3.5: 13 people you can't live without (in no particular order, it's not a contest, sweethearts)

First of all, I assume 'can't live without' is used pretty loosely? I don't know if there's anyone I absolutely couldn't LIVE without. Let's just say this is a list of people I really really like.

1) Buffy, possibly the coolest chick I've ever met.
2) Mr. B, the dad figure I never had.
3) Sandra, sweet as pie, tough as nails and mad with class.
4) Ford, the Will to my Grace.
5) Amp, the other Will Jack to my Grace.
6) Spike, my surrogate big brother.
7) Peter, adorable world saving cutie pie.
8) Abby, who I'd kind of like to be when I grow up.
9) Adam, who's been kicking ass, taking names and bringing sexyback for a long, long time.
10) Ruby, stronger than dirt.
11) Terry, the one with whom not to fuck.
12) Denny, who just keeps surprising me. You kind of rock, buddy.
13) Julian, and I have to explain it to him, I need to add him to the list of people that need to be smacked. Except that I promised I wouldn't. Damn.

Heh.

You Are Low Maintenance

Otherwise known as "too good to be true" You're one laid back chica - and men love that! Just remember that no good guy likes a doormat. So if you find your self going along to get along... Stop yourself and put up a little bit of a fight.

Are You A High Maintenance Woman?

[QTM] Introduction

It had been years--early high school, had to have been, and that was what, 12 years?--since Baileigh had felt truly nervous and shy and out of sorts amid a group of people. She liked people. She liked meeting new people. But this…this was different. This group of girls would be…well, they’d be her team. Her sisters in arms, and further, they were the first women she’d ever met face to face that were like her. Different. Special. Chosen.

Slayers.

Their Watcher had talked a bit about how things were going to be, that they were expected to follow certain rules and that boundaries would be set, and that just because there was a bright and shining city of sin just an hour away didn’t give them leave to go crazy and party like a sorority. They were here because they had a duty, a calling, and if they couldn’t handle taking a few orders and obeying the rules, then they didn’t belong here.

Right. Like she didn’t already feel as though she had no life outside of this magnificent calling.  Watcher Boy kept on prattling about rules and expectations and she could feel her short attention span reaching the end of it’s frayed little rope.

“…Let’s start with you.”

Baileigh started as a hand touched her shoulder and sent her focus zipping back up it’s rope in a panic. She looked up sharply and blinked a few times. “…Me?”

Watcher Boy blinked and gave her a tolerant, stiff smile. “Yes…introductions? Tell us a little about yourself.”

Oh. Right.

She cleared her throat and rose, somewhat awkwardly, to her feet. “Okay…well, hi. My name is Baileigh. Solis. Bee for short. I, uh…God, I really feel like I should be following that up with ‘and I’m an alcoholic.’” One of the girls hummed softly in quiet laughter, a few smiled. “Not because I am,” she continued in a rush. “Cause, no, I’m not, just, the whole…anyway.” She cleared her throat again, tugged her hair, fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I, uh…I’m from Texas, originally. Actually, what am I saying, I never really left before now.  Let’s see, I’ve been a Slayer for…well, as long as you guys have, duh, that’s a given, I don‘t even know why I said that at all--” The brunette sitting next to her scoffed impatiently and muttered something under her breath. Baileigh flushed and cleared her throat yet again. “I, uh…I’m 26. That…apparently makes me the oldest one here. I’m a Taurus. Okay, that just makes me sound like I’m in a singles bar. I’m not usually like this. I can usually put sentences together very well, I swear. Um. Let‘s see, uh…I was raised by my grandmother. She died, almost ten years ago. It‘s okay though, she‘s covered, after life wise, I mean, man, that woman loved her confession. Uh. I‘m a waitress, or, I used to be, I guess I‘m really not anymore…Is that enough? Can I be done now?”

“I imagine that’s sufficient for the time being,” Watcher Boy replied with a dip of his head, gesturing towards the girl sitting at  Baileigh’s left. “We’ll move this way, now…”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Baileigh sat back down and kept her head lowered, letting her hair hide her burning face.

Well, that had been downright mortifying and a wonderful way to kick things off, really.

[QTM] April Topic

The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open. --Chuck Palahniuk

I am not a guarded person. In fact, I pretty much wear my heart right on my sleeves. My emotions go to the extreme. If I’m happy, I’m really, really happy. If I’m not, I’m really, really not. There’s not much in between for me, which I’m sure some people find annoying. But it’s just me. It’s just how I am, and do not utter the words ‘bi-polar’ or I will smack you upside the head. It’s not something that can be treated, okay? It’s how I’ve always been.

And more to the point, it’s not a conscious decision that I have to make every day, which I guess it is for most people. Putting myself out there, unguarded and without much restraint…yes, it makes me vulnerable. Yes, my feelings can get hurt very easily. But you know what? At the end of the day, I’m a pretty happy girl. I have my down moments, and while they are, like I said, very extreme, they don’t last long at all. Not in comparison. Sure, the bad stuff is generally what stands out in our minds when we think about the past, but I’m pretty sure if I calculated the minutes I’ve spent sulking or crying and the minutes I’ve spent laughing and smiling? The latter would win out, hands down.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying that I have some grand, Zen-like solution to all the unhappiness in the world. The way I live and interact, it probably wouldn’t work for most people.

I just don’t know any other way to be.

Baileigh Solis
BtVS OC
Word Count: 260