It Ain’t No Freaky Thing
The two stared at each other as the rest of the group gaped at them. Even though Angel’s normally placid face seemed angry, he was in fact relieved to see the girl. She’d caused many sleepless moments. A conundrum he savored, treasured, puzzled over. In a way, he was almost disappointed to see her. She was the last thing he’d been hanging onto when his world slowly crumbled away. The fact that she was both the girl from the chamber and Max, the elusive roommate of Cordelia was not lost on Angel.
"So you’re Max?" he drawled, finally recovering his senses a little. "Or was that Eva? Penny perhaps?" He named her aliases.
"It’s Max," she confirmed softly. Max was able to roll with the punches better than most. But the reappearance of this man in her life shook her more than a little. If she was honest with herself, it was more the urge to fly into his protective embrace and stay there that unnerved her. They continued to stare at one another, the others in the room slowly becoming aware of the sexual current that flowed between the two.
Cordelia stepped between the two, a great big grin on her face. "Max, this is Angel, my boss.’ They both shot her withering glares, which couldn’t have pleased her more. Since her return, she’d been carefully informed of the demise of her hometown, which she’d barely mourned. That was followed by the story of Spike’s sacrifice and subsequent resurrection as a male Slayer. And then, the worst news. Spike and Buffy deciding to be together. Now, Cordelia was in no way dumb. Spoiled, shallow and tactless she could be. But she was also loyal and honest to those she cared about. She put everything together easily and all too often saw the result. The return of Broody Angel. So anything that could shake him out of that slump and into something else was in her opinion, of the good. Suddenly Cordelia whirled on her boss.
"Hey, why didn’t you tell me that you were looking for Max? And why are you?" she demanded huffily.
"She showed up in the chamber, just like Spike did," he explained gently. He watched Max’s reaction, just waiting for her to lose it. But he was pleasantly surprised. He’d been suspicious that first night that Max hadn’t gone too far and had overheard their discussion.
"So what’s so special about Spike?" Max smiled. Angel silently applauded the question.
Cordy glanced around, wondering how to put it. She glanced at Angel and he nodded, resigned. "Well, see Max, Dennis isn’t the only strange phenomenon in our lives. There are other things. Worse things. See Spike was one, not that he is anymore. Now he actually hunts them, which kind of freaked me out at first, but in a good way. I mean they always said that there would be only one and a girl. So how-!"
"Cordy!" Angel snapped, breaking off her ramble.
"Oh, sorry," Cordy laughed. "So what I’m trying to explain is…"
"Vampires," Max provided succinctly.
"Oh, you know about them?" Wesley inquired softly. He still wasn’t sure what to make of the young lady. He and Fred had both recognized her immediately from the pictures Angel had provided. But he had also mentioned that she spooked easily and was fairly dangerous. Now suddenly, she was Cordy’s newest, best friend and roommate.
"Yeah, I dusted one a few nights ago outside the Flamingo," Max chuckled. Their stunned expressions were absolutely priceless.
"Did it attack you?" Angel demanded irrationally upset. Even though visual proof of her standing before him told him that she was safe, a little fissure of concern had opened in him. She nodded. "You should probably know Max, that while the majority of vampires are evil, there are a few who wouldn’t harm you."
"Like you?" she scoffed. She’d done it again. She’d stunned the socks off the whole group with her insight.
"What makes you think that Angel’s a vampire?" Fred asked curiously. She wouldn’t have known without the physical evidence before her own eyes. Max sighed and settled herself against Cordy’s desk. One slim finger jumped up as she began to list off her reasons.
"One, his skin isn’t radiating ambient infrared like normal people do. Two," another finger popped up, "you’re nose was way too healed from the damage that wall did to it when you and the chick caught up to me."
"Her name is Buffy," Angel interjected softly.
"Three, I’ve been here fifteen minutes and I’ve yet to see you take a breath. Four, not one of your pulse points or veins are active. So I assume you haven’t fed for a while. And fifth, because you haven’t fed for a bit, there’s a certain, ah, shall we say…aroma?"
Everyone gasped, but Angel stood immobile, a slight tension in his jaw. "So let me get this straight. You think I’m a vampire because I stink?" Angel demanded, even though he couldn’t refute any of her arguments.
