It's called brooding

003: [Voice/Video] Shut ins get bored

still_brooding — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:09:13 GMT

[The video shows Angel sitting in front of a chess board playing both sides of the board alone.]

So I'm a bit shut in right now. Any of you play Chess? Or Checkers but I don't have a checker board.

002: [Action] Sometimes a fight is just what you need

still_brooding — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:14:27 GMT

[When night fell, Angel stopped lurking and decided to man up...so to speak. He'd spent days since the luau dancing around Faith, stifling awkwardness and pretty much stalking her. What could he say, stalking was sort of his MO. However, night meant monsters came out to play and while Faith was no damsel in distress, she'd confessed to having a few more problems here than she had at home. After Ruby and Faith parted ways, Angel followed Faith a bit longer before finally stepping out of the shadows]

We should probably get in somewhere.

[Or she should. He really wanted dinner. Dinner that wasn't Faith.]

Step away from the slayer, Soul Boy. We are not chowing down on that one. No matter how hungry we are. Where the hell is the blonde one when you need her?

acairnia application

still_brooding — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:49:39 GMT

PLAYER INFO

Your name: Kristi

Your journal: bashipforever
Contact info:writer@email.com rageiscute (AIM)

CHARACTER INFO

Character name: Angel

Fandom: Angel the series/Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Point in canon taken from: Angel is taken from the end of Not Fade Away. Right after that battle he got sent to Acairnia.

Appearance: Angel is tall, dark and broody. He’s tall (about 6’1) with broad shoulders and messy, brown hair. He’s got brown eyes and very pale skin. Angel is in good shape. He generally wears dark pants, a wife beater and dark shirts along with a black leather jacket. He generally walks with a bit of rounded shoulders as if he’s trying to disappear. His PB is David Boreneaz (canon)

Personality: Angel is quiet, broody and self deprecating. He’s very self sacrificing and a bit of a loner. He’s a quintessential hero though, unable to avoid helping out someone in need. He wants very badly to be needed and necessary and craves having people that care about him around him. However, in spite of this he usually attempts to push people away at first, believing that he’s not good enough for anyone in any form. He believes he belongs literally and figuratively in the shadows. He reacts very reserved toward people at first, hesitant to interact because his social skills quite frankly suck. He’s stiff, uptight and taciturn but he relaxes a little as he gets to know people and becomes more comfortable with them. He’s even been known to make jokes (very bad ones). He’s expectedly old fashioned, technologically impaired and even though he’s reasonably smart, he’s a big, dumb oaf on occasion.

History: Liam was born in 1727 in Galway, Ireland. In 1753, at the ripe old age of 26, he was turned into a vampire by Darla. Upon rising from his grave, he killed his family along with the entire community in Galway. He did away with the name Liam and took up the identity of Angelus, a nod to his little sister who invited him into the house and asked ‘Are you an angel?’. For the next 150 years, Angelus and Darla cut a swath of terror and murder through Europe. He was one of the most feared vampires in history. During this time, a couple things of note occurred. In 1860 he drove a young woman with visions insane then turned her. Her name was Drusilla and she was responsible for turning Spike (aka William the Bloody). Angelus acted as Spike’s Sire in most responsibilities as Dru was a bit too insane to be a good mummy.

In 1898, Angelus fed upon and killed the favorite daughter of a gypsy clan. They were understandably upset and chose to take revenge on him in the form of a curse. They returned his soul to his body which may not sound like much of a punishment but as Angel once put it “You have no idea what it’s like to do the things I’ve done and to care” Darla turned him out repulsed by his soul and his inability to be the glorious, murderous creature she’d spent so much time with. For the next several years he attempts to mend ways with her and to be what he once was to no avail. In 1902, he made a clean break and arrived in New York City via Ellis Island with hundreds of other Irish immigrants. He wanders around the country a bit, making an appearance in Montana during the Great Depression and Chicago in the 1920’s. During World War II The Demon Research Initiative talks Angel into taking up a secret mission to rescue an American submarine from 3 vampires.

The next major turn in Angel’s long life occurs in 1952. He stays at the Hyperion Hotel in LA (then a very luxurious hotel), befriends a half black-half white woman who stole a large sum of money from her employer. There are a couple of murders and a suicide as a result of the presence of a Thesulac demon but the demon part is unknown to the hotel residents of course. The guests panic, accuse the woman and the woman betrays Angel, implying that it’s his fault. The guests rise up against him and lynch him. Of course Angel survives this lynching and leaves the hotel, allowing the Thesulac to consume everyone in the hotel. As a result of this incident, Angel loses his faith in humanity in general. He wanders around the country, spending a bit of time with the Rat Pack in Las Vegas and attention Elvis Presley’s wedding reception in 1967. Shortly after this he returns to New York City and in 1970 he is witness to a robbery where a man is fatally shot. He stays with the man until he dies then feeds on him and leaves. Now disgusted with himself, Angel withdraws from society and takes up resident in an alley, feeding on rats.

In 1996, Angel is approached by a demon named Whistler. He is still living in the alley on rats and Whistler offers him a chance to become something better. In effect, he offers him redemption. He drives Angel to LA where he spies on the newly called Slayer, Buffy Summers. Upon seeing the pretty blonde sitting on the steps of her school, Angel makes the decision to join the fight against evil and help the slayer. Whistler instructs Angel to go to Sunnydale and wait for the slayer to show up.

Once in Sunnydale, Angel begins to shadow Buffy and to help her in her slaying. Eventually, despite his best efforts to remain distant, he falls in love with her. They consummate their love on Buffy’s seventeenth birthday and Angel discovers something he could never have anticipated. The curse the gypies put on him has a loophole. If he were to ever experience a moment of perfect happiness the curse would break and he would lose his soul again. This is exactly what happens. Angelus is once again unleashed on the world, more specifically this time, Sunnydale. His terror reigns for several months, reuniting him with Drusilla and Spike. He devises a plan to suck the world into hell and Buffy, along with her friend Willow’s help, barely stops him from doing precisely that. Willow returns Angel’s soul to him but the portal to hell is already been opened and the only thing that will close the portal is Angel’s blood. Buffy kisses him, tells him she loves him and then she kills him. Angel spends the next three months in Hell.

The worst thing about Hell? Time doesn’t move the same there so three months is equivalent to a century. For reasons still unknown, Angel is returned to Sunnydale, feral and more than half insane from his vacation in Hell. He and Buffy reunite, unable to stay away from each other but they are more careful this time, adopting a minimal touch policy. Angel first becomes acquainted with Faith, the other vampire slayer in Sunnydale. Christmas rolls around and evil is working it’s mojo on Angel. He is haunted by all the people he killed as Angelus in an attempt to make him lose control and ‘lose his soul’ in Buffy once again. This fails but only because of Angel’s sacrificial nature and the grace of the Powers that Be. In a last ditch effort to stop himself, Angel goes to a remote cliff over looking Sunnydale with plans to greet the sunrise. He is saved by the Powers that Be who arrange for snowfall in Southern California in the middle of a heatwave. It is in May of 1999 that Angel decides to leave Sunnydale (and Buffy) believing that it is best for her.

