RP log - Willow and Xander
Who: Willow and Xander When: Evening, Oct 12 Where: Rosenberg Residence What: Xander comes over to escape his family and things get a little more awkward than expected
There had been one point when he figured maybe it was time to switch up the routine a little. Like... throw in an extra note -- well, knock -- or take one out. Vary up the pacing? Maybe scrap the idea of "Shave and a Haircut" altogether as the unofficial, yet universally accepted method of announcing that the front door needed answered, and, no, not because someone wanted to sell anything because everyone knows that salesman have no funk to their thunk and... And so Xander was sauntering up the front walk of the Rosenberg residence, thinking tangentially outward in such a way from that original thought that by the time he'd made it to the front door, he'd unthinkingly commenced the grand old tradition, same as ever. His face pulled slightly, somewhat aware that there just wasn't any helping it because the fact of the matter was that you couldn't knock on a door and not fall into those seven catchy taps. Wasn't possible.
Yet, soon enough the minor grudge vanished, defeat was accepted, and rebounding completely within just a few seconds, Xander then scooted back enough take in a bit of the cooler evening air (which was actually much easier to take in without undead giving chase). He turned his eyes up to the set of windows above, counting backward from twenty and knowing that for whatever reason, Willow would probably open on the count of six.
Nine, eight, seven, s-- the door opened, and right on cue, the door opened and Willow peered out with her usual happy smile upon seeing him. "Hey," she said, voice hushed as she beckoned him in. Beyond the foyer, a few voices chattered on about the ongoing shift in cultural hegemonies. "C'mon up. Mom's having a book club meeting."
"Oh yeah?" Slipping in and closing the door behind him, Xander turned to where the voices were coming from, narrowing his eyes conspiratorially as he did. "Deadly combination, y'know -- books and... and discussions about books. Throw in the complimentary cookies and start up the coffee machine and we might just see something really scary," he replied, certain to keep his voice down enough as they neared the room the club had staked out. "Will, promise me you'll turn to the dark side like that."
"Xander, just because you don't like reading doesn't mean it's evil," Willow said patiently. Fortunately, the staircase came before the living room (for all that Willow didn't mind the idea of a book club, her mother's was way too pretentious for her), and she led Xander up to her room, as she always did. The Rosenberg residence was just not set up for hanging out in the common areas - at least not for Willow and her friends. "Sometimes you can even learn things from it."
But Xander shook his head. "That's what they want you to think," he returned, following Willow though his feet had the way memorized for years now. "But one day you'll find yourself cooped up in a high school library and living off tea and saying things like 'Good lord!' and 'I say!'" Tell me that isn't scary because I've already got the wiggins just thinking about it." He stopped for one downbeat, seemingly taking the extra time to consider his words before they gushed out of his mouth, then added: "Betcha Giles sleeps with a book every night -- and not the ones with the suggestive women on the cover, either. Probably a dictionary. Like I said: wiggins. Got 'em."
Willow shook her head with a small smile. "Don't think you'd ever be in danger of that," she said, with more gravity than she felt. "A-and anyway, it's not that scary. Maybe he just likes to read a bit before bed." This was getting a little deeper into the librarian's very personal habits than Willow felt comfortable with, however, so she quickly changed the subject. "Buffy seems to be settling in okay, don't you think?"
"Probably because she's got the whole Scooby gang ready to nail her shoes to the floor," Xander replied, managing a wry grin in return. Sure, he'd had it out with Buffy, and as things usually went after massive yellfests of Team Harris versus Team Summers, the whole finger pointing episode was dead and buried. Well, at least for the time being; there was always some reserved amount of griping couldn't be shaken, but it just wasn't an unshakable gripe with Willow. If anyone ever didn't do a thing wrong about ditching her best buds and -- whoa, okay. Not the time to be reopening the debate, and definitely not since things did looked pretty darn settled on the Buffy end of things.
"After crazy gluing them down. And knotting the laces together. And what I really want to say is that yeah... looks like things are back to normal," he finished. "Normal-ish. Quasi-normal," he quickly amended.
"I hope so." They'd reached the top of the stairs by now, and Willow continued as they headed to her room. "You don't think she'd run away again, do you?" Because despite Buffy's assurance that she was going to stick around like velcro, or a really really strong magnet, there was still a part of Willow that was worried that if things got that bad again, they were going to have to go through another few months - or even longer - without Buffy.
And if that isn't just the question of the year, Xander thought. "Nah, she won't," he answered with a certainty in his voice that almost convinced even himself. "C'mon, Will. Like there's anyone in the world more fun to be around than us! Friends that slay together stay together, right? And I mean, at the very least if she's planning on booking it for the open roads, she could invite us along next time."
"She'd better!" Willow said with a ferocity that surprised her. She hadn't realised just how strongly she still felt about this until now. Pulling up short at the vehemency in her voice, she cleared her throat and continued in her usual tone. "I mean, that's what we're here for, right? Friends do that - they support each other." Xander would understand; he'd been her best friend even before she knew what the term meant.
"Or be willing to do some kidnapping if anyone starts feeling flighty," Xander added, one finger struck up to make the point seem more official than merely stating it. "And they also let their best buds come over to escape the horrors of the Harris household on a weekend night. I know I say it every time, but Will? You are my hero."
Willow's expression softened. For all that she thought her own family was dysfunctional, she knew that it was nothing compared to the sheer horror of Xander's. Not that Xander would appreciate her pointing it out or getting all sappy about it.
"Darn tootin'," she said with a grin as she pushed open her door. Defusing any awkwardness with humour - that was something she'd picked up from him. She didn't rely on it as much as he did, but it still came in handy sometimes. "Just remember the ol' Willow-signal whenever you're in distress."
