Prompt 70- A bird in the hand - BtVS

[thismaz]

Right, that's me off. I'm going to see sparrow2000 tomorrow, so goodness knows when I'll get a chance to read the other Taming stories that I'm following, but I'll get there in the end.

Title: A bird in the hand
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 70 - Arcane
At: tamingthemuse
Rating: Pg
Summary: Part 9 of my pre-season one story, which I'm still calling ice-cream 'verse and includes Xander, Willow, Jesse, Angel and Spike, although it's mostly Xander and Spike at the moment.
Word Count: 2,060
Previous parts, in reverse order, are here or in my memories. Disclaimer: here.
Now beta'd by the wonderful laazikaat



9. A bird in the hand

Saturday

Spike was woken by the knocking on his new front door. For a moment he was disoriented, which he later decided was forgivable, since the last time he'd had a front door that anybody actually knocked on was over a hundred years ago. He dragged himself out of the bed he'd only fallen into a scant, he looked at the godawful clock on the wall as he shuffled down the hall and raised an eyebrow as he did the calculation, five hours ago. Okay, not so bad, but 11.30 was still no time to be up and about. At this time of year, it was still nine hours until sunset.

Peering through the spy hole he groaned at the sight of that damned boy on his porch, bouncing nervously up and down as he waited. Spike rested his forehead against the solid wood and considered opening the door, dragging the kid in by the scruff of his neck and having himself an early breakfast, before falling back into bed for another three hours, at least. The image was so appealing that he almost gave in to it but, just as he reached for the door knob, he remembered Dru and the reason he was in Sunnydale without her and the fact that Xander was the only chink he had yet seen in Angelus' front.

It had taken months of tracking down scrolls and books full of often unintelligible, and usually irrelevant, arcane rubbish to find the possible cure for Dru's condition. Then it had taken another couple of months to locate her sire. Now he was almost there. He just needed to work out how to get the final ingredient he needed for the spell.

Twenty years of intimate experience of his grandsire, during the first years of his death, had taught Spike to read Angelus' moods. Angelus, in the days when they had been a family, was occasionally reckless, usually fun, often authoritarian and sometimes, when he really set his mind to something, exceedingly stubborn. Those were the times when Spike and Dru shut up and knuckled down to do whatever Angelus had decided. Even Darla tended to go along with Angelus' plans when he got that look - the same one he was wearing when he told Spike he wouldn't leave Sunnydale to help Dru. Well, if Angelus wouldn't help voluntarily, he'd have to be persuaded. With a sigh, Spike plastered a smile on his face and opened the door.

"Xander! Hi! You found me. Come in, come in." Stepping back, he allowed the child entry and closed the door behind him. "Hope you weren't knocking long. Come in to the kitchen and I'll make some coffee."

An expression of almost comical embarrassment spread across Xander's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you? Listen, I can go. We can do this another time..." He trailed off, reluctantly.

With a casually dismissive wave of his hand, Spike replied, "Nah! Don't worry about it. 'S just that I got the lease sorted late yesterday and then I couldn't wait to move in, so I was late to bed. Really, I should thank you. I don't like sleeping the whole day away." He did a quick mental check, reminding himself that the place was indeed presentable for a human to visit without being alarmed by any left-overs, and headed to the kitchen. "Think I need to get an alarm clock," He said, over his shoulder, scratching his nails through his hair and giving a theatrical yawn. "You usually up at the crack of dawn?"

Still slightly nervous, Xander followed Spike to the back of the house. "No, this is early for me," he said. "But I got your note when I went to the motel and you said you'd be in all day, so..." He stopped uncertainly in the doorway and watched as Spike poured water into the coffee machine, then he brightened. "Hey, I brought breakfast."

Turning, Spike gave him an encouraging smile. Really, it was a bit pathetic, the expression of hopeful eagerness, but Spike wasn't about to start looking this gift horse in the mouth, so he gestured towards the table. "That's good of you. Here, take a seat. I haven't had a chance to shop properly yet. Not even got milk. You okay with black?"

"Sure, yes, thanks. Umm, I mean, black's fine."

Reaching up into a cupboard for a couple of mugs, Spike closed his eyes and suppressed another sigh. 'You need this one,' he reminded himself. 'Not sure how, yet, but he's important. It's only ten hours. You learnt from the best and you've played a mark for longer than that, before. Just pull yourself together and concentrate.'

Coffee set to brew, he dragged out a chair and sat down. Meanwhile, Xander had emptied the contents of his backpack onto the table and Spike's eyes fixed on the pile of brightly coloured comics. Okay, so they were going to bond over picture books. If that's what it took, he could do that. He rubbed one hand across his eyes to force them clear and sat up, ready to be interested in whatever Xander was about to say.

Over a breakfast of bread and jam, Spike encouraged Xander to explain his love of comics and by the time he was on his third coffee the task of keeping his guest happily occupied was no challenge. It wasn't even a chore. The boy was naturally enthusiastic and that enthusiasm was infectious. He'd brought about twenty different comics with him and he spent the meal passing them to Spike, one at a time, pointing out the different artists and explaining which were best, and why.

By eating slowly Spike managed to stretch the meal out so it lasted more than an hour as he watched the boy relax and wax eloquent. Eventually however, he decided that they had exhausted the teaching part of the session and Xander was more than happy to acquiesce to his suggestion that they leave the tidying up and relocate to the living room, to read a few of the collection, taking more coffee and the box of biscuits with them.

