A change of pace.
After stumbling through the mysterious door that had appeared back in the lab, Connor found the sudden change of scene more than a little disorienting. He had gone from the sterile, white walls and loud clicks of Fred’s lab to an entirely different setting. Still frowning, he took a few steps forward and let the door from the lab close behind him.
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'Pretty' before. Now it's crystal. Someone wasn't too concerned with teaching this kid about the real world. Birds and bees and babies, you would just assume that teenagers would know. So what if Connor didn't come from a place where he had television and video games to ruin his mind, human nature could have done it for him.
Hadn't he ever seen a hot girl before?
"So I'm an idiot. Are you happy now?"
Great, now I get to deal with Angel's bitter offspring, and I have no one to blame for it but myself. Could he be a little more mad at the world? Someone must have burned him pretty bad, and now I know it wasn't a girl.
Unless...no, Angel's son couldn't be gay. That would defy everything about the world we know to be true.
"Hey, I did not call you an idiot, I wouldn't. I'm just having a hard time figuring you out, kiddo. You might remember me from your other world, but I didn't make it that far into the future, or the past, whatever. I'm sorry if I made you feel stupid, but if it helps, I feel kinda dumb too."
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Connor was beginning to realized that Cordelia was in a similar situation to Fred. At first, he thought she might be different. She had seemed to know who he was, though she'd been lacking a lot of the details. She remembered him as a baby. She recognized him as Angel's son. He'd thought, maybe even hoped that she might know a little more... then he wouldn't have felt so alone. But no. She was like Fred. She didn't know anything about him or where he came from.
He knew it wouldn't be long before he was expected to start explaining things again.
"I don't like it here," he said out loud, talking to himself as much as Cordelia. On that note, he couldn't think of any place that he'd been that he particularly liked. This island might have been the best of the bunch, even. Not like that was saying a whole lot.
"I don't know anyone. I'm tired of going from place to place where noone knows me. I'm tired of just not knowing anything." He sighed. Hopefully Fred would find a way to get everyone back where they belonged soon. Los Angeles might not have been much better than the island, but at least there, he had something of a plan. He had Justine. He had his vengeance. For a little while longer, at least, he would have Fred and Gunn until he figured out what to do with them. After that... well, he didn't know what would come next, but he was sure it was better than being stranged on some strange island with a bunch of even stranger people.
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"You think you're the only one who feels that way?"
Excuse me if I'm being a little rough on Angel's son, but this poor me act is starting to get old. He made a mistake, I apologized for giving him a hard time about it. I was the one who had to suffer for his lack of knowledge regarding the birds and the bees, but I also was mature enough to let it go. I'm trying to be nice to him, and I want to give Connor a chance to have a friend here. However, he's making it harder than it has to be.
"We're all stuck here Connor, and none of us know why. Either you can keep whining about it, or you can be my friend."
Maybe where he comes from, we're already friends. Or maybe he hates me, and that's why he's acting like he has a stick up his ass. Either way, our old lives won't matter to us until we're back in them. We could be stuck here for a day, or for eternity, and just in case it's eternity, he might want to work on his people skills.
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"No," Connor admitted, "We're all strangers here." At least they all had something in common. He liked to think that he was justified in feeling so alone, and to a certain point, he knew that he was, but those sentiments didn't hold quite as much water here, and Cordelia had called him on it. They were all in the same boat now.
"We're all stuck here Connor, and none of us know why. Either you can keep whining about it, or you can be my friend."
"You want me to be your friend?"
The Cordelia he knew... well, he didn't know very well at all. They had met very briefly after he left Quor'toth. He distinctly remembered holding a knife to her throat, but she hadn't panicked. She took hold of him and... well, she did something. Even now, he couldn't exactly place what she'd done. All he knew was that things were different now. A lot of the rage and the madness he'd felt then had subsided, and he was able to think and see a little more clearly than he had before. He and that Cordelia weren't exactly friends, but she had been kind to him. She had helped him. She was the only one who didn't return the thorny attitude he had given everyone else. He knew he probably deserved to be treated like an outsider -- he'd certainly been asking for it with his behavior -- but the fact that Cordelia had continued to be nice to him stood out. He thought that must say a lot about her. If he knew a little more about the human nature, he might be able to figure out exactly what.
But this Cordelia? He didn't think he'd done anything to merit friendship.
"... I'd like that."
