The trip to Ita went easier than expected. Angel's first impression of the crew seemed to hold true, they were a ragtag combination of Sunnydale's Scoobies and L.A.'s Fang Gang. Although Angel kept mostly to himself, he felt at ease on Serenity. Everyone seemed open and friendly. They accepted his odd quirks in ways humans haven't done for years. As hard as he worked to keep from building a connection with the others, Angel knew that he would miss them once he was gone.
"We'll be entering Atmo in about three hours, 11 AM planetside," Mal told the crew and its guest as he joined them in the dining area for their morning meal. He watched Angel closely as he gave out the orders for the errands that needed to be done once they landed on the moon. Angel seemed to grow more anxious than happy that they'd finally arrived, but Mal knew it wasn't his place to ask the man what was wrong.
Hours later, everyone stood waiting as the airlock opened.
*AtS/Firefly*
A tall woman with long black hair was seen kneeling on the ground not two feet away from where Serenity's airlock door landed. Back straight, eyes down, hands loosely circling a china doll, the likes of which many of the crew had never seen with their own eyes. A childlike innocence seemed to flow from her, with both her delicate structure and submissive stance, so much so that even the thick leather choker that encircled her mearly added to the effect.
Mal's jaw nearly dropped when he first eyed Drusilla, while the others took a step back when they noticed the statuesque figure. Even the wind had no effect upon her, no flowing of her clothes or fluttering of her hair.
Dru was happy the ship that her daddy was on had finally landed. So happy that she placed herself in a location that no normal human would dare to, but then again, Dru wasn't normal, nor was she human. The stars told her today would be the day, but she must be a proper lady for her daddy's return, moreso then the day of her presentation to the Aurelian Court. Spike kept playing with metal, Lyri couldn't stand the sight of humans, though she was decent enough to dress like one, and mummy... She hadn't heard from mummy in so long...
It was usually Grandmummy Darla's job to meet knew people, but since her daughter's been gone for so long, it's up to Dru to make a good impression on daddy's new friends, and quite an impression it was.
Angel was proud of the presention his childe put forth, an old custom that was all but lost in this day and age. He moved slowly towards her, inwardly smirking at the expressions on the crews faces. Once he stood behind her, Angel knelt, reaching around and grasping her chin between two fingers, pulling her head to lay on his shoulder. With the other hand, he clasped a long thin chain to a nearly invisible loop in the center of the collar, the other end of which was attached to a belt loop on his pants.
Once done, Angel stood, stepping around her without tangling the chain, and made a minute hand gesture. Dru lifted herself gracefully off the ground, lifting her eyes to gaze upon the crew as she was introduced.
"Captain Reynolds," Angel began, shocking the crew out of their stupor, "may I introduce you to my kitten, Drusilla. Dru, say hello to the captain and his crew."
Dru purred lightly as she was petted and nudged forward. She curtsied lightly, eyes dropping and head bowed. She avoided offering her neck to them as would occur within vampiric circles, and simply spoke an innocently seductive hello as she offered her hand. It took what little control she had not to flash her fangs when he blushed.
"Dru," Angel spoke again, "As lovely a welcoming as this was, where are the others?"
Before he could get an answer out of her, a thud sounded behind him, making Mal and the others jump.
"We're here," Illyria's voice sounded behind him. Spike grunted, seating himself ontop of the large cooling container he'd been carrying, choosing to light himself a cigarette instead of speaking. Mostly to avoid the lashing that he knew was coming in the immediate future.
Despite the years that have passed, very little has changed, in looks or personality, for the two immortals; although Illyria had adjusted to keep from standing out too much. The group grew closer towards the end of Earth-that-was, especially for the Old One. Where she once dispised him, Illyria now looked toward the fallen king as a worthy advisor and someone she wished always by her side. Turning, Angel noticed that she had taken on Fred's persona, awkward twitches and all, although she kept her own neutral monotone voice.
"Angel," Illyria greeted with a slight nod, looking the crew over with a quick glance before turning back with a minutely raised eyebrow. In a voice to low for most humans to hear, she asked, "Slayer?"
In noticing the stiffening of both Spike and Dru, Angel flickered his eyes towards River before shaking his head 'no'. "Illyria. Spike. Good to see ya," Angel began. Turning away from Illyria to face Spike, he continued, "Of course, you just had to be on a moon on the other side of the 'verse when we're supposed to be on the reaching the Central Planets yesterday. Anything to say about that William?"
Dru giggled lightly. Whenever Angel spoke Spike's full name, it always meant blood to be shed and fun to be had. Spike understood this as well, standing quickly, tossing his cig to the side. Hands were fisted behind him, head bent and tilted to the side, both as a means of submission. Regardless of his submissive gestures, the aged vampire knew his grandchilde was chasing some kind of excuse in that hyperactive mind of his.
"Look. Sire, this can easily be explained," Spike broke out, occasionally looking up an attempt to read Angel's reactions, "You see –"
"Oh, they're here already?" Inara accidently interupted. Having nothing to do planet side, she originally planned to rest and relax outside of the midday heat, but when she moved to grab a bite from the kitchen, the Companion noticed quickly noted how the others seemed to just stand at the entrance of the ship. She moved quickly, wanting to see the friends of the broody man.
"Inara," said man spoke. "Everyone, these are my crewmates, Illyria, Spike, and my favorite girl, Drusilla." He tugged slightly on the chain at the last intruduction. Angel hoped to keep the two apart long enough to set down some rules however all he could hope for was to keep Dru focused on him and prevent the inevitable confrontation. It wasn't meant to be.
Drusilla hissed. She'd been ignoring the voices of the stars and Miss Edith to revel in the presence of her daddy and little Willie's upcoming beating, but face to face with a Companion was hard to ignore. Angel could sense the bloodlust rising and did the only thing he knew to stop her. It was better they found out here and now anyhow.
The smack rung through their ears. Mal and the others could only watch as the doll-like young woman fell off balance and was subsequently pulled to her knees by the chain that collared her, gasping in near conjunction with her when her hair was grabbed in a tight grip, head yanked back at a painful angle.
"No, no, no," Angel chided, "You were being such a good little girl. Don't mess it up antagonzing the Companion, or we can't play. She's our ticket home and you want to see your mummy don't you." The child-like teasing after such brutality horrified crew, especially when Inara was singled out.
When she finally came to grips with what just passed, she took a step forward but was immediately stopped by Spike, who no one noticed move. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, "Angelus doesn't like to be interupted, especially when punishing that one."
"But-"
Spike tutted.
"Now Dru," Angel's voice redrew Inara's attention, and she watch closely as he released her, assisting the girl up, "Apologize."
Drusilla shifted slightly into the appropriate pose, refusing to speak for fear of disappointing her sire so soon after there reunion; in that moment Inara knew and no amount of training could hold her reaction to this knowledge.
She hated him.
"Chongwunian."
