Hyperion Hotel, Late Friday Night
Too restless to sleep, Bel left Phoebe to slumber peacefully and wandered the halls of the hotel. He felt drawn to the second floor but tried to resist, ending up on the third floor instead. Debating going outside to find a demon or two to vanquish, he padded silently down the hall.
Veronica had far too much on her mind to actually sleep. Her emotions were at war: she was excited to see Angel and Logan again, but she was still extremely upset over what had happened with Archie.
She knew Angel had a gym in the basement and decided she'd go down and try to work off some of her tension.
Opening her door, she was surprised to see Bel in the hall.
"What's up?" she asked, keeping her voice low despite the fact that no one else was staying on this floor.
"Couldn't sleep," he said quickly and evasively. "Just thought I'd go for a walk."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Veronica replied. "I was going to hit the gym."
"How are you, uh, holding up?" Bel asked. He may have been referring to the situation with Archie. Or he may have been referring to being around Angel and Logan. Or both.
Veronica forced a smile. "I'm in L.A. with my friends to celebrate my birthday," she said. "What's to hold up?"
Bel lifted his eyebrows but bit back a comment. "Yeah, fun times," he said instead.
"You're not having fun?" Veronica asked.
"'Course I am," Bel said.
"Well why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, your boyfriend has gone missing for reasons you won't explain, and now you're here with your ex-boyfriend and the guy you have a thing for," Bel said. "Good times."
Veronica stared at him for a moment before responding.
"First of all, Archie's not missing. I know exactly where he is. Second, Logan and I are friends now. Third, me having a 'thing' for Angel has never caused an issue in our friendship before and it's certainly not going to now."
Bel held up his hands. "Okay, okay, whatever you say."
"How are you holding up?" Veronica asked sweetly. "It must be difficult for you having Angel and Phoebe in the same place.
"I'm fine," Bel lied, his voice tight.
"So, you wanna explore or something?" she asked, not really wanting to talk about her feelings or his feelings anymore.
"Sure," Bel said, wanting to change the subject as well. "Got any place in mind?"
"I was going to head down to the gym," Veronica said. "Did you have a particular destination in mind?"
"Gym works," Bel said. "What kind of setup does Angel have here?"
"Guess we'll find out," Veronica said, heading for the stairwell.
"So you ever gonna say what's up with your boyfriend?" Bel asked idly as he followed.
"No," Veronica said simply, pushing the door open and starting down the stairs.
"Is he still your boyfriend?" Bel persisted.
"We didn't break up," Veronica replied.
"Then what's with the mystery?" Bel asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Veronica said as they finally reached the basement.
"Do I need to beat someone up?" Bel asked, looking around the basement at the simple gym setup.
Veronica raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you need to beat someone up?" she asked, walking over to the heavy bag. She took her keys out of her pocket and set them on the ground before giving it an experimental punch.
Bel shrugged. "I don't know. Did he hurt you?"
"I wouldn't want you to beat him up," she replied, evading the question as she aimed a kick at the bag and watched it swing with some satisfaction.
"Not even a little?" Bel asked, frowning as he watched Veronica for a reaction.
"Nope."
Veronica hit the bag a few more times before turning and looking at Bel.
"Wanna spar?"
Bel grinned at her. "Want to go a few rounds with the demon, huh?"
She gave him a brief smile. "Sure, why not? Give me a chance to test out all this training I've been doing."
Bel kicked off his shoes and stripped off his shirt. "Show me what you got," he said as he took a defensive stance.
Veronica kicked off her shoes. "I'm not taking my shirt off," she informed him cheekily as she considered her options.
She moved a little closer to him and then aimed a roundhouse kick at his left side.
Bel feigned disappointment, then swiftly moved his arm to block the kick. "Nice form," he said. "You've really been practicing."
"Not as much as Cameron thinks I should be," she replied, hoping to take advantage of his distraction by aiming a punch at his solar plexus.
Bel probably could've dodged the blow, but he let it land to test her strength. "Good," he gasped as she knocked the breath out of him. "But put more of your shoulder into it." Then he threw a punch at her head.
Veronica was starting to nod when she realized where his punch was aimed. She side stepped and threw her arm up, taking the hit to her forearm instead of her head.
Bel nodded in approval, then stepped forward and tried to sweep Veronica's legs out from under her.
