Successor (BTVS)
- Thread starter DeAnno
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DeAnno
Sometimes words have two meanings
Lock is going to be in about 12, though I'll probably hold it open if I must to avoid a tie. In the case that there's a tie between plans that aren't terribly contradictory I might do some merging, and some kind of polling of scoobies for opinion is probably going to happen either way (though it might be more or less emphasized.)
Edifier
Trusted within thoughts.
- Location
- Court of Moon Wizards
On a third thought. Just dusting them feels right. They are a liability, they're going to drain the attention of our watch, likely cause trouble down the line monetary or otherwise and in the end are evil, yet lazy, soulless beings.
One less branch of trouble to worry about.
Thoughts?
One less branch of trouble to worry about.
Thoughts?
I'd rather switch to a kill them all plan than a full on incorporate their business plan. My ideal is still killing half of them to get them afraid of the new boss and letting them continue their business until they fuck up. It seems like s better way to handle vampires than getting them to go legit and pay taxes and maybe take out ads in the papers.
- Location
- Tarn-Vedra
[X] Plan Sanitary Sanguine Services
S3.5E5: This is Sunnydale II
DeAnno
Sometimes words have two meanings
A/N: I finally got around to updating the extended cast list again, sorry that got delayed past the episode tick.
[X] Plan Downsizing
-[X] Tell Gwen she is in charge of the Suck House now, and she can keep the half of the staff she thinks is least likely to kill anyone and that she can most easily control and Buffy kills the rest.
--[X] Make sure Gwen understands that if any of her employees are killing people outside and Buffy finds out from anyone but her that she will die along with the vampire that broke the rules.
-[X] Install discrete cameras watching the entrance to the suck house and have the Watch frequently check on them to make sure the same number of people that go in also come out, and make a list of who is patronizing the place.
-[X] Demand they clean up the building to cut down on disease and buy some first aid kits, then start paying 10% less than they were to Teeth to Harmony, who will be handling collections.
"Is this everyone who works here?" Buffy asked.
Gwen tilted her head worriedly. "Trish is still upstairs." Buffy made a gesture to get on with it, and Gwen shouted for her. The other vampire started at the scene as she came down the stairs, but after a bit of wordless communication with Gwen she walked up by her side and stood quietly, also looking worried.
When everyone was assembled, there were nine vampires in the room, not counting Harmony or the one Buffy had already dusted. Most of them were girls, but there were two guys, one of whom was the big one that was still in the corner. As was usual for random vampires that didn't have a particular reason to hide, all of them were fangy. The humans (at least the three that were awake) seemed a little more with it by now, but even they seemed interested in what was going on and showed no signs of leaving. Buffy considered kicking them out before this got ugly, but in the end it was probably going to be more dangerous on the street, so she just ushered them over to an empty area to the side instead.
In the end, the problem was that even if some of these vampires were relatively unobjectionable, she definitely couldn't trust them all. She had to treat the danger to innocent victims as more important than the other concerns here, but she felt that maybe she could strike a balance. Minimize the risk, maximize the reward. And even if what she was about to do wasn't very nice to the vampires here, it at least felt a little more fair.
"So. There are going to be some changes," Buffy put up her index finger. "First, this place is seriously gross. You're going to clean up the floor, swap out this furniture, and get the power-"
"We don't actually own this place," someone interrupted. She was the same vampire who had complained about truth telling before.
"I can get the paperwork dealt with," Buffy said. "You can take ten percent off whatever you were giving Teeth for that, anything else comes out of whatever you were keeping." Buffy didn't really have any way to check on them, but figured Gwen wouldn't be too keen to lie to her after this talk was done.
There was some grumbling, but Buffy didn't give them time to muster more objections, and put out her middle finger to count to two. "Second. I don't care what your pecking order was before. Gwen is in charge. Obviously, none of you are allowed to bite anyone outside of this building, none of you are allowed to kill anyone ever. If I hear about this rule getting broken, the vampire responsible gets dusty, and if it wasn't Gwen that told me, she gets dusty too." Gwen squeaked.
Buffy theatrically raised an eyebrow, and took a few steps into Gwen's personal space. "Is that OK with you, Gwen? You can keep all your buddies under control, right?"
She managed a very quiet, "I think so."
"You don't sound very confident," Buffy acted worried herself. "Maybe this whole experiment is a bad idea, I could-"
Trish grabbed Gwen's hand, and hastily whispered something in her ear. "I can do it," Gwen said, louder now.
Buffy nodded, and then took the opportunity to glance around the room. The vampires still looked a little complacent, having decided that this was mostly for show, but Harmony seemed concerned. The humans just looked mystified.
Buffy frowned, letting her troubled expression build. "It's OK Gwen. I've actually got a pretty good read on you. You're a coward." She quivered, starting to back up, but Buffy stopped her with a strong hand over her shoulder. "No, it's good. I know you'll be too afraid of me to screw around, too afraid to lie. You'll keep me as well informed as you can. But the problem with that is some of these friends of yours probably aren't cowards, and when push comes to shove, you aren't going to be able to stop them." Gwen was looking confused now instead of afraid.
Buffy stepped back from her a little again, and finally counted to three on her fingers. "That brings me to the third change. Half of you are going to re-die, right now. Gwen, pick the four of them you think you can actually control." Buffy put a concerned tone into her voice. "Pick fast, or things might get out of hand."
Trish seemed to burrow into Gwen's side, and the room was instantly filled with the noise of pleas and threats. Gwen didn't pay attention to any of it though, just looking Buffy desperately in the eyes. In retrospect, this whole stunt had come out a little more psycho than she'd intended, but if it made it more likely to stick in their heads, all the less likely any humans would end up hurt.
The big vamp finally got up out of the corner and approached, but Buffy didn't let him get physical with Gwen, moving over to him in a flash and battering him back onto the floor like a rag doll. The rest of them took their cue from that, and stayed where they were, but the noise of their entreaties didn't stop. Buffy noted happily that Harmony had moved to cover the humans; she didn't think it would be an issue, but it was a good thought.
"Trish," Gwen started slow, and there were barely any sounds of disappointment, as nobody was surprised by that. Then, more rapidly, she pointed out three more of them, "Harper, Annie, Cindy!"
All of the vampires exploded into motion at that. Buffy had the big one staked before he even got up, two of the other three went for Gwen, and one ran for the door. Harper and Cindy flinched back, hiding behind furniture, but Annie tried to get in the way of one of the rogues and they scuffled on the ground. Buffy saw Harmony tackling the one who tried to run out of the corner of her eye, and so she quickly charged the last one and staked her.
After that, it was just a matter of cleanup, though she let Harmony finish her scuffle with the other girl and do the staking herself. She was coming along nicely, and Buffy was pleased she could deal with the average minion on her own already. Harmony gave her fangy smile before forcing game face back down, and then Buffy turned to the knot of five survivors.
"Any questions?"
"I was mostly just, you know, acting on instinct," Buffy said. She was sitting on her own desk, nervously kicking her feet against it. This wasn't a time for chairs.
"Well, your approach was certainly unconventional," Giles said hesitantly, cleaning his glasses. "In my younger days I knew of a couple such establishments, often in the fetid conditions you describe. I wouldn't think you'd concern yourself with them, but I suppose our circumstances are anything but normal."
Buffy's eyes widened, "Don't tell me you, umm, Giles,-"
"Heavens no!" he said, disturbed, "But some people in my circles did. They aren't safe, but tend to be safer than one would imagine, and at the end of the day, the 'patrons' there are willing victims. I didn't realize there was one in Sunnydale, but I wouldn't have directed your attention to it even if I did. They're a rather low priority, in the scheme of things."
