BtVS: Alternate Lives

Who: Skylar and Lexi
Where: Avarice
When: Sunday Night, 1/23

It had been a while since Skylar and Lexi had the chance to hang out some. Both of their bands had been pretty damn busy lately, although Lexi's band had to deal with the personal crisis of Pat getting dumped and then finding another Patience and starting to move to Vegas. (If anyone really understands what's going on, raise your hand.) Skylar's stuff had to do with the newly released album and all the press and such surrounding that.

Skylar had given Lexi a call and left a message on her answering machine, asking her to drop by Avarice so that they could hang out and catch up with each other. It had been FAR too long, and, honestly, Skylar was missing her friend.

Right now she sipped at a glass of virgin champagne (she was still breast feeding at the moment) as she waited for Lexi to arrive.

Who: Everyone & Their Monkey's Uncle
Where: Avarice
When: Pick a day last week.
Status: Completed
Note: I apologize if some of the editing is f-ed up. Sometimes it's hard to catch the line breaks among a sea of text.

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WHO: Lexi OT Steph
WHEN: Monday evening
WHERE: Chez Lexi

Lexi carefully unwrapped her grandmother's coat from its plastic sleeve. She'd gotten it out of storage just this morning. It was knee-length, it was something like fifty years old, and it smelled stronger than any leather and a little more exotic than that ... she could never quite put her finger on how it was different, but she could pick out this coat in a dark closet with both hands behind her back.

It would be stupid to wear it just anywhere on the street in Los Angeles. Some PETA freak would splash it with red paint or something equally heinous, Lexi would end up in jail for assault or homicide, it would be bad. But there was sure to be some industry event she could wear it to this winter.

She pulled the collar closer and got a look in the mirror near her amplifier stack. "There's no way in hell I could play in this thing," she decided, and laughed a little.

Or could she ... ?

And this is why, when Steph got home, Lexi was attempting to play guitar in a full-length, antique mink coat. The results were ... well ... muffled, inaccurate, and continuously interrupted as Lexi stopped playing to laugh.

Who: Stephanie & Lexi, OT anyone else and multiple threads
Where: Avarice
When: Ok, so, backdate this about a week or two. Please. Because I'm lame and took too long to do this scene proper.

Considering that Stephanie had, just a few days ago, not really known WHAT to do with her musical future (other than the idea of a Misfits cover band, which she STILL kind of wanted to do), to suddenly be sitting here, the new rhythm guitarist of Suicide Messiah, was a little bit mind-boggling to her. She knew who she wanted to tell first, obviously. But she couldn't just call Lexi and be all "OH HAY GUESS WHAT"... no, for something with this much meaning? She had to do it right. She called the other girl, asking her to meet at Avarice, where Steph sat there in an adorable black, slightly-puffy miniskirt with a snug Pikachu tee-shirt and black sneakers, a pitcher of non-alcoholic champagne ready for the two of them.

She bounced a little in her seat, almost audibly giggling to herself in excitement.

Who: Stephanie and Lexi
Where: Lexi's flat
When: Friday night


Every now and then, our resident dhampir, Stephanie Whitmore, got REALLY hyper. Like... Van Warren hyper, almost. Today? Was one of those days. She'd been spending the day hanging out with her girlfriend, Lexi, in the Broken Sunrise guitarist's flat. And since Lexi had left briefly to make a coffee run, Steph had plugged her guitar into one of Lexi's amps, and started bouncing around, singing something by her favoritest band, The Misfits.

"They'll find pieces of you
scattered on the ground
I am the madman in your dreams
We are the evil ones

We need the planet to demonstrate
We want your body to incubate
Begin the breeding of an alien superior race
That in which will ultimately dominate

Give into what you cannot fight
Walk Among Us! Walk Among Us!

The abductions have already begun
All around us we've infected someone you love
Initiate the start of an alien war
We're already one!

Give into what you cannot fight
Walk Among Us! Walk Among Us! "


Yeah... not exactly stuff you'd picture her listening to... but the overall bounciness of the music? WAS rather fitting to her personality...

WHO; Lexi OT Stef and all
WHEN: Tuesday evening
WHERE: Chloe's Sugar Shack

Lexi had taken over a table in the corner, near the window, and had several notebooks open on the table along with a coffee cup and plate with a few crumbs on it. Her acoustic guitar was in its case nearby; she wasn't sure if she felt up to playing in public tonight, but she had a lot of ideas in her head and wanted it close at hand.

Every time the door opened, she jerked her head that way, and looked a little bummed when the person who came in wasn't a certain half-vamp chick.

She got a refill for her coffee and sat back down, adding lots of sugar, no cream.

