RP Example - Bronze Date
Game: Sunnydale OSI
Who: Andrew, Jonathan, Warren,Harmony, Laili, Wesley, Nica, and Becky
Where: The Bronze
When: Monday Night
Laili sat at the bar sipping a rum and coke and looking thoughtful.
Wesley walked into the Bronze, enjoying experiencing another night out.
Lali looked up from her drink, and smiled as Wesley came in. "There you are... hello."
Warren slipped into the Bronze, humming to himself.
Wesley smiled at Laili and took a seat next to her at the bar. "Hello, Laili. How are you tonight?"
Jonathan was following Warren, like a great big follower! And carrying a small notebook.
"I'm good, thank you. Even better now that you're here," Laili said, and turned to face him. "How was your day at school?"
Harmony sat in the Bronze, and watched the popular crowd interact.
Andrew followed in behind Jonathan.
"My day went rather well," Wesley said. "As far as I could tell, no one fell asleep today, and that's the best I can ask for from most high school students. How was your day at the zoo?"
"So I think maybe we should make a list.. y'know. Like goals or something," Jonathan said. "Things we're gonna work on. Like the jetpack, and the lair, and the uh.. monkey..."
"Not a bad idea," Andrew said. "I got the book from my brother, by the way." He was carrying a backpack on his back.
"Sweet. Let's set up shop and chat over some wings. Who wants to be wingman?" Warren said with a grin.
"Pretty good, except one of the monkeys was sick, poor thing," Laili said. "It was a fairly long day, though. Lots of work. It's nice to be out and relaxing."
Nica was chewing on the end of her pencil and looking around the club, from her seat at a corner table.
"Whoa, cool.. I want to see it," Jonathan said, anxious to view the book. "I can get our wings first though,."
"Awesome. C'mon, Andrew, let's go settle." Warren grinned and headed for a corner table.
"Sorry to hear about the monkey," Wesley said. "It is nice to out after a work day."
Harmony spotted Warren, and waved.
Andrew followed Warren to a corner table. When he sat down, he pulled out the book and passed it to Warren.
Becky sat near Nica, looking around at the place.
Jonathan wanted to see the book too, but he went to go collect wings and a pitcher of soda first.
"Did you eat?" Laili asked Wesley. "Maybe we could split a basket of something if you're hungry."
"I haven't eaten yet, so that sounds wonderful," Wesley said.
Warren snagged it and settled in to have a look. He had more of a head for science than magic, but anything that'd give him an edge...
"Wings? Cheese fries? Onion rings? All equally unhealthy I'm sure, but rather tasty.." Lail said, leaving the decision up to Wesley.
"So, are you going back soon?" Nica asked Becky. "Not that I want you to or anything ... but you said you were ... "
Jonathan returned to the table with the wings and soda, carefully balancing everything so as not to drop anything.
"How about we start off with cheese fries?" Wesley suggested.
"I called my Papa..and as soon as he finishes up what he's working on, we'll be moving. I think we might get to move to LA." replied Becky
"Sounds like a plan," Laili said. She flagged down the bartender to place the order.
Andrew took ahold of the basket of wings so that Jonathan wouldn't drop them. He sat them on the table and took one to munch on. "Like I said before, most of the demons in this book are more like pets, but you can make them do stuff for you."
"That's sooo cool. We could have one in our secret lair, and it could be like our guard dog," Jonathan said. He set the pitcher of soda and glasses down, then started distributing.
As Wesley watched Laili order the fries, he thought of something. "I should cook for you one night. I don't get to do it very often, since it's kind of wasteful to cook just for me, but I'd love to cook for you if you'd like it."
"Really?" Nica said. "Wow, that'd be so cool! You'd be right around the corner."
"Oh, I'd like that very much," Laili said. "I don't eat homecooked meals all that often for mostly the same reason. That, and time involved.."
"Yep." Becky smiled, then looked around
"We should set a date for it then," Wesley said. "What would be best for you?"
"Hmmm... anything in here about getting rid of them?" Warren asked. It was all Latin to him.
"Perhaps Friday? This way we don't have to get up in the morning for our respective jobs," Laili said.
Andrew pulled the book back over so that he could look at it. "Well, if we could train them well enough, we wouldn't have to get rid of them, would we?"
"Yeah.. does it have instructions for that? Or um.. maybe one that's easy to domesticate," Jonathan asked, peering over Andrew's shoulder at the book.
"Friday sounds great," Wesley said. He flagged down the bartender so that he could order himself a drink.
Warren grinned wryly. Somehow, he couldn't help but think that this was a bad, bad idea.
Not that that'd stop him from using it to his advantage. "Well, I guess we'll see what happens when we try, hm?"
Andrew flipped through the book, trying to find something on dismissing them. "I'm not seeing anything, but my Latin's not that great. I guess we could just kill it if something went terribly wrong, couldn't we?"
Nica was drawing Laili and Wesley. "Maybe he'll get a place here in Sunnydale, and we'll be in school together ... just like old times. But, uh, maybe with less prankage."
"I'm pretty okay at Latin," Jonathan said. "These old books never have indexes, though. It's like they didn't believe in organizing things until the 1800's or something."
"Becky would like that." Becky smiled a little "Old times were nice."
When the cheese fries arrived, Laili pushed the basket over so that Wesley could reach them easily, too. "Mm... cheesy fries. I must admit, I'm fond of American food."
Nica nodded slowly. "Yeah. I mean ... I felt safe, there. Here, things are a little more ... well ... you know. But I don't think I'd feel safe there, anymore, either, knowing the things I know about now."
Wesley partook of a cheese fry while his drink arrived. "Some of the food I can live without, but I can't help but like most of the junk food."
"People would watch your back." assured Becky
Nica nodded again. "So, what do you think of Anna?"
"She's interesting." said Becky "She needs to stop avoiding Becky. "
"Do you ever miss any of your english foods?" Laili asked, then licked a bit of cheese off her fingertip.
"How about an imp?" Jonathan asked. "Is that too advanced? Or.. ooh.. flying monkey. That's all wizard-of-oz."
"She can be a little antisocial," Nica said. "And she's kicking us out of the house for Vito's birthday."
