Gwen
Oz was wandering around the school, looking for the kitchen when he ran into a girl with long brown hair and red streaks.
"Hi," she said, smiling warmly. "I'm Gwen."
"Oz."
"Ah, I've heard about you. The taciturn man. Can I help ya in any way?"
Oz smiled, not going to say what he was thinking. "Where's the kitchen?"
"Oh, here, I'll show you."
Gwen led Oz to the kitchen, chatting away happily, content with his sometimes one worded answers. Hey, sometimes Mordred was like that too.
They went into the kitchen, made themselves breakfast and sat down together. Gwen was curious as to why she felt a little attracted to him.
"So, you're a mutant?" Oz asked shyly, reaching for his juice.
Gwen nodded. She shot a small spark of electricity up from her hands. "Yeah, I have electricity in my body. I was only here to learn control, and then I did, and then yeah the world ending thing, and I came back here for a visit with... uh, yeah."
"Where do you live then?"
"LA. You ever been there?"
"A few times. Was just there actually, visiting some friends."
"Yeah? Cool. There are some wacky people in LA."
"Hmm."
"LA also is proud to boast another laconic man."
"Angel."
"You know Angel?"
"Yeah, he was in Sunnydale."
"So you're Oz the werewolf, guitarist?"
"Guilty."
"You still all wolfy at full moon time?"
"Generally no. I learnt to control it in Tibet."
"Ooh Tibet. I had a job there once. Oh," Gwen said, noting Oz's look. "I'm a master thief."
"Oh, you'd be electro girl then?"
"Famous, am I?"
"Yeah. Nyx mentioned you."
"Good or bad?"
"Neutral."
"I see." Gwen smiled shyly at Oz, wondering why her heart was beating a little faster. It couldn't be that she was attracted to him, could it? After all, she had her own wolf, why did she need this one? But this one was so cute in a non verbal way. "No Gwen, you have Mordred. You love him. You are immortal because of him," she scolded herself in her thoughts.
Oz smiled back and took a bite of his toast. "There much to do in NY?"
"Um... movies, driving, shopping. Same everywhere, I guess."
"Hmm."
Mordred
Mordred wandered into the kitchen, hair sticking up in sleepmussed spikes and headed straight to the coffeepot, dropping an absentminded kiss on Gwen's forehead on his way through. He got his coffee and inhaled the aroma before sipping of the hot heavenly black liquid. The lights clicked on, as it were, and he headed back over to where Gwen was sitting. "Morning, cariad." He sat next to Gwen and nodded at Oz. "Name's Mordred. Which one are ya? Oz or Devon? Nyx was...kinda out of it." He grinned slighly, before drinking more of his coffee.
Gwen
Gwen jumped at the sight of Mordred, then calmed down. She wasn't doing anything wrong. She leant into Mordred for a second, and played gently with his hand.
Oz nodded. "I'm Oz."
"He doesn't talk much," Gwen giggled.
Devon stumbled into the kitchen and saw the coffee pot. "Thank the Lord!"
Gwen giggled again. "Rough night?"
"He snores," Oz offered.
"As if man."
Mordred
Mordred smiled slightly, and raised his mug at Devon. "Thank the almighty Gah for coffee."
"Never a truer word spoken!" Devon got himself a cup and then dumped sugar in it. He walked over and dragged a chair up. "Devon."
"Mordred. And this is my girlfriend, Gwen." Mordred sipped from his coffee.
Gwen
"Hiya," Gwen greeted.
Oz rubbed his head gently. "I gotta stop drinking."
Devon snorted. "Yeah, sure. And where would the fun in that be?"
Gwen nodded her approval. "I'm agreeing with Devon here."
"Tired." Oz finished his toast and glanced at Gwen, then looked away quickly. She had a boyfriend. Figured.
Mordred and Sergei
Mordred's eyes shuttered slightly, then he shook it off. Not getting jealous. Very much not. That had caused too many problems last time. "So, why are you in NY?"
"We're in a band called 'Dingoes ate my baby'," Devon answered him. "We got a few gigs down here, and well. Nyx invited us."
"Nyx has this thing where she adopts strays," Mordred said dryly. "Are you one of them too?"
"Yep. Hey, that's pretty cool. What do you think of Nyx?"
"She has an attitude problem but she always means well." Mordred smiled slightly. "Protective. You should see what she did to these guys who kidnapped some students from the school. It was very beautiful."
"Riiiggghtt..." Devon blinked.
"What Spike did was better though." Mordred flashed a very predatory smile. Sergei stumbled into the room, one hand to his head and weaving slightly. "Hey Sergei."
