a.connor  a.doyle  a.lindsey  a.oz  a.spike  a.wesley  a.xander  a.other  three.somes  het.fic  character.study           
Title: Easter Interlude
Author: The Brat Queen
 Pairing: Angel/Wesley
Rating: R
Setting: Part of a series, found here, that goes AU after 'Epiphany.' Can be read as a stand-alone.



"Hey, guys," Cordelia said as she came through the office door.
She held up some plastic shopping bags.  "I've got Easter
candy!"

Wesley looked up from his laptop, pausing only long enough to
save the spreadsheet he'd been working on.  "Really?  Thank
you, Cordy."

"Well, you know ö 'tis the season for sweets and all."  She
glanced around. "Where's Angel?"

"Over there," Wesley said. He gestured to the desk against the
far wall.  Angel was lying underneath it with only his legs to be
seen.

"Um," Cordy said, titling her head in an effort to see better.
"What's he doing?"

"Being a *prat*," Wesley replied.  He took one of Cordy's bags
and began searching through the pastel-colored insides.

"We've been over this already, Wes," Angel said.  There was a
thump, then a slight hissing sound.

"Yes, we have," Wesley said.  "And we established that you're a
prat.  Or didn't you understand that part?"

"Ok, clearly coming in the middle of something," Cordy said.
"Do I *want* to know?"

"Angel's gotten it into his fool head to try fixing the electricity,"
Wesley explained.  Finding nothing that he liked in the first bag,
he proceeded to search through the second.

Cordy shot Wesley a questioning look. "Why is Angel fixing the
electricity?"

"Because you can't afford a repairman," Angel said.  He pulled
himself out from under the desk and propped himself up on his
elbows.  "And *someone* thinks it's a good idea for a *mortal*
to be doing this."

Wesley pointedly refused to look at him. "*Someone* knows
more about electricity than certain vampires do."

"What's so hard?" Angel asked. He turned, appealing to Cordy.
"I know how to cut power off.  Isn't fixing it just doing that in
reverse?"

"Don't ask me," Cordy said.  She sat down on Wesley's desk
and began emptying the other bags.  "I didn't take shop back in
high school."

"Yes, and neither did Angel," Wesley said.  He began to help
Cordy sort through her purchases.  "Which is too bad, because
then he might remember that electricity really isn't that much
different from fire."

"Is it?" Cordy asked.

"If anybody is going to get shocked," Angel said, "it's going to be
me."

"Thus proving," Wesley said, "that on the list of non-functioning
vampire organs we can now add Angel's brain."

"Wes ö " Angel said, looking thoroughly unamused.

"Hey, look!" Cordy said, jumping in between the both of them.
"I bought chocolate! Who wants some?"

Wesley perked up.  "Are those Creme Eggs?"

Cordy held up a box. "The one and only."

"Please," Wesley said, glad for anything which distracted him
from the now old argument.  He took the box from her and
pierced the plastic covering with a letter opener.  He took one
egg for himself and handed a second to Cordy.

"Want one, Angel?" Cordy asked, offering her own.

Angel shook his head. "No, thanks.  You know me ö not much
for solids."

"It's not solid!" Cordy said.  She crossed the room to show
Angel the candy.  "See? It's cream."

Angel frowned at the red and green label. "They spelled it c-r-e-
m-e."

"Yeah, well," Cordy said, waving this off, "that's for legal
reasons."  Off Angel's look she added. "Oh come on! It's
chocolate.  Nobody can be unhappy after having chocolate.
Not even you."

"Thanks."

"For what it's worth they *are* very good," Wesley said. He
unwrapped his own egg, bit off the end and sucked out the
inside.  He noticed Cordy and Angel staring at him.  "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Cordy said.  Her eyebrows were raised. "Just an
interesting eating method you've got there, is all."

"Ok, let me have one," Angel said.  He took Cordy's, then
frowned. "Do I have to eat it like he did?"

"That's seriously optional," Cordy replied.

"Nothing wrong with my way," Wesley muttered.  He ate his
empty shell in a few bites, then watched Angel puzzle over the
confection.

"Cute chicken," Angel said, indicating the wrapper.  He then
pulled off the foil and turned the chocolate around in his hands.
"So you just bite it?"

"Boy, it *has* been a long time for you on the eating thing, hasn't
it?" Cordy said.  "Yeah.  With your teeth."

"Any end in particular?"

"Not really, no."

Angel nodded. He turned the egg around so that the narrow side
faced him, then took an experimental bite.

The look on his face not one moment later, Wesley thought, was
worth it.

"Son of a ö" Angel leapt to his feet and aimed for the trash can,
spitting the candy out with stunning velocity.  "Wes, I'm gonna
need your ö"

Without a word, Wesley handed over his glass of water.