"Oh, it’s not a bad stink," Max chuckled. "I’ve never minded that sickly sweet smell of decay." Angel eyed her once more, then turned on his heel and stalked towards the basement.
"Oh great," Cordy groaned loudly, throwing her hands up in the air. "Here comes another lovely week long session of Angel McBroody." She started after him but Max stopped her.
"No Cordy," she shook her head. "It’s my bad. I’ll go.’ Cordelia nodded slowly, but inside her mind, she was cackling gleefully. She told Max how to find Angel, then turned to tidy her desk.
Max stomped a little as she descended the stairs. She felt it was only fair to give him some kind of warning. She found him in his kitchen, putting a mug in the microwave. She watched him silently, his back to her. His movements were easy and familiar and the smell of iron coming from the microwave told her what he was doing. She moved to stand beside him, but he just stared at the machine.
"Are you ashamed of yourself?" she asked softly. Angel could tell immediately that she wasn’t being accusatory. She wanted to know how he felt.
"Sometimes," he admitted, just as softly. "Yeah, there are parts of my life that I’m not proud of." Master of the brood was now becoming the master of understatement.
"Does some of it have to do with the blood?"
"It’s complicated," Angel sighed. Max nodded and moved closer.
"Then I’ll refrain from making comments or jokes about it," Max offered in a shy tone. Angel looked down at the strong woman beside him, peeping up at him through long lashes. She was offering him an olive branch and with no hesitation he took it.
"Thank you," he said simply. The microwave beeped and Angel removed the mug of blood. Before he could take it someplace private, Max rested a soft hand on his arm.
"Angel, could I?" she gestured to the mug. He shrugged and let her take it. It was very common for people to have this reaction in their fascination of vampires. Angel figured that it was because babies, in their natural inclination to learn, stuck everything in their mouths. Children had no prejudice against germs, so at some point or another, a bloody digit was bound to end up being tasted. It wasn’t until adulthood that the habit was considered socially repugnant. And Angel noticed that even some adults playfully ignored this stricture.
He watched Max cup her hands around the mug and lift it to her face. But instead of the quick, forced, grimace-inducing sip most people took, she breathed in the scent of it. It was almost straight out of a coffee commercial. She blew on it, to make sure that it wouldn’t scald her mouth in any way. Then placing her lips on the mug, she tilted it up and took a small mouthful. She swirled it around, then let it run down her throat, swallowing once.
A stiff breeze could have knocked Angel over in that moment. To a vampire, the sheer enjoyment of savoring the blood was more erotic than a well-executed lap dance. Angel’s body tightened in response to the woman before him and her unintentional seduction. He took in a quick, unneeded breath, as she licked her lips. Angel stared at the full, pouty lips, his mind hazy. It took him a moment to realize that she had spoken.
"What?"
Max grinned, strangely pleased at his foolish behavior. "I said it was good, A negative." Angel dropped his stunned glance to the mug in her hand.
"How did you know that?" he gasped. He took the mug from her as she shrugged.
"It’s a special talent of mine," she bluffed.
"A special talent, huh?" he grunted. Some twinkle in her eye let him know that she was teasing.
"Yeah, its called literacy."
"What?" Angel couldn’t help but laugh. That certainly wasn’t the answer he’d expected. Max gestured to the counter where the blood bag had been left. Its type was printed boldly on the front. Angel laughed harder and Max joined in. It felt good to both of them. But just as abruptly, Cordy’s voice interrupted them.
"Hey guys!" she yelled down the stairs. "Sun has set. We’re going out. Dinner and dancing on Angel. So chop chop." The pair glanced at each other and laughed again. Finally Angel raised his mug in salute to the bossy woman on the floor above them.
"Tell Cordy I’m having this, then I’ll change and be right up."
"Will do."
It didn’t take long for Angel to do as he promised. He returned to the main floor as Gunn, Wes and Fred descended from above. They explained that Cordy and Max had returned to their apartment to change and would meet them at the restaurant. As they left the hotel to pile into Angel’s car, Angel grinned, unable to remember the last time his step felt so light.
Dinner, No Dancing
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