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Impressionistic Things -- by Echo
Rating: G
Description: Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley come for a visit. They notice some interesting things about Sunnydale.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns them all. Don't sue me for borrowing a bit.
Willow was excited. Buffy was nervous. Xander was annoyed. Anya was antsy. Riley was confused. Spike was bored. And Giles was irritated with all of them. They'd all been waiting for almost an hour. They really should have been here by now. Especially if Cordelia was driving. It had been months since Angel had been here. Why he had to pop up now when Buffy was finally moving on was beyond him.
She hadn't seen Angel since Thanksgiving and even then it was 'Oh Buffy's in danger'. He hadn't stuck around. Willow admitted when she heard that Angel was coming to Sunnydale for a visit, she'd gotten giddy. Angel was her friend, and she missed him.
She'd been so cold to him in LA. Buffy knew she shouldn't have acted like that, but she'd been pretty pissed. He'd skulked around and spied on her. At least this time he'd called to say he'd be in town. With Cordelia and Wesley of all people. Her butterflies wouldn't go away. He was going to meet Riley. God, what if they hated each other?
He couldn't believe it. He'd wanted to stomp his foot like a child and scream 'No' when he heard who was coming for a visit. Xander still didn't like him. Just when he thought deadboy was gone for good. It was bad enough having Spike hanging around all the time.
She couldn't stop twitching. Xander's beautiful ex-girlfriend was going to be in this room any minute now. Anya had never felt so insecure. What if he took one look at Cordelia and realized he still loved her? She'd die, that's what.
He was confused. What was the big deal about these three people? The room was alive with a myriad of emotions. Riley didn't get it. He'd been told he was going to meet Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley today. All he knew was it was very important to Buffy he make a good impression on Angel.
He wanted to tear something apart. He was bored out of his skull. Spike didn't understand why he had to be there. Angel didn't like him. He didn't like Angel. But when Willow had told him to be there, he hadn't resisted too much. He would have been bored anyway, and he wanted to hear the slayer introduce her boyfriend to the poof.
Giles stared at the silent group as the door flew open and Cordelia Chase stepped in.
"Giles!" She hugged him, tightly, and Giles experienced a moment of shock. She was holding him like she missed him. He looked up to see Angel and Wesley standing behind the former cheerleader.
"Well, don't just stand there. Come in."
Angel was two steps inside when Willow's body hit him. He wrapped his arms around her. "Owf. Missed you too, Willow."
Wesley was standing off to the side. Buffy approached him slowly. He didn't look at her. He looked at the floor. She held out her hand to him. He looked up into her eyes. She was smiling. He took her hand. She yanked him into her arms. She spoke into his ear. "Congratulations on being fired." He laughed. She released him, and he shook Giles' hand. Willow hugged him next.
Cordelia had come to stand in front of Xander and Anya. She smiled at him. A real smile. They hugged. "Good to see you, loserboy."
"Same here, vapid whore." The words had nothing but friendliness behind them. "You remember Anya, right?"
Cordelia smiled. "Sure. Hi again."
"Hello, Cordelia." Her voice sounded very nervous, and she kept inching closer to Xander.
"Xander, is she your girlfriend?"
He put his hand in Anya's. "Yes."
Cordelia smiled again. "Careful, he drools."
"I do not!"
Anya looked at him "Actually...." She smiled at Cordelia.
Giles had already shaken Angel's hand. A hush fell over the room as he and Buffy stared at each other. "Hi."
"Hi."
Suddenly Spike started making gag noises. Nobody had noticed him until now. "I think I'm gonna bloody puke. With you two stop with the eyes for fuck's sake. This whole tortured routine is starting to torture the rest of us."
"Shut up."
"What's he doing here?" Angel had tensed the moment he heard Spike's voice. He'd been anxious before and hadn't noticed the other vampire in the room.
"What do you mean?" Buffy looked at him in confusion.
"I mean why is he in here?" His teeth were gritted.
"I live here, Peaches. What's your excuse?"
"You WHAT?!" Angel looked at Giles.
The watcher looked a little sheepish. "Oops."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Oops, Giles?"
"I may have forgotten to mention a few of the new dynamics of our group to Angel."
"Oh bloody fuckin fantastic. Thank you, Giles."
Willow smiled. "Don't worry. He's housebroken, Angel. Watch." She walked over to the blonde vampire and smacked him up the back of his peroxide head, hard. Everyone jumped.
"OUCH! BLOODY HELL, WITCH!" He grabbed for her throat. Cordelia screamed. Angel rushed forward only to stop when Spike grabbed his forehead and howled in pain. Willow grabbed him and eased him back into a sitting position on the stairs. "When I get this chip out of my head, I'm gonna kill you right after I kill the slayer, Red."
"Promises. Promises."
Angel watched the scene in awe. "I will get an explanation at some point?"
"Right after my heart attack. God, Willow." Cordelia walked over to her and Spike. The two girls regarded each other. Surprisingly, Cordelia moved first. She hugged Willow tightly.
Riley had been watching the entire thing run its course. He felt like he was in a play, and he was part of the scenery. Part of the tree/rock/inantimate object played by Riley Finn. And that's when the pretty girl with the long brown hair looked at him.
"Who are you?" And suddenly all eyes were on the rock.
"I'm Riley."
"And you fit in here, how?"
Anya spoke up. "He's Buffy's orgasm friend."
To be continued…
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