Charity fic!! With Oz!!
Way back on September 2, 2005, romanyg asked me for something with Oz. She pretty much left it wide open to be a character piece or slash or whatever. Any rating or genre. Which meant that it took me ages to come up with an idea. *g* I sat down thinking one thing and ended up writing this. I may get to the other idea at some point. Who knows. But for now, I give you Oz and Cordelia -- two of my favorite characters from Buffy. I think this is the first real 'gen' story I've ever written.
Romanyg - My apologies that this is so short (just over 800 words). Oz seems to inhibit verbosity. *g* But I think there's a lot here for so little. Hope you enjoy.
Title: Unlikely Friends
Author: Moosesal
Characters: Oz and Cordelia (gen)
Rating: everyone
Written for: romanyg as part of fandom_charity.
Beta: Thanks to silvertedy without whom none of this would be possible.
Oz pulled down the garage door, locked it, then turned to find himself face to face with Cordelia. “He’s not here.”
“What?”
“Devon. He’s not here.”
“Oh.” She tried to cover her frown with that big Cordelia 100-watt smile, but the light from it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I was, uh, heading over to the Espresso Pump. Wanna come?”
The smile fell away as her eyebrows rose. “What?”
“Coffee?” Oz raised an eyebrow and wondered if they were speaking the same language. “Hot stuff. With caffeine.”
“Um...” She looked like she maybe wanted to say yes, but wasn’t really sure what she’d be agreeing to.
“Come on.” He waved for her to follow as he headed for the sidewalk.
They didn’t say anything the entire way. And when they got there, Cordelia paid -- her way of saying thank you, Oz guessed. For what, he wasn’t sure of until later. He was actually pretty surprised when she motioned to a couple of chairs in the back corner.
“You could do better, you know,” he said with a smile before sipping his mocha.
Cordy started to smile then gave it up. “Yeah, I know.”
“So why don’t you?”
“I don’t know.”
They spent the next thirty minutes silently watching people come and go, and then Devon walked through the door with a girl on each arm. Oz watched Cordelia look away and plaster on that famous smile again. She may have been able to fool everyone else, but she wasn’t fooling him.
***
Oz leaned against the doorframe and tried one last time to figure out what he was going to say. He really didn’t have a good reason for being here, but he knew to some degree how Cordelia must be feeling, and he knew that if he were in her place, it would help to know that someone actually cared.
He’d seen Xander dragging himself out the front door of the hospital, flowers hanging from his hand, dejection on his face. He’d been doing his best to avoid Willow, so he understood that Cordelia wouldn’t want to see Xander.
It was now or never. He was either doing this or he wasn’t. Taking a slow breath, he straightened, pushed back his shoulders, and strolled into the room as casual as he could. “Hey.”
Cordelia slowly turned to face him. She squinted as if she wasn’t seeing clearly, her brow scrunched. “Oz?”
“In the flesh,” he smiled.
“What are you doing here?” Honest curiosity mixed with a hint of annoyance.
“Just remembered how much it sucked being here when I had my tonsils out. Thought you might like some company.”
She just stared at him and said nothing. He couldn’t really blame her.
“How’s your stomach?” He jerked his chin toward her abdomen.
She swallowed, turning back to face the window. “I’ll have a scar, but I’ll live.”
“They say scars are like tattoos, but with better stories.”
Cordy whipped her head around, her gaze piercing. “Are you suggesting this is a good story? That it’s something I’d want to tell people? That my boyfriend ...” Her tone got sharper and her speech faster and then she just trailed off before having to put words to her humiliation.
Oz pulled himself up to sit on the side of her bed; instead of looking at her, however, he looked over her shoulder, staring at the wall behind her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Cordelia looked out the window, and they sat there in silence not looking at each other for nearly an hour before a nurse shooed Oz from the room.
He drove home only to sit in his van outside his house. He could smell her. Just a few nights before he’d been focused on the scent of Willow, but now all he could smell was Cordelia in the seat next to his.
***
Cordelia walked out of the office to find Oz leaning against his van. “Hey,” she smiled. “I thought you were heading off to a gig or home or something.”
“Realized I haven’t eaten all day. And now that you’re a local girl, I thought you might know a good place to grab a pizza. My treat.”
“You’re buying? I know just the place.”
For a second, he thought she was going to drag him to some fancy eatery. But when she pointed to a pizzeria just down the block, he had to laugh. “You’ve changed,” he said, compliment clear in his voice.
“Yeah, well ...” she shrugged.
Oz nodded, then took her hand in his as they walked down the street. “So, tell me what it’s like to work for Angel.”