"She is?" Becky frowned "Why?"
"I miss the food sometimes, but what I really miss is a good cup of tea," Wesley said. "American tea is too weak. Is there anything you miss?"
Andrew flipped back to the page with the monkey. "I think this monkey has wings, actually."
"I think she's making dinner for him. Though I'm not even going to guess what's for dessert." She sipped her drink and set her pad aside.
"Probably cake." said Becky "So , what kind of people hang out here?"
"I miss rendang," Laili said, licking her lips at the thought of it. "It's a spicy coconut beef dish."
Warren chuckled. "Remind me to bring the crossbow chaingun."
"Just about everybody," Nica said. "Teenagers, mostly, but some of the college professors and teachers come here. One of the teachers from the high school is in a band that plays here sometimes."
"Sounds...interesting," Wesley said. He didn't think that beef and coconut really went together, but who was he to judge?
"Let's try that one," Jonathan said, reading the spell. "It says we need some.. monkey poo. We can get that from the zoo, I guess. A pinch of sulpher, a feather, and this incantation. That's not even hard. Well, except for the poo..."
"Oh... So people like Anna, and Mandy hang out here?" asked Becky "And a teacher plays in a band?"
"Well, if we anger the monkeys at the zoo, won't they just fling it at us?" Andrew asked.
"Ooh, good plan. What makes monkeys mad?" Jonathan asked.
Nica nodded. "Yeah, he's ... well. He's the teacher who always shows up at school in jeans and stuff. Seriously, MJ dresses up more than he does. And yeah, Anna comes here quite a bit, and Mandy too."
"Heh. Dibs on not collecting the monkey crap," Warren piped.
"It's very good. I'd make it for you sometime, but I'm not sure you can get kunyit basah and lengukas here..."
"I guess screaming at them. I know that if you smile at them, they think you're being confrontational." Andrew said.
Becky took out her notebook, and wrote something down. "So,is the school a good school, is is it a really bad, terrible school that reminds you of the inner city? WOuld a young girl be afraid to turn corners and meet new people?"
Wesley shrugged. "It is California. If it can be gotten anywhere, it can be gotten here," he said.
"Um.. anyone have a dog? We could just get a pooper scooper, dodge the poo, and scoop it up. How accurate can monkey poo pitching be?" Jonathan said.
"We can just buy one of those," Andrew said.
"It's pretty safe ... someone got beaten up really badly, just after school started, but that's more because of some drama they were involved in than the school itself. A lot of the people are really nice," Nica said.
"That is good." said Becky, writing "And I'm glad the that students disappeared only once."
"Yeah, that was freaky," Nica said.
"I might just not know the english words for the spices," Laili said. "I'll try looking it up."
"Sounds like a plan," Jonathan said, writing it down in his notebook. "What're we going to call this? We need like.. code names for our projects."
"I tried talking to Mandy about it, but she doesn't say much." said Becky
"Code name: Wizard of Oz?" Andrew suggested.
Wesley had forgotten that English wasn't Laili's first language. She spoke it so well. "I can help you if you need it," he said.
"Better than Spanky, I guess... which is like, the other thing that comes to mind when you think of monkeys," Jonathan said. He looked to Warren for approval before writing.
"No, she's pretty guarded. And easily distracted, sometimes," Nica said.
Lali smiled warmly, and leaned over to kiss his cheek impulsively. "You're so sweet. Thank you."
"Noticed that. A lot of people out here seem that way." Becky put down her pen. "It wuld be cool to live out here, or for you to live in LA. With everyone else that you live with, of course."
Nica smiled. "We have quite a houseful, now," she said.
"Sounds okay to me," Warren said with a chuckle.
Wesley smiled when she did that. "You're welcome," he said, trying not to blush.
"Yeah. So, why do all of those people live with Nica? It looks like Vito is running a group home, or something." Becky asked
"Then I guess Wizard of Oz it is, then," Andrew said, happy that he could contribute.
Nica laughed. "I live with him because he's supposed to be keeping an eye on me. Anna lives there because Vito's supposed to be keeping an eye on her, because Connie isn't quite up to that. And Connie lives there because Anna needs to keep an eye on *her.*"
Laili snagged another cheese fry and munched thoughtfully. "The hyena exhibit is coming in next week- they're including a lot of african folklore in it, if you're interested in scheduling a class trip. I don't know what area of the world your students are studying..."
Laili wanted to do something helpful for Wesley in return.
"So.. who is in charge? And why is Mandy there?" Becky started writing again.
"Okay, cool then. That's down in the book. Now we need uh.. a name for the jet pack project, and one for the lair," Jonathan said.
"I try to work linearly through time, so we move between areas a lot," Wesley said. "I think that a school trip could be arranged. I'm sure that the kids would enjoy it."
"The inmates are running the asylum," Nica said happily. "We let Vito think he's in charge, though. And Mandy's there because her mom is a tentacle demon, and was trying to keep Mandy from coming back out into the real world ever again."
Becky nodded as she wrote "Um.. as long as you don't get tentacled by her vengeful mother..."
"That would seriously suck," Nica agreed.
"Or, she could turn into a tentacle beast, and terrorize the town." added Becky "But for serious.. Demon Mom hasn't come around looking for her child?"
"Sounds like a plan, then," Laili said.
"Not yet," Nica said. "Which is good ... but it does make me worry a bit about what she'll do when or if she does."
"Maybe.. The Jetsons for the jet pack? Is that too obvious?" Jonathan asked.
"I just need to run it by the principal, but I think that he'll be on board for a class trip," Wesley said.
"I think the Jetsons is fine. I can't think of anything else," Andrew said.
"Hmm.. that might be an interesting story." said Becky, writing.
"I was going with Rocketeer, personally," Warren grinned.
"That could work, too," Andrew said.
"I like that one," Jonathan said, and wrote that down. "How about the lair?"
"Wonderful- just let me know when and I'll set it up," Laili said.
"I'll ask the principal tomorrow," Wesley said.
"Deep 13?" Warren quipped.
"That could work," Jonathan said. "But isn't 13 unlucky?"
"Becky has to make a call." she said, before heading to a payphone.