Blocking low kicks was something Veronica still hadn't quite mastered, so rather than try, she went with it and angled herself so she would fall towards him, both fists in front of her, aiming for his chest.
Bel caught her as she fell against him. "Why, Veronica," he said, smirking. "I didn't realized you wanted me to sweep you off your feet so much."
Veronica rolled her eyes and righted herself. "Blocking low kicks is the newest thing I learned," she explained.
She took a step back and then aimed a front kick at his stomach.
Bel caught her leg and twisted it, not enough to hurt her but instead to throw her off balance. He wanted to test her reflexes and recovery time.
Well that was something Cameron hadn't covered in her lessons.
She bent her knee and used the momentum from Bel's twist to pull her close enough to aim a punch at the side of his head.
Bel hadn't been expecting her to do that, and her fist smacked into the side of his head. He shook his head a few times and grinned at her. "Careful with that," he said. "You can break your hand on someone's skull."
Veronica pulled her leg from his grasp and put it back on the floor with a shrug. "That was total improvisation," she said. "We never covered anything like that."
"Always expect the unexpected when it comes to fighting demons," Bel said. "Especially because they cheat. Like this." He shimmered behind Veronica and tried to grab her.
Veronica tried to elbow him.
Anticipating her move, Bel caught her arm and wrenched it behind her back. "Now what?" he hissed in her ear.
She stamped on his foot as hard as she could and threw her head back to head butt his chin.
Bel let go of her and staggered back. "Good," he said. "If you had pretended to faint, I would've been disappointed."
Turning around to face him, she gave him a small smile. "I told you I was learning how to take care of myself."
"Good for you," Bel said. "You've learned a lot since...." He didn't finish that particular thought.
Veronica looked down. "Yeah, well..."
"A person would have to be a fool to mess with you now," Bel said, trying to lighten the mood.
"I wouldn't go that far," Veronica said, managing a grin. "But I'm getting there."
"Keep it up," Bel encouraged. "You'll get there."
"Thanks," Veronica said.
"Sooooo," Bel said, trying to find a safe subject. "How's your photography class going this time?"
"So far, so good," Veronica said. "Though I doubt anyone will be able to top Cameron's picture last session."
Bel glared. "He took advantage of my needing to be calm and relaxed," he protested.
Veronica smiled. "It was the most clever intrepretation of any of the prompts."
"At least it was tinsel and not glitter," Bel grumbled.
"If there would have been glitter, there could have been boykissy," Veronica pointed out.
"Exactly," Bel said.
"In which case I would have needed to be there to run the camera."
Bel snickered. "Cam's cool and all, but no."
Veronica mock-pouted. "It would make me feel better."
"Not gonna happen," Bel said firmly. "You already got your boykissy exhibition."
"I sure did," Veronica agreed. "And you can't say you didn't enjoy that."
Bel may have flailed a little bit.
"Oh come on, it's just us here," Veronica said. "No reason to hide the truth."
"So what if I did?" Bel said sullenly.
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"Do I have to list the reasons why it is wrong?" Bel said.
"It sucks to have feelings for someone and not be with them."
"Yeah," Bel said, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor. "Tell me about it."
Veronica sat down next to him.
"He left," she said quietly.
"Yeah, I know, I should get over it," Bel said.
"Archie left," she said, still speaking softly. "He went back."
Bel blinked. "He did? Why?"
"He got an opportunity he couldn't pass up."
"I'm sorry," Bel said. "It...must be hard on you."
"I understand why he had to do it," she said.
"That doesn't make it any easier," Bel said. "Speaking from personal experience and all."
Veronica gave him a small smile. "I figured you'd understand," she said. "Don't say anything to anyone else, please."
"I won't say a word," Bel promised. He paused, then added, "Sure you don't want me to beat him up?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I still l... like him."
"Did he know how you feel?" Bel asked quietly.
Veronica shook her head. "It wouldn't have been fair."
Bel dropped his head and laughed softly. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
"Yeah we are," Veronica said, glancing over at him with a small smile.
She sighed. "We should probably go to bed," she said. "Maybe now I'll be able to get some sleep.
Bel stood up and offered her his hand. "Yeah, we probably should," he agreed.
She took his hand and let him pull her up.
"Thank you," she said.
"Anytime," he said, whether she meant the helping hand or just listening to her.
"Let's go," Veronica said, grabbing her keys and heading out of the gym.