"That the one where I shout and flap my arms like I'm on fire outside your window, or are we talking about the Willow-phone? Because, y'know, I really like the Willow-phone better. Doesn't make anyone want to use their police-phone on me." Treading at a comfortable distance behind and having a decent height advantage over his friend, it was easy to make out the familiar setting of Willow's room as the door swung open. Sanctuary. Xander nearly breathed a sight of relief once he'd crossed the border between her room and the rest of the house. There were few places in the world that seemed safe anymore, and even if it wasn't exactly safe in whatever physical sense of the word there might be (given the beasties and things that go thump in the night), there was just such a feeling about the room that -- well, that all it took was standing in it to bring up all the memories of a mostly happy (some allowances made for the scrapes and bruises) childhood with his best friend. He'd never really thought about it before, but he loved that room. Maybe because it wasn't just Willow's room, either, but it was Willow in its own right.
Xander hadn't even noticed his lapse into silence, as the thoughts rushed 'round his skull, until the door clicked shut behind him, causing him to jump a bit on the spot. His eyes darted to find Willow, expression momentarily bemused when he had, but he'd gotten a hold on himself and quickly opted for a wide shrug and a patent goofy grin.
"The Willow-phone's all good," she quickly assured. "I was just speaking metaphorically anyway. Just any generic signal, really, would...Xander?" She'd noticed his distraction, and she glanced around her room to see what could be so fascinating about it. When the door shut and he jumped and grinned at her, she smiled back somewhat uncertainly. Somehow she'd just become extremely conscious of the fact that they were alone. In her bedroom. Which was totally ridiculous of her to be self-conscious about, because they'd been alone in her bedroom countless times before over the years, and none of those instances merited notice.
"So...um..." she desperately cast about for something to say to break the sudden awkwardness. "Have you started your reading for Bio yet? I started taking notes, but I ran out of ink on my purple pen and now I can't mark down vocab."
Was there an equivalent of a foot in the mouth for something that didn't involve speaking? Because that would be be top-notch about now, Xander found himself thinking as he turned to look around the room, as if it was just a case of noticing something different and not being able to place it more than some deep internal reflection on gooey and gushy emotions he'd only just discovered he'd had. "Uh... I just thought you put up new curtains. Those new curtains? They're very nice curtains. Very curtainy," he added with haste. And the award for most un-smooth distracting comment goes to...
Xander cleared his throat, feigning a cough as he did. "Bio? Oh? Oh, yeah! Actually, I opened the textbook." He waited a few ticks for dramatic build up, then added: "And I looked at the pictures and read the captions below them. Yep, I have a feeling this year's the year I'm going to finally get that B minus, Will."
"No, they're the same curtains that I've always had," Willow said, puzzled, before she realised that he wasn't so much remarking on the curtains as he was tring to cover his sudden interest in her room. Stranger and stranger, she thought, and wondered when things got strange between her and Xander. She wondered if she should pursue the issue but quickly decided against it. Things were already so confusing and emotional without messing with the longest and best friendship she'd ever had. Best to turn back to the safe topic of homework.
"I'd be happy to help you with that," she offered enthusiastically. "We can make memory aids and everything. I just bought a new stack of cue cards!" Only Willow could be excited about shopping for stationery.
"Huh." Hoping to salvage at least some of the act, Xander took a moment to scrutinize the curtains. "Coulda sworn..." That I almost really made this awkward and not just insanely cringe-worthy. Hoo boy.
It was more than willingly that he took the subject of school -- sparing a second of absolute horror at how desperate he was to do such a thing -- just to push his focus away from a quickened heartbeat. "Looks like tonight's entertainment's booked as the Amazing Willow and Her Flash Cards, then! Lay it on me, sister! I am ready to be flashed."
"...You know, an extra moment of consideration and that probably wouldn't have come out like that," he reflected.
"Oh no, no flashing," Willow said, shaking her head quickly. She could feel her cheeks heat up, just as they always used to whenever Xander made a remark, even inadvertently, that her very unrequited crush could seize upon as encouragement. The difference was that before, he wouldn't have even noticed.
"Not that kind of flashing anyway," she continued, going over to her stack of cue cards. "Just flashes of inspiration! Except...not as lame as the way I said it."
As Willow set off on her short quest in search of the cards, Xander took it upon himself to snag his usual spot -- that is, sitting on the edge of Willow's bed -- as was only expected after years of the same every previous time he'd been over. It only took a wandering hand, which he was actually intending on fixing his sneaker's tongue with, to brush the covers out of place. And after that, it only took a good-willed attempt to straighten them that found him somewhat captured by the concept that every night she slept right where he was sitting and...
"Nah, not lame! Feelin' real inspired myself..." Just think of school. School, school, school. There! Oh, this isn't awkward at all being alone with the same girl I poured my heart out to while she was uncon -- SCHOOL. "...Just thinking of those cards. Yep, Agent Harris fully at attention. Ready to undertake mission Codename: Graduate on Time."
The phrase "fully at attention" would have completely bypassed her in normal circumstances, but given all the accidental innuendo that'd been flying around in the last few minutes, Willow couldn't help but pick up on it. She kept her head down while she searched for her cue cards, even though she knew exactly where they were, in the hopes that her ever-deepening blush would have died down by the time she looked up again.
"Great!" she said, overly brightly, and popped back up with her stack of colour-coded cards. "Because I'm absolutely stacked -- I mean, I have a stack of them."
In the few seconds while Willow was turned away, Xander took the moment to bury his face in his hands, doing some serious power-braining through his list of top twenty turn-offs and otherwise hurl-inducing things, places, and people. He was bright and alert the moment Willow surfaced, countering her words with: "Guess that just leaves it to you coming to bed. I mean your bed. To study with your stacked --" He pointed to the deck in her hands, