It was two in the afternoon on a Saturday, and already Kat was ready to crawl back into her bed at the hotel and snooze for a solid eight hours straight. Cordelia and Willow had managed to drag the reluctant brunette out on her day off from waiting tables in order to shop. Not just any shopping: Presents for Angel shopping. Willow decided that, as a celebration of his first month out of Hell, Angel should have a small party and be given gifts. Cordelia had readily agreed, managing to drag Giles, Xander, and Kat herself into the scheme. And so here she was, collapsing in a chair in the middle of the noisy food court, watching the cheerleader toss her massive amount of purchases onto a chair nearby before pulling an item out of one of them.
"What do you think," Cordelia questioned her shopping buddies, holding up an emerald green clingy dress for the other two to see. Smirking, Kat raised an eyebrow at the very bold, very Cordy-like dress.
"Somehow I don't think its Angel's style," the petite young woman remarked dryly, earning her a glare of indignation from the cheerleader.
"Well of course not!" Cordelia snapped, throwing the garment back into its bag. Ever the peacemaker, Willow jumped into the conversation, her fingers twirling the straw of her Coke as she turned to the tall brunette.
"What did you get Angel?" A smile spread over the cheerleader's face as she shifted bags, pulling one closer and dragging an item out for the others to inspect. Leaning forward, Kat peered intently at Cordy's choice. She had to admit, it was a very nice gift: a long-sleeved poet style shirt made of velvet, the burgundy color was a sharp contrast to the black attire Angel was normally seen in. For a moment an image of the soulful vampire entered Kat's mind, clad in the velvet shirt. She fought to keep a smile from touching her lips as she mused on how the shirt would lighten the color of his dark chocolate eyes to a more interesting shade. It took Willow a full minute to gain the brunette's attention and when she did the redhead grinned, to Kat's annoyance.
"What?" but Willow merely shook her head, the smile on her face disturbing the brunette. As Cordelia waved the garment in front of them, Kat returned her attention to the matter at hand. "It looks…nice. I'm sure he'll like it." Her words were a little strained as she tried to regain her earlier composure, while Willow assured Cordelia that it was indeed a fine gift for the vampire.
As the cheerleader returned the shirt to its bag, Kat took in the sheer number of shopping bags that littered the chair beside Cordelia. Relaxing a little, she smirked once more before commenting rather flippantly, "Damn Cheerleader, I think you bought out half the store! Are you going for the world record here, or are you defending your title?"
"I like to shop." Shrugging off the comment, Cordelia glanced over at Willow, then back at the shorter brunette. A calculated smile stretched across her glossy lips as she leaned forward. "Soo Kat…what do you think of our local souled vamp?"
Kat tensed slightly, darting a look between the other two girls, who were suddenly a little too interested in her answer. Raising an eyebrow, the brunette offered before taking a sip of her own soda, "He's a good fighter?"
Rolling her eyes, Cordelia let out an undignified snort. "Oh please! It's obvious you are sprung on the guy."
The cheerleader's accusation had the effect of sending Kat into choking sputters. Alarmed, Willow moved closer, pounding the brunette's back as she struggled to breathe. Glaring now at the cheerleader, who looked rather smug about Kat's reaction, the smaller brunette managed to gasp out a reply between breaths. "I. Am. NOT. Sprung. On. Him!"
"Well he certainly has an effect on you," Cordelia challenged, waving her hand in the air. "The other night when you two patrolled together you came back clearly flustered about something, and I know he kept staring at you. Admit it; you were all hot and bothered by him. You don't have to feel too embarrassed. I mean, that is the normal female reaction to him."
"You're nuts!" Shaking her head vehemently, Kat appealed to the redhead, who so far had sat in thoughtful silence. "Wills, tell this crazy pom-pom shaker that there is nothing going on between me and that vampire." The brunette's jaw dropped as Willow seemed to hesitate. "Willow?!"
"Well," the petite redhead began, nibbling on her lower lip. "You do seem kind of edgy whenever he's around. And he did join us for patrol after you went over to talk to him for me, and he never patrolled with us before." Emerald eyes sparkling, Willow grinned. "What's wrong, I think it's sweet Kat!"