"Jon... we're contemplating summoning demons and building jetpacks. I think 'unlucky' is a moot point here." Warren chuckled.
Laili snagged another cheese fry. "So..."
"So...what's your favourite type of music?" Wesley asked randomly. Well, he didn't know.
"I enjoy ballads of all sorts," Laili said. "Stories in song. How about you?"
Becky returned after a moment. "So, where are all your other friends? Are those three friends of yours?"
"I actually like American Jazz," Wesley said. "I like the feeling behind it."
"I've hung out with them before," Nica said. "They're pretty nice, and that girl with them, the blonde ... she was one of the popular kids until recently."
"What happened with her?" asked Becky, noting the girl who kind of sat off by herself, looking at the popular people.
"I haven't heard a lot of jazz music," Laili said, "but I'd like to hear more."
"SHe got somebody to cast a spell," Nica said. "She felt bad about the rotten things she'd done to people over the years, and wanted to make up for it. Things didn't go how she expected, and there was a demon ... it was kind of a mess. But nobody died, so, yay."
"When I cook for you on Friday, I can play you some while you wait," Wesley offered.
"Okay, I think we're all set them," Jonathan said, closing the notebook.
"Does that happen a lot?" asked Becky, writing again "It sounds tragyc."
"That's good," Andrew said. "All things need names."
"Well, it's the first time that exact thing has happened here, that I know of," Nica said. "But like I said ... weird things happen all the time."
Becky nodded.
Jonathan looked over and noticed Harmony sitting by herself. "Aww. Poor Harmony. I feel bad for her."
"Now that we're done talking about business, maybe you should ask her to come over?" he said to Warren, since she'd been his date to homecoming and all.
"Why is she off by herself?" Andrew asked. "I thought she was a popular girl."
"I'd like that," Laili said.
"Becky thinks that when she gets her drivers license, we should all drive to Universal Studios, and have fun." she suggested
"Heh... apparently, she was part of the reason everyone was acting wacky during homecoming," Warren commented.
"That could be fun," Nica agreed. "And maybe Disneyland? I know, the Evil Mousey Empire and all ... still fun."
"So her popularity lost about fifty hit points." Warren shrugged and pushed feetwards. "Back in a moment."
Wesley reached over and gave Laili's hand a quick squeeze. "I think you'll like jazz. It can be very emotional at times."
Warren trotted over to attempt to target Harmony's attention span.
"Eww... Disneyland?" asked Becky
Harmony noticed a Warren, and smiled "Hi Warren!"
Nica nodded. "Yeah! It's pretty cool."
Laili caught his hand and held it. She looked up into his eyes, with a hope that he might do something even bolder, like perhaps kiss her. "Emotional music is quite lovely," she said softly.
"Hey, Harm - what's up?" Warren asked.
"Yes, yes it is," Wesley said, looking back into her eyes as well. He wanted to kiss her, but wasn't sure how she would react. He decided to go in for it anyway. He leaned in most of the way, allowing her to finish the distance if she wanted to.
"Hi Warren." said Harmony, turning her attention to him "Cordelia said that maybe if I prove to them that I'm reeally sorry, and if they think about it, that I can be cool again, but I think they forgot about it, cause that was a few days ago."
"Eh. Do you really feel like putting up with their bullshit?" Warren asked.
"No." said Harmony "But they're the only friend I had, so it makes me sad that they aren't nice anymore."
Laili closed the distance, and brought her lips to his, making a small noise of contentment.
"It's a sad day when I have more friends than Harmony," Jonathan observed.
Wesley had to keep himself from smiling while kissing Laili because he was so happy.
Andrew just shrugged. "Popular people are fickle."
"Come on Nica. Let's dance." suggested Becky
"Okay," Nica said, getting up.
Warren shrugged. "You've got plenty of friends."
"Really?" asked Harmony "I know you're my friend, right?"
Becky led Nica to the dane fllor, and danced with her, because she could.
"...and is that the world history teacher totally making out at the bar?" Jonathan asked.
Laili wrapped her arms around Wesley, equally pleased.
Andrew turned to look at the bar. "Wow, it is. Pretty lady, too."
"Yeah. Heh, and face it - Cordelia was always the 'I let you hang out with me' type. There's plenty of people that'll let you hang out with them."
"Some of them even like you." Warren gestured vaguely at Nica and whatshername, then at his table.
"They like me?" asked Harmony "I don't even know one of them. Can I hang out with you?"
Wesley wrapped an arm around Laili's waist, enjoying the moment.
"We should go over there and ask something about the history assignment," Jonathan said with a little smirk. "Just 'cause it'd be funny."
Andrew laughed. "That would be fun," he said.
Laili smoothed Wesley's hair back from his face with a gentle hand. "That was very nice," she whispered softly.
Jonathan got up, trying to keep a straight face. "C'mon, let's do it."
"That was very nice," Wesley said softly.
Andrew stood up, straightening his face in hopes of note bursting out laughing. "Ok, let's go."
"Hey Mr. Pryce," Jonathan said, wandering on up towards them.
"If I live out here, no more- Hey, what are you loooking at Nica?" asked Becky
"I think they're interrupting the world history teacher's date," Nica said.
Wesley nearly jumped out of his skin when Jonathan approached him. He had pretty much forgotten that the world existed for a moment. "Um...yes? Hello, Jonathan," he said.
Becky looked. "Who are they?"
"Jonathan and Andrew," Nica said. "Science geeks, but pretty decent guys. And that's Warren, talking to Harmony ... he's kind of pervy, but he's pretty nice, too."
Andrew was mostly trying his best to look innocent while not laughing.
Laili backed off, and folded her hands quietly in her lap.
"We forgot what the homework was," Jonathan said, looking innocent. "Sorry. Is that Mrs. Pryce?" he asked, looking at Laili.
"Oh." Becky nodded.
Warren nodded. "Sure, come hang. We don't bite. Well, maybe Andrew will, but I think he only nibbles."
"You know, none of this makes much sense, if you don't know the details." said Becky
"Um...no...this is Laili," Wesley said, now dreadfully embarrassed. "Laili, these are two of my students, Andrew and Jonathan. As for the homework, I only assigned the reading of chapter 7 for tonight."
