Room 504, Sunday Morning

[wesleynotponcy]

Since his conversation with Tara on Friday, Wesley had been spending most of his time lost in research about whatever was happening to the multiverse, and thus far it was inconclusive. Book after book had proved unhelpful, so finally, exasperated, he picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.
 
"This number has been disconnected," reported the recording on the other end of the line. "Please hang up and dial—"
 
How odd.
 
Well, he tried to rationalize, it wasn't as though Mr. Giles had ever been entirely savvy with technology. He tried Willow's number instead, doing his best to ignore that creeping wary feeling that was rising to the surface.
 
Willow's chipper voice answered, and for a moment Wesley foolishly felt reassured.
 
"Hello?"
 
"Yes – hello – Willow, it's Wesley. Ah, Wyndam-Pryce."
 
As though she knew other Wesleys.
 
"Oh, hey, Wes." A slight muffled sound as Willow cupped her hand over the receiver and told whoever was nearby, "It's Wesley." There was a soft pfft noise in the background and Wesley suppressed a scoff. Yes, thank you for that, Buffy. Then, more clearly, Willow asked, "What's up?"
 
"I was actually hoping to speak with Mr. Giles," Wesley said, and had to sternly remind himself that he was not allowed to bite his lip in uncertainty, damnit. "I had some difficulty reaching him this morning and I thought you might be able to put me in touch with him."
 
But the chances of that didn't look great, because all Willow responded with was a "Who?"
 
Oh, this was bad. This was very bad.
 
"Ah – Mr. Giles," Wesley repeated, utterly failing to get his voice not to waver. "Rup—Rupert Giles." Hopefully, he tried, "Buffy's Watcher?"
 
Willow made an uncertain little sound, then the line went muffled again as she asked someone else something inaudible. After a minute she was back, asking in what sounded like true concern, "Um… who's Buffy?"

[[door and post open]]

Comments

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

And now Wesley felt like an idiot. He closed the book and looked up at her, the bags under his eyes matching the ones under hers. "I -- I don't believe so, actually," he admitted. "I'm not sure if there's even anything I can do, but it's just--"

He cut himself off and shook his head, not wanting to go into it.

"Regardless." Wesley cleared his throat, aiming for a tone of someone who was capable and not completely stumped by his research. "How are you?"

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

She shrugged a little, glancing at his book again. "Luke left. He went home to die. And he left me a letter. He didn't even come by to say goodbye. But, hey, at least I know what happened to him," she added, a little bitterly. "That's something, these days."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh, Katniss...

Wesley hurriedly took his glasses off and put them down to mark his place in his notes, then got up and crossed the room to pull her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry," he murmured.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"He's doing something stupid and wrong and he's stuck in an impossible situation and I don't know how to help," she mumbled. "It's not as easy as a fistful of berries this time. He won't let me help. And now he's gone."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley felt a flicker of irrational annoyance at Luke. He didn't know the other boy's situation, true, but he certainly had no inclination to up and leave Katniss due to some silly mistake.

"Would it help to talk about it?" he offered softly. "Or would you rather be distracted?"

Not like that.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"It's not mine to talk about," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Distract me. Who's disappeared for you?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well, if she insisted.

"It's Buffy," he said, still sounding as puzzled by all this as he felt. "The Slayer -- ah, not Faith. The other one." First time Buffy had ever been called that, probably. "Her own best friend can't recall she exists. And no one seems to recall her Watcher, Mr. Giles, either. It's -- it's very worrisome, not only simply because they're missing, but, well, I can't imagine how the Hellmouth is functioning without a Slayer. It can't possibly be safe."

There were other problems too -- like for example the exact process by which Willow had managed to forget that Buffy and Giles had ever existed yet somehow still remembered Wesley, who never would have made an appearance there if not for the other two -- but he was focusing on that for now.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Have you only talked to the one person?" Katniss reasoned. "Maybe it's just them."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Logic! She had it!

"I suppose," he said hesitantly. "But the trouble is, she was speaking to Xander as well. At least, I assume -- but -- she said something to someone..."

Now he wasn't even certain anymore, but the prospect of placing other calls to possibly find his suspicions confirmed was... intimidating.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"But you don't know who. Isn't that place about as weird as this one?" Katniss pointed out logically. "Maybe she's just losing her mind temporarily. Or they all are, there."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oddly, that didn't make him feel any better.

"But that's concerning as well," he pointed out. "Willow is -- mentally sound. As a general rule."

There were a few fashion choices that raised some eyebrows, but IN GENERAL.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

Sorry, Wesley. Katniss was not great with comforting people and not somehow making it worse. Oops.

"But you can't get to them to check, right?" she asked, a little more gently. "So you shouldn't worry. I'm sure everything's fine and it'll sort itself out, like usual."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Katniss. This was not how to go about helping.

Wesley's brow furrowed as he considered that. "I suppose I could try to book a portal," he mused.

