fandomhigh | Pageant Rehearsal

Anakin didn't yelp, nor did he jump a bit at hearing Angel's voice behind him.

Because that would be deeply humiliating.

He also didn't try to beat Angel to death with his banthabell.

Because Dean Bristow was right there and Anakin wasn't suicidal.

He settled for glancing quickly at Rory, then glaring at Angel.

"I'd be happy to volunteer to stab you if you'd like," he said. "You know, in the spirit of this festival of giving."

"Okay, that narrows down the scope of your reactions," Angel said, mostly to himself. Louder, to Anakin, "Out of curiosity am I getting the 'You bastard, you killed Kitty and hurt Rory and Logan' death threat or am I getting the 'I can't stand to look at you, you souled goody-goody freak' death threat? Just so I know how to react here."

"Definitely the first one," Anakin snapped back. He lowered his voice. "Logan let me hear the tape." He glared at Angel, his eyes practically glowing with anger. "There's not a word bad enough for what I think of what you did, and I've got a pretty extensive vocabulary of insults."

He stared at the floor. "Reformed, redeemed, souled, whatever." He looked back at Angel. "Some things are unforgivable. Murdering children is one of them."

"I agree."

"Fantastic. Wonderful. Everything's fixed now," Anakin said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going to add my list to the certainly numerous group of beings who have vowed to kill you good and dead if you step out of line with some kind of huge speech about justice and vengeance and blah, blah, blah," he continued. "I'll just be watching. And I won't let myself be fooled by you again."

"Good," Angel said. "Because frankly not enough people here are willing to stake me or cut my head off if I go evil again."

"I've always been a bit of an overachiever," Anakin said. "I'll be all broken up if someone beats me to it."

"Great," Angel said. "And in the meanwhile, you're doing what to control your own dark streak? The one that attracted Angelus to you in the first place?"

"The usual. Flossing, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables." He stared at Angel. "Getting my daily dose of 'none of your damn business.'"

"Ooh, no, sorry, wrong answer," Angel said. "'cause I'm gonna bet my destiny trumps yours on that one and mine says that I stop evil whenever I see it. And last I saw? It was in you. So maybe we take that one from the top, hum?"

Anakin was not getting into a verbal pissing match over who was more Chosen.

Because he would totally win. He thought.

"Fine," he said, blowing out a breath. "I talked with Obi-Wan about it over Parents' Weekend--he couldn't stand you, by the way--and he's set me up with a series of meditations working on understanding and controlling the not-so-nice portions of my personality." He took another deep breath. "Which are coming in handy right now, just in case you were wondering."

"Good to know," Angel said, dropping his own intensity down from 11. "And JA?"

"JA?" Anakin yanked on his braid. "Belthazor left. I'm crying tears into my pillow over that at night, let me tell you." He scowled. "Faith's prsident now, but no one seemed all that upset that your old self is gone. Well, other than Bel, but I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you that. Hell, I heard it on the radio."

He shrugged. "If there's some super secret plan afoot, I'm sure not in on it."

"Like anything involving Crane?"

"He was my roommate in Vegas," Anakin said slowly. "Didn't seem like he was planning anything more devious than flirting with Duce."

"He and Duce are dating now?"

Anakin rolled his eyes. "I have no idea. She and Faith got married. And if Duce's hair was, you know, in pigtails and not snakes, he would've been pulling them all weekend long."

"Duce and Faith - " Angel frowned. "I thought damn near everywhere didn't acknowledge that."

"I wasn't there for the actual ceremony," Anakin said. "Had a date with, um, this girl from the Cirque." He blushed, then continued, "But on the flight home, they had matching rings and were talking about the wedding." He looked confused. "I didn't know that wasn't a practice on this world."

"Same sex marriages don't count most everywhere here," Angel said. "I don't get it either." He blinked, catching the rest of Anakin's reply. "You did, huh? Good for you. Did you like the show?"

"The show was fantastic. Bambi--which I have been told is a ridiculous name for a girl but I didn't name her--was also fantastic." Anakin looked around. "Um. I mean fascinating." He coughed. "Not like we're keeping in touch or anything, though."

Angel grinned. "Flexible?"

"Very." Anakin grinned. "I liked Vegas."

"It's a great town," Angel said. "Shame I couldn't go with you. Been a while since I've been there."

"I'd say we missed you, but, you know, we didn't," Anakin said, trying to be mean again.

Damn Obi-Wan and his "be polite to everyone" lessons.

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