Settling In

[_fredless]

Who: Fred and any member of Team Angel that wants to visit.
What: Settling down for the night.
When: First night of the lock down.
Where: Her new bedroom.
Rating: PG?

Comments

[letsbe_clear]

Cordelia was rooming with Harmony. It seemed like the easiest thing to do, and she knew that Fred was still settling in, so she didn't want to invade too much of her space. But that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to pop in before bed to have a look at the room.

"Wow," she said as she stuck her head in. "This is really nice. I like what you've done with the place."

[_fredless]

Fred's sitting on her bed again, looking up at the many bookshelves again and debating climbing up in search of a bedtime companion when Cordy pops her head into the room. It's been a long day, and a long night already at this point. But Fred manages a smile, if just for Cordy's sake.

She looks around then, as if just seeing the newness again. For all her efforts, some things had followed her fast and hard right into the new space.

"It just seemed like a good time for a change. I'm still getting used to it, actually."

[letsbe_clear]

"Change is good," she said with a nod. "Sometimes a little change is better than things staying the same, no matter how much you want them to."

Change is important. Cordelia knew that. But sometimes it didn't make it suck any less.

[_fredless]

Fred looks at Cordy again, really seeing her friend. She misses this more than she's even realized, or maybe Charles' arrival is only making it that much more evident.

How much better it is when they're together. Even when they're all locked in.

"Things definitely aren't the same, there's no worry about that."

[letsbe_clear]

She gave her a small smile before moving to sit on the edge of the bed across from her. "You know, we haven't really talked in a while. How's everything going with you?"

[_fredless]

She falls quiet for a moment, thinking about that. Probably the last real conversation Fred remembered was after all the children went hope -- Cordy's ultimate disappointment in Angel. But Fred's own understanding of Angel's struggles. She can't help but wonder if the two had gotten past it.

Belatedly, there's the brief sound of smothered laughter.

"That's a whole lot of everything, I'm not sure I'd even know where to start. And I don't know if it's safe for anyone if I get going without a solid point of reference."

[letsbe_clear]

"Point of reference. Okay." She paused for a moment, and tipped her head to the side. "What's going on with you and Wes?"

Because really -- important things first.

[_fredless]

There was an awkward glace down at the shirt she'd chosen to wear to bed, then back up to meet Cordy's all-too-seeing gaze. Fred was well aware that more often than not? Her friend didn't need visions to see.

"...is it that obvious?"

[letsbe_clear]

... Actually, it wasn't. She just knew that there was awkward, followed by Illyria, so she wanted to know if there was anything she needed to know about.

Apparently there was.

Her eyebrows went up and she shook her head. "I am just that good."

[_fredless]

Fred took in Cordy's reaction, cataloged and processed it before exhaling a breath on the other side. Despite the stress of the evening, she felt herself smile.

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?" Fred glanced at the door, as if she could somehow see the man on the other side of it. "I'm not even sure I know where to start."

[letsbe_clear]

"Well," she said with a sigh. "Start at the beginning, and ... somewhere in the middle we'll figure it out."

[_fredless]

Right. The beginning. Fred wondered if Cordy had any idea what she was even asking. Because that wasn't just the past eight months. It went back further than that.

"In the beginning? Here, I mean? In the beginning he couldn't even be in the same room with me." That wasn't even accounting his recent exit strategy after the scene with Charles. But somehow, Fred felt her smile. "But now I actually think -- I've got it figured out. At least as much as it's going to get figured."

[letsbe_clear]

"Good," she said with a nod. "I'm glad you've got it figured out."

[_fredless]

Her smile tilted, the way it always was inclined to do when Cordelia was close by.

"Any change we're just going to leave it there? The Wesley talk?"

[letsbe_clear]

"If you want to." She knew Wes was a story and a half all on it's own. She didn't want to make things harder on her, especially with how many times Wes has come and gone in the castle. "We could always talk about something else."

[_fredless]

They absolutely could talk about something else. Fred had every intention of doing so. So why didn't she?

"I really like him." She looks at Cordy, aware how rarely she actually strings the words together outside of herself. "I tried not to, I think. But I couldn't not."