Even Evil Laywers Have to Eat

[vicious_bmantle]

Who: Lilah and Wesley
Where: The Grocery Store
When: Afternoonish?
What: Paying people to do this means it not getting done right, you know?
Status: Complete

Comments

[vicious_bmantle]

Lilah hadn't really noticed another hand coming down for the can she was going for until it bumped into hers. "No, don't worry about it," she said before her mind processed the voice. So, it seemed that even Wesley had to do normal things like grocery shopping. Of course, he had Max, so him shopping made a lot more sense than her shopping.

She wondered why it was him that was doing the shopping today. Sure, he didn't have anyone that he could pay to do this sort of thing. However, he had Cordelia Chase, who seemed to be able to thrive on spending any sort of money, even if it was on something as mundane as food instead of the designer knockoffs that she seemed to wear a lot.

When she looked up, the first person her eyes focused on was Max, who seemed very pleased to see her. A small part of her was a little smug over that fact, since she knew that, if Cordelia knew that, she'd have a fit. Did she know about her and Wesley occasionally running into one another? Lilah sort of doubted it. It would probably make things a lot easier for Wes if she didn't know about those things. Why? Because Cordelia would screech and wail about it until she got her way. As if she didn't know that there were such easier, and more pleasant, ways of getting her way than doing just that.

She gave a smile an a wave to Max, who seemed to just delight in any sort of attention. "Yeah, even I have to buy food for myself every once in a while," she said, turning her attention to Wesley. "Seems that you're stocking up as well. I didn't really think that you liked shopping all that much."

[watcher_pryce]

Amused. Yes, that would probably be the best word to describe how Wesley Wyndam-Pryce felt at the moment. There was still a sad undercurrent and there always would be this time of year. But it had *been* a year, so where he wasn't able to feel any sort of amusement a year ago for obvious reasons? It was a relief to find out he was still capable of such at this time of year, a year later.

Especially when he saw Lilah - the great Lilah Morgan who most people only knew as a cold hearted bitch who'd only look out for her number one self - wave at Max. With a smile on her face. One which extended to Wesley. Probably the only person who had *ever* known the real Lilah Morgan. Still did know her.

Perhaps the only one who had tried to safe her. Lilah herself hadn't even bothered with that he knew.

"I don't," he assured her, automatically pulling a face at the idea of shopping. Any sort of shopping. Bar books and weaponry of course. "It's a necessary evil however." He expertly pried a box of cereal away from Max and replaced it with a strong, plastic bottle of- something, as though he'd done this a thousand times before. Needn't even think about it.

"You buy food for yourself?" He asked, amusement still apparent on his face. A peek into the cart revealed nothing much. Aside from the fact that she was still, for all appearances, human. No one knew better then they how much of a deception an appearance could be.

"Is this because sometimes you want to be out and about from under prying big evil eye," he asked, leaning with his arms on the cart while Max abandoned the bottle to lightly slap his chubby hands against Wesley's cheeks, "or because you can't afford any lackey's to go for you?" There was a slight smile on his face which betrayed that he already knew the answer to that one.

[vicious_bmantle]

Anyone that she worked with (or over) would probably have their mind explode at the fact that Lilah was actually playing a little with a toddler, especially the child of Winnifred Burkle. Lilah never could stand the little Texan, even before she was hovering through Wes's thoughts like an annoying fly that needed to be squashed without a second thought.

"And we all know about necessary evils, don't we?" she asked with a slight tinge of...was it sadness? A part of her just wanted to run from Wolfram & Hart now and never look back. If she had known when she signed on with the firm what she knew now, she may have burned the contract before she ever touched blood to paper. Still, it wasn't like she could go back into the past. Her father always said 'You've made your bed, now lie in it.' It was actually something she still believed in.

"I buy my own food because anyone I hire to do so never buys the right things," she pointed out to him. "It's so hard to find good help these days." Only a tinge of sarcasm there. She honestly wasn't sure she trusted any lackey from W&H to buy her food. They might poison it just to try and take her place, for all she knew. And no, it wasn't fun working in a place that bred such paranoia, thank you for asking.