Angel moves to Los Angeles in 1999. He meets a demon with precognitive visions named Doyle and starts up Angel Investigations. He hires Cordelia Chase from Sunnydale, California as his receptionist (part time of course, she’s trying to be an actress) and the three of them fall into a comfortable working relationship. Doyle sacrifices himself for the greater good in 2000 and Angel and Cordy are left to pick up the pieces. They’re joined shortly by other people who will all becomes members of Angel Investigations including Wesley Wyndam Pryce, Charles Gunn, Fred Burkle and Lorne aka The Host. During Angel’s first year in LA, Faith shows up from Sunnydale and is up to no good. She’s gone rogue. Angel manages to convince her that redemption is possible, she doesn’t have to be this person if she doesn’t want to be. She turns herself into the law for the things she’s done and is put in prison. Angel maintains a relationship with her, visiting her from time to time. In 2001 Angel has a son with Darla, a miracle child. Like most things, fatherhood doesn’t go well for Angel. Conner is kidnapped and taken to a Hell dimension where he is raised to hate his father and become a warrior. He succeeds and returns to LA on a mission. Angel manages to keep him from killing him but Connor, acting as the good son he is, ends up locking his father in a box and sinking him to the bottom of the ocean.

After a three month vacation including starvation and hallucinations, Angel is rescued by Wesley. Things get a bit better but the relationship with Angel and Connor is never healthy. There’s another apocalypse brewing and for this one, the team decides they need Angelus as he has memories of the enemy they’re fighting that Angel doesn’t. Angelus is unleashed, he breaks out of his prison and wrecks havoc on LA. This is where Faith comes into play once again and it’s her first brush with Angel. They fight, he almost kills her and then in a very clever move involving a nasty drug, Faith almost kills him. Instead of death, he and Faith are joined in some crazy, mind bending journey through Angel’s past. Faith helps Angel out this time, helping him defeat Angelus. With Willow’s help (again) and Faith’s, Angel regains his soul.

Just in time for another apocalypse! Sensing a pattern here? At least this one starts out small and innocent, giving them a bit of a breather. It culminates with Connor losing his mind, snapping and almost blowing up a mall with several hostages. In return for Connor’s life, Angel makes a deal with Wolfram and Hart—a supernatural organization of evil encapsulated in a law firm. He becomes their new CEO. He takes up this role and attempts to do as much good as possible but quickly realizes it’s a drop in the bucket. The only real good he can do, is take down Wolfram and Hart or at least deal a serious blow to them. Through an elaborate plan, he actually does this in a battle that includes a massive demon army and a dragon.

Example tag:
Angel had been locked up all day and the day had taken eighteen hours instead of twelve so by the time darkness fell, he was spoiling for a fight. The nice thing about this island was that he didn’t have to wait long to find one. Of course the fight he found came in the form of those creepy dog things with the hinged jaws. First one appeared but he could smell and hear the others gathering in the shadows. He waited, strolling along the beach with apparent indifference. He let the Leucrota herd him the direction it wanted him to go. The one behind him snapped at his calf, hurrying him along and before Angel could turn, he was surrounded by the little monsters. His face morphed, forehead ridging and eyes turning yellow as the demon rose to the forefront and he crouched, lunging in one direction at the creatures and growling. They backed up for an instant, surprised by this show of predator versus predator but it only bought him moments because now they were intrigued. He swung the broadsword in a low arc, aiming for their legs as he’d learned the first night here they could bite through almost anything. High pitched squeals of pain filled the air but none of the beasties actually backed off.

Oh…well he was going to have to do this the old fashioned way. At least they didn’t have limbs made of wood and they couldn’t actually kill him. Angel abandoned the sword and snatched one of the creatures up, breaking its neck and tossing it aside. They were swarming him, taking chunks of flesh out of his body but he was working just as fast, breaking necks, ripping heads off and occasionally having a bite to eat. A vampire had to get his blood from somewhere.

Example journal:On one hand, I’m not being attacked by a dragon here. On the other hand…I don’t have any idea where I’m at. Alright so it’s an island and it appears to be a resort. Who in their right mind kidnaps a vampire and puts him on an island resort? And that’s what concerns me. Whatever or whoever is bringing me and these other people aren’t in their right minds. It doesn’t bode well for anyone here but it is a nice resort. Or it seems to be. I wonder if there’s a gift shop? I could drop Nina a post card.

Only a dream [And that knocked me off of my feet]

still_brooding — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:52:53 GMT

[What did you dream last night?]

Takes place in the Angel: After The Fall comics timeline

The sun is shining. No…you don’t understand. The sun is shining on me. I can feel the warmth against my skin, seeping into my clothes and I’m not bursting into flame. I can see Wes and Fred lying on a blanket just a few feet away underneath the shade of a large oak. Connor and Gunn are playing football and they’ve been egging me to play with them for quite a while but I’m content to just sit here in a chair and watch the ones I love.

There’s a hand at the back of my neck, warm and soft. She dips her head to place a kiss against my neck and I close my eyes.

“This is nice, isn’t it? All of us here…together.”

Before I can answer, she dips her head again, whispering in my ear.

“If you hadn’t gotten us all killed.”

Angel jolted into wakefulness, breath he didn’t need catching in his throat, constricting it tight. He scrubbed his hands over his face, into his hair then pulled the blankets back. He might as well get out of bed because he wasn’t going to be sleeping anymore today. Early afternoon and the sun was high but there was such a dense covering of smoke and ash he could have walked down Rodeo Drive, or what was left of it, at noon.

Once he’s showered and had a lukewarm cup of blood, he’ll go out and patrol. It’s more like a battle lately. He doesn’t have to hunt for anything these days because the city is thick with vampires and demons.

Slice

Punch

Slash

Kick

Stake

The snick of a blade against bone.

It was all done by rote, his mind on the dream he had.

On a place he can’t go.

A place he’s never been.

And a place he never will be.

Because he got them all killed.

for on_thecouch

still_brooding — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:57:36 GMT

["Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." John Keating Dead Poets Society ]

If he had breath, the pressure mounting in the house would feel like he had a car sitting on his chest. He glances over at the girl in the corner next to him. She’s gasping for breath and he’s got to end this soon. The demon is floundering, losing more blood than it can survive but it’s also killing the only human in the room. His eyes narrow and he moves to the center of the room and takes a deep breath. A smirk twitches the corner of his mouth and he moves faster than anything human, lunging and swinging his broadsword in an arc over an apparently empty space in the room.

The pressure dissipates with a pop, the girl is gulping air and the body of the demon is lying at his feet, the head a few feet away. He drops his sword and moves over to the girl crouching in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she nods, still breathless as she reaches up, her hands gripping his biceps hard. “Thank you.”

“Everything should be alright now,” Angel tells her as he helps her to her feet, stepping back once she’s steady. She’s lived her entire life imprisoned by this house, by the demon that haunted it as did her mother before her.

As he backs away, she seems to realize this and confusion sweeps across her face. “What do I do now?”

“Anything you want,” Angel responds as he picks up his sword and swipes the blades across his pants, wiping it clean. “Make your life extraordinary.”

For makeyourlist

still_brooding — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:43:06 GMT

[A list of things I need to pick up]

-Blood from the butcher
-My broadsword. I had it sharpened.
-One of my leather jackets from the cleaners
-The boots I had resoled
-The Taser I ordered for Scarlett

Las Vegas is my kind of town [RP forlikes_wood]

still_brooding — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:02:03 GMT

Angel grabbed his black leather jacket and shrugged into it. He was wearing a pretty standard pair of black pants but he had on a crimson silk shirt that he rarely wore in LA. It'd seemed appropriate for Las Vegas. He ran a hand over his hair then one over jaw. He'd shaved before the concert but he'd been up long enough that he was beginning to get a bit of stubble on his face. He considered shaving again but Scarlett was ready to go and he figured she wouldn't mind a five o'clock shadow. He walked into the main room of the suite to find Scarlett indeed ready to go. She had on a short skirt and heels. Angel rarely stopped and took time to notice because--well mostly because he was Angel but he did tonight and she was beautiful. He gave her a crooked smile.