"Thanks," Angel flashed him a quick smile, then downed the
water in a few quick gulps.

Cordelia pouted. "You didn't like it?"

"What ö what is that?" Angel asked.  He wiped his mouth a few
times as though to rid himself of the taste.  He held up the candy
for Cordy to see.  "Glue?"

Cordy looked into the shell.  "Oh ö you got a dry one."

"They get *dry*?"

Cordy smiled brightly. "Try not to think about it."

"You'd be surprised at how hard I'm going to do that," Angel
said.  He looked down at the candy sadly. "Except - I think this
is a memory that will linger.  Here, take it."

Cordy stepped back. "Oh no.  Sorry, Angel. Love you like a
brother and all, but eat something covered in vampire spit?  No
way. Why don't you give it to Wes?"

"Oh, thank you, Cordelia," Wesley said dryly.

"Well," Cordy shrugged, "you and he swap spit anyway, it's not
like you aren't used to it."

Wesley rolled his eyes.  "Yes, *thank* you, Cordelia."

"Um," Angel interrupted them.  He looked at Cordy uncertainly.
"Did you say like ö likeö"

Cordy saw Angel's glance but, for reasons unknown to Wesley,
chose to ignore it.  Instead she busied herself in one of the file
cabinets. "I know we've got some plastic bowls around here
somewhere.  Maybe we could put some of the candy in that.
Leave it out for our customers.  If we *had* any customers."

Whatever Angel might have said in response to this was lost as
Gunn walked in. "Damn! Did the Easter bunny throw up in here
or what?"

"Cordelia bought candy," Wesley said.

"I can see that.  Here, take a look ö new flyers," Gunn tossed a
bundle of papers at Wesley, then shed his coat.  "What'd you
get, Cordy?"

"Little of everything," Cordy said.  She found a package of
plates and began putting the candy on them.

Angel stepped back into the conversation, picking up an egg and
showing it to Gunn.  "Hi, Gunn ö Creme Egg?"

"You kidding me, man?" Gunn asked.  "I don't eat that shit."

Angel shot Cordy and Wes a look of satisfaction before slipping
the egg into his pocket.

"Hey, you got Peeps!" Gunn smiled, then went over to the
cabinet Cordy had opened.  "Where are the toothpicks?"

Cory raised an eyebrow. "You know, Gunn, things *are* pretty
informal around here. I don't think we need to serve the Peeps
up like hors d'oeuvres."

"Who's serving them up?" Gunn asked.  He found a box of
toothpicks and opened it, spilling a few out onto a paper plate.
"I'm talking about Peep fights."

They all looked at him.

"You know," Gunn said. He opened a package of yellow chicks
and stuck a toothpick into it like a sword. "Put toothpicks in 'em,
put 'em in the microwave ö"

"Oh, I get it," Angel said.  "They blow up and stab each other."
Off Wesley and Cordy's looks he said. "I've got a thing for
microwaves."

"That's it," Gunn said.  He put a toothpick into a purple rabbit
and set it on a plate, facing the chick. "Anybody want to place
bets?"

"This is too deranged for words," Cordy said.

"Rabbit," Angel said.  He pulled out a dollar. "They're pretty
wily. Plus it's bigger."

Gunn took the dollar. "Rabbit it is. You in, Wes?"

"I'm pretending I've never met either one of you," Wesley
replied.  He nodded at the flyers Gunn brought in. "These are
good, however."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it in a bit," Gunn said. He picked the
plate up and headed into the backroom where the microwave
was kept. "C'mon, Angel.  Our boys are getting ready to
rumble."

Angel grinned, and followed.

"Ok," Cordy said, after they'd both left the room. "Maybe we
need to tell Angel to lay off the hair gel for a little while.
Obviously he's not thinking clearly."

"What about Gunn?" Wesley asked.

"He *never* thought clearly," Cordy said.  She sat down in a
chair, pulling it over to sit beside Wesley.  "So ö what's up?"

Wesley pointed to the spreadsheet he'd been working on. "We
are, a bit.  We're barely treading water, of course, but we can at
least pay our bills.  Not pay them in *full*· or even the
minimum.  But we can at least send something."

Cordy glanced towards the backroom. "What about him?"

Wesley adjusted the spreadsheet to account for the cost of the
flyers.  "Who?"

"You know who! *Angel,*" she said.  "Why's he fixing the
electricity instead of inviting us back to his place?"

Wesley tried to think of a way to change the subject, but failed.
"I don't know," he admitted.