Harmony grinned. "I'm gonna hang with you."
Warren chuckled, and headed for the table, crooking his finger. If only all hot girls were this easy to lure along.
"I know the details," Nica said, "and it still makes as much sense as those braille instructions on drive-through ATMs."
"Ohhh..." Jonathan said, and looked at Laili, then back at Wesley, mock-scandalized. "Whoa.. does Mrs. Pryce know you're out in bars with other women?"
"...you're married?" Laili asked, stunned.
Harmony followed, happily. Yes, she was very easy to manipulate.
"There is no Mrs. Pryce," Wesley said. "I'm not married."
Andrew now had to cough to try and cover his laughing, but was failing a bit.
"So, um.. anything to do in this town during the daytime? Other than stay in your house?" asked Becky
"Oh! So she's your girlfriend?" Jonathan asked. No, he didn't look like he was going away. Bored kids were a dangerous thing.
Laili was relieved to hear there was no Mrs. in the equation
"Heh ... not really. The shopping downtown isn't too bad," Nica said. "And there's the beach."
Wesley wondered if it was a bad thing to wish for vampires right now. At least it would distract the teenagers from messing with him. He looked at Laili, not sure what to say about her being a girlfriend or not.
"Does the beach feature skimpy swimwear?" asked Becky
Laili gave Wesley a small, cute smile.
"Always." Nica said.
"What about a bookstore, or a library?"
"Well, she is, but why are you asking anyway?" Wesley asked him. Where were vampires when you needed them?
"Hmm ... a few bookstores. And the library's not too shabby, I'll point it out to you when we go home," Nica said.
"Oh, y'know..." Jonathan shrugged. "Just trying to take an interest. Andrew and I were just talking about how cool your class is.. and uh.. how you're our favorite teacher and stuff."
"Aww, that's sweet.. your students like you," Laili said.
"Yeah, you class is really cool," Andrew offered up.
"Becky wants to be a celtic teenage wiccian pagan got. She needs to find the appropaite books."
*goth
Wesley figured that they may have just come over to mess with him, but decided to let it slide. For now. "Well, I'm glad to hear that," he said.
"Magic Box," Nica said automatically.
"And we were bored, so.. we thought we'd come ask about the homework. Though hey, now that we're here.. we could hang out." Jonathan plunked down on the stool next to Laili. "You could tell us cool history things."
(Next to Laili's stool.. you know.. not like.. sitting up on her or anything, haha)
Beky grinned a little. "THanks. You'll show me where it is?"
Jonathan thought he might be pushing his luck by now, but he thought it was really kinda fun, too.
Nica nodded. "Yeah, no problem."
Warren settled down at the table again, chuckling. "Looks like Jonno and Andy are ... heh, playing 'pick on the new teacher'."
Now he knew they were messing with him, but what could he do? "Well, what would you like to hear about?" he asked.
"Actually, Mr. Pryce and I were just about to dance," Laili said, getting up gracefully from her stool and offering Wesley her hand (and an out from the situation).
"Cordelia thinks he's hot." said Harmony
Wesley tried his best to not look visibly relieved. "Yes, so I guess you'll have to wait until class tomorrow then," he said, taking Laili's hand.
Laili swiftly moved towards the dance floor.
Jonathan burst out laughing after he was out of earshot. "That was fun"
Andrew started laughing as well. "I thought he was going to die when you suggested that he was cheating on his wife. Did you see the look on his face?"
"I thought you needed a bit of a rescue," Laili said, her eyes sparkling with amusement as they reached the dance floor.
"Haha.. yeah. Let's go tell Warren about it," Jonathan said, getting up again to head back to their table.
"Thank you," Wesley said. "Although I certainly can't complain about the method of rescue."
Since they were playing a slow song, Laili moved closer to Wesley and put her arms around him. "Indeed, this is hardly an unpleasant outcome."
Jonathan waved to Harmony and Warren as they got back to the table. "You missed all the fun."
"I'm hanging." said Harmony
Wesley wrapped his arms around her waist. "If this is always the outcome of students teasing me, then I think I can deal with it a lot better."
Andrew laughed as they sat back down. "We just had a blast tormenting Mr. Pryce."
"I asked him if the girl was Mrs. Pryce, and when he said no.. I asked if Mrs. Pryce knew he was out with other girls. You should have seen his face," Jonathan said, laughing still.
Warren chuckled. "Awesome."
"Children can be cruel," Laili said. "But enough about them..." She leaned in to kiss him again.
"He looked like he wanted to explode," Andrew said, still laughing.
Wesley kissed her back, immediately forgetting about Andrew and Jonathan.
Harmony seemed interested in the prank. "That sounds totally fun."
"It was pretty fun, actually," Andrew said. He'd never been on the giving side of teasing before.
Jonathan smiled. "Plus, I think we did him a favor. 'Cause look." He pointed out towards the dance floor. "So we weren't being -too- mean. Just having fun."
"Yeah, it's all in innocent fun," Andrew agreed.
Warren chuckled. "Very nice."
"How you doing, Harmony?" Jonathan asked.
"I'm ok. Warren's my friend, and we're going to hang. Are you guys my friends too?" asked Harmony
That was an odd way of asking. "Sure, I'll be your friend," Andrew said.
"Totally cool." smiled Harmony "We can hang."
Jonathan nodded. "Okay."
Warren grinned. "What's the future saviors of the world without lovely ladies to hang out with?"
Harmony frowned for a moment, as she tried to figure that word out. "You guys are going to savior the world?
"I want to hang with the saviors." said Harmony "Because you're nice to me, and you're my friends."
"Savior's a noun, Harmony. It means 'one who saves'." Warren supplied helpfully.
"So, yeah, we're going to save the world, therefore we're saviors." Warren grinned.
"We are?" Jonathan said. "Sweet."
"Oh!" Harmony grinned "It's going to be really cool to hang with the people who save the world. Can I help with snacks? I think you said I could give out snacks before?"
"Indeed." Warren nodded seriously.
"You can serve our snackly needs." Warren pondered.