"There is nothing sweet about this," the brunette hissed, staring at the other women like they had grown two heads. "I do not have the hots for Angel!"
"You don't find him the least bit attractive?" Cordelia questioned almost ruthlessly, an eyebrow raised dubiously as she watched the other brunette squirm uncomfortably in her seat. Amused, the cheerleader continued. "That silky brown hair…"
"Those chocolate, puppy-dog brown eyes," Willow chipped in, fighting to keep from grinning at her friend's discomfort, but without much success. Her words earned her a glare from Kat, but the redhead plunged on regardless. "That self-depreciating smile…"
"And that body?" Cordelia offered, sighing herself as she got into her mental image of Angel. "Like some marble statue of a greek god come to life…"
"And that ass!" Both brunettes stared at Willow in shock, but the elfin girl merely shrugged. "What? He does have a nice ass." Thoroughly horrified at this point, Kat shook her head violently, struggling not to picture the Angel their words had conjured. Her lips curled into a snarl as the vampire's profile came all too easily to her mind.
"ARRGH!" she fairly shouted, drawing strange looks from several people nearby, but Kat didn't care. Fixing each woman with a glare, she repeated her earlier protestations through clenched teeth. "I do not now, nor will I ever, have the hots for Angel!"
Mumbling something under her breath that sounded to Kat's ears suspiciously like "methinks she protests too much," Willow resumed sipping her soda, her mind working overtime. She was pretty sure that Cordy had touched a nerve…it wasn't hard to see that, for some reason, Kat and Angel were very much interested in each other. 'Now how do I get them to see it?' the redhead mused silently. Slowly an evil thought wormed its way to the forefront, causing her lips to twitch. 'Bad Willow!'
Glancing down at her watch, Willow cried out in dismay. "Oh no!" When Kat and Cordelia looked at her in confusion, the redhead explained. "I promised Angel I would stop by the butchers and get him some blood, but I have to go tutor a guy in 10 minutes!" In truth, her tutoring session wasn't for another hour, but she hoped Kat, and Angel, forgave her this one tiny white lie. "And he has no blood, so if I don't go he'll starve all night, and maybe he'll lose control and snack on some innocent passerby and it will all be my fault…" She fell silent as Kat touched her shoulder, hoping to calm the flustered girl down before she collapsed from lack of oxygen.
"Easy Wills, breathe once in awhile." Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Kat asked the question to which she dreaded an answer. "What do you want us to do about it?" The knot of unease in her stomach grew as Willow looked at the brunette silently, eyes big as saucers. "No." The redhead's eyes grew bigger, and her lower lip began to tremble. "NO! Don't make that face Wills." Kat struggled to call forth all of her resolve as Willow continued to plead silently with the brunette. "I am not going to bring that vampire blood, and that's final!"
* * * * * * * * *
'I'm going to kill her,' Kat growled silently, her arms laden down with the bags she had gotten from the meat market. She all but snarled at the man who had given her the blood bags, so foul a mood was she in thanks to a certain manipulative redhead. 'She is so going to pay for this!' The brunette continued to grumble to herself as she walked up the path to the mansion that afternoon, her face set in a dark look as she tried hard not to think of how odd her friends were.
"As if I have a thing for that brooding, pale-faced, guilt-ridden, gorgeous vampire," she mumbled, storming up to the mansion. As she raised her hand to knock on the door, Kat realized what she had said and swore. Viciously. 'Damn them!' Not waiting for a reply she grabbed the doorknob and twisted, not giving much thought to the fact that it was unlocked as she entered the darkened hallway, nearly slamming the door behind her in the process.
"Hello!" Kat ground out through her teeth, scowling as she entered the living room in search of the vampire that was at the heart of all her frustration. She didn't see anyone in sight, but her sensitive ears picked up sounds coming from upstairs. Assuming he was there she turned, stalking into the kitchen to put the blood away, grumbling under her breath about vampires, cheerleaders, and redheads with super powers of the manipulative variety as she went.
