Work Text:
ANGEL:
Sunshine.
Fucking sunshine.
Her bottom lip got caught up in her front teeth as she finished signing through the papers then happily clipped the pen back at the top of the board, lifted it up and handed it out to me. "Here you go," she announced happily, an easy smile taking over her face.
And it felt like someone taking a steel bat to my fucking stomach.
She stands, a whole five foot nothing, honey blonde hair curling down her shoulders, barely a stitch of makeup on yet looking like the most beautiful damn woman on the planet. Green eyes sparkle, the bright yellow sundress she's got on today balancing against her tan skin is like a damn advertisement for all the best parts of summer.
The moment my fingers grab the clipboard from her, she tips her head toward the table near the back door. "There's still some donuts if you want one. And take some cold waters, it's gotta be hot out there. You all better be staying safe," she jokingly warns.
My eyes drift over to her little table she's got set up in the corner and my jaw sits just a touch tighter. It's Friday so of course she's brought something in as a treat, there's always some sort of bakery item or pizza, a sandwich station of some kind or Carey out from someone nearby… something. There's always been a couple mini fridges and some vending machines but she made it a mission to make sure no one was ever without around here... customers, employees, freaking delivery drivers. Fridays there was always an extra treat but she had snack and drink stations set up all over the fucking place and was always up someone's butt about getting enough water and taking breaks to cool down and not get overheated. In the break room she made a whole ass pantry full of snacks and even some shelf stable food items just to be on the safe side. She made a comment in her first week about the broken ice trays no one even bothered to use and low and behold next day Ethan came trotting in with one of those portable ice makers and now there was a whole little island to make fancy coffee or spice up a soda or whatever. Closet in there had little baskets of sunscreen, chapstick tubes, some of those insulated tumblers and other random shit she figured we might need.
It was insane.
She had a jar of lollipops at the counter and a desk where she stashed candy. Whole place looked a lot cleaner since she showed up and sure smelled a helluva lot better, too. She liked her candles and flowers. I'm pretty sure the office had looked like the same exact disaster since my first day walking through those doors but once it was in her hands you'd never had believed it. A room that once felt like it was nothing but stacks of paper and an old coffee machine didn't honestly have much but she'd gotten approval to switch up almost all the furniture so now everything was all neat and organized in tall ass shelves with baskets sitting in them, she had what looked to be the comfiest office chair that could exist behind the desk, some colorful chairs along the wall for customers if they needed. She'd decorated the room in sparkles and flare of things she obviously liked and he'll sometimes even had her damn cat tag along for the day.
All of this a complete turnaround from when Lilah had been running the show that was for sure.
Fucking sunshine.
Somehow her being here managed to feel like she fell into place like some missing piece but like she didn't belong all at the same time. She was cute and sweet and sunshine radiating everywhere she went. It didn't exactly make sense for her to be plopped down in Ethan's world. She took over running the office here at the shop which I absolutely love with all I got but the place is run down and well loved, it's dirty, we got a pretty tight knit crew that if they don't work here at the shop they more than likely do along the strip at the hardware store or gas station or whatever. A whole bunch of raggedy ass men, Faith and Glory, and maybe a couple random clerks who come and go and are never a big part of anything anyway and then… her.
Without question her being introduced had us all scratching our heads and raising objections but he saw I guess what none of us did. Everybody loves her, she's good at what she does even when still learning the ropes she's always determined to do things right and wanting to understand what she's being presented with. She's great with customers, all the regulars took to her like it was nothing. She managed to get Ethan on board for having a social media presence and handles basically all of that as well, promotions and advertising, making videos, working out deals and making connections with the community.
It's fucking insane.
A handful of months being here and basically turned everything up on its head.
Including me.
Most importantly, me.
BUFFY:
My eyes went wide, smile taking over my face and was practically hopping in place when the tiny little head was lifted up. Moving closer, my hands reached out, fingers moving in the universal "gimme gimme" signal.
Angel's mouth hung just a tad open and his eyes narrowed at me. "This thing probably has rabies."
I swatted at his arm and took matters into my own hands, grabbing the widdle bitty baby out of his grasp. "It does not!" I flashed my eyes at him. "You have rabies!" I snorted and his scowl grew deeper. Ignoring the spicy hissing, I cuddled the kitten closer and tried peeking around. "Is there more?"
"Fuck, I hope not," he grumbled.
I stood up on my tiptoes and tried to peer around, not that it was going to do me any good. I'd been helpless trying to find this critter in the first place before Angel spotted me on his way out for the night and took over. Worrying my bottom lip, I felt my heart drop a tiny bit at the idea there were and was trying to work up the courage to ask him to just try and make sure when he went ahead and announced he'd keep looking just to be on the safe side. My breath whooshed right out of me and I gave him a smile then. "Thank you."
"Whatever," he grumbled and went back to poking around.
"I'm gonna take him inside real quick so he can maybe cool down and try to get him to drink something," I announced and got waved off which made me give a small smile as I turned around.
