End of Semester Drabbles [xxxHOLiC, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy X-2, Buffy ; PG]
Title: Losing Touch
Author: doumeki
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Characters/Pairing: Himawari, Doumeki
Wordcount: 503
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for myself for my second semester of straight As. ♥
The first thing she notices when he steps off the train is that he looks tired. The lines around his eyes look tighter every time she sees him, and there is a weariness that seems to be threatening to envelop him. She takes a step forward and smiles.
It takes a moment before he sees her, but she doesn’t mind. She knows that coming all the way out here is an imposition - he never says it, but she can tell by the way he surreptitiously glances at his wristwatch when they’re together. She is aware that it is brought on by his uneasiness from leaving Watanuki-kun alone and that she is not to blame, but she has learned to keep their meetings brief.
They leave the station and head towards a tea shop. She asks him about his classes and listens politely as he tells her about his professor. She laughs when appropriate and tells him that she has been quite well when he inquires. He looks at her impassively, almost as if he doesn’t believe her, but she continues to smile and he sighs a little and lets it drop.
She orders the strawberry chiffon and he orders the chocolate mousse.
He misses you.
This, too, is expected. She smiles a little and pushes the cake around her plate. I know. It’s said without satisfaction or expectation. It just is, and they have both accepted this, even if Watanuki-kun continues to try and try and try.
Doumeki-kun pulls out a wrapped package from his messenger bag and places it on the table. Sorry it’s late, he says, though his voice sounds less apologetic than it does resigned. Himawari chances a glance at his face. He looks more tired than when he stepped off of the train.
Silently, she unwraps the present and smiles sadly at the gloves. I’ll have to call him when I get home, she says quietly. Doumeki-kun just nods.
They leave shortly after. Doumeki-kun’s cake sits untouched on the plate.
She walks him back to the train station, hands wrapped in her brand new gloves. There are sunflowers on this year’s pair, she notices absently. She pretends not to notice that Doumeki-kun’s hands are bare.
Silently, he buys his return ticket.
You can stay here, if you’d like. She offers every time he comes.
I can’t. He declines every time she offers.
They say their goodbyes at the gate - Doumeki-kun promising to call once he gets back to the shop, Himawari promising that she’ll see them for Watanuki-kun’s birthday.
Doumeki-kun’s train is called to board, and he nods. She waves until she can’t see him anymore, feeling that much more disconnected from the people she loves. Instead of crying, she turns around and heads toward home.
She’ll call Watanuki-kun to thank him for the gloves and then go through her psychology text. She has a test in the morning, she realizes. Soon, it will be April, and she’ll be back where she belongs, even if only for a day.
Title: Fading Fast
Author: doumeki
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Rating: PG
Genre: Reflection
Characters/Pairing: Doumeki, Himawari
Wordcount: 721
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for iambickilometer for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
Two majors, the girls around her exclaim. Do you even have any free time?
Himawari just smiles and shifts the textbooks in her hands. She doesn’t tell them that she doesn’t want the free time, that she doesn’t want the time to think. The busier she is, the less she thinks about the lonely boy stuck in a shop that he can’t leave. The less she thinks of the steadfast man who never strays from the boy’s side.
No. She doesn’t want the time to think, so she piles on class after class. And if the homework takes all night to complete, then she doesn’t dream. Exhaustion is easily circumvented by coffee, she discovers, so she begins going to study sessions that last through the night.
+++
He struggles between the two at first. He enters the shop to find Watanuki bloodied more often than he’d like, but Watanuki constantly tells him there is nothing he can do about it. But the sight of blood smeared on Watanuki’s face, staining the collar of his kimono, haunts Shizuka’s dreams.
It would be easier to protect him if I knew what I was up against, he thinks one night, after coming home to collapse in exhaustion. The spirits no longer target him, Shizuka knows, but that doesn’t mean they are gone. And Watanuki knows so little about this world that he’s entangled himself in.
The counselor is waiting for him when he enters. Have you decided? she asks, voice cheerful, as though this decision has little impact on his future.