"Do you think I was too nasty with them then? Or too nice? I was kind of torn between sympathy and an urge to stake them all and burn the place down."
"I don't think anyone of note has tried to be, ah, 'nice' to them before," Giles said. "But I'm not sure if it matters that much either way. If you think they can become a source of income and information, I trust you to keep them under control."
"Well, I think you handled it the right way," Anya piped up, after Giles finished. She was the other person Buffy had decided to get an opinion from, and she was much more confident. "It's easy for humans to make mistakes dealing with vampire psychology, but you did just the right thing."
Buffy and Giles just stared at her, and she took that as permission to launch into lecture mode. "So, normally, this whole vampire brothel idea would be a fool's errand. Vampire instincts constantly push them to kill and destroy, just like a human's instincts push them to have sex and make money."
"They didn't seem especially destructive?" Buffy ventured. "Like, most vampires are all 'Grrr, Argh' right out of the grave, but they were pretty subdued in comparison."
"That's because the sort of vampires that end up in those places are beaten down and demoralized," Anya said authoritatively. "They're like sick little puppies, all sniffly and pathetic. But if you ever improve their conditions and let them recover some dignity, soon they'll just get aggressive and murderous again, no matter what they're like at first."
"That would seem to be an argument that what Buffy's doing is a terrible idea," Giles argued. "If she keeps them defended against the other rabble, and the conditions there improve, won't they just go down that same path?"
"They would, except for the other primary feature of vampire psychology." Anya paused dramatically, having fun being the center of attention. "If you expose a group of vampires to a bigger, badder demon, they'll usually get all subservient and it overrides their normal instincts. That's why every serious monster in the underworld worthy of the name has a bunch of vampire minions, they just sort of glom on, like groupies."
"Wait, but-" Buffy started, but Anya interrupted her.
"I mean, I know you're not actually a demon, but I doubt the vampires really get that, deep down in their guts. You're way stronger than they are, you demanded tribute, and then you killed half of them just because you felt like it." Anya nodded. "Totally normal for the type of demon that gets vampire groupies."
"Harmony…" Giles began, trailing off.
"That's why I'm pretty confident." Anya said. "Buffy put the same whammy on her. She shows all the signs of growing up to be a big important vampire, but despite that not the slightest whiff of normal rogue vampire behavior. And Buffy didn't even have to terrorize her with random acts of violence!"
"Wouldn't that cast some doubt on your whole theory though?" Buffy was still a little worried she'd been out of line, despite herself. "Like, Harmony didn't need to be terrorized, so maybe I didn't need to go all murder rampage on the suck joint?"
"I mean, Harmony was already on your side before she died in a big violent battle where you defeated an Old One," Anya said. "Maybe that proved your murder chops to her demon?"
Buffy frowned, not liking the implications of all this vampire groupie stuff, and decided to bite another bullet. "My powers have been kind of weird lately." She hadn't told anyone but Giles about the KILL vision, or more recently, the Wilkins dreams, but Anya's well of esoteric demon knowledge was too tempting to ignore. "I haven't told anyone besides Giles because it's mondo creepy."
"Oh! This is where I'm supposed to promise not to gossip and then I tell everyone behind your back, right? Kidding!" Buffy and Giles just stared at her again, and Anya pouted. "Nobody appreciates my jokes."
Buffy rolled her eyes, but decided she might as well keep explaining, "When I was fighting the dragon last week she almost got in my head once, but I had this vision that kicked her out and told me to KILL with lots of drama and special effects. Plus, I've been having Wilkins in my slayer dreams ever since Graduation, and we've been doing this whole weird conversations with dead people thing."
"So you're worried he like, what, used his freaky Old One powers to like, jump into your head as he died?" Anya asked. "And now he's slowly taking control of you by tempting you over into some kind of evil demonic pact?"
"Umm," Buffy said.
"As far as I know, that's totally impossible!" Anya said brightly. "Old Ones had all kinds of weird unfathomable powers, but they also tended to get pretty rooted into whatever paradigm they used. Wilkins needed a hundred years to coax Olvikan into joining with himself, it wouldn't just stick onto you in a spray of exploded gore."
"While that's reassuring, if a bit unnecessarily graphic," Giles said. "Can you think of any other explanation for what's happening to Buffy? She's also mentioned that her Slayer reflexes have become much keener since the vision." Buffy nodded at that. It'd made a lot of things easier in the past week, but it was also a constant troubling reminder.
Anya pursed her lips. "Well, maybe whatever powers the Slayer is just happy with a job well done? Buffy has killed a large number and variety of bad things. It's only natural that extra effort in the workplace be rewarded."
"What does that have to do with Wilkins though?" Buffy asked.
Anya shrugged. "Probably nothing? I mean, even in the demon world, dead is usually dead. You blew him into a million pieces, it'd be silly to be afraid he was like, lying in wait as he regenerated or something. It's not like he's talking to you when you're awake, right? People have all kinds of weird dreams. I had a dream just last night about Willow feeding me jello, that doesn't mean she's controlling my mind. I hope." She frowned a bit, looking pensive.
Buffy sighed. She'd been hoping for something more concrete than that, but at least Anya had put her worries about the 'suck joint' (she was going to need to name it something less eww) mostly to rest.
Later that day, Buffy was just leaving her office when she ran into Cynthia, holding out an classy looking vellum envelope.
Buffy slowed down, not spooked by slayer instincts, but teenager ones instead. "That looks scary."
Cynthia gave her a flat look, and explained, holding the open envelope out to her. "You've been cordially invited to the Sunnydale Country Club tomorrow. You don't have to go, but I think it'd be a very good idea."
Buffy had heard of the country club, but never been out there before; it was treated pretty exclusively, and they didn't like bumping elbows with people from the other side of the tracks. The Cordettes' families were all members, along with a lot of the richer people around town. Despite the bad neighborhoods and chronically low property values, there were a lot of wealthy families in the Sunnydale area too.
She got the invitation out and gave it a leery eye. "This is pretty vague. Why are they inviting me now? What do people even do at country clubs? Do the wives all stand around gossiping while their husbands play golf?"
"More or less, to the second," Cynthia said. "As for the first, you are in fact the mayor of their town, and thus a fairly important person for them to get to know. You'll probably be offered a complimentary membership, and it's likely they'll try to wheedle various concessions out of you, but I think this is mostly just an action to 'feel you out', as it were."
"Concessions? What kind of things do rich people even want?" Buffy was a little alarmed. "Are they going to try to buy the town out from under us or anything nefarious like that?"
"To an extent, yes, but it's less of a serious concern than you might think," Cynthia hedged.
"Mayor Wilkins made it a policy to keep some rather labyrinthine zoning laws on the books to support his various demonic constituents and foster areas that might serve their interests. With the way property values in Sunnydale have risen since you've become active here, they might hope you're receptive to some changes he stood firm against."
"Is there any real issue with that?" Buffy asked.
"Well, some of the properties may react rather … poorly to new construction, for various reasons, but Richard played his cards close to the chest, so it's hard to know which ones, or how violently," Cynthia said. "It's a bit of a risk, but then again, their support might be invaluable for your upcoming election, and it would probably be good for the city's economy in the long term."
Buffy felt a little adrift, and was happy to at least be getting guidance enough to understand what the issues were before being shoved in the deep end. "Is that it, or are there other things too?"
"It's difficult to say." Cynthia tilted her hand back and forth. "It's also possible they're concerned about the high school reconstruction or the new police chief, or they might be too cautious with you to bring up much of anything at all. You're an unknown element for them, so they'll have to improvise."
