author: Lucinda
rating: pg13
A Cat's Tale #14: Unquiet Walk
main characters: Vic & Cordelia, mention of Willow
disclaimer: Cordelia belongs to Joss, Vic belongs to Marvel
distribution: with the previous Cat's Tale stories
notes: Vic & Cordy's date
Vic felt nervous, uncertain what to do or what was expected. He knew how to kill people, how to infiltrate secured areas, how to fight, and it worked well against most demons. But this was entirely different. None of that would help him get through this.
He had a date with Cordelia. Part of him worried that she was too young. Another part contemplated some of the things that he could remember doing and counted the possibility to dating or having sex with an underage but consenting girl as so far down the scale in comparison that it would be just fine. But a third part worried that he'd been reading all the signals wrong, and that she wasn't interested, or at least that she was unwilling to act on it.
"Any ideas?" He asked Willow, feeling out of his element and nervous.
"Well, so maybe a nice walk somewhere? You can see if things...well, if they might work out for the short run at least. Maybe you can ask what she wants from you, from this." Willow shook her head, clearly uncertain of everything. "It's sort of one of the light date things people can do."
"I can take a nice walk in the woods." He grinned, already feeling a bit less nervous about the whole situation.
She pulled out her math book, and sighed. "Okay. Umm, good luck, and I hope that you have a good time with Cordelia."
He left the house, feeling vaguely guilty and at the same time confident that Willow had learned enough to be okay sitting in her own house for a few hours. She'd survived just fine before he'd arrived, she would be fine while he had his sort of date.
He could smell Cordelia before he saw her, some sort of floral blend shampoo and vanilla and strawberry lip gloss. She smelled a bit nervous, which actually made him feel a bit better. He moved closer, so that he could see her, and spoke. "Cordelia."
"Oh!" She jumped, startled by his arrival. "Don't you make any noise?"
"Do I need to?" He stepped closer, reaching out to brush her cheek. Her skin was soft, and her eyes were pretty.
Leaning into his touch, she sighed. "Mmm. It might be nice. Enough that it doesn't scare five years away when you show up."
He chuckled, and rubbed his finger over her cheek. "Soft skin... I'll try not to scare you too much then."
"So, shall we go for a walk?" She raised one eyebrow, a smile on her lips. "We can talk some, get to know each other a little."
They walked for a while, the air fresh, smelling of growing things, the sea air, and the local wildlife. "That might be hard." For a few more steps, he was quiet before continuing. "My earlier memories are gone, before about fifteen years ago."
"Everything?" She sounded shocked. "Your parents, school, everything?"
"There's a few feelings, like a place looking familiar, or the idea that something was done better elsewhere. I must have traveled a lot. Dreams sometimes, but those fade." He shrugged, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the absence of memories. Everybody else had their memories, had a past, but not him.
"So, do you think you've been in Sunnydale before?" Her hand had moved to hold his, and she was walking close enough that their bodies brushed against each other. Her scent said that she was interested, but not ready for some of the passion that he'd wondered about.
"I don't think so." He savored the feeling of her hand in his, thinking that maybe this was what normal felt like. "It's got a few things to make it enjoyable."
"Would one of those things be me?" Her voice had a small quaver to it, almost concealed uncertainty.
He felt his eyebrows lift. Could she be just as uncertain what would happen between them as he was? "You are."
Something hissed in the underbrush.
Glancing towards the noise, he felt the urge to growl back. "What now? Not a vampire in the sunshine..."
"I don't know." Cordelia smelled afraid. "There's a lot of dangerous things in Sunnydale that aren't vampires."
The thing could probably smell her fear. With a clacking noise, it lunged out of the undergrowth, scuttling with hairy, jointed legs. As it charged forth, it resembled a spider grown to the size of a large dog, and probably as big around as he could spread his arms.
Vic hoped it wasn't venomous, that would itch.
Cordelia screamed, a high, painfully piercing sound.
He growled, slashing at the giant spider thing with his claws, part of him wanting to kill the damn thing for interrupting, and part of him just wanting Cordelia to stop screaming. As his claws raked over its body, the spider thing screamed as well, an oddly echoed sound. It also battered at him with those many legs, each one feeling like a fist pounding against his guts.
By the time it was dead, blood had splattered everywhere. He could feel the bruises all over his legs and stomach, and his arm stung where it had bit him. His head hurt from all the screaming. He was pretty sure that there were more than eight legs, though he didn't worry about counting them.
The pleasant mood had been ruined. Cordelia looked a little green and a lot nervous. "Maybe we should get out of the woods now? What if there are more of them?"
"Alright." He'd sighed, certain that the afternoon was ruined.
She kept trying to wipe away the blood spatters as they walked back to where she'd left her car. "Giant spider demons in the woods. Yuck."
"It didn't hurt you, did it?" He looked at her, concerned.
Her smile was a bit weak and shaky. "It scared me, and I think the dress is ruined, but I'm not hurt."
Vic offered a small smile of his own, not wanting his teeth to scare her. "Good."
"Maybe next time we should just go to the beach?" She muttered.
He felt warm inside at that. "Beaches are good."
"Okay." She smiled, and stood on her toes, kissing his cheek lightly. "We'll figure something out later, okay?"
It was only as she drove away that he realized he had no idea when 'later' would be.
end ACT 14: Unquiet Walk.
