The Hyperion Hotel | Los Angeles, CA | Monday Afternoon Fandom Time
It was hard to say, Wesley reflected, whether this past summer had been eventful or not. Yes, he, Cordelia and Gunn had been fairly busy most of the time -- killing Nester demons in Hancock Park, making contacts among the demon community, visiting Lorne -- but it seemed to him that "eventful" was a word reserved for a whole different level of busy: a week in a hell dimension, for example, or some sort of long-term Fandom invasion.
His persective might have been somewhat skewed, come to think of it.
But really, with Angel gone -- he'd departed for Sri Lanka nearly three months ago to deal with his grief over Buffy's recent death -- there just wasn't anything too huge going on in the Los Angeles demon world. Or even in Sunnydale, as far as Wesley knew, though that might have to do with Willow and Dawn not taking his calls. No, without Angel around, everything in Wesley's world was just... ordinary. Standard demon hunts, clients, visions, the usual.
Cordelia
"I understand people who drink too much," Cordelia said, walking ahead of the others and reaching in her pocket for the front door key. "I understand... people who put a little note on the parking meter to say it's broken when it's not. I don't understand people who worship demons."
Gunn
"Yeah, especially Lu-rite demons," Gunn agreed. "I mean, the stink on that thing. If you a prince of the underworld, bro, take a Jacuuzi once in a while."
Wesley
"It's sad," Wesley agreed, following the others into the hotel as soon as the door was open and setting his bag of weapons gently down on the sofa. "The way some people can find a purpose in life by becoming obsessed with demons."
Accepting a towel from Gunn as the latter closed the weapons cabinet after putting his own axe away, Wesley added, "By the way, Gunn, technically that wasn't a Lu-rite; it was a Mu-rite. Subspecies of the Lu-rite. The male spots a small, tell-tale fin just behind the third shoulder."
Gunn
Gunn raised his eyebrows at him. "So glad to know we're not the sad people obsessed with demons."
Wesley
"We have to be a little obsessed," Wesley countered, though it would be fair to conclude from his tone that he was mostly just trying to convince himself. "We're detectives who specialize in these things."
Cordelia
"But-- we're not sad," Cordelia interjected, more to her compact mirror than anyone else.
Wesley
"No," Wesley agreed. "We're a happy and rambunctious lot if I ever saw one."
He was met with judgmental looks from the others.
"Not going to humor me even a little, are you?"
Cordelia
"Nuh-uh," said Cordy.
Meanwhile, she was going to go ahead and lay down on the sofa, curling herself around a weapons bag and a towel that was currently covered in Mu-rite pus.
Wesley
"Look," said Wesley, adopting what he'd come to think of as his 'leader' tone. "I realize we sacrifice a great deal of our social lives, but we have to. Our work demands it."
Hm. That pep talk even sounded legit to his own ears. He was a bit proud.
Gunn
"True," Gunn said, vindicating lucky Wesley even more. "I mean, who's got time for love when you're out there doing it with the demons?"
...
"Didn't that come out sad and wrong."
At Cordy's piped-up "Yeah," Gunn shook his head. "I need to get out more. Speaking of, anybody talked to Fred lately?"
Cordelia
Cordy wondered whether the 'speaking of' factored in with the 'sad and wrong' or the 'getting out more,' but she was too tired to inquire aloud.
"Not talked," she said, even bothering to open her eyes to answer. Gunn should feel lucky. "Glimpsed. She pokes her head out of her room once in a while."
Wesley
"Nice girl," Wesley said encouragingly.
There... wasn't really that much else he could say about Fred.
Cordelia
"Nice," Cordy agreed, "but not exactly making the great strides toward mental health. She's been hibernating up there for three months now."
And even halfway toward a nap as she currently was, Cordy's tone made it very clear exactly what she thought of that kind of behavior.
Gunn
"Hey, she survived Pylea," Gunn objected. "And the cave she lived in there. Girl's strong."
Cordelia
"Girl's trading one cave for another," Cordy corrected him. She pushed herself up off the couch then, setting off for the coffee maker behind the front desk. "How strong is that?"
Wesley
This seemed like the point where a responsible leader would announce a plan of some sort, so Wesley took it upon himself to try that. "When Angel gets back--"
Gunn
"When is he getting back?" Gunn interrupted, unknowingly deflating Wesley's designs on leadership.