"Unknown is good," Buffy said. "They're an unknown element for me too."
"There is one more decision," Cynthia said gravely, leading Buffy to a closet and opening it up. Inside was a set of golf clubs. "Their vague invitation was in part due to having no idea how you would present yourself. Normally, a young lady mayor would be expected to come dressed for a formal lunch."
"However," Cynthia continued, "even amongst the mundane residents of the town, your rather active stance in fighting crime is already widely known. They might equally expect you to come equipped and ready for their prime mode of athletic competition, acting like 'one of the boys'. Being careful not to offend, the obvious move for them was to leave the choice up to you."
Vote: What does Buffy go to the country club expecting to do?
[] Buffy brings the Mayor's old clubs, and comes dressed for a round of golf. She's only played the mini variety before, but could hitting little balls with sticks really be that hard?
[] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
[X] Plan Downsizing
-[X] Tell Gwen she is in charge of the Suck House now, and she can keep the half of the staff she thinks is least likely to kill anyone and that she can most easily control and Buffy kills the rest.
--[X] Make sure Gwen understands that if any of her employees are killing people outside and Buffy finds out from anyone but her that she will die along with the vampire that broke the rules.
-[X] Install discrete cameras watching the entrance to the suck house and have the Watch frequently check on them to make sure the same number of people that go in also come out, and make a list of who is patronizing the place.
-[X] Demand they clean up the building to cut down on disease and buy some first aid kits, then start paying 10% less than they were to Teeth to Harmony, who will be handling collections.
"Is this everyone who works here?" Buffy asked.
Gwen tilted her head worriedly. "Trish is still upstairs." Buffy made a gesture to get on with it, and Gwen shouted for her. The other vampire started at the scene as she came down the stairs, but after a bit of wordless communication with Gwen she walked up by her side and stood quietly, also looking worried.
When everyone was assembled, there were nine vampires in the room, not counting Harmony or the one Buffy had already dusted. Most of them were girls, but there were two guys, one of whom was the big one that was still in the corner. As was usual for random vampires that didn't have a particular reason to hide, all of them were fangy. The humans (at least the three that were awake) seemed a little more with it by now, but even they seemed interested in what was going on and showed no signs of leaving. Buffy considered kicking them out before this got ugly, but in the end it was probably going to be more dangerous on the street, so she just ushered them over to an empty area to the side instead.
In the end, the problem was that even if some of these vampires were relatively unobjectionable, she definitely couldn't trust them all. She had to treat the danger to innocent victims as more important than the other concerns here, but she felt that maybe she could strike a balance. Minimize the risk, maximize the reward. And even if what she was about to do wasn't very nice to the vampires here, it at least felt a little more fair.
"So. There are going to be some changes," Buffy put up her index finger. "First, this place is seriously gross. You're going to clean up the floor, swap out this furniture, and get the power-"
"We don't actually own this place," someone interrupted. She was the same vampire who had complained about truth telling before.
"I can get the paperwork dealt with," Buffy said. "You can take ten percent off whatever you were giving Teeth for that, anything else comes out of whatever you were keeping." Buffy didn't really have any way to check on them, but figured Gwen wouldn't be too keen to lie to her after this talk was done.
There was some grumbling, but Buffy didn't give them time to muster more objections, and put out her middle finger to count to two. "Second. I don't care what your pecking order was before. Gwen is in charge. Obviously, none of you are allowed to bite anyone outside of this building, none of you are allowed to kill anyone ever. If I hear about this rule getting broken, the vampire responsible gets dusty, and if it wasn't Gwen that told me, she gets dusty too." Gwen squeaked.
Buffy theatrically raised an eyebrow, and took a few steps into Gwen's personal space. "Is that OK with you, Gwen? You can keep all your buddies under control, right?"
She managed a very quiet, "I think so."
"You don't sound very confident," Buffy acted worried herself. "Maybe this whole experiment is a bad idea, I could-"
Trish grabbed Gwen's hand, and hastily whispered something in her ear. "I can do it," Gwen said, louder now.
Buffy nodded, and then took the opportunity to glance around the room. The vampires still looked a little complacent, having decided that this was mostly for show, but Harmony seemed concerned. The humans just looked mystified.
Buffy frowned, letting her troubled expression build. "It's OK Gwen. I've actually got a pretty good read on you. You're a coward." She quivered, starting to back up, but Buffy stopped her with a strong hand over her shoulder. "No, it's good. I know you'll be too afraid of me to screw around, too afraid to lie. You'll keep me as well informed as you can. But the problem with that is some of these friends of yours probably aren't cowards, and when push comes to shove, you aren't going to be able to stop them." Gwen was looking confused now instead of afraid.
Buffy stepped back from her a little again, and finally counted to three on her fingers. "That brings me to the third change. Half of you are going to re-die, right now. Gwen, pick the four of them you think you can actually control." Buffy put a concerned tone into her voice. "Pick fast, or things might get out of hand."
Trish seemed to burrow into Gwen's side, and the room was instantly filled with the noise of pleas and threats. Gwen didn't pay attention to any of it though, just looking Buffy desperately in the eyes. In retrospect, this whole stunt had come out a little more psycho than she'd intended, but if it made it more likely to stick in their heads, all the less likely any humans would end up hurt.
The big vamp finally got up out of the corner and approached, but Buffy didn't let him get physical with Gwen, moving over to him in a flash and battering him back onto the floor like a rag doll. The rest of them took their cue from that, and stayed where they were, but the noise of their entreaties didn't stop. Buffy noted happily that Harmony had moved to cover the humans; she didn't think it would be an issue, but it was a good thought.
"Trish," Gwen started slow, and there were barely any sounds of disappointment, as nobody was surprised by that. Then, more rapidly, she pointed out three more of them, "Harper, Annie, Cindy!"
All of the vampires exploded into motion at that. Buffy had the big one staked before he even got up, two of the other three went for Gwen, and one ran for the door. Harper and Cindy flinched back, hiding behind furniture, but Annie tried to get in the way of one of the rogues and they scuffled on the ground. Buffy saw Harmony tackling the one who tried to run out of the corner of her eye, and so she quickly charged the last one and staked her.
After that, it was just a matter of cleanup, though she let Harmony finish her scuffle with the other girl and do the staking herself. She was coming along nicely, and Buffy was pleased she could deal with the average minion on her own already. Harmony gave her fangy smile before forcing game face back down, and then Buffy turned to the knot of five survivors.
"Any questions?"
------------------------------------------------------------------
"I was mostly just, you know, acting on instinct," Buffy said. She was sitting on her own desk, nervously kicking her feet against it. This wasn't a time for chairs.
"Well, your approach was certainly unconventional," Giles said hesitantly, cleaning his glasses. "In my younger days I knew of a couple such establishments, often in the fetid conditions you describe. I wouldn't think you'd concern yourself with them, but I suppose our circumstances are anything but normal."
Buffy's eyes widened, "Don't tell me you, umm, Giles,-"
"Heavens no!" he said, disturbed, "But some people in my circles did. They aren't safe, but tend to be safer than one would imagine, and at the end of the day, the 'patrons' there are willing victims. I didn't realize there was one in Sunnydale, but I wouldn't have directed your attention to it even if I did. They're a rather low priority, in the scheme of things."
"Do you think I was too nasty with them then? Or too nice? I was kind of torn between sympathy and an urge to stake them all and burn the place down."
"I don't think anyone of note has tried to be, ah, 'nice' to them before," Giles said. "But I'm not sure if it matters that much either way. If you think they can become a source of income and information, I trust you to keep them under control."
