Work had been exhausting. She had worked six days out of seven, which was unusual. As much as an overachiever that she was she had thought she had finally reached a balance between work and life. However, as this past week could show she hadn’t. Her boss had done his damn puppy eyes and Miriam was defenseless. This didn’t help her current situation because she was still looking at classifieds looking for a damn apartment she could afford that didn’t mean having to give up that much of her comfortability. It wasn’t looking good for her. She needed a damn break, the words were starting to mix with each other. Thankfully the random outburst gave her just that, “ — Is this your way of hitting on me or are you processing? I imagine being out of the closet brings that kind of relief. It did for me.”   

She could have broken out of prison anytime that she had wanted, but Faith had waited until whispers of Angel being in trouble reached her ears before she made her move. Out of everyone in her world, he was the person that she cared most for, the only one that had thought she was worth saving. It could be a lie, something that had been started to pull the darker of the slayers back into the fray, but she wanted to be sure. She needed to see him, then she could relax. "Fuck, it's weird to be out."

@hellsmouthstarters

His gaze followed the male’s as he nodded. This was why he never understood the insanity of having white sneakers. White anything managed to make his anxiety jump. Perhaps it was because in the course of his occupation, nothing white ever remained intact. It wasn’t because of lack effort cause man did Easton try. “You probably should. No one really knows how long we’re going to be around.” Which brought him full circle in the many questions floating in his head. Did he have to get a new job? Was he going to have to locate a new apartment as well? He was starting over and had zero currency to his name. “As well as everything that makes us seem functional I suppose,” he muttered under his breath. 

❛ you know, my sneakers never have a chance, ❜ he replies with a chuckle as his gaze shifts down to his white muddy soles for a moment and then back up at the other. perhaps he should get a new pair here in 2001, vintage was always cool right ? honestly warren could not care less about fashion or trends ( which he was sure was apparent by his definite lack of style ). ❛ i think i've had this pair since i was this size shoe. think i should invest in a new set ? ❜ what a benign conversation, one warren was thrilled to have, something normal.

Aslıhan Malbora via instagram

It was the little moments that were making this entire trip somewhat bearable. At least that was the story he was telling and sticking with. Not like he could openly admit that the only reason he was here was that he had been too damn hungry to pay attention and raised his hand thinking that he was volunteering to get a midnight snack with the group when in reality it had been a vote to go back in time and fix the giant hole in the middle of their town. Now that was something he was probably not going to be able to live down. As he looked up to meet her laptop and finished taking another sip he nodded in agreement, “I would think so. I am more of a cooking type of person though. Computers and I are not friends.” 

"They do have some pretty rad filters." Willow fired back as she took some more water. Willow wasn't fully aware of her being one of the catalysts of Easton being here, but she didn't mind the new guy. Willow was just trying to figure out the demons with her gang. Willow stretched herself out and pointed at the broken screen. "That's the only thing I need to fix right?" She confirmed taking out her humongus laptop. "I'm guessing that it's a software problem by the glitching.

“Both.” She supposed she shouldn’t just limit herself to one or the other. After all, it seemed like the man was a man of few words and she didn’t have that much company to choose from. At least not yet. There was always Kadir she could go and bother but he was busy with the witch and at some point, Kayleigh had to develop her own friendship and her own life. Whatever the hell that meant. “You don’t seem to be the type to be in a club.” There it was, talking before thinking. It was probably going to be the trait that would get her to her death if nothing else did. “I’m just saying — you’re more of the bookstore luker vibe more than anything else.” Kay truly did mean that with the most sincerity and positive spin one could put on it. 

This whole town in itself felt like a mirage. Like it should be comfortable, one of those small towns that brought a feeling of safety to most people (not all, though). Stefan himself found comfort in that once upon a time, nowadays he feared he never would again. However, unlike the normal small town and very much like Mystic Falls, Sunnydale felt like it had something deeper. The small town part was a front with something darker underneath. What that darkness was, Stefan had yet to figure out. "With the magic or the town?" He asked her, briefly wondering if he was overstepping with who was essentially a stranger. Stefan considered her question, suddenly wishing he had actually paid attention to the passing shops. "I saw a place called The Bronze, but I think that might also be a club?" Which, given his penchant to fall off the deep end, Stefan typically tried to avoid.

