The One Who Was Lost

Wesley is off his (more extended than intended) hiatus. The mun apologizes for the long delay and thanks the mods at theatrical_muse for their patience and understanding.

319 - Friday

I became aware of the phenomenon of "date night" not long after I first arrived in Sunnydale. It was my first week in the States and I was determined to establish myself as an authority figure for both Buffy and Faith and, I suppose, make good on the trust that the Council had shown in giving me the assignment. With all the group gathered in the library, I began mapping out a training schedule for the Slayers and when I got to Friday nights, the idea was met with outright disgust. Giles, of course, had seen the training plan and had neglected to mention this possibility to me.

( Postponement )

(412)

OOC Note: This is an RP-based prompt. The Gwen referenced is _freaksrus.

313 - Write about something old, something new, or something borrowed.

There are dozens of new things around my apartment these days, although if I were to be strict about the definitions of things they would not be so much new as, I suppose, newly noticed.

( A new breeze has blown in )

(382)

OOC Note: Based on RP.

301 - Wake up.

First oblivion, then existence. I knew at once what had happened, and I had a single reaction:

"Bastards."

The person-- no, it wasn't a person in the least, in point of fact, but a visible manifestation of the Senior Partners' wishes to communicate with their employees. The manifestation standing before me pursed its meticulously coloured lips in a bemused, condescending expression that I knew far too well.

"Now Wesley, you know it just isn't good form to talk about your former-- and, as it turns out, current-- employers like that."

( In perpetuity )

(561)

OOC Note: Immediately precedes the Angel: After the Fall storyline. Only canon characters are referenced in this response.

294 - Passing

( Always a bridesmaid )

(531)

290 - You pass a complete stranger on the street and notice they are crying. What do you do?

I gave her a weapon.

I should probably clarify that, shouldn't I?

( Recruiter )

(478)

284 - Talk about a time you were forced out of something.

My parting of the ways with the Watchers Council is, I must confess, not my only experienced with being sacked from an occupation. There was a time, about a year after my arrival in Los Angeles, when Cordelia, Gunn and I were unceremoniously jettisoned from our positions with Angel Investigations and sent on our less-than-merry ways. Naturally, the most painful part of the firing was that it came at the hands of Angel himself.

( Out )

(381)

280 - What are you thinking?

I'm brooding.

No comments, please. I do it well and like any other behaviour that has been formed by constant use and practise, it's a habit for me, something nearly instinctual by now. While I have made a great deal of progress towards not being constantly engaged in brooding, it is not something gotten rid of so easily.

At some point or another, I have seen every one of my friends shed their blood in the service of the greater good. With few exceptions, nearly all of the individuals who come down on our side of the battle against the dark supernatural elements of the world are mere mortals, subject to all the frailties and vulnerabilities of any other human body. Meanwhile, many of our antagonists are of demonic extraction, capable of withstanding dozens of times the punishment as we, and equipped to deal just as much damage, if not more.

When one of us is hurt and if that injury is of sufficient severity, there is nearly always a period of introspection that follows. The damaged party, while in recovery, is all but required to take stock of the circumstances that led to their situation and of the world into which they've chosen to throw themselves. Almost always, there is doubt in the sanity or the ultimate effectiveness of the fight, and eventually a hesitation to return to it.

Most often, at least with the individuals with whom I have become privileged to work, the crises of faith are brief and superficial. Mere physical inconvenience is not enough to sway them from whatever path they have chosen for themselves. Once the body is mended-- if not before-- the spirit is willing, and they are back in the fight.

It having recently been my misfortune to "take one of the team" as it were, this has been my regularly scheduled time of contemplation. And now that formality is completed, I believe it is time to return to work.

(328)

276 - Are you an only child? Write about your siblings or lack thereof.

There were no other children in the Wyndam-Pryce household. In fact, I suppose if I were in a particularly melancholy mood, I might characterise my upbringing as there having been no children at all in that household. From my earliest memories, Father was insistent that I learn responsibility and the absolute supremacy of duty an honour above all things. I had a family name to protect and to do proud, and he was damned if I was going to become a man who did anything but.

From time to time when I was young, I did imagine that it might be a fine thing to have an older brother. I didn't only wish for a play companion, but for a mentor who could understand what I was going through and guide me through my more difficult times. An older brother, I believed, would know how best to be the kind of son that Father would value.

I suppose part of me wondered if having a sibling would also mean that when Father's ire was descending, it would be at least somewhat divided.

Having been around other individuals with elder siblings, especially those with older brothers and sisters involved in the same pursuits as the younger, I sometimes find myself glad I did not have one. So many of them found troubles with following in the footsteps of exceptional older siblings, standing in their shadows.

I had enough trouble for myself without having someone standing before me and setting an even more difficult example to emulate.

It's unclear whether the particulars of my sibling-free upbringing have contributed to my current personality and behaviours the way other influences have, although I do think it's an interesting question.

(285)

270 - Thirteen

Superstition is a curious thing. There are a great number of individuals in the world who do not believe in a higher power. A great deal more than that, while stating a belief, do not in practice hold that a higher power has any direct influence on their day-to-day lives, that there is no grand chessmaster guiding, influencing or even observing our tiny mortal movements.

And yet, many of these people throw spilt salt over their shoulders. They avoid cracks in the sidewalk or swing wide to avoid stepping underneath ladders. They exercise greater caution with their lives on Friday the thirteenth. Superstitions can still affect them.

( Creatures of habit )

(361)