A magic shop.
"... what did you have in mind?"Is he playing dumb, or is this just his natural stupidity level when he's tired? I ask one question and Angel's acting like I'm going to suggest that we open a shopping mall. First of all, we don't have the money to do something that expensive. And second, I think that given our location, a magic shop would bring in
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"A magic shop? ... you want us to buy a magic shop." Considering we were currently stationed over a hellmouth, it would probably be profitable. Whoever the previous owner had been must have been rolling in it. That didn't matter much now, him being dead and all... but magic would be a good business to go into around here, what with the area's focus on the supernatural.
Cordelia might have been onto something here.
"If you're going to stalk Buffy and try to protect her from every single bad thing that goes after her, we're going to need a new source of income. This one doubles as an excuse for seeing her around."
"Hey, that's unfair," I told her, frowning and forgetting my drawing for a moment. "I'm not stalking Buffy. She's not the only reason we're here. Sunnydale is in danger. The Slayer can't handle it alone, that's why we-- forget it. This magic shop idea isn't bad. We could use the money..."
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That's what I said, and I was clear on it. Either his hearing is starting to go, or Angel doesn't see the endless possibilities that owning a business would offer us. It's not just a store, it's a constant link the supernatural in Sunnydale. No more beating up on people for information; when something inevitable gets screwy, we'll just casually ask our customers if they've heard anything.
What could Angel possibly be questioning here?
"Yes, a magic shop. You know, those places where you buy weird magic stuff."
"I'm not stalking Buffy. She's not the only reason we're here. Sunnydale is in danger. The Slayer can't handle it alone, that's why we-- forget it. This magic shop idea isn't bad. We could use the money..."Angel can't even make himself believe that we're here to help the town. I still can't believe I signed up for this little adventure, but what choice did I have? We were both hurting from losing Doyle. Adding Buffy to the picture doubles the brood factor, and that's not ( ... )
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Thank you, Cordelia.
"I know what a magic shop is."
"Good, then it's settled. We're buying a magic shop."
Alright, it's a good idea in theory. I agree, owning a magic shop would be handy. We'd do some decent business, too. There was just one little problem...
"With what money?"
Cordelia was near broke, we weren't making much money from our cases, and I can't think of any bank that would let a vampire apply for a loan. No last name, no social security number -- I'm financially impaired, more or less.
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"Then don't question it like you don't have a clue. For all I know the demon that kicked your ass also knocked you on your head when he was making his exit."
It's not like Angel's big on the details unless we're trying to catch something. When he has to discuss a demon with me, I get all of the information regarding the gore and ick that I never wanted to hear about in the first place. But if we're talking about how Angel lost the fight, all he tells me is that he didn't win. How am I supposed to know if he's brain damaged or not when I have no idea what happened?
Sometimes it's hard to tell.
"With what money?"
"You can figure out that part of the plan. I gave you my half of it when I told you to buy the magic shop."
I can't think of everything. Angel has taken care of himself for over two hundred years without having me to help him manage his finances. I don't know where he gets his money, but we're going to need more of it before someone snatches up our new investment opportunity ( ... )
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I couldn't do much other than glare at that. Usually I didn't mind Cordelia's jibes, but after what I'd seen -- or rather, hadn't seen -- the demon do to that woman in the alley, I didn't much appreciate her remark. I decided not to say anything about it. Saying something might have instigated some kind of argument. We didn't need that right now.
"Right," I said curtly, figuring that would have to suffice.
"You can figure out that part of the plan. I gave you my half of it when I told you to buy the magic shop. I'd do it all by myself, but you don't pay me enough for that.""We'd need a loan. I can't take care of that part. I've got no legal identity. I'll have to borrow yours," I told her, raising an eyebrow before turning back to my drawing and sketching out a little more of our friend's horns. I've seen a lot of ugly demons... but I had to say, this one was by far one of the ( ... )
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If Angel wants to claim that he's Cordelia Chase, a poor, female, aspiring actress, then more power to him. I don't see how my idenity is going to be any help with a loan. Every bank on the coast has heard about Daddy's problems by now. Mine probably monitors the funds daily to make sure that fraud doesn't run in the family. And now that we're back in Sunnydale? We'll go to the one that heard the news first.
They're probably still mourning the loss of my family's account.
One little mistake, and we're still paying for it.
"You want me to take out a loan?" I sighed. We have to do this, don't we? "Alright, but you're coming with me. I won't know what to say ( ... )
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As if I would know any more than she did? I wasn't exactly familiar with the inner-workings of modern-day banks. Really, I tried to avoid dealing with money as much as possible, except for what we needed to keep our admittedly small business running.
"Fine. We'll look into the shop business and work out getting a loan. Tomorrow. Right now, we've got a demon problem on our hands." Really, when didn't we have a demon problem on our hands? At any rate, it ranked higher than real estate as far as priorities went, at least for the moment.
"Here. I'll start looking through this stack. You want to try that one there?" I asked, nodding towards a book on the corner of the table closest to her.
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So what else is new? We always have a new demon to face, a new vision to figure out, and usually, a new bill to pay. Now we're going to take out a loan to buy a magic shop. That translates to us owing more people money, at least until we can get back on our feet with either the detective business, or the magic shop. I'm all for us broadening our horizons with an new business venture, but I wish Angel wouldn't have automatically settled on the money coming from a loan.
If it fails, they'll find a way to make my reptutation with finances even less respectable.
"Here. I'll start looking through this stack. You want to try that one there?"Alright, Your Highness, whatever you want. Let's just spend the whole night researching now that you've got me wide awake and worried ( ... )
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And here I thought I was being gentle.
"Sorry, would you rather I flat-out command you to fetch me things?" I asked as she sat down across from me with the book in her hands. At least she was actually doing what needed to be done, despite the snide comments. I could usually count on her to get things done -- but it wasn't unusual for her to complain the entire time she was doing it.
"So, are you feeling any better yet?"
I looked up from my legal pad again.
"A little... thanks for your help in there," I told her, giving her a small smile. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been hurt this badly. The bandages were helping some. They would, at least, hold me over until the vampire healing kicked in for real.
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