i'd do it over again (muffy)

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

No. I don't think you will. We want the same things." In spite of their disagreements—which were many in number—they did want the same end result: a safer world. "You can use my dark room, if you wanted," Buffy offered her. "Unless you guys have one set up?"

Muffy shook her head. She didn't have anything set up yet—not on that side of the Atlantic. If she could have picked up and moved everything that she needed, that would have been excellent, but it also would have aroused the suspicions of the officials responsible for guarding the border.

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by the arrival of their drinks, but Buffy quickly picked it back up. "You know, if they weren't so stubborn, Mom and Dad could just ask me for help. I've been here longer than you all have," she reminded her.

"Last I checked," Muffy explained, sipping her water before continuing, "you hadn't offered."

@buffy

[Deleted]

"Last I checked," Muffy started, taking her sweet, sweet time sipping her water before going on, "you hadn't offered." Buffy's jaw dropped. What her sister serious? Buffy had to OFFER to help when THEY had come to HER home? She shook her head, lifting her drink to her lips and downing half of her wine in one, long sip. She set the glass down and shook her head, immediately feeling the slight buzz from the alcohol. "Listen. I'm not going to reach out to them and they're not going to reach out to me. So you can be the mediator or you can just ask me for help yourself. I'm not offering to them, I'm offering for you. Now just chill the f*ck out," she paused, shaking her head. "I really, really don't want to fight with you... but, instinct," she muttered. She tried to be apologetic... but that wasn't really in her nature.

@muffet

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

Almost immediately, Buffy drank her way through half her glass of wine. "Listen," she began, although she gave Muffy no time to do so before she started in on her. "I'm not going to reach out to them," she said, "and they're not going to reach out to me. So you can be the mediator or you can just ask me for help yourself. I'm not offering to them, I'm offering for you. Now just chill the f*ck out."

With barely any time to react to the sudden expletive, Muffy blinked. Although her blood was beginning to boil as she wondered what had gotten into her younger sister, she watched as Buffy continued. "I really, really don't want to fight with you… but, instinct."

It wasn't exactly an apology, but Muffy had a feeling that that was the best and closest thing to an apology that she was going to get. She gave her sister a prolonged—and very forced—sigh.

"If this is you actually offering to help," Muffy answered her stiffly, not really sure what to make of Buffy's outburst, "then sure, Buffy." If it wasn't actually an offer of help—and was simply her sister's way of telling her that she didn't want her around in hypothetical terms or whatever it was—that worked, too, and nothing had really changed between them.

@buffy

[Deleted]

Muffy seemed to accept that offer, sort of offer, thing. She was stiff, but at least she agreed. "Fine, okay," Buffy rolled her shoulders and leaned forward slightly, setting to glass down and trying to release the tension in her muscles. Her voice lowered, "what is the situation, anyway? Why England? I mean, why is everyone here?" she asked. She'd rather be in the loop than out of it when it came to her families dealings with the magical community. She also didn't mind having her family be... a family, but that time had passed. She had a family of her own now. Either way, she was ready to get involved. That was more important than any of their differences.

@muffet

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

“Fine, okay.” Buffy gave the sort of answer that hadn’t come readily but, at the very least, had been uttered. She rolled her shoulders forward and dropped her voice so that she wouldn’t be as audible. “What is the situation, anyway?” she questioned, clearly having been left out of the loop. (That she hadn’t made an effort to be in the loop was another matter, but Muffy had called her sister out on the same subject once already.) “Why England? I mean, why is everyone here?”
 
As her sister had done, Muffy also lowered her voice. It wasn’t just a casual vacation that had brought her, a number of their relatives, and some of the other members of the New Salem Philanthropic Society to England. Even Muffy couldn’t say how many of the other Second Salemers were in the country now, but she knew that there were more families who were planning to arrive. “We have reason to believe that some people here might be… of interest to us,” she smiled. “Let’s call it ‘outreach’,” she added. It also made sense from a historical perspective. And, obviously, Buffy hadn’t come back from across the Atlantic, either, so there was that.

