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[lockless_key]

The door behind me can't slam loudly enough. I stomp several feet down the street before I make myself stop and breathe. God! How could Anya... we were her friends! I mean, I know she's feeling hurt and rejected, no duh with the whole vengeance thing, but why is she being such a... bitch to us now? We were her friends, we took her in, accepted her

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[soon_to_be_blue]

I smile sheepishly and shrug.

"Yeah, it seems a bit crazy round here, but then again, working with Angel in LA, I am no stranger to wiggy lifestyles."

I was glad that Dawn was talking to me, and she seemed more relaxed now that we were out here on the street and that she had someone to talk to.

All the same...following my last statement about LA, that left us just standing here staring at each other. One of those awkward silences that occurs usually when you meet someone new and aren't sure what to say next.

...and having been a semi-shy girl all my life always made it a little hard.

But as I said...working with Angel...

...it changes some things, and this gal isn't going to let shyness beat her.

"So...you want to go get coffee or something? I'm new in town, and feel a little lost here with all the people who basically seem to be family to each other, so it would be nice to get to know a real resident of Sunnydale."

I pause.

"...and who knows? Maybe I can help you find out what you wanted to know about Angel, after all, working with him gives me some perks...I get the inside scoop."

I smile.

"Whadda ya say?"

[lockless_key]

"Yeah, sure." I smile at Fred. Good thing she doesn't seem too wigged out by freaky Sunnydale stuff. I guess working with Angel in LA, you get to see your share of freaky stuff, just LA-style. You just can't get away from the freaky.

"The Espresso Pump is just across the street, and it's like, the best coffee place in town. And, okay, pretty much the only coffee place in town, but it's good, so we're pretty lucky." Okay, babbling again, here goes Dawn the crazy girl. I motion to Fred to follow and begin walking towards the Pump.

"And I can fill you in on Sunnydale stuff, while we're at it," I suggest. She called me a real resident. Hah, real, it's all relative here. "You know, if you can keep track of it all."

[soon_to_be_blue]

"Oh yeah, keepin' track of y'all is difficult. Cordy once was trying to tell me about her life in Sunnydale before she moved to LA, and I was like...gosh, I hope there isn't going to be a test later."

I smile as we walk to the Espresso Pump. I liked Dawn, she seemed down to earth, and like me she seemed like she was a little lost in the storm that was this existence. But instead of getting taken away with the current, she was fighting to stay up.

That's something I do, and that's something I respect.

As we order our drinks, I give the cashier money, covering Dawn and myself.

"Don't argue, my treat."

I raise my iced latte in the air, "To new friends."

I take a sip and set my cup on the table and settle into a seat.

"Alright, I am not gonna kill you with small talk, cause I hate when people do it to me. So let's get down to it...what did you want to know?"

[lockless_key]

"To new friends." I raise my coffee in the air with Fred and take a drink. It has so much sugar and stuff in it that I don't think it's real coffee, just something else masquerading as coffee. And as much as I like sugar and stuff, I do like coffee, too. I'm not a coffee-wimp.

"Thanks," I smile at Fred and climb onto a stool opposite her. She's really sweet, but at the same time she totally means business. I wish there were more people like her around, who didn't tiptoe around stuff that they thought some people shouldn't know. Some people being me, yeah. Fred was honest and upfront and that was cool.

"Well, really, I came to the Magic Box looking for information on Angel - or, I guess he would've been Angelus - and Spike's history. Cause they seem to have some major deal and I was wondering if Anya knew anything, because if anyone's to be hit up around here for information, it's Anya. Being a thousand years old and all."

I look up at Fred and blink, then cover my mouth. "Does that make any sense? Cause maybe I should fill you in before we start anything. With the short version, not the Cordelia-version."

[soon_to_be_blue]

I can't help but let a little laugh escape my lips when Dawn refers to the "Cordelia-version" of things.

"If there was any doubt in my mind that y'all knew her well, that statement there pretty much says it all. The girl can go on, can't she?"

I smile.

"But yeah, a recap of events wouldn't be bad. I think I understand, cause I did my research before I came here chasin' Angel. But, there's a lot of history to retread. She's some sort of non-human vengance thingy, if I'm not mistaken."

I shrug and sip at my coffee, and wince.

"If we do this again,remind me to stay away from the double shot. Espresso + Fred midday equals bad."

The cup makes a soft clink of glass to wood as I place it back on the table.

"Anyway, speaking of groups of people that are rich with history, the subject which you want info on is definitely no small chapter. Even if your friend wasn't being such a..."

I pause, I don't want to have a sailor mouth.

"...grouch, even she in all her years, would need to take a chunk of time to get down to it. From what I've learned working in LA, when it comes to the history of Angel and Spike, things are far from Fritos with a bowl of nacho fritters."

The look of confusion stops me.

"...sorry, Texas girl. I'll try and watch myself."

