)Open( New Girl

[Diana Sorrows]

[Jessica-Olivia Blue]

A mischievous grin lighted up the seven year old's features as she slipped silently out of bed. She could hear Giles's snores through the other room, something she had been assured was a good thing. It meant that her 'dad' was exhausted, and so unlikely to catch up with her, and even if he did, he would be too tired to be too cranky. That was her plan, at least. It wasn't as if Jess wanted to just skip out of the room on purpose-despite the fact that she's done it several times- but Willow, her mentor at the academy had told her that Willow's rarest plant would be in full bloom that night, and that Willow could teach her how to harvest it if Jess came. It was just too good an offer. She had asked Giles earlier, but he said something about growing girls need their rest. Well, fancy him saying that as she often caught him just entering the apartment at six in the morning, obviously hadn't slept a wink all night.

She managed to get out of the room safely, but there was still the corridors to handle. Once she got downstairs, it would be easy for her to say that she had Giles's permission, but Giles's closest friends were on that floor, and so would probably know him better than that. Bother. Jessica tiptoed over the wooden floors, grinning to herself as she finally reached the stairs and started climbing down normally. For some strange reason, none of the usual hustle and noise greeted her as she entered the lobby, and she looked around the silence in confusion-and dared she admit it?-Yes, fear. But she hadn't had any dreams about it, so nothing bad could have happened...right?

Jessica looked of fear turned into a smile as she saw the woman standing there. No demon would be stupid enough to actually take the fight to the Slayer's lair. Plus, the woman had a look of uncertainty on her that didn't particularly scream 'danger' to her. Jessica saw that the woman was dripping wet, no doubt from the rain outside, but in a second of thoughtfulness opened a side closet, taking out a towel for her. She walked over to a woman, a friendly smile as ever on her features. "Here. I'm Jessica, what are you doing here?" She asked, in blatant tones that could only belong to a child.Jessie, with her witch powers, caught the mark of a Slayer off the woman. But than why wasn't she either training, sleeping, or going on duty? That was what most of them seemed to always be doing around here.

[Diana Sorrows]

[/b]" She had an almost cheerful tone, although it was worn down by nearly five hours of walking to reach this place. She was glad to have the towel, draping it over her head with a contended sigh. It was warm too. "Oh, I'm Diana." She said, a smile blossoming on her features quickly enough. "I'm searching for the Hyperion. Hopefully this is it, because I've been walking for a little over five hours now." She explained to the girl, setting down her boots to dry off her face and then wrap the towel back around her hair. She tilted her head, a questioning look on her features. She sort of expected everything to be bustling, but it really wasn't all that much. Maybe that was because it was very, very late. Which made her wonder why the girl was. So many questions, so little answers. It made her give a soft sigh, except it was quite unclear whether it was a contended one or a confused one, as she burried her face into the warmness of the towel.

[&]She emerged from it a moment later, looking back down at the newly introduced Jessica. Her gaze was soft, although it was tinged with an edge of tiredness. She rubbed her nose, looking somewhat a mess after roaming the streets for five hours. She wished she looked better right now. She reached up, tugging the elastic painfully from her hair, before gathering it back up and putting her brown hair back into it's ponytail, with no loose strands for now. Finally, no hair in her eyes. "But..uh.. What're you doing up so late?" She asked in a curious tone. It was kind of odd the first person she met would be a girl in the lobby. She patted her wet nose with the towel, finally glad to be at least semi-dry around her face. She hated rain, because it made her look like a wet dog. She didn't really like dogs either.

[&]She looked around for a moment, half-way expecting someone or something to pop out of the woodworks around here. She'd gotten really edgy, with a bit of past experiences over the past month, being attacked by things she didn't even know the name of, let alone how to kill. A few lucky, lucky bets, and here she stood. Still alive, with little damage. At least she had made it, was her thought to herself. That was good, very, very good. Maybe now she could be able to understand where the extra energy came from, as well as the strange creatures. She silently thanked her old friend in her head, letting out another sigh. She seemed a very sigh-y person at the moment, even though she wasn't.[/size][/ul]

[Jessica-Olivia Blue]

