Xander's room at the Arms, early Thursday Morning

[needsaparrot]

Right, this wouldn't be Xander pacing around, worrying about Bridge and Z and cursing the lack of new news, in between poking verrrrry carefully at the old news in his in-box in case something jumps out and bites him. Which hey, Fandom, always a possibility.

He was also hoping he might hear from somebody who'd be likely to understand how completely fraxx0red his brain was right about now.
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[OOC: For willbedone]

Comments

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

There came a knock-knock-knocking at his door.

[needsaparrot]

And that would be Xander getting up and going over to peer out the spyhole before opening it, because a) still from Sunnydale, and b) so not up to seeing anybody but a very specific handful of people at this point.

One of whom was standing in the hallway looking kind of short and bulbous because hey, spyhole.

He opened the door a crack. "Willow. Am I glad to see you. But--" Crap. He didn't have any better idea of how to prepare her for this now than he had when he'd called her yesterday. "--Um. Before you see me, you should probably know I'm a little... different."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

You really shouldn't try to get in the way of a determined redhead. Willow gave the door her best shove - granted she was weer and slighter than Xander - in an attempt to get inside and pounce on him with a hug.

[needsaparrot]

So much for preparation. Since Xander wasn't prepared for that -- God knows why, you'd think he would be after 26 years of knowing Willows -- the push knocked him back, though not, thankfully, onto his ass. The door opened.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow pounced upon him with a tight hug. "You're here! You're here and you're back and Bridge said you'd be gone for forever and I tried to write but it didn't go anywhere and I was really sad but then all these emails came from you in a big huge rush and yay for using my pencils and I told you Spike wasn't so bad and you're HERE and did you know your pirate costume stops at your nose?"

All in one breath even.

[needsaparrot]

Wow did that feel good. And strange. Stranger now than when she just looked years younger than the Willow back home.

"Sometimes I thought I'd be gone forever too," he admitted, and that wasn't something he'd say to more than... well, less than a handful of people.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"But you're back and that's good and you're staying!" Willow peered at him. "You are staying, right? Because Susan left this week and I'm already dealing with abandonment issues."

[needsaparrot]

"Susan?" Xander didn't know what to say to the other thing, when the him that had walked out of here six years ago was rolling his eyes and yelling OMGYES at him, and the him that got off a plane yesterday morning.... didn't even know if he could.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Peter's sister only not?" Willow said. "She went back to Narnia. Which is very nice by the way. I got to stay there over the holidays and we were there for months and it was only about a week here and nobody set me on fire and there was indoor plumbing which was a bonus and Peter even tournamented in my honor."

[needsaparrot]

"Doctor Pevensie. Right." It took him a second; it'd been six years, after all, and he was pretty sure he'd never actually talked to her while he was here. Then something else leaped out at him from the stream of words. "We were worried about somebody setting you on fire?"

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"They have witch issues over there," Willow said. "I'm trying to make inroads. I remain positive. Folks were very nice when I told them about Hanukkah."

[needsaparrot]

"Good call. Starting with Halloween probably a bad idea." Xander stroked his thumb across the tip of his nose, then touched the edge of his eyepatch. "Which, about the pirate costume."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Are you working for radio now?" Willow asked. "Because you don't actually have to wear a pirate costume, I've learned."

[needsaparrot]

"So Bridge just did that for-- oh. I said that out loud, didn't I." That would've been funnier if merely saying the name out loud didn't send another spear of worry through his gut.

"It's not a costume," Xander said gently, after a second.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Maybe if you added a puffy shirt?"

[needsaparrot]

"One of the options we considered when I lost the eye. Also the Special Forces look, but actually I seem to be one of those rare people that plaid's more slimming on than black." Sometimes you just have to say it, especially when up against the power of Willful Scooby Denial.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow blinked. And swallowed. Then gave him a look that was not unlike her Hanukkah Harry is real, right? expression.

[needsaparrot]

"It was a while ago," he said evenly, trying not to let the look on her face create a matching one on his, because he'd been in that loop before, kthx. "More than three years now."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"I..." Willow tried to keep it together. She could keep it together. "Um. Okay. So... how old are you now exactly and how did it happen?"

[needsaparrot]

"I'm twenty-six. It's... now, back home. Which lemme tell you, really wasn't expecting that. Guess I just figured we were always gonna be six years behind." Xander fiddled with the strap on the patch, tucking it closer to his left ear. "There was this guy-- you really wanna hear this?"

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow nodded, looking determined.

[needsaparrot]

"He was evil, and he had an evil thumb. That's pretty much the short version."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow couldn't hide her wince. She reached over to hold Xander's hand. "Did I hurt him a lot?"

[needsaparrot]

Oh, that wasn't a loaded question.

That wasn't Xander's other hand behind his back with his fingers loosely crossed, either. "Buffy got to him first."

Which wasn't a lie, and he was pretty sure Faith would forgive him the omission under the circumstances, but a good finger-cross when you're not being completely honest never hurts. Unless somebody's watching your fingers and then it's just dumb.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"I guess that's okay," Willow said. She still scooted closer though, as though being nearer would somehow comfort him retroactively.