***<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to kill Wes.\u201d Angel snarled, nearly morphing as he gripped the mug in his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll hold him down.\u201d Cordelia nodded supportively as she sat next to him on the couch, purposefully forcing the woman to occupy her rickety recliner.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t mean she wasn\u2019t talking. It was starting to grate of the young woman\u2019s nerves now. Her poor vampire was still homicidal and twitching from time to time every moment he remembered the rodeo lingerie.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you together?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ignore her. Yes. Pretty stone cottage on a high cold mountain where the old woman\u2019s stick would catch a stray root and THROW her off the side of a steep cliff! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!<\/i><\/p>\n
Angel caught the manic twitch of his seer\u2019s mouth. \u201cCordy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
The brunette turned to Angel with an innocent smile. \u201cHmmm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
She watched lusty gray eyes slide across Angel\u2019s frame and the vampire involuntarily pressed closer to her. Glaring at the creepy hag, Cordy wrapped an arm around his shoulders. \u201cI\u2019m fine Angel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh I\u2019m fine. I\u2019m calm. I do NOT want to skin the creepy crone with my bare hands.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAre you in love?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia growled and Angel looked at her with odd admiration as she fixed her irate hazel eyes on the dragon curled up across the living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sleeping together?\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel winced when Cordelia\u2019s face became thunderous.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you having an affair?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it! That is SO it!\u201d When Cordelia made a motion to stand, Angel grabbed her arm afraid she might scalp the woman just like his demon was coaxing him.<\/p>\n
She was slingshot back into Angel\u2019s lap, as he held her there in the circle of his arms struggling to get free; her eyes were still trained on the smirking old coot. \u201cYes! We\u2019re having sex. We\u2019re bonking, doing the horizontal hula, screwing like monkeys, shagging and getting some nookie!\u201d The brunette was practically spitting with anger.<\/p>\n
Cordelia pointed a threatening finger at the slightly cowed old woman. \u201cYou touch his ass one more time gramma and I\u2019m going to…\u201d<\/p>\n
He grabbed her finger and cleared his throat. \u201cUm\u2026Cordy. I think she gets the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
The seer only huffed, still shooting daggers as she let herself be calmed by the oddly smiling vampire. \u201cI\u2019m going to reheat my hot chocolate.\u201d With an irritated stamp of her foot Cordelia Chase climbed to her feet never taking her furious gaze off the very still elderly woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t move. Don\u2019t shift. Don\u2019t even breathe or I\u2019ll spare your stalker the trouble, which hello we still haven\u2019t seen since we got here, and give you a long overdue heart attack!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia disappeared into the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cOoooh, this hot chocolate is delicious…oooh…\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel braved a glance at the woman to see her eyeing him sultrily. There should have been a law against having a libido like hers at this age, Angel reasoned.<\/p>\n
She ran her finger over her mouth temptingly while he stared in horror, and when her fingertip slid along her lower lip she opened her mouth \u2013 and her upper denture fell out.<\/p>\n
\u201cOopthhhh…I seem tho have dropth my denthers\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
His head dropped into his hands. \u201cI haven\u2019t eaten enough people to deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia miraculously appeared at his side and the couch dipped as she sat down and placed her mug on the table in front of them. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, just a little more. I slipped her sleeping medication into her mug.\u201d Her grin was almost feral.<\/p>\n
With a happy whoop Angel whirled around and hugged his beautiful, courageous, ingenious Seer to him with lightening speed; uncontainable with his elation. \u201cOh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! If I wasn\u2019t so far beyond disgusted right now Cordy, I\u2019d have lost my soul with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAir! AIR!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAhem. Sorry. I was overcome.\u201d The vampire drew back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are other ways to thank me Broody.\u201d Cordelia caught her breath, one hand on her heart. Of course, it wouldn\u2019t do any good to point out she was having trouble breathing since his arms were still around her.<\/p>\n
Nope. No good at all.<\/i><\/p>\n
Until Angel ducked down and planted a large smooch right on her mouth, grinning like the idiot that he was. \u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n