Jessica frowned slightly at the confused look she was greeted by as the woman took the offered towel and started making herself dry. At the question, a smile took over her features as she quickly accepted who the woman was. "Than you must be new." She said. It wasn't a question, merely a statement as the answer was obvious. The woman sounded exhausted, and Jessica gave her a comforting smile, all the while looking the woman over. Yes, a definite Slayer, and undoubtedly a new one. She shivered slightly to think of what the woman must have gone through. The worst part as that she didn't have to try so hard, having a whole store of possible scenarios in the back of her mind from past experiences. None of them good. She nodded, accepting the woman's introduction. "Than you're in luck," She said, a soft smile lining her face. usually she would have been way more friendly than this, but she was a little tired...and more than just a little sleepy. She frowned to think of walking around for five hours in the horrid downpour, but shrugged it off. The important thing was that the woman was here now. And unless something majorly weird happened, was likely to stay that way. Jessica shrugged at the questioning look on the woman's face, knowing that she had noticed the lack of activity. That was a question she, too had yet to answer.

Diana emerged a few seconds later, a tired expression on her face although her gaze was warm. Ah, finally the question. Jessica scowled for a second, than her normally bubbly expression took over her face. "Willow said I could come watch one of her plants bloom," she explained, seeing no reason to add that technically she wasn't allowed to go out so late. "I can help you a bit," Jessica offered, noticing her discomfort from the prolonged wetness. Focusing all her powers, Jessica produced a drying spell Willow had thought her a few weeks ago. They had made a game of trying to use spells for normal things, like finding a pencil, or washing up the dishes. This one was for drying up after a bath. Jess opened her eyes again to see the woman properly dried again, although still looking vaguely ragged. Well, what did one expect after roaming in the rain for several hours. Although the spell had succeeded, it took quite a bit of her energy, and Jessica yawned despite herself.

Jessica watched the woman sigh yet again, a hint of amusement in her eye. "I'll give you the forms to fill out," she said practically, most unusual for a little girl as she led the two into the inner chamber. To her surprise, Connor wasn't there, also odd as she normally thought of him as glued to the desk. She shrugged to herself, than pulled out a bunch of papers from a side drawer. She had seen Connor do this a million times, and had even done it several times herself.

[Diana Sorrows]

[/b]" She beamed happily at Jessica, looking like she was glowing despite still looking a little rugged. She was happy to finally be here, and it showed. She let out a very relieved breath.

[&]It was then forms was mentioned. She followed after the girl obediently, glad she at least knew what to do. She eyed the stack of papers with a bit of contempt. "Wow, that's a lot." She said, but shrugged to herself. No pain, no game. She looked around for a pencil now, wondering if she had one in her bag. She procured a pen, but it was rather soaked. "I don't think it'll work." She said, looking at Jessica with a heartfelt look. "Do you happen to have a pen I could borrow?" The poor soaked pen was deposited back into her bag. She was rather adept at getting forms done quickly, probably from all those years filling out forms in police offices. Days she likely did not want to be reminded of.

[&]Ah well, hopefully she'd get through these forms quick and the questions would be easy. Letting out a small sigh, she idly ran a hand through her ponytailed hair for a moment. She was the patient sort, at least in a sense. Once a pen was procured, she'd probably rush right through it though. Not exactly messy, but not exactly neat. She'd fill in what they needed to know, and then she'd be done with it. Her old ability to get through a near mountain of paperwork in under five minutes was kicking it. Old habits die hard, you could say.[/ul][/size]

[Jessica-Olivia Blue]

Jessica couldn't help but giggle at th look of pure ecstasy that lit up Diana's face as she told her that she was indeed in the right place. She also caught the questioning look she received, but didn't bother to answer. After all, how could she answer a question that hadn't been asked? The surprised look, however, pleased Jess to no one, proud of herself for being able to pull the spell of and glad that she had thought of it. "Its no problem," She answered, grinning at the happy smile on the woman's face. She smiled to herself, think about how much the woman's expression changed in such little time. It was rare that she saw a Slayer that revealed everything she felt though her facial expressions. But the academy would soon knock that out of her, rest assured. But it could also be that Diana let her guard down because of Jess' age. She was just too used to that. Most people considered her the innocent angel roaming the campus, but few knew she actually had some worthwhile thoughts. Most deemed her too young. Well, she dealt a lot more than most of them while they were her age.