"Well, I think you handled it the right way," Anya piped up, after Giles finished. She was the other person Buffy had decided to get an opinion from, and she was much more confident. "It's easy for humans to make mistakes dealing with vampire psychology, but you did just the right thing."
Buffy and Giles just stared at her, and she took that as permission to launch into lecture mode. "So, normally, this whole vampire brothel idea would be a fool's errand. Vampire instincts constantly push them to kill and destroy, just like a human's instincts push them to have sex and make money."
"They didn't seem especially destructive?" Buffy ventured. "Like, most vampires are all 'Grrr, Argh' right out of the grave, but they were pretty subdued in comparison."
"That's because the sort of vampires that end up in those places are beaten down and demoralized," Anya said authoritatively. "They're like sick little puppies, all sniffly and pathetic. But if you ever improve their conditions and let them recover some dignity, soon they'll just get aggressive and murderous again, no matter what they're like at first."
"That would seem to be an argument that what Buffy's doing is a terrible idea," Giles argued. "If she keeps them defended against the other rabble, and the conditions there improve, won't they just go down that same path?"
"They would, except for the other primary feature of vampire psychology." Anya paused dramatically, having fun being the center of attention. "If you expose a group of vampires to a bigger, badder demon, they'll usually get all subservient and it overrides their normal instincts. That's why every serious monster in the underworld worthy of the name has a bunch of vampire minions, they just sort of glom on, like groupies."
"Wait, but-" Buffy started, but Anya interrupted her.
"I mean, I know you're not actually a demon, but I doubt the vampires really get that, deep down in their guts. You're way stronger than they are, you demanded tribute, and then you killed half of them just because you felt like it." Anya nodded. "Totally normal for the type of demon that gets vampire groupies."
"Harmony…" Giles began, trailing off.
"That's why I'm pretty confident." Anya said. "Buffy put the same whammy on her. She shows all the signs of growing up to be a big important vampire, but despite that not the slightest whiff of normal rogue vampire behavior. And Buffy didn't even have to terrorize her with random acts of violence!"
"Wouldn't that cast some doubt on your whole theory though?" Buffy was still a little worried she'd been out of line, despite herself. "Like, Harmony didn't need to be terrorized, so maybe I didn't need to go all murder rampage on the suck joint?"
"I mean, Harmony was already on your side before she died in a big violent battle where you defeated an Old One," Anya said. "Maybe that proved your murder chops to her demon?"
Buffy frowned, not liking the implications of all this vampire groupie stuff, and decided to bite another bullet. "My powers have been kind of weird lately." She hadn't told anyone but Giles about the KILL vision, or more recently, the Wilkins dreams, but Anya's well of esoteric demon knowledge was too tempting to ignore. "I haven't told anyone besides Giles because it's mondo creepy."
"Oh! This is where I'm supposed to promise not to gossip and then I tell everyone behind your back, right? Kidding!" Buffy and Giles just stared at her again, and Anya pouted. "Nobody appreciates my jokes."
Buffy rolled her eyes, but decided she might as well keep explaining, "When I was fighting the dragon last week she almost got in my head once, but I had this vision that kicked her out and told me to KILL with lots of drama and special effects. Plus, I've been having Wilkins in my slayer dreams ever since Graduation, and we've been doing this whole weird conversations with dead people thing."
"So you're worried he like, what, used his freaky Old One powers to like, jump into your head as he died?" Anya asked. "And now he's slowly taking control of you by tempting you over into some kind of evil demonic pact?"
"Umm," Buffy said.
"As far as I know, that's totally impossible!" Anya said brightly. "Old Ones had all kinds of weird unfathomable powers, but they also tended to get pretty rooted into whatever paradigm they used. Wilkins needed a hundred years to coax Olvikan into joining with himself, it wouldn't just stick onto you in a spray of exploded gore."
"While that's reassuring, if a bit unnecessarily graphic," Giles said. "Can you think of any other explanation for what's happening to Buffy? She's also mentioned that her Slayer reflexes have become much keener since the vision." Buffy nodded at that. It'd made a lot of things easier in the past week, but it was also a constant troubling reminder.
Anya pursed her lips. "Well, maybe whatever powers the Slayer is just happy with a job well done? Buffy has killed a large number and variety of bad things. It's only natural that extra effort in the workplace be rewarded."
"What does that have to do with Wilkins though?" Buffy asked.
Anya shrugged. "Probably nothing? I mean, even in the demon world, dead is usually dead. You blew him into a million pieces, it'd be silly to be afraid he was like, lying in wait as he regenerated or something. It's not like he's talking to you when you're awake, right? People have all kinds of weird dreams. I had a dream just last night about Willow feeding me jello, that doesn't mean she's controlling my mind. I hope." She frowned a bit, looking pensive.
Buffy sighed. She'd been hoping for something more concrete than that, but at least Anya had put her worries about the 'suck joint' (she was going to need to name it something less eww) mostly to rest.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that day, Buffy was just leaving her office when she ran into Cynthia, holding out an classy looking vellum envelope.
Buffy slowed down, not spooked by slayer instincts, but teenager ones instead. "That looks scary."
Cynthia gave her a flat look, and explained, holding the open envelope out to her. "You've been cordially invited to the Sunnydale Country Club tomorrow. You don't have to go, but I think it'd be a very good idea."
Buffy had heard of the country club, but never been out there before; it was treated pretty exclusively, and they didn't like bumping elbows with people from the other side of the tracks. The Cordettes' families were all members, along with a lot of the richer people around town. Despite the bad neighborhoods and chronically low property values, there were a lot of wealthy families in the Sunnydale area too.
She got the invitation out and gave it a leery eye. "This is pretty vague. Why are they inviting me now? What do people even do at country clubs? Do the wives all stand around gossiping while their husbands play golf?"
"More or less, to the second," Cynthia said. "As for the first, you are in fact the mayor of their town, and thus a fairly important person for them to get to know. You'll probably be offered a complimentary membership, and it's likely they'll try to wheedle various concessions out of you, but I think this is mostly just an action to 'feel you out', as it were."
"Concessions? What kind of things do rich people even want?" Buffy was a little alarmed. "Are they going to try to buy the town out from under us or anything nefarious like that?"
"To an extent, yes, but it's less of a serious concern than you might think," Cynthia hedged.
"Mayor Wilkins made it a policy to keep some rather labyrinthine zoning laws on the books to support his various demonic constituents and foster areas that might serve their interests. With the way property values in Sunnydale have risen since you've become active here, they might hope you're receptive to some changes he stood firm against."
"Is there any real issue with that?" Buffy asked.
"Well, some of the properties may react rather … poorly to new construction, for various reasons, but Richard played his cards close to the chest, so it's hard to know which ones, or how violently," Cynthia said. "It's a bit of a risk, but then again, their support might be invaluable for your upcoming election, and it would probably be good for the city's economy in the long term."
Buffy felt a little adrift, and was happy to at least be getting guidance enough to understand what the issues were before being shoved in the deep end. "Is that it, or are there other things too?"
"It's difficult to say." Cynthia tilted her hand back and forth. "It's also possible they're concerned about the high school reconstruction or the new police chief, or they might be too cautious with you to bring up much of anything at all. You're an unknown element for them, so they'll have to improvise."
"Unknown is good," Buffy said. "They're an unknown element for me too."
"There is one more decision," Cynthia said gravely, leading Buffy to a closet and opening it up. Inside was a set of golf clubs. "Their vague invitation was in part due to having no idea how you would present yourself. Normally, a young lady mayor would be expected to come dressed for a formal lunch."