"You look nice," he told her quietly as he walked up to her.

It seems like it always happens around this time every year

still_brooding — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:00:53 GMT

Apocalypse...check

And sometimes I hate myself

still_brooding — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:32:29 GMT

[Temptation]

ooc: co-written with stillacrime and whattingawhat. This falls in with the many other apocalypse storylines

The smell was overwhelming. He was drowning in it and he couldn't get away from it. He could hear their heartbeats separated from him by a wall and Angelus taunted him with images of the things he'd do, the things he wanted to do. They crawled and scratched inside his mind, wearing at his willpower like physical friction. Every second it was abraded more. He didn't bother with the elevator or the stairs, merely jumped out the window and started running. When the whole world smelled like a feast just waiting for him to glut himself upon it, there was only one safe place. He couldn't get away from it because it trickled down the sidewalks and flowed through the gutters. It dripped down into tunnels and secrets places not populated by humans. By the time he reached Buffy's apartment he was covered in blood and he'd given up the struggle against his vamp face a long time ago. He was still fighting the demon but he had to pick his battles and that one he was willing to let go. His pounding on the door was frantic and probably too hard.

Buffy sat up in bed even before she heard the pounding on the door. She knew it was raining outside but she had no idea to the exact nature of the rain. She'd pulled the curtains shut as soon as it had started. "It's Angel," she told Danny as she grabbed a pair of sweats to go with the white wife beater she'd worn to bed. She opened the door to find a blood soaked Angel in full vamp face. She bit her bottom lip and reached out, grabbing his arm to pull him inside, over the threshold. She slammed the door shut behind him and looked up into desperate, panic-stricken golden eyes. She supposed the cat was out of the bag regarding Angel's species now. Her eyes searched hers, asking questions without words.

"I didn't hurt anyone but it's raining blood...and it's human."

Danny crawled out of bed behind Buffy and while he already had a pair of sweat pants on, he grabbed a white tank to pull over his head. When he walked groggily into the living room and noted the blood dripping all over the floor and then Angel's face, he glanced at Buffy to make sure she saw everything too. "Let's hear it for hardwood floors, yeah? Easy clean up." He turned to the kitchen in pursuit of some paper towels. But he knew from experience, blood never really came out of anything, there was always trace.

Angel watched Danny like he was something to eat whole. He stared at him like a predator watching prey. Buffy might be too much of a predator for him to ever look at that way but Danny wasn't. He could hear the man's heart beat in his chest and he heard when it picked up, slamming hummingbird fast against his ribcage. Danny smelled like nicotine, sweat and food to Angel. Everything else was secondary at this moment.

Buffy reached up and grabbed Angel's chin, forcing him to look at her. "Hey, right here. Watch me." She looked back at Danny, biting her bottom lip. "I'm sorry," she told Danny in a quiet voice then she looked back to Angel. "What's going on, Big Guy?" She put her other hand on his bicep, squeezing hard. She kept his chin in her fingers, enough pressure against his jaw to bruise him. She was trying to give him something to steady himself with.

The touch from Buffy at least gave him something to think about besides the fact that there was the smell of blood everywhere. He swallowed hard, his eyes fixated on the scar at the curve of her neck. "I tried to fight it and their heartbeats were too loud. Lucy and Jill...just on the other side of the wall. I could hear their hearts beating and their breath...and everything smelled so good. It's not like pig's blood. No matter how much I tell myself-it's not. I got scared. I was afraid I was going to hurt them and I knew I wouldn't hurt you. I couldn't hurt you like that and you wouldn't let me hurt anyone else."

Buffy nodded, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Danny still getting paper towels in the kitchen. She'd have to check on him to see how he was handling this as soon as she got Angel settled. "Let's get you in the shower and I'll find something for you to put on. Wash your hair and scrub your skin. I've got vanilla body wash in there. Try that."

"Bleach. It'll destroy the smell," Angel said around his fangs. His voice was tight and hoarse, as if he was trying to avoid screaming.

"I'm not letting you bleach your skin, Angel. Come on. Shower first. I'll call the butcher," she said as she physically pushed him toward the bathroom. Once there she turned on the water as hot as it would go and got out a towel. She looked at him a little lost before she pulled herself together. "I don't have anything you can wear," she said then she stepped back out of the bathroom and grabbed a blanket from the couch. She placed it on the sink. "Wrap up in that and come sit on the couch when you're finished." She paused, still watching him. "You'll be alright. Don't leave. Stay here with me and I'll make sure you're okay."

Danny took a moment to light some scented candles and open the balcony door to look outside. What he saw shocked him; red blood falling like rain from the sky. His brow furrowed in confusion as he carried the Windex and paper towels over to the floor to clean up the trail of blood all the way to the closed bathroom door where Buffy was inside with Angel. He could hear voices muffled by the shower spray but couldn't really make out any words. He left the Windex and paper towels by the door and moved back into the living room.

Grabbing his pack of cigarettes off of the table, he lit up and smoked, leaning against the wall next to the screen door. Going outside in that crap was not an option so he stayed just inside with the screen door as a vent of sorts and watched the unspeakable and the impossible outside become reality. He couldn't decide what was more unnerving right now; the blood falling from the sky, that Buffy's ex-boyfriend was a vampire or that she was alone in the bathroom with him while he was taking a shower.

Buffy kept her back to the shower, staying just long enough to make sure Angel got in. She collected all of his clothes in a pile, rolling them in a towel so she didn't have to take a shower when all of this was over. "Angel, I'm just going to be right outside. I'm gonna get rid of these clothes."

"I'll be fine," he said but it was more of a monotone, of a mantra than an actual reassurance.

"I promise you will," she told him as she opened the door to the bathroom and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. She stuffed the towel and the clothes in a garbage bag, tied it up and shoved it down the garbage shoot then stepped over to where Danny was leaning against the wall smoking. She walked up to him hesitantly, gnawing at her bottom lip as she did. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his collarbone. "How you doing, Boyfriend?" she asked, knowing it was a ridiculous question.

Circling his arm with the free hand around Buffy's shoulders, Danny squeezed her close and kissed the top of her head. He took in another long drag of his cigarette before he answered her. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm..." He searched for a good word that would be closest to the truth but came up empty. "Hey, did you know Angel's a vampire? And I don't know what the Hell's goin' on out there." He nodded in the direction of the screen door. "Makes no sense."

"Apocalypse. Rain of blood...makes sense," Buffy said quietly as she rested her head against Danny's chest, listening to his heartbeat for a moment. "He had been one for 227 years before I met him. He's good though. He has a soul and he helps people. The ones I hunt are just evil, a demon inside a body. He's got the demon and the soul to listen to. He doesn't have anywhere else to go, Danny. He's afraid of hurting someone else and he knows I won't let that happen. I'm sorry. I would have told you sooner but...I didn't want to overwhelm you."

