Angel watched from beneath his eyelids as Willow toasted her bagel. 'Alright, Angel, cut it out. You two are apparently friends, plus you're supposedly in love with the Slayer. Geez, a Slayer? Of all people, you idiot. Look how red her hair is... STOP IT!' Willow was completely unaware of her companion's inner monologue as she opened the fridge door.
"Okay, Angel, what's your fancy?" Angel, who had been admiring her tapering fingers, brought his attention to what she was saying.
"Fancy? What?" "For breakfast. There's some A negative, B positive, and oh- there's one bag left of O negative. Which vintage do you consider appropriate for this morning?"
She grinned up at him and his heart melted. "Um, I don't know. I haven't eaten human blood since before the curse-" he paused and shook his head.
"Okay, that I can remember, I haven't eaten human blood since before the curse. Why don't you choose for me?"
Willow nodded. She raised an eyebrow haughtily, and with a snooty maitre d' voice, pulled out three bags.
"This morning, monsieur, you have a splendid selection. The A negative has a delicate flavor, simple yet... intriguing. The B positive is more robust, definitely the heartiest, the earthiest of the three. Then there is the O negative, which has a remarkably complex composition. Not quite as pedestrian as the universal O positive, yet with a characteristic flavor that doesn't require a discriminating palate to appreciate. Now of course, I would recommend all three, but confidentially," she lowered her voice to a stage whisper and leaned closer to him, "I am of the opinion that the O negative is eminently suitable. Monsieur has been well pleased by it in the past."
She picked up the bag and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. Angel couldn't pour, since he was still laughing too hard to even stand up without the support of the counter.
She handed Angel his glass just as her bagel popped up in the toaster. He was about to take a sip, when he realized the sight of someone downing a glass of blood might not be that appetizing for a human. "Would you rather I drank this somewhere else?"
Willow looked at him in surprise. "It's sweet of you to ask, Angel, but I've been feeding you your meals for awhile now. I'm not squeamish anymore, so chow down."
Angel gave up his efforts to try and ignore her loveliness. Even in her bleary-eyed sleep-tousled state, she maintained her luminescence. Her eyes sparkled, a result of her happiness at Angel's awakening. She was a bit subdued from the shock of the memory loss, but hope that he would remember everything had restored the spring in her step. She was utterly and undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he had ever... "What? Angel, what is it?"
Startled out of his reverie, Angel realized he had been staring. Again. Willow was still looking at him quizzically.
"Sorry, Willow. I didn't mean to stare- I was, well, thinking." "'Bout what?"
'Um how incredibly gorgeous you are. No, that won't work.' "Well, it's sort of strange to taste human blood again." "Oh, that. Well, normally, you don't. I mean, you normally drink animal blood, but since you were sick, we figured you should get nothing but the best."
"But don't humans need this blood? Couldn't it be put to better use?" "What would be a better use than helping you get better?" she asked sweetly. Angel's heart no longer beat, but if it did, it would have skipped several.
"In any case, that blood would never have gone to humans anyway. It's from Willy's."
"Willy's?" "Yeah, you know-" she broke off, shaking her head ruefully. "No, you don't. Hey, I can forget stuff too. He runs a bar for vamps, sells information, gets beat up a lot."
"Why would other vampires buy blood? Half the thrill of feeding comes from the hunt..." he trailed off, looking into the dregs of his glass, refusing to meet Willow's gaze. Her musical laughter shocked him into looking back at her.
"I'm sorry, Angel. It isn't that it's funny, but- you seem to want to conceal the fact that you're a vampire, that you have vampiric instincts. You don't have to feel ashamed about it. You didn't choose it, and you manage to fight your nature. Besides, I don't doubt for a moment that evil is enjoyable. The fact that it's hard to give up makes your triumph that much more impressive." She grinned, then jumped to her feet. "Enough reassurance talk! We are going to take a tour of Sunnydale, and hope to high heaven that something jogs that sticky memory of yours. C'mon, let's get dressed."
Angel followed her pajama clad figure out the kitchen door, wondering if he had realized how lovely she was before he lost his memory. He wouldn't have thought it was possible not to, but he was in love with someone else.
Well, he had been.