"However," Cynthia continued, "even amongst the mundane residents of the town, your rather active stance in fighting crime is already widely known. They might equally expect you to come equipped and ready for their prime mode of athletic competition, acting like 'one of the boys'. Being careful not to offend, the obvious move for them was to leave the choice up to you."
Vote: What does Buffy go to the country club expecting to do?
[] Buffy brings the Mayor's old clubs, and comes dressed for a round of golf. She's only played the mini variety before, but could hitting little balls with sticks really be that hard?
[] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
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Well that did come across as a bit more psychotic than I had really considered. Hopefully we can use the golf course to sort of dial back the kind of crazy votes I have pushed for the last two demon punishments. With any luck something demonic that isn't a vampire and isn't actively trying to kidnap Joyce or overthrow Buffy will show up and allow for a more peaceful end result.
- Location
- va
[X] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
Lab_Accident
A 2D 1D4
- Location
- Your dreams
[X] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
- Location
- Vancouver
I like how Buffy thinks she hasn't needed to terrorize Harmony. As she pointed out Buffy already defeated Olvikan, got her when she was newly fledged, and even if Harmony was likely going to go rogue soon after, Buffy made it clear she'd kill her if she did so, had a 'spell' put on her to stop her from drinking human blood, and then gave her a couple front row seats to just how lethal Buffy can be, from the Minotaur fight, to the dragon, and now her, casually killing half the vamp joint. Like, it wasn't entirely directed at Harmony, but the message is pretty clear to her vampire self that she needs to fall in line or die.
Also I like that explanation as to why the vampires tend to group up around strong creatures and the like. I actually really like a lot of the explanations and details that make sense and fill in certain gaps in canon.
Buffy seems to be getting closer to figuring out the source of her powers a lot earlier than canon, I wonder how she'll take it when the time comes.
[x] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
[X] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
- Location
- Tarn-Vedra
[X] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
S3.5E5: This is Sunnydale III
DeAnno
Sometimes words have two meanings
[X] Buffy comes dressed to impress, ready to hob it up at a formal lunch. It's a little more upscale than she's used to, but Buffy's confident she can handle a social situation.
"Are you sure we need to shop at April Fools for this?" Buffy said quietly. "I'm not exactly paying myself a six-figure salary." Once Buffy had decided against golf, Cynthia had gone into a whirlwind setting things up, and Buffy soon found herself on an expedition to the classiest clothing store in Sunnydale.
"Absolutely. A purely social setting is one where you won't be able to cover for any … eccentricities in your situation with your other skills, so you cannot allow any vector of attack." Cynthia matched Buffy's volume as they walked down Maple Court, but there wasn't any give in her tone. "As for the financial considerations, your thrift is admirable but it must have limits. Even were the situation much more dire, this is a necessary expense, it'll simply be covered on the city account."
"But, I mean, ultimately, it's a dress for me right? Wouldn't it be kind of corrupt to put it on Sunnydale's tab when it's going into my closet?" Buffy had kind of assumed she'd wear something nice, but something she already had. Or maybe like, something she got at the mall. Not something that cost more than what a normal person made in a week.
"Well, it's not like you aren't bringing money in," Vanessa argued from her other side. "That little side project you took over isn't going to solve all our problems, but I venture it'll buy you a few fancy dresses."
Buffy had been a little surprised at the lack of objections to her foray into vampire pimping, but even beyond Anya and her total lack of applicable morality, nobody had really batted an eye. She got the impression Wilkins' old employees had seen much worse, and even Xander had been nonplussed, though in a mocking way, when she explained what she'd done and how she wanted the cameras set up. She wondered if being exposed to Harmony so much had softened him up a bit; she'd been expecting him to tell her she should go back and kill the rest of them too.
It was already getting a bit late as they arrived at April Fools, and Buffy had worried about their hours, but Cynthia had called ahead and assured her they had plenty of time. No other customers were in the store as they walked in, but Buffy assumed that was normal for such a high-end place; people could hardly be shopping there every day.
Buffy hardly had time to take the place in before she was greeted by the redheaded manager, "Ms Summers!" She scooted over to the three of them in a way that would've almost been hustling if it was less refined. "I'm so glad to have you at our store. Ms. Danvers gave me your measurements in advance, and I have a delightful selection all ready for you!" Buffy noticed someone flipping the sign on the door to 'CLOSED' before being shuffled off deeper into the store.
Buffy had thought she'd understood shopping; you fish through racks of clothing and search for sales and maybe, with proper application of blood, sweat, and tears, you could manage to find nice things at a good price. What happened over the next hour was a totally foreign experience, with not only the manager but multiple shop attendants presenting her with all sorts of options, moving her all around into different poses, and even out to the back where the lightning was different. This wasn't the kind of store with price tags, and money was never mentioned at any point.
Cynthia argued for a reserved, mature style that would make her look more adult. Vanessa wanted her to look adult too, but in a very different way; she said that Buffy should 'use it while she's got it.' Buffy did mostly agree with Cynthia, in theory… but it was also the middle of June, and slayer powers didn't include air conditioning, so she ended up with a sort of skimpy black number. She liked the shiny belts.
After they left, Buffy wanted to make sure they had their schedules straight for the next day. "So, when are we going to head out to this place? You never said exactly when the lunch was."
"It's at two," Cynthia said. "It's a bit later than normal, but they were the ones who suggested it. I think they may have gotten some inkling of your usual schedule and tried to be accommodating."
Vanessa zeroed in on another thing Buffy said though. "It won't be a 'we' going. You're going to have to fly solo on this one, or maybe bring one of your girlfriends."
Buffy frowned. "Didn't you say you were a member yourself?"
"Oh, I certainly could go with you, but it'd be a terrible idea," she replied. "People could take it to mean you were just my puppet. Enough people already might be thinking that after we brought my nephew on, no need to stir the pot anymore."
Buffy hadn't realized that might happen at all, but it did seem like something she'd want to avoid. "Well, sure, but what about you, Cynthia?"
"It wouldn't be as dire, but the age disparity is still a little severe," she hedged. "You're going to be seeing some people you know from school there with their parents, you don't want to bring anyone much older than yourself or you'll cause unconscious comparisons."
There was no way she was going to force Willow into this; it wasn't her scene at all, and she was busy enough already. Harmony was an even worse idea; they might be able to navigate the sun somehow, but it'd be a constant threat for her and fledglings had a tendency to go up in smoke from the slightest thing. She'd been way too busy to give her much thought lately, but Buffy idly wondered how Cordelia was doing; she'd have been perfect for this.
As Buffy watched Cynthia's car speed away, she readied herself for social battle. Not only was she in her new dress, but she'd gotten hair, nails, the works, all this morning. It was enough that if the lunch hadn't been late, she'd have had to show up to it sleep deprived, but at least she was looking good.
In contrast to the woods surrounding the area, the drive leading up to Sunnydale's eponymous country club was lined with palm trees and exotic ferns. The club itself was dominated by its golf course, but also included a sprawling installation of open buildings reminiscent of Sunnydale High (before it exploded.) It was a world of difference in presentation from the nearby Sunnydale Lodge that Xander's uncle Rory went to, and really drove home the level of income disparity in the town. Even though the inner city was a slum and plagued by 'violent crime', better neighborhoods and even mansions lined the outskirts, with the rich capitalizing on the low property taxes that Wilkins had enforced.
The large doors at the entrance to the front building were thrown open, and when Buffy entered she was greeted by a subdued host and led down a series of hallways. The club had all sorts of old and exotic looking works of art decorating it, and she wondered if Giles and her mother had gotten to inspect this collection yet. Normally slaying interrupting a party would be a drag, but with this building up into such a big event she thought it might almost be a relief to get back on that sort of familiar ground.