Sweet talking the baby, we made it inside without incident though I could tell he was getting freaked out and was more than likely about to start freaking out. When I sat him down he bolted, unsurprisingly, bouncing off random shit stacked on the floor before going into hiding. "It's okay," I whispered. Looking around I grabbed up my catch all dish and emptied out to use as a water bowl. I knew after today I'd probably wind up stashing some cat and dog food around just in case but for now I was without, not that I thought Mister Scaredy Pants would be interested at the moment anyway.
Waiting a bit got me nowhere new so I sighed, stood up to dust my knees off and blocked off where he was hiding the best I could before going back out to see how things were going. He wasn't where I left him so my face scrunched up as I went further on to figure out where he was. My heart dropped when I spotted him, coming out from further behind the building with another ball of fur in his arms. My teeth crushed together as my mind tried to prepare me for the worst.
"Are they…" I started when he got close enough.
"It don't look good," he admitted, "But let's get 'em checked out and hope for the best alright?"
My thoughts raced again. "I don't know any vets here," I blurted. I mean, I know I had seen at least two buildings - I think - but I didn't remember their names, where they were actually or how to get there. After a beat I added, "I also don't have a car," I managed to get out but my throat was closing up and tears threatening to come. I was ill prepared for this moment.
His face got all soft as he handed them over to me gently. Reaching into his back pocket he grabbed his keys and handed those over next. "I'll go grab the first one we found, you hop in my truck, alright? I'll be back in a minute."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Do you think they're going to be okay?" I asked after the kittens had been taken to the back to get some tests ran.
He put his hands in the pocket and leaned a little against the sink behind him. "Fred's really good at what she does," he told me softly as a way of answering something he couldn't possibly know.
"Right," I replied softly. "Sorry I kind of overtook your evening. You can head off if you want given we have no idea how long any of this is going to take." Honestly I was a little surprised he offered to help in the first place given he didn't seem to exactly like me and by this point it had to be some sort of record for how much time he'd spent in my presence.
"Not complaining, Sunshine."
The nickname surprised me and I felt my cheeks heat up. Thankfully a quick knock at the door came and one of the assistants we'd met before stepped back inside and gave us a quick update. Not too long after Fred returned and confirmed my suspicions about the kittens being dehydrated and being overran by fleas and so over a treatment plan which included at the very least an overnight stay so they could get those fluids going. I hated the idea of already having to leave them behind but it would at least give me some time to prepare to bring them home, something I came to terms with as being inevitable along the way here.
After a lot of discussion and paperwork we were able to briefly see them again before making out way back out to the main office. I tried stopping off at the check out desk but Angel gently guided me away saying everything was already taken care of. Distracted by his fingertips at my waist I let that slide until we were about halfway toward my house when suddenly, "What do you mean everything was taken care of?" came rushing out, causing Angel to bust out into laughter.
ANGEL:
"What the fuck is your problem?" Gwen snapped, I rocked ever so slightly as her hands reached out to shove me.
"What?" I ask lazily.
"What? I don't know Angel! I'm over here rubbing my ass all over your dick here and you don't seem to give two shits and a piss, not to mention you've been ignoring me for fuckin' months now."
With a smirk, I take a sip of my beer before leaning closer. "Seems you should take a fucking hint then that you're not doin' it for me anymore, Gwenie," I tell her in a low voice, not thrilled she was even here, let alone deciding to make a scene.
"You're such an asshole," she tells me and all I can do is shrug. She's not even the first of my regular fuck buddies to have gone off on me recently but I'm well over the shit. I roll my eyes as she storms off to the other side of the bar and lift my drink back to my lips to finish it off. Honestly, I haven't even been out much the past couple of months and Lindsey and Wes practically had to drag me out tonight. I was in fact enjoying myself at least until Gwen came over and started draping herself all over me, just catching up with the boys outside of work, playing some pool and blowing off some steam.
"You know, I thought it was crazy when Fred told me she thought you had it bad for a certain blonde we all know and love," Wes' voice playfully called out.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Mmhmm. Every single time you all come to clinic I hear about it when I get home and I kept laughing, reminding her this is Angel O'Connor we are talking about but I think I'm seeing it now."
Lindsey smirked, taking his turn then cussing out the pool table. "Now, don't get me wrong, I get it... absolutely fucking get it because goddamn but Buffy is not your type dude. Like, at all."
He wasn't wrong. I didn't do sweet, I didn't do cute. I didn't chase after the unattainable, the innocent with plans to corrupt them.
Six months ago I would have happily taken Gwen home or hell even to a dark corner, outside to an alley, where the fuck ever, and fucked her sixteen ways to Sunday until we both couldn't stand any longer. Hell, her, anybody who happened to catch my eye that night or the next or the next... These days, instead of pounding any able bodied woman who came by way, I was a little too acquainted with my hand and a laundry list of inappropriate fantasies.
"Just because I don't want to fuck Gwen doesn't mean I'm secretly pining after Buffy," I lied all the same. "Everyone got smitten with the damn girl and yeah, sure, she's gotten under my skin in some sort of way but don't make it out to be something it's not.