He nods, and all he sees is Watanuki collapsed on the floor, blood trickling from the cut on his forehead. Folklore, he says, resolute.
The counselor raises her eyebrows at the statement, but says nothing. Instead, she nods and picks up one of the two papers sitting on her desk. She hands him the paper.
He doesn’t look at it. He stands, bows, and thanks her for her time.
+++
She isn’t surprised when he answers on the first ring, though she isn’t so conceited as to think he’s been waiting for her call.
She babbles at him, telling him about her classes and the people that she has met and the things that’s she’s doing. He listens politely, every so often interjecting with his opinion. If he notices that she sounds out of breath, he doesn’t mention it.
He asks her about finals and she tells him that they’ll be difficult. I have a full course load, she tells him. She doesn’t mention the two extra classes that the college administration is allowing her to take on top. He may not be vocal, but since Watanuki-kun’s fall, she has become one of the few people in Doumeki-kun’s life that he worries about.
She would be flattered if she didn’t know it was because she means so much to Watanuki-kun. Instead, she is happy with his occasional expressions of worry, and does her best to keep them few and far between. After all, there isn’t much he can do for her, not now that she is hundreds of kilometers and a two and a half hour train ride away.
Make sure you don’t overwork yourself, Kunogi, he tells her, and she has the wild idea that he knows - knows that she’s not sleeping and that she’s not thinking and and and… It’s impossible and possibly coincidental that he says this when she’s in the midst of her newest self-destructive behavior.
I could say the same to you, she says lightly instead. She isn’t talking about his course load and she knows that he knows that. But it is an unspoken rule that, on the rare occasions that they talk to each other without Watanuki-kun’s intervention, Watanuki-kun is not mentioned.
Doumeki-kun grunts in acknowledgement, though they both know that he’ll continue to overwork himself, put himself in harm’s way, all if it means keeping Watanuki-kun safe. Just as they know that Himawari will overwork herself and deprive herself of sleep, keeping herself so busy so that she is not tempted to take a train and see them.
She stifles a yawn and realizes her coffee has gone cold. I should be going, she says.
Good luck, Doumeki-kun says before signing off.
She stares at the disconnected phone for a moment before whispering the same.
Title: Facing the Past
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII
Rating: G
Genre: Reflection
Characters/Pairing: Vanille, Fang, Sazh
Wordcount: 198
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for chaineddove for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
She remembers - all too well in fact. She remembers Fang - sprawled on the ground, body convulsing as Ragnarok breaks through the skin, the strangled cries that are wrenched from her throat. Vanille shivers and opens her eyes, seeing Pulse stretch before her.
Oerba looks like a wasteland; the streets she remembers roaming are now teeming with beasts and dotted with Cie’th stones. Fang is standing beside her, a comforting presence. She meets Fang’s eyes - Fang’s beautiful eyes that can see no wrong in Vanille, even after all that has transpired. “It’s not your fault, Vanille,” Fang says quietly.
Vanille turns away. “It’s all my fault.”
Fang says nothing in return. Vanille is about to continue when Sazh pokes his head out of the door. “Hey!” he calls. Vanille and Fang look up. “Bhakti is up and running.”
Vanille smiles and brightly calls out that they’ll be there in a moment. Sazh nods and disappears back into the room.
“You don’t have to be Miss Sunshine all the time,” Fang tells her gently.
Vanille shakes her head and smiles. “Let’s go, Fang!” As she runs towards the stairs, she pretends she didn’t notice the look the on Fang’s face.
Title: Art of Communication
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Rating: PG
Genre: Humor
Characters/Pairing: Paine, Gippal
Wordcount: 177
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for aoyagi for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
“E fyhd du ku du pat fedr oui,” she repeats slowly, the foreign words tripping over her tongue. It takes her a moment before she realizes exactly what she’s saying and her face heats up.
“Tuh'd seht ev E tu,” Gippal replies through wheezing laughter.
“E's kuehk du gemm oui, Gippal,” Paine growls, advancing on the Al Bhed.