"I can afford the lackey to do so," she pointed out to him. No, maybe she did want to go out and do something completely normal and away from work once in a while. Seemed kind of strange for the great Lilah Morgan to do, but it was the truth, after all. And sometimes, the truth is the biggest evil that there is. W&H certainly used that fact to their advantage every once in a great while.

[watcher_pryce]

Ah. Well. So much for small talk. He really was atrocious at that sort of thing. Though he had been good with clients - be they Angel Investigation's or Wolfram and Hart's - when it came to his social life he-- well, to use an American phrase, he sucked.

Of course he and Lilah had never before really busied themselves with such trivial matters as small talk. Lord no, they had been far to busy working through their anger, self-hatred and god only knew what else by hard shagging and things that one would associate with these sort of activities. Which, really, he ought not to think about in front of his son.

But how to act like a normal person and do this small talk thing with her? He had no idea. Made him wonder how he managed to stumble through them when they'd met up at the park. For some reason he couldn't - or wouldn't - put his finger on the mood in the park was always different. Here at such an ordinary normal place as the store Wesley felt out of his depth.

"Ah... well," he muttered, not knowing what else to say. Wesley shifted from one leg to the other. Looked up at Lilah, down at Max who was happy to just sit there and try to get his hands on whatever was near. Which in this case seemed to be part of Lilah's no doubt very expensive attire.

"And uh-- how have you-- been?" Oh. Yes. Smooth. Ducking his head, Wesley picked up the bottle Max had dropped and tried to coax the boy's interest back at it and not Lilah's clothes.

[vicious_bmantle]

Lilah's own ability to small talk wasn't very good outside of the office. Hell, if she were honest, it wasn't very good inside the office, either. She had always been a person who wanted to get to the point of things. Not that she had ever really done much small talking with Wes in the first place. It had always either been viper-quick insults or moans and panting. Their relationship hadn't had much talk in it.

Lilah stroked Max's hair absently when he started to tug on her blouse. She actually had some sort of genuine affection toward the kid. Something that she really didn't even want to try to figure out. Probably had *a lot* to do with the fact that she herself saw so much of Wes in him it almost hurt to look at him. She'd rather him not pull the entire blouse off of her with a tug, but she could always buy another blouse.

Her affection for both Wes and Max was why she was about to say what she was going to say soon enough. Really, how had the firm not killed her yet? Her still softness toward Wes couldn't exactly be a good thing in their eyes. Then again, it could all be apart of their greater plan. Not like she understood how they thought.

"I've been alright." Not great, but not terrible, either. "How've you been?" She looked down at cooed a little at Max, whom still seemed to be more interested in her shirt than the bottle Wes was offering. "I hear that someone has a birthday coming up." She was never one for delivering news in one big bunch. Easing into it was always easier.

[watcher_pryce]

Max, it seemed, had been cultivating an interest in other people. Where before he'd barely notice them and was focused on his toys or his food, he now actually seemed to recognize certain people. Wesley and Cordelia he recognized of course since they'd been his main caretakers. But now a huge smile would appear when Gunn or Angel would come over, a shy one for Lorne and a confusing though amused one for Spike. Illyria even got a light laughter whenever she was near.

It was fascinating to watch. As it was fascinating to see that Max recognized Lilah as well, which actually spoke volumes about how often the pair 'ran into' each other. Lilah at first got a shy smile while Max curled up against Wesley as if to hide, yet those small blue eyes kept focusing on the woman who stood near. Then, as if the boy waited for his father and Lilah to be distracted, he became more bold.

Such as trying to smudge of damage the woman's blouse. Babbling at her, trying out her name as he heard Wesley say it, and no doubt telling her about his day. Not that it was understandable unless you were a near one year old toddler yourself. Wesley liked to pretend, as did Gunn and Angel. But unlike the latter two Wesley actually found himself correcting his son's grammar. Much to Cordelia's amusement.