In the shower, Angel was scrubbing his skin with vanilla body wash, trying as hard as he could to get Buffy's scent all over him instead of the scent of blood. The hot water was nearly scalding but it didn't turn his skin red because there was no blood to bring to the surface. It heated him up from inside and made him feel a little more human.

So easy math put Buffy with Angel while he had been a vampire. Danny wasn't stupid, but the whole apocalypse thing did not make sense to him. He was standing here looking at it pouring blood and still just didn't comprehend it. And part of him was wondering what the Hell Buffy was doing with a normal Jo Schmo like himself. Her whole world was this big amazing thing. She had dated and still had some kind of thing he couldn't explain with a two-hundred plus year old vampire. The fact that she wanted to be with him made just about as much sense to Danny as the raining blood outside.

He drew another long drag of his cigarette and tried to shrug his thought process off as if it were nothing. "S'alright, Summers. He gonna be okay? Should we like... I dunno... be Cloverfield-ing it or somethin'? Gathering all our loved ones and headin' for the hills with a video camera to document it all in case we don't make it?"

Buffy rested her chin on Danny's chest, watching him. "Only if you don't have any faith in me but if you want to get your Mom and Dad out of here, try LA. Eventually it would reach there but you've got some time. If I don't stop this thing, nothing will be safe ever. I've killed things bigger and badder than what's coming and I'm going to get this one too. I promise." She pressed a kiss to Danny's chest. "As far as Angel...he's going to be okay. I need to call the butcher and get a couple of pints of pig's blood here for him. The less hungry he is, the better he can deal with the smell of human blood around him. That's what he eats, pig's blood. Human blood makes everyone smell like food."

Her confidence was reassuring to Danny and he nodded slightly, brushing back her hair from her forehead as he held his cigarette between his lips. He expertly spoke around it without it dropping to the floor as he cradled either side of her face in his palms. "Well then why don't you do that. Order whatever blood and we'll deal with this." Because he had seen how Angel had looked at him, and it wasn't something he really was okay with.

In truth, he was kind of freaking out. But he was putting on an okay front, which he was glad for because Angel was here. He was not going to freak out in front of Angel if he could help it.

Buffy smiled at him and pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips that didn't hold the cigarette. She pulled away and dialed the butcher shop that dealt with demons and blood pick up. She promised the guy there a big tip if he'd deliver four pints to the apartment. She didn't want anyone in this apartment going back out there. Just as she hung up the phone, Angel came out of the bathroom wrapped up in the blanket she'd left in there for him. The scent of vanilla was almost overwhelming and she was pretty sure Angel had used most of her body wash and shampoo on himself.

"Better?" she asked as she walked over to him. Normally, Angel sent Buffy straight into defensive posture but she knew she couldn't afford that right now. He still had a demon screaming inside of him and she needed to be as dominant as possible. She put one hand on her hip and ran the other through his wet hair as she went up on tip toe.

Angel nodded in answer to her question. "Everything smells like you now."

Buffy shrugged to that. "I wrap up in that blanket when we're watching movies."

"It also smells like Danny but...not in a bad way." In a bad way meaning not like food.

"Okay, come on. Sit down on the couch and we'll wait for your blood to get here. If it gets bad, I'll lock you in our bedroom," Buffy told him as she guided him over to the couch.

He chuckled a little, regaining his sense of humor a bit now that everything wasn't overwhelming scented like blood. "Are you thinking of torturing me?"

"Nah, I just know what it smells like to you and that's not blood."

Angel glanced over at Danny when he sat down then looked down to the floor. "Sorry," he said quietly.

Danny shrugged lightly and took another drag of his cigarette. The apartment was filled with so many scents now that he wasn't sure how Angel could smell the blood outside. Between the scented candles Buffy had brought home, his cigarette, Windex and the scent of vanilla that usually came after Buffy took a shower, he thought that they should be pretty well covered.

"Hey don't worry 'bout it." He paused to take a drag off of his cigarette. "I wouldn't wanna be out there in that either."

The scents were muddled now but Angel had the nose of a dog. He was grateful for the cigarette and the vanilla smell colliding with each other. It helped more than anything else. He could even smell the scent of Danny's fear and confusion woven amongst all the other scents.

"I feel sorry for the delivery boy," Buffy said.

"Don't," Angel told her. "He's a theslla demon. He'll lick himself clean afterwards and be happy about it."

There was a knock on the door and Buffy got up to answer it. She grabbed cash out of her purse so she could give him the big tip she'd promised. The theslla demon was pale green, covered in darker green freckles. He had a Yankees cap pulled down low and a leather jacket with the collar flipped up. He smelled a little like a sewer but he wasn't covered in blood and Buffy knew he had to have taken an underground route. He handed a big paper bag over to Buffy and looked down at her wide eyed.

"Slayer? They didn't tell me I was delivering to no slayer. I stay under the radar, I don't kill no one and I don't hurt anything. I get all my blood from Tony. I swear," the demon was almost sweating bullets.

Buffy shook her head and rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have invited you to my house. The smell of theslla never comes out of anything." She handed over the cash and the demon scampered away without pause. She carried the blood back into the apartment."Heated?" she asked Angel.

Angel nodded. "About 43 seconds will put it close to 98 degrees."

Buffy nodded as she carried the blood into the kitchen. She poured it into one of her giant cappachino mugs and stuck it in the microwave. She watched Danny where he leaned up against the wall still as the microwave worked. Once it beeped she took it out and carried it over to Angel.

Angel glanced over at Danny then back at the blood. Buffy walked over to Danny and leaned against him. "Go ahead," she told Angel. "He doesn't gross out easy."

Danny's gaze followed Buffy as he stood still leaning back against the wall quietly. She was heating up blood for him like she had to have done so many times before. No, he wasn't grossed out. He was still weirded out. When his cigarette was down to the butt, he lit another one without any hesitation using what was left of the flaming ash on the old butt. It had been a long time since he had chain smoked like this but he couldn't help it.

He looked down to the floor and back out of the screen door so that Angel wouldn't feel uncomfortable drinking in front of him. Far be it for him to kick a guy when he's down. That just wasn't in him to do. Temptation to lose his cool was strong. His nerves were bubbling just beneath the cool exterior. But his faith in Buffy was what he focused on, not the blood raining down, not the vampire drinking blood in his living room, nothing else but faith in Buffy. She said that this was going to be alright. And he believed her. He had to because right now he didn't know what else to believe.

You really shouldn't have done that

still_brooding — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:37:03 GMT

[What are you doing?]
OOC: This piece was co-written with whattingawhat, still_brooding, stillacrime, i_willpout, sonata_adagio for the ongoing Apocalypse storyline with many many others.

By the time the limo pulled up to the apartment building Buffy and Danny lived in Angel had a headache. He and Lucy had argued over the advantages of a limo versus a taxi. He'd finally given in when she pointed out that a limo gave him more room to get away from her. Lucy got out of the limo first, a blonde slip of energy that could not be contained. She'd already poked her head out the sunroof on the drive over to Buffy's. Jill mouthed an apology and handed Angel two aspirin which he took dry. He slipped out of the limo, gave the driver instructions to wait and trailed behind the two girls who were chattering nonstop. In fact, he was fairly certain that Lucy had not stopped talking, perhaps even to breathe, since the plane had taken off. There had been commentary about her using his jet for a booty call but he'd tried very hard to block that from his mind. Sometimes, having an eidetic memory sucked.