He is standing straight, backing up, hands thrust in front of him in a defenseless position. “Hey, hey, hey!” he says, injecting as much helplessness into his voice as he can muster. “You were the one who asked me to teach you!”
“I asked you teach me to tell people to get lost,” she bites off. “Not to proposition them.” The sheepish smile on his face isn’t doing anything to alleviate her embarrassment and rage. “Maybe I should stick to talking with my fists.”
“Oui haat du maynh du mekrdah ib, Paine,” Gippal grouses good-naturedly.
The sword hasn’t even made it to her hand before Gippal runs past her, calling out behind him that lessons are over for today.
Author's notes: The al-bhed parts of the fic say this, in order:
I want to go to bed with you. // Don't mind if I do. // I'm going to kill you. // You need to learn to lighten up.
Title: Good Ideas (I)
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Rating: G
Genre: Humor
Characters/Pairing: Paine, Rikku
Wordcount: 123
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for chaineddove for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
"This," Rikku says, a bit of panic coloring the edge of her voice, "was not our best idea ever."
Paine looks behind her to see Rikku running to catch up. "Our?" she asks, upping the speed a little. She can see the fiend only feet behind her partner.
"Okay," Rikku squeaks, "my best idea!"
Paine rolls her eyes and focuses on navigating the winding path of the Omega Ruins. There is no way she is going to die here - and she knows that several have, has seen their rotting corpses as Rikku has tried to lead the way to where her old group fought the legendary Omega Weapon. There is a narrow pathway up ahead, and she dives into it, Rikku quickly following.
Title: Hogwarts Doesn't Dispose of Bodies
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: G
Genre: Humor
Characters/Pairing: Xander, Willow
Wordcount: 404
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for genesisdesire for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
“I’m telling you,” Xander says, leaning forward across the desk and pointing his finger at a skeptical Willow. “This is a great idea!”
Willow shakes her head and taps a few more keys on the keyboard, bringing up her mini-Slayer spreadsheet. “Xander,” she says as gently as possible, “we really shouldn’t bring attention to ourselves.”
Xander scoffs and waves his hook in the air. “It’ll make our jobs easier!” he insists. “Think about it, Will! A Slayer school! It could be like Hogwarts, only you learn to kill and dispose of bodies!”
“Xander,” Willow says fondly, “that’s a horrible idea.” She doesn’t tell him that she and Buffy have already discussed and dismissed this option. It wouldn’t be much like Hogwarts without Quidditch, they’ve decided, and as powerful as Willow is, not even she can keep that many people afloat at once.
He pouts at her and Willow has to turn away. His pout hasn’t been as effective since Caleb - She stops the thought and tries to focus on the spreadsheet. They are expecting fifteen new Junior Slayers, and Willow needs to figure out who is pairing with whom and where they are all staying.
“I’m telling you, Will,” Xander’s voice says against her ear.
“You almost lost your other eye, Xander,” Willow tells him, trying to calm her pounding heart. She should know better than to try concentrating when Xander is around.
“If we had a Slayer school,” Xander continues impishly, “I could defend against magic!”
“Xander,” Willow says, turning around in her chair to face him properly, “we don’t have the resources to do that. And besides, that’s what the Council is for.”
Xander sighs and leans against the desk. “I know.”
Neither of them says that the Council isn’t much help, what with Giles being the only remaining member. Except Andrew, but as far as any of them are concerned, Andrew doesn’t count.
“Maybe a training camp,” Xander suggests.
Willow sighs and looks at the spreadsheet again. “It would free up some of our more experienced Slayers.”
“And we could teach those,” he points out. “We’ve done our fair share of Slayer training.”
“We could pull out the puffy suit!” Willow exclaims.
Xander cringes. “Or they could just practice on each other.”
Willow smiles. “Let’s see what Buffy thinks, then.”
Xander is dialing before Willow finishes her sentence.