Cordelia
Cordy sighed. "As soon as he works through his grief a little," she recited, though it sounded like -- and, in fact, was -- the exact wording of a sentence she'd used many times before. "Which I keep telling you all is going to take time." She strode back through the lobby with three mugs of coffee, set them all on the desk, and then headed for the door leading to the basement so she could grab an extra towel to mop up some of the spill. "Like I keep saying, he's--"
But Wes and Gunn would have to do with the previous reminders to piece together whatever Cordy had been saying, because at that moment she cut herself off with a shriek, followed by a few quick footsteps down the stairs toward a very surprising new arrival. "You're back," she declared to Angel, hugging him tight. "You guys, he's back!"
Angel
Once Cordy had released him enough that he could actually make his way into the lobby, Angel surfaced, smiling at the others. "Gunn," he said, nodding. "Wesley."
Wesley
"Welcome home," Wesley said sincerely, pulling Angel in for a hug.
Gunn
"Hey, what's up, man?" Gunn said, waiting his turn and then greeting Angel with a hug as well. "Good to see you in one piece."
Angel
"It was a closer call than you'd think," Angel said dryly. "Once the monks turned out to be life-sucking Shur-hod demons."
Gunn
Gunn raised his eyebrows. "Told you you should've gone to Vegas."
Angel
Angel laughed. "Yeah," he said, finally setting his bag down on the couch and glancing up toward the balcony of the second floor. When he turned his attention back to the others, he was a little more serious. "How's Fred?"
Cordelia
"Good!" Cordelia leapt in before anyone else could interject. Behind Angel's back, she jabbed the other two and made heavy 'no' gestures at each of them. "She's-- doing well!"
Angel
Yeah, Cordelia's acting hadn't improved over the past few months. "Hasn't come out of her room yet, huh?"
Cordelia
Cordy looked a little guilty at that. "Not what you'd call frequently." To make up for that somewhat, she added, "We sent up a lot of tacos!"
Angel
Angel nodded, accepting that. "I'll settle in and check up on her. You guys can bring me up to date." He turned toward the stairs, then turned back around, smiling sincerely at them. "It's really good to see you guys."
Gunn
"Same to you, bro," Gunn called after him.
Wesley
Once Angel was out of even vampire-caliber earshot, Wesley let out the breath he'd been holding for a while, shoulders deflating somewhat. It was somehow both disorienting and a relief to have Angel back, like some of the responsibility he'd been dealing with ever since becoming leader had gone away -- even if, Wesley knew, he was still the acting leader and the de facto decision-maker even with Angel right there in the hotel.
"He seems better than when he left," he said finally.
[[hey look, the kickoff to a year of spam! oh, season three. you are not nice to this boy at all. taken and adapted a bit from angel 3x01, "heartthrob," which, fun fact, aired eleven years ago today. a pattern that will continue with the rest of the posts for this season, just cuz.]]
His persective might have been somewhat skewed, come to think of it.
But really, with Angel gone -- he'd departed for Sri Lanka nearly three months ago to deal with his grief over Buffy's recent death -- there just wasn't anything too huge going on in the Los Angeles demon world. Or even in Sunnydale, as far as Wesley knew, though that might have to do with Willow and Dawn not taking his calls. No, without Angel around, everything in Wesley's world was just... ordinary. Standard demon hunts, clients, visions, the usual.
Cordelia
"I understand people who drink too much," Cordelia said, walking ahead of the others and reaching in her pocket for the front door key. "I understand... people who put a little note on the parking meter to say it's broken when it's not. I don't understand people who worship demons."
Gunn
"Yeah, especially Lu-rite demons," Gunn agreed. "I mean, the stink on that thing. If you a prince of the underworld, bro, take a Jacuuzi once in a while."
Wesley
"It's sad," Wesley agreed, following the others into the hotel as soon as the door was open and setting his bag of weapons gently down on the sofa. "The way some people can find a purpose in life by becoming obsessed with demons."
Accepting a towel from Gunn as the latter closed the weapons cabinet after putting his own axe away, Wesley added, "By the way, Gunn, technically that wasn't a Lu-rite; it was a Mu-rite. Subspecies of the Lu-rite. The male spots a small, tell-tale fin just behind the third shoulder."
Gunn
Gunn raised his eyebrows at him. "So glad to know we're not the sad people obsessed with demons."
Wesley
"We have to be a little obsessed," Wesley countered, though it would be fair to conclude from his tone that he was mostly just trying to convince himself. "We're detectives who specialize in these things."
Cordelia
"But-- we're not sad," Cordelia interjected, more to her compact mirror than anyone else.
Wesley
"No," Wesley agreed. "We're a happy and rambunctious lot if I ever saw one."
He was met with judgmental looks from the others.
"Not going to humor me even a little, are you?"
Cordelia
"Nuh-uh," said Cordy.
Meanwhile, she was going to go ahead and lay down on the sofa, curling herself around a weapons bag and a towel that was currently covered in Mu-rite pus.