The house was furnished in the typically haphazard manner of rented accommodation, with no style but with an eye to comfort, so the sofa was a huge four seater, dominating the small sitting room and swallowing them whole when they sat. The only addition Spike had insisted on was the large screen telly which occupied much of the remaining space. Xander's eyes went wide. "Wow!" he said as he gazed at it in awe. "Can we watch some TV? Do you get cable?"

Spike laughed. "'Course I do. Wouldn't have taken the place if it didn't have cable. But that's for later. I want to read some of these comics of yours first, see what all the fuss is about, eh?"

With a nod, Xander spread the comics out on the coffee table. "Here, try this," he said, passing one over. "I just got it last week and I've already read it, like, six times." Selecting another for himself, he toed his shoes off and mirrored Spike's position, leaning into the corner of the sofa, with his feet stretched out along the seat.

Spike suppressed a smile of satisfaction at the boy's obvious acceptance that this was a house where he could relax and do what he wanted, but he couldn't resist reinforcing the message. "Comfortable?" he asked.

With a suddenly nervous expression, Xander started to put his feet back on the floor, but Spike stopped him. "Hey, don't. 'S okay. Wasn't trying to tell you what to do. There's no rules in this house against putting your feet up."

With a smile of gratitude Xander relaxed again. "Umm, sorry. It's just, I suddenly remembered that Jesse's Mom doesn't let us do this. And Willow's Mom would have a fit if I even took my shoes off, so..."

Spike grinned at him. "Well, I ain't your mom, or theirs, so that's not a problem. You do what you want, mate." He pulled his knees up, rested the comic Xander had given him against his thighs and opened it, glancing up and catching Xander's eye as he did so, to emphasise the point.

The boy opened his mouth to say something, hesitated for a second, but true to form he couldn't keep his thoughts inside and there was a distinct note of envy in his voice when he said, "It must be so cool, having an apartment of your own, where no one tells you what to do, or to shut the noise down."

Spike laughed. "Live with your parents still, do you?" He gave a mock shiver. "You need to get out, mate. Live your own life." He cast his gaze around the room. "Can move in here, if you like. There's plenty of room for two. Would be nice to have a flatmate." He stopped as if embarrassed. "Umm, well, only if you wanted to, of course. I mean... the rent's covered, so it wouldn't cost you much." He paused as the boy's face flushed with the expected embarrassment and he began to squirm with indecision.

After a few moments, Xander seemed to pull himself together. He stilled, raised his head and looked straight across at Spike, holding his gaze, although his face flushed even more. "Wow! That's... Umm... Thank you. I mean... wow... even Willow never... but... but I can't...."

Deciding it was time to let the kid down gently, before he spontaneously combusted, Spike interrupted, "No, of course you can't. You don't even know me." He grinned. "I could be a serial killer, for all you know, who'll stab you in your sleep. Forget I said anything. It doesn't matter."

Xander's laugh turned slightly hysterical. "No, it's not that. It's just..." He took a deep breath. "You see... I'm actually only sixteen and I'm still in school, so I can't move out. And I know you thought I was older and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before, but it never came up and I didn't want you to think I was just a stupid kid, and I would love it if I could move in here, but I don't think my parents would let me, and even if they didn't notice at first, they'd be sure to notice eventually, and then... and then..."

His voice hitched as he appeared to run out of breath, so Spike pre-empted his attempt to gather more air into his lungs and continue, "Oh," he said. "Well, you're right, I did think you were older. But... that doesn't mean I'd think you were a kid, just because I found out." Injecting a note of sincerity into his voice, he went on. "I like you, Xander. You're my friend." He shrugged. "I'm over here, in a strange country, where I don't know anybody, and you..." He paused, as if thinking. "Well, you're my friend, alright? I don't care how old you are, or how young. And if you ever need a place to crash, well..." He left that hanging and changed tack. "Anyway, isn't there a rule, or something, that when you turn sixteen, you're not a boy anymore, but a young man? In the middle-ages, boys became men at fourteen and could inherit and go to war and get married, and stuff." He paused to assess the impact of his little speech. Xander was gazing at him with rapt attention, so he laid it on a bit thicker. "It's not years, it's whether you feel like you're old enough to be a man. Just because the government says you can't leave school, or whatever, doesn't mean you're not a man now." He stopped there, knowing that he'd buttered the boy up enough to make his point. Xander would remember this statement of Spike's faith in him and it would germinate and bloom in his subconscious, even if they never said anything on the subject again. He rather thought he wouldn't have to. He could already see the subtle changes in Xander's posture as he absorbed the concepts Spike had thrown so casually at him. There was no way the kid was going to do anything to lower himself in Spike's eyes after this.

With a private smirk, Spike returned to his comic book, while Xander sat frozen, gazing blindly into space.

Continued here.

Comments

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love this. Spike is just so damn Spike here... all about his own needs and his dark princess and his impatience. Xander has no idea how dangerous a game he's playing. But Spike doesn't either. The human Xander looks like shares a history with both Angel and Spike, and I have to wonder if he couldn't be a sort of a bridge here, giving Spike his sire back. Then again, maybe Spike will just realize how fun life is without Dru. OR maybe Dru will show up. Oh hell, I can't guess where this is going, but I"m going there with you!

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

No Xander has no idea at all. As for your speculations... *g* I will tease you by saying you are approaching my plans, in a couple, but only approaching - sort of close, but not touching?
Thank you for coming along for the ride. Your company is always appreciated.