wesleynotponcy | The Hyperion Hotel | Los Angeles, CA | Monday Evening Fandom Time (Reply)

It was another ordinary Monday night in Los Angeles, this time featuring Chinese take-out in lieu of a recent demon attack. This time, though, everyone wasn't so much bored as on-edge, and it was... possible that that might be showing. Just a bit.

It had been a full week since Cordelia's last vision, you see, so tensions were running... a bit awkward.

Wesley	The concept of being a bit delicate around this situation, however, was proving to be a bit lost on certain members of the team, which was why Wesley was in the middle of an explanation. Over a carton of moo shu pork, of course. "No, Gunn, you misunderstand," Wesley said, sounding... slightly less than dignified around a mouthful of food. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made in etiquette for the sake of a conversation. "I mean I'm not saying we act differently; I'm just saying I think we should be gentle in our intera--" Footsteps behind him suddenly alerted him to the presence of the subject of the conversation, and he froze briefly. "Evening, Cordy," he said with false cheer.
Gunn	Gunn waved at her with his chopsticks and offered her a big smile. "Hey, Cordelia." Once she'd passed, he lowered his voice and asked Wes, "How was that?"
Wesley	Wesley nodded encouragingly. "That felt quite genuine."
Fred	A different perspective, however, was volunteered from under a nearby table. "B-plus, C-minus," Fred critiqued, before returning her attention to her own carton of Chinese food.
Wesley	Wesley looked from Fred to Gunn before deciding he ought to take this one. "Fred," he said gently, moving to crouch down beside the table, "if you feel comfortable enough grading our sincerity, how about joining us for the rest of the meal?" He paused to let that sink in, then added, "Isn't that the point of coming downstairs?"
Fred	Fred was... wary, if her sudden swallowing was any indication (and it might not be-- she was eating, after all), but she slowly nodded. "I guess that'd be okay." Aided by Wesley, she made her way out from under the table, where she hovered near Gunn and proceeded to dubiously pick at her take-out carton with her fingers.
Gunn	A glance from Wesley told Gunn that this was his turn. "I, uh, don't mean to rush you back into the twenty-first century," he said, "but how about using some chopsticks?" He held his up, just in case the five solid years in a demon dimension had somewhat diminished her memory of the utensils. Then holding up another visual aid, "Or a fork, maybe?"
Fred	Fred took the fork and turned it over uncertainly in her hands. "Sure," she said. "Fork, pitchfork, fork it over, fork in the road..." She sighed, offering it back to Gunn. "One I'm not ready to take yet."
Wesley	Before Wesley had the chance to respond to that argument, he was interrupted by Cordelia's sudden reappearance in the lobby. "Hello again."
Gunn	"Nice day," said Gunn.
Cordelia	Cordy just rolled her eyes at them. "I know what you're doing," she informed them. When she was met with blank looks, she elaborated, "You're being all fake nice and super-sensitive like 'poor Cordelia, she's on edge, because she hasn't had a vision in while.'" That was really a terrible attempt at an English accent, if Wesley did say so himself. "Well, I have information for you. I look forward to my next vision."
Wesley	Wesley eyed her at that. "You do?"
Cordelia	"Well, why shouldn't I?" Cordy reasoned. "I mean, the Powers That Be have seen fit to choose me. Who am I to refuse?"
Fred	Encouraged by this positive attitude, Fred took this as an invitation to change the subject to something a bit more request-y. "Great," she said brightly. "How about if you use that vision thing to find out where Angel's at right now?"
Cordelia	Cordelia looked suddenly less cheerful about this whole situation. "'Cause I don't care?" Seriously, he'd been gone less than an hour.
Gunn	"What Cordy means," Gunn interrupted, "is that she doesn't choose to have a vision. The Powers send them to her when they got info to share."
Wesley	"Think of them as gifts," Wesley advised.
Cordelia	Cordy scowled at that. "Yes," she said, "having-my-head torn-open-and-hot-lava-poured-into-my-skull gifts."
Gavin Park	But before Fred could learn whether they were the sorts of gifts that came wrapped in a bow and shiny paper, they were interrupted by the sudden, eerily silent arrival of a newcomer in the lobby, whose suit and briefcase stood out just a bit among the somewhat more casually-dressed Angel Investigators. "Excuse me."
Cordelia	Oh thank god, a subject change. And hello, moneybags. Ahem. "Oh!" Cordy said, spinning around and smoothing down her sleeves for the benefit of the shiny new client. "Hi. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you sneak up on us. Must be those tastefully expensive Gucci loafers. Totally our fault!"
Wesley	Before Cordelia could get too excited, Wesley interjected, "He's not a client." He'd done enough research on the evil lawfirm that had it in for them to know who this man actually was. "He's Gavin Park, attorney at Wolfram and Hart." He left his carton of food on the table and stood up, stepping warily toward Gavin.
Gavin	"Pleased to meet you," Gavin said neutrally. A long silence followed, during which time he looked toward Fred. "New player?"
Wesley	Wesley stepped in front of Fred, blocking Gavin's view of her. "Well," he said, all politeness. "Now that we've had this introduction, I suggest you piss off."
Angel	And from the basement/sewer entrance strode Angel, immediately wary of the man eliciting such epic bitchfaces from the rest of his staff. "Is there a problem?"
Wesley	"No, no problem," Wesley assured him, not taking his eyes off of Gavin. "Mr. Park was just leaving."
Gavin	"No, Gavin corrected him, "actually, I just arrived." He reached into his briefcase and extracted a neat, binder-clipped stack of papers, but made no move to hand them to anyone. "This is a list of fifty-seven city code violations for your hotel, including earthquake proofing, asbestos and termites." He tossed the stack onto a nearby chair. "Be advised that I filed a copy of this with the city planning office."
Angel	Well. That had to be the least intimidating Wolfram and Hart offense tactic yet. "Gee," said Angel, "fifty-seven. Is that a lot?"
Gavin	Gavin apparently didn't see fit to answer this inane question, or in fact to address Angel at all, which was why he turned to Wesley to say, "I'll be in touch." And with that, he turned and was gone.
Cordelia	Cordelia watched him go, evidently profoundy unimpressed. "Yeah, okay," she said, too quietly to be heard by Gavin but loudly enough for the rest of the team's benefit. "Minion of darkness. Satan's toady." ... "But that is a nice suit. Did you all see that suit?"
Angel	The rest of the team was spared from having to respond to this by a sudden observation. "Fred!" Angel said, suddenly upbeat again. "Good to see you out and about." You know. In the lobby of the hotel where she lived.
Fred	"It is, isn't it?" Fred agreed, beaming at him and twirling her hair with some chopsticks. That was pretty unhygeinic. "Out and about."
Cordelia	But before anyone could respond to that, they were interrupted by sudden screaming -- screaming that hadn't been heard in over a week now, because it was the kind that went along with Cordy collapsing to the floor with a vision.
Angel	Angel and Wesley were immediately there to catch her, stopping her from hitting the ground too hard even as she struggled much, much more than usual. "Are you all right?" Angel asked once it seemed to be done-- but Cordy suddenly yanking her arm out of his grasp like it had been burned didn't seem to be a positive indicator in that direction. "Talk to me."
Cordelia	It did take Cordelia a few seconds to catch her breath after that, but finally she did respond. "There's a coin," she panted. "And, um-- two clawed things. It's in Chinatown, I think. An herbalist's shop."
Angel	Wesley and Gunn set off toward the books at that, and Angel stayed to help Cordelia up. "Come on," he said, offering her a hand.
Cordelia	"I'm okay," Cordy promised, though she still took Angel's hand gratefully and allowed him to help her up. "I'm fine. It just caught me off guard a little." Angel moved to set a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away with a gasp. "Go find the coin," she insisted. "It, uh. It has a hole in it." And with the help of the many, many waist-high surfaces between the front desk and her destination, Cordelia finally made it to the first-floor bathroom, where she shut the door to decompress and get a moment of privacy.
Wesley	It only lasted a moment, though, because just seconds later there was a knock on the door. "Cordelia," Wesley called, "that beast you saw-- did it have four or five claws?"
Cordelia	Cordelia groaned and took a moment, and a deep breath, before answering, "Five. Definitely five."