They took the elevator up to the ninth floor and Angel attempted to stop Lucy from her over enthusiastic knock on the door but he was a bit too late. He glanced over at Jill. "How much more aspirin do you have? You might offer some to Buffy and Danny when we go in."

Before Jill reminded herself about vampire hearing, she could have sworn that she had apologized to Angel at least fifty times... minimum. The heels of her knee-high boots clicked over the marble floor to the elevator. She wore a black mini skirt that flared in a ruffle at her thighs. Her top was a crimson red blouse and her make-up was applied extra thick and dark. The more stressed out and worried she became, the darker her make-up got.

At Angel's request, which she took as seriously as she took everything else, she patted the black bag she had slung cross ways over her shoulder and torso. "I've got a bottle." The bottle was a constant in her purse. Always.

Danny had just grabbed a beer when he heard the knock on the door. He answered wearing baggy jeans and a wife-beater tank. "Hey." He greeted Angel, the word 'hey' drawn out enthusiastically. "How you doin'? Come in. Buffy's in the shower... or she was." He stepped back and greeted the two girls with a nod and an extended hand. "Hey. Danny Messer."

Jill took Danny's hand first and shook it with a quiet 'hello' for a greeting as she stepped into the apartment. Lucy practically shoved herself past Angel into the apartment. She completely disregarded the outstretched hand and instead nearly tripped over her own two feet and caught herself by hugging Danny. "You're shorter than I thought you'd be. Totally hot though and wow nice arms," she rambled as she pulled away, one hand still on Danny's bicep. She looked back over at Angel and beamed him a huge smile. "I think he has nicer arms than you. You've totally got him outdone on the shoulders but he's got the arms."

Angel closed his eyes and emphatically wished he was anywhere but here with anyone except Lucy. "I'm sorry," he apologized to Danny. "Lucy and Jill wanted to meet Buffy."

"And see the scythe," Lucy said as she pulled away and started poking around in things. She opened the weapons chest, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips. "Ooooh totally sweet dagger though," she exclaimed as she picked the dagger Buffy had almost killed Faith with and started dancing around the weapons chest, thrusting the dagger in front of her. "Take that Evil! Slayer and that and-"

While Jill offered Danny some IB Profrin from her bag Angel crossed the room with inhuman speed and grabbed Lucy's wrist, fingers curling around it tightly. He glowered down at her and plucked the dagger from her hand with his free hand. "No."

Of course the word elicited the same reaction it always did. Outright shock at first followed by a pout that made Angel feel like a cad. However, in this instance he was saved.

"O. M. G!! Are those Marc Jacobs?" Lucy cried as she pulled her wrist out of Angel's hand and bounced to the end table where Buffy's favorite pair of Marc Jacobs heels were on display.

"As a matter of fact," Buffy said as she emerged from the bathroom. She was dressed in a white wife beater and a pair of black yoga pants. She'd pulled her damp hair back in a tight knot. She was planning on going on patrol within the hour. She looked a little confused at the blonde with her shoes then to Danny, her gaze finally sliding to Angel. She'd known he was here long before she'd heard his voice. In fact, the Angel tingles had been what had prompted her to get out of the shower and get dressed instead of lingering much longer in the steam.

Having taken the IB Profrin and fisted them, Danny watched the chaotic scene before him and finally felt better when Buffy entered the room. He shut the door and stepped closer to her. "Angel's here... which is the obvious. But this is Lucy and Jill." He pointed between the two and shook his head. "Don't know which is which though."

"I'm Jill... Jill Campbell. But you can just call me Jill. We spoke online like... once." Jill stepped forward somewhat timidly and shook Buffy's hand. She leaned in close to whisper to Buffy. "Sorry about Lucy. She might have mentioned Danny's great arms and she might... just... sorry. But hi, I'm Jill."

Buffy took a step back toward Danny then stepped forward again to shake Jill's hand, a slight grin curving her lips at Jill's whisper just as Lucy bounced over, one of the shoes still in hand. "Because he totally does have great arms. It's only fair that I mention them. And totally not hitting on him. One -- he's way old-okay maybe not way because I think my internet boyfriend is older than him but I can totally appreciate the pretty without wanting to bang the pretty." At that she glanced over at Danny. "Not that I wouldn't totally bang you if you weren't going out with Buffy. I totally would but I'm not like that. Also, Buffy can probably kick my ass."

At that Buffy arched an eyebrow. "Probably? Try definitely."

"Right," Lucy nodded without pause. For once, she was actually quiet. Meeting Buffy was...well pretty freakin' cool. "By the way, totally not hating you. Well maybe for a little while but being a vampire slayer is so much cooler than being a philosopher. Seriously, like Plato saved the world. He was just an old dude in a bed sheet. Not that I've done much with the world saving yet, more with just the pokey pokey. You know with stakes and vampires. Only not with the sleeping with vampires. No offense or anything it's just totally not the way I roll." Angel in a sense saved Buffy by stepping behind Lucy and putting one hand on her shoulder.

"Lucy, I think those are a pair of custom Jimmy Choos over there. They've got wooden heels and she uses them to stake vampires," Angel said, pointing Lucy in the direction of the black heels that were indeed precisely what he'd said they were. He handed Buffy the dagger, hilt first. "She's a little..."

"Plus, I had three frappachinos on the way over here. Do you have any idea how long a ride from LA to NYC is, even in a jet?" Lucy asked as she bounced over to the shoes. "Angel threatened to take it away from me. I threatened to open the door of the jet. I was totally give me coffee or give me death. I think he's kind of scared of you because you know the whole note you sent him about us not dying."

"Is there a reason you gave her frappachinos?" Buffy asked Angel, tilting her head and placing one hand over the scar on her neck.

"They snuck them past me. I swear to God, Buffy. They're like hyperactive ninjas," Angel said in the form an apology.

"Hyperactive ninjas?" Buffy asked, eyebrow arching at him again. "You know what-never mind. Of course you do."

Angel smirked, the grin sliding over his face. "In Tibet."

Jill stood to the side, watching Buffy with wide eyes. This was Buffy Summers. THE slayer. Were they even allowed to meet her? She glanced to Angel and stepped closer to him while speaking to Buffy again. "Lucy and I have been really excited. We snuck off and got some Starbucks, but Angel didn't see so it isn't his fault. I can't say no to Lucy and she really wanted a Frappucino. I mean, you should see her pout." She rambled. "Oh, and nice shoes."

"Sunshine here's got a pretty good pout." Danny agreed with Jill.

"It's okay," Buffy told Jill with a soft smile, watching as Jill stepped closer to Angel. Buffy looked over to Danny and winked at him. "Danny has a hard time telling me no as well. And thanks. I'm a shoe fan and I'm a big supporter of using things around you to help with the slaying. Fewer things to carry. It's nice to meet you both."

Lucy decided to chime back in at that, putting the Jimmy Choos she'd been looking at down. She made plans to see what she could do about getting a custom pair with wooden heels for both her and Jill, not that she could slay a vampire with her heels. Not on purpose anyway but they'd be nice to have. "The scythe, can we see it?"

Buffy hesitated a moment and then nodded. "Sure," she said as she slipped out of the room and back into the bedroom.

Angel stepped over closer to Danny and nodded at him. "How are you doing? I know things are getting crazy here. The heat wave was what made me think things were serious enough to come up here. Things have picked up in LA but from what Buffy says nothing like what they have here."

