Title: Drunken Demeanour
Author: Gabriella
Posted here: 08/05
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Rating: PG-13
Category:
Content: C/A
Summary: Cordy’s drunk and Angel has to take care of her.
Spoilers: Uh…late S2, before Pylea.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Nothing Fancy and anyone else, just ask.
Notes: Lorne is living at the hotel and they know who he is and his name, yada, yada, yada. Why? Because it works for me… This is just something that was stuck in my head and I decided to write it down. I wanted to explore the idea of the C/A friendship as well as the attraction, because the friendship has always been the base. So yeah, it’s a bit random really, and not all that great. Mind you, it was written in about two hours. Hope ya’ll enjoy it anyhow!
Thanks/Dedication:This one goes out to psychofilly cos I’m a stubborn ass who refuses to post until she posts and she also lost a whole chunk of *her* story yesterday, so I figured this would cheer her up. Sorry PF, no smut…
Feedback:Hell yeah! It makes me all warm and fuzzy and stuff…
Angel jerked awake, his wonderful fantasy about a deliciously naked Cordelia dissipating at the sound of someone singing loudly. He rubbed his eyes in confusion and listened intently.
The noise was definitely coming from somewhere inside the hotel, and it didn’t sound like Lorne. The voice was far more feminine, familiar to him somehow. Speak of the devil.
Cordelia.
Angel sighed, quickly jumping out of his bed and grabbing his sweats from the third drawer in his dresser. He stepped into them, scrubbing his face with his hands before walking out of his bedroom door.
***
“Cos I’m a woooman! W.O.M.A.N!” Cordelia stumbled into the Hyperion lobby singing, bottle of wine half empty in her hand, clad in a short, navy, denim skirt just above her knees and a dark brown shirt, undone at the top. She glanced around, eyes squinting in the darkness. Where the hell was everyone? It was only three am.
She shrugged, sitting down in the middle of the lobby floor and taking a swig from the bottle, smiling as the cool liquid ran down her throat. This was her eighth bottle of the evening, and for some reason, she felt on top of the world.
“Cordelia?”
Cordy jerked her head up, smiling widely when she saw who was standing there. “Angel! Hey!”
Angel put a finger over his lips, indicating that she should speak more quietly. Cordy quickly gave him a sheepish look, her eyes widening, giggles erupting from her throat. “Sorry, sorry!” She whispered, putting a finger over her own lips and glancing around worriedly. Then she looked at him curiously. “What are you doing here?”
Angel almost laughed. “Cordy, I live here, remember?”
Cordelia looked contemplative, pondering that for a second before she responded. “Oh yeah!” She lost her train of thought. “Where are we?”
Angel gave her a disbelieving look and came forward, waving a hand in front of his face when he smelt the alcohol. “We’re at the Hyperion. My God, Cordelia, how much have you had to drink?”
Cordy put a finger on her chin. “Well, there was the one bottle by the bar, then there were like, two or three at the table, I forget…” Angel’s eyes widened. “Ooh, and then we moved tables.” She nodded enthusiastically. “And then there were three over there. And this is the last one!” She grinned, then scowled. “I lost count. How many does that make?”
Angel gaped. “Eight bottles? You’ve had eight bottles of…give me that!” He grabbed the bottle, prying her fingers off it and walking towards the counter, placing it on the top. When he turned around, Cordy was pouting.
“If you wanted some, you could have just asked.”
Angel sighed, coming forward and crouching down next to her. He smiled softly. Cordelia had slowly managed to steal her way into his heart over the short period of time after which he had had his epiphany, and she simply refused to let go.
The day she had forgiven him, although fairly long ago, had been forever locked away in his memory, her beautiful smile etched into his heart.
Everything she did was either adorable, or beautiful, or sexy. She made him want to smile all the time, and he loved her for it.
The object of his affections was now staring at her hand with immense concentration, as though she was looking for something.
“What are you doing?”
Cordy frowned. “There was a guy at the club who said that if you hold your hand up in front of your face for a long time, the lines on your palm change shape.” She held her hand up, inches from her face and Angel mimicked the action with curiosity.
Bad move.
Cordelia smacked the back of his hand and he slapped himself in the face, toppling over into an ungracefully heap on the floor. When he looked up, his seer was cackling hysterically, holding her stomach from laughing so hard.
“Every time!” She gasped, between chuckles.
Angel gave her a mock glare. “Don’t make me tickle you.” That only made Cordelia laugh harder, and it occurred to Angel how beautiful she looked, head thrown back, buoyantly happy, without a care in the world.
She turned to him and winked, smiling softly. “You’re such a dork.”
Angel grinned and got to his feet, gently taking her arm and leading her towards the couch. She sat down and pulled him with her, throwing her feet up onto his lap and resting her head against the back of the couch.
“Gunn is such a great dancer.” She gushed. “He’s just…”
“Gunn took you out drinking?” Angel asked, slight anger evident in his voice.
Cordy nodded. “Mmm hmm. And Wesley. They paid for all my drinks and everything.” She sighed. “What gentlemen…”
“Remind me to kill them in the morning.” Angel muttered, starting when Cordy jerked up and graced him with a sombre look.
“Don’t do that!” She gasped, and Angel had to chuckle at the seriousness with which she said that. He pushed back against her shoulders and she lay down again, staring up at the ceiling.
“Where are they now?”
