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Angel and Faith learn more about Fiore over pizza
5/1/2017 6:00 PM
Hyperion Hotel San Francisco
The Hyperion Hotel[]
The lights are on, illuminating the area.
The California-Spanish building known as the Hyperion Hotel was built in the 20s. Through the cast iron gates from the sidewalk is a small front courtyard with a rectangular fountain and a mythological figure holding a bowl from which water flows. Greenery frames the walls and a large set of glass double doors open into a high ceilinged lobby. Dark red carpet descends the four steps to the lobby floor and climb the two sets of stairways that lead to the second floor. The green marble floors are accented with wavy red inserts, as are the walls have a complimentary red border running their length. A set of doors identical to those of the entrance lead to a small enclosed garden.
Cream-colored pillars line two sides of the room, holding up the second-floor balconies that look out onto the lobby and creating arches. Underneath one of them is a large plate glass window that looks into the hotel office - now used as the office and nerve center of Angel Investigations. Nearby, there's a wraparound counter with dark wood paneling and a top the same color as the floor. Behind it are filing cabinets and a pair of desks pushed together. A navy blue circular couch harkening back to a 50s design sits near the back of the lobby. A large wooden, glass-doored cabinet pushed up against the wall holds a large assortment of weapons.
Outside, it's cloudy and mild.
It's pizza time! Even if one of the people sitting around can't actually enjoy the pizza, he's aware the Slayers will have no trouble whatever polishing that pizza off with room to spare. And it's good to see them enjoying themselves.
Of course Fiore would be summoned by the siren call of the pizza. There's no way she could have smelled it all the way up in her room, could she? Slayers were powerful, but the enhanced senses is really more something that their prey would have moreso than a Slayer. Nonetheless, the siren call of the pizza has attracted a Fiore! Wherever the pizza's at, Fiore appears! By normal means, of course; she hasn't learned to teleport. "Aha," she declares. "I thought I smelled pizza." She didn't, actually. Not until she got close enough, that is.
Faith, leaning back in a chair. "Pizza, and plenty of it." She's already snagged a slice herself and munches on it as, basically, punctuation. Seeming quite relaxed for now.
"We knew we'd have multiple Slayers taking bites out of it, so we have a couple extra larges." 3 of them, in fact, so the rest of them can have some too. Fortunately, Slayer metabolism makes calories things only other people have to worry about. "Grab some slices."
"Cool beans," Fiore notes. She will indeed welcome herself to a slice. Or two. Because yes, Slayers and that metabolism. She probably eats like a Hobbit anyway. She also greets Faith with a grin and a wave. Thankfully BEFORE she takes a huge bite out of a slice of pizza. Also pull a chair over to sit in. She has a habit of sitting straddle the back of a turned-around chair.
Faith eats like a hobbit, yes. "So...what's going on with you, Fiore?" Things have been crazy lately, but she isn't sure she wants to involve the junior TOO much in the entire Beacon Hills mess.
Angel actually stays fairly quiet but, "For all that you've started training, we haven't really learned a whole lot about you or your life. I'm kinda curious."
"Not a whole lot, actually," Fiore replies to Faith, in between bites of pizza. "Still been doing my courier bit, killing vampires when I find them. Same stuff, different day, y'know?" Nomf. Angel's statement prompts Fiore to pause, and blink at him. Which is kind of silly-looking, since she's half-bitten into a piece of pizza meanwhile, and just freezes like that. Eventually she finishes the bite. "What do you wanna know?" she asks.
"Nothing you aren't comfortable telling us, but..." Faith shrugs. "I've got things in my past I'd rather not talk about."
Angel halfsmiles, "They tell me I'm a good listener. And not the best talker. So...just throw stuff out there. Tell us about yourself."
Fiore shrugs a bit. "Not much to tell. Mom died when I was little, Dad's a cop, he doesn't like me running all over the city but there's nothing he can do about it." She smirks, and with a bad... actually it's not clear exactly what kind of accent it is. German? Austrian? Either way, she quotes, "I kom from da nowhere, I go to da noplace, und here I am'." Fiore chuckles. "Yeah, like I said... not much to tell."
"Nobody comes from nowhere." Faith shrugs. "But they don't call me the Dark Slayer for nothing."
Her dad being a cop catches Angel's attention, "You haven't told him what you are, right? Most Slayers tell their families eventually, but it's good to prepare parents for that slowly."
"I was being silly," Fiore notes, to Faith's words. "I was born here in the city. Typical kid, no big deal." Looking at Angel, "Nope. He doesn't really need to know. He was always kind of protective of me, and he's already thrown a massive conniption fit about me being a courier. I imagine he'd have an aneurysm if he found out I was killing vampires."
Faith Lehane nods. "He may know more than most, though. Cops sometimes do, if they pay attention."