NO, WES. THAT WASN'T WHAT SHE'D MEANT AT ALL.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"...noooo," Katniss corrected, shaking her head. "No, no, that's not what I meant. Do you want to get stuck somewhere ridiculous?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I might not," he objected.

He would. He would get stuck in a swamp somewhere, surrounded by rodents of unusual size.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"You probably will, Wesley. Nuh uh," she countered, shaking her head and furrowing her brow a bit. "Don't risk it right now. I know you're worried, but you getting stuck somewhere doesn't help a soul, does it?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

...damn, she was right.

"Well, no," he granted. "But -- if there's something untoward going on, I could be of use." A pause, then he admitted, "Assuming that I could actually get there, of course."

Which he couldn't.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"But you couldn't," she replied, again. "You can't get there, because if nothing else I'm going to argue with you until I'm blue in the face or you see reason, and if that doesn't work I'll...tie you to the bed or something!"

...not the time, Katniss.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley blinked.

"...oh."

Excuse him a sec. His mind just went to a very new and confusing place.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

And Katniss really did not realize that just yet, so she thought she'd just won. Ha! "Yes. So...you're not going anywhere. I've, um, put my foot down."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Okay, she'd totally won, because now it was all he could do not to crack a smile. Way to distract him, Katniss.

"Yes, I suppose you have," he conceded in as serious a tone as he could muster. Damn, that smile really wanted to creep up on his lips, didn't it? "Well. Nothing I can do now but wait, then."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"You're not just trying to appease me?" she checked. Sternly.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

How was she so adorable? How?!

"Absolutely not," he promised. "I'll just -- have to preoccupy myself in other ways in the meantime."

Not like that. Okay, a little bit like that.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

Katniss, for once, caught the (however unintentional) innuendo. "And how do you plan to do that?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Well," Wesley said, looking perfectly innocent, "if you've any suggestions, I'd certainly be amenable to hearing them."

He maybe got where they were going with this, yes. It was fun and it'd get his mind off of Sunnydale. Double win.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"We could play a game," Katniss suggested with a slow smile that might have suggested that she wasn't really aiming for Chutes and Ladders here, no.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Oh?" Wesley made a big show of peering over at his desk. "I believe I have a deck of cards somewhere..."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"How about hide and seek?" Katniss asked, innocently.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh, Katniss. So innocent.

"Well, you've told me dozens of times that I'm rubbish at hunting," Wesley reminded her. "So if you were to hide, you might be missing for days."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I'll make it very easy for you," she promised with a grin, reaching for his hands to lift them to his eyes.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Well, if you insist," Wesley fake-sighed, allowing her to cover his eyes.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I don't want any peeking," she said as he counted. She flitted over to the window to make sure the blinds were drawn, and checked that the door was locked. (Which wouldn't stop Alex, but she could hope.)

As he neared ten, though, she hurried over to his bed, ducking under the covers. And while all of this was done near-soundlessly, it was probably not her best hiding spot ever. Especially with a few locks of brown hair sticking out from under his sheets.

She wasn't really going for subtlety, anyway.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

When Wesley reached ten, he even gave her a few extra seconds before he opened his eyes, then took in the room. Alright. Closed blinds, locked door... hmm.

First he checked his and Alex's closets, methodically taking in the top shelves of each one as well as under the clothes (you could never know with Katniss), and then slowly made his way around the rest of the room, checking under the desks. He was crouching down to check under his bed when he detected just the faintest rising and faling under the covers.

Well. Crafty, wasn't she?

But after all, she had chosen that hiding place carefully, and it wouldn't do to find her right away, so he straightened up as if he hadn't noticed her. "Katniss?" he called, feigning confusion. "Good lord, I really am rubbish at this..."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

And now she had to try not to laugh, because really, of course he knew where she was, at this point. Her attempts at not giggling just made that rise and fall a little quicker, though.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley feigned an enormous gasp. "Aha!" he cried, and yanked back the blankets.

He could totally go big sometimes.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"You found me!" Katniss said, also feigning shock amidst her rumpled hair. "I thought I was hiding so well!"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I have a very keen eye for this sort of thing," Wesley declared in a tone of exaggerated pompousness, slipping into bed beside her. "Part of my training."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Somehow I never realized that hide and seek was a major facet of Watcher training," she noted, sliding a leg over his with a smile.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you know, we did what we could," Wesley said vaguely, lacing the fingers of one hand through hers. "It's an important skill to have."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I think hiding might be more important," Katniss declared, winding a leg over his. "Which is why I'm so disappointed you found me this quickly."

Yes. She seemed very disappointed, really.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"You sound it," Wesley observed, amused because he was a dirty, dirty narrative-reader. Meanwhile he was preoccupying himself with kicking off his shoes and then running his toes down the bottom of one of her feet in a quick motion that was meant to see if she was ticklish.

It was totally part of Watcher training. Totally.