“You mean Broody McBrood? He’s a mess. And since you brought that ring, he’ll probably spend the next week hiding downstairs thinking about Buffy.” He didn’t even have to look at her to know she was rolling her eyes.
The End
Romanyg - My apologies that this is so short (just over 800 words). Oz seems to inhibit verbosity. *g* But I think there's a lot here for so little. Hope you enjoy.
Title: Unlikely Friends
Author: Moosesal
Characters: Oz and Cordelia (gen)
Rating: everyone
Written for: romanyg as part of fandom_charity.
Beta: Thanks to silvertedy without whom none of this would be possible.
Oz pulled down the garage door, locked it, then turned to find himself face to face with Cordelia. “He’s not here.”
“What?”
“Devon. He’s not here.”
“Oh.” She tried to cover her frown with that big Cordelia 100-watt smile, but the light from it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I was, uh, heading over to the Espresso Pump. Wanna come?”
The smile fell away as her eyebrows rose. “What?”
“Coffee?” Oz raised an eyebrow and wondered if they were speaking the same language. “Hot stuff. With caffeine.”
“Um...” She looked like she maybe wanted to say yes, but wasn’t really sure what she’d be agreeing to.
“Come on.” He waved for her to follow as he headed for the sidewalk.
They didn’t say anything the entire way. And when they got there, Cordelia paid -- her way of saying thank you, Oz guessed. For what, he wasn’t sure of until later. He was actually pretty surprised when she motioned to a couple of chairs in the back corner.
“You could do better, you know,” he said with a smile before sipping his mocha.
Cordy started to smile then gave it up. “Yeah, I know.”
“So why don’t you?”
“I don’t know.”
They spent the next thirty minutes silently watching people come and go, and then Devon walked through the door with a girl on each arm. Oz watched Cordelia look away and plaster on that famous smile again. She may have been able to fool everyone else, but she wasn’t fooling him.
***
Oz leaned against the doorframe and tried one last time to figure out what he was going to say. He really didn’t have a good reason for being here, but he knew to some degree how Cordelia must be feeling, and he knew that if he were in her place, it would help to know that someone actually cared.
He’d seen Xander dragging himself out the front door of the hospital, flowers hanging from his hand, dejection on his face. He’d been doing his best to avoid Willow, so he understood that Cordelia wouldn’t want to see Xander.
It was now or never. He was either doing this or he wasn’t. Taking a slow breath, he straightened, pushed back his shoulders, and strolled into the room as casual as he could. “Hey.”
Cordelia slowly turned to face him. She squinted as if she wasn’t seeing clearly, her brow scrunched. “Oz?”
“In the flesh,” he smiled.
“What are you doing here?” Honest curiosity mixed with a hint of annoyance.
“Just remembered how much it sucked being here when I had my tonsils out. Thought you might like some company.”
She just stared at him and said nothing. He couldn’t really blame her.
“How’s your stomach?” He jerked his chin toward her abdomen.
She swallowed, turning back to face the window. “I’ll have a scar, but I’ll live.”
“They say scars are like tattoos, but with better stories.”
Cordy whipped her head around, her gaze piercing. “Are you suggesting this is a good story? That it’s something I’d want to tell people? That my boyfriend ...” Her tone got sharper and her speech faster and then she just trailed off before having to put words to her humiliation.
Oz pulled himself up to sit on the side of her bed; instead of looking at her, however, he looked over her shoulder, staring at the wall behind her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Cordelia looked out the window, and they sat there in silence not looking at each other for nearly an hour before a nurse shooed Oz from the room.
He drove home only to sit in his van outside his house. He could smell her. Just a few nights before he’d been focused on the scent of Willow, but now all he could smell was Cordelia in the seat next to his.
***
Cordelia walked out of the office to find Oz leaning against his van. “Hey,” she smiled. “I thought you were heading off to a gig or home or something.”
“Realized I haven’t eaten all day. And now that you’re a local girl, I thought you might know a good place to grab a pizza. My treat.”
“You’re buying? I know just the place.”
For a second, he thought she was going to drag him to some fancy eatery. But when she pointed to a pizzeria just down the block, he had to laugh. “You’ve changed,” he said, compliment clear in his voice.
“Yeah, well ...” she shrugged.
Oz nodded, then took her hand in his as they walked down the street. “So, tell me what it’s like to work for Angel.”
“You mean Broody McBrood? He’s a mess. And since you brought that ring, he’ll probably spend the next week hiding downstairs thinking about Buffy.” He didn’t even have to look at her to know she was rolling her eyes.
The End