OHMIGOD!<\/i> Cordelia stared. Two seconds later she was mentally kicking herself for not responding.<\/p>\n
Mental note: Next time Angel\u2019s lips come within range, kiss the begeezuz out of him. Yup. Good plan.<\/i><\/p>\n
They jumped when a very loud snore interrupted the moment followed by a nasal whistle coming out of one toothless mouth. Both Cordelia and Angel watched the old dinosaur finally slumped asleep and silent in her chair, before falling back into the sofa with a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n
After a moment of savored silence Cordelia lifted her chin. \u201cAngel? \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cHmmm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you pondering what I\u2019m pondering?\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled. \u201cI think so Cordy. But there\u2019s no way I could eat Mrs. Peabody and convince myself it wasn\u2019t self preservation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young woman rolled her eyes and shifted comfortably in the crook of his arm as he stretched it over the back of the couch. \u201cNo more Kids WB for you Broody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said it helps me brood less.\u201d The time spent watching cartoons with his seer was his favorite Friday night activity. There was something strangely comforting with the way she curled up next to him and watched her two favorite mice.<\/p>\n
Almost like she was right now. It drove the darkness from his pores a little each time she smiled or laughed or just had her hand on his arm, or leg or anything she was touching.<\/p>\n
\u201cNOT when you start quoting Pinky and The Brain Angel. That just says you\u2019ve gone to the bad place.\u201d<\/p>\n
He snickered. \u201cSo what are you pondering?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis assignment sucks!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my god!\u201d He feigned shock, at last relaxed for the first time in the entire day. \u201cYou are clairvoyant too because I swear I was pondering the same thing you\u2019re pondering.\u201d<\/p>\n
She frowned up at him with mild annoyance. \u201cSay the P word one more time smart mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m confused. Is that a request?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cANGEL!\u201d<\/p>\n
He yelped when her hand snapped back to hit him squarely in the chest. It didn\u2019t hurt, but he pouted just the same. \u201cSorry. You realize how much I agree with you though don\u2019t you? I\u2019m picking on you for entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen do you not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain…I\u2019m confused…\u201d<\/p>\n
When she fixed him her patented death glare he grinned. \u201cYes Cordy. This assignment sucks. What\u2019s your po…\u201d<\/p>\n
GROWL!<\/p>\n
\u201cPoint!\u201d He laughed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. \u201cI was gonna say point! … And by the way…ten points for the growl. Very authentic. Good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d Involuntarily, her nose lifted in the air and winced when the woman muttered in her sleep, snorted and then proceeded to snore. \u201cThis time Wes has gone too far.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh I\u2019m with you.\u201d Angel let out an unneeded sigh. \u201cLast night he had Gunn and I rearrange the entire lobby. If I wasn\u2019t still overwrought with guilt I might have told him where to put his slave driving finger that he points in that arrogantly British way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh you mean…\u201d She looked up haughtily and lifted her hand, her pointer finger dangling in her air in a perfect Wesley impersonation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I say…I do believe the planter should be equidistant between the two sofas! No, no, no! The cushions should be fluffed with both hands firmly placed on adjacent corners for uniformity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel snorted with guffaws, muting them, lest the dragon woke up again. \u201cChrist Cordy, whoever said you couldn\u2019t act was an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I said.\u201d She grinned widely up at him, warming him in ways he didn\u2019t know were possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo? Are we going to put up with his serfdom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia Chase is NO serf!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe PTB have been characteristically quiet. How do you suggest we \u2018handle\u2019 our boss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same way all unhappy employees do.\u201d Her beautiful mouth spread into a rather wide, wickedly innocent smirk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go on strike.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlast you Indian ruffians.\u201d Both jumped when the elderly woman called out in her sleep. \u201cBAM BAM BAM! Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty…who\u2019s a naughty boy now…\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia met her vampire\u2019s eyes and grabbed his hand. \u201cStarting now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scrambling to their feet, they almost ran out of the house.<\/p>\n