fandomtownies | The Perkolator, Tuesday Morning

Beka straightens her white silk blouse and smoothes the tails down over her black and white plaid skirt. She's annoyed at herself for spending so much on clothing off the Internet since she got here. But there's nothing else to spend it on but getting drunk and buying flowers. So. Vanity. She rolls her eyes at herself as she rounds the bend toward the coffee shop.

Angela's already there, sitting by the window - bless her. Beka gives a little wave, while walking toward the door.

Angela tilts her head up and waves back as Beka wakes in.

"You look really professional," she says, looking down at her own long-sleeve t-shirt and jeans. "Are you meeting with the dean today?"

"Nah. Just vain." Beka grins, tossing her stuff next to the table. "Truth is, I own one pair of jeans. And they're dirty."

Incling her head toward the counter, she asks, "Want anything?"

Angela shakes her head, indicating her still half-full coffee and crumbling muffin.

"I'm good, but thanks."

Beka orders a pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and large coffee, black. It makes her think of Daniel -- coffee often does these days -- so her smile might be a bit wistful when she returns to the table.

"Talked to Marty a bit last night," she asks, pulling out the chair and sitting. "He said you weren't feeling well. Better today?"

Angela sips on her own coffee.

"I just had a rotten headache, probably an allergies thing. I get them at the worst times. Sorry it made me miss the party, though. How was that?"

Beka chews and swallows, then takes a sip to wash it down.

"Shep had allergies the other day, too. You'd think I'd have tons, with all the unfamiliar stuff. So far, none." She offers a sympathetic smile. "Sounds like I'm lucky.

"Not really my crowd anymore, so I left pretty early." She shrugs and smiles. "Good party, though. Drinking, silliness...truth or dare."

Angela shrugs. "I think it's the weather. It's been so dry that stuff really built up and now the rain is just spreading it all over the place, you know? You're lucky not to have problems."

She breaks off another piece of muffin. "Sounds like fun. Any interesting dares? Good blackmail material?"

[OOC: Angela's theory is completely made up and probably wrong, but Alexandria really has had wacky weather this fall -- five weeks without rain, and now going on a week of nothing but.]

"What's up with that rain, anyway? Fifteen solid minutes the other night, then nothing. Weird. I guess weird weather could stir some stuff up."

After Belgian waffles, pumpernickel bagels, anything rye really, and cream cheese are at the top of the list of the things she'll miss when she goes back, she decides, chewing and swallowing happily. "Hmm. Lisa Cuddy did a body shot off Adama, and Logan had to kiss Krycek. That was funny ~~and hot~~. That ought to make the column next week." Beka grins and files that thought away.

Angela smiles wickedly. "Just in case the last one didn't annoy enough people, huh? I saw Paige talking to you about the codependent thing."

"Which Logan kissed Krycek? Rory's Logan, or the other one?"

Beka shakes her head, amused. "I couldn't help it! They were leaning all over each other, and it was so literally codependent. Felt bad when she took it so hard. She wasn't even the worst. Man, the Doctor..." She sighs. "The Doctor was a mess."

Beka tries to remember. "Oh. Wait. I think it was Krycek who had to kiss Logan. Rory's Logan."

Angela looks down at her muffin. "I admit, I didn't get why Paige was so insulted, but I was probably not the one to judge. The Tentacle thing had me rattled, so everyone else's problems..." She waves a hand in her air. "You know, the whole 'my drama is more important than yours' thing."

"I'm sorry the Doctor's feelings were hurt, though. I don't know him at all, but he seems cool, and he and Professor Cregg always look so happy together."

She raises her eyebrows and grins at the bit of gossip about Logan and Krycek. "Sounds pretty hot. That's another reason to regret being sick, I missed seeing pretty boys make out."

"Paige is pretty sensitive about Geoff. She probably gets teased a lot." Beka sips her coffee, thoughtful. "On the Valentine scale, 'my boyfriend's past as an assassin just got outed' ranks above the 'my friend jokingly called me and my boyfriend codependent'.

"As for the Doctor, we're pretty close." She shrugs and smiles wryly. "He couldn't be mad long. We ended up talking about our mutual lack of social skills."

Then her grin turns wicked, and she gives a sly wink. "I'm happy for Logan and Rory, really, but it'd be nice to see him kissing boys more often. Yum."

Angela pops the last of her muffin into her mouth. "Sounds like the Valentine scale and the Chase scale line up on that point. Though, actually? I hated the tone and the timing, but Marty does seem less twitchy now that it's all out in the open. So maybe whoever called it in did him a favor. In this whole weird and malicious way. Though I'd still like to talk to whoever writes the thing."