Harmony grinned "I'm going to serve snackly needs.
Who: Andrew, Jonathan, Warren,Harmony, Laili, Wesley, Nica, and Becky
Where: The Bronze
When: Monday Night
Laili sat at the bar sipping a rum and coke and looking thoughtful.
Wesley walked into the Bronze, enjoying experiencing another night out.
Lali looked up from her drink, and smiled as Wesley came in. "There you are... hello."
Warren slipped into the Bronze, humming to himself.
Wesley smiled at Laili and took a seat next to her at the bar. "Hello, Laili. How are you tonight?"
Jonathan was following Warren, like a great big follower! And carrying a small notebook.
"I'm good, thank you. Even better now that you're here," Laili said, and turned to face him. "How was your day at school?"
Harmony sat in the Bronze, and watched the popular crowd interact.
Andrew followed in behind Jonathan.
"My day went rather well," Wesley said. "As far as I could tell, no one fell asleep today, and that's the best I can ask for from most high school students. How was your day at the zoo?"
"So I think maybe we should make a list.. y'know. Like goals or something," Jonathan said. "Things we're gonna work on. Like the jetpack, and the lair, and the uh.. monkey..."
"Not a bad idea," Andrew said. "I got the book from my brother, by the way." He was carrying a backpack on his back.
"Sweet. Let's set up shop and chat over some wings. Who wants to be wingman?" Warren said with a grin.
"Pretty good, except one of the monkeys was sick, poor thing," Laili said. "It was a fairly long day, though. Lots of work. It's nice to be out and relaxing."
Nica was chewing on the end of her pencil and looking around the club, from her seat at a corner table.
"Whoa, cool.. I want to see it," Jonathan said, anxious to view the book. "I can get our wings first though,."
"Awesome. C'mon, Andrew, let's go settle." Warren grinned and headed for a corner table.
"Sorry to hear about the monkey," Wesley said. "It is nice to out after a work day."
Harmony spotted Warren, and waved.
Andrew followed Warren to a corner table. When he sat down, he pulled out the book and passed it to Warren.
Becky sat near Nica, looking around at the place.
Jonathan wanted to see the book too, but he went to go collect wings and a pitcher of soda first.
"Did you eat?" Laili asked Wesley. "Maybe we could split a basket of something if you're hungry."
"I haven't eaten yet, so that sounds wonderful," Wesley said.
Warren snagged it and settled in to have a look. He had more of a head for science than magic, but anything that'd give him an edge...
"Wings? Cheese fries? Onion rings? All equally unhealthy I'm sure, but rather tasty.." Lail said, leaving the decision up to Wesley.
"So, are you going back soon?" Nica asked Becky. "Not that I want you to or anything ... but you said you were ... "
Jonathan returned to the table with the wings and soda, carefully balancing everything so as not to drop anything.
"How about we start off with cheese fries?" Wesley suggested.
"I called my Papa..and as soon as he finishes up what he's working on, we'll be moving. I think we might get to move to LA." replied Becky
"Sounds like a plan," Laili said. She flagged down the bartender to place the order.
Andrew took ahold of the basket of wings so that Jonathan wouldn't drop them. He sat them on the table and took one to munch on. "Like I said before, most of the demons in this book are more like pets, but you can make them do stuff for you."
"That's sooo cool. We could have one in our secret lair, and it could be like our guard dog," Jonathan said. He set the pitcher of soda and glasses down, then started distributing.
As Wesley watched Laili order the fries, he thought of something. "I should cook for you one night. I don't get to do it very often, since it's kind of wasteful to cook just for me, but I'd love to cook for you if you'd like it."
"Really?" Nica said. "Wow, that'd be so cool! You'd be right around the corner."
"Oh, I'd like that very much," Laili said. "I don't eat homecooked meals all that often for mostly the same reason. That, and time involved.."
"Yep." Becky smiled, then looked around
"We should set a date for it then," Wesley said. "What would be best for you?"
"Hmmm... anything in here about getting rid of them?" Warren asked. It was all Latin to him.
"Perhaps Friday? This way we don't have to get up in the morning for our respective jobs," Laili said.
Andrew pulled the book back over so that he could look at it. "Well, if we could train them well enough, we wouldn't have to get rid of them, would we?"
"Yeah.. does it have instructions for that? Or um.. maybe one that's easy to domesticate," Jonathan asked, peering over Andrew's shoulder at the book.
"Friday sounds great," Wesley said. He flagged down the bartender so that he could order himself a drink.
Warren grinned wryly. Somehow, he couldn't help but think that this was a bad, bad idea.
Not that that'd stop him from using it to his advantage. "Well, I guess we'll see what happens when we try, hm?"
Andrew flipped through the book, trying to find something on dismissing them. "I'm not seeing anything, but my Latin's not that great. I guess we could just kill it if something went terribly wrong, couldn't we?"
Nica was drawing Laili and Wesley. "Maybe he'll get a place here in Sunnydale, and we'll be in school together ... just like old times. But, uh, maybe with less prankage."
"I'm pretty okay at Latin," Jonathan said. "These old books never have indexes, though. It's like they didn't believe in organizing things until the 1800's or something."
"Becky would like that." Becky smiled a little "Old times were nice."
When the cheese fries arrived, Laili pushed the basket over so that Wesley could reach them easily, too. "Mm... cheesy fries. I must admit, I'm fond of American food."
Nica nodded slowly. "Yeah. I mean ... I felt safe, there. Here, things are a little more ... well ... you know. But I don't think I'd feel safe there, anymore, either, knowing the things I know about now."
Wesley partook of a cheese fry while his drink arrived. "Some of the food I can live without, but I can't help but like most of the junk food."
"People would watch your back." assured Becky
Nica nodded again. "So, what do you think of Anna?"
"She's interesting." said Becky "She needs to stop avoiding Becky. "
"Do you ever miss any of your english foods?" Laili asked, then licked a bit of cheese off her fingertip.
"How about an imp?" Jonathan asked. "Is that too advanced? Or.. ooh.. flying monkey. That's all wizard-of-oz."
"She can be a little antisocial," Nica said. "And she's kicking us out of the house for Vito's birthday."