“Hey, Buffy!” Xander says cheerfully. “Willow and I just had this great idea…”
Author: doumeki
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Characters/Pairing: Himawari, Doumeki
Wordcount: 503
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for myself for my second semester of straight As. ♥
The first thing she notices when he steps off the train is that he looks tired. The lines around his eyes look tighter every time she sees him, and there is a weariness that seems to be threatening to envelop him. She takes a step forward and smiles.
It takes a moment before he sees her, but she doesn’t mind. She knows that coming all the way out here is an imposition - he never says it, but she can tell by the way he surreptitiously glances at his wristwatch when they’re together. She is aware that it is brought on by his uneasiness from leaving Watanuki-kun alone and that she is not to blame, but she has learned to keep their meetings brief.
They leave the station and head towards a tea shop. She asks him about his classes and listens politely as he tells her about his professor. She laughs when appropriate and tells him that she has been quite well when he inquires. He looks at her impassively, almost as if he doesn’t believe her, but she continues to smile and he sighs a little and lets it drop.
She orders the strawberry chiffon and he orders the chocolate mousse.
He misses you.
This, too, is expected. She smiles a little and pushes the cake around her plate. I know. It’s said without satisfaction or expectation. It just is, and they have both accepted this, even if Watanuki-kun continues to try and try and try.
Doumeki-kun pulls out a wrapped package from his messenger bag and places it on the table. Sorry it’s late, he says, though his voice sounds less apologetic than it does resigned. Himawari chances a glance at his face. He looks more tired than when he stepped off of the train.
Silently, she unwraps the present and smiles sadly at the gloves. I’ll have to call him when I get home, she says quietly. Doumeki-kun just nods.
They leave shortly after. Doumeki-kun’s cake sits untouched on the plate.
She walks him back to the train station, hands wrapped in her brand new gloves. There are sunflowers on this year’s pair, she notices absently. She pretends not to notice that Doumeki-kun’s hands are bare.
Silently, he buys his return ticket.
You can stay here, if you’d like. She offers every time he comes.
I can’t. He declines every time she offers.
They say their goodbyes at the gate - Doumeki-kun promising to call once he gets back to the shop, Himawari promising that she’ll see them for Watanuki-kun’s birthday.
Doumeki-kun’s train is called to board, and he nods. She waves until she can’t see him anymore, feeling that much more disconnected from the people she loves. Instead of crying, she turns around and heads toward home.
She’ll call Watanuki-kun to thank him for the gloves and then go through her psychology text. She has a test in the morning, she realizes. Soon, it will be April, and she’ll be back where she belongs, even if only for a day.
Title: Fading Fast
Author: doumeki
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Rating: PG
Genre: Reflection
Characters/Pairing: Doumeki, Himawari
Wordcount: 721
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for iambickilometer for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
Two majors, the girls around her exclaim. Do you even have any free time?
Himawari just smiles and shifts the textbooks in her hands. She doesn’t tell them that she doesn’t want the free time, that she doesn’t want the time to think. The busier she is, the less she thinks about the lonely boy stuck in a shop that he can’t leave. The less she thinks of the steadfast man who never strays from the boy’s side.
No. She doesn’t want the time to think, so she piles on class after class. And if the homework takes all night to complete, then she doesn’t dream. Exhaustion is easily circumvented by coffee, she discovers, so she begins going to study sessions that last through the night.
+++
He struggles between the two at first. He enters the shop to find Watanuki bloodied more often than he’d like, but Watanuki constantly tells him there is nothing he can do about it. But the sight of blood smeared on Watanuki’s face, staining the collar of his kimono, haunts Shizuka’s dreams.
It would be easier to protect him if I knew what I was up against, he thinks one night, after coming home to collapse in exhaustion. The spirits no longer target him, Shizuka knows, but that doesn’t mean they are gone. And Watanuki knows so little about this world that he’s entangled himself in.
The counselor is waiting for him when he enters. Have you decided? she asks, voice cheerful, as though this decision has little impact on his future.
He nods, and all he sees is Watanuki collapsed on the floor, blood trickling from the cut on his forehead. Folklore, he says, resolute.