Once she had put the blood away Kat glanced around the kitchen, noting the lack of appliances and utensils in the place. So simple these touches were to a home that the brunette felt a pang of sadness to note there was only a mug by the sink, obviously for drinking his cup of blood. Slowly she frowned again, shaking her head as she tried to remember she was mad at the vampire for making her friends think she liked him. Resuming her litany, Kat moved about the kitchen, fixing a mug of blood in the microwave for said vampire even as she cursed his sad puppy-brown eyes.
* * * * * * * * *
Angel sighed in pleasure as the heat of the shower beat down on his chilly neck. Leaning into the spray, he closed his eyes, trying for perhaps the hundredth time that day not to think about the mystery that was Kat. Ever since that night he had patrolled with the fiery hellcat he had wondered about her, and about her reaction to his touch. He kept telling himself it was only concern for a friend, a friend who seemed to harbor the same pain and anguish that he himself suffered. Certainly it had nothing to do with the way her eyes flickered, changing color with her shifting moods. And it had nothing to do with her dainty figure, which made her look delicately strong when she battled the various demons the hellmouth threw at her. Not to mention the way she twirled her silky hair in her fingers, sucking on her lower lip in a habit she had picked up from Willow…
Groaning, the vampire turned off the shower, shaking droplets out of his hair as he tried to shake loose his thoughts. 'I am not interested in the kitten,' he repeated over and over to himself as he stepped out of the shower. His eyes swept over the bathroom, searching for his towel before remembering that he had left it in the bedroom. Sighing, he reached for the doorknob, his preoccupation with his thoughts preventing him from realizing that someone else was in the house with him.
* * * * * * * * *
'I am not interested in the vampire, I am not interested in the vampire,' Kat thought as she carried the mug of blood towards the stairs, climbing them as she tried to locate said vampire. As she reached the top of the stairs she heard a door click open. Glancing up, she caught a glimpse of Angel as he stepped out of the bathroom, heading away from her in the direction of his bedroom. Her eyes grew wide, shifting in color as fast as a cyclone as she watched his beautifully formed backside move away from her. Blue, green, black, and red all flashed through her eyes as her mouth opened, an inarticulate squeak escaping her lush lips. So intently was she staring at his pale derriere and the large tattoo on his right shoulder blade she forgot all about the mug in her hands, which was currently hurtling towards the floor.
* * * * * * * * *
A soft sound behind Angel, followed by the sound of something breaking, caused the vampire to whirl around in surprise. At the end of the hallway stood the object of his thoughts, her mouth open as she stared at him strangely. She seemed close to hyperventilating, her chest heaving in the effort to breathe and her eyes nearly popping out of her pretty head. Angel idly noted the broken mug of spilled blood at her feet, his attention more firmly fixed on the brunette who was still trying to breathe normally, her eyes darting up to his face for a moment before trailing down his pale, dripping body. Only when her face flushed a lovely shade of scarlet did the vampire remember that he was nude, and currently giving the brunette a good view of his assets.
Thankful that he was unable to blush himself the vampire backed up as quickly as possible, nearly jarring himself on the bedroom door in the process. Quick as lightening his arm snaked out, shutting the door behind him with a loud thud! Taking in a deep, unneeded breath, Angel groaned and leaned against the door, closing his eyes and banging his head against the wood as mortification settled in. 'This is not good.'
From the silence on the other side of the door, he assumed that Kat had not moved yet. Opening his eyes, Angel glanced around the room quickly, almost frantic to find something clean to throw on so he could go back out there and see if she was still hyperventilating…or if she had just passed right out on the floor. As he grabbed a pair of black sweats, the flustered vampire cursed the unholy timing of the Hellmouth.
* * * * * * * * *
'Breathe Kat, breathe,' the brunette had tried to signal her brain for more oxygen, but the tantalizing view of Angel in all his glory had managed to short circuit her mind for the moment. It wasn't until he had slammed the bedroom door closed that she had snapped out of her stupor, just barely managing not to lick her lips and sigh as her mind replayed that juicy moment over and over for her viewing pleasure.