It was not usual for Kay to let loose, but they were in a different century. Not to mention their century was already sinking into hell. So what was one night really going to change? So did the ginger locate a local college rave? Yes. Did she pretend she was attending said college? Yes. Was she a bit intoxicated, definitely. When she located Isaac she quickly made her way towards the wolf and did one of those skips and hops planting herself firmly beside him, “So did you know that there is a game where all you have to do is flip a cup over quicker than the other person and you wish?” If only her college years had been somewhat like that maybe she would’ve had fonder memories. “You have to try it.”  

Being in the past had Isaac Steele living his absolute best life. For once in his ever-painful existence, he had the upper hand. He knew which world events he had to prepare for, what technology was around the corner. He had years of knowledge at his disposal and the wolf was determined to finally come out the winner. Being one of the last remaining Crescents had been like a noose around his neck, haunted constantly by the ghost of those he had failed and simply waiting for his turn to be dragged down to the bottom of the river. But now? Well, he had a new lease on life and he was determined to enjoy it. "Turn of the century never felt better," he mused happily.

There was some comfort in talking about things that didn’t matter. Things that didn’t surround her brother, the giant black hole sucking up their world, death and you know the whole giant impending doom coming to them all. For a moment she thought she could actually enjoy this. Not that she wanted to stand here and assume that the woman in front of her had it easier than her. That would be the last thing she would want to do. “Suppose we will have to just figure it out on our own.” So perhaps her first automobile purchase had left her with some distrust. Clearly, that was something that this whole time-traveling thing hadn’t managed to fix. “Kayleigh just got into town.” She wasn’t lying. Not technically. Great now she was a fucking car salesperson thingy. “Are you from here?” 

Dawn listened to the ginger's reasoning and gave a resounding nod of her head in agreement. "Honestly I don't know if that's the kind of thing to be jealous of or run far far away." It seemed like a good thing on paper, people able to sell people the mud on the bottom of their shoes, and yet the idea made Dawn cringed with disdain. She never wanted to be someone so greasy. She wanted to better. She needed to be. After all, so many people risked so much for her life. Dawn owed it to them to live it right. "Somehow elbow running never paints a pretty picture in my brain," She spoke not with judgement but with empathy. Especially if the other girl could so easily cast them in unkind light, it must have spoken to her experience. The not-so-great kind. "I'm Dawn." She introduced herself figuring she owed the other name after striking such conversation.

Perhaps Kadir was right she needed to improve her jabs. Though given what had just been tossed at her, perhaps the lack of creativity was contiguous. If he didn’t know where Gregory was then no one would. She decided at that moment to not get too worried about her brother's absence. Surely, the man would tumble in and tell her that she worries too much. It was a damn miracle she still had hair left on her head. “Considering you’re almost like his significant other I thought you would have an idea. I’m just the baby sister.” The helicopter sister making sure he’s alive and well, but who’s counting on that? “Probably not. Did you leave him at the bakery? Cause that also is one of his vices.” Those damn cheesecakes.  

" despite what people suggest , i DON'T actually keep him on a leash. " well , not a literal one.... loyalty was a far more nefarious tether ( ie : chokehold ) , but one that was freely given ---- NO FETTERS AND CHAINS REQUIRED. wish as they might , they couldn't demand it. not in any meaningful sense ( because at the end of it all , they wanted devotion not placation , understanding not worship. not from gregory or chris or melinda..... better they leave them entirely than abate and tranquilize them ). another drink. a stolen glance. " i didn't think the BAR would be good for him. not now. "

It had been a couple of quiet days. Which just left Kayleigh completely on edge. If something was going to happen she just wanted it to get it over with. Patience was not something that she had been blessed with. Or perhaps she had been and she had used it all up with the people in her circle. There was that. As she walked into what looked like a practice gone terribly wrong, she stood in silence observing. Mostly out of understanding — after all, she had once been there. Not knowing how to deal with everything that was going on in her. Her brother had no idea how to handle her either. Of course, she would intervene had it gotten out of control. The woman looked somewhat familiar. “ — they’re tricky bastards if I am honest. — not a huge fan. Though I have met worse.” 

@hellsmouthstarters

"you have GOT to be kidding me!!" why were demons like this? one moment, hiding behind dark corners and the next moment you were bamboozled!! jumping out and attacking you from behind-- not very respectable of them honestly. then again, they were demons. the biggest problem paige had was her lack of control over most of her powers at the moment. the most important of course being orbing. "come on!" she exclaimed, trying to battle herself free. finally FINALLY her magic kicked in, and she burst into blue orbs in the air, reappearing two feet away from the aghast demon. "couldn't of gotten further away?" she exclaimed. "seriously?"

