16652/Lingering Questions

Lingering Questions
Date of Scene:	23 December 2024
Location:	The Magic Box, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Alex learns from Willow that Lorna will always have to deal with these last 13 months. Addiction is a thing.
Cast of Characters:	Havok, Willow Rosenberg

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Havok has posed:
Alex walks into the store. Currently he wears hiking boots, jeans, a bomber jacket, and a black long sleeved shirt beneath. He looks like he's been traveling today and carries a backpack over his left shoulder with a toothbrush sticking out of the side pocket. In the entryway he pauses to look around to see if he's even remotely in the right place.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Christmas vacation.

Willow is still boggled by her acceptance for postgraduate studies. A doctorate! Willow will start in January.. But for now she had to work to let other employees have Christmas vacations.

A doctorate!

It still boggles.

She was still mulling over her plans, when someone entered the store. Of course, Willow smiled. "Good afternoon! Happy holidays!" Being a Jew by race, and a pagan by religion, she prefers 'Happy Holidays' to encompass almost everyone. "If you need help, call! Other than that, have fun!"

Most people wandered around the store several visits before they worked up the nerve to buy anything. Willow poured herself a cup of tea while Alex looked around.

Havok has posed:
Alex says, "Hey, thanks. Happy Holidays back at ya."

Alex is one of those who will wander around the store getting a feel for what might be offered. If it's a shop for trinkets, crystal power, self-help books, or maybe it's a real shop. That's what he walks around trying to discern. He also looks to see if there are other patrons within the store. He finds some of the things on the shelves convincing and then he moves to the book area. Here, he looks for how it's broken down. And he'll glance to Willow and ask, "I'm not seeing a pattern to how the books are laid out.. I'm looking for vampire lore. You got anything like that?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
The Magic Box was a dual purpose store.

On one hand, it really was a New Age store, selling books on new age religions, and books that appealed to the regular persons so that they could say, 'Oh yes! I was reading about werewolves! *shudder* 'Aren't they cool?'

The bulk of their sales came from those sorts of books, and trinkets and stones.

But if you knew better.. The Magic Box was so much more than that. A real store for witches, warlocks, and people who knew something about the paranormal.

Willow cants her head to the right. "Vampires, you say? What are you hoping for? We do have a section on vampires, werewolves, and the like. is that what you mean?" No sense bringing out the big guns if he was a regular customer.

Havok has posed:
He glances around and then Alex will walk toward the redhead so that he can speak on quieter tones. "Okay... so here's the deal. And I'm going to share this because this store has legit occult stuff in it and I'm going to guess that's not by accident. This is gonna sound really weird because it's weird in my head. Anyway. So; last year we got harassed by Dracula and all his vampire thralls. My girlfriend got mixed up with him directly and fell under his spell. She went goth, went to goth raves, got all mesmerized and all that crap. He never /turned/ her. But he used her for feeding. So this went on for several months. She'd leave for weeks to months at a time. I spent a lot of time during those periods looking for her... anyway. I finally caught up with her and we managed to purge the venom from her veins, but she was still magically corrupted. Her sister is a witch and she was able to get rid of the magical elements. So, according to her sister, my girlfriend is free and clear. And I totally trust that she's telling me the truth. But I'm really looking for lore to wrap my head around not only what happened, but what to expect in the future. And how to protect against it from happening again."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Oh. Dracula."

Willow was quiet for a while. She's had her own fiasco with Dracula. And beyond that, Dracula put her on the final path, via Rack, which had Dark Willow - her alter ego - breaking free. That was a good year that Willow never wanted to revisit. Sure she had mostly realized that she couldn't leave half her personality locked inside her, but neither could she let Dark Willow have the reins either.

Rack wanted Dark Willow, more than Willow. He liked the power that Dark Willow had. Now that she had absorbed that portion of herself, she had to admit that she, Willow was that powerful, and needed to learn how to control her power.

As she listened, something stood out. "Her sister.. Wait a minute. Wanda?" There weren't many witches who had enough power to stop Dracula. She should know. And if it was Wanda.. "You mean Lorna? I once was Pietro's girlfriend." She says by explanation. "Not that I met Lorna. But why don't you ask Wanda? I mean, I can fill you in on vampiric lore, no problem. OH!"

Here Willow blushed. "I'm Willow. The Scoobies' resident folklore person." Where folklore actually meant lore.

Havok has posed:
Alex gives a series of nods in recognition to Willow's assumptions being correct. He says, "Yeah. Yes, and yeah. I could ask Wanda; and I did. She said things would be fine because she put barriers up around the mansion and purged Lorna. But we really don't always hang out in the mansion and Lorna's always vulnerable to encounters outside. I'm simply thinking that this could happen all over again. It was last year about this time that it all started. And I really don't want to deal with all that again."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Well.." Willow frowns as she goes mentally over the situation. "The trouble with Dracula is he turns his charm on. I know it seems like something that shouldn't be a problem, but he uses that to give a firm foothold what his, well, his seduction, really. People think seduction is always something to do with sex, but it's not. That may be hard to hear, but on some level his seduction works more readily on people who want the things he offers. I mean, she probably doesn't /want/ to be a vampire, really. But a little part does."

"The biggest part of the battle is won. I mean, she faced it, and turned away from it. The thing is, she will have to admit, to herself, that that was a part of her that she ultimately liked. And to avoid it she has to allow those parts of her to have a say, with that still turn her back on it. Just because she is enticed by it, doesn't mean she needs to live that life. And the more she turns away from it, the stronger her will will become."

Havok has posed:
"So it's an addiction. And must be treated like one.", reflects Alex as he ponders people with alcoholism and other addiction personalities. He gives a sign and looks at the floor while pondering the whole kit and kaboodle of how this is probably going to play out - making them an even more dysfunctional couple. After a moment, he looks back up at Willow and says in a disappointed tone, "Thanks. That saves me from having to find a book on vampires." --- he just needs to find a book on addiction.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I know, intimately, what she is going through. I was.. not myself.. this year. It could have been bad if I kept on the path I was on." And then some. "Of course," Willow says, "We don't have books on addiction."

Havok has posed:
"Sorry." He says in offering condolences to her troubles. Then he expounds, "I know we all have our dark places that are hard to dig ourselves out of. I'm guessing you found your way out and I know Lorna can too. Just a matter of one day at a time...." He looks to the door and then back to Willow. "Thanks for your time."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"One day at a time. And with friends and awareness of what can happen." Willow offers Alex a small smile. "If you need more help, come back. Even if you need an ear to talk."

Havok has posed:
Alex makes for the door and looks back, "Will do..." and he'll exit stage left. Out onto the street to find his way home to deal with the mess that the last 13 months caused."