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brat_inslayageIt was a research day, since Giles had managed to scrounge up a few books from some contact of his; probably a shady one, if the way he stammered and fidgeted with his glasses upon being asked to explain was any indication. Well, Kennedy wasn't going to judge, since at this point a contact was a contact and she'd take whatever avenues they could get.
Didn't mean she was jumping at the chance to leaf through ancient and half-indecipherable old books. She'd do it, but not without complaint. Okay, not complaint exactly, but occasional bits of running commentary just because coffee around the books had been strictly prohibited and the talking kept her from falling asleep.
Chao-Ahn was the lucky Potential who got to be within earshot of Kennedy today. Over in the living room, out of the corner of her eye, Kennedy could see some of the other girls glancing their way and whispering, and she paused to yell, "This better not be another tawdry speculation thing, you guys, god!"
Uh. Apparently it got to her a little bit after all.
Rona smothered a snicker as Amanda turned a wide-eyed innocent look on her and called, "No, no. Just taking bets on which one of you--" she gestured Kennedy and Chao-Ahn's way-- "gets fed up with the other one first. As you were."
Kennedy mock-glared at them and shook her head. "Funny," she told Chao-Ahn, who looked at her with the uniquely long-suffering version of her I still have no idea what you're saying so really, keep talking, as if I care expression that only Kennedy and Anya ever seemed to get. (Kennedy got the feeling that Chao-Ahn could rival her for sheer bratty attitude. It was kind of awesome.) She flipped through another chapter in the book in front of her and made a face. "The whole freaking thing's in Latin, or something. That's... great. Gonna have to save that for Willow or Giles or Dawn to look at."
She reached over for another book, hoping for a better lead to follow, and sighed when what she turned up was Conversational Sumerian for Dummies. "Oh, seriously, come on?" She waved the book in the air, and Chao-Ahn kept giving her that long-suffering look. "Who even speaks Sumerian?"
And there was something else that was frustrating, she realized, digging through the pile until she came up with something less language-y and more boring-obscure-history. "You know," she went on to Chao-Ahn, paging past a picture of a really cool-looking axe-like weapon (theoretical representation based on anecdotal evidence, read the caption below it, and she'd have stopped to look more closely except that she doubted weapons, however cool they looked, were super relevant to finding out information on how to stop the First, "there's another thing. Communication issues around here? So getting difficult. Good thing most of the time we have Giles, huh?"
Chao-Ahn rolled her eyes at his name. Giles had said he could manage a little Cantonese, but somehow every time he talked to Chao-Ahn conversations never went all that smoothly.
"Yeah, I know. He's a little... well, Watcher. It's a thing." Kennedy shrugged. "Kinda starting to wish I'd actually paid attention in those language classes at my old schools pre-Fandom. Or taken some while I was there." Spanish wasn't a problem for her, of course, and she could manage some rudimentary Portuguese, but evidently her French grade had been a fluke since her last attempt to strike up a conversation with a Quebecois Potential named Elodie had almost literally ended in tears. "So it was mostly an excuse to tell girls I wanted to major in tongues in college. Is that so wrong?"
She must have gotten a slightly suggestive tone to her voice or waggled her eyebrows or something, because wow, the look Chao-Ahn gave her. Bitch, please was pretty universal.
"Not a bad idea, actually," Kennedy admitted, propping her head up on her hand as she kept flipping through the book. "The languages major thing, I mean, because granted, as a pickup line, kinda cliché. Also wow, not nearly as clever now as it was when I was fifteen. Like... if we live through all of this I might do it. I meant to go back to school, anyway. Was gonna, right before the whole psycho-eyeless-minion parade blew through town. I promised Tara..."
Her voice cracked just a bit there, but she breezed on as if Chao-Ahn and the others didn't need to be privy to her sentimental lapse (it was just that sometimes she went on about her best friend like it was no big deal, and then her own timeline caught up with her like a sucker punch). "Promised her I'd go to college. Guess this would be a decent reason to go, not just some bullshit major for the sake of the degree." Assuming they survived, which was not so much a given.
She didn't voice that part, even if she knew Chao-Ahn wouldn't understand her if she did; they were all thinking it, maybe, but no one needed to hear it aloud. Operating on a certain level of denial was the lesson to life on the Hellmouth that didn't need training. Fittingly, it was the one they didn't even mention.
But maybe Chao-Ahn understood after all; she smiled in a way that tried to be reassuring but fell just short, reached over to pat Kennedy once on the arm, and stood up to leave.
Huh.
Kennedy watched her go, then gave in to the moment of melancholy and tried the old text message thing for the hell of it.
I miss when we had about a week to prep for the apocalypse. Guess there is too much of a good thing. Still miss you all. Love, K
[[...i always said there were some things about this season that would’ve been a lot less wtf-y if someone had just dropped passing references to them sooner, so. yeah. nfb, but if you think you got that text message (or parts of it) ic reactions are okay. just, again, they won’t actually come through on her end.]]
