CLOSED ♔ two of a kind and no one home

[behindcloseddoors]

WHO || Elena, Kyp, Spike
WHAT || Elena takes some lessons from the doppelganger
WHERE || Chicago, the Waldorf hotel
WHEN || July 13th, onwards, evening
HOW || Actionspam

[ With a surprising amount of overall support from the team, Elena gets the opportunity to return to the Waldorf without having to sneak around her teammates, to continue her 'doppel-lessons' from Kyp.

Of course, she doesn't get to go alone, and Spike has volunteered to play guard dog. The hotel is relatively quiet as they arrive this fine evening. ]

Comments

[notaroundme]

[Elena sticks close to Spike as they move inside the building, not because she's particularly afraid, but as a show of solidarity. She doesn't want her new trainer to think that she's not allowed to be here, when it turns out that the reality of the situation is much more the opposite than she imagined.

Going back on anything he said would be a bad idea, basically.

She moves through the lobby, heading in the direction of the room where they had their last chat, though she glances around for any familiar faces (spot 17).]

[bigbad]

[Spike is glad she's staying close, though in his case, it's mostly because he doesn't trust anything about this situation. He genuinely supports Elena's efforts to learn to use her powers and find a teacher, even an evil one, but they're deep in enemy territory. He won't forget that.

He keeps his eyes open (spot 20) and his ears even more open (listen 28) as they walk towards the room.]

[imposturing]

[ nothing out of the ordinary, whatsoever, yo. :) COAST EEZ CLEAR. ]

[notaroundme]

[They make it through the lobby without incident, acting like they totally belong here.

She heads to the designated room, opening the door with the keycard he gave her last time. She holds the door open just enough to let herself and Spike it before shutting it behind them.]

[imposturing]

[ kyp's standing at the dresser, tying his tie and looks over, skeptically examining spike ] You brought a date?

[notaroundme]

He's here to make sure that the one who goes back to the hotel is really me.

[She shrugs her shoulders as if it's nbd.]

[bigbad]

And to bite you if you try anything evil. [Really nbd.....]

[imposturing]

[ he gives elena a look, like 'really? this guy?' ] I'll be on my most non-evil behavior.

[notaroundme]

[Hey, don't knock Spike. He's like family. She nudges the vampire with her shoulder.]

See, it'll be fine.

[bigbad]

[He raises his eyebrows, clearly not convinced.]

We'll see.

[But he's not going to stop them from training. Provided nothing evil seems to be going on, at least...]

[imposturing]

We need to start by building up your body's reflexive resistances, which means initially exposing it to magic until we can kick in your instinctive responses.

[notaroundme]

O-kay.

[The amount that Elena knows about using/understanding magic? Pretty much zero.]

What kind of magic?

[In other words, are we starting the pain training already too?]

[imposturing]

Thinking the worst already? [ he smirks, amused, and it's unclear whether he picked up her unvoiced thought or whether he just guessed it. out of a bag on the dresser, he pulls out a tiny canister of what looks like department store pepper spray. ] Nothing like that.

LATER~

[imposturing]

[ lessons have been going swimmingly, and even though his attitude in general continues to be completely 'unbiased' as he puts it, kyp's yet to do or say anything to compromise the trust she's placed in him by coming to see him consistently. they never meet outside the hotel, and he doesn't ask questions about what her team is up to. they keep it strictly business.

when she gets to the hotel room on this particular night, while spike's off getting a drink from the hotel bar to bring over, he's sitting by the window, a glass of scotch in his own hand. ]

The babysitter finally agreed to let me out of his sight for five minutes?

[notaroundme]

[Other than the one question she promised to ask for Buffy, Elena's done the same, because really it's only fair, and she doesn't want to jeopardize anything for something she knows isn't going to get her anywhere.

She moves into the room, letting the door shut behind her, grinning a bit at that.]

Maybe he thought you earned it.

[imposturing]

Be still my heart.

[ he takes a swig ] You're the one doing all the hard work.

[notaroundme]

[She just shrugs a bit like it ain't no thing.]

Well, it's not like we're going to be able to keep at this forever. Go big or go home, right?

[imposturing]

In that much of a hurry not to see me anymore, huh?

[notaroundme]

No, that's not it at all.

[And she's saying that honestly.]

We both have jobs to do, and they might not always keep us in the same place.

[She's not sure that he'll want anything to do with her once he's done what he feels he's obligated to do.]

[imposturing]

You're leaving Chicago, then. Back to London?

[notaroundme]

Probably, after the trial is over.

[imposturing]

Perhaps we should see if you're ready for your final test, then.

[notaroundme]

[Nervousness flutters in her chest, but she looks more excited than anxious.]

Really? [She nods.] Alright.

[imposturing]

[ he steps closer to her, right within her personal space bubble, and gently takes her chin, lifting it up and turning her face side to side. ]

This is going to hurt to try. But you have to be strong, and push through the pain, no matter what. The moment you back away from it, you'll lose your concentration, and the end result... [ he clicks his tongue ] might not be pretty.

[notaroundme]

[Her heart skips, the movement unexpected, but she doesn't flinch, looking up at him with clear eyes.]

You warned me about that a long time ago. [That doesn't mean she's not nervous, but she has to do this someday.] I can do this.