"She is?" Becky frowned "Why?"
"I miss the food sometimes, but what I really miss is a good cup of tea," Wesley said. "American tea is too weak. Is there anything you miss?"
Andrew flipped back to the page with the monkey. "I think this monkey has wings, actually."
"I think she's making dinner for him. Though I'm not even going to guess what's for dessert." She sipped her drink and set her pad aside.
"Probably cake." said Becky "So , what kind of people hang out here?"
"I miss rendang," Laili said, licking her lips at the thought of it. "It's a spicy coconut beef dish."
Warren chuckled. "Remind me to bring the crossbow chaingun."
"Just about everybody," Nica said. "Teenagers, mostly, but some of the college professors and teachers come here. One of the teachers from the high school is in a band that plays here sometimes."
"Sounds...interesting," Wesley said. He didn't think that beef and coconut really went together, but who was he to judge?
"Let's try that one," Jonathan said, reading the spell. "It says we need some.. monkey poo. We can get that from the zoo, I guess. A pinch of sulpher, a feather, and this incantation. That's not even hard. Well, except for the poo..."
"Oh... So people like Anna, and Mandy hang out here?" asked Becky "And a teacher plays in a band?"
"Well, if we anger the monkeys at the zoo, won't they just fling it at us?" Andrew asked.
"Ooh, good plan. What makes monkeys mad?" Jonathan asked.
Nica nodded. "Yeah, he's ... well. He's the teacher who always shows up at school in jeans and stuff. Seriously, MJ dresses up more than he does. And yeah, Anna comes here quite a bit, and Mandy too."
"Heh. Dibs on not collecting the monkey crap," Warren piped.
"It's very good. I'd make it for you sometime, but I'm not sure you can get kunyit basah and lengukas here..."
"I guess screaming at them. I know that if you smile at them, they think you're being confrontational." Andrew said.
Becky took out her notebook, and wrote something down. "So,is the school a good school, is is it a really bad, terrible school that reminds you of the inner city? WOuld a young girl be afraid to turn corners and meet new people?"
Wesley shrugged. "It is California. If it can be gotten anywhere, it can be gotten here," he said.
"Um.. anyone have a dog? We could just get a pooper scooper, dodge the poo, and scoop it up. How accurate can monkey poo pitching be?" Jonathan said.
"We can just buy one of those," Andrew said.
"It's pretty safe ... someone got beaten up really badly, just after school started, but that's more because of some drama they were involved in than the school itself. A lot of the people are really nice," Nica said.
"That is good." said Becky, writing "And I'm glad the that students disappeared only once."
"Yeah, that was freaky," Nica said.
"I might just not know the english words for the spices," Laili said. "I'll try looking it up."
"Sounds like a plan," Jonathan said, writing it down in his notebook. "What're we going to call this? We need like.. code names for our projects."
"I tried talking to Mandy about it, but she doesn't say much." said Becky
"Code name: Wizard of Oz?" Andrew suggested.
Wesley had forgotten that English wasn't Laili's first language. She spoke it so well. "I can help you if you need it," he said.
"Better than Spanky, I guess... which is like, the other thing that comes to mind when you think of monkeys," Jonathan said. He looked to Warren for approval before writing.
"No, she's pretty guarded. And easily distracted, sometimes," Nica said.
Lali smiled warmly, and leaned over to kiss his cheek impulsively. "You're so sweet. Thank you."
"Noticed that. A lot of people out here seem that way." Becky put down her pen. "It wuld be cool to live out here, or for you to live in LA. With everyone else that you live with, of course."
Nica smiled. "We have quite a houseful, now," she said.
"Sounds okay to me," Warren said with a chuckle.
Wesley smiled when she did that. "You're welcome," he said, trying not to blush.
"Yeah. So, why do all of those people live with Nica? It looks like Vito is running a group home, or something." Becky asked
"Then I guess Wizard of Oz it is, then," Andrew said, happy that he could contribute.
Nica laughed. "I live with him because he's supposed to be keeping an eye on me. Anna lives there because Vito's supposed to be keeping an eye on her, because Connie isn't quite up to that. And Connie lives there because Anna needs to keep an eye on *her.*"
Laili snagged another cheese fry and munched thoughtfully. "The hyena exhibit is coming in next week- they're including a lot of african folklore in it, if you're interested in scheduling a class trip. I don't know what area of the world your students are studying..."
Laili wanted to do something helpful for Wesley in return.
"So.. who is in charge? And why is Mandy there?" Becky started writing again.
"Okay, cool then. That's down in the book. Now we need uh.. a name for the jet pack project, and one for the lair," Jonathan said.
"I try to work linearly through time, so we move between areas a lot," Wesley said. "I think that a school trip could be arranged. I'm sure that the kids would enjoy it."
"The inmates are running the asylum," Nica said happily. "We let Vito think he's in charge, though. And Mandy's there because her mom is a tentacle demon, and was trying to keep Mandy from coming back out into the real world ever again."
Becky nodded as she wrote "Um.. as long as you don't get tentacled by her vengeful mother..."
"That would seriously suck," Nica agreed.
"Or, she could turn into a tentacle beast, and terrorize the town." added Becky "But for serious.. Demon Mom hasn't come around looking for her child?"
"Sounds like a plan, then," Laili said.
"Not yet," Nica said. "Which is good ... but it does make me worry a bit about what she'll do when or if she does."
"Maybe.. The Jetsons for the jet pack? Is that too obvious?" Jonathan asked.
"I just need to run it by the principal, but I think that he'll be on board for a class trip," Wesley said.
"I think the Jetsons is fine. I can't think of anything else," Andrew said.
"Hmm.. that might be an interesting story." said Becky, writing.
"I was going with Rocketeer, personally," Warren grinned.
"That could work, too," Andrew said.
"I like that one," Jonathan said, and wrote that down. "How about the lair?"
"Wonderful- just let me know when and I'll set it up," Laili said.
"I'll ask the principal tomorrow," Wesley said.
"Deep 13?" Warren quipped.
"That could work," Jonathan said. "But isn't 13 unlucky?"
"Becky has to make a call." she said, before heading to a payphone.