Angel frowns, "That's almost the problem. The better the cop, the more likely he is to successfully investigate something bullets won't kill." And that may lead to Fiore getting orphaned.
Fiore winces at the observation. "...Yeah, I've thought about that. More than once," she admits. "Can't bring myself to go and tell him, though. I don't want him to think I'm nuts, or I've been hanging out with 'crazies' so much that it's infected me."
"And I'm definitely not the best person to help. Cops tend not to trust me." With reason.
"We cleared that up. Moe than we ever thought possible. But yeah, that's not about to inspire trust probably. That'd take more time, and often it never comes." But that's how it goes, sometimes.
Fiore actually smirks a little at Faith's mention. "Me either, oddly enough," she notes. "They don't tend to like people who can disappear over a collection of buildings if she doesn't want to answer questions." Angel's words get a nod. Now, she doesn't know what Faith has against cops, or vice versa, so she's not going to comment. Instead she notes, "My dad's the kind that won't believe something 'till he sees it. Problem is, when he sees it, it'll probably be the last thing he EVER sees."
"Unfortunately, it's hard to convince the heavily skeptical." Because if they could, they could probably keep him safer. Probably. "And we cleared it up, doesn't mean they trust me."
"Actually, that's partly on purpose. The Fae are going to some lengths to make sure humanity doesn't find out about certain things in general. The skepticism humanity feels is part of their efforts to make sure the unseen realm stays unseen."
Fiore nods. "That's what I figured, that somebody was making it hard for the normal people to figure stuff out," she notes. "I've heard it called 'the veil' before, but I don't know how accurate that is. Still. Doesn't make the problem with my dad any easier."
"Fairies are good at that kind of thing. Illusions. Pretty stuff. You have to watch them a little...they don't quite abide by our morality, but they can be very good friends," Faith muses. "No, it doesn't."
Angel agrees, "They've been maintaining the veil all this time. And maintain it still. And enforce it to everyone else who knows out there." Mmmm. "Well, even Joyce found out eventually, and she's no cop. So...it's only a matter of time. Parents catch on eventually."
"Decent ones do anyway," Faith murmurs, a dark look in her eyes for a moment.
Fiore nods. "Most accounts of the Fae I've seen, even fictional, sort of warn away from too many dealings with them," she agrees. "If you're not careful you can end up in trouble." Thought she blinks at Angel's words. "It's actually called 'the veil'?" she asks, a bit incredulous. Though she winces a little at the realization that she IS going to have to tell her father sooner or later. "Any ideas?" she asks.
"It's not really called the 'veil.' It's called the Unseelie Accords. That's the great agreement supernatural societies have to sign to keep the supernatural world out of mortal eyes. The Fae simply enforce those Accords." And that's how that works. "And then, as the Spring Knight, I can be roped in on that." The truth of Angel's extra status.
Faith Lehane nods. "And if you're ever anywhere and see it marked as Accorded Neutral Ground...no fighting. At all. Or whoever is in charge of the joint WILL bounce you. And they're likely to be somebody who can."
"Oh, gotcha," Fiore notes, as Angel explains. The whole 'Spring Knight' thing isn't something she gets, but she's not going to ask about it. Really isn't any of her business. Faith adds an explanation of 'Accorded Neutral Ground', and Fiore nods. "Makes sense. I'll try not to get bounced. I'm usually pretty easygoing 'till someone else starts a fight."
"It's easy enough to avoid fights. Those places are well known as neutral ground, and people who go there are usually there to relax, knowing their enemies dare not make a move in such territory. The downside, of course is simple. It's true no being will do anything to you on neutral ground...but once you leave, you're fair game for any enemies you make. So don't use it as a shield." Another point Angel has to make.
Faith Lehane nods. "And always keep your eyes open when you leave, just in case." Faith shrugs. "Best to keep your eyes open anyway."
"Yeah, that would just be stupid, to verbally harass someone in a neutral place and then expect it to stick when I leave," Fiore agrees. "Like I say, I try to be chill with everybody unless they're not chill with me." Faith's words get a chuckle. "That's good advice for anyone, anywhere, anytime," she confirms. "Supernatural or mundane, that's always good advice."
Angel almost sighs. "You'd be surprised how many people forget that one. We've already had to pull a couple of the other Juniors out of the fire for doing exactly that. One of them would almost certainly have died if we hadn't gotten there in time."
"Right...at least you have the sense to think about who you might piss off." After all, at least one of those places is run by the largest were around...
Fiore raises an incredulous eyebrow at Angel. "Yeesh. You'd think that'd be common sense," she notes. "Sadly, I've noticed that common sense isn't all that 'common'."
Angel can only shake his head. "Common sense is the most uncommon thing in the world. It's the saddest life lesson you'll ever have."