Meeting Dawn Who: Dawn and Eric Where: Mar-Vell Memorial Park When: After all the crazy fighting has died down What: Dawn explaining to Eric where he is Status: Log, Complete
"Hmm, I really shouldn't have tried that hippie," Eric mused. No more than a few minutes ago he'd been sitting on his throne at Fangtasia, feeding off of a willing human, and now he stood in the middle of Mar-Vell Memorial Park--in the middle of the day. Either he was having one hell of a trip or he'd fallen asleep and was dreaming, because he'd lost his ability to walk in daylight several years ago and no way was this real. He slowly turned around on the spot, blinking in wonder at his surroundings. Where was he?
Dawn had been through a few apocalyptic battles in her life, but that didn't mean that she enjoyed them. Not one bit, actually. That was why she was relieved that things had died down and went back to normal again, or what passed as normal in a freaking space station thing. She had figured that a walk in a park would do her some good when she saw a confused man in the middle of it. There was really only one explanation for that.
She walked right up to him. "New here?"
"It would seem so," Eric replied, eyes on the sky for a long moment before settling on Dawn. His first instinct was to react with violence, but why scare her when he could charm her just as easily? He supposed he could glamour her, but decided to only do that if he heard a hint of a lie in her voice. "Where is here, exactly, my dear?"
Really, reacting with violence would just not end well for him. Not that she could do anything, but Willow would turn him inside out and her sister would slay him. It just wouldn't be a good idea. "As crazy as I totally know it sounds, you're actually in a really huge space station thing. I know, cracked out but true."
"A space station?" Eric laughed and looked around again. That would explain the weird smell that he was getting. "You don't say." He extended his senses. There were others nearby, as well, and mechanical movements that he couldn't quite place. "And how did I get here?"
"Well, I don't know the technical details, but it has something to do with some gem that brings people from all over. There might be people here that you know, or there could be different versions of them. Plus, you know, people from things you thought were fiction," Dawn explained. "This place can get confusing at times, honestly."
"So it's something... mystical, then," he replied, trying to wrap his head around it. At least it seemed like no one had directly tried to kidnap him, at least!
Dawn nodded. "More or less. Not quite the mystical that I'm used to or anything, but definitely more along the lines of magic than not."
"Magic," Eric grumbled, accepting her explanation. It didn't sound like she was lying. If anything, it sounded like she *liked* being here, but forgive him if he was wrong. "And how long have you been here?"
She actually had to think on that. "A couple of months? Honestly, when you're not seeing the sun rise and fall, it's really easy to lose track of time," Dawn admitted to him. "I mean, I've seen a couple of different suns in this thing, but it's not quite the same thing."
"Multiple suns?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Multiple suns that don't burn you to a crisp. Suddenly this place didn't seem so damn bad. He just wished that Pam was with him. She'd probably get a hoot out of this. "You seem to be in your element here."
"Yeah, apparently not every planet has just one sun. Go figure," Dawn said with a shrug. "And outer space is definitely out of my element, but I'm just kind of used to things being weird around me." She tilted her head at him in curiosity. "Must be neat being able to actually be under the sun for once, huh?"
He'd been about to say 'weird is your normal' when her last comment caught him offguard. He gave her a sly smile. "Well, aren't you a perceptive little thing. Are vampires common where you're from?"
Well, at least he now likely understood why weird was her normal. "I kinda grew up around them, if that makes any sense." It likely didn't. Oh well.
"Color me intrigued," he rumbled in reply, smiling at her in a charming manner. He set them off at the walk, both to get a better understanding of the sheer size of this place, and for want to move rather than stand still. "What are vampires like where you're from?"
It was something that was kind of weird, even for her life. She followed as he walked, happy to talk on. "Mostly jerks, to be honest. Really hard for them to think past general murder and mayhem. The two I wound up knowing were different, but they were the exception and not the rule."
"Doesn't sound all too dissimilar from home," Eric replied, sounding amused. "And while I do like murder and mayhem, there's a time and a place for that sort of thing." He mostly said that to see her reaction, though. Mortals were fun to tease. "What's your name?"
"My friend Spike used to love telling me about when he used to run around terrorizing people, actually. I bet you just have tons of stories to tell about that stuff, don't ya?" God, Buffy would throw a FIT if she found her talking to a vampire like this. "And I'm Dawn. What's your name?"
"Tons," Eric confirmed with a smile. She didn't seem at all judgmental about that. It was more... a simple statement of fact. He found that to be rather refreshing. "Dawn," he repeated, finding it rather amusing meeting a Dawn considering what he was, "a pleasure. My name is Eric."
Her name was a little ironic considering she was meeting a vampire, wasn't it. "Pleasure to meet you as well," she said with a smile.
"Now, tell me, Dawn. What's exactly do people do for fun around here?" He asked, his voice a more seductive purr. This girl had been quite helpful and as such, she'd get him in his best behavior.
Dawn actually gave him a bit of a shrug when he asked that. "I spend a lot of time in the shopping district, but I doubt that would interest you too much. You kinda have to make your own fun here."
"Hrm." He rumbled. "Well, I don't think that should be too difficult. I happen to be a very creative vampire." He flashed her a charming yet devilish grin.
She just laughed. "I can only imagine," she said to him. He certainly looked like the creative type.