"Jon... we're contemplating summoning demons and building jetpacks. I think 'unlucky' is a moot point here." Warren chuckled.
Laili snagged another cheese fry. "So..."
"So...what's your favourite type of music?" Wesley asked randomly. Well, he didn't know.
"I enjoy ballads of all sorts," Laili said. "Stories in song. How about you?"
Becky returned after a moment. "So, where are all your other friends? Are those three friends of yours?"
"I actually like American Jazz," Wesley said. "I like the feeling behind it."
"I've hung out with them before," Nica said. "They're pretty nice, and that girl with them, the blonde ... she was one of the popular kids until recently."
"What happened with her?" asked Becky, noting the girl who kind of sat off by herself, looking at the popular people.
"I haven't heard a lot of jazz music," Laili said, "but I'd like to hear more."
"SHe got somebody to cast a spell," Nica said. "She felt bad about the rotten things she'd done to people over the years, and wanted to make up for it. Things didn't go how she expected, and there was a demon ... it was kind of a mess. But nobody died, so, yay."
"When I cook for you on Friday, I can play you some while you wait," Wesley offered.
"Okay, I think we're all set them," Jonathan said, closing the notebook.
"Does that happen a lot?" asked Becky, writing again "It sounds tragyc."
"That's good," Andrew said. "All things need names."
"Well, it's the first time that exact thing has happened here, that I know of," Nica said. "But like I said ... weird things happen all the time."
Becky nodded.
Jonathan looked over and noticed Harmony sitting by herself. "Aww. Poor Harmony. I feel bad for her."
"Now that we're done talking about business, maybe you should ask her to come over?" he said to Warren, since she'd been his date to homecoming and all.
"Why is she off by herself?" Andrew asked. "I thought she was a popular girl."
"I'd like that," Laili said.
"Becky thinks that when she gets her drivers license, we should all drive to Universal Studios, and have fun." she suggested
"Heh... apparently, she was part of the reason everyone was acting wacky during homecoming," Warren commented.
"That could be fun," Nica agreed. "And maybe Disneyland? I know, the Evil Mousey Empire and all ... still fun."
"So her popularity lost about fifty hit points." Warren shrugged and pushed feetwards. "Back in a moment."
Wesley reached over and gave Laili's hand a quick squeeze. "I think you'll like jazz. It can be very emotional at times."
Warren trotted over to attempt to target Harmony's attention span.
"Eww... Disneyland?" asked Becky
Harmony noticed a Warren, and smiled "Hi Warren!"
Nica nodded. "Yeah! It's pretty cool."
Laili caught his hand and held it. She looked up into his eyes, with a hope that he might do something even bolder, like perhaps kiss her. "Emotional music is quite lovely," she said softly.
"Hey, Harm - what's up?" Warren asked.
"Yes, yes it is," Wesley said, looking back into her eyes as well. He wanted to kiss her, but wasn't sure how she would react. He decided to go in for it anyway. He leaned in most of the way, allowing her to finish the distance if she wanted to.
"Hi Warren." said Harmony, turning her attention to him "Cordelia said that maybe if I prove to them that I'm reeally sorry, and if they think about it, that I can be cool again, but I think they forgot about it, cause that was a few days ago."
"Eh. Do you really feel like putting up with their bullshit?" Warren asked.
"No." said Harmony "But they're the only friend I had, so it makes me sad that they aren't nice anymore."
Laili closed the distance, and brought her lips to his, making a small noise of contentment.
"It's a sad day when I have more friends than Harmony," Jonathan observed.
Wesley had to keep himself from smiling while kissing Laili because he was so happy.
Andrew just shrugged. "Popular people are fickle."
"Come on Nica. Let's dance." suggested Becky
"Okay," Nica said, getting up.
Warren shrugged. "You've got plenty of friends."
"Really?" asked Harmony "I know you're my friend, right?"
Becky led Nica to the dane fllor, and danced with her, because she could.
"...and is that the world history teacher totally making out at the bar?" Jonathan asked.
Laili wrapped her arms around Wesley, equally pleased.
Andrew turned to look at the bar. "Wow, it is. Pretty lady, too."
"Yeah. Heh, and face it - Cordelia was always the 'I let you hang out with me' type. There's plenty of people that'll let you hang out with them."
"Some of them even like you." Warren gestured vaguely at Nica and whatshername, then at his table.
"They like me?" asked Harmony "I don't even know one of them. Can I hang out with you?"
Wesley wrapped an arm around Laili's waist, enjoying the moment.
"We should go over there and ask something about the history assignment," Jonathan said with a little smirk. "Just 'cause it'd be funny."
Andrew laughed. "That would be fun," he said.
Laili smoothed Wesley's hair back from his face with a gentle hand. "That was very nice," she whispered softly.
Jonathan got up, trying to keep a straight face. "C'mon, let's do it."
"That was very nice," Wesley said softly.
Andrew stood up, straightening his face in hopes of note bursting out laughing. "Ok, let's go."
"Hey Mr. Pryce," Jonathan said, wandering on up towards them.
"If I live out here, no more- Hey, what are you loooking at Nica?" asked Becky
"I think they're interrupting the world history teacher's date," Nica said.
Wesley nearly jumped out of his skin when Jonathan approached him. He had pretty much forgotten that the world existed for a moment. "Um...yes? Hello, Jonathan," he said.
Becky looked. "Who are they?"
"Jonathan and Andrew," Nica said. "Science geeks, but pretty decent guys. And that's Warren, talking to Harmony ... he's kind of pervy, but he's pretty nice, too."
Andrew was mostly trying his best to look innocent while not laughing.
Laili backed off, and folded her hands quietly in her lap.
"We forgot what the homework was," Jonathan said, looking innocent. "Sorry. Is that Mrs. Pryce?" he asked, looking at Laili.
"Oh." Becky nodded.
Warren nodded. "Sure, come hang. We don't bite. Well, maybe Andrew will, but I think he only nibbles."
"You know, none of this makes much sense, if you don't know the details." said Becky
"Um...no...this is Laili," Wesley said, now dreadfully embarrassed. "Laili, these are two of my students, Andrew and Jonathan. As for the homework, I only assigned the reading of chapter 7 for tonight."