Both shoulders lifted in a slight shrug as Danny sipped at his beer. "Yeah, been pretty hot. Buffy says somethin's up but I got no clue. I'm doin' alright though. Want a beer?" When Angel nodded, Danny got a beer from the fridge and took the top off before carrying it back to Angel.

Buffy reappeared a moment later, scythe in hand. Lucy bounced over to her, meeting her half way and holding her hands out. Buffy laid the scythe in her hands with an almost reverent and definitely possessive look. It wasn't as if Lucy could do anything to the scythe. In fact, Buffy was pretty sure the scythe was invulnerable.

Lucy's hands curled around the scythe and she went silent for a moment again. Twice within one hour. It had to be a record of some kind. She looked up at Buffy with wide eyes. "It feels like mine."

"Yeah, I know. It's a slayer thing," Buffy told Lucy with a nod. "Apparently it holds the source of all our power...or something. Willow explained once but I was busy packing shoes."

"Totally not fair," Lucy said with a pout as she held onto the scythe then tried to twirl it in an arc. Buffy caught it before it tumbled to the floor. It would have sliced an end table in half had Buffy not caught it. And really, her and Danny's apartment didn't need any more damage done to the furniture within.

"Yeah...well when you can take it from me we'll talk about fair."

"And that will be never," Angel chimed in. "Life's not fair. Not even for you, Lucy."

Lucy pouted some more and flounced over to Jill, laying her head on Jill's shoulder. "You so totally don't have to tell me that. I have a raging crush on a Pretty Boy that lives in Virgina and Angel doesn't think booty call is a good use of his private jet."

"You have a bow-chicka-bow-wow room. Make pretty boy come there." Jill argued, stroking her fingers through Lucy's hair. "It's only right."

"Yeah, how'd you meet a boy who lives in Virginia anyway?" Because Virginia was a long way from California, Danny reasoned. "If it's an internet thing, make him come to you cause you never know."

Jill pulled her lower lip through her teeth. "It's an internet thing." She looked to Lucy. "Use the bow-chicka-bow-wow room."

"He works for the FBI," Lucy said with a pout. "Apparently they like them to work instead of making use of bow chicka bow wow rooms. He's going to Las Vegas though." The pout was gone and the smile was back. "So we totally have to unapocalypse this thing and make sure I'm still pretty when it's over."

"We're going to Las Vegas next week," Angel explained.

"Oh my God...you're going to see Manilow, aren't you?" Buffy said, giggles bubbling up until she was laughing.

Angel smirked at her. "He's dying. I might not get to see him again."

"Oh! Boots," Lucy rebounded and bounced over to a pair of black patent knee high boots sitting in the corner of the apartment. She sloughed off her shoes and stuck her feet in them. They were a little bit too big but only by a half a size or so. "O M G! Jilly Bean! I totally need a pair of these for Vegas. I've got the red pair but I need a black pair with buckles. Come look! And these!" She squealed as she half bounced half stumbled in the five inch boots over to the red and crystal heels that Danny had bought for Buffy. "These would be too cute." She looked over at Buffy with a big smile. "Who knew Yoda-Slayer would have shoes that I want to steal."

"Do not steal my shoes," Buffy threatened almost teasing.

"Lucy, we should go," Angel started to try and get the slayers out of the apartment. "Help me," he pleaded quietly with Buffy.

"Hey, you're the one that gave them coffee."

Danny wrinkled his nose and arched an eyebrow as he looked to Angel. "Yeah, why'd you do that?"

Jill slapped her forehead against her palm and promptly apologized as she was so apt to do. "I'm sorry..."

Because Lucy promised me a week of not barging into my room

still_brooding — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:22:07 GMT

1 question...
1 chance...
1 honest answer...

That's all you get. Ask me one question. Any one question, anything, no matter how crazy it is. An honest answer. No catch.

All comments will be screened so your question stays private between you and me, and only you will get to see my answer to your question. But I dare you to repost this and see what people ask you.

OOC: It's pretend screening!

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

still_brooding — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:23:40 GMT

[The human heart is a strange vessel. Love and hatred can exist side by side. >> Scott Westerfeld]

i_willpout, sonata_adagio, howbig_canitbe and likes_wood used/referenced with permission

Angel’s entire life has been turned upside down. His hotel has been remodeled and outfitted with things like a flat screen TV, a DVR, a DVD and probably several other things with capital letters that he doesn’t recognize. In the past week he has learned a few new things about the hotel.

*Just how far sound carries
* The water heater can and is often emptied.
*A functioning pool is obviously a necesscity.
*As is, apparently, a walk-in closet the size of a small hotel room
*The power of a pout when on a cute, blonde girl who could possibly kick his ass
*Humans still never cease to amaze and disappoint him
*Sweet tea has enough sugar in it that he can taste it
*Closed doors don’t really mean anything to some people
*Cellphones have cameras
*The exact definition of a Bow Chica Bow Wow room

Some things, he wishes he hadn’t learned.

He has a family again. He’s sitting in his room listening to them. Lucy, Jill, Scarlett and Hellboy are all downstairs in the lobby. He can hear their laughter and their words. The girls tease Hellboy and he never would have thought the big red demon could take it as well as he does but even he has to admit, he’s not a danger to them. In fact, he’s fit rather seamlessly into this little family that Angel has had foist upon him. He doesn’t mind, in fact sometimes his chest aches from it so much that he thinks his dead, withered up heart is going to explode. It’s an emotion that he was pretty sure he’d never allow himself to feel again after he lost Cordy, Gunn, Fred and Wes. He loves them and it fills him up more and more everyday.

Angelus, however, hates them. Every single one of them. Except Hellboy and if he’d ‘get off his pansy ass and grab his fucking destiny by the horns, pun intended, he’d be an alright guy’. Of course in Angelus’ point of view, alright guy means the guy most likely to destroy the earth and the human race along with it. He spends several hours a day filling Angel’s head of the things he’d do to the women in the hotel if he got loose and those give him nightmares when he does sleep. From experience, he knows that eventually Angelus will back down. He won’t hate them any less but he’ll stop pushing as hard. He just has to listen a little while longer.

And even if Angelus doesn’t back down, Angel has a family again. He has people that barge in on him and talk to him. He has people that depend on him and curl up next to him, people that don’t care if he’s a vampire and people that enjoy his company. It wasn’t something he ever asked for; it wasn’t even something he was sure he wanted but it’s something he won’t trade now that he has it.

A smile quirks up the corner of his mouth when hears Scarlett yell from downstairs.

“Hey! Super Stealth Guy! We’re gonna watch a movie that I’m sure you’ve never seen before-“

Lucy interrupts and yells “Because it was made this decade!”

“So why don’t you get your sexy ass down here and watch it with us!” Scarlett continues, laughter bubbling at the edge of her words.

Angel shakes his head, gets to his feet and yells back “I’ll be right down!”

For Lucy i_willpout and Jill sonata_adagio

still_brooding — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:07:36 GMT

Scarlett mentioned you could both use these. I hope they're what you wanted and needed.

For Jill, left sitting in the lobby A Piano

For Lucy, left in her room. A hot pink Dell laptop that apparently does everything. I think the salesman on the phone took me for the technical idiot I am but that's alright. And apparently by ordering it in pink I donated money to breast cancer? I have no damn idea.

For Scarlett, stored along the back of the wall out of the way in the lobby of the Hyperion, a half truck load of Cedar. I figured you could do something with it.