Taking a step back, Kat winced as she heard porcelain breaking under her boot. Glancing down in dismay, she noted the mug she had been carrying laid now in pieces at her feet. 'So much for breakfast in bed…oh, I did NOT want to go there.' Groaning in embarrassment, the petite brunette did the only thing she could do…she ran back down the stairs and out the front door before Angel could come back out of the bedroom.
* * * * * * * * *
Satisfied that he looked somewhat presentable in his black sweats and tee, Angel took a deep breath and, combing his spiky hair with one hand, opened the door to the hallway. "Kitten?" he called out softly, scanning the area in search of the brunette. Frowning, he headed downstairs, searching for her all over. As he entered the kitchen the vampire realized she must have run off.
Sighing heavily, the vampire put both arms on the kitchen counter, his head buried in them as his mortification over the scene that had just occurred returned full force. 'Great, just great. First I can't stop thinking about the little hellcat, and then she walks in on me like that!'
Moving back up the stairs, Angel hissed as he felt a sharp pain in his foot. Twisting it so he could get a better look, the vampire frowned as he saw a splinter of porcelain embedded in the sole of his foot. 'And now I'm bleeding because she broke my mug.' Sighing once more, the vampire set to digging the shard out of his foot.
'What else can go wrong?'
* * * * * * * * *
Across town Kat leaned up against the wall of a building, trying to catch her breath as her mind ran a marathon of thoughts, all of them regarding Angel and his natural state. Her face continued to flush as she tried and failed to get those wonderful, inappropriate images out of her head.
"ARGH!" she shrieked, causing several passersby to glance her way in alarm. 'I'm going insane, that must be it. I must be completely 'round the bend to keep picturing Angel like that, naked, in his hallway.' Her embarrassment increased as she remembered the broken mug on the floor. Burying her face in her hands, she moaned. 'And not only do I have to practically, better make that blatantly, ogle the guy in his own home, but I break probably his only mug in the process! I am so screwed.'
As the brunette lowered her hands from her still flaming cheeks, her eyes caught on a sign across the street. First confusion, then interest, and finally delight crossed over her delicate features. Letting out a small cry of happiness, Kat darted across the street, weaving around the cars that zipped by, to the place that offered her some hope of salvation. As she entered the building, a sales boy nearby came over, pasting a smile on his face.
"Welcome to the House of Mugs, can I help you?"
Smiling her biggest smile, Kat sighed in relief. "Actually, I think you can…"
"What do you think," Cordelia questioned her shopping buddies, holding up an emerald green clingy dress for the other two to see. Smirking, Kat raised an eyebrow at the very bold, very Cordy-like dress.
"Somehow I don't think its Angel's style," the petite young woman remarked dryly, earning her a glare of indignation from the cheerleader.
"Well of course not!" Cordelia snapped, throwing the garment back into its bag. Ever the peacemaker, Willow jumped into the conversation, her fingers twirling the straw of her Coke as she turned to the tall brunette.
"What did you get Angel?" A smile spread over the cheerleader's face as she shifted bags, pulling one closer and dragging an item out for the others to inspect. Leaning forward, Kat peered intently at Cordy's choice. She had to admit, it was a very nice gift: a long-sleeved poet style shirt made of velvet, the burgundy color was a sharp contrast to the black attire Angel was normally seen in. For a moment an image of the soulful vampire entered Kat's mind, clad in the velvet shirt. She fought to keep a smile from touching her lips as she mused on how the shirt would lighten the color of his dark chocolate eyes to a more interesting shade. It took Willow a full minute to gain the brunette's attention and when she did the redhead grinned, to Kat's annoyance.
"What?" but Willow merely shook her head, the smile on her face disturbing the brunette. As Cordelia waved the garment in front of them, Kat returned her attention to the matter at hand. "It looks…nice. I'm sure he'll like it." Her words were a little strained as she tried to regain her earlier composure, while Willow assured Cordelia that it was indeed a fine gift for the vampire.
As the cheerleader returned the shirt to its bag, Kat took in the sheer number of shopping bags that littered the chair beside Cordelia. Relaxing a little, she smirked once more before commenting rather flippantly, "Damn Cheerleader, I think you bought out half the store! Are you going for the world record here, or are you defending your title?"