[lockless_key]

"Right," I say slowly, then take another sip of the coffee and smile. "You might need the espresso for the kind of talking that we're going to do. I'm a total coffee-holic now, even though everyone was all 'oh no, Dawnie, you're too young' but nobody gets through a six-hour research session without coffee."

I lean my elbows on the table and rest my chin in my hands, thinking for a minute. How am I going to sum everything up in a way that Fred will understand and it won't make me sound like Cordy?

"Well, Giles is going to let me look at some of the Watcher Diaries about Angelus and Spike, so I hope that'll help some," I say quietly. Giles, offering me the diaries, it's like I have to fill Buffy's shoes now. I don't really want to be her. I want to help, but I don't want to be a Buffy stand-in.

"Anya? Yeah, she's a thousand year-old vengeance demon. She did some spell when everyone was in high school, for Cordelia, actually, and lost her powers. She and Xander were engaged..." I look up at Fred and hurry to explain, "you don't know Xander, he's... was Buffy's best friend from high school, him and Willow. Well, anyway, he got in the way of some demon and left Anya at the altar at their wedding. And she did the only thing she thought she could do to deal - go back to the vengeance-y."

I pause, take a breath and some more coffee, and laugh nervously at the expression on Fred's face. "And that was right before Buffy tried to kill us all. Make any sense or do you need some more espresso?"

[soon_to_be_blue]

I stare wide-eyed.

"I'm going to need a truck of espresso at this rate. Here I thought things were nuts for us in LA, evidently we got nothin' on y'all here."

I take another sip of my coffee.

"...and if it's any consolation Dawn, I am sorry."

I pause for a moment. Recommend sympathy time, and then I continue, cause I sense Dawn isn't the type to want to dwell on things, and I'm not much of a dweller either.

"Well, tell ya what. You read Mr. Giles books, and you tell me afterward if there's anything that isn't written that I can tell you about, cause sometimes the most interesting parts are the parts that didn't make it to any kind of page. But if there's anything I can tell you now, I'd be happy to."

Sip, it was tasting less like pure electricity and more like coffee by this point

"One question I DO have though, is where a good hotel is located. If I'm going to be in town, I'm going to need to set up base somewhere, and I'm not imposing on y'all since you already have quite the stacked house."

[lockless_key]

"Well, you know what they say about small towns," I shrug. I don't even know what they say about small towns, but there's gotta be something out there about how crazy and weird they are. Maybe not on a demonic level, but... who knows.

"Thanks," I say when Fred offers an apology. Yeah, we're all sorry. Well, I'm done with being sorry. It's not worth it. There are more important things we have to deal with now other than grief.

"I'll just look at the diaries, and then we can talk about it. Sound good?" I smile at Fred. I really like her, she's an adult but she doesn't like, wave it in your face, like, I'm older than you, therefore I am more wise and whatnot. She treats me like an equal and I really like that about her.

"As for the hotel, I'm not sure." I've never had to stay in a hotel in my own town. Maybe someone's renting out a room somewhere? "You could come back with me and we could look some up in the phonebook?" I'd really like to be able to offer her a place at the house but it really is full, especially with Tara moving in.

[soon_to_be_blue]

"I can deal with that."

I lift my cup to have another drink and suck in open air. I lower the mug a little bit and glance down into it.

Empty.

"Wow, this must've been much more addicting than I thought, since I totally unconciously drained it down. Oh well. Coffee talk is good talk, but it's always kind of brief...only about as long a cup of coffee."

I place the mug back on the table.

"If you're done, we could head back to the house, that might be a good plan, cause I'm sure I should check in to one of these hotels sometime soon, before I become homeless Fred for the night," I say standing up.

I really liked Dawn, I'm glad we got a chance to sit and talk. Take a real moment for some normal old-school chit-chat in our otherwise bizarre lives.

As I am reflecting on how good it is to do normal things on occasion, I'm pulled out of my reverie by the sound of a crash.

I turn over to see a boy lying in a heap on the group near the register of the cafe.

"Ouch," I comment to Dawn, "That had to smart."

[lockless_key]

"Evil corporate plot," I say confidently, draining my cup and stand up, following Fred. "To get you to buy more because the coffee and time goes by so fast, and you need more time, so you buy more coffee..."

I pause. Wow. "I sound like Anya. She was big with the buying. Or, well, the selling." It kind of hurts, thinking about Anya. Like, I thought she'd be there forever, being her tactless, greedy self, and for her to do that to us, well, I never expected it.

I'm distracted from my Anya-reflections by a loud crash and see someone go sprawling on the ground. Guy, not to tall, blonde hair... I try not to laugh and kind of fail. I know I shouldn't laugh because at school, I'm the one usually doing the weird klutzy things, but it's funny to see someone else doing them for a change.

"Wow, that sucks." Falling down in the middle of the Espresso Pump. I don't know if he'll ever live this one down. Wait...

He looks familiar.

[soon_to_be_blue]

I hear dawn laugh and I can help but laugh a little myself, but after I compose myself, I turn to her.

"Poor guy, should we go see if he's ok?"

((To the Andrew post, Batman!))