"Haven't you talked with him about it?" Cordy asked.  She
nudged him with her elbow. "You know ö you, him, alone, doing
whatever it is you do.  You lean in and ö"

"Yes, Cordy," Wesley said, adjusting his glasses, "could we
perhaps dispose of the mental imagery?"

"Fine," Cordy said. "But you're still the best one to ask him."

"Cordelia, the Hyperion is Angel's home," Wesley said.  "It's
entirely up to him if he wants to have the offices back in it or not."

Cordy sighed. "But it'd be so much cheaper!  He can't afford his
place, we can't afford *this* place ö why not dump the office
and split the cost of the hotel?"

"Iâm aware of all this," Wesley said. He motioned to all of the
numbers in red on the budget. "Believe me, I do know.  But the
ultimate decision is still Angel's."

"Maybe he's waiting for someone to bring it up," Cordy said.

Wesley acknowledged this. "But perhaps he's hoping that we
leave it alone."

"Leave what alone?" Angel appeared in the doorway.

Cordelia quickly covered her guilty look.  "Huh? Nothing."

"The electricity," Wesley said.  "We were hoping you'd stop
playing with it."

"See?" Gunn said, appearing from behind Angel and coming
back into the room. "I told you they heard the microwave."

Wesley longed *not* to ask, but knew he had to anyway. "The
microwave?"

"That ö um ö would be me," Angel said.  He looked sheepish.
"Set the power too high.  Came out to get some paper towels."

Gunn shook his head. "And they wonder why LA keeps having
blackouts."

Angel pointed to the lights. "Electricity's still on."

"Yeah," Gunn said, "And the microwave's still sticky. Remind me
never to make popcorn at your place. I hate to think of how you
screw up a cup of blood."

"Got that on auto-program," Angel said. He took some paper
towels out of the office's supplies, then glanced over at Wesley.
"Hey, um, Wes?  Want to ö to give me a hand?"

"I don't see why," Wesley said. "It's your mess."

Angel shifted back and forth.  "Yeah but ö um ö you could make
sure I don't make it worse.  Or break something."

Wesley looked up.  Angel seemed off, somehow.  Wesley
couldn't tell why.  He saved his work, and snapped his laptop
closed.  "All right, then.  Gunn, we can go over the flyers later?"

Gunn shrugged. "Take your time, man."

"Thank you," Wesley walked into the back room and peered
into the microwave. "So what did you do?"

Wesley heard Angel close the door, then felt Angel's hands
against his waist. "Um, nothing, actually.  Or ö not as much as I
said I did. Sort of lied, there."

Wesley stood up, turning around to face Angel.  He frowned.
"Why?"

"Wanted you to myself," Angel said.  His thumbs traced the top
of Wesley's belt.  "To talk."

"What about?" Wesley asked.

"Make sure we're ok," Angel said.  "Look, Wes, I know you all
have your own ideas about running the place and that's good.
But if I see something I can do to help ö "

"Oh God, you *are* a prat," Wesley said.  Then, seeing the hurt
look on Angel's face, he quickly kissed him.  "Angel ö you didn't
do anything wrong.  I value your help ö we *all* do.  But there
are things you can do which do not involve playing around with
live wires.  Believe it or not, you have skills beyond the fact that
you don't die as easily as the rest of us."

Angel looked uncertain. "I don't know. Seems like a valuable
skill to me."

"In a fight with some demons, yes," Wesley said.  "In that case
I'd agree with you.  But not in a fight with our building."  He
touched Angel's cheek, then felt himself start to grin. "You
know, Angel, when you agreed to battle the forces of darkness
with me I didn't really think you meant ö"

"The lighting," Angel finished.  He gave a small laugh. "Funny,
Wes."

"I thought so." Wesley allowed himself to look smug.  "Are you
feeling better now?"

"Yeah," Angel said.  "Thanks.  And ö um ö thanks for letting me
do this here." He indicated the closed door.  "I know it's work
and all, but I didn't want to wait."

"Well, I run a tight ship," Wesley said, "but I don't mind stopping
for personal business.  Particularly with certain employees."

Angel grinned.  "I dunno. Isn't that harassment?"

"Why, are you planning on suing?"

"Not if I get what I want," Angel said. He pulled Wesley closer.

"And what might that be?" Wesley asked.  Then he felt
something against his leg.  "Ah - I see."

"Huh?" Angel pulled back, looking at him. Then he saw
Wesley's expression and looked down. "Oh ö no.  That's ö
that's something for you."

"I should hope so."

Angel gave him a look.  "Not *that*.  Here, close your eyes."

Skeptical, Wesley complied.

There was a rustling sound. "Open your mouth."

"Angel ö "

"Trust me."

"All right," Wesley said.  Keeping his eyes closed, he did as he
was told.