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Didn't he hear doesn't keep up his whiny woe-is-me act. It's severely dull, and this place is already boring enough for me. I'm used to fighting demons, not basking in the sun at a tropical resort.
I have no right to complain about being here.
Despite the fact that the multi-colored fashion fiasco is after us, this place isn't so bad. There's the sun, the five star resort; it's pretty here. If certain evil people would get their own island, I'd enjoy it a lot more, but all things considered, I've been trapped in worse places than this. Maybe they'll make me ruler.
"... I'd like that."
"Okay."
Angel's son is going to be my friend. The one whose diapers I'd still be changing if we didn't both happen to be stuck here. I guess stranger things have happened, especially in my world. Probably in his two.
"Would it kill you to smile a little?"
Maybe I'm pushing it, but the kid needs to cheer up a little. This isn't the end of the world, its like..the Bahamas.
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Despite his bad attitude, he had managed to befriend both Fred and Cordelia now... sort of. Maybe the island wasn't so bad after all. Even with everything that had happened since that demon had dumped him in the sand, he was doing better than he had been back in Los Angeles. It went without saying that this place was an improvement over Quor'toth.
"Would it kill you to smile a little?"
"I guess not." He forced a small, tight smile, and was a little surprised when he found that it came easier than he'd expected. He wondered if it looked unnatural on him. Maybe it was a little easier to be happy when you weren't focusing all of your energy into hating everyone.
"That better?"
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"Much. You should do it more often."
I smiled back at him to show Connor that I could do the same.
Gee, I wonder who else I've advised to look more optimistic. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree; it's not coincidence that they both happen to have equally nice smiles. Connor looks like he could be a heartbreaker if he set his mind to it. There aren't many hearts capable of being broken around here, but I'm sure we could find him some island hottie. We're probably not alone here. There has to be a Gilligan or a Maryanne around somewhere.
"I'm going to get dressed now."
Which means that he has to either turn around or leave the room. I'm not concerned about him trying to sneak a peak, he already saw the twin queens, and Connor was embarrassed enough to know that he has to look away next time.
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"Oh... right."
That was probably a good idea. Since they'd started talking, Connor had forgotten that Cordelia still lacked... proper clothing. He hadn't really been paying attention to her clothing itself. He'd been more focused on what they'd both been saying, and what he saw before she had gone and covered herself up.
Doing what he figured must be the normal thing to do, he turned his back to her again, folding his arms over his chest and fixing his gaze on the opposite wall. "I won't look," he promised, just in case she had any doubts. Now that he knew being seen without clothes was something other people seemed to be embarrassed about... he thought it might be best to check and make sure he was following all of these new and confusing social guidelines correctly.
"Unless you just want me to leave?"
That was always an option, too. He didn't particularly want to leave, but thought he should ask.
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"I know."
The kid's embarrassed enough from the looking he did the first time. He's also discoved sex, which is overwhelming enough when you first figure it out. He won't look, he's probably too afraid to.
"Unless you just want me to leave?"
"You keep your eyes directed at something other than me, and we're good."
I started sorting through the clothes to see if I could find something decent to wear. Spike, dusted lustbunny extraordinare, ruined my bikini top before Connor staked him. I didn't mind at the time, but now I'm more than half-naked and sexually frustrated. I mind plenty when the results don't work in my favor. I haven't been 'favored' in at least...
I'm not going to think about that. If I think about it, I'm going to lose my mind.
I found a black bikini in my size and changed into it. Deciding that it might be a little too much for Connor to take, I threw a red tube-dress over it. For a deserted island, the clothing selection was practically to die for.
"You can look now. Feel free to compliment."
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I was hesitant to turn around after what had happened earlier with Spike and the hanger and no clothing and... but Cordelia herself had said it was alright. I didn't know why I was afraid to look, or what I might have been afraid of seeing. I'd already seen plenty. More than was really necessary, even.
I finally turned around to find Cordelia dressed in a.... what was that, anyway? I guess it could be classified as some kind of dress. I smiled at her a little. She looked nice. Cordelia always looked nice.
"You look good." She was probably expecting more than that. Was I supposed to tell her she was pretty? Was that appropriate? I wasn't really sure.
"I think you could look good in anything." That's the gospel truth.
((OOC: OMG Christine is writing in first-person of her own volition! ::a snowflake falls in hell::))
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