The girl's words as Jess handed her the papers made the young girl laugh out loud.Yea, Angel and Giles has a whole 'organization' thing going on," she admitted, beaming at the woman. Diana wasn't too bad at all. But she had to admit that Dian was right. About the papers, I mean. Just a few months ago everything was utter chaos and no one had a proper record of what goes on. Now tons of forms had to be filled and collected. It made for an easier scene comes an emergency, but for now, all it represented was a few annoying minutes. Jessica gave an amused smile at Diana's question, taking a pen from the bow right in front of the older woman. Yes, Connor can still be expected to be amazingly well organized, if a little obsessive at times.

Jess ran her right hand through her own blond hair, instinctively curling a strand with her fingers as always. With a pang she remembered the plant, and knowing Willow, how the older girl would be really worried for her, despite knowing that Jess had practically been born in the academy. Looking at the watch on her wrist, though, Jess noticed she still had most of an hour left. She had left earlier in the hopes of chatting with Willow before tending to the plant, but it was obvious they could only have to do the second bit today. Not that she minded, really. Jess loved helping people out, especially new ones.

[Diana Sorrows]

[/b]" Was what Diana said when the pen that had been right infront of her was handed to her. "Pfft, you can tell I'm really tired, huh?" She said with a small quiet laugh. She sat down and eyed the papers, before picking up the pen. She practically burried herself in it to complete it, flying through pages with an intensity matched only by that when she's in battle. To her, paperwork WAS a battle. She eyed a question, filled it out, and continued onward with speed. She was biting her lip, a bad habit when she was thinking. She leaned down, and kept going.

[&]A few harrowing minutes later, and Diana grinned up at her. "Done, finally." She set the pen down back in it's place before letting out a relieved sigh. "If I get carpel tunnel from that, I'm sueing." She said in a joking voice. She stretched for a moment, looking particularly sleepy. She then shook her head, woke herself up, and stood. "It's a miracle though. You sure you aren't hiding a halo and wings, I might think that you're a little guardian angel sent to help me." She said in a teasing voice, perking up happily. She seemed energetic, even though she was tired. A boundless mountain of energy, almost like a kid. That was Diana.

[&]She rubbed the tip of her nose for a moment, looking around. "Eh, now that I think of it, I'm hearing footsteps and voices." She said. "Everyone must be in a different room or something." She spoke more to herself, reasoning why it was still so empty. She couldn't really chalk it off as it being that late. There had to be some insomniac slayers like her, and usually slayers were night-dwellers. Because when you had to protect humans at night, why would you sleep? She had figured out somethings about slayers by herself. Mostly from old books that were a pain to read. She hoped she never had to do something like that again.[/ul][/size]

[Jessica-Olivia Blue]

Jessica laughed again, shrugging softly. "A bit," she admitted, a mischievous look in her eye. Jessica yawned again, settling on the chair behind the desk as Diana started working on the papers. She looked amused as Diana started tearing at the paper with the given pen as if it had done her a personal insult, but looked away, tiredness and boredom eating away at her limited energy, something that usually happens to the best of us, especially kids. She pulled her arms over her chest, hugging herself against the chill that always surrounded the academy. Suddenly she wished that she had thought to bring Mr Snuffles with her. She didn't want the others to think her a baby, but Jess was getting a bit tired and could really use a hug from her ragged teddy bear.Jess looked up again to see Diana finishing up the last few questions, than grinned up at her. "Carpel Tunnel?" she asked, confused by Diana's words. Which could possibly be as she had no idea what the older woman was talking about. The look of confusement turned to a fond smile as Diana seemed to fall asleep on the spot, before shaking herself awake again. Jessica blushed at the words, shaking her head shyly. "No, anyone could've done that," she said modestly, taking the papers from Diana and sorting them out in their respective cabinets, as well as wrote a note in the log book about it for Connor later, in her messy handwriting. Jessica grinned back at her, enjoying the woman's endless energy and smiles, much like Jessie herself.