Eventually, they reached an open courtyard, and even as she was approaching, she heard a voice echo over a loudspeaker even as she was approaching. "And now, the Sunnydale Country Club proudly presents today's guest of honor, Interim Mayor Buffy Summers!" Somehow she hadn't expected this event to be quite so Buffy-centric, but then again, Cynthia had made that comment about the timing.
She emerged into the bright sunlight to a polite applause and massive crowd of well dressed people. April Fools hadn't failed her though, and the dark outfit made her stand out from the brighter summer styles in a good way. She hoped. There was a flurry of people greeting her, but one older man went so far as to shake her hand and stopped to make a bigger impression. "I'm Jason Kendall, and I'd like to thank you for the opportunity you've given my daughter over the past few weeks."
There was a much younger woman by his side, and she wondered if Harmony's parents (or was that maybe her older sister?) even knew vampires existed, much less that their daughter was one. "It's been my pleasure, really. She's such a go-getter, learning everything on the job." Buffy gave a broad smile, and tried to keep her handshake between firm and broken-hand territory.
Either she succeeded or Jason didn't want to make anything of it. "She's always been a talented girl, but she was so unmotivated in high school. I didn't know what she was going to do with her life, but it was a huge relief to see her landing on her feet, jumping right into politics. You've got my vote, and if you ever need any help in the investment sector, just give me a call." He excused himself as the rest of the crowd kept flowing forward, and his probably-wife gave her a little smile as she was swept away as well.
Buffy had been making nice with most of the guests, but they'd avoided the big ticket questions so far. A Mr. Gervais had cornered her up against a big flowery hedge though, and he didn't seem to be in the mood for softball questions. "A little young for the job, aren't ya? Pretty strange for a slip of a thing just out of high school to end up the mayor, if you ask me. And a lot of people do!" He was an older man all bald up top, and he kept hold of his cane as if he'd fall down without it. Buffy had seen him move out of the corner of her eye though, and wasn't convinced by the helpless act.
"Well, after the gang attack at graduation, nobody could find Mayor Wilkins, or most of the town government really. I and the rest of my class had the problems Sunnydale faces thrust… right into our faces, and so we did something about it." Buffy really wished she'd gotten her lines for these half-truths a little more polished. "Nobody else was stepping up, and if we hadn't been around in the last few weeks to put down the crime wave all kinds of damage could've been done."
"Well, I'm not saying that you and your friends haven't done some good. Not saying that exactly." What he was saying, on the other hand, wasn't too clear, but Buffy guessed that was pretty much intentional. "But are you really in control? I've known that old biddy Vanessa for over sixty years, and she was a smooth operator even back when we were sticking gum in each other's hair! She even managed to get that nephew of hers my buddy Bobby's old job!"
"Ms. Waters has been a world of help to me and to the town, especially considering she was the only one on the city council that even bothered to see us through the crisis," Buffy said annoyedly. "But that doesn't mean I'm not standing on my own two feet here. Bob Monroe may be a great guy (Buffy doubted that), but his police force wasn't ready to face the realities of Sunnydale, and something had to be done."
"We'll see if this Matt kid is any better, I suppose," Mr. Gervais shifted his eyes back and forth rapidly, and then changed the subject, "If you've got things so under control though, tell me what happened to the old Thompson mansion! Did it burn down last week? Nothing's been in the papers about it, and I drove down there the other day, everything was just gone, as if it hadn't been there in the first place! Damnedest thing."
Buffy was pretty sure he was talking about Teeth's mansion, but since it hadn't reappeared yet from wherever it was hiding, she wasn't sure what explanation she could peddle. "Are you sure you aren't just misremembering where it was? Take another drive around, and it'll probably turn up where you least expected it."
"What does your administration plan to do with the school? People are saying the damage is extensive, and I don't like the idea of sending my kids to Kent Prep next year." Lauren Ditchik had accosted Buffy when she'd finally gotten to the buffet table, and her three daughters hovered behind her in varying states of interest. One of the younger two was paying close attention, while the other stared off into another part of the crowd. Buffy knew the older daughter Gwen from the class of '99, and the Cordette was giving her a vaguely apologetic look as nibbled at a miniature sandwich.
"We're investigating the situation, but there's some concern the structure of the main building is unsafe," That was their cover story for now at least. Going forward, having the high school sitting directly on the active Hellmouth was obviously not the best situation, but completely rebuilding it somewhere else in town was going to be an expensive fiasco. Of all the annoying situations Wilkins had left her with, that seemed like the most pointless of them, however useful it had been sometimes when she was an actual high school student.
"The school has been a huge investment for the community though!" she complained. "Sunnydale doesn't have a good private school, because Wilkins always kept Sunnydale High's facilities tip-top and it wasn't needed. If that lapses everything will be ruined!" Lauren's voice was rising and now accompanied by hand gestures, and behind her Gwen just looked at the ground, dying of embarrassment.
"I promise, you won't have to ship your kids anywhere," Buffy said. "At the worst, the city still has middle schools for classrooms, and lots of other property too. All the teachers are still on contract. Science lab might be a little improvised, but the whole school system isn't going to get sucked into hell or anything." She probably shouldn't have slipped that last bit in, but panicking over a building seemed a little petty considering what she dealt with every week.
"I hope so," she sighed dramatically and stalked off, followed by the twins. Gwen stayed behind though, offering Buffy one of the mini-sandwiches.
"Sorry mom's freaking out," Gwen said. "If it's any consolation, she sort of just bounces from one artificial crisis to the next, by next month she'll be worried about saving the whales or something." She took a bite, and then gave Buffy a look up and down. "Nice duds, by the way."
"Thanks!" Buffy started another fake smile automatically, but managed to abort it in time. Gwen and her weren't exactly close, but she didn't deserve to be treated with the same act Buffy'd been cultivating all afternoon. "It is kind of a thorny issue, to be fair. Let's just say there was more wrong with the site of the high school than Wilkins turning into a giant snake on it."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You and your friends always do." She paused for a second, before asking, "How's Harmony been? She, ah, didn't mention it exactly the last time I talked to her, but I heard a rumor she was all…" she used her index fingers to represent fangs.
"Surprisingly OK," Buffy stated. At Gwen's searching look, she clarified, "She's safe enough to be around. That's totally an exception and not the rule dealing with situations like that, though." That reminded Buffy of who she'd been thinking about earlier. "What about Cordy? Have you heard from her since she left for greener pastures?"
"Total black hole," Gwen said. "I think Aura wheedled a phone number out of her somehow, but she told me all she gets is the answering machine."
Buffy furrowed eyebrows in concern, "Do you think she's alright?"
"I can't imagine anything could've happened to her," Gwen said, not looking as confident as she was trying to be. "I mean, she's Cordy. She'd have been the toughest girl in school if it wasn't for you. She's probably just busy on a movie set or something and doesn't want to be distracted by the likes of us anymore."
"Maybe," Buffy didn't think Cordy was the type to ignore her friends when things were going well. "I'll try to check up on her anyway."
"That's probably a good idea," Gwen said, abandoning her facade of unconcern. "But how?"
"I've got an idea or two," Buffy said. The people she'd inherited at city hall did a pretty good job navigating mundane parts of the system, and if all else failed she could give Willow yet another job.
They munched amicably for another few minutes before the loudspeaker interrupted; Jason Kendall was up at the podium. "We've all had a chance to chat with Sunnydale's new leading lady in person, but what would a rally be without a speech? Ms Summers, come on up and show everyone what a great mayor you can be!" Buffy had been unaware that this had morphed into a campaigning event, but there was nothing to be done about it now. It was clear that Jason was trying to help, but she was going to need to improvise a topic to focus her speech on.
Vote:
[] Buffy talks about being 'tough on crime', and keeping the city safe for everyone with a new police chief and Xander's City Watch. She knows her reputation is good for this, but it could be a challenge to keep the speech mundane-friendly.
[] Buffy talks about rising property values, changing zoning laws, and starting new construction projects to revitalize the city. She figures this will be telling these people what they want to hear, but it'd be a commitment to actually follow through with it in spite of any supernatural issues that might arise.
[] Buffy talks about how in spite of all the changes and chaos lately, Sunnydale can still keep its identity as the comfortable town they all grew up in. She thinks this might smooth over some ruffled feathers among the people that liked the old regime, or are worried about her age.
"Are you sure we need to shop at April Fools for this?" Buffy said quietly. "I'm not exactly paying myself a six-figure salary." Once Buffy had decided against golf, Cynthia had gone into a whirlwind setting things up, and Buffy soon found herself on an expedition to the classiest clothing store in Sunnydale.
"Absolutely. A purely social setting is one where you won't be able to cover for any … eccentricities in your situation with your other skills, so you cannot allow any vector of attack." Cynthia matched Buffy's volume as they walked down Maple Court, but there wasn't any give in her tone. "As for the financial considerations, your thrift is admirable but it must have limits. Even were the situation much more dire, this is a necessary expense, it'll simply be covered on the city account."
"But, I mean, ultimately, it's a dress for me right? Wouldn't it be kind of corrupt to put it on Sunnydale's tab when it's going into my closet?" Buffy had kind of assumed she'd wear something nice, but something she already had. Or maybe like, something she got at the mall. Not something that cost more than what a normal person made in a week.
"Well, it's not like you aren't bringing money in," Vanessa argued from her other side. "That little side project you took over isn't going to solve all our problems, but I venture it'll buy you a few fancy dresses."
Buffy had been a little surprised at the lack of objections to her foray into vampire pimping, but even beyond Anya and her total lack of applicable morality, nobody had really batted an eye. She got the impression Wilkins' old employees had seen much worse, and even Xander had been nonplussed, though in a mocking way, when she explained what she'd done and how she wanted the cameras set up. She wondered if being exposed to Harmony so much had softened him up a bit; she'd been expecting him to tell her she should go back and kill the rest of them too.
It was already getting a bit late as they arrived at April Fools, and Buffy had worried about their hours, but Cynthia had called ahead and assured her they had plenty of time. No other customers were in the store as they walked in, but Buffy assumed that was normal for such a high-end place; people could hardly be shopping there every day.
Buffy hardly had time to take the place in before she was greeted by the redheaded manager, "Ms Summers!" She scooted over to the three of them in a way that would've almost been hustling if it was less refined. "I'm so glad to have you at our store. Ms. Danvers gave me your measurements in advance, and I have a delightful selection all ready for you!" Buffy noticed someone flipping the sign on the door to 'CLOSED' before being shuffled off deeper into the store.
Buffy had thought she'd understood shopping; you fish through racks of clothing and search for sales and maybe, with proper application of blood, sweat, and tears, you could manage to find nice things at a good price. What happened over the next hour was a totally foreign experience, with not only the manager but multiple shop attendants presenting her with all sorts of options, moving her all around into different poses, and even out to the back where the lightning was different. This wasn't the kind of store with price tags, and money was never mentioned at any point.
Cynthia argued for a reserved, mature style that would make her look more adult. Vanessa wanted her to look adult too, but in a very different way; she said that Buffy should 'use it while she's got it.' Buffy did mostly agree with Cynthia, in theory… but it was also the middle of June, and slayer powers didn't include air conditioning, so she ended up with a sort of skimpy black number. She liked the shiny belts.
After they left, Buffy wanted to make sure they had their schedules straight for the next day. "So, when are we going to head out to this place? You never said exactly when the lunch was."
"It's at two," Cynthia said. "It's a bit later than normal, but they were the ones who suggested it. I think they may have gotten some inkling of your usual schedule and tried to be accommodating."
Vanessa zeroed in on another thing Buffy said though. "It won't be a 'we' going. You're going to have to fly solo on this one, or maybe bring one of your girlfriends."
Buffy frowned. "Didn't you say you were a member yourself?"
"Oh, I certainly could go with you, but it'd be a terrible idea," she replied. "People could take it to mean you were just my puppet. Enough people already might be thinking that after we brought my nephew on, no need to stir the pot anymore."
Buffy hadn't realized that might happen at all, but it did seem like something she'd want to avoid. "Well, sure, but what about you, Cynthia?"
"It wouldn't be as dire, but the age disparity is still a little severe," she hedged. "You're going to be seeing some people you know from school there with their parents, you don't want to bring anyone much older than yourself or you'll cause unconscious comparisons."
There was no way she was going to force Willow into this; it wasn't her scene at all, and she was busy enough already. Harmony was an even worse idea; they might be able to navigate the sun somehow, but it'd be a constant threat for her and fledglings had a tendency to go up in smoke from the slightest thing. She'd been way too busy to give her much thought lately, but Buffy idly wondered how Cordelia was doing; she'd have been perfect for this.
------------------------------------------------------------------
As Buffy watched Cynthia's car speed away, she readied herself for social battle. Not only was she in her new dress, but she'd gotten hair, nails, the works, all this morning. It was enough that if the lunch hadn't been late, she'd have had to show up to it sleep deprived, but at least she was looking good.
In contrast to the woods surrounding the area, the drive leading up to Sunnydale's eponymous country club was lined with palm trees and exotic ferns. The club itself was dominated by its golf course, but also included a sprawling installation of open buildings reminiscent of Sunnydale High (before it exploded.) It was a world of difference in presentation from the nearby Sunnydale Lodge that Xander's uncle Rory went to, and really drove home the level of income disparity in the town. Even though the inner city was a slum and plagued by 'violent crime', better neighborhoods and even mansions lined the outskirts, with the rich capitalizing on the low property taxes that Wilkins had enforced.
The large doors at the entrance to the front building were thrown open, and when Buffy entered she was greeted by a subdued host and led down a series of hallways. The club had all sorts of old and exotic looking works of art decorating it, and she wondered if Giles and her mother had gotten to inspect this collection yet. Normally slaying interrupting a party would be a drag, but with this building up into such a big event she thought it might almost be a relief to get back on that sort of familiar ground.
Eventually, they reached an open courtyard, and even as she was approaching, she heard a voice echo over a loudspeaker even as she was approaching. "And now, the Sunnydale Country Club proudly presents today's guest of honor, Interim Mayor Buffy Summers!" Somehow she hadn't expected this event to be quite so Buffy-centric, but then again, Cynthia had made that comment about the timing.
She emerged into the bright sunlight to a polite applause and massive crowd of well dressed people. April Fools hadn't failed her though, and the dark outfit made her stand out from the brighter summer styles in a good way. She hoped. There was a flurry of people greeting her, but one older man went so far as to shake her hand and stopped to make a bigger impression. "I'm Jason Kendall, and I'd like to thank you for the opportunity you've given my daughter over the past few weeks."
There was a much younger woman by his side, and she wondered if Harmony's parents (or was that maybe her older sister?) even knew vampires existed, much less that their daughter was one. "It's been my pleasure, really. She's such a go-getter, learning everything on the job." Buffy gave a broad smile, and tried to keep her handshake between firm and broken-hand territory.
Either she succeeded or Jason didn't want to make anything of it. "She's always been a talented girl, but she was so unmotivated in high school. I didn't know what she was going to do with her life, but it was a huge relief to see her landing on her feet, jumping right into politics. You've got my vote, and if you ever need any help in the investment sector, just give me a call." He excused himself as the rest of the crowd kept flowing forward, and his probably-wife gave her a little smile as she was swept away as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy had been making nice with most of the guests, but they'd avoided the big ticket questions so far. A Mr. Gervais had cornered her up against a big flowery hedge though, and he didn't seem to be in the mood for softball questions. "A little young for the job, aren't ya? Pretty strange for a slip of a thing just out of high school to end up the mayor, if you ask me. And a lot of people do!" He was an older man all bald up top, and he kept hold of his cane as if he'd fall down without it. Buffy had seen him move out of the corner of her eye though, and wasn't convinced by the helpless act.
"Well, after the gang attack at graduation, nobody could find Mayor Wilkins, or most of the town government really. I and the rest of my class had the problems Sunnydale faces thrust… right into our faces, and so we did something about it." Buffy really wished she'd gotten her lines for these half-truths a little more polished. "Nobody else was stepping up, and if we hadn't been around in the last few weeks to put down the crime wave all kinds of damage could've been done."
"Well, I'm not saying that you and your friends haven't done some good. Not saying that exactly." What he was saying, on the other hand, wasn't too clear, but Buffy guessed that was pretty much intentional. "But are you really in control? I've known that old biddy Vanessa for over sixty years, and she was a smooth operator even back when we were sticking gum in each other's hair! She even managed to get that nephew of hers my buddy Bobby's old job!"
"Ms. Waters has been a world of help to me and to the town, especially considering she was the only one on the city council that even bothered to see us through the crisis," Buffy said annoyedly. "But that doesn't mean I'm not standing on my own two feet here. Bob Monroe may be a great guy (Buffy doubted that), but his police force wasn't ready to face the realities of Sunnydale, and something had to be done."
"We'll see if this Matt kid is any better, I suppose," Mr. Gervais shifted his eyes back and forth rapidly, and then changed the subject, "If you've got things so under control though, tell me what happened to the old Thompson mansion! Did it burn down last week? Nothing's been in the papers about it, and I drove down there the other day, everything was just gone, as if it hadn't been there in the first place! Damnedest thing."
Buffy was pretty sure he was talking about Teeth's mansion, but since it hadn't reappeared yet from wherever it was hiding, she wasn't sure what explanation she could peddle. "Are you sure you aren't just misremembering where it was? Take another drive around, and it'll probably turn up where you least expected it."
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"What does your administration plan to do with the school? People are saying the damage is extensive, and I don't like the idea of sending my kids to Kent Prep next year." Lauren Ditchik had accosted Buffy when she'd finally gotten to the buffet table, and her three daughters hovered behind her in varying states of interest. One of the younger two was paying close attention, while the other stared off into another part of the crowd. Buffy knew the older daughter Gwen from the class of '99, and the Cordette was giving her a vaguely apologetic look as nibbled at a miniature sandwich.
"We're investigating the situation, but there's some concern the structure of the main building is unsafe," That was their cover story for now at least. Going forward, having the high school sitting directly on the active Hellmouth was obviously not the best situation, but completely rebuilding it somewhere else in town was going to be an expensive fiasco. Of all the annoying situations Wilkins had left her with, that seemed like the most pointless of them, however useful it had been sometimes when she was an actual high school student.
"The school has been a huge investment for the community though!" she complained. "Sunnydale doesn't have a good private school, because Wilkins always kept Sunnydale High's facilities tip-top and it wasn't needed. If that lapses everything will be ruined!" Lauren's voice was rising and now accompanied by hand gestures, and behind her Gwen just looked at the ground, dying of embarrassment.
"I promise, you won't have to ship your kids anywhere," Buffy said. "At the worst, the city still has middle schools for classrooms, and lots of other property too. All the teachers are still on contract. Science lab might be a little improvised, but the whole school system isn't going to get sucked into hell or anything." She probably shouldn't have slipped that last bit in, but panicking over a building seemed a little petty considering what she dealt with every week.
"I hope so," she sighed dramatically and stalked off, followed by the twins. Gwen stayed behind though, offering Buffy one of the mini-sandwiches.
"Sorry mom's freaking out," Gwen said. "If it's any consolation, she sort of just bounces from one artificial crisis to the next, by next month she'll be worried about saving the whales or something." She took a bite, and then gave Buffy a look up and down. "Nice duds, by the way."
"Thanks!" Buffy started another fake smile automatically, but managed to abort it in time. Gwen and her weren't exactly close, but she didn't deserve to be treated with the same act Buffy'd been cultivating all afternoon. "It is kind of a thorny issue, to be fair. Let's just say there was more wrong with the site of the high school than Wilkins turning into a giant snake on it."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You and your friends always do." She paused for a second, before asking, "How's Harmony been? She, ah, didn't mention it exactly the last time I talked to her, but I heard a rumor she was all…" she used her index fingers to represent fangs.
"Surprisingly OK," Buffy stated. At Gwen's searching look, she clarified, "She's safe enough to be around. That's totally an exception and not the rule dealing with situations like that, though." That reminded Buffy of who she'd been thinking about earlier. "What about Cordy? Have you heard from her since she left for greener pastures?"
"Total black hole," Gwen said. "I think Aura wheedled a phone number out of her somehow, but she told me all she gets is the answering machine."
Buffy furrowed eyebrows in concern, "Do you think she's alright?"
"I can't imagine anything could've happened to her," Gwen said, not looking as confident as she was trying to be. "I mean, she's Cordy. She'd have been the toughest girl in school if it wasn't for you. She's probably just busy on a movie set or something and doesn't want to be distracted by the likes of us anymore."
"Maybe," Buffy didn't think Cordy was the type to ignore her friends when things were going well. "I'll try to check up on her anyway."
"That's probably a good idea," Gwen said, abandoning her facade of unconcern. "But how?"
"I've got an idea or two," Buffy said. The people she'd inherited at city hall did a pretty good job navigating mundane parts of the system, and if all else failed she could give Willow yet another job.
They munched amicably for another few minutes before the loudspeaker interrupted; Jason Kendall was up at the podium. "We've all had a chance to chat with Sunnydale's new leading lady in person, but what would a rally be without a speech? Ms Summers, come on up and show everyone what a great mayor you can be!" Buffy had been unaware that this had morphed into a campaigning event, but there was nothing to be done about it now. It was clear that Jason was trying to help, but she was going to need to improvise a topic to focus her speech on.
Vote:
[] Buffy talks about being 'tough on crime', and keeping the city safe for everyone with a new police chief and Xander's City Watch. She knows her reputation is good for this, but it could be a challenge to keep the speech mundane-friendly.
[] Buffy talks about rising property values, changing zoning laws, and starting new construction projects to revitalize the city. She figures this will be telling these people what they want to hear, but it'd be a commitment to actually follow through with it in spite of any supernatural issues that might arise.
[] Buffy talks about how in spite of all the changes and chaos lately, Sunnydale can still keep its identity as the comfortable town they all grew up in. She thinks this might smooth over some ruffled feathers among the people that liked the old regime, or are worried about her age.
[X] Buffy talks about how in spite of all the changes and chaos lately, Sunnydale can still keep its identity as the comfortable town they all grew up in. She thinks this might smooth over some ruffled feathers among the people that liked the old regime, or are worried about her age.
Making waves is probably a better idea when you aren't super controversial.
At least it'd stop the codgers from starting helpful actions to oust this whippersnapper.
Making waves is probably a better idea when you aren't super controversial.
At least it'd stop the codgers from starting helpful actions to oust this whippersnapper.