It was wrong of Wesley to be grateful that they finally had a case to work on since it meant that Cordelia was in pain, but he had to admit that if Cordelia had to be in pain, it didn't hurt that they had a case at well. That thought was particularly guilt-inspiring, though, so he did his best not to dwell upon it as he and Fred looked through books: Wesley for possible beasts that these five claws might belong to, and Fred through the phone book for herbalist shops that might have been the one featured in Cordy's vision.

Wesley	"Anything of interest yet, Fred?" Wesley asked, not looking up from his own book.
Fred	"Oh, sure, lots," Fred said excitedly. "'H' is a fascinating letter. Helicopters, helium, helmets, hernias..."
Wesley	Wesley shut his eyes for just a moment, then looked up at her over the top of his book and inquired with far greater patience than the average stressed-out person, "Did you happen to notice 'herbs' in your wanderings?"
Fred	"I did," Fred let him know with a big smile. As Wesley looked at her expectantly, she stared for a moment, then seemed to focus again. "Oh! There are, let's see... five herbalist shops in Chinatown."
Angel	Just then, Angel stepped back into the room, already armed with his leather jacket and a few weapons. "We got a name or a face for these things yet?"
Wesley	"Circling," Wesley said, looking back down at his book. "I think we might be looking at either a Wan Shan Dhole or a Cantonese Fook-beast."
Gunn	And with the rest of the weapons for this excursion came Gunn, looking more than ready to get a move on. "I say figure out what these things are after we find that coin. We're burning moonlight."
Wesley	"Sounds like a plan," Wes agreed, placing a bookmark in his book and shutting it. "Angel?"
Angel	Angel nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, slinging his weapons bag over his shoulder. "Fred. Take Cordy home. Make sure she's all right and don't leave until I call you." When met with Fred's eager smile and vigorous nod at being given a task to do, Angel turned back to the others. "Wes," he said, tossing over his car keys, "you drive."