"E"b tvoju mat'," Sergei spat as he headed towards the tap.
"And there's someone else who needs to stop drinking so much.
"Ot'ebis', pizd'uk!" The Russian snarled. "I have a hangoverrr."
"And who's fault is that?" Mordred said with a grin.
"Cayehrzhntyeh myeheel!" (Bite me!) Sergei got a glass of water from the tap, transmuted it into vodka and downed it rapidly. He got another one, and that disappeared as quickly as the first.
Gwen
Gwen took a sip of her juice. "So, you guys were from Sunnydale?"
Oz nodded.
"Yeah, but we got out before it was boom time," Devon put in. "And we pretty much keep in contact with those we wanna see."
"No, we don't." Oz shook his head.
"Ok, well not all the time. We saw Xander and that brunette chick... the hot one. And we've gone to see Angel and those," Devon replied.
"Brunette chick?" Gwen asked.
"Faith," Oz offered.
"Oh yeah, that's her name. I don't know her, all I know is that she wasn't that interested in me," Devon said.
"So you guys playing around here?"
"Depending on what we can line up," Oz nodded.
"And how stoned and drunk we get while we're here! You guys should join us!"
Mordred
"Sounds fun." Mordred smiled slightly. "What do you think, Gwen?"
Gwen
Gwen chewed her lip thoughtfully, then grinned broadly. "Yeah sure, fun!"
Oz smiled back. "Cool."
Devon rolled his eyes. "I'll have to get some cash off Nyx and get some more stuff. I'd have more but someone," He glared at Oz. "Seems to have misplaced it."
"If you lost your pot, don't blame me," Oz shrugged.
Mordred
Mordred snickered. "Of course. The pot always goes missing. It's never gone just because the sponges posing as your friends have smoked it all."
"Exactly!" Devon nodded. "It's never their fault."
"And expecting them to actually cough up some of the dosh to get some more would be out of the question. Because they didn't smoke it."
"Happened to you too, huh?" Devon asked wryly.
"All the time. Well, not so much anymore. We haven't done anything for a while." Mordred smiled fondly. "We always used to pull the best pranks when we were stoned."
Gwen
Oz shrugged. "You lost it. Not me."
Devon mock glared at him. "Sure. It was me. And I was so stoned at the time I don't remember where I put it?"
"Bingo."
Devon rolled his eyes.
"Hey, you have any animal crackers?" Oz asked suddenly.
Gwen stood and retrieved them from the pantry and handed them to Oz. He opened the box and pulled out a monkey and a hippo. "I mock you with my monkey pants," he said in a French accent.
Devon groaned. "Don't get him started."
Mordred and Sergei
"Why...does the monkey have a French accent?" Mordred asked carefully. Sergei snorted.
"All monkeys are French. Just like all bears and most wolves are Russian."
"I'm not Russian."
"Nyet, you're English."
"Am sodding not! I'm Welsh," Mordred said. "I am bloody well not English."
"Pfffft, whateverrrr, bolk." Sergei rolled his eyes.
"Ok, what the hell does that mean?"
"It is wolf, in Russian, nyekulturni."
"You know, I'm starting to get really sick of being insulted in a language I don't understand."
Sergei smiled slowly, flashing his fangs. "And dat is supposed to bother me?"
Gwen
Oz nodded. "All monkeys are French, didn't you know that?"
Devon rolled his eyes again.
"The monkey's the only cookie animal that gets to wear clothes, you know that? So, I'm wondering, do the other cookie animals feel sorta ripped? Like, is the hippo going, 'Hey, man, where are *my* pants? I have my hippo dignity!' And you know the monkey's just, 'I mock you with my monkey pants!' And there's a big coup in the zoo," Oz said, playing with the animal crackers.
Gwen giggled. "I think you have too much free time on your hands."
"I'm in a band, what can I say?"
Sergei and Mordred
"Should talk to Jono then," Sergei said, sipping from his glass of vodka. "He gets all dat shit."
"Don't you have a place to be that's other then here, Sergei?"
"Bite me, English." Sergei walked out of the room.
"I'm not sodding English!" Mordred turned back to the conversation. "Sorry, but that guy really does get on my nerves."
"It tends to stand out, yes," Devon said carefully.
"What's it like, being in a band?"
"Chicks, man. Lots and lots of chicks." Devon grinned.
Gwen
Oz nodded. "I wish I could meet nice girls like Devon does," he said sarcastically.
"Well what does a girl have to do to impress you?"
"Well, it involves a feather boa and a theme to 'A Summer Place'. I can't discuss it here."
"You're too picky, man. Do you know how many girls you could have? You're lead guitar, Oz. It's currency!" Devon exclaimed.