[RP for likes_wood]

still_brooding — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:21:48 GMT

Angel scrubbed a hand over his face as he pushed the front doors to the Hyperion open. It was late, a few hours before dawn and he was tired. He hadn't slept much while in New York. Not surprisingly, in the city that never sleeps, demons and vampires rarely did either. The tunnel system was complex and far reaching. Add to that, the subway system and all the places a demon could hide in there, he'd been forced to use most of the hours in the day and night to accomplish his task. Of course he hadn't gotten much out of anyone. One demon had muttered the words 'Sounds like a vengeance gig to me' but he'd died before he could say anything else. He hadn't called Buffy yet to let her know the extent of everything he hadn't found out but he would eventually.

As soon as he walked in the door, her scent hit him. She'd spent a great deal of time there while he was gone. A glance at the arch in the entry way had confirmed that. She'd finished it and it looked beautiful, better than it had when Angel had stayed there in the fifties. The shine had already begin wearing off the old girl at that point. He checked the desk that Cordelia had once used, the one that Scarlett was setting up for herself. There were a couple of messages there but nothing he couldn't take care of later. He moved out from behind the front desk and up the stairs. Midway up the sound of her heartbeat hit him, faint at this distance but confirming that she was still there. There was no use checking the other rooms because as he got closer, it was clear she was in his room and she was asleep. Irritation and fear prickled at him. He'd told her to stay out of his room. Primarily because he kept all his blood in the fridge there. There were other things there, books he didn't want everyone having access to, files like Connor's, bits and pieces of odds and ends.

He opened the door to find Scarlett asleep on his bed, curled up in the blankets with her cat curled up next to her. He shut the door behind him very quietly and stood there for a moment. He didn't want to wake her up because she looked peaceful. Which was why he couldn't go get any blood. The ping of the microwave would wake her up and his stomach turned at the idea of cold blood. He'd eat it but he'd have to be a lot more hungry than he was right now. In any case, he'd promised her they'd talk and he'd make omlets and bacon. He'd just gotten back a little later than he'd planned. He walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, his fingertips ghosting across her cheek as he moved a strand of hair off her face.

because Buffy insisted

still_brooding — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:59:34 GMT

1. How has LJ changed your life?
It’s not something I would call life changing however it has given me a new way to stalk.

2. What do you do before bedtime?
Eat, brush my teeth usually take a long, hot shower.

3. What will your dream wedding be like?
Marriage isn’t in the cards for me

4. What is the city of your dreams and why?
Galway, Ireland but I doubt I’ll ever back. It’s also the city of my nightmares. It’s where I began, where I grew up and where I ended the first stage of my life.

5. Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Introvert

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Loving someone

7. Do you trust easily?
No

8. What's the best thing that's happened to you lately?
Scarlett agreed to be my carpenter/receptionist.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
These days?

10. What is your best quality?
I’m incredibly patient.

11. Is being tagged fun?
Not particularly.

12. How do you see yourself?
Unredeemable. Among other things but I’ll leave it at that.

13. Who are currently the most important people to you?
Buffy, Scarlett [locked] Connor[/unlocked]

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
She’s…Buffy. She defies explanation and all descriptors.

15. What do you most want to be known for?
In the end, I did more good than bad.

16. How many children do you want to have, if any?
Children aren’t a possibility for me either [Locked]I have one. His name is Connor and he’s living a perfect, fake life because I managed to screw his old one up beyond recognition[/unlocked]

17. What's better, to give or to receive?
Give

18. Is the glass half full or half empty?
Empty

19. Would you have 100% safe sex with a stranger for $10,000,000?
I don’t see the point. I suppose if I did, I would.

20. What do you want to be able to say to yourself when you die?
The good outweighed the bad.

And I'm getting rid of the tagging. If you'd like to answer the questions, feel free. Otherwise just be as amused as Buffy apprently was by the idea.

RP for stillacrime [It's not like it could be potentially awkward...]

still_brooding — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:34:01 GMT

Dinner had been, well it'd been interesting. Angel hadn't eaten much, only a bite or two so that he could lie and say it tasted good. He was sure it did because it smelled incredible but everything but blood was mostly ash in his mouth. He claimed he'd eaten before he'd gotten here, which he had. Just not like they'd eaten. He'd watched Buffy like a hawk, counting the bites she took until she finally told him that if he didn't stop watching her eat she was going to throw him over the balcony. They were nine stories up and it would hurt. Once dinner was over, they'd watched TV for a little while and Buffy had packed, asking their opinion on clothes. Angel wasn't sure whether Danny had actually cared or not but he did a good job of acting like he did. Angel on the other hand stared blankly at her and begin telling her about the history of funeral clothes. That hadn't gone over particularly well but she had quit bringing her entire wardrobe out for them to give an opinion on.

Around ten o'clock Buffy had announced she was going to patrol. Angel could smell the nerves and worry pouring off Danny but to his credit, he didn't show it. He kissed her, told her to be safe and he'd be here when she got back. Angel had started to offer to patrol with her but the look she gave him stopped him. So at that point he decided Buffy had PMS and even in Sunnydale he'd known enough to stay away from her during that time. Right now, he was sitting on the couch, staring at a pair of high heels arranged on the coffee table like they belonged there. He picked one up, looking at it in total confusion. Danny was outside smoking and he decided, really he could use a cigarette so he stood up, high heeled shoe still in hand and walked out onto the balcony where he leaned on the railing with a glance over at Danny.

"So can I bum one of those off you?"

[locked to likes_wood] A note left on the front desk at the Hyperion

still_brooding — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:09:56 GMT

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

Scarlett,

I had to go to New York for a couple of days. I'll call and let you know what's going on and I'll have my phone with me so if you need to get a hold of me you can. The fridge has food in it, make yourself at home and if anyone comes by, just take a message. If it's urgent, call me.

Angel

badcompany_muse July

still_brooding — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:50:32 GMT

[Bravery & Cowardice]

He’s never been to her apartment. The last time he visited they met in a park and so he stands in front of her door like a nervous teenager on a first date. He’s not a teenager and this isn’t a date but he’s nervous all the same. Usually he stalks via third person but this warrants some face to face time. He needs to see what color her eyes are, if she’s been eating and how little she’s been sleeping. He needs to physically see the toll this is taking on her and offer a shoulder to lean on if she needs it. He knows Detective Guy is still new to all of this and he’s not sure how much she’ll share with him.

The door opens without warning and she’s leaning against the frame. “How long were you going to stand out here?”

He gives a sheepish shrug, eyes combing her over. Her eyes are gray and smudged with the hint of purple black circles that sleep deprivation leaves. It’s too soon to tell physically if she’s eating but he’s betting that she isn’t. “I knew eventually you’d get tired of waiting for me to knock.”
It’s Buffy’s turn to shrug and the corner of her mouth lifts up in an almost imperceptible smirk before it disappears under layers of everything that’s been done in the last forty eight hours. She glances over her shoulder and he knows even without that that Detective Guy is there. She looks back at him and takes a step backwards. “Angel, come in.”

He hesitates before stepping over the threshold, constantly amazed at the way the barrier keeping him out disappears. It smells like cigarette smoke, vanilla, Danny and sex. He knows what he smells like from his last meeting with Buffy and his scent was all over her. He shoves his hands in his pockets and glances around the apartment. There’s a dog that barks him, growls and then retreats for the other room. He looks at Buffy and shrugs. Dogs don’t like him. They can’t figure out what he is.

