04 | Video

[talesuntold]

Good afternoon, my darlings.

That last event was a rough one for a lot of people, and I know some of us are also bracing for what comes next. I'll be in the kitchen for the next four hours, and I'll take requests the whole time I'm there. I think we could all use a little comfort food, or some distraction.

Requests don't necessarily have to be culinary in nature. I'd be delighted to improvise a poem or tell you a story. An off-the-cuff Scheherazade, with bonus cookies.

Come keep me company for awhile.

[Of course, certain people don't have a choice in the matter. She has conchas baking for Seth, cookies for Wirt, all her teammates' favorites, and so on. Friends and acquaintances who fail to show up may well find Maggie at their doors afterward with a plate in hand.

Even a few people who might not expect it, if she's ever had reason to worry about them.

Maggie is going to start climbing the walls if she doesn't find meaningful ways to fill up her days here. This takes care of one day.]

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[screwedontight]

Seth is quiet, listening to what she's saying and how it works. Except when she gets to the procedure and he gives her a look, inscrutable for a moment. Mostly because even he is still coping with the man that Wonderland.

He just shakes his head after a moment.

"Naw. It's you. First thing I'm going to do is make sure you're okay. Then I'll worry about fires and bleach."

And he's not just talking in the kitchen. This is Wonderland, after all. A place that heard that everything in Australia is designed to kill you and said, 'Here, hold my beer and watch this.'

"And don't give me a look about that either. I don't give a shit about a lot of people but when I do, I do dumb ass stupid shit for them."

[talesuntold]

"You turn yourself into a zombie making sure I'm okay, you could turn me too, even if I'm the one who gave you the virus in the first place." Maggie points out logically, even if she likes hearing a flat-out admission that he cares. "And if you get my blood on you, you clean up with bleach before you touch anybody besides me. Get yourself locked up or have someone ready with a bullet the second you feel any loss of coordination or cognitive function. "

Her voice goes from no-nonsense to something very small as she says, "Buffy didn't remember her own name by the time Georgia shot her."

[screwedontight]

"Or you live and you put me down. Or I tell George to kill me," he says, holding up a hand. "I've already been told by her she would if she knew about it. When we first talked when we met and we talked about things in my world, as well as the things in yours."

Which he knows is likely not helpful, not in the least, but that doesn't change how he feels about it. He wouldn't risk himself for many, but Maggie is one of the few exceptions.

"I'm always armed, Maggie. If I start to feel that way, I can take care of it myself."

He nods though at that, not realizing that had happened to Buffy. "I won't leave you to be hurt and alone, Maggie, but I can do what I have to. For you."

Which he is not one to die. Doesn't want to die. Doesn't want to become undead even. Yet he would right now. For two people in his life. At least two people who are in Wonderland.

[talesuntold]

Maggie pauses in what she's doing, hands braced on the edge of the counter, her body set in tense lines.

"Could we have this conversation literally any other day, Seth?" There's a tiny hint of false cheer in her voice, of the variety that Maggie rarely puts on unless she's seriously angry or upset. But she isn't really angry at Seth, and he's important enough to her that she drops the front almost immediately.

Quietly, her voice tight, she adds, "Today is the anniversary of Buffy's death, and that's more than hard enough without spending it calmly discussing the prospect of somebody else I care about getting himself killed."

The second anniversary Maggie's lived through, but last year's fell so close on the heels of Dave's death, and in the middle of a messy conspiracy. She didn't have much time or energy for dwelling.

[screwedontight]

"Shit, Maggie, why didn't you say something?"

Even as he asks, he moves closer, not caring about if she's contagious, or what could happen to him. Caring about her. He isn't good with showing emotions, but he's learning and it shows as he slides his hand along her shoulders, trying to urge her subtlety to turn away and towards him.

"Come here."

[talesuntold]

Maggie doesn't need much urging. She's the least touch-averse person she knows, having grown up in circles where security was tight enough that even being touched by strangers was generally completely safe. Maggie gets lonely easily, and she craves physical contact as much as she does company.

She turns toward Seth, wrapping her arms around him and clinging, chin resting on his shoulder. Unless he pulls away, Maggie isn't letting go anytime soon.

"I didn't actually intend to spend the day grieving. I just couldn't stand the thought of sitting still or being alone." Hence the cooking spree.

[screwedontight]

And Seth isn't much of one to offer comfort, but this isn't just anyone. It's Maggie, after all. Which is why he moves in, wrapped his arms around her and holding him close to her.

Normally he is the one looking for sexual and intimacy and moving on, but he'd changed enough in Wonderland that this is about Maggie. Not thinking about how she could hurt him. Not thinking about how, in the end, he's probably the worst person for her. Just wanting to offer her what comfort he could in that moment.

"Well, you're not. You've got food," he says with a chuckle, trying to make enough of a joke to make her smile. "And you've got me. Okay?"

[talesuntold]

"Okay." She manages a very slight smile, although her breath is shaky in a way she'd try harder to hide around anyone else. Maggie's hold on Seth tightens a little, then she loosens her grip enough that he can decide when to move away. She keeps leaning on him in the meantime. Seth's instincts were exactly right. There aren't many things Maggie finds more comforting than somebody holding onto her.

"I don't suppose you're in the mood for a movie marathon tonight? I doubt I'll sleep much."

[screwedontight]

Even as she loosens her hold, Seth doesn't move away. Holding her close for a few minutes longer, hand stroking over her back. At the question, he chuckles, only pulling back enough so that he can look her in the face.

"You know something, that is exactly what I need tonight. I'll even take viewing suggestions."