"Ok, now bite."

Wesley closed his lips, then smiled in surprise as he tasted
familiar chocolate.  He bit down and took in a morsel of Creme
Egg.  "That's very ö"

"Ah, eyes closed," Angel said as Wesley started to open them
again.

Wesley shut his eyes firmly as he chewed. "Angel, what are you
doing?"

"Enjoying something," Angel said.  "Here, keep eating."

Wesley took in a lick of sugar cream.  "Have you had that on
you the whole time?"

"Yeah," Angel said. "Nice thing about being a vampire ö milk
chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand."

"Yet another skill for you to offer," Wesley said, hoping Angel
wouldn't mind the joke.

"Anything to make sure you don't fire me," Angel said.  "Want
more?"

Wesley folded his arms, still keeping his eyes closed. "All right."

"Open up," Angel said.

Wesley did and felt a drop of sugar fall onto his tongue.  A
moment later it was followed by Angel's finger.  Angel had
coated it with the candy's filling.  Suddenly understanding what
Angel was enjoying about this, Wesley wrapped his lips around
Angel's finger and began to suck.

He felt Angel nuzzle his cheek. "Perfect, Wes."

Dimly, Wesley thought that it was not the time to do this.  That,
being in the office as they were, it would be rude to lock
themselves away while Gunn and Cordy were working in the
other room.  But then Angel pushed his finger in deeper and
Wesley stopped worrying about it.

"I gotta buy some of these," Angel said.  He pulled his finger out
long enough to coat it with filling again, then give it back to
Wesley.  "You really seem to like them."

"They're rapidly becoming my favorite food," Wesley said.  He
licked the underside of Angel's finger, trying to clean it.

"That good, huh?" Angel asked.  He removed his finger again,
leaned in, and replaced it with his tongue.  Wesley found himself
reeling as Angel kissed him thoroughly, his tongue seeking out
every corner of Wesley's mouth. "You're right, Wes. That does
taste nice."

"So do you," Wesley murmured.  He put his hands around
Angel's neck, drawing him closer.  "We really should stop,
though."

Wesley opened his eyes enough to see Angel's concern. "Do
you want to?"

"Not particularly," Wesley said.  He could feel his own body's
response and knew one way or another he was not returning to
the outer room anytime soon.  "I just thought it should be said."

"Duly noted," Angel said.  He kissed Wesley again, then offered
him the shell.  "Want it?"

"Absolutely."  Wesley took the candy into his mouth, licked tiny
crumbs of chocolate from Angel's fingers, then began to chew.

"Eat slow," Angel told him. After seeing Wesley work to savor
the chocolate, Angel slid his hand down to the front of Wesley's
pants. "I think we should both finish at the same time."

Not needing a vision to know what was happening, Wesley
moved back to rest his weight against the microwave's table.
He was glad for the support as he felt Angel unzip the front of
his pants, then slide his hand inside to stroke Wesley's erection,
pulling it out of the fly as he did.

"Good thing we've got those paper towels," Angel said, grinning
just a little.  He bent down to kiss Wesley's neck, sucking and
teasing the tender flesh there.  "Hate to have you all messed up
while we're at the office."

"I often suspect you could have me at a bus depot," Wesley
said.  He continued to chew, trying not to choke as Angel's
steady hand worked to distract him.

Angel nipped his ear. "I'll have to remember that, Wes."

Wesley gripped the table even tighter as he felt his legs nearly
give way.  "I've got to stop giving you ideas."

Angel's hand moved faster. "You've got to stop talking.  I'm a
little hurt. Normally you're gasping by now."

"Trust me," Wesley said, abandoning the table in favor of resting against
Angel's chest. "it's talk or scream. And I don't think Cordy and Gunn would
appreciate the latter."

"Oh. Why didnât you say so?" Angel asked.  He licked Wesley's lips.  "I can
keep you quiet."

Wesley didn't even bother to reply as Angel covered his mouth
with his.  Instead he gave in to the kiss, letting Angel taste his fill
of the remaining candy.  Angel's hand continued to work against
him and soon Wesley found himself moaning against Angel's lips,
glad for their quieting effect.  Angel stroked him, alternating
strength and speed until finally Wesley could take no more.  He
came, muffling the sound of it as best he could, then relaxed into
Angel's embrace.

"Love you, Wes," Angel said. He kissed the top of Wesley's
hair.  He paused, then added. "We've *got* to thank Cordy for
the chocolate."

"Yes," Wesley said.  He spoke slowly, still enjoying the dream-
like state he was in.  "But, perhaps, without telling her *why*."

Angel laughed, kissing him again, then held him until they were
ready to face the world.

- fin -
 

Feedback