“That’s Rocky,” Buffy explains. “Danny! We’ve got company,” she yells from the living room and looks back at Angel.
He’s pretty much terrified and Buffy knows it but he wears the mask of bravery and nonchalance well.

For makeyourlist

still_brooding — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:39:59 GMT

27.1- A list of things Scarlet should know

-I’ve got good reflexes
- I heal pretty quickly
- I learned to stay away from power tools a long time ago ~~right about the time they were invented~~ but in any case, I heal pretty quickly.
- I’ll stay away from the sharp, pointy, wooden things.
- I’ve got a high tolerance for most things and thus far I’ve enjoyed your company.
- I can handle the over protective brothers.
- Angel land? I don’t think I’m going to fight you on this one.

I just don't know what to do with myself

still_brooding — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:34:17 GMT

[How is it that I graduated top of my class at business school, but the phrase 'paper jam area B' just sends me over the edge? >> Sarah Walker]

I am fluent in seven different human languages as well as three demon languages. I can quote verbatium the majority of works from Byron, Browning (both of them), Neruda, Dickinson, and Wadsworth. Not to mention a variety of other poets. I’m a fount of history knowledge as well as useless trivial information. For example in 1892, Italy raised the minimum age of marriage for women to 12. I’m an expert in medieval weaponry. I’ve got a pretty good understanding of basic medical knowledge and procedure. I can identify many classical pieces and operas with just the opening strains. Contrary to popular belief, I’m a fairly intelligent guy.

I can’t set the clock on a DVD player to save my life. I can’t program a Tivo and most of the time my cell phone baffles me. I’m pretty sure I’ve got voicemail in my mailbox but I can’t get to it. There are things I can do on the internet, it’s relatively straight forward but Google doesn’t always understand what I want. If my computer ever decides to do anything except exactly what it’s supposed to do, I’ve got no idea how to fix it. There’s a guy I call, David Nabbit, from time to time. He’ll come over and fix my stuff or send someone. It’s frustrating though. I’ve spent over 200 years being smart with a pretty good grasp on the world in general. I struggled a little through the eighties but I was doing fine. All of the sudden the nineties hit and I spend hours sitting in front of my television staring at the blink 12:00 and feeling like an absolute idiot.

All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope

still_brooding — Sat, 31 May 2008 01:44:58 GMT

[Patience]

Patience isn’t something he was born with and it isn’t something he was turned with. As a young human man he was brash, obnoxious and impatient. As a young vampire he was impulsive, impatient and prone to fits of violence. It took over a century with a soul to give him the kind of patience he possesses now. It’s not that he likes waiting anymore than he used to but he’s able to do so when it’s necessary. He’s found there are places that patience will take him that impulsiveness never would. So he waits and he stalks. He broods and he watches. He doesn’t push or prod because he’s found patience and silence will win most people over. And if it’s not winning them over, he knows that silence makes people uncomfortable so they will rush to fill it and spill what he needs to know before they ever realize what they are doing. And if they are an extraordinary human who has the patience to remain silent, hold a secret and keep it near, then patience gives him clarity of how to handle such a situation. He wasn’t born with patience and he wasn’t turned with it but it is something he uses to his advantage now that he’s cultivated it.

Morning...er afternoon or something [RP for likes_wood]

still_brooding — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:42:50 GMT

Angel woke up with a yawn. He could hear someone downstairs and he knew from the scent of fresh cut wood and ocean that it was Scarlett. He got out of bed, took a long shower and brushed his teeth. He shaved, got dressed in a pair of black pants and a white wife beater and padded downstairs. Scarlett was working on something in the lobby. He scrubbed hand over still damp hair and mumbled a good morning at her.

"I don't have coffee. It make sme jittery but I've got tea if you want it."

The creature with a darkned soul [A story of the Damned unfolds]

still_brooding — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:52:34 GMT

He ticks off the seven sins in time to her heartbeat.
{Lust-gluttony}
{thump-thump}
{Greed-sloth}
{thump-thump}
{wrath-envy}
{thump-thump}
{Pride}

That one deserves its own heart beat he’s committed it so often. He’s leaning against the headboard and she’s on the other side of the wall but he can still hear her heartbeat reminding him of his sins. He groups them and categorizes them when he broods. Those committed by Angelus he puts over to the side. He always determines he’ll deal with those later because all he has is time. The ones that he worries over until they’re smooth and he knows each in infinite detail are the ones he committed with a soul.

A night in the rain with a blonde that didn’t make him lose his soul is labeled as lust. Gluttony is another blonde writhing beneath him as he guzzled her life to save his own. Greed is the way he wanted to keep sunshine in the form of a girl bottled up but it is redeemed in the way he let her go. Sloth resides in the years spent in an alley feeding on rats and contributing nothing to a world that he’d scarred so badly. Wrath is the hotel he lives in, the ghosts of the occupants that haunt its halls and a loss of control so complete he has nightmares that twist into near erotic dreams about it. Envy is the way he watches humans from the shadows, dancing through the sunlight and never noticing the world around them, never appreciating the way their skin flushes, or their pulse quickens, never taking note of their skin warming and turning golden beneath the sun. Envy sparks depression as he watches people grow old and it smothers him when watches Connor with a family he will never be a part of.

Pride is his big one. It is the one that he struggles with every day. Pride in what he is and what other vampires aren’t. Pride because he’s working toward redemption and pride that not every creature in the universe finds him unlovable. There is pride in his work, in the people he saves and the demons he vanquishes. It is the one sin that doesn’t choke him or make his bones ache. It is a sin that he commits without thought or intent. It is far from his worst sin but it is his most frequent.

Coffee, Tea date? No...just coffee and tea, right? [RP for likes_wood]

still_brooding — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:31:27 GMT

Angel was early. Mostly because Angel was nervous. It wasn't a date simply because Angel didn't date. He was horrible at it, so horrible that he refused to inflict that on anyone. He was just checking up on her, making sure that she was handling the shock of everything she'd learned and seen a few nights ago alright. And it was at night because he didn't do lunch because bursting into flame was usually considered impolite. In any case, Angel was early. He'd been there for about ten minutes. At first he'd sat in the GTX pulled up to the curb and then people had started sitting at the tables outside so he'd gone on inside, ordered some tea and now he was sitting at a corner table outside people watching and waiting for Scarlett. He was dressed in his signature black pants, a dark blue button down and his black leather jacket. He was dressed too warmly and he was sort of aware of that so he shrugged his jacket off and draped it over one of the extra chairs at the table. He glanced at his watch and took a sip of his tea. She wasn't late; he was still early.

I got this from Scarlett

still_brooding — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:24:35 GMT

Superhero Team Quiz

LiveJournal Username

Your Primary Super Power

Cape?

Identitiy

Origin

Location of Head Quarters

Primary Costume/Uniform Colors

Why are you a Superhero?

Your Superheroic Codename

The veteran grim member of the team

likes_wood

The sexist and crass but annoyingly effective one

diminished9th

The bright-eyed novice or sidekick

itsjondy_not210

The teammate that will eventually go evil or insan

stillacrime

The inept yet determined/reoccurring supervillain

itsjondy_not210

The sinister Arch-Villain and team's greatest foe

diminished9th

The perky civilian that keeps getting kidnapped

whattingawhat

How often does your team actually 'save the day'?

16%

This Fun Quiz created by Shannon at BlogQuiz.Net

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