It had been a long, long drive over...

[watcher_pryce]

Who: Angel, Spike and Wesley
Where: Angel's hotelroom?
When: Shortly after Fred, Wesley and Spike arrived by car.
What: The Brits meet up with the boss.
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[watcher_pryce]

A look was given to Angel, one which was filled with confusion and maybe a little hurt. On the one hand Wesley was certain he was, perhaps, imagining things. On the other hand he knew that he wasn't. Angel had been treating him differently then before or any of the others. He just couldn't figure out *why* this was.

But everytime he tried to think of 'before' or even figure out when exactly 'before' had become 'now'? He either got a headache, or got distracted, or just... forgot about it. It was rather a strange occurrence.

When Angel assured Wesley he was good for more then just his handwriting - even though that same Angel had just told him it was a horrid handwriting so how much value should he put in that statement - Wesley made a none committal sound. These days he didn't really know what he was good for. There was Fred with all her genius smarts and knowledge of demons due to her stay in Pylea. And there was Gunn who was slowly turning into Angel's right hand man with is artificial intelligence as well as the brawn.

Where did that leave Wesley? A little lost, stranded between the docks and the ship so to speak. Not a good thing, considering he couldn't swim. Metaphorical or not.

"Right," he muttered, turning around on the balls of his feet and walking out the door. "These," he corrected Angel, quite possibly to spite him. Or in an attempt to show Angel that Wesley did know what he was talking about. "Plural. It's the name of a tribe, not the name of one-- being."

He walked out the building and blinked when he realised something. "Errr... Have we rented vehicles?" He would assume so, Wolfram and Hart being nothing but sufficient. The question alone was... where had they hidden these vehicles?

[angelic_liam]

Angel was already mentally kicking himself, and the look that Wesley was giving him made it all the worse. Still, right now they had a job to do, which would give him and Wes something else to think about, which is obviously what they needed. Besides, there was a new Hellmouth to think of, and a group of demons whom Angel had to be especially nice to in order to gain them as allies in this city. Sometimes he really hated being the head of a law firm now. He had to keep being nice to people, which was obviously something he kind of sucked at, vampire pun aside.

"OK, these, plural," Angel said, biting back a sarcastic response in order to make things easier. Once again, Wes didn't know what Angel was holding against him. If it weren't for the fact that he feared Wolfram & Hart would use it as an excuse to get to him in some way or another, he would have taken them up on their numerous offers for him to see a shrink. It would probably be good for him to actually talk to someone who knew what was going on with him.

"Yeah, we've got cars," Angel said, leading the way out of the hotel room and down to the car garage. Cars as in plural. They had one that Cordy and Gunn were using at the moment in their bar crawl across Bourbon Street. They had one for Angel, and they even had a couple of extra ones just because they knew Angel's car fetish.

When they got down to the garage, several cars were waiting on them. "Got one that you'd rather? Would you like to show off to these demon guys or would you like to be more subtle?"

[watcher_pryce]

It should not come as a huge surprise that the cars they had were of the extravagant sort and yet it somehow did. Unlike Gunn, Angel and possibly Cordelia, Wesley could care less about cars. As long as it drove, kept him dry and warm, it was fine by him. He had never understood that protective streak both Gunn and Angel had showed where their car or truck had been concerned.

Hell, Wesley didn't even have it for his motor cycle, he only saw that as an easier mode of transportation to get somewhere fast. That made him wonder if the firm had some of those stashed away as well. Then again knowing Wolfram and Hart? They probably had. They were more prepared then Wesley himself usually was. And despite his 'preparation, preparation, preparation' rule? It made him a little on edge just *how* prepared this firm was.

Wesley suspected mind readers and had put his training to block those to good use. His lessons at the Watchers Academy sometimes did come in useful.

"Uhm, I'm not certain if they care. We might want to go for just average," Wesley shrugged, walking over to the car that looked the least noticeable. The last thing he wanted was to attract attention, Wesley really hated that. He waited for Angel to show up with the keys, leaving it to the vampire to do the driving so his friend had something other to focus on then this--- still confusing to Wesley -- anger.

"Lets see if I can get this thing to work," he muttered, grabbing the navigation system from the dash. He probably had more luck then Angel on that count. "Otherwise just drive to the ah-- Arabi? I believe," he mumbled, fiddling with both the navigation system as well as rooting through his pockets. "Small town just outside of New Orleans."

[angelic_liam]

Angel wasn't sure if these demons would care about things like that. Some demons liked it when you flashed your status in their face, because it made them feel like they had more status by being around you. It made others made because it seemed pretentious. Demons were like people that way, completely unpredictable.

He headed toward the car that Wesley picked. They probably didn't want to attract too much attention to themselves, anyway. Besides, driving too flashy of a car was a good way to ask for a mugging or car jacking in any city. Not that he couldn't handle it, but it would just be a pain in the ass to deal with.

