(Untitled)

[slayedthedragon]

Angel isn't accustomed to things going his way. In fact, on the rare occasion that they do, it tends to make him nervous, because he's always certain everything will eventually snap back to normal, and it's hard to duck out of the way of a self-correcting universe.

And lately, recent events have been going rather generously his way. First

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[stillbecoming]

Not far away, Buffy is engaged in a furious internal debate over whether or not she should say hello, and how awkward it's likely to be if she does, and if it isn't likely to be even more awkward if she blatantly doesn't, and what is he even reading anyway, and is she staring?, and if walking past him to get a refill would be a strategic failure.

Eventually, she blinks.

[slayedthedragon]

Angel knows the sound of that blink far too well to miss it.

Well, ok, no, he didn't actually hear her blink. Vampires can't actually hear blinks, though Spike would probably claim otherwise if he thought it would show up Angel, but Spike's not here, is he? So... yeah.

...There was probably a point in there somewhere, but whatever it was, Angel can't remember, and anyway, it wasn't the blinking, it was her scent, but he knows better than to bring up that subject with her. Again.

Unfortunately, he starts looking up before he realizes she's actually just too far away to give a casual hello. So, instead, he ends up half-opening his mouth and giving a kind of half-wave that looks incredibly awkward, even with all that gracefulness you just sort of get when you're a vampire (along with instant knowledge of martial-arts, but that's for another thread). Except, apparently, when you're Angel seeing Buffy tonight.

[stillbecoming]

Out of nowhere, Buffy finds herself wondering if vampires can smell blinks.

Luckily, she's distracted by Angel's -- open-mouthed -- wave -- thing. She's pretty sure it was some kind of hello. Or at least an acknowledgment. After the moment it takes her to decipher this, she raises her own hand in a wave that radiates "if this goes badly I'm going to pretend I was fixing my hair all along," and essays an awkward smile.

[slayedthedragon]

Funny she should do that, because Angel is, at the same time, trying to make his half-wave into a move to adjust his tie, remembering too late that he hasn't worn ties regularly since 1928, so this is probably looking like a bizarre attempt to straighten his neck, which for a vampire, is probably symbolic on many levels, all of them confusing and wrong.

At least he shuts his mouth. In a half closed way that he meant to make a smile but ends up--something there really isn't a name for. It's still sort of welcoming, in a way, but also vaguely unsettling.

Some day he's going to want to make a face like that, and he won't be able to because he already made it here.