She looks levelly at Beka. "Thank you for being such a friend to both of us. I know it means a lot to him. And to me."

Her tone shifts. "Logan's ... interesting. He seems to make Rory happy, and vice versa, so that's about where my opinion stops."

"I'm glad it's working out for Marty. It'll be a lot easier for him now. Even if he has to rebuild some relationships, at least he won't have to worry so much."

Beka looks wistfully at the last of her bagel and wishes they had more protein so she could justify another. When she meets Angela's gaze at last, her expression is troubled. "Marty's past is his past. Besides. He did his job. It might not be a job most people admire, but... I can respect it. And him." She sighs. "As for you...

"I really didn't know about Angelus when we talked on Sunday. I suspected, but only because I usually do when there's a threat. Guh...awkward."

Beka's frustration forces the next words out bluntly. "Look. Me and Angelus? It's not a love thing. Or even a like thing. It was a power thing. It happened once and it's not likely to happen again. Does that make sense?"

Angela's discomfort about Logan is plain. Beka's curious, but she's not going to push the issue. "Logan seems fine. Like you said, as long as he and Rory are happy, that's the main thing."

Angela sips her coffee thoughtfully. "I can't respect Marty's old job, but I can accept that he thought it was a job, and that he didn't see a whole lot of choices. I mean, ask him about his family sometime. Or, actually, don't, because..." she trails off. "It wasn't good. Either way, his past is his past."

She puts down her cup and meets Beka's gaze.

"I'm probably not going to understand the sex-as-power thing. It's still all wrapped up with love and stuff for me. I wish I could get past that, in a way, but ... I also don't. You know?"

"But as for Angelus, I really had no reason to be angry with you. First, I'm dating a reforming hit man, so I really shouldn't pick on whoever anyone else wants to be with, for whatever reasons. I think what we said in email was right -- Parker surprised us and we both freaked out a little. I'm just glad we don't have to, like, be enemies for the rest of the semester over it."

"Past is past. That about sums most of this up." Beka grins gently.

"As for sex as power, I could explain, but... Hm. Actually, I can. Angelus is bigger, meaner, stronger than me unless I have my weapons. They took my weapons away, and that made me prey. And not just to him. The quickest way to upgrade from prey to not-prey was to show I had no fear. Publically having sex with Angelus? Being seen to tell him 'no' about things he wanted?" She nods. "That worked. It helped him too, otherwise he wouldn't have let me get away with it, I'm sure."

She looks at Angela a little sadly. "I hope you never understand."

Angela listens and nods, understanding what Beka is getting at.

"I think my experience has just been so different from yours, you know? But -" she pauses "I can definitely identify with feeling like prey around Angelus, and not being sure how to cope."

Beka considers, sipping coffee to help process her thoughts.

"I come from a place where Angelus only registers on the spook-meter if he's after you personally. Also, I'm an idiot--" She grins wryly. "So I'd rather be dead than scared, I guess."

After another sip of coffee, she lifts her chin as if to point to Angela. "I'm not good at social but I get people. Want a bit of advice about Angelus?"

Angela grins ruefully. "Hey, you're talking to the girl who decided to follow him into a storage closet for a chat because she didn't want to seem prejudiced against nonhumans. I think I win the idiot contest."

"What's your advice?"

Beka laughs. "Call it a draw."

Sifting through the things she knows about Angela and Angelus, Beka drums her fingers on the table. Finally she decides to cut to the chase. "Advice about Angelus? Don't let him get to you. Don't get in his face or be contrary to make yourself a target. Just treat him like any guy friend of Marty's you wouldn't especially like... Logan, maybe?"

Angela looks down, concentrating on wadding her napkin into a ball.

"That's my plan," she says. "I don't go near him, he doesn't come near me. I hope. I know Marty says he's done with him"

"Don't worry about it then. If you give him too much thought-space, it'll be harder not to react to him." She smiles sympathetically. "And, you know, if you ever need a rescue when he's around just look my way and I'll walk on over and interrupt."

Angela smiles, looking a little distracted. "Thanks. I think that's a good idea. And thanks for the rescue offer."

Glancing at her watch, she stands. "I think I need to get to class, but we should hang out again sometime."

"Definitely. Thanks for agreeing to it." Beka smiled. "I'm going to stay here for a few and read, but I'll see you around."

"See you around," Angela echoes. She is smiling as she leaves the coffee shop.

The Perkolator, Tuesday Morning

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