WHO: Lexi OT Steph
WHEN: Friday, June 12th
WHERE: St Louis Hotel, downtown New Orleans

Lexi didn't bother unpacking anything. She tossed her suitcase in a corner, rummaged through the snacks, opened the macadamia nuts and flopped down on the bed. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, settling on something that Mystery Science Theater 3000 might have been embarrassed to snark.

Touring with a band meant staying in crappy hotels ... pretty much constantly. To remind herself that hotels didn't always suck, she had booked a room in a 5-star hotel for herself and Steph for the wedding.

"You need a hand with anything?" she called out to Steph. "If not, you have to see this really, really bad CGI dinosaur ... "

Who: Ginny and Lexi
Where: Lexi's apartment
When: Saturday night


It took a lot to put Ginny Callaway in a bad mood. Honestly. Despite being an angry madwoman onstage, OFFstage? Ginny was as pleasant and mild-mannered as it generally got. So to see her sitting there, silent and with a hurt-looking scowl on her face? Now THAT was a bit of a shock.

Part of this was Ginny's own fault. Sure, she'd told Lexi that she was half-demon, but she never said exactly WHAT her demonic half was capable of. She essentially had super-strength and super-senses. Meaning that she could smell Stephanie in the apartment. And combining that with what she already knew of the attraction between the girl and Lexi, AND the stressed mood Lexi seemed to be in? Ginny was FAR too smart not to catch on to what was going on. And she was NOT happy.

Who: Stephanie & Lexi
Where: Lexi's apartment
When: Wednesday night


For... well... almost the last WEEK, Stephanie Whitmore had barely talked to a SOUL. Since her friendly breakup with Lilly, the little dhampir had kept almost entirely to herself. It wasn't from pity, nor from being upset. Truthfully, the breakup was so friendly because BOTH girls realized that it just... wasn't working out. They made far better friends and bandmates than girlfriends.

No, what she'd been secluded for was that she was entirely torn up inside because now? She had no personal reason to keep her from going after what she REALLY wanted. Nothing except for the fact that it could ruin her freakin' BAND.

Yeah... what the girl wanted? Was Lexi Wilson. You see where this could possibly go. Lexi was dating Ginny Callaway, Stephanie's bandmate. Well... it took quite a while, but finally, Steph got the courage to go and at least talk to Lexi, to see what was going on in the other girl's head. She waited until she knew Ginny would be out doing... well... ANYTHING, and then headed over to the apartment. She dressed in casual jeans and a Nirvana tee, looking as cutely nervous as one could imagine, and after taking a DEEEEEEEP breath, pressed the doorbell.

Who: Paige, OT all and multiple threads
Where: Chloe's Sugar Shack
When: Saturday Night (Open-Mic Night!)


For an uber-confident, almost to the point of obnoxiousness, person-slash-demon like Paige Bennett, being nervous and antsy was NOT something she was used to. But she'd given up music a while back, both as a personal penance, and as a way of hoping she'd never turn into the massive bitch she used to be.

But when her new, unlikely BFF Darlene asked her to join her band, Intangible Now, as a personal favor, how could Paige refuse? She was trying to protect Darlene. And if part of that protection was making her happy with something so small, she couldn't deny it.

She'd given her favorite guitar away already, having told Lexi Wilson to give it to her protege, Stephanie. So she went out, and got herself two used guitars. One, a BC Rich  Virgin, was back at her place. As she sat onstage now at the Sugar Shack for open-mic night, she used the other, an acoustic Gibson Epiphone. She was getting herself back into form, and doing so by playing acoustic versions of a few old Hole songs.

For now, she'd just finished up playing her own version of "Malibu", her voice maybe not quite on the level of say, Skylar, Natalie, or Meeghan... but still servicable. She wore a pair of hip-hugging faded bluejeans, a red tanktop, unbuttoned a little to expose a bit of cleavage, and had her long black hair tied into a loose ponytail, a few stray strands hanging in her eyes.

Who: Chloe, open to Lexi
Where: Chloe's Sugar Shack
When: Thursday evening

There are a lot of things that people would say Chloe Van Warren needs. Sedatives tend to top that list. But on the list of things she DOESN'T need? There are things that pop right to mind: more money, more bands... but the one thing she REALLY doesn't need? More sugar.

So to see her sitting in her own shop, with not one, but TWO giant Sugar Fairy Shooters sitting in front of her? Jesus. Her feet were kicking back and forth and a HUGE grin was threatening to split her pretty face in half as she looked across the table at her bestest friend.

"I am sooooooooooo freakin' happy right now, Lex. Like, to where I could just jump up and kiss EVERY PERSON IN HERE. I mean, Lucy's back, two of my best friends are each about to get married, and not even the appearance of my apparently psychotic niece from the future is gonna bring me down!"