Gwen nodded in agreement.
"I'm not picky. You're just impressed by any pretty girl that can walk and talk," Oz replied.
"She doesn't have to talk," Devon grinned.
Mordred
"I like listening to Gwen. She says such interesting things. She wouldn't be the same if she couldn't talk." Mordred kissed Gwen's hand, smiling at her with love in his eyes.
Gwen
Gwen smiled. "Aww." She turned and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad you're talking again too."
Devon gave him a thumbs up. "She's hot and she talks."
Oz looked curious. "And that's the perfect package?"
"Yeah!"
Mordred
"You have sadly limited scope in partners." Mordred shook his head slightly. "Gwen is beyond words. I love you," he whispered into her ear. "My beautiful angel..."
"I have what?" Devon looked puzzled.
"You're simple and easy to please," Mordred clarified.
Gwen
Oz grinned.
"Yeah, if we're going by your track record of girls..."
"Who?" Devon asked.
"Cordy?"
"Oh yeah... but she's hot man, real hot."
Gwen nuzzled Mordred's cheek. "I love you too."
Gwen
"Awww," Gwen said and turned to kiss him on the cheek. "I like that you can talk again too."
Devon grinned. "Well, each to his own. Besides, you have a bonus. She's hot and she talks."
"That's Devon's ideal of a good partner," Oz explained.
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred raised an eyebrow. "That is...quite sad. Hey, Pack!" Vortigern entereed and passed the table, ruffling Mordred's hair on his way. Vortigern snickered slightly as Mordred ran his own hand through his hair, to find it covered in paint. "Bloody hell!"
"Nah, nah, ni nah nah," Vortigern sing songed as he got himself breakfast. "Morning, Gwen."
"Now I'll have to wash my hair. What was that for?"
"Because I can?" Vortigern grinned as he poured himself some orange juice. "And because you look so much prettier with red tips. What do you think, Gwen?"
"Swear to God, I'm going to do something painful to you." Mordred mockglared at his twin, as he got up to wash his hand. He paused then wiped his hand down Vortigern's back. leaving a broad smear of red streaked down Vortigern's white shirt.
"Hey!"
"Now who's winning? Oh sod!" Mordred scrmabled backwards then 'ported awy from his brother. "Have to get up earlier then that."
Gwen
"Red tips rock, I have them," Gwen smiled.
Oz nodded. "I used to have red hair. But now I have black with blue tips. But I might do red tips."
Devon grinned. "I like my natural hair colour, thanks."
"Except it isn't your natural colour."
"Shut up, werewolf."
Oz grinned and focused again on his coffee.
MOrdred and Vortigern
Mordred's eyebrow rose a fraction. Well, that explains that then.
What?
The off tinge to his mind. He's not human. Funny. Is anyone here human?
Well, that guy Devon is.
Yeah, point. But bloody hell, Vort. When was the last time we talked to someone who was fully human?
Siobhan and Mary.
And they might not even be.
That's a thought I don't want to have to consider. Vortigern frowned. "Bad, bad thoughts. You want to jinx them?"
"If they're gonna be mutants, there isn't anything we can actually do," Mordred pointed out.
"Bite me."
"You taste bad."
"Shut the bloody hell up. It's too early for this."
"You're the one who started it."
"Oh, and aren't we being mature this morning?"
"We're twins, don't worry," Mordred said to Devon and Vortigern. "We do this a lot."
Screw you.
"I'm happy with my choice of partner, thanks Vort."
Gwen and Oz
Gwen smiled and leant back into Mordred, her hands reaching behind her to hug him.
"Yay. Who wouldn't be happy with me?"
Devon lifted an eyebrow. "Well, I don't really know you, so I'm not sure if I'd be happy with you or not. Oz?"
Oz shrugged. "Hmm."
"And we're back to mono syllabic answers."
Mordred and Vortigern
"But you're mine," Mordred whispered into her ear. Vortigern pretended to gag, and Mordred flipped him the Bowman's salute. "Don't you have a vampire to get back to?"
"He doesn't like human hours, so he's sleeping still. Nyx will be pissed if he misses the Danger Room session though."
"Yeah, there is that."
"Danger Room?" Devon inquired.
"Training, full simulation," Vortigern explained. "It's got robots and stuff we can fight against, and they can be programmed to take on the characteristocs of different opennents."
"Have you fought that one of Magneto yet?"
"Oh god, yes. I got my arse kicked." Vortigern shrugged. "I'll leave the fighting to *you*, I think."
"Grrrr." Mordred bared his teeth and growled slightly. "You better."