Cordy sighed. “They dropped me off here and then took off. I swear, those two have something going on behind the scenes, if you know what I mean…”
Angel’s eyes widened and he glanced at her, but she was still looking up. He decided not to dwell on that, instead, letting her do the talking.
“You should see Wesley dance.” She nodded. Angel only smiled, memories of a certain party at Cordelia’s where he had, unfortunately, encountered Wesley strutting his stuff coming to mind. He slowly removed her strappy heels and placed them on the floor, massaging her feet quietly as she talked.
“He dances like a fish!” She snorted at her own joke, placing a hand over her shaking stomach.
Angel looked up. “I thought he kissed like a fish.”
Cordy glanced at him. “Oh yeah.” She looked lost. “So what does he dance like?”
Angel shrugged. “I don’t know.” He stared at her. “You look nice.”
Cordy looked at him without saying a word for a whole minute. Then her eyes widened and she glanced around. “Oh! Were you talking to me?”
Angel grinned. “No Cordelia, I was talking to the other girl sitting with me in the lobby.”
Cordy bit her lip and glanced around again, a thoroughly confused look on her face. “Where?”
Angel rolled his eyes. “I was being sarcastic, Cordelia!” He winked. “You look nice.”
Cordelia blushed lightly. “Really?”
“Truly.” Angel nodded. “Really beautiful.”
Cordy grinned, hiding her face and punching him on the arm. “Stop. You’re embarrassing me.”
“What? You always say that we don’t compliment you enough. Well, you’re right. We don’t. And we should. You really look beautiful tonight.”
Cordelia shuffled closer to him, sliding her arms around his waist and snuggling against him, hiding her flaming cheeks under his chin. “I love you, Angel.”
He smiled at her embarrassment, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tightly. “I love you too, Cordy.”
“I bet I love you more.”
Angel chuckled, kissing her forehead. “I bet you don’t.”
Cordelia lifted her head and stared at him. Angel brought his hand up and smoothed a wavy tendril of hair off her face, gently pushing it behind her ear. She closed her eyes and smiled. “I really do love you, you know.”
Angel kissed her nose. “I know.”
“No, I mean, I really love you. As in bigtime head over heels.” She nodded, completely unaware of the information she was releasing and how Angel had gone completely still beside her. “I never tell you because of your blonde fetish…Hey, I saw a blonde today!” Cordy interrupted herself, smiling widely.
Angel stared at her with wide eyes, mouth slightly parted in shock. “You…you love me?”
Cordy nodded. “Yup. Big ol’ cupid hit me straight in the ass.” She looked around cautiously. “But I’m not supposed to tell you that.” She whispered.
Angel would have laughed if his heart didn’t feel as though it was about to burst. He wanted to jump for joy, or sing and dance around the room, but he didn’t think Cordelia would appreciate either of those. So he just pulled her closer.
Cordy rested her head against his shoulder, eyes closing sleepily as she sighed, warm breath tickling Angel’s jaw line. He cupped her cheek, thumb stroking the elegant curve of her jaw. Her lips were so close to his own, it would be so easy to bend down and just kiss her, something he had dreamed about from the very first day he fell in love with her.
But he resisted, simply caressing her face instead, lulling her to sleep with his soothing touch. He rested his forehead against hers, smiling when she smiled at the contact. Her eyes fluttered open and she beamed at him, covering the hand that was on her cheek and leaning forward.
Angel froze when her lips touched his own, unable to move, or think, or speak, or do anything to stop her. She kissed him for a few seconds, almost as if she were unsure of what she was doing but continuing because it felt right. Angel almost responded, before he caught himself and pushed her away by the shoulders.
“Wha…Angel?”
“I can’t, Cordelia.” The vampire gave her a pained look. “It isn’t fair. I don’t want to take advantage…I don’t want it like this. You’re too drunk, and you probably wouldn’t want…”
“Pfft!” Cordelia waved him away. “I am so not drunk!” Then she leaned in, smirking as she whispered. “Ssh! I’m lying. I am SO drunk!”
Angel smiled, palming her face and kissing her forehead. “I love you so much, Cordy.” He whispered. “But I’ll tell you that when you’re over your hangover.” He winked and straightened, picking Cordelia up in his arms. The seer latched her arms around his neck and held onto him as he took her up the stairs and along the landing to his bedroom.
“Wow, Angel. Your bedroom, already?” Cordelia raised an eyebrow. “You better go slowly otherwise I might go around telling everyone you’re easy.”
Angel grinned and placed her on the bed, carefully removing her earrings and her necklace and placing them on the bedside table. He brought the covers up to her waist and sat down, running a hand through her hair and reaching over for a glass of water. He handed it to her.
“Drink this. It’ll help neutralize the alcohol in your system.”
Cordy rolled her eyes and gulped down the liquid, placing the empty glass on the table and lying down again. Angel pulled the covers up to her shoulders and kissed her forehead, turning off the bedside light. “Goodnight, Cor.”
“Wait.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, keeping him with her. “Could you…stay?”
Angel raised an eyebrow. “Sure.”
“And just…hold me?” Cordelia asked, her voice soft and vulnerable. Angel took a deep breath and then came forward, crawling under the covers and putting his arms around the woman he loved.
She snuggled into his chest, burying her head in his neck and breathing in. Her heartbeat began to even out and she kissed his chin, before murmuring. “Goodnight, Angel.”
Angel squeezed her tight and kissed her hair. “Goodnight, Cordy.”
End