a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be
The sun set unceremoniously over the backs of skyscrapers that made up Sacrosanct's downtown corridor. Gia's wide brown eyes reeled into tight slits as they braced against the intense orange glow, which luckily came and went in a matter of minutes. The screetscape, however, remained the same. A few pedestrians hurried by. The sounds of car engines drummed on, mixing with the faint smell of gasoline and the putrid glaze of the dumpster in the alley around back. The gleam of the glass-paneled door - the entrance to the community gymnasium - gave off a pale shine, illuminating a slice of sidewalk and inviting her in. But still, Buffy braced against the wet brick wall, clinging to the last few minutes before the meeting was set to begin.
She watched a few bodies shuffle past every so often, in between the last puffs of her cigarette. But one blonde head seemed to return again, and then again. By the third time the thin girl had made a lap around the block, the dark hunter's gaze narrowed quizzically upon her. Her reappearance made Buffy question just how high she still was. She tossed what was left of her smoke into the street, and rubbed her ash-stained fingertips together before crossing her lanky arms over her chest. The hairs on the back of Buffy's neck did not stand in protest, as they usually would, when a supernatural entered the general area. No, this one was merely human.
Buffy was untying the worn flannel shirt she had fixed around her waist when the girl broke character and looked up from the glimmer of her phone and actually spoke. She offered the stranger a long stare, a curved, unkempt eyebrow raised, as she fitted one bare arm into the sleeve of the shirt and then the next. Maybe this girl, like her, was just buying herself some time. Maybe she was supposed to be walking into this meeting, too. She feigned a half-smile at the girl's observation, thinking about it as she tugged the shirt tighter over her chest when a rare chill crept in. Alone was better than dead, Buffy mused, but the dark hunter humor didn't always go over so well with the mortals. She gave the girl another hard once over before relenting, slouching in her shoulders before she extended a long arm her way to shake hands.
"Buffy." She blurted out.
Her brown-eyed gaze then flitted to the door again - no more cigarette-smoking souls lingered outside. The group must have gotten started already. Her hazy stare passed over the AA meeting sign again before returning to Piper. "You want to get out of this cold?" She asked nonchalantly, but with hope in her eyes, clinging to any shred of opportunity to bail. "I know a bar nearby."
GIA BUFFY JONES