Who: Kevin, OT Lexi (and later Chloe, Lucy, and Rachelle)
Where: Chloe's Sugar Shack
When: Monday evening


To most of the world, it was as if Lucy Van Warren had never gone anywhere. Business as usual. But to a few select 'normals', the memories of what had happened to her remained, despite her being back. After realizing WHO still had the memories, Kevin had started to realize why this was happening... and he needed to talk to one of his oldest friends... one of the other people he knew still had their memories.

So while he wanted all parties involved in his band to meet here... he knew that it was important for he and Lexi to talk first. Alone.

Grabbing a big table in the back of the cafe, Kevin took a sip of his water (seriously, was he the only Van Warren who WASNT addicted to caffeine?), and waited for Lexi to arrive.

Who: Ben, OT anyone
Where: Avarice
When: Monday, March 8th
What: Much like the hair-metal thread... it's just some goofy fun. To once again quote Chapelle's Show: It's a celebration, bitches... enjoy yourselves.


Benjamin Bale occasionally had some... rather odd ideas for themed nights at Avarice. One of his finer moments had been 80s Hair Metal Night. Well... this one? Had the potential to be as memorable, but possibly for horrific reasons altogether.

Yes, tonight was Bring Your Parents Night at Avarice. Any teen that brought at least one parent to to the club would be entitled to free drinks for the evening. Why this odd choice of themes?

Well. First and foremost, Ben loved people's money. And if he could find a way to bring MORE people into Avarice by showing parents that they COULD hang there without seeming skeevy, and show kids that their parents could hang there and not have to slice their coolness factor in half... bingo. More customers.

Then of course... there was the primary reason for this. The humor. Ben knew that everyone around here had been through a LOT lately, and sometimes, nothing helped more than some laughter, and good memories. And really: other than seeing people reliving the glory days of Poison and Winger (actually, did Winger HAVE glory days?), what could be funnier than watching the kids that normally swagger through the club with Ben-level cockiness looking freaked out and having a wiggins because their parents were there either being the world's funniest cockblocks, or god forbid, getting their OWN groove things going?

Oh, hell yes. This had so much hilarious potential that Ben couldn't resist. Even if it DID put him in the same vicinity as the parents of roughly half of the girls he'd tried to bed in the last year.

WHO: Lexi OT Taylor, TBC in tags
WHEN: Thursday night
WHERE: Lexi's loft

Ugh. This was NOT exactly where Taylor Wilson was envisioning spending her saturday night. In some.... little 'loft', where apparently her sister was deciding to slum it for a while. Clearly, her time on drugs had damaged her brain enough to be ok with living like this. Still... she missed Lexi, and while proud of how good she'd apparently been doing since rehab (in UTAH, for god's sake! UTAH!!!!), she worried immediately about a relapse when she heard the news about Lucy Van Warren. The Van Warren's were always good friends of the Wilson family, and while Chloe, Lucy, and Kevin were FAR closer to Lexi than to Taylor, she still liked the kids. rubbing her hands down the sides of her Gucci jeans, the pixie-ish girl raised a fine eyebrow and rang the doorbell.

Lexi had been running scales all afternoon and frowned when the doorbell rang. She wasn't expecting anyone and didn't really want to see anybody. She set her guitar aside and stood up. "Whaddaya want?" she shouted.

"Ah. Sheer class, as always. Please let me in, Alexis?" Taylor said with the slightest hint of amusement. "I didn't drive all the way from San Diego to stand out here all day..." Not that she'd called. Or given any inkling she was coming...

Oh, shit ... San Diego ... and only one person in the world still called her Alexis. She winced and unlocked the door. "Taylor, hey ... " Lexi's face twisted into a big fake smile. "Come on in. Getcha something to drink? Dom Perignon? Yoohoo? Tap water with a twist of lime?"

"Yoohoo?" She asked with an actual giggle. "Sounds like Chloe's rubbing off on you, sis. But sure. That actually sounds..." like when we were kids, she thought, "Nice."

Lexi shrugged and snagged a bottle from the fridge. "So, what's going on?" she asked. "Don't see you in these parts often."

"Like you have to ask?" She walked in, looking around and trying not to scowl. Seriously... a Wilson should be living better than this. "I heard about Lucy. Honey, I'm so sorry."

Lexi made a face. "Yeah. Yeah, she had a rough time, and I miss her. Poor Chloe ... she's so torn up about this."

"I'd think so. God... if something happened to you..." She shuddered visibly. "I mean come on. Did mom or dad come visit you in Utah? Noooo... but who did?"

"Heck, I wouldn't have visited Utah if I'd have been able to avoid it." She chuckled and shook her head. "Thank you for that."

"You look good though... staying clean?" She felt bad asking, but come on. It was the elephant in the room. It had to be obvious thats why she was here. If she just wanted to pay respects for Lucy, she could have called.

"Yeah," Lexi said, a little annoyed.