"I like to shop." Shrugging off the comment, Cordelia glanced over at Willow, then back at the shorter brunette. A calculated smile stretched across her glossy lips as she leaned forward. "Soo Kat…what do you think of our local souled vamp?"
Kat tensed slightly, darting a look between the other two girls, who were suddenly a little too interested in her answer. Raising an eyebrow, the brunette offered before taking a sip of her own soda, "He's a good fighter?"
Rolling her eyes, Cordelia let out an undignified snort. "Oh please! It's obvious you are sprung on the guy."
The cheerleader's accusation had the effect of sending Kat into choking sputters. Alarmed, Willow moved closer, pounding the brunette's back as she struggled to breathe. Glaring now at the cheerleader, who looked rather smug about Kat's reaction, the smaller brunette managed to gasp out a reply between breaths. "I. Am. NOT. Sprung. On. Him!"
"Well he certainly has an effect on you," Cordelia challenged, waving her hand in the air. "The other night when you two patrolled together you came back clearly flustered about something, and I know he kept staring at you. Admit it; you were all hot and bothered by him. You don't have to feel too embarrassed. I mean, that is the normal female reaction to him."
"You're nuts!" Shaking her head vehemently, Kat appealed to the redhead, who so far had sat in thoughtful silence. "Wills, tell this crazy pom-pom shaker that there is nothing going on between me and that vampire." The brunette's jaw dropped as Willow seemed to hesitate. "Willow?!"
"Well," the petite redhead began, nibbling on her lower lip. "You do seem kind of edgy whenever he's around. And he did join us for patrol after you went over to talk to him for me, and he never patrolled with us before." Emerald eyes sparkling, Willow grinned. "What's wrong, I think it's sweet Kat!"
"There is nothing sweet about this," the brunette hissed, staring at the other women like they had grown two heads. "I do not have the hots for Angel!"
"You don't find him the least bit attractive?" Cordelia questioned almost ruthlessly, an eyebrow raised dubiously as she watched the other brunette squirm uncomfortably in her seat. Amused, the cheerleader continued. "That silky brown hair…"
"Those chocolate, puppy-dog brown eyes," Willow chipped in, fighting to keep from grinning at her friend's discomfort, but without much success. Her words earned her a glare from Kat, but the redhead plunged on regardless. "That self-depreciating smile…"
"And that body?" Cordelia offered, sighing herself as she got into her mental image of Angel. "Like some marble statue of a greek god come to life…"
"And that ass!" Both brunettes stared at Willow in shock, but the elfin girl merely shrugged. "What? He does have a nice ass." Thoroughly horrified at this point, Kat shook her head violently, struggling not to picture the Angel their words had conjured. Her lips curled into a snarl as the vampire's profile came all too easily to her mind.
"ARRGH!" she fairly shouted, drawing strange looks from several people nearby, but Kat didn't care. Fixing each woman with a glare, she repeated her earlier protestations through clenched teeth. "I do not now, nor will I ever, have the hots for Angel!"
Mumbling something under her breath that sounded to Kat's ears suspiciously like "methinks she protests too much," Willow resumed sipping her soda, her mind working overtime. She was pretty sure that Cordy had touched a nerve…it wasn't hard to see that, for some reason, Kat and Angel were very much interested in each other. 'Now how do I get them to see it?' the redhead mused silently. Slowly an evil thought wormed its way to the forefront, causing her lips to twitch. 'Bad Willow!'
Glancing down at her watch, Willow cried out in dismay. "Oh no!" When Kat and Cordelia looked at her in confusion, the redhead explained. "I promised Angel I would stop by the butchers and get him some blood, but I have to go tutor a guy in 10 minutes!" In truth, her tutoring session wasn't for another hour, but she hoped Kat, and Angel, forgave her this one tiny white lie. "And he has no blood, so if I don't go he'll starve all night, and maybe he'll lose control and snack on some innocent passerby and it will all be my fault…" She fell silent as Kat touched her shoulder, hoping to calm the flustered girl down before she collapsed from lack of oxygen.