Gwen
"Possessive," Gwen remarked, but she was smiling. She kissed him softly. "I like being yours," she whispered back.
Oz's eyes slowly scanned the kitchen. He winced in the sunlight coming in through the window.
Devon saw and laughed. "Hung over?"
"Mmhmm."
"Same. But I'm kinda curious about this Danger Room thing."
"I've been in there, but never to train. I'm a lover, not a fighter." Gwen paused. "Well... actually no, that's a lie."
"So... you're a..." Devon frowned in confusion.
"I'm a master thief. And that makes me ace."
"As all master thieves are?" Oz asked.
"Yes. Yes indeed."
Mordred and Vortigern
"Career girl," Mordred said, smiling slightly. "Stay safe, Gwen. Please," he whispered to her.
"Yay for Gwen. She has an actual job." Vortigern grinned. "Me and Wolf are grifting off the professor."
"Huh?" Devon inquired intelligently.
"We're staying for free. He does that, so mutants who have home problems don't have to pay." Mordred shrugged. "Ours aren't as bad as others, though."
Gwen and Oz
Gwen nodded. "I'm a safe kinda girl. I can crack one in less than thirty seconds." She grinned. "Yeah, I'll stay safe. Always do."
Oz nodded. "That's pretty cool. Like ice."
Gwen frowned. "Ice?"
"Yeah, it's water, but not."
Gwen giggled, warming up to Oz more and more.
Mordred
Mordred stared at Oz consideringly from under halfdown eyelids.
"Wow, he's talking today. Maybe you should get hungover more often," Devon suggested. "He usually doesn't talk. At all. A grunt's usually the limit, or a blank stare. He specialises in those."
Mordred nodded slightly.
"Like that, except he usually doesn't even nod."
Oz and Gwen
"I talk sometimes," Oz said softly.
"But we never usually get a sentence. Or a variation in tone. It's why we love you, you laconic bastard," Devon grinned.
Gwen giggled again.
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred chuckled slightly. Vortigern raised an eyebrow. "Ah, the speechless. Everyone loves them."
"Because they don't get in the way."
Oz and Gwen
"I happen to like being non talking guitar guy," Oz offered and fell silent again.
"I don't know how long we'll be staying here, though. I guess until the pot runs out," Devon trailed off.
Gwen shyly looked away from Oz. "No, you're not getting attracted to him. You love Mordred." Gwen sighed and Devon jumped.
"I know, it's a shame we're not staying longer," Devon grinned.
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred hid his growing resentment to what Gwen was thinking about under a smooth mask. Vortigern lifted an eyebrow slightly in reply. You know she won't.
That's what I bloody thought about *her* as well. And we all know how that turned out, don't we?
God you're paranoid.
Paranoia is merely an advanced survival tactic.
And on that note...
"Where are you buying?" Vortigern asked.
"I have a dealer in New York," Devon answered.
"Gotta love a man with connections." Vortigern grinned.
Gwen and Oz
Oz nodded. "Hmmm." He drummed his fingers on the bench carelessly.
"Hey, is there anyway we could get in a practice today?" Devon asked.
Oz shrugged. "Have to ring the others."
"Man, we need a roadie!"
"We've discussed this."
"Yeah, but other bands have roadies, man, I keep telling you that!"
"And I keep telling you that other bands know more than three chords. Your professional bands can play up to six, sometimes seven completely different chords."
"I still maintain that's just like fruity jazz bands." Devon grinned cheekily.
"You play..." Gwen started.
"Guitar," Oz replied.
"Is it hard?"
"Not the way I play it."
Gwen laughed. "He's sweet. He really is. No wonder AI spoke highly of him."
Mordred
"So, you're one of the Sunnydale people?"
"Sunnydale, born and bred," Devon said proudly.
"Didn't it kinda...disappear?" Mordred said. "We heard from Spike."
"So it doesn't exist anymore." Devon shrugged. "Doesn't mean we can't, uh, honour its memory."
Oz
"Sunnyhole," Oz remarked quietly.
Devon grinned. "Yeah... but it was a good place to grow up."
"Except for the vampires, the demons, the Hellmouth..."
"Ok, so it had some downsides too..."
Vortigern and Mordred
"Speaking of vampires, there's mine," Vortigern said fondly as Spike shambled into the room, sweatpants barely staying on his hips.
"Morning, luv, wolf, electrogirl, mongrel, cannon fodder." Spike went to the coffeepot, running his hand lovingly through Vortgern's hair on the way.
"Why don't you call us by our real names?" Mordred inquired. Spike grinned over the rim of the coffee mug.
"Do. Sometimes. And besides what kind of a pansy ass name is Mordred?"
