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It wasn’t often that Dawn heeded Buffy’s advice, no questions asked. In fact, she oftentimes asked all the questions, whined a bit about having to do whatever it was that they had to do, and then thought of a few more questions to ask. Eventually, she almost always gave in. It was very rare that she went against the grain when it all was said and done. Her sister had gotten them through a lot. And Dawn was absolutely sure that she would get them through even more, if more came their way.

If you get lost, find a landmark and sit in one place, her sister had said. It’s easier to be found if you sit in one place, supposedly. So then why was her sister always on the move? That made no sense.

Berkeley wasn’t one of the places where she’d ever expected to take a wrong path. She loved the school. She loved the atmosphere. She loved the normalcy of it. Never mind that she had been headed to her least favorite class, Algebra II, when she had become lost. The door that she had thought led to her classroom had instead led her to what could only be described as a hotel. She’d wandered the halls for almost an hour, looking for the right door or a way out. Her efforts were fruitless.

So this was how she ended up in the lobby, sitting in the middle of the floor and holding her cell phone up to try to get a reception to call Buffy or Xander. No reception. Her nose wrinkled and she looked positively unhappy as she muttered to herself. “America’s most dependable 3G network, you are not. And I’m not sure how good I’ll be at the sitting and waiting to be found thing.”

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Buffy has been searching through the hotel, opening doors and trying to figure out if there was one that would send her home. It wasn't that this place was so bad, rather that Buffy had obligations at home. Her sister was one of those things that needed looking after.

When she ran into Dawn, it was purely by accident. She opened a door into a hallway and caught sight of a ~~too~~ tall, lithe brunette that looked incredibly familiar.

"Dawnie?"

Oh was she ever thankful to her that nickname in that voice. She immediately turns, gets up to her feet and runs over to Buffy. She's relieved, yes. But she covers up relief, which is for babies, by forcing annoyance. "It's about time you got here. Something weird is going on. I know... our motto of all the mottoes. But really, it's true this time."

Buffy is so relieved that she doesn't care that Dawn is going to pretend annoyance. She's going to grab Dawn in a hug. Hug your sister, Dawnie. She needs it. At least she's mostly trying to rein in the slayer strength on that hug?

"The weirdest of the weird."

She'll gladly accept that hug. As much as she likes to pretend like she isn't 'little Dawnie' anymore, she still needs her sister. Especially now since she can't seem to find her way out of this place. So she'll just hold on, especially since she isn't suffocating yet.

"I'm missing class." She says against Buffy's shoulder. "What is this place?"

She's okay with Dawn holding on. She's had the same problem attempting to find a way out of the place. She's heard that it's likely there's a door to their home, but she hasn't found that door yet.

"I'll write you a pass," Buffy answers then shrugs a little before she pulls back. "Creepy not so creepy hotel that brings people from all over the everywhere. The doors go to different places. Well some of them do. Some of them are just doors."

"Different places like... Narnia?" Because that's the first place Dawn's mind goes to, a book, a story from a book. She could probably think of some more examples if given enough time. Right now, she likes Narnia best. "Once everyone has already saved the day, of course. Not during the ice queen days."

"There's a...good one. I think I can take a...guy with goat legs. We may have to discuss the minotaurs though. Sharp pointy things on their heads."

She pulls back after a moment, hands on Dawn's shoulders. "Definitely not the ice queen days. We'll just...not step through that door."

Dawn finally pulls back, hands on Buffy's shoulders, and looks into her eyes. She stares. And stares some more. "You're serious. You haven't taken any crazy pills lately, have you?"

"Nope. No crazy pills." She sighs. "Sorry. Yes. Serious. I haven't actually tried to go through any of the doors yet. I've been looking for you."

She gets a stern look. "No stepping through doors without me. Leave the door open, come find me."

"So if it brings people from all over everywhere, it could bring just anyone here." Which could be both good and bad. They could get Giles. They could get Glory.

Buffy's brain went there too. The Summers girls are a lot alike, really. She nods. "Yeah." She doesn't want to think about Glory arriving here. Nope. Not going to do it. Instead she'll weave it into a warning for Dawn.

"So far, everyone I've met has been okay, but be on your toes."

"I always thought that was a really weird phrase, be on your toes. I mean aren't we always on our toes if we're standing? Especially in heels." Not that she wears heels very often, only if she's going on a date or something. But still, the question stands.

But she doesn't entirely divert from the topic at hand. "Can we get outside of the hotel?"

"I think it's more of tiptoe thing," Buffy responds, brow furrowing a bit in thought.

Oh. Well she had hoped that it would. Eventually she shakes her head. "Nope. There's a lot of space...literally."

"So we're stuck in creepy hotel with doors that go to places unknown." She nods, quiet for a moment as she absorbs that. "Us involved in the wacky and weird. Must be Friday."

Dawn's comment makes a smile tug at the corners of her lips. She nods and takes a deep breath. "

"It's almost home-y in the way that it's familiar. Not in the way that this resembles home in any other way except for...that way."

There were a lot of words that were the same in that sentence.

"You're all okay having though? No...weirdness or invisible injuries?" She's going to look her sister over again.

"Is Xander here?" Because that's the million dollar question. Dawn has moved around so much that people are what make home now; Buffy, Xander and Willow. If she has her people, then she's okay.

Buffy gave Dawn a sad smile and shook her head. "I haven't seen him, or anyone else. Just you and me, Kid."

She frantically searched for something good to point out. "We have a pool and there was a cute boy in it when I first saw it. It's possible there's always a cute boy in it."

"Cute boys? As in your kind of cute boy or my kind of cute boy or just a cute boy in general?" Sufficiently distracted, Buffy. Good job.

Buffy purses her lips, pondering that a moment. "Should I be offended that I've got a kind of cute boy that's different from your kind of cute boy 'cause I could point out that your first kiss was a vampire. You know, if I was a sister that was less awesome than I actually am."

Oh good and hopefully this distracts her further.

"Ohmigosh like you're one to talk about the vampire kissage. I didn't even know he was a vampire until after the fact." Her nose wrinkles remembering her first kiss and how slobbery and awkward it had been. "Plus ew with the awkward. I sucked at kissing then. Now I'm way awesome at it. Better than you, I bet."

Buffy gasps at the accustation. "Please! I was taught to kiss by over 400 combined years of kissing experience. I don't think you kiss better than me."

It's a ridiculous thing to be arguing over and that's perfect for helping them both deal with this situation.

"Kissing a 400 year old vampire probably tastes like kissing moth balls." She argues / teases back. "Or knitting yarn."

"There was definitely no knitting or moth balls involved," Buffy teases as well, making it sound as naughty as possible. "However, there was plenty of kissing going on."

"Ew... did his fangs ever cut your lip? Cause I've always wondered that about the kissing of vampires when they're all grr argh." Because the vampire she had kissed hadn't morphed yet. With hers there had just been a lot of slobber. And then she'd had to kill him before he turned her. It had been kind of traumatic.

Buffy gives her a 'what' sort of look. "No. I mean...okay yes. Once, but there was--" she stops herself short of telling her baby sister that the cutting bit had been a little ~~a lot~~ intentional. "You learn to be careful. Besides, most of the time there was no vamp face."