"Easy Wills, breathe once in awhile." Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Kat asked the question to which she dreaded an answer. "What do you want us to do about it?" The knot of unease in her stomach grew as Willow looked at the brunette silently, eyes big as saucers. "No." The redhead's eyes grew bigger, and her lower lip began to tremble. "NO! Don't make that face Wills." Kat struggled to call forth all of her resolve as Willow continued to plead silently with the brunette. "I am not going to bring that vampire blood, and that's final!"
* * * * * * * * *
'I'm going to kill her,' Kat growled silently, her arms laden down with the bags she had gotten from the meat market. She all but snarled at the man who had given her the blood bags, so foul a mood was she in thanks to a certain manipulative redhead. 'She is so going to pay for this!' The brunette continued to grumble to herself as she walked up the path to the mansion that afternoon, her face set in a dark look as she tried hard not to think of how odd her friends were.
"As if I have a thing for that brooding, pale-faced, guilt-ridden, gorgeous vampire," she mumbled, storming up to the mansion. As she raised her hand to knock on the door, Kat realized what she had said and swore. Viciously. 'Damn them!' Not waiting for a reply she grabbed the doorknob and twisted, not giving much thought to the fact that it was unlocked as she entered the darkened hallway, nearly slamming the door behind her in the process.
"Hello!" Kat ground out through her teeth, scowling as she entered the living room in search of the vampire that was at the heart of all her frustration. She didn't see anyone in sight, but her sensitive ears picked up sounds coming from upstairs. Assuming he was there she turned, stalking into the kitchen to put the blood away, grumbling under her breath about vampires, cheerleaders, and redheads with super powers of the manipulative variety as she went.
Once she had put the blood away Kat glanced around the kitchen, noting the lack of appliances and utensils in the place. So simple these touches were to a home that the brunette felt a pang of sadness to note there was only a mug by the sink, obviously for drinking his cup of blood. Slowly she frowned again, shaking her head as she tried to remember she was mad at the vampire for making her friends think she liked him. Resuming her litany, Kat moved about the kitchen, fixing a mug of blood in the microwave for said vampire even as she cursed his sad puppy-brown eyes.
* * * * * * * * *
Angel sighed in pleasure as the heat of the shower beat down on his chilly neck. Leaning into the spray, he closed his eyes, trying for perhaps the hundredth time that day not to think about the mystery that was Kat. Ever since that night he had patrolled with the fiery hellcat he had wondered about her, and about her reaction to his touch. He kept telling himself it was only concern for a friend, a friend who seemed to harbor the same pain and anguish that he himself suffered. Certainly it had nothing to do with the way her eyes flickered, changing color with her shifting moods. And it had nothing to do with her dainty figure, which made her look delicately strong when she battled the various demons the hellmouth threw at her. Not to mention the way she twirled her silky hair in her fingers, sucking on her lower lip in a habit she had picked up from Willow…
Groaning, the vampire turned off the shower, shaking droplets out of his hair as he tried to shake loose his thoughts. 'I am not interested in the kitten,' he repeated over and over to himself as he stepped out of the shower. His eyes swept over the bathroom, searching for his towel before remembering that he had left it in the bedroom. Sighing, he reached for the doorknob, his preoccupation with his thoughts preventing him from realizing that someone else was in the house with him.
* * * * * * * * *
'I am not interested in the vampire, I am not interested in the vampire,' Kat thought as she carried the mug of blood towards the stairs, climbing them as she tried to locate said vampire. As she reached the top of the stairs she heard a door click open. Glancing up, she caught a glimpse of Angel as he stepped out of the bathroom, heading away from her in the direction of his bedroom. Her eyes grew wide, shifting in color as fast as a cyclone as she watched his beautifully formed backside move away from her. Blue, green, black, and red all flashed through her eyes as her mouth opened, an inarticulate squeak escaping her lush lips. So intently was she staring at his pale derriere and the large tattoo on his right shoulder blade she forgot all about the mug in her hands, which was currently hurtling towards the floor.