"Bite me."
"Rather bite your twin, pet." Spike leered at Vortigern, and he golden haired boy shook his head.
"Why am I cannon fodder?" Devon asked plaintively. Spike looked at him.
"Mate, you're lucky you haven't been turned yet. You have 'vampire bait' stamped on your forehead. I'd suggest you keep out of Dru's way. She ain't souled and she'd probably think you were sodding cute." Spike grimaced. "Or summat like that."
Oz and Gwen
Oz grinned as Devon opened his mouth, with no sound coming out.
"Now who's laconic?"
"Shut it, werewolf."
"Cannon fodder."
"You sound like Anya," Devon replied.
"Ooh, where is Anya?"
Gwen shrugged. "That girl who always says the wrong thing at the wrong time?"
"That's our girl," Oz grinned.
"She's around here somewhere."
Vortigern and Mordred
"Demongirl? She was at the mountain with all the Slayer wannabes. Little bitches," Spike muttered almost under his breath.
"Wow, you really didn't like them, did you?" Vortigern said slowly. Spike flashed him a mirthless grin.
"That would be an understatement."
"Ok, moving away from that topic." Mordred looked back at Oz and Devon. "Anya and Andrew. Nearly inseprearable."
"Andrew?"
"He summoned monkeys to attack the school play," Spike supplied. "Uh, the hellhounds kid's brother. Tucker? Yeah, think that was it."
"Tucker's brother? What's he doing with Anya?" Devon asked.
"He helped Buffy before... He's training to be a Watcher now." Spike turned back to get another cup of coffee, tension running across his shoulders.
Oz
"Ah, cool," Oz offered.
Devon frowned. "Everyone has cool jobs but me."
"I don't have a job," Oz replied.
"But you're a werewolf and you score with chicks."
"Devon, you score with more than I do."
"Ah yes, my secret power. Sexy appeal."
Mordred and Vortigern
"Yeah, mate, whatever you reckon," Mordred drawled, and downed the last of his coffee. "Well, I promised Logan I'd help him on his bike this morning."
"I'm going to paint. More."
"You know, your paintings are getting really scary lately," Mordred commented to Vortigern. His twin gave him a look. "Not that you don't have reason..."
"Remember that." Vortigern leant his head briefly against his twin's shoulder. Mine.
You're mine as well. But yours. Mordred smiled slightly.
"Anyway, I'm off." Vortigern moved over to Spike and wrapped his arms around the vampire's waist and spoke briefly to him before moving out of the room, mind already skipping ahead to what he would create this morning.
"So, what is everyone else's plans for the day?" Mordred asked.
"Security checkup," Spike said briefly.
"And that we need." Mordred grimaced.
Gwen and Oz
Gwen shrugged. "I might go into the city for a bit."
Devon perked up. "Oh, can you get me something? Unless Oz, you decide to go into the city?"
"Yeah, I gotta get guitar strings and picks."
"Cool, well, I can give you a lift, if you want," Gwen offered.
"I might buy another acoustic," Oz mused. "I have my van, but thanks. But we could meet up if you want?"
"Sure, that sounds cool."
"Ok, so Oz, man, I want my own mike. And you know which one I want. That one we looked at in OKC."
"Hmm."
"Cool!"
Mordred
"Watch yourselves," Spike warned. "We've had people picked up from the city, and I'm betting the Iniatitive would just *love* to get their hands and scalpels on you, mutt." The vampire left the room, cradling a fresh cup of coffee.
"Yeah...watch your backs." Mordred bit his lip as he looked away. "I'm really not kidding."
"C'mon, it's New York. Who's going to do something like that?" Devon scoffed.
"They've already done it twice. Trust me on this, you don't want to get caught."
Oz and Gwen
Oz nodded. "Yeah."
Gw en shrugged. "We'll be alright. What if we drive in together, that way, we'll know if something happens, coz it'll happen to both of us?"
Oz frowned. "That sounds like a safe plan in theory."
"What?"
"No idea. Yeah, sure. My van, your car?"
"Your car. I'm not going anywhere in a van." Gwen stuck her tongue out at Oz and he smiled.
Mordred
Mordred raised an eyebrow slightly. "Well, I better go. Logan will be howling for my blood if I'm too late." He caught Devon's look. "NOt literally! Though, thanks for the concern." He chuckled as he stood. "See you round later, love?" He asked Gwen.
Gwen and Oz
Gwen nodded. "Yup. I'll call in when I get back."
Oz stood up. "So, lead the way?"
Devon threw a few bills onto the table and Oz picked them up.
Gwen stood up and started to lead him from the room.