The counselor raises her eyebrows at the statement, but says nothing. Instead, she nods and picks up one of the two papers sitting on her desk. She hands him the paper.
He doesn’t look at it. He stands, bows, and thanks her for her time.
+++
She isn’t surprised when he answers on the first ring, though she isn’t so conceited as to think he’s been waiting for her call.
She babbles at him, telling him about her classes and the people that she has met and the things that’s she’s doing. He listens politely, every so often interjecting with his opinion. If he notices that she sounds out of breath, he doesn’t mention it.
He asks her about finals and she tells him that they’ll be difficult. I have a full course load, she tells him. She doesn’t mention the two extra classes that the college administration is allowing her to take on top. He may not be vocal, but since Watanuki-kun’s fall, she has become one of the few people in Doumeki-kun’s life that he worries about.
She would be flattered if she didn’t know it was because she means so much to Watanuki-kun. Instead, she is happy with his occasional expressions of worry, and does her best to keep them few and far between. After all, there isn’t much he can do for her, not now that she is hundreds of kilometers and a two and a half hour train ride away.
Make sure you don’t overwork yourself, Kunogi, he tells her, and she has the wild idea that he knows - knows that she’s not sleeping and that she’s not thinking and and and… It’s impossible and possibly coincidental that he says this when she’s in the midst of her newest self-destructive behavior.
I could say the same to you, she says lightly instead. She isn’t talking about his course load and she knows that he knows that. But it is an unspoken rule that, on the rare occasions that they talk to each other without Watanuki-kun’s intervention, Watanuki-kun is not mentioned.
Doumeki-kun grunts in acknowledgement, though they both know that he’ll continue to overwork himself, put himself in harm’s way, all if it means keeping Watanuki-kun safe. Just as they know that Himawari will overwork herself and deprive herself of sleep, keeping herself so busy so that she is not tempted to take a train and see them.
She stifles a yawn and realizes her coffee has gone cold. I should be going, she says.
Good luck, Doumeki-kun says before signing off.
She stares at the disconnected phone for a moment before whispering the same.
Title: Facing the Past
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII
Rating: G
Genre: Reflection
Characters/Pairing: Vanille, Fang, Sazh
Wordcount: 198
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for chaineddove for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
She remembers - all too well in fact. She remembers Fang - sprawled on the ground, body convulsing as Ragnarok breaks through the skin, the strangled cries that are wrenched from her throat. Vanille shivers and opens her eyes, seeing Pulse stretch before her.
Oerba looks like a wasteland; the streets she remembers roaming are now teeming with beasts and dotted with Cie’th stones. Fang is standing beside her, a comforting presence. She meets Fang’s eyes - Fang’s beautiful eyes that can see no wrong in Vanille, even after all that has transpired. “It’s not your fault, Vanille,” Fang says quietly.
Vanille turns away. “It’s all my fault.”
Fang says nothing in return. Vanille is about to continue when Sazh pokes his head out of the door. “Hey!” he calls. Vanille and Fang look up. “Bhakti is up and running.”
Vanille smiles and brightly calls out that they’ll be there in a moment. Sazh nods and disappears back into the room.
“You don’t have to be Miss Sunshine all the time,” Fang tells her gently.
Vanille shakes her head and smiles. “Let’s go, Fang!” As she runs towards the stairs, she pretends she didn’t notice the look the on Fang’s face.
Title: Art of Communication
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Rating: PG
Genre: Humor
Characters/Pairing: Paine, Gippal
Wordcount: 177
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for aoyagi for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
“E fyhd du ku du pat fedr oui,” she repeats slowly, the foreign words tripping over her tongue. It takes her a moment before she realizes exactly what she’s saying and her face heats up.
“Tuh'd seht ev E tu,” Gippal replies through wheezing laughter.
“E's kuehk du gemm oui, Gippal,” Paine growls, advancing on the Al Bhed.
