Xander

[steedtoherpeel]

He made his way home through the snow on New Years and brooded the entire way. Christ, he was as bad as Angel. He sighed and stripped off the jacket and tie again when he got back to Xander's hut, and curled up without a word or any precautions

Comments

[scoobys_heart]

Sitting next to Giles bed was two large pitchers, one of water and one of juice, and two already full cups, one of each, sitting in front of them.

A few minutes later, Xander returned from the compound, still covered in snow but bearing some food from the kitchen. The snow was blinding and rough, but there was nothing in the yurt to eat so would have had to go. The basket was set down by the door as he removed his coat and dusted the snow off himself, then picked back up as Xander walked over to check on Giles, smiling when he saw he was awake. "Hey, how you feeling?"

He wasn't going to mention the hang over, just treat it. He was good at it, after all.

[steedtoherpeel]

... he had never been more grateful that Xander was here. He downed both glasses of liquid, poured them again, and was halfway through the juice when Xander got back. "Significantly better, thanks to you." He'd managed to tidy up a little, too, his hair at least in some kind of order.

"Very regretful, though. Should opportunities present themselves again, I'd have spent the night entirely differently."

[scoobys_heart]

Xander grinned, both at what Giles had said and from seeing the juice almost gone. He walked in with the basket and offered a muffin from within it. "Bad night?"

He knew a thing or two about complicated New Years.

[steedtoherpeel]

"Extraordinarily." He rubbed his eyebrow with a knuckle and frowned before taking a muffin. "Thank you. I'm reasonably sure I didn't say anything foolish to you, at least. Am I right in that?"

[scoobys_heart]

Unable to help himself, his smile tightened. "Nothing to worry about G-man." He nodded at the muffin. "Eat some of that, while I go tell Clark breakfast his here." He took the basket and left for a few minutes before returning, minus the basket.

[steedtoherpeel]

"I worry, Xander. I did say something foolish to some friends." He split the muffin and was eating a small bite when Xander came back.

"And I shouldn't have been inebriated around you most of all."

[scoobys_heart]

"Hey, don't worry about it man." Xander said, waving it off before immediately asking as a distraction. "What happened with the others? I mean, I can't imagine what you should have said that could be that bad?"

[steedtoherpeel]

"I'm sure it was. I said it deliberately to drive them off." He frowned. "I may not have been kind, but at least I was wise." He sighed, just a little.

"I don't mean to burden you with my social troubles, Xander."

[scoobys_heart]

"Why?" Xander asked with a frown. "Why did you want to drive them away?"

Then he walked over and put a hand on the Giles' shoulder. "What are friends for?"

[steedtoherpeel]

"In one case we'd become a bit more than friends. And in another, I know he'd have liked the same." He smiled up at Xander somewhat weakly. "My track record for such has never been good."

[scoobys_heart]

Well, Xander had feeling one was Mohinder and...he wasn't sure he wanted to know who exactly the other was, but that didn't mean he wanted Giles to feel that way. "This isn't still about Ms. Calender is it?" He asked, since he didn't really know about anything beyond that.

[steedtoherpeel]

"In part. As well as the mess with Eyghon." He rubbed his forearm. "And a number of other... similar problems. It always ends the same."

[scoobys_heart]

"You know as well as anyone that the name of this place means Blank Slate. Ever thought of giving the idea a try?" So what if it was a little hypocritical for Xander to say after the mess with Jill, but it was the truth.

[steedtoherpeel]

"No." His smile was wry. "This isn't a matter of giving myself a chance. This is a matter of not wanting to hurt them -- not to mention it's inappropriate to... one of them is twenty years my junior."

[scoobys_heart]

Xander choose to ignore the inappropriate part. This conversation was hard enough as it was. "Why would you hurt them? Your like, the most responsible person I know."

[steedtoherpeel]

"With you and the rest of the students, yes. With other adults, I have a less than perfect record."