Jess stood up to hug Diana tightly, smiling up at her. "But welcome to Hyperion Academy," she said, recalling her dad's formal words one time while greeting five new slayers. She adored Giles, and was incredibly grateful for him. Really, she now joined the ranks the likes of Buffy and Willow in the act of looking up to the aging man. Jess snapped out of it at Diana's words, tilting her head upwards in a moment of silence between the two to hear better. Yes, she did hear voices, so she assumed the upper echelon of the organization was having another of their meetings. Or drat, that meant Giles was probably up by now. Jess flinched guiltily at Diana's voice, turning once again to the girl with a soft smirk on her face. "I'd like to see them stuff everyone in a single room," she joked. Even the huge gym wasn't big enough for several hundred people at the same time. And even if it was, it was miles away from the main lobby.

Jess turned back to Diana, ignoring the barely audible sounds going on above their heads. "So how did you know about this place?" She asked in a moment of curiosity. People came in packs, but she rarely asked about their past. But Diana was different, for some reason. Unlike the others, she wasn't sullen and serious, as if resigned to her fate.

[/size]

[Diana Sorrows]

[/b]" She nodded lightly. That was good, she enjoyed having friends. Smiling cheerfully at Jessica's question, she recalled her friend. "A friend of mine, her name was Chloe. She had heard about it, and it seemed to fit the odd description of me. That and I was being attacked by some pretty strange creatures." She mused, blowing a strand of brown hair from her face. "Then I started looking for it, and a whole bunch of people gave me a whole bunch of different directions. I ended up in Colorado, Massachusets, and so on. Finally I was dropped here." She had had a hard time finding the place, in her own right. Lightly scratching her nose, she gazed around. She still couldn't believe she was here.

[&]"Then again, I don't know a lot about all of this in the first place. I just heard it was for training Slayers, and well, I learned that little bit from Chloe." She explained to Jessica, looking down at her. She talked to her as though she was an equal. She talked to everyone, except for a few select people, as though they were her equals. Kids included. She gave a small grin, lighting up her face. "I do have a lot of souveniers from my travels though." She pulled a bobble head of Mount Rushmore out of her bag, showing it to her. "Like this bobble-head. I like it." She shook it so the springs made the president's heads bob up and down.

[&]"I actually have more of these types of things than my own stuff, not to mention postcards and thelot." She explained, opening her bag to reveal the mountain of collectable items. "If you want, you can take your pick. I have beanie babies, and tons of other stuff." A few collectable stuffed animals, beanie babies, and the occasional landmark souvineir all cluttered her bag ontop of her clothes.[/ul][/size]

[Jessica-Olivia Blue]

After Diana hugged her back, Jessica sat back on the uncomfortable ramrod straight chair of Connor's, pulling her knees up to her chest to make herself more comfortable. She nodded, her eyes wide and innocent in answer to Diana's question. "Yea, hundreds of them," she agreed. She grinned happily. "And al-most of them are really nice." Hopefully her cover up wasn't too badly noticeable. Yes, she got along fine with all of them, but some of them really scarred her. They were mostly friendly towards the little girl, but of course, they're constantly tired, and that didn't make for friendly conversation. She quirked her eyebrow at Dian at the thought. Much unlike Di, it seems.

Chloe? She loved the name, and in her mind, she thought of a bubbly, brunette, petite teenager. Well, she couldn't of course be sure of what Chloe actually looked like. Well, perhaps she could. Jessica closed her eyes, focusing her powers as she thought of Diana's friend. To no luck. She was far better a witch than a seer, and just couldn't get the hang of trying to control her powers, it being the other way around despite however much she tried. Jessica opened her eyes again to listen intently to Diana's words as any other child her age would be to listen during story time. She looked thoughtful at the word 'strange creatures', as based on the creatures she saw in her dreams, should she see them in real life Jess would probably be out of her mind. Jessica giggled lightly as Diana recalled her adventures, thinking how she would fare if she was the slayer.