FINALLY, there was someone who understood. For a moment here he thought he was going insane. Which for all he knew could be a side effect of whatever the hell he had volunteered himself to. Who knew that being hungry could end up with someone being tossed into a different time period? Perhaps this was what her mother had been warning him about with the whole pay attention, aspect of her usual spews. “It trust is. It’s almost like buying new sneakers — just perfection without knowing the impending doom that is bound to come. Makes it a bit nostalgic.”   

❛ it's really crisp, so cold it bites back, ❜ he responds before taking a sip. nothing better than that teeth stinging chill. ❛ everything here is kinda crisp, ❜ the statement coming from his belief that the coffee there was too strong. though he would argue it was much stronger in 2031, perhaps there were an abundance of other little good things about being in 2001. if he was going to be here he was going to enjoy it, not stressing the intricacies until he had to.

Easton hadn’t exactly queued in the line to come back to the past and save the world mission. Honestly, he had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. There had been no right in his life. Pack members were talking about taking a trip and in his talent of not paying attention all the time and his lack of detail he thought they were talking about grabbing food and had raised his hand. The cheers had even made sense cause it had been a while since the pack had found the time and had put in the effort to actually eat like a pack. It wasn’t till people were talking about how fetch was never going to happen that he realized how wrong he had been. “It’s also rude to not share the magic,” Easton replied with a smile on his lips before he readjusted himself in the chair. Apparently reading upside down didn’t really make the information on the pages stick any more than reading it the normal way did. Just managed to give him a headache. Though one could argue that was the heat as well. Did you find anything interesting? 

past, future, present you're guaranteed one thing. bonnie sheila bennett always had her nose in a book… grimoire, tome, take your pick. She knew what she was looking for, making the magic box her haunt. their collection of occult catching her eye. more specifically the book collection was vast, but there was one she was looking for. unfortunately, she was distracted by the number of books on demons - she had never seen a demon unless you count damon most wouldn't but these looked like something out of a rocky horror picture show. she mindlessly flipped a page, as beads of sweat formed over her color bone before finally letting out a frustrated huff. reaching for her iced tea resting the cool paper cup on her shoulder, "is it normally this hot in here?" she muttered to herself. you'd think after facing hellfire head-on a little heatwave wouldn't be so bad but this was ridiculous. closing her eyes she focused. she didn't need to chant to call upon her magic anymore; perfecting the use of her magic fingers danced along the air as a slight breeze ruffled her hair and she couldn't help but smile as the heat ebbed away. humming in satisfaction she opened her eyes and found the other's gaze on her as she grinned at them. "it's rude to stare you know."

@hellsmouthstarters

“I believe that is called mob mentality.” Easton chimed in. He didn’t disagree with the statement made about the quality of the drinks coming from this establishment. This was why he loved the water and the water only, not to mention it was free. Anything free always got his attention. It was why he always went to every club meeting on his university campus. He had never been into rocks but when they invited him and the flyer stated there would be free pizza you could be certain that he would be there. “A case? You must be really busy.” Perhaps he should’ve faked a shock look but the whole time traveling had left him exhausted. “Yeah, seems like global warming has kicked in.” Shit, he corrected himself by quickly adding the following, “What are the happenings that are taking place?”

the hell was this guy was going on about. water was water. well, that wasn't true, get a couple of priests together and some water could be holy; so they say. the insignificant creatures and their wandering minds .incepid and vapid minds all gathering here. so now on top of trying to destroy the charmed ones, he was also a goddamn errand boy and had to sus out what was happening in sunnydale. now here he was listening to a guy talk about water…fun. " yeah well that is all you. i'm still trying to figure out why anyone pays almost ten dollars for overly sweetened milk with a splash of coffee ." he shutters, " i hope i'm not keeping you. the da's office is investigating some happenings in the area pertaining to a case. didn't realize it would still be this hot so late in the year. you're a life saver" not really but whatever.

It seemed like everything was complicated. Even the air was heavy, which quickly reminded him that he should have brought his inhaler into this timeline. Not like his asthma just went away with the time travel. Though he did believe it had gotten worse. He made a mental note to check on that situation sooner versus later. “You think so? Are we entering winter or do you think fall managed to cause a mess late in the game?” Weather talk was a lot better than the Hellmouth that was about to swallow their entire world up — well that was in the timeline that he had come from. “Does it snow here?” He doubted it but you never knew and he knew that delivery was a mess in the past so that was also something else that he had get on.

