it's a new D a w n [open]

[Dawn Summers]

It's a new d a w n, it's a new day,
It's a new l i f e for m e...
And I'm feeling g o o d.

Dawn looked up from her spot at the corner of her bed as she listened to the sudden sound of scrambling feet when a loud demanding voice rang out down the hallway. Gradually, the lights started flicking off from different rooms, eventually also along with the lights in the hallway. She could see it happening from her spot on her bed because it was rare for her to close her door all the way. Most people didn’t knock anyway, so why bother? She glanced down at her watch and grinned, suddenly realizing why the commotion. It was 10:00 pm, which meant lights out in the Hyperion. It would probably take the girls about a rough fifteen minutes before they began to sneak out into the kitchen. Well, the daring ones with a sweet tooth that had to be satisfied. She smiled slightly to herself as she gently tapped the top of her pen against her notebook.

She wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to write about, but she wanted to make something epic. Something that would be remembered. But then again, she supposed that every writer did. She sighed softly, running her fingers down her long brown tresses, the ones that she hadn’t cut short since… well, never, really. She’d thought about it, of course, but she was rather attached to her hair. She’d changed her wardrobe and a bit of her lingo to match a more adult self, but she couldn’t part with her hair. Some things never change.

Subconsciously sticking the end of the pen into her mouth, she placed her notebook aside and reached up to pull her hair back into a loose ponytail, so that it wouldn’t get into her eyes. She chewed slightly on the cap of the pen, a new habit of hers, before tossing her pen aside and holding her face in her hands. Why was it so difficult to do something that had once been so second nature to her? Maybe she just needed muse. Training to become a Watcher was rather stressful and everyone else was so busy off doing their own thing. Not like that was much different than before, but at least Xander used to drive her to school and Spike used to look after her sometimes. She and Buffy used to fight more, over homework or something stupid, but it was routine, you know?

Dawn stared back into the darkness, toying with her bottom lip before she pulled her hair free from its confines and then bounded out into the hallway, pulling her blue sweater closer around her body. It was diffferent here. Like colder or something. Maybe she just wasn't used to calling it home yet, though she had gotten attached to some of the girls. She smiled as she entered the kitchen, leaning her head against the doorframe as she stood by the entrance, watching as they whispered among themselves, before one of them spotted her presence and they all turned to look at her like a deer caught in headlights.

"You know, you girls should be in bed. Training tomorrow starts early in the morning," Dawn suggested as she walked further into the room, keeping a straight face. "But I might be swayed to stay quiet."

The girls looked at one another, some of them already fleeing the room, while others stayed. "Would this change your mind, Ms. Summers?" one that she recognized as Hayley said with a sly grin as she offered her a smoothie. Dawn took it from her and took a sip, offering a thumbs up sign. "Good job, girls. We have trained you well," she said with a smile as she heard sighs of relief all around. They lingered there for a while, Dawn listening to the stories they told each other about their training, before they bid her goodnight and scampered off to bed. And once again she was alone with the darkness. She wondered if any of the Scoobies ever snuck in here, or one of the Fang Gang.

Anyone that could distract her for a while longer.

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[Connor Reilly]

Connor tossed and turned in his bed. He could never sleep. Almost every night now it was a routine for him. Tossing and turning until he could get those precious four hours sleep he could get and wake up, do a bit of paper work before dropping everything and going to go train slayers. It felt like a lot of pressure his new job of training slayers, like the world depended on these slayers and how well they perform and that was all up to him. Why had they given him a class? Last time he checked he was just an average boy from the out skirts of LA. Or at least he likes to think that's all he was.

But here he was in the middle of his old life, the life he liked to forget the life he wishes had never happened. But if it didn't how could he explain his super strength or ability to track practically anyone from yards away, or his super speed. He shut his eyes tightly as he remember his second dad, the one who had taught him everything taught him how to track how to kill...things. They were countless things where he truly grew up. But he didn't! He grew up with his mom and dad and annoying little sister, not in some hell demision. He angrily pushed the covers back from off of his skin. He walked out of his bed and angrily punched his fist through his wall. He shut his eyes tightly again as a few stray tears fell from his eyes. He pulled out his bloody knuckle and stayed silent for a second, hoping that his neighbor hadn't heard the commotion. He couldn't stay where he was anymore. He quickly pulled on a t-shirt and walked out of his room in his sweatpants.

He walked down to the lobby and looked around there was a small group of girls, slayers, three of them. They were coming from the kitchen they looked at him with wide eyes. What should he do? What would his father? Father number one, Angel, warn them, tell them to get to bed. Father number two, Holtz, punish them, severely. Father number three, Laurence, simply laugh and let them go peacefully. Connor simply looked away, ignoring them, pretending he hadn't seen them, the trio of girls were content with his reaction and scampered off to their rooms.

He walked in their footsteps and went into the kitchen, possibly having a drink of milk or having a snack would calm him or at least make him sleepy enough to fall asleep, have one good night. It's been a long time since Connor's had one of those. When he walked in he wasn't alone. He recognized Dawn, the slayers sister, the original slayer, his fathers true love, or was that Cordelia? He wasn't sure.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked the girl as he took a seat on one of the stools.

[Dawn Summers]

It's a new d a w n, it's a new day,
It's a new l i f e for m e...
And I'm feeling g o o d.

Dawn was a bit preoccupied with the remainder of her strawberry smoothie, chewing a bit on the end of the straw as she finished it off, the biting an old habit from her younger years. Well, that's what she liked to think, anyway. The truth was that most of her memories weren't even real. They were just implanted there in her mind. Made up, like Santa Clause and the Easter bunny; though the latter was a good thing, considering Anya's fear of them. She sighed, thinking of another person that had once been a constant and was now missing from her life. Everyone left, sooner or later. Just give them time. Her bright blue eyes looked around the empty room as she grabbed the empty glass and moved over to the kitchen sink. Tossing the straw into the trash bin where some bloody towels had also found their home, she washed out the glass and placed it back into the cupboard, picking up whatever else was left sitting around to take up some time, or waste it away, before retreating back to her seat.

Looking up from her spot, her hearing picked up footsteps. Not because she had special senses or anything, but it was just so quiet that you could quite possibly hear a pin drop. Though that statement was probably overrated. She watched as a young brown haired boy entered the kitchen, taking a seat across from her. She stared at him for a moment, trying to place his face with a name. Connor? She believed that was his name, but she didn't know too much about him. Just that he was oh-so-attractive and he seemed like a nice guy. Rather quiet, just like she had become lately, though she still had her spitfire moments.

Realizing that she was staring a little too long--hello, awkward--Dawn quickly and not quite subtly broke her gaze on him and began to pick at her fingernails, waiting to be acknowledged by him. On the way down to her hands resting on the counter, her curious gaze noticed something red glimmering on one of his hands, but she didn't say anything. Some people around here didn't like for their injuries to be pointed out to them. They got rather defensive about it. But she would eventually have to say something. He was living here too and he might need some help cleaning it up. She smiled at him when he spoke, nodding her head lightly when he asked if she couldn't sleep.

"Yeah, I've been having mild cases of insomnia, I guess. My writer's block doesn't help either. How about you?" she asked him with a small laugh, trying to keep her voice steady and not show that she was the slightest bit nervous. I mean, the last time she'd been close to a guy was that one time during halloween, which ended up with a stake in his chest, and then that crazy love spell which led her to a set of train tracks... god, she hoped that he didn't know any of that. How embarrassing. But she figured that they were even, since she didn't know much about him either. Just that he was Angel's son, but... that it was somehow alot more complicated than that.

Everything with the tall, dark, and broody always was.

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