Wesley
"Look," said Wesley, adopting what he'd come to think of as his 'leader' tone. "I realize we sacrifice a great deal of our social lives, but we have to. Our work demands it."
Hm. That pep talk even sounded legit to his own ears. He was a bit proud.
Gunn
"True," Gunn said, vindicating lucky Wesley even more. "I mean, who's got time for love when you're out there doing it with the demons?"
...
"Didn't that come out sad and wrong."
At Cordy's piped-up "Yeah," Gunn shook his head. "I need to get out more. Speaking of, anybody talked to Fred lately?"
Cordelia
Cordy wondered whether the 'speaking of' factored in with the 'sad and wrong' or the 'getting out more,' but she was too tired to inquire aloud.
"Not talked," she said, even bothering to open her eyes to answer. Gunn should feel lucky. "Glimpsed. She pokes her head out of her room once in a while."
Wesley
"Nice girl," Wesley said encouragingly.
There... wasn't really that much else he could say about Fred.
Cordelia
"Nice," Cordy agreed, "but not exactly making the great strides toward mental health. She's been hibernating up there for three months now."
And even halfway toward a nap as she currently was, Cordy's tone made it very clear exactly what she thought of that kind of behavior.
Gunn
"Hey, she survived Pylea," Gunn objected. "And the cave she lived in there. Girl's strong."
Cordelia
"Girl's trading one cave for another," Cordy corrected him. She pushed herself up off the couch then, setting off for the coffee maker behind the front desk. "How strong is that?"
Wesley
This seemed like the point where a responsible leader would announce a plan of some sort, so Wesley took it upon himself to try that. "When Angel gets back--"
Gunn
"When is he getting back?" Gunn interrupted, unknowingly deflating Wesley's designs on leadership.
Cordelia
Cordy sighed. "As soon as he works through his grief a little," she recited, though it sounded like -- and, in fact, was -- the exact wording of a sentence she'd used many times before. "Which I keep telling you all is going to take time." She strode back through the lobby with three mugs of coffee, set them all on the desk, and then headed for the door leading to the basement so she could grab an extra towel to mop up some of the spill. "Like I keep saying, he's--"
But Wes and Gunn would have to do with the previous reminders to piece together whatever Cordy had been saying, because at that moment she cut herself off with a shriek, followed by a few quick footsteps down the stairs toward a very surprising new arrival. "You're back," she declared to Angel, hugging him tight. "You guys, he's back!"
Angel
Once Cordy had released him enough that he could actually make his way into the lobby, Angel surfaced, smiling at the others. "Gunn," he said, nodding. "Wesley."
Wesley
"Welcome home," Wesley said sincerely, pulling Angel in for a hug.
Gunn
"Hey, what's up, man?" Gunn said, waiting his turn and then greeting Angel with a hug as well. "Good to see you in one piece."
Angel
"It was a closer call than you'd think," Angel said dryly. "Once the monks turned out to be life-sucking Shur-hod demons."
Gunn
Gunn raised his eyebrows. "Told you you should've gone to Vegas."
Angel
Angel laughed. "Yeah," he said, finally setting his bag down on the couch and glancing up toward the balcony of the second floor. When he turned his attention back to the others, he was a little more serious. "How's Fred?"
Cordelia
"Good!" Cordelia leapt in before anyone else could interject. Behind Angel's back, she jabbed the other two and made heavy 'no' gestures at each of them. "She's-- doing well!"
Angel
Yeah, Cordelia's acting hadn't improved over the past few months. "Hasn't come out of her room yet, huh?"
Cordelia
Cordy looked a little guilty at that. "Not what you'd call frequently." To make up for that somewhat, she added, "We sent up a lot of tacos!"
Angel
Angel nodded, accepting that. "I'll settle in and check up on her. You guys can bring me up to date." He turned toward the stairs, then turned back around, smiling sincerely at them. "It's really good to see you guys."
Gunn
"Same to you, bro," Gunn called after him.
Wesley
Once Angel was out of even vampire-caliber earshot, Wesley let out the breath he'd been holding for a while, shoulders deflating somewhat. It was somehow both disorienting and a relief to have Angel back, like some of the responsibility he'd been dealing with ever since becoming leader had gone away -- even if, Wesley knew, he was still the acting leader and the de facto decision-maker even with Angel right there in the hotel.
"He seems better than when he left," he said finally.
[[hey look, the kickoff to a year of spam! oh, season three. you are not nice to this boy at all. taken and adapted a bit from angel 3x01, "heartthrob," which, fun fact, aired eleven years ago today. a pattern that will continue with the rest of the posts for this season, just cuz.]]