"Come on now... no attitude. Do you blame me for worrying? Grief is essentially the biggest reason people relapse." She smirked. "Well, that and sheer idiocy. But I think you purged that out of you already."

"Mostly," Lexi said. "No ... it crossed my mind, but no. Too much to lose."

"Good. Because we almost lost you once." The slightly older girl couldn't help but curl that lip into a wicked smirk. "And mom and dad couldn't have that shadow on the family reputation TWICE now, could they? Perish the thought."

Lexi rolled her eyes. "I'm sure the blue-haired old ladies at the country club would never shut up about it."

"Are you kidding? I think they were giddy about it. Something to gossip about our family about? I think half of the seniors there were ready to deal FOR you." She smirked. "So... making a decent life for yourself out here? Aside from the obvious new fame?"

"Yeah, things are okay. I have someone I'm close to, and I even have a student."

Close to. Ahh. "So... you're dating again? I want details, sweetie. And assurances that he's not going to be a bad influence on you." Oh boy. She'd never actually seen Lexi date a woman, now had she?

Lexi opened her mouth to say something, closed it again. "Good influence, actually. Another musician. Keeps clean, keeps me in line."

Who: Ginny, OT Lexi
Where: Lexi's loft
When: Wednesday, Feb. 10



Damn it. Damn it to HELL.
The Lazarus Project had gone on a lousy 5-day tour of the surrounding states to promote themselves and Full Moon Records... only to be woken at 3 in the morning last night, with the phone call from Ben. There'd been a tragedy in the Full Moon family. The young guitarist of Van Warren... little Lucy... had been killed.

The other girls in the band felt like hell, both for the Van Warren family and for anyone that knew the poor girl. But Ginny? Turned even MORE pale and thought she might vomit. The Van Warrens were like FAMILY to Lexi. Lexi, who'd been fighting her OWN demons off for too long now.

Oh, shit.

She told the other girls what she had to do, and told them she'd meet them back home. Jumping into a cab, she had him drive her the few hours it took to get back to LA. Running to Lexi's loft, she banged on the door, hoping everything was still alright in there.

"Lexi? Sweetheart? I just heard what happened... I'm here for you, honey..."

WHO: Lexi OT Ginny
WHEN: Wednesday evening
WHERE: Lexi and Ginny's apartment

Lexi settled on the couch with an acoustic guitar, a bottle of water and a notebook on the coffee table in front of her. She wasn't even going to try messing with lyrics, but she'd had a few decent musical ideas lately and was pushing herself to evolve them into something that might be an actual song. She'd been having a dry spell, lately ... not to mention, she tended to find her train of thought derailed if Stephanie happened to cross her mind.

It wasn't anything serious, but there was definitely an attraction there. Lexi admitted, she wasn't completely innocent. She sometimes let her hand linger too long on Stephanie's shoulder, let her smile convey a little more than simple friendship.

Yeah, just like that ... derailed. What chord had she been about to play? ... dammit.

WHO: Lexi, OT Steff and all
WHEN: Thursday, Dec 17, early evening
WHERE: A paved and vacant lot up the street from Avarice

It had been unusually warm today, and there was still some heat coming off the brick walls and pavement around her. Lexi was in shredded jeans and an old flannel shirt, thrown over a Metallica tee. She kicked off and made a quick circuit of the lot. There wasn't much here to trick on, but Lexi was more in the mood to relax and hang than to break her head open, which was bound to happen if she tried anything too fancy. A few younger skaters were hanging out in a corner of the lot, a compact boombox blasting some kinderpunk group Lexi had never noticed.

She grinned and gave the board's tail a kick, catching it with her left hand as she got a look around. It almost felt like summer ...

WHO: Lexi OT Ginny
WHEN: Sunday evening
WHERE: Avarice

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WHO: Lexi, a crazed fan and a mysterious stranger ...
WHEN: About a half hour after this post
WHERE: Outside Avarice

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Who: Gwen, open to all
Where: Avarice
When: Monday night


This all seemed so damned surreal to Gwen, this whole thing with Ben being attacked. Had she had private little fantasies about destroying him? Of course. But she'd never actually DO it.  To think that someone had actually tried to take him out, well... didn't say a lot about the kind of person he really was, did it?

Bah. No more thinking about that for now, the Slayer thought. She'd come out to dance tonight, figuring that, in honesty, it wasnt like she was going to run into Ben OR Skylar here.

For now, she was out there on the dance floor, grooving to the tunes, and trying to feel normal again. She was wearing a pink plaid schoolgirl skirt, with white fishnets, a pair of black combat boots that went all the way up to her knees, and a tight black Dream Theater tanktop, her blonde hair now bearing a few jet black streaks in it.

Was she ok? No. But was she going to let it show? Oh HELL no.