Sometimes Wesley didn't thin the word even knew truth. Quietness. He barley knew the word as itself back in LA, and Sunnydale while worlds away was just as painfully loud in itself. After all, the screams of hell didn't die quietly. "Quite." He responded in agreement. His last visit Wesley hadn't thought of Sunnydale's inhabitants and the danger they faced daily. Even feeling too much emotion could trigger a reaction from the Hellmouth to grievous extent. People should be able to feel whatever they felt without being at risk. "I'd have to assume the result of an event." If Wesley had to guess it would have to be the Slayer coming back from the dead. Some nexus of power was in the air, some change in the world, but could it simply be Buffy alone? "Perhaps the change in weather." There was sure a change in the air, but Wesley knew it was hardly weather.

Starbucks water was perhaps the only constant between both timelines that he had found. It explained why he was holding onto it. Easton didn’t do well when it came to changes. He usually had a woobie — or some kind of security blanket. He had none here, which upset him greatly. There was his pack but there were not enough peanuts around. Everyone seemed to want to get involved in this mess; to prevent it or accomplish it. Didn’t matter because the point was that he was the only peanut in the peanut gallery at the moment. Man, that was a lot of peanut thinking. He returned back to the present moment with Amelia in front of him, “It’s just pure water — water and ice. It really is simple but it hits different than any other water,” yes, he could hear himself talk. “No, I suppose that is what makes it great. Guess you could say that I am a bit homesick. — How are you holding up?”

"Still getting used to the whole STARBUCKS WATER thing," It had never occurred to Amelia for Starbucks Water to be an actual thing when they were known for their coffee. "Here I thought they only did coffee." It didn't taste any different to her, but Amelia wasn't too much of a fan of water to begin with. Even if it did do the hydrating thing. "They make all the fancy ass coffee and decide to add water. Just cause they can I guess?" It was an obscure subject, really. All things considered. Taking a sip from her cup, there was a moment of silence and thought. "Is it different?" She asked him. "Then and now?" THEN, of course, being the future.

ABIGAIL COWEN during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France | Mar 07, 2022

Homework, man Kay found herself to be rather jealous of the woman. She wished she could remember a time that had been so simple that the most complicated thing was homework. After her own graduation back home the world she was in started to disappear. She didn’t mean the literal shit that was going but watching her own brother fade as well. Maybe here Greg would be able to get his shit together. Maybe was the damn keyword in all of it. She had to have hope, it was the least she could extend to her brother. “I suppose so. Lawyers have to spew shit to get out of the mess their clients get into. But a dealership has to get someone else to not only buy their lies but also pull out their cash. The latter just seems worse.” As she mentioned she was reminded how lawyers also cost, so the same could be said about them. The word slimy caught the redhead’s attention — didn’t that describe her brother’s gang? “Managed to rub elbows with some for family. Got to love them.”

"A dealership," Dawn mused with a chuckle. "I could barley keep up with homework, I don't think I could squeeze that into my schedule." Not that it was much of a schedule. The small things had become harder without Buffy or Mom around. But Buffy was back now, so just maybe life would be easier (no, it would be a new type of hard. Dawn knew there was no easy in Sunnydale). "I heard Lawyers were a new breed of demon," She joked. "So they must be good teachers." If any LA stories were to be believed then they were a new level of evil too. Speaking of slime related career fields made her think of Buffy again, it was a problem. She should be elated. She was, even if something was off. That off piece is what made Dawn worried (she couldn't lose her again, she wouldn't survive it). "You have any experience with the slimy careers?" She asked curiously.

The man was a man of few words. She figured it could’ve been worse. Kayleigh could’ve bumped into someone that was rude or drunk. Those were two things she didn’t need to deal with right now. So she was going to take what she was given for now. “Nope. If I am being honest I am out of my comfort zone.” Being alone and not knowing where people she knew was one thing — to be somewhere new was another. How was she going to get around? What was the currency? Where was she going to sleep when the sun went down? Oh man, she could really be freaking out right now if she wanted to. “What kind of food places have you seen around?” He seemed to have been around longer than her. At least from this time period which was a huge win in her books. 

Stefan wish he knew what that was like. To want to be somewhere for your family instead of running away from anywhere because of them. He missed Damon often. It was when his brother was physically close he actually missed him the most. The man he used to be. His best friend. His brother. "I appreciate the optimism." He wished to recall what that felt like, being optimistic. He was once. It was a lifetime ago, but it happened. It was real. Even if sometimes memories felt more like dreams. "Not as of yet." Then, unbeknownst to the girl, his typical idea of eating was a lot different then the normal person or even the normal vampire. Most didn't tend to like animal blood. "What about you?"