Max, Wesley had no doubt, was going to be far better with small talk babbling then he was. There was no doubt whom he had inherited that from. His mother, who could babble a mile a minute and endear just about anyone with it.

"Oh err..." How was he doing? Considering the scolding he got from near everyone for being depressed he wasn't going to mention that. Did everyone really think he was going to be bloody *cheerful* on the date his almost wife, the mother his child died? Oh he tried for his friends, plaster on a fake smile, pretend interest at what was going on. He didn't feel it though, not this month. Not yet.

"Yes, yes," Wesley nodded, smoothly skipping over the subject of 'how he was' quickly. "Almost a year old," he said proudly, chest not yet puffing but clearly wanting to. "And he's so very smart. I believe the-- ah others," and that sounded *awful* since *he* was supposed to be doing that, "are planning a celebration of sorts." Problem was that while he was trying so bloody hard to be 'cheerful', he couldn't bring himself to organize a birthday party. Besides, he'd get it all wrong anyway and there were plenty of volunteers to do it right. Buffy, Cordelia, Dawn, -- women obviously. Ah.

[vicious_bmantle]

Lilah noticed him glossing right over that question about himself. He always was good at not answering questions about his feelings. In the rare occasion that she had asked him something when they were together about how he was doing (it had happened all of three times, and she remembered each time because it had caught her by surprise that she cared how he was feeling), he would brush past it in a way that, if she weren't a lawyer and used to catching both every little thing a person said and just what they didn't say, she wouldn't have noticed. But she did, and she did this time.

For now, though, she let it go. Since she was here, and she knew something that she knew that Wes would need to know (and how many times could she really do this before she was fired?), messing with his head couldn't quite be on her agenda. For today, anyway. Some might think that she was getting soft in her old age. She wasn't technically old, and thank you for not asking just how old, but she was practically ancient for a Wolfram & Hart employee. Most of them didn't make it to thirty-five, and let's just say that that particular birthday was seven years ago. She also had an excellent plastic surgeon on her bank roll.

"And you're getting your first birthday party. I bet your all excited about that." Something she'd never do: plan a birthday party for her son or daughter. Children at Wolfram & Hart were seen as a commodity by the higher ups, or lower ups, depending on your outlook. Things to be used against an employee if need be, and things to be promised away for a promotion. Lilah could be cold hearted, but she wasn't going to swear away any first born.

"He's smart just like his daddy," Lilah said, looking up at him. "A daddy whom I'm sure would want to know about anything that might want to come along and spoil such a special day." Hint, consider yourself dropped. While Wesley knew that job related problems wouldn't let her just go ahead and spill everything, just warning him showed how much she wanted to just drop everything and spill, didn't it? It wasn't like she was going to Angel every time a thing considering him came along, did she?

Stupid gray areas of life.

[watcher_pryce]

Max clapped his small hands as though he understood what Lilah was saying word for word. Wesley, being the proud father was, beamed at that actually thinking that his son was. Or at least 90% of it. Alright, maybe just 80% or 75? Either way his son looked up at Lilah with a delight only a small yet unspoiled child could manage.

"Well everyone seems to be rather excited about that," Wesley pointed out, "I get the feeling it's going to be quite the celebration." He was mostly nervous about it since he'd been kept out of the loop of the whole preparation bit. But if you had Cordelia and Buffy working together on one side, while Angel, Gunn, Spike and Lorne were working on the other? No one could or should in fact blame him for being nervous. Not even in the slightest.

Lord only knew what this group of people could come up with. Wesley kept reminding himself that they all loved Max - or maybe not love in Spike case but he did like the boy - and that they were all mature adults who knew what they were doing. But no matter how many times he told himself that, it wasn't working.

Neither were the looks or the hinted veiled remarks Gunn or Cordelia would give, or the sometimes giddy look on Angel's face as though he was hiding a big secret, or the mutterings of beer coming from Spike. One had to wonder what was going on if the only reassurance one would get were from the only two full demons in their group. Lorne and Illyria at least behaved like themselves.