Harmony grinned. "I'm gonna hang with you."
Warren chuckled, and headed for the table, crooking his finger. If only all hot girls were this easy to lure along.
"I know the details," Nica said, "and it still makes as much sense as those braille instructions on drive-through ATMs."
"Ohhh..." Jonathan said, and looked at Laili, then back at Wesley, mock-scandalized. "Whoa.. does Mrs. Pryce know you're out in bars with other women?"
"...you're married?" Laili asked, stunned.
Harmony followed, happily. Yes, she was very easy to manipulate.
"There is no Mrs. Pryce," Wesley said. "I'm not married."
Andrew now had to cough to try and cover his laughing, but was failing a bit.
"So, um.. anything to do in this town during the daytime? Other than stay in your house?" asked Becky
"Oh! So she's your girlfriend?" Jonathan asked. No, he didn't look like he was going away. Bored kids were a dangerous thing.
Laili was relieved to hear there was no Mrs. in the equation
"Heh ... not really. The shopping downtown isn't too bad," Nica said. "And there's the beach."
Wesley wondered if it was a bad thing to wish for vampires right now. At least it would distract the teenagers from messing with him. He looked at Laili, not sure what to say about her being a girlfriend or not.
"Does the beach feature skimpy swimwear?" asked Becky
Laili gave Wesley a small, cute smile.
"Always." Nica said.
"What about a bookstore, or a library?"
"Well, she is, but why are you asking anyway?" Wesley asked him. Where were vampires when you needed them?
"Hmm ... a few bookstores. And the library's not too shabby, I'll point it out to you when we go home," Nica said.
"Oh, y'know..." Jonathan shrugged. "Just trying to take an interest. Andrew and I were just talking about how cool your class is.. and uh.. how you're our favorite teacher and stuff."
"Aww, that's sweet.. your students like you," Laili said.
"Yeah, you class is really cool," Andrew offered up.
"Becky wants to be a celtic teenage wiccian pagan got. She needs to find the appropaite books."
*goth
Wesley figured that they may have just come over to mess with him, but decided to let it slide. For now. "Well, I'm glad to hear that," he said.
"Magic Box," Nica said automatically.
"And we were bored, so.. we thought we'd come ask about the homework. Though hey, now that we're here.. we could hang out." Jonathan plunked down on the stool next to Laili. "You could tell us cool history things."
(Next to Laili's stool.. you know.. not like.. sitting up on her or anything, haha)
Beky grinned a little. "THanks. You'll show me where it is?"
Jonathan thought he might be pushing his luck by now, but he thought it was really kinda fun, too.
Nica nodded. "Yeah, no problem."
Warren settled down at the table again, chuckling. "Looks like Jonno and Andy are ... heh, playing 'pick on the new teacher'."
Now he knew they were messing with him, but what could he do? "Well, what would you like to hear about?" he asked.
"Actually, Mr. Pryce and I were just about to dance," Laili said, getting up gracefully from her stool and offering Wesley her hand (and an out from the situation).
"Cordelia thinks he's hot." said Harmony
Wesley tried his best to not look visibly relieved. "Yes, so I guess you'll have to wait until class tomorrow then," he said, taking Laili's hand.
Laili swiftly moved towards the dance floor.
Jonathan burst out laughing after he was out of earshot. "That was fun"
Andrew started laughing as well. "I thought he was going to die when you suggested that he was cheating on his wife. Did you see the look on his face?"
"I thought you needed a bit of a rescue," Laili said, her eyes sparkling with amusement as they reached the dance floor.
"Haha.. yeah. Let's go tell Warren about it," Jonathan said, getting up again to head back to their table.
"Thank you," Wesley said. "Although I certainly can't complain about the method of rescue."
Since they were playing a slow song, Laili moved closer to Wesley and put her arms around him. "Indeed, this is hardly an unpleasant outcome."
Jonathan waved to Harmony and Warren as they got back to the table. "You missed all the fun."
"I'm hanging." said Harmony
Wesley wrapped his arms around her waist. "If this is always the outcome of students teasing me, then I think I can deal with it a lot better."
Andrew laughed as they sat back down. "We just had a blast tormenting Mr. Pryce."
"I asked him if the girl was Mrs. Pryce, and when he said no.. I asked if Mrs. Pryce knew he was out with other girls. You should have seen his face," Jonathan said, laughing still.
Warren chuckled. "Awesome."
"Children can be cruel," Laili said. "But enough about them..." She leaned in to kiss him again.
"He looked like he wanted to explode," Andrew said, still laughing.
Wesley kissed her back, immediately forgetting about Andrew and Jonathan.
Harmony seemed interested in the prank. "That sounds totally fun."
"It was pretty fun, actually," Andrew said. He'd never been on the giving side of teasing before.
Jonathan smiled. "Plus, I think we did him a favor. 'Cause look." He pointed out towards the dance floor. "So we weren't being -too- mean. Just having fun."
"Yeah, it's all in innocent fun," Andrew agreed.
Warren chuckled. "Very nice."
"How you doing, Harmony?" Jonathan asked.
"I'm ok. Warren's my friend, and we're going to hang. Are you guys my friends too?" asked Harmony
That was an odd way of asking. "Sure, I'll be your friend," Andrew said.
"Totally cool." smiled Harmony "We can hang."
Jonathan nodded. "Okay."
Warren grinned. "What's the future saviors of the world without lovely ladies to hang out with?"
Harmony frowned for a moment, as she tried to figure that word out. "You guys are going to savior the world?
"I want to hang with the saviors." said Harmony "Because you're nice to me, and you're my friends."
"Savior's a noun, Harmony. It means 'one who saves'." Warren supplied helpfully.
"So, yeah, we're going to save the world, therefore we're saviors." Warren grinned.
"We are?" Jonathan said. "Sweet."
"Oh!" Harmony grinned "It's going to be really cool to hang with the people who save the world. Can I help with snacks? I think you said I could give out snacks before?"
"Indeed." Warren nodded seriously.
"You can serve our snackly needs." Warren pondered.
Harmony grinned "I'm going to serve snackly needs.