Just a little bit more...but I'm still feeling like vanity gal, in here taking up the thread space.

"OK, Wesley," I say. "I grew up on an island, too. Probably not as nice as yours...I've never been, just seen the photos."

"It has its moments," he said, smoothly. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Ok, then, meter's running, huh? I'm here cause my friend, John Munch, another detective, came here on vacation, and hasn't been back or called. And he's the kind of guy who announces himself...tells you more than you want to know, honestly."

" I think I know something about that," Wesley said, shooting Cordelia a look.

"Excuse me for living, Mr. Stiff Upper Lip."

"If you'd shut up sometimes, I might not have to!"

"I try to give the benefit of my experience, and all I get is grief."
"What?" I ask. "More clothes advice?" I'm just asking cause I want a few minutes to get my story straight...it's weird on this side of the desk...the only other time it happened was about Crosetti, and I didn't know anything, so that was cake, in a depressing sort of way. But thinking about Steve makes me think of the Munchkin pulling a "Final Exit'(He can be a real miserable bastard sometimes...although some of it's just talk...I can't always tell.) And if I think about that now, I'm just gonna lose it right here, and I can't take any tips about cry-face.
Luckily Cordy does run her mouth a lot. " No! Bad hair(she says in a tone reserved in my family for uterine fibroids and such) You don't have to worry about that. Although, nobody is wearing it that length this season, you might want to consider a cut."

"No, no, she won't," Wesley says...I have to strain to hear him.
"I'm sorry?"
"I meant that you have more important things to consider, with someone missing...did your friend have enemies?"

"Yeah...of course. The enemy thing with the Munchkin is complicated. Because he has whole lists of people he hates that don't even know he's alive. Newt Gingrich, Strom Thurmond, that Alanis girl on the radio...guess he doesn't wanna know what he "Oughta Know" huh? And that brings us to his Pissed-off Exes. Felicia, an artist named Brigitte something.... Gordon Pratt, the wannabe cop-killing asshole, who I hope is in a gunshop in hell right now, may God forgive me."

"Brigitta Svendson?" Wesley says. "I saw her work when it came to LA...it was a revelation about the dark side of decadence."

"Well, think about if it was your...revelation that the hometown crowd was looking at, huh?"

He's cradling an old book like it's a member of his family,

I love this image, erika.

Anyone want to send me plot-bunny-generationma? I'm signed up for a ficathon, due Saturday. I haven't yet started, because the person I'm writing for asked for Connor/Dawn friendship in a specific, fluffy situation, and one that makes the most sense if it's set in the near future.

Angsty Connor/Dawn, I would be all over. But fluffy? Without the false memory thing to talk about (and there's no way to fit it into what was requested without some really awkward shoehorning,) that's not Connor/Dawn, that's Dawn/someguywholookslikeConnor. Which is kind of like those AUs where Angel isn't a vampire.

I have no idea how I will write this. I keep starting and deleting. Ack.

Apologies for the whining.

Like Connor/ Dawn at the prom? People... Glad you liked the image...I figured if there was anybody that would confuse it would be Kay, not that she doesn't read,not much compared to Wesley, though, and not with the same reverent outlook, for sure.

I'm still feeling like vanity gal, in here taking up the thread space.

Every time these past few weeks when I've felt like I was just going to lay down my head and give up, I've come in here to find Kay being wonderfully snarky. Vanity or sanity, you make the call.

Aw, now I'm gonna get all emotional and stuff now, huh? I'll never hear the end of that... I hear Kay as quite the smartass, but she didn't do it on the show as often as I do, but she made the most of it...telling Pembleton that Danvers was so endowed he couldn't touch her anywhere without making her crazy...stuff like that.

erika, quit self-deprecating and keep writing, woman.

LJ, what's the specific fluffy situation? I mean, is he asking her to the prom, or something?

OK, it's just...so many serials make me feel like I'm talking to myself...and I'd like to save something for when I really flip out. And I have relatives who consider self-deprecation to be "becoming modesty". Of course they also think mayo is a food group.

Self-deprecation isn't becoming modesty, it's an anti-feminist tool by which the Evil Screwheads in power try and keep us disliking ourselves. Personally, I think self-love is the best, and a healthy shot of actual arrogance works wonders when earned.

Which you have. What happens next, with Kay and Wes?

Cordelia and Wesley look concerned and start offering water, tissues, and tea. I hate when people do that. "It's ok, it's just so fresh...just give me a minute."

"Oh, right," Cordy says, "Like when I have a visi..tor. I hate house guests. Place never feels right till they're gone."

"No, Cordelia," Wesley says. "Sod the lies. We aren't just a detective agency, Detective Howard, we handle paranormal events. Do you have any suspicions in that direction?"
Maybe that's what had my gut hammering away this whole time. But the whole thing was so ridiculous. "Not exactly suspicions, but a definite feeling. You guys would call it a vibe, here. Cause this wasn't a straight-up abduction. Munch is a detective...he knows strange men in vans don't drive around with acting contracts, and he doesn't take candy from strangers...an occasional Toklas brownie, maybe...with the pot? But that's none of my business."
Blank looks all around. I feel old and disgusting, like, immediately, and change tactics. "And he reads these magazines about hellmouths, black helicopters, like that. Could be crap, could be connected, huh? So, you're Angel Investigations cause you take all the woo-woo cases, huh? I'll tell you...when a ghost helped me before, I came to dread the Casper theme song, I'll tell ya."
" Those 'woo-woo' cases are a perfectly legitimate form of inquiry." Wesley says, like I'm wearing the Union Jack as a bra.

"Angel is our founder's name," Cordy says. Short, exactly what I asked, no embroidery. Either she's sick, or the founder's still a painful topic.Everybody's got a sad story, huh? But I've got my own problems.

"Wesley,are you trying to convince me or you? Cause either way, if we don't find him and I find out this is a scam, I'll come back and break your legs. I can do it, too. You being taller just makes it take longer, huh?"

"Don't threaten me. I won't stand for it."

"Not a threat. Just a statement of fact. A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Ok, now we're clear, I left a list of Munch's associates here. See what you can turn up on Mission Control over there."
"I get the worst of both worlds. Head-rattling visions, and carpal-tunnel from that stupid thing. " Cordy griped.
--more--

"Those 'woo-woo' cases are a perfectly legitimate form of inquiry." Wesley says, like I'm wearing the Union Jack as a bra. "Angel is our founder's name."

"Are you trying to convince me or you? Cause either way, if we don't find him and I find out this is a scam, I'll come back and break your legs. I can do it, too. You being taller just makes it take longer, huh?"

Hmmm - this one bit reads oddly, in a non sequitor way. It's the "Are you trying to convince me or you?" line - the way Wesley's speech is laid out there, it reads as though Kay's asking him whether he's trying to convince her or himself that Angel is their founder's name.