Wesley gave Lilah a bemused look when she mentioned how smart father and son were and recalled a time were she'd have said something completely different. Then again they had been completely different. Time changed and so did people, Wesley liked to think it had been for the better mostly. Not that he had time to think about that past for long - nor wanted to, too much - when he heard Lilah's next words.

Coming from anyone else and maybe a few years ago from her as well, he would have taken such a remark as a thread. Against him, his family, his *son*. It was a thread in a way, but not coming from her. Wesley heard what he heard right away. A warning.

"That would be a given," he said carefully and without realising he had picked his son up from his seat in the car and held him protectively close. "What or whom might possibly come along and spoil such a day I wonder?" he asked next, eyes narrowing just a little bit as he looked at his ex-lover.

[vicious_bmantle]

She knew that her words would not be taken lightly. She didn't want them to be taken lightly. She actually considered Wes to be a friend. Well, maybe not a friend, per say, but the closest to one that someone in her line of work could ever truly have. And that spoke for the occasionally sad life that Lilah truly led. The fact that she had no friends. If it weren't for the huge salt quantities in the frozen dinners, Lilah could just stock up on Hungry Man Dinners for one and be done with it, as far as shopping went. She had no spouse or kids to speak of. She didn't even keep a pet, because she was gone so much.

It was the life that she had chosen, though. She personally felt that she was doing good to be truly alive again, and not in that fake dead state that the Partners usually kept people in when their perpetuity contracts kicked in. She supposed that she was just lucky, although she was sure that luck had nothing to do with it. No, the Senior Partners always had a plan up their sleeves when they did something.

"The same thing that always spoils your day, Wes," she said, keeping her tone light even though what she was thinking about was anything but. She watched as he hugged his son closer to his chest. A small part of her wondered that, if they had ever ran away and gotten married in some fairy land that obviously wasn't her reality, would he have been so protective over any child that she had? Most certainly, but some nasty part of her nearly snarled that he was all the more protective because it was the child of his precious Fred, too. Damn, now she's jealous of a dead girl. How depressing is that?

"Prophecies never really did agree with you, did they?" She had actually found this one on her own. She wasn't intentionally looking for stuff on them, but, during her usual research for work, she had found it just the same. A prophecy pertaining to Wes's son. Not a good one, either. They usually weren't.

[watcher_pryce]

"Dirty diapers? Spilled milk? Cramps?" he named the few things that most assuredly didn't make his day but were still part of the whole package. The joke - if it was even that - fell flat though. When Lilah said things like that Wesley never took them lightly. Especially not after having worked for Wolfram and Hart himself.

It was a good thing they had all but destroyed that damn firm. What was left now were a few branches here and there who had lost their over sight. Wesley thought the one here was probably doing so well only because Lilah was mostly in charge of it. Lilah knew how to fly under the radar and with Wolfram and Hart being to busy rebuilding themselves to their full strength in this dimension she could do so for a long time.

Especially when the Angel and Buffy troops kept knocking the former Senior Partners down. Years before it had cost them dearly to do so, but they were still plucking the fruits of it today.

That, however, wasn't going to help his son in any way. Wesley winced when he heard there was yet *another* prophecy. "No. No they usually don't," he said softly, rubbing a hand over his son's back soothingly. The boy, of course, didn't notice much of his father's distress. Repressing emotions and feelings were like second nature to Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and he did it without thinking these days. So Max cuddled up against Wesley's shoulder and dozed a bit.

"And what might be in this-- prophecy? Or better yet, where can I find this prophecy?"

[vicious_bmantle]

She could tell that he was trying to joke. Sometimes it was easier to joke around that face the truth. She had done so for years while working at Wolfram & Hart. She barely knew how to interact with other people that she worked over these days without making sarcastic jokes at their expense. Luckily, she was over all of them, so it didn't matter what she said to anyone that she worked with, anymore.

It was also probably a good thing that she didn't have too much to worry about with bosses over her these days, what with helping Wes at nearly every turn. They'd have her head if things were like they used to be. Of course, it would only be a matter of time before they were back up to their old strength again. Then she'd have to answer for all of this help. Still, she could only hope that was a long time away.