He is standing straight, backing up, hands thrust in front of him in a defenseless position. “Hey, hey, hey!” he says, injecting as much helplessness into his voice as he can muster. “You were the one who asked me to teach you!”
“I asked you teach me to tell people to get lost,” she bites off. “Not to proposition them.” The sheepish smile on his face isn’t doing anything to alleviate her embarrassment and rage. “Maybe I should stick to talking with my fists.”
“Oui haat du maynh du mekrdah ib, Paine,” Gippal grouses good-naturedly.
The sword hasn’t even made it to her hand before Gippal runs past her, calling out behind him that lessons are over for today.
Author's notes: The al-bhed parts of the fic say this, in order:
I want to go to bed with you. // Don't mind if I do. // I'm going to kill you. // You need to learn to lighten up.
Title: Good Ideas (I)
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Rating: G
Genre: Humor
Characters/Pairing: Paine, Rikku
Wordcount: 123
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for chaineddove for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
"This," Rikku says, a bit of panic coloring the edge of her voice, "was not our best idea ever."
Paine looks behind her to see Rikku running to catch up. "Our?" she asks, upping the speed a little. She can see the fiend only feet behind her partner.
"Okay," Rikku squeaks, "my best idea!"
Paine rolls her eyes and focuses on navigating the winding path of the Omega Ruins. There is no way she is going to die here - and she knows that several have, has seen their rotting corpses as Rikku has tried to lead the way to where her old group fought the legendary Omega Weapon. There is a narrow pathway up ahead, and she dives into it, Rikku quickly following.
Title: Hogwarts Doesn't Dispose of Bodies
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: G
Genre: Humor
Characters/Pairing: Xander, Willow
Wordcount: 404
Disclaimer: Just playing with them. Not mine~. ♥
A/N: Written for genesisdesire for the end of Spring Semester. ♥ A bit late~
“I’m telling you,” Xander says, leaning forward across the desk and pointing his finger at a skeptical Willow. “This is a great idea!”
Willow shakes her head and taps a few more keys on the keyboard, bringing up her mini-Slayer spreadsheet. “Xander,” she says as gently as possible, “we really shouldn’t bring attention to ourselves.”
Xander scoffs and waves his hook in the air. “It’ll make our jobs easier!” he insists. “Think about it, Will! A Slayer school! It could be like Hogwarts, only you learn to kill and dispose of bodies!”
“Xander,” Willow says fondly, “that’s a horrible idea.” She doesn’t tell him that she and Buffy have already discussed and dismissed this option. It wouldn’t be much like Hogwarts without Quidditch, they’ve decided, and as powerful as Willow is, not even she can keep that many people afloat at once.
He pouts at her and Willow has to turn away. His pout hasn’t been as effective since Caleb - She stops the thought and tries to focus on the spreadsheet. They are expecting fifteen new Junior Slayers, and Willow needs to figure out who is pairing with whom and where they are all staying.
“I’m telling you, Will,” Xander’s voice says against her ear.
“You almost lost your other eye, Xander,” Willow tells him, trying to calm her pounding heart. She should know better than to try concentrating when Xander is around.
“If we had a Slayer school,” Xander continues impishly, “I could defend against magic!”
“Xander,” Willow says, turning around in her chair to face him properly, “we don’t have the resources to do that. And besides, that’s what the Council is for.”
Xander sighs and leans against the desk. “I know.”
Neither of them says that the Council isn’t much help, what with Giles being the only remaining member. Except Andrew, but as far as any of them are concerned, Andrew doesn’t count.
“Maybe a training camp,” Xander suggests.
Willow sighs and looks at the spreadsheet again. “It would free up some of our more experienced Slayers.”
“And we could teach those,” he points out. “We’ve done our fair share of Slayer training.”
“We could pull out the puffy suit!” Willow exclaims.
Xander cringes. “Or they could just practice on each other.”
Willow smiles. “Let’s see what Buffy thinks, then.”
Xander is dialing before Willow finishes her sentence.
“Hey, Buffy!” Xander says cheerfully. “Willow and I just had this great idea…”