Pulling the keys out of his pocket. "Those things are either very easy to work or completely impossible," Angel said as he slid into the driver's seat. Then again, Angel still occasionally had problems with cell phones and computers. Things like G.P.S.'s were way beyond his level of expertise.

Nodding to Wesley's direction of just to head to Arabi, he started the car and started to pull out of the garage. He had actually seen a sign for Arabi around town, so he knew the general direction of where he needed to head. At least they were lucky in that aspect. "So, do these guys speak English, or will you have to do all the talking for us?" Always fun to just stand there and look stupid while someone else talked, except not at all.

[watcher_pryce]

"Well, lets see if I can figure it out," Wesley muttered, squinting at the device. These contact lenses really were starting to annoy him. They made his eyes burn and tear up, irritating him to the point they were starting to hurt. He ought to go back to wearing his glasses again. To be honest, Wesley for the life of him couldn't remember *why* he had started wearing contact lenses at all.

Because really, the only reason one made such a drastic change after having no problem wearing glasses for over thirty year was if one's life had changed drastically. Or of one was trying to impress. Wesley was always trying to impress to the point he didn't even notice it any longer. He didn't recall any life changing moments other then them all starting to work for the enemy. But-- he'd recall if he started wearing contact lenses then wouldn't he?

It was one of these small annoying things that irked Wesley. That made the already paranoid former watcher even more so. That made him start to wonder why it was he couldn't recall certain things with clarity. Such as having an affair with Lilah Morgan but not recalling *why* in heavens name he'd do such a thing! All of that was giving him a headache. It was better to focus on the here and now and what did one know...

...he got the damn device to work. "That should do it," he muttered, clicking it back on it's holder on the dashboard. "Some speak English, some don't. It all depends on who you run into as it were. Not to mention the mood the leader of the clan and their wise shaman like figures are in," he shrugged as he leaned against the door to stare out into the darkness that was passing as Angel drove them to their destination.

"Where are Gunn and Cordelia by the way," he asked, "I haven't seen them and they weren't in their rooms as I went to greet them."

[angelic_liam]

Angel watched briefly while Wes tried to figure out the GPS tracking system then returned his eyes to the road. Hopefully he and Wes could figure out just where in the hell they were supposed to be going before it was next Tuesday, you know. He himself also wasn't sure when Wes started wearing contacts. A part of him missed his bespectacled friend, then again, he missed a lot of things these days.

Angel nodded and grinned when Wes said that he had gotten the GPS to work. "Good," he said to him. "Then we're doing good so far." He smirked a little when Wes said that the demons spoke English basically whenever they wanted to, which depended on their mood. "So, they're basically like everyone else who speaks English as a second language: the speak it when they want to."

"Gunn and Cordelia are out on the town tonight," Angel said to Wes as he kept driving to the town that he at least knew that they were heading to. "I think they went to Bourbon Street, which means that they'll be hung over in the morning, which means we should wake them up really early by banging stuff around in their room to annoy them."

OK, so that would be rude, but it would be kind of funny, too, and would teach them about why they shouldn't run off and get drunk while they were SUPPOSED to be doing some research about a new Hellmouth. Yep, Angel was kind of an asshole. If he had to be doing work, then so should everyone else.

[watcher_pryce]

"Actually, most people who speak English or any other language aside from their mother tongue are quite eager to show it off," Wesley disagreed, "Bar the French and the German rumour has it. And well, demons, but the latter is more a show of power then not willing to speak the language." Good lord, he was lecturing again. Everytime he caught himself doing so he could hear Cordelia's voice in his head. 'No one likes a smart arse Rogue Demon Hunter, Wes'.

So Wesley quickly shut his mouth and alternated glancing between the route navigator and the scenery passing outside his window. A frown creased his forehead when Angel told him Gunn and Cordelia were out on the town having fun. Of course it was followed by a look of disapproval at Angel's next suggestion. That wouldn't be very nice of them to do. Then again, here he and Angel were, working, while those two were out having fun. Hmmm. The look of disapproval vanished to be replaced by one of tentative approval.

"Aren't we here to work?" he asked, just to get conformation of that fact. Sure, they were allowed to have fun as well. But after the crisis was averted, at least that was Wesley's idea. Hell, even Spike was out there working! Oh, oh yes, he was going to rub that in their faces. Gunn at least would find that annoying, Cordelia probably as well. But that was later, maybe, right now Angel and he had to work. Unlike some who were out having fun.

The car descended into a sort of comfortable silence which was only possible between friends with whom bouts if not speaking wasn't received as awkward. Neither Wesley nor Angel were talkers and enjoyed these moments of quiet with only the soft tune of the radio playing in the background. Still, it took a while longer then Wesley thought before they reached their destination. But at least the navigation system hadn't led them astray.

"Well," Wesley sighed as Angel parked the car. "Time for some Intel gathering." He undid his seatbelt and got out of the car. The first thing he did was stretch his back and long legs which hadn't gotten stiff from sitting so long. Meanwhile he kept a keen eye open to see where they'd find this demonic clan. Chances were, their coming had already been noticed and the demon clan would find them.