She sat up when she felt him move, but when he told her to stay motionless she froze up. Suddenly she became alarmed and slayer sense kicked in, taking over her, the tears stopped almost immediately after one last sniffle.
Maybe she had said too much, maybe she had said too little, maybe she had to say something.
Eliot, breathe, relax.
She knew what would happen if she moved. The tone in his voice, the emotionless expression on his face. She knew what it meant, anyone who fought around here had been pushed that far at one point or another. It was the same look Giles had when he went after Angelus because of Jenny, it was the same look on Buffy's face when the first had captured Spike.
He's not worth it.
He was out for blood, or dust in this case.
She gave him a few moments of silence, before doing something really stupid. She knew it was a bad idea, but she needed him to snap back into reality.
Buffy got up slowly, very, very slowly. She could do this. She breathed in slowly, exhaled slowly, and slid towards him slowly. All of her next movements were going to be done in slow-mo.
She inched closer to him with caution. Her slayer senses kicked into high gear, in case she'd actually set off the trip wire in Eliot's head. She'd watch for any sudden movements, ready to block them. She may have been hysterical a moment ago, but he had flipped a switch in her without realizing it.
Easy.
She finally closed the space between them again. Her arm moved up to calmly reach towards him as he was crouched down. Her breathing kept her movements steady. Instead of touching his shoulder, or arm, the back of her hand gently grazed over Eliot's cheek.