Jessica's look turned to pure admiration as she pushed the bobble heads lightly, making it nod in the cutest manner. She loved cute little things like that, and actually had quite a collection in her room. Jessica's beamed at Diana's words, hugging her tightly. She peered down Diana's bag to look at the treasure chest inside. "May I please have just one?" she asked politely, picking up an adorable pink beanie baby. Omigosh, she just loved those. Jessica looked up again at Diana, a frown creasing up her forehead. "But now I need to give you something as well." She looked thoughtful for a second, before her trademark grin floated once again on her face. She had that amazing necklace...it would be just the thing.

[Diana Sorrows]

[/b]" She smiled happily when she picked up the pink beanie baby. Good, Jessica had found something she liked. She paused when she frowned, and replied to what she said. "No, you really don't have to. It was a gift from me to you. You don't have to give me anything if you don't want to." She said with a smile. She really liked Jessica already. The two seemed to get along together really well.

[&]Her mind drifted back to the thought that there were so many people here. She let out a contended grin. More people, more friends. It was Diana's simple philosophy. She ran one hand through her brown hair, which was surprisingly fluffy since Jessica's drying spell. She pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting it fall a little past her shoulders. She put the elastic back into her bag, which she set down on the floor for a moment. She was glad Jessica had found something she liked in the bag though. She had quite a few bit of things, including a set of Chinatown chopsticks. There was a sort of hilarious story behind that one. Diana turned to gaze at the door, still hearing footsteps and whatnot. It seemed there was life even this late of an hour.

[&]At last, she had to yawn. It surfaced onto her lips, and she placed a hand over her lips to block it for a moment. She let out a soft 'whew' after she was finished, giving a stretch. She was alright for now. She'd stayed up way longer than this most times, but under vastly different circumstances. She felt an odd sense of contentment though. The paperwork was done, she was finally here, and she'd already made a new friend, however young that new friend may be. She smiled cheerfully at Jessica again, this time sleep tinging the edges of her lips.[/size][/ul]

[Jessica-Olivia Blue]

Jessica grinned gratefully at the woman, smiling down at her pick. She wrinkled her nose cutely at it, picking it up to look closely at it. It proclaimed the words 'Colorado chick', and Jess was already thinking of its future home on her shelf of such things. That was yet another weird thing about her, Jess couldn't stand going to bed with bears and such, an irrational fear that they might try and kill her after one of the slayers whom volunteered to babysit her for an hour let her watch Seed of Chucky. Even Mr Snuffles was left on the shelf at night, although it usually followed her everywhere else. She nodded emphatically at Diana's refusal. "No, please, I want to make you something myself," Jess insisted. She had made a spell to help contort normal things like paper into glass, or plastic. Jessica wanted to make Diana a glass pendant, although for a chain she would use the one she had already. Jess was far from good enough to make steel by herself. She still struggled with the whole thing, but would love to use the spell to give back to a friend.

Jessica grinned as Diana drifted off, a faraway look in her eye. The woman looked extremely pretty with her hair down like that, and Jess found herself hoping they would be friends. Or at least better than she was with some of the others. Not to get her wrong, its just...Jessica hated making really close friends in the place. It just hurts her too much. For not only, if in battle, would she have to face their death, but chances were she probably saw it as well... The demon beside her mother flashed once again in her mind, its eyes seeming to taunt her softly about her foolish mistake in making a friend. The demon, her mother's killer. It frightened her how she could actually interact with him in her mind, as if they were actually bonded in some way. Giles and the others just thought she could see his face, but no. She could talk to him, and whats more, he could answer her. Not that anyone's going to know that anytime soon. He left her mind with his usual warning: No one can protect you forever. When I find you, I'm going to get you... She shivered slightly, tears filling her eyes which she hurriedly brushed away. Diana was new to this world, and Jessica didn't want to unload any more surprises on her,

She looked up as the woman yawn, prompting Jessica to do the same. Her eyes widened as she remembered what she forgot, and took one of the papers from the cabinet again, handing it over to Diana, as well as a key. "Your room number," she explained, a warm smile on her face. Jessica glanced at the number, before an even brighter smile lit up her face, "Oh look, you're on the same floor as me. I'm on 202." Jessica smiled happily, almost to herself for a second, before a yawn came over her again. Jessica rubbed at her eyes tiredly, already struggling to stay awake.