hunter. I think they need to understand that no matter what this is the world we live in, and hunting is keeping you safe.

[barely]

( He didn't, didn't know how Buffy was parented before their mom died. )

And others. ( He nods, though, making the connection. ) Thank you. It's only going to get harder from here, so I don't think I'm leaving any time soon. How about you and Scotland?

[ooglyboogleys]

I'll probably stay through Thanksgiving. I did promise Buffy that we could actually do a holiday this year, and Stefan's inviting his brother and their old southern vampire friends.

[She has no idea how this holiday is going to go.]

But so far so good. And, if you feel the strong need to flee, you can always get on a plane to Scotland and join in the fun?

[She's mostly kidding, because she doesn't think he would leave his parents like that, but the out is an honest one, should he decide he needs the space.]

[barely]

Southern vampire friends? Sounds gothic.

( Neither does Jeremy. )

Thanks. I'll remember that. And maybe after all of this - if we get the outcome we need - then maybe. But, if -- I think I want to stay close. Their first Thanksgiving back in an underground bunker in Kansas. But, I love you. And miss you, Dawn.

[ooglyboogleys]

I haven't met them yet, but Buffy's been saying stuff about Gone with the Wind that I don't fully understand.

[But she will. Oh she will.]

I love and miss you too. And it will be okay. I'm here if you need me. And I can't wait to meet them too.

[Because she very much does want to meet the two people responsible for her favorite person.]

[barely]

So, literally Southern. Did you know we show that in Mystic Falls, like practically every year. Even now. Ironically, the last few years, but it's tradition.

( He's not tuned into why it's out there, anyway, but, it's something. )

If they get out of this still alive... You will, okay?

[ooglyboogleys]

Okay. If it lasts long enough, let me know and I can change my flight to Kansas, rather than home.

[If he needs the support she'll be there for him.

Also she's heard things about this bunker. Rumors on the supernatural superhighway that there is a group of hunters sitting on a bunker of supernatural knowledge and she wants to see it.

So. Bad.

But no she's really going for girlfriend support. She can do both.]

[barely]

I'll keep you in the loop. Love you. And Dawn? Thank you. Say hi to Buffy for me. And Stefan.

( And, fine, Damon or whatever. )

[ooglyboogleys]

Will do. Good luck.

[And with that, she will hang up and get some sleep before she goes back to family time in the morning.]