@buffy

[Deleted]

Muffy said that they had reason to believe that there were people of interest to them. Before Buffy could make a snarky comment about how obvious that was, Muffy also added that it was called 'outreach'. "Well, if you mean people who believe the same things we do then yes, you're not wrong. I know many people," she explained. What, did her family not thing to immediately ask her what was going on? Sure, maybe they had tried and Buffy had ignored them... But that was neither here nor there. They were here now, whether Buffy liked it or not. "So, what's the plan then? You're all going to try and control the way they do things or are you going to let them do it their own way while joining forces? I promise you, they won't take well to being told the specific ways to do the work," her voice has raised in volume, if only slightly... but still.

@muffet

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

“Well, if you mean people who believe the same things we do then yes, you're not wrong,” Buffy responded. “I know many people.”
 
It wasn’t that, Muffy thought, though she appreciated the knowledge that Buffy had connections that would be of use to those of them who had come from the United States only recently; it was the other people that she had meant. There was, from all indications, an abundance of witchcraft in the United Kingdom, and they were determined to get to the bottom of it.
 
Buffy asked her what the plan was, then, jumping to the conclusion that they would be interested in controlling how the others did things. That wasn’t it at all, and she bristled as Buffy added, “I promise you, they won't take well to being told the specific ways to do the work.” Somehow, Muffy felt, that was also directed at her.
 
“I don’t care what the rest of us”—Muffy emphasized the word—“do, Buffy. I wasn’t talking about the other NSPS members—or whoever it is you’re hanging around these days.” They were all striving for the same goal, even if she didn’t engage in some of the same tactics. “I meant…” She mouthed her next word, where she had left off: “Witches.”
 
@buffy

[Deleted]

Muffy said she didn't care, and Buff rolled her eyes. She listened to the rest, and got her sisters implication when she mouthed off the word 'witches'. Buffy laughed, loudly, tossing her head back before straightening out again. "I have a few on my radar. Been tracking one more months before he vanished," she grimaced. She was tracking one "Harry Potter", and her research had made it clear he was of importance. She leaned toward her sister, "many of them frequent our world now," another grimace, "mingling."

@muffet

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

Evidently, Buffy found what she had to say simply hilarious. She laughed, throwing her head back, before regaining her composure and speaking.

She said that she had been tracking one person—a wizard, presumably—for months before he'd vanished, and it sounded as though he wasn't the only one. "Many of them frequent our world now, mingling," she explained, displeasure in the manner in which she spoke.

Muffy's own facial expression changed, as though she had had the misfortune to taste something extremely sour. Couldn't those people just leave them alone? It was bad enough that they existed at all, and that was without their apparent "mingling", as Buffy had put it. The fact that the wizard her sister had been tracking—whoever he was—had vanished was certainly cause for concern. Lips still pursed, she thought for a moment.

"'Vanished' where?" she wondered. What had happened? How quickly could they just… disappear into thin air? "Did he know that you knew?" Buffy wasn't always subtle, Muffy noted, but she refrained from voicing that. She wanted to know what it was that her sister knew and when everything had happened. With that information, maybe, she could also figure out what it was they were up against.

@buffy

[Deleted]

Buffy shrugged, "back into his world, I guess. It was a big catch, too. That boy with the lightning scar," she explained, yes, calling an older man a boy. He was known as a 'boy who lived' after all. She nodded, "he knew exactly what was happening, but he never saw my face or got my name," her ex boyfriend on the other hand... that was another story. Harry had roughed him up good one night... she shook her head, leaning back in her chair, "Either way," she bounced back, "if you want in, you can get in, but you have to accept my methods Muff or else..." she smirked devilishly, "it'll just be a race to the finish line instead."

@muffet

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

"Back into his world, I guess," Buffy replied to her with a shrug. Immediately, Muffy wasn't sure how much she believed that. It wasn't as though magical people could just disappear into a parallel universe or anything. Even so-called "magicians" couldn't disappear; they had to go somewhere, but she didn't have time to counter her sister's point before Buffy said something much more intriguing. "It was a big catch, too. That boy with the lightning scar."

Muffy leaned forward. It was perhaps the biggest lead that they had had yet: a boy, apparently. A wizard boy. Any thought that perhaps Buffy had kidnapped a child was soon quelled, however.