"We have the prophecy." He knew exactly who 'we' meant, too. He had to, by this point. "The translators that work for the firm are mostly useless, though." While they were, she still knew what it said. She was just wary of saying such a thing out loud. Even if the firm wasn't at it's normal strength, you never knew who was listening in on any conversation.

"Actually, I have an idea," she said to him, smiling. "It's in both of our interests to know what that prophecy says. Why don't I send it to you? This wouldn't be the first time that the firm outsourced for a translation. I can have it overnighted to your home and you can translate it." He'd have the prophecy, figure out what it said, and be able to do what he needed to do to help Max. No harm, no foul. Plus, it was always good to have favors, right?

[watcher_pryce]

Of course 'they' had the prophecy. Why was Wesley not even remotely surprised by this. Even as knocked down and out for the count as the Senior Partners and their bloody firm were after Angel got through with them? They were always going to cling onto a big portion of the cake. Problem right now was that they had big trouble eating said cake once they had it. Well, a problem for them, not for the rest of the world.

At least it freed Lilah up to do things like these. Though, Wesley would like to think she'd have done it at any rate. For him at least. Yes, he sometimes was that delusional. When it came to that, he had to be in order to believe the world was going to be a better place for his son. Perhaps this was something only parents did. Wesley didn't know, nor did he care at the moment.

In any case... The Senior Partners being out for the count meant Lilah was somewhat safe for now, which reassured Wesley immensely. One he'd find a way for her to get out from under the contract as well - as if he didn't have enough research on his plate to give him a permanent migraine - if he and his friends could do it, then so could Lilah. Though he wasn't delusional enough to think that she'd use her talents for good, but he could hope.

"Ah yes, I had noticed that the last few times," he murmured. It was hard not think about the very important prophecies and how he had misinterpreted them. Of course he'd been duped and led astray with the one about-- Connor. But still, he had been the translator, he should've seen it, he should've told someone. But he hadn't anyone around back then. Hadn't known Lorne well enough, hadn't any contact with Giles or other watcher.

This time it would be different. He was not going to loose another child. And selfishly he realised it was even more important because it was his own bloody son.

Wesley's eyebrows rose slightly at the mention of an idea and even more so when said idea was laid out. Clever one, Miss Lilah Morgan. If only she wasn't wasted on this damn firm. Wesley found himself nodding and at the same time making a mental not to step up the escape plan for one Lilah Morgan. No matter what the rest said, they didn't know her the way Wesley had. Of course this damn prophecy and his son were the number one priority *now*.

"That sounds like an acceptable agreement," Wesley said, rubbing his large hand over the small back of his son's head. He gave Lilah an intense stare, eyes narrowing. He took in his surrounding before lowering his voice and saying "Thank you. Lilah."

[vicious_bmantle]

She personally wondered if he still wanted to get her away from the firm. She could still remember him going all 'Batman' with the gadgets to go through the firm and find her contract, only to realize that burning it would do no good. 'Flames wouldn't be eternal if they actually consumed anything.' It had meant so much to her that he tried. Someone tried to do a good thing for her, even if it was pointless.

Of course, then she had been dead. Now she was truly alive again. Probably because she was the one person on the planet right now with the most experience still intact. It was probably a mixture of pure luck and wits (mostly luck) that she hadn't been caught giving Wes little hints here and there yet. She personally hoped that the Senior Partners stayed off course for a while yet. While she may never be a 'good' person, she had her own reasons for doing what she did. Sometimes that just put her in a different path than the firm would have liked.

She nodded when he said that it was acceptable. "I'll have it at your home in the morning," she said to him. "I'm sure you can do more with it than any of our translators have been able to do." Another double sided phrase. Of course he could. He'd help his son with it, and her own translators would only sit on it, trying to find a way to use it to the firm's own purposes. Something that could be irritating at times, if she was honest.

"You're welcome," she said softly, reaching up to ruffle Max's hair gently again. "I should probably get going. He looks like me might be ready for a nap."