Suite 518/520, Monday morning

[demonbelthazor]

Homecoming had gone off without a hitch. Almost. After picking up Veronica, he'd ordered flowers for Phoebe. Willow and Hermione had provide the pumpkin coach. He'd borrowed Old Man from Pippi to pull it. And Isabel had transformed Phoebe's shoes into glass slippers. He'd left a note for Phoebe along with the jewelry he'd bought her to go downstairs, where her horse-drawn carriage had taken her to dinner, and then to the Homecoming dance. There were pictures and dancing, and Phoebe was having the time of her life.

Then he'd run into Logan at the punchbowl which ended in a fight that fortunately for Logan had been interrupted by walter and the Doctor. Another few minutes and he might have killed him, and strangely that thought didn't bother him as much as it should have.

Saturday he'd had detention that Phale had given him after he threatened Joxer in Prophecy. The moron had it coming, though; Bel refused to back down from that. Hence...detention. It wasn't a bad detention, since there was fighting, then Dr. Wilson had talked to him over lunch, and then more fighting. He still bore the injuries from that fight, knife slashes across his arms and chest. But fighting felt good.

Then he'd gotten a message from Angel to meet him at J,GoB. He debated not going, figuring Angel was just going to be pissed about the fight with Logan, and he didn't have much to say to him anyway. But he went. He'd felt angry and defensive, and when Angel made him promise to call if he was having difficulties, he wasn't sure he'd actually do it. Where before he'd wanted nothing but Angel's approval, now he just felt bitterness.

The next morning, he'd gone to Luke's for breakfast and ended up accidentally punching Cally in the face. He felt bad about it and took her home, but part of him worried that maybe it hadn't been an accident. Maybe he hit her on purpose.

Finishing up the weekend had been running into Piper in the park and taking Veronica home -- who had proceeded to try to get him to talk to her about what was gonig on. How could he tell her that everything was spinning out of control? The only one thing he was sure of anymore was his love for Phoebe, and from what he'd been seeing of the future, maybe that wouldn't even be enough to save him.


[ooc: Open for the girlfriend or anyone who wants to knock on the door, otherwise just a linkdrop.]

Comments

[demonbelthazor]

"I don't walk away from fights," Cole growled.

[sensethevisions]

"Why not?" She demanded calmly. "Sometimes, it takes a stronger person to walk away from a fight than it does to throw a punch."

[demonbelthazor]

"That's not who I am," he said simply.

[sensethevisions]

"Niether is being without your powers," she said softly. "Yet, you're asking me about stripping you of your powers. The thing is, Cole, walking away from a useless fight doesn't make you any less of who you are." She gave him a serious look. "It doesn't make you less of a man."

[demonbelthazor]

"Yeah, well maybe without my powers I won't want to fight as much," he challenged. "If the demon is gone...."

[sensethevisions]

"Do you think only demons have trigger tempers, love?" She smiled at him slightly. "You've seen my temper."

[demonbelthazor]

"The demon makes it worse," Cole pointed out. "It's all about rage and power."

[sensethevisions]

"Logan's not a demon," she pointed out logically. "Where does his rage and the desire to have power over you come from?"

[demonbelthazor]

"I hate Logan," Cole muttered.

[sensethevisions]

"Why?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Because I do," Cole said, starting to grow irritated. "He's an asshole."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe sighed. "You're getting grumpy," she said quietly. "I'm trying to help trace this down and you're getting grumpy with me, love." She met his eyes seriously. "I'm asking these questions for a reason, Cole."

[demonbelthazor]

"Why?" Cole said. "I'm allowed not to like people."

[sensethevisions]

"Yes, but you're the one that thinks it's your demon form that is leading you to lose your temper and want to attack people," she pointed out. "Sometimes, even for a human, it helps to know what it is about an opponent that triggers our feelings about them."

[demonbelthazor]

"I hate Logan," Cole said flatly. "Simple as that. We've never liked each other and never will. And he started the fight by deliberately provoking me."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe realized that the line of questioning where Logan was concerned wasn't going to accomplish anything but make him more irritated. "Okay," she said softly. "Who else triggers your temper?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Anybody who threatens you or me," Cole said. "Or makes fun of me. Or Nadia."

[sensethevisions]

"Nadia?" There was confusion in her voice. "Why does one of my best friends trigger your temper?"

[demonbelthazor]

"She's a self-righteous bitch who thinks she knows what's going on in our relationship," Cole growled. "She keeps saying that I'm hurting you and treating you badly. Every time I see her she attacks me. She even hit me. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna punch her lights out just to shut her up."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe's eyes widened more and more as she listened to him talk about Nadia.

"Was this because of the whole kissing thing that caused problems with us?"

[demonbelthazor]

"She just won't let go of it," Cole said. "She's completely obsessed with us. Hey, not my fault her own relationship is unsatisfying or something, but I want her to butt the hell out of ours. Now. If I hear her screeching voice criticizing me one more time...."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe swallowed as she tried to figure out how she should respond to this without upsetting him more than he already seemed to be.

"If she upsets you that much, you should walk away -- not threaten to do something to her," she said logically. "Threatening to do something only leads to more trouble." She sighed softly. "I'll talk to her, Cole. I know she's just worried about me and she cares. She's not a bad person and she doesn't react well to people she cares about being hurt and upset."

[demonbelthazor]

"I try to ignore her but she won't stop yapping in my ear like a demented puppy," Cole said. "I certainly don't go seeking out her company. Yeah, if you wanna tell her to back the fuck off and get off my ass, go for it."

[sensethevisions]

"Demented..." Phoebe ran a hand over her eyes. "Please tell me you haven't called her that or any other names?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Called her worse than that," Cole muttered. "Because she is."