* * * * * * * * *
A soft sound behind Angel, followed by the sound of something breaking, caused the vampire to whirl around in surprise. At the end of the hallway stood the object of his thoughts, her mouth open as she stared at him strangely. She seemed close to hyperventilating, her chest heaving in the effort to breathe and her eyes nearly popping out of her pretty head. Angel idly noted the broken mug of spilled blood at her feet, his attention more firmly fixed on the brunette who was still trying to breathe normally, her eyes darting up to his face for a moment before trailing down his pale, dripping body. Only when her face flushed a lovely shade of scarlet did the vampire remember that he was nude, and currently giving the brunette a good view of his assets.
Thankful that he was unable to blush himself the vampire backed up as quickly as possible, nearly jarring himself on the bedroom door in the process. Quick as lightening his arm snaked out, shutting the door behind him with a loud thud! Taking in a deep, unneeded breath, Angel groaned and leaned against the door, closing his eyes and banging his head against the wood as mortification settled in. 'This is not good.'
From the silence on the other side of the door, he assumed that Kat had not moved yet. Opening his eyes, Angel glanced around the room quickly, almost frantic to find something clean to throw on so he could go back out there and see if she was still hyperventilating…or if she had just passed right out on the floor. As he grabbed a pair of black sweats, the flustered vampire cursed the unholy timing of the Hellmouth.
* * * * * * * * *
'Breathe Kat, breathe,' the brunette had tried to signal her brain for more oxygen, but the tantalizing view of Angel in all his glory had managed to short circuit her mind for the moment. It wasn't until he had slammed the bedroom door closed that she had snapped out of her stupor, just barely managing not to lick her lips and sigh as her mind replayed that juicy moment over and over for her viewing pleasure.
Taking a step back, Kat winced as she heard porcelain breaking under her boot. Glancing down in dismay, she noted the mug she had been carrying laid now in pieces at her feet. 'So much for breakfast in bed…oh, I did NOT want to go there.' Groaning in embarrassment, the petite brunette did the only thing she could do…she ran back down the stairs and out the front door before Angel could come back out of the bedroom.
* * * * * * * * *
Satisfied that he looked somewhat presentable in his black sweats and tee, Angel took a deep breath and, combing his spiky hair with one hand, opened the door to the hallway. "Kitten?" he called out softly, scanning the area in search of the brunette. Frowning, he headed downstairs, searching for her all over. As he entered the kitchen the vampire realized she must have run off.
Sighing heavily, the vampire put both arms on the kitchen counter, his head buried in them as his mortification over the scene that had just occurred returned full force. 'Great, just great. First I can't stop thinking about the little hellcat, and then she walks in on me like that!'
Moving back up the stairs, Angel hissed as he felt a sharp pain in his foot. Twisting it so he could get a better look, the vampire frowned as he saw a splinter of porcelain embedded in the sole of his foot. 'And now I'm bleeding because she broke my mug.' Sighing once more, the vampire set to digging the shard out of his foot.
'What else can go wrong?'
* * * * * * * * *
Across town Kat leaned up against the wall of a building, trying to catch her breath as her mind ran a marathon of thoughts, all of them regarding Angel and his natural state. Her face continued to flush as she tried and failed to get those wonderful, inappropriate images out of her head.
"ARGH!" she shrieked, causing several passersby to glance her way in alarm. 'I'm going insane, that must be it. I must be completely 'round the bend to keep picturing Angel like that, naked, in his hallway.' Her embarrassment increased as she remembered the broken mug on the floor. Burying her face in her hands, she moaned. 'And not only do I have to practically, better make that blatantly, ogle the guy in his own home, but I break probably his only mug in the process! I am so screwed.'
As the brunette lowered her hands from her still flaming cheeks, her eyes caught on a sign across the street. First confusion, then interest, and finally delight crossed over her delicate features. Letting out a small cry of happiness, Kat darted across the street, weaving around the cars that zipped by, to the place that offered her some hope of salvation. As she entered the building, a sales boy nearby came over, pasting a smile on his face.
"Welcome to the House of Mugs, can I help you?"
Smiling her biggest smile, Kat sighed in relief. "Actually, I think you can…"