[OPEN] [COMPLETE]

[more_ofadoer]

Who: Angel (still_brooding), Faith Lehane (more_ofadoer)
When: August 13, after Angel's arrival
Where: Commons, lurking in the shadows
Rating: PG-13, language
Summary: Faith and Angel go looking for a butcher, general exploring. Takes place following the doings in Angel's arrival post, to avoid accidental infomodding.

Comments

cont.

[more_ofadoer]

After his sigh, Faith continued. Better to lay it all out while he was dealing with the other shit. "She's also uh, from a different planet or something. Gaia. Calls her magic Materia, which -- whatever. Tomato, potato."

Faith pressed her lips together and nonchalantly added something she wasn't loving at the end, quickly. "Also, I'm not exactly up to snuff here." She stopped and pulled up her pant leg to show Angel her mangled heel. It'd begun to scab over but by now it should've been mostly bruised and itchy. "Happened days ago, Angel, when I almost got killed by some of the more tricky fuckers." Her voice was quiet, ashamed.

Re: cont.

[still_brooding]

Now Angel was concerned. Not about the magic. That was slid to the back of his mind when Faith showed him her heel. His whole face scrunched up with worry. He crouched down to get a closer look at the wound, touching it lightly with his fingertips.

He looked up at her, still obviously worried. "Alright, until we figure this out, I'd like to patrol with you. Have you noticed anything else besides your healing time being affected?"

[more_ofadoer]

Now she really wished she hadn't told him, but Faith begrudgingly answered his question while trying to ignore the fact that he wanted to babysit her. "I dunno, I guess I'm not really as strong as I should be."

Actually having to say it all out loud was not going easy for her. She tried to make it sound like not much of a big deal at all, but the truth was, being a slayer was what made Faith tick. Being left without that, it made her feel like a fucking victim.

"Bet I could still kick your broody ass, though," she joked, in an attempt to get some control back.

[still_brooding]

That made Angel look more concerned and he stood up, hands going back in his pockets. He knew Faith wouldn't be thrilled about the 'baby sitting' but it wasn't something he was willing to compromise on. There weren't enough people left in the world that he cared about. If she didn't let him patrol with her, he'd just shadow (aka Stalk) her.

"I'd be disappointed in you if you couldn't," Angel smiled a little at her. "Is anyone else here affected the same way?"

[more_ofadoer]

It was sufficient enough to help her ignore the bad. "And we can't have that. Think I'm making up for it in the brain department." She'd noticed her aim was better than perfect and she seemed to be more aware of her surroundings as well. If she'd let it, her spidey sense would've made her jitter apart with Angel's presence.

"Dunno. Mostly kind of kept to myself and lot of people here have guns, so you know. Less reliant on natural ability and hard for me to gauge." She'd probably tolerate the babysitting, if for no other reason than to not feel so alone.

[still_brooding]

"Yeah?" Angel asked, curious what she meant by that. He'd never thought Faith was dumb. He would have been really upset if her slayer sense had kept her away from him.

"I hate guns," he remarked. He really did too. He always ended up being shot with them if they were around. Getting shot hurt.

[more_ofadoer]

She nods and wiggles her fingers in the air around her head. "Yeah, you're hardcore on my radar, and I got a few others, too, but I'm not too keen on dropping in on 'em cold, you know?" Which, for Faith, was actually quite a bit of restraint. Being able to sense Angel's presence actually provided a little security, once she got it to calm down.

"You ain't alone on that." She hated them for the guilty reason. After shooting him, even with normal bullets? Faith was definitely not a fan; guns made her go crazy.

[still_brooding]

"Sorry," Angel apologized sheepishly even though he couldn't help setting her radar off. "Yeah, I wouldn't be either." And again that was saying something. He wasn't exactly known for his restraint.

"They work on the things here though?" He knew how to use a gun and if it behooved him to do so, he'd get over hating them.

[more_ofadoer]

She nodded, frowning because the fact that they do so wasn't fair. "Yeah, guy that saved my ass, he blasted the shit out of them. But I dunno, seems like you'd run out of bullets after awhile," Faith replied.

She looked sharply at Angel and then rolled her eyes. "Dude, no, it's cool, my head's crystal now."

[still_brooding]

"And you really don't want to run out of ammunition in the middle of a battle," Angel agreed with a tone that suggested he had first hand experience in that scenario. "At least with a sword as long as you keep it sharp, it'll last you for centuries."

He nodded in response to her assurance that the whole vampire thing wasn't driving her crazy. "It took me a long time to get used to the way being close to a slayer felt."

[more_ofadoer]

Faith smiled at that hint of recollection in his voice and nodded in agreement. "Same with the daggers I had on me. Luckily I was on a patrol when I popped into here."

She pondered over his last comment for a little bit. Faith never really considered that it worked both ways, and she was more surprised at that than the fact itself. "For real? Is it like ours? The kind of, I dunno, nausea in my gut?"

[still_brooding]

"That is convenient. I can't imagine showing up in this place without any weapons," Angel said with a hint of a smile. He shrugs at her second question.

"With me it's more of...a tingle down my spine but a strong one. Like an electric current. Heightens the whole fight or flight instinct." He was quiet a moment before he spoke again. "Sometimes they don't know who you are. The young ones. They think it's part of being a vamp. The tingly feeling."

[more_ofadoer]

She chuckled and poked Angel in the back. "No wonder-- ahh, nevermind. Kinda funny though, you get a happy tingly around us and we wanna toss our cookies."

Faith thought for a moment, rolling her lips between her teeth before finally speaking up. "You know, it's better when you're in there. When I had to-- when it's Angelus, the feeling was way stronger."

[still_brooding]

Angel shook his head, chuckling softly at her happy tingly comment. He knew where she was going with and he appreciated that she didn't go there. He sobered at her next comment though. He nodded in response, shoulders hunching.

"Makes sense. He's a bigger threat than I am."

And don't you ever forget it Soulboy

[more_ofadoer]

"Nah," she said casually, though she felt pretty strongly about it. "Just cause he's more evil doesn't mean he's stronger. Pretty sure I recall me takin' him and then you whoopin' his ass inside your noggin."

Faith tossed him a cocky grin and threw a light punch into his shoulder. No chance for brooding, if it were up to Faith. Hell, she'd rather annoy him than let him get all dark and downer.

[still_brooding]

"He's not stronger," Angel admitted. "He's just...more vicious." It was a kind word for what Angelus was. He appreciated the attempt to keep him from brooding.