[ooc: NFB due to distance, no interaction due to said same distance and because of the fact that marsheadtilt and I are frakkin' exhausted.]
Veronica had far too much on her mind to actually sleep. Her emotions were at war: she was excited to see Angel and Logan again, but she was still extremely upset over what had happened with Archie.
She knew Angel had a gym in the basement and decided she'd go down and try to work off some of her tension.
Opening her door, she was surprised to see Bel in the hall.
"What's up?" she asked, keeping her voice low despite the fact that no one else was staying on this floor.
"Couldn't sleep," he said quickly and evasively. "Just thought I'd go for a walk."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Veronica replied. "I was going to hit the gym."
"How are you, uh, holding up?" Bel asked. He may have been referring to the situation with Archie. Or he may have been referring to being around Angel and Logan. Or both.
Veronica forced a smile. "I'm in L.A. with my friends to celebrate my birthday," she said. "What's to hold up?"
Bel lifted his eyebrows but bit back a comment. "Yeah, fun times," he said instead.
"You're not having fun?" Veronica asked.
"'Course I am," Bel said.
"Well why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, your boyfriend has gone missing for reasons you won't explain, and now you're here with your ex-boyfriend and the guy you have a thing for," Bel said. "Good times."
Veronica stared at him for a moment before responding.
"First of all, Archie's not missing. I know exactly where he is. Second, Logan and I are friends now. Third, me having a 'thing' for Angel has never caused an issue in our friendship before and it's certainly not going to now."
Bel held up his hands. "Okay, okay, whatever you say."
"How are you holding up?" Veronica asked sweetly. "It must be difficult for you having Angel and Phoebe in the same place.
"I'm fine," Bel lied, his voice tight.
"So, you wanna explore or something?" she asked, not really wanting to talk about her feelings or his feelings anymore.
"Sure," Bel said, wanting to change the subject as well. "Got any place in mind?"
"I was going to head down to the gym," Veronica said. "Did you have a particular destination in mind?"
"Gym works," Bel said. "What kind of setup does Angel have here?"
"Guess we'll find out," Veronica said, heading for the stairwell.
"So you ever gonna say what's up with your boyfriend?" Bel asked idly as he followed.
"No," Veronica said simply, pushing the door open and starting down the stairs.
"Is he still your boyfriend?" Bel persisted.
"We didn't break up," Veronica replied.
"Then what's with the mystery?" Bel asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Veronica said as they finally reached the basement.
"Do I need to beat someone up?" Bel asked, looking around the basement at the simple gym setup.
Veronica raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you need to beat someone up?" she asked, walking over to the heavy bag. She took her keys out of her pocket and set them on the ground before giving it an experimental punch.
Bel shrugged. "I don't know. Did he hurt you?"
"I wouldn't want you to beat him up," she replied, evading the question as she aimed a kick at the bag and watched it swing with some satisfaction.
"Not even a little?" Bel asked, frowning as he watched Veronica for a reaction.
"Nope."
Veronica hit the bag a few more times before turning and looking at Bel.
"Wanna spar?"
Bel grinned at her. "Want to go a few rounds with the demon, huh?"
She gave him a brief smile. "Sure, why not? Give me a chance to test out all this training I've been doing."
Bel kicked off his shoes and stripped off his shirt. "Show me what you got," he said as he took a defensive stance.
Veronica kicked off her shoes. "I'm not taking my shirt off," she informed him cheekily as she considered her options.
She moved a little closer to him and then aimed a roundhouse kick at his left side.
Bel feigned disappointment, then swiftly moved his arm to block the kick. "Nice form," he said. "You've really been practicing."
"Not as much as Cameron thinks I should be," she replied, hoping to take advantage of his distraction by aiming a punch at his solar plexus.
Bel probably could've dodged the blow, but he let it land to test her strength. "Good," he gasped as she knocked the breath out of him. "But put more of your shoulder into it." Then he threw a punch at her head.
Veronica was starting to nod when she realized where his punch was aimed. She side stepped and threw her arm up, taking the hit to her forearm instead of her head.
Bel nodded in approval, then stepped forward and tried to sweep Veronica's legs out from under her.
Blocking low kicks was something Veronica still hadn't quite mastered, so rather than try, she went with it and angled herself so she would fall towards him, both fists in front of her, aiming for his chest.