"He knew exactly what was happening, but he never saw my face or got my name," Buffy went on. Whatever had happened had been short-lived, it seemed to Muffy, and it didn't stop Buffy from proposing something else to her. If she wanted in on what Buffy had been doing, she could. There was a catch, though, and that was that Muffy would have to accept her sister's methods.

"You know I don't like using those things," Muffy reminded Buffy, although she was slowly resigning herself to the realization that she would have to give in to what her younger sister wanted. It was an obvious ultimatum. "I'm perfectly fine with being a photographer, and you know that." (Well, she was fine with it if she was using her camera, specifically. Who knew what Buffy had up her sleeve anymore?) It was no secret that she preferred to do things in a more traditional way. If her approach had worked for their parents and grandparents and just about every generation before them, then there was absolutely nothing to suggest that it wouldn't work for her, too.

Although she wasn't one to compromise, Muffy sighed heavily. This was Buffy's territory, and it pained her to think that maybe Buffy was succeeding with something. "Fine," Muffy paused. "I'm in. Are you happy now?"

@buffy

[Deleted]

Muffy reiterated that she doesn't like using technology and Buffy frankly didn't give a shit. She was so sick of using old methods that didn't warrant good results. Buffy had learned more about magical beings by living here than she did in all her years back home. She said she was fine with being a photographer, which made Buf roll her eyes, 'with a Polaroid camera? Or one of those box ones that you carry around," she guessed, mocking her older sister. Buffy was cruel, she didn't intend to cease that behavior.

But when her sister agreed, Buffy straightened up a little, her smile beaming, "glad to see you've found some sense, sis. Well, I suppose for today our negotiations are over... I'll contact you again," she explained, holding up her cell phone and waving it beside her head.

@muffet

[Deleted]

March 6, 2025

Muffy wasn't surprised at how many taunts and eye rolls she was getting from her younger sister. Buffy's childishness was frustrating, though Muffy supposed that she got points for being so stubborn for so long. It was beyond a phase, at that point, and Muffy knew that she was just going to have to learn to live with it. Begrudgingly, she recognized that Buffy had the upper hand over her, not that she particularly cared for that arrangement.

"With a Polaroid camera? Or one of those box ones that you carry around?" Buffy teased her.

"You know a Polaroid wouldn't work worth a darn," Muffy shot back at her. Any of those instant cameras were pointless for their purposes. It wasn't as though Muffy was a photographer for the sake of capturing happy family memories such as the moment that she and Buffy were sharing. "And it's an heirloom," she emphasized. Was her camera of choice clunky? Yes, it was. Did it get done precisely what it needed to do? Well, Muffy had had no doubts as to its success.

When Muffy gave Buffy what it was that she wanted, Buffy smiled at her brightly. "Glad to see you've found some sense, sis," she said. That was enough to make Muffy roll her own eyes, but she refrained. Buffy was the childish one, as far as she was concerned, and she wasn't about to stoop to her level. "Well, I suppose for today our negotiations are over… I'll contact you again," Buffy added, waving her phone.

"I appreciate it, Buff," Muffy replied tensely, though a part of her did question if Buffy would ever call her back once they parted ways.

@buffy
OOC: Maybe one more from your end to close this one out?

[Deleted]

Muffy said a Polaroid wouldn't work and Buffy rolled her eyes. Buffy could get almost anything to work, honestly. She said it was an heirloom and Buffy nodded, "yeah, yeah i know I know," she muttered, not really listening. Muffy did say, at the end, that she appreciated her sisters help and Buffy nodded, "well, you should be relying on me," she leaned forward as she stood, hands pressed firmly on the tabletop, "this is my turf, after all. I have people everywhere. Mom and dad won't be able to take two steps without my knowledge," she straightened up, her smile painted on her face again, "hence why I'll be the one contacting you. Don't worry about the check," she waved her phone again, "it's on me."

She went to the register and paid just by pressing her phone up against the reader, giving her sister one last smirk, and putting her headphones on. The music was so loud anyone within a twenty food radius could here it as she left.

@muffet
(the end!)