The End of The Beginning XI
Title: The End Of The Beginning
Part: XI
Title: Honesty hides in simple words
Pairing: Xander/Spike (eventually)
Overall Rating: NC17
Chapter Rating: PG13
Beta: The stunning shakatany
Disclaimer: I just play with the pretties, I don't get to keep them.
AN: Should have another chapter soon - muse is working overtime and shakatany is a god for keeping up with me.
Previous Chapters
Xander was about to tear his hair out in time to the heavy thrumming of rain hitting the roof. When he'd decided to help out the bleached wonder, the last thing he had expected was to have a bedridden vampire with the attention span of a two-year-old on speed demanding to be entertained 24/7. It seemed that while bedsores were only for the living, muscle atrophy wasn't.
The constant influx of blood had kept his muscles from deteriorating too much but it now only took about fifteen minutes of movement before the blond was physically exhausted and mentally frustrated. The end result left Xander trying to find anything he could to entertain Spike before he lost another set of sheets to a loose thread and an overactive pull.
Slamming the door of the microwave he hit the correct buttons to warm another cup of blood and stood drumming his fingers against the counter. He had to admit that the past month and a half had been odd. Spike was constant movement; a whirlwind of thought and emotion and life - and the irony of describing a dead guy as having life wasn't lost on him. But while the vampire had been healing he had done an impression of a mannequin so well that sometimes Xander had to remind himself that if he was truly dead-dead the vampire wouldn't be a corpse, he'd be dust.
Hearing the annoying ping to signal a healthy vampire breakfast he took the cup up to his bedridden… what? Roommate? Dawn-appointed patrol buddy? Quasi-friend? Leaving that question for a time when he had far more beers in the fridge than he did now, he walk-slinked into Spike's room. He'd learnt early on that his normal goof-boy walk simply led to spilling blood all over his hands, and so he'd quickly adapted to a more rolling stride that let his feet fall without disturbing the surface of the crimson liquid. Again he ignored the whisper in his mind that told him adapting his walk so he could bring his bedridden-whatever dinner in bed was leading to places he didn't want to go.
Handing over the mug he settled into his spot on the bed, tucking his feet under him before picking up the cards dealt face down on the blanket. Studying and shuffling his hand for a few moments he almost missed the quiet question.
"Why'd you do it?" The accent was softer than normal, something he was beginning to associate with the blond thinking about and/or talking to Dawn.
"Told you, I intend on keeping Dawn safe," he said, picking up a card from the pile only to put it down after barely glancing at it.
"Not that. Why'd you take the Nibblet in the first place?" Xander watched as slim fingers repeated his motion, holding onto their own card for only a second longer than he had before placing it in the discard pile.
"She's the closest thing I have to a little sister, why wouldn't I take her in?" He placed another card on the growing discard pile before his eyes tracked up for a moment, not understanding where the line of questioning came from.
Blue eyes caught brown and a scarred eyebrow lifted slightly as the vampire studied him. Suddenly it dropped into a frown and full lips tightened slightly.
"And?" There was such expectation in that voice that Xander didn't quite know what to say.
"And, what?" Spike seemed about to say something for a moment before he shook his head, picking up the card Xander had dropped.
"Gin."
The human huffed, throwing down his own hand. "How do you do that?"
The blond seemed to think about that for a moment, obviously swallowing down a snarky remark, "Count cards in m'head. Done it since before I could walk. It's second nature."
Of all the things Xander had expected - a proclamation of general evil-ness, a smirking pronouncement that he'd cheated his teeth off, hell, an insult to donut boy's intelligence - that wasn't one of them. He sat there for a moment, remembering the bored way Spike viewed poker; something interesting to do, but very rarely holding his interest for long periods of time. Then again few things held Spike's interest for long.
"Figures," he said just as he heard the familiar sound of a bouncy teen returning from the movies with a friend.
Xander congratulated himself on not feeling a single stab of hurt when that happy voice called out for Spike the moment she shut the door, simply putting the cards on the dresser and shifting slightly as the vampire got out of bed. Following the other man at a sedate pace he mulled over the idea of patrol once the sun set, then disregarded it, knowing that he'd never live it down if he went out when his patrol buddy was bed-bound.
*~*~*
Startled awake, Xander looked at the clock and groaned. He really needed to stop making a habit of waking up at obscene hours of the early morning. Frowning he tried to figure out what had woken him, working his way through the sounds in the house. His groan was slightly louder when he finally figured it out. He cursed again before rolling out of bed and stalked towards the offensive noise.
Standing in the doorway he watched as the blond on the bed swore animatedly at the television that had been lugged upstairs the day before. Running a hand through his hair, Xander made an exasperated sound and glared.
"Spike, it's three am, and I have to be up for work in two hours," he grumbled, too tired to even bother snapping properly.
“Oi, mate, when was the last time you got any?" The complete disregard for what he'd said and seemingly random choice of topic threw him for a minute and he looked blank.
When he didn't answer fast enough for the hyperactive vampire, blue eyes skimmed down his boxer-clad form, stopping pointedly and Xander looked down to see what caused the knowing smirk. Sure enough, it seemed like Xander Jr wasn't complaining quite as much over being up at the early hour. Strangely the brunet was almost surprised by that. He hadn't had anything close to interest for what was below his belt buckle since Anya that it took him another moment to realize that Spike was staring at a hard-on - his hard-on. Blinking like a deer in the headlights he missed the other man's next question.
"Huh?" He'd always been eloquent early in the morning.
"Asked if you'd gotten any since the demon bint, mate."
Xander decided he'd obviously lost his mind when his mouth opened before he'd had a chance to even think up an appropriate joke response, "No."
Blue eyes narrowed slightly that a trademark eyebrow raised, "How long has it been?"
Leaning his tired body against the doorframe he gave a casual shrug, deciding on honesty since he'd obviously gone completely around the twist, "Don't remember."
It seemed like the Big Bad could still be shocked, if the widening of his eyes was anything to go by. "You need yourself a girl, whelp, or a boy, y'never know."
The lascivious grin didn't bother him so much as the second part of the blond's comment. Suddenly remembering the dream he'd been woken from with startling clarity - and the distinctly non-female hands that had run over his dream-self - he did what any questionably heterosexual man would; he turned tail and ran back to his room, muttering over his shoulder to keep the noise down.
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