Bel caught her as she fell against him. "Why, Veronica," he said, smirking. "I didn't realized you wanted me to sweep you off your feet so much."
Veronica rolled her eyes and righted herself. "Blocking low kicks is the newest thing I learned," she explained.
She took a step back and then aimed a front kick at his stomach.
Bel caught her leg and twisted it, not enough to hurt her but instead to throw her off balance. He wanted to test her reflexes and recovery time.
Well that was something Cameron hadn't covered in her lessons.
She bent her knee and used the momentum from Bel's twist to pull her close enough to aim a punch at the side of his head.
Bel hadn't been expecting her to do that, and her fist smacked into the side of his head. He shook his head a few times and grinned at her. "Careful with that," he said. "You can break your hand on someone's skull."
Veronica pulled her leg from his grasp and put it back on the floor with a shrug. "That was total improvisation," she said. "We never covered anything like that."
"Always expect the unexpected when it comes to fighting demons," Bel said. "Especially because they cheat. Like this." He shimmered behind Veronica and tried to grab her.
Veronica tried to elbow him.
Anticipating her move, Bel caught her arm and wrenched it behind her back. "Now what?" he hissed in her ear.
She stamped on his foot as hard as she could and threw her head back to head butt his chin.
Bel let go of her and staggered back. "Good," he said. "If you had pretended to faint, I would've been disappointed."
Turning around to face him, she gave him a small smile. "I told you I was learning how to take care of myself."
"Good for you," Bel said. "You've learned a lot since...." He didn't finish that particular thought.
Veronica looked down. "Yeah, well..."
"A person would have to be a fool to mess with you now," Bel said, trying to lighten the mood.
"I wouldn't go that far," Veronica said, managing a grin. "But I'm getting there."
"Keep it up," Bel encouraged. "You'll get there."
"Thanks," Veronica said.
"Sooooo," Bel said, trying to find a safe subject. "How's your photography class going this time?"
"So far, so good," Veronica said. "Though I doubt anyone will be able to top Cameron's picture last session."
Bel glared. "He took advantage of my needing to be calm and relaxed," he protested.
Veronica smiled. "It was the most clever intrepretation of any of the prompts."
"At least it was tinsel and not glitter," Bel grumbled.
"If there would have been glitter, there could have been boykissy," Veronica pointed out.
"Exactly," Bel said.
"In which case I would have needed to be there to run the camera."
Bel snickered. "Cam's cool and all, but no."
Veronica mock-pouted. "It would make me feel better."
"Not gonna happen," Bel said firmly. "You already got your boykissy exhibition."
"I sure did," Veronica agreed. "And you can't say you didn't enjoy that."
Bel may have flailed a little bit.
"Oh come on, it's just us here," Veronica said. "No reason to hide the truth."
"So what if I did?" Bel said sullenly.
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"Do I have to list the reasons why it is wrong?" Bel said.
"It sucks to have feelings for someone and not be with them."
"Yeah," Bel said, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor. "Tell me about it."
Veronica sat down next to him.
"He left," she said quietly.
"Yeah, I know, I should get over it," Bel said.
"Archie left," she said, still speaking softly. "He went back."
Bel blinked. "He did? Why?"
"He got an opportunity he couldn't pass up."
"I'm sorry," Bel said. "It...must be hard on you."
"I understand why he had to do it," she said.
"That doesn't make it any easier," Bel said. "Speaking from personal experience and all."
Veronica gave him a small smile. "I figured you'd understand," she said. "Don't say anything to anyone else, please."
"I won't say a word," Bel promised. He paused, then added, "Sure you don't want me to beat him up?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I still l... like him."
"Did he know how you feel?" Bel asked quietly.
Veronica shook her head. "It wouldn't have been fair."
Bel dropped his head and laughed softly. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
"Yeah we are," Veronica said, glancing over at him with a small smile.
She sighed. "We should probably go to bed," she said. "Maybe now I'll be able to get some sleep.
Bel stood up and offered her his hand. "Yeah, we probably should," he agreed.
She took his hand and let him pull her up.
"Thank you," she said.
"Anytime," he said, whether she meant the helping hand or just listening to her.
"Let's go," Veronica said, grabbing her keys and heading out of the gym.
[ooc: NFB due to distance, no interaction due to said same distance and because of the fact that marsheadtilt and I are frakkin' exhausted.]