Didn't mean she was jumping at the chance to leaf through ancient and half-indecipherable old books. She'd do it, but not without complaint. Okay, not complaint exactly, but occasional bits of running commentary just because coffee around the books had been strictly prohibited and the talking kept her from falling asleep.
Chao-Ahn was the lucky Potential who got to be within earshot of Kennedy today. Over in the living room, out of the corner of her eye, Kennedy could see some of the other girls glancing their way and whispering, and she paused to yell, "This better not be another tawdry speculation thing, you guys, god!"
Uh. Apparently it got to her a little bit after all.
Rona smothered a snicker as Amanda turned a wide-eyed innocent look on her and called, "No, no. Just taking bets on which one of you--" she gestured Kennedy and Chao-Ahn's way-- "gets fed up with the other one first. As you were."
Kennedy mock-glared at them and shook her head. "Funny," she told Chao-Ahn, who looked at her with the uniquely long-suffering version of her I still have no idea what you're saying so really, keep talking, as if I care expression that only Kennedy and Anya ever seemed to get. (Kennedy got the feeling that Chao-Ahn could rival her for sheer bratty attitude. It was kind of awesome.) She flipped through another chapter in the book in front of her and made a face. "The whole freaking thing's in Latin, or something. That's... great. Gonna have to save that for Willow or Giles or Dawn to look at."
She reached over for another book, hoping for a better lead to follow, and sighed when what she turned up was Conversational Sumerian for Dummies. "Oh, seriously, come on?" She waved the book in the air, and Chao-Ahn kept giving her that long-suffering look. "Who even speaks Sumerian?"
And there was something else that was frustrating, she realized, digging through the pile until she came up with something less language-y and more boring-obscure-history. "You know," she went on to Chao-Ahn, paging past a picture of a really cool-looking axe-like weapon (theoretical representation based on anecdotal evidence, read the caption below it, and she'd have stopped to look more closely except that she doubted weapons, however cool they looked, were super relevant to finding out information on how to stop the First, "there's another thing. Communication issues around here? So getting difficult. Good thing most of the time we have Giles, huh?"
Chao-Ahn rolled her eyes at his name. Giles had said he could manage a little Cantonese, but somehow every time he talked to Chao-Ahn conversations never went all that smoothly.
"Yeah, I know. He's a little... well, Watcher. It's a thing." Kennedy shrugged. "Kinda starting to wish I'd actually paid attention in those language classes at my old schools pre-Fandom. Or taken some while I was there." Spanish wasn't a problem for her, of course, and she could manage some rudimentary Portuguese, but evidently her French grade had been a fluke since her last attempt to strike up a conversation with a Quebecois Potential named Elodie had almost literally ended in tears. "So it was mostly an excuse to tell girls I wanted to major in tongues in college. Is that so wrong?"
She must have gotten a slightly suggestive tone to her voice or waggled her eyebrows or something, because wow, the look Chao-Ahn gave her. Bitch, please was pretty universal.
"Not a bad idea, actually," Kennedy admitted, propping her head up on her hand as she kept flipping through the book. "The languages major thing, I mean, because granted, as a pickup line, kinda cliché. Also wow, not nearly as clever now as it was when I was fifteen. Like... if we live through all of this I might do it. I meant to go back to school, anyway. Was gonna, right before the whole psycho-eyeless-minion parade blew through town. I promised Tara..."
Her voice cracked just a bit there, but she breezed on as if Chao-Ahn and the others didn't need to be privy to her sentimental lapse (it was just that sometimes she went on about her best friend like it was no big deal, and then her own timeline caught up with her like a sucker punch). "Promised her I'd go to college. Guess this would be a decent reason to go, not just some bullshit major for the sake of the degree." Assuming they survived, which was not so much a given.
She didn't voice that part, even if she knew Chao-Ahn wouldn't understand her if she did; they were all thinking it, maybe, but no one needed to hear it aloud. Operating on a certain level of denial was the lesson to life on the Hellmouth that didn't need training. Fittingly, it was the one they didn't even mention.
But maybe Chao-Ahn understood after all; she smiled in a way that tried to be reassuring but fell just short, reached over to pat Kennedy once on the arm, and stood up to leave.
Huh.
Kennedy watched her go, then gave in to the moment of melancholy and tried the old text message thing for the hell of it.
I miss when we had about a week to prep for the apocalypse. Guess there is too much of a good thing. Still miss you all. Love, K
[[...i always said there were some things about this season that would’ve been a lot less wtf-y if someone had just dropped passing references to them sooner, so. yeah. nfb, but if you think you got that text message (or parts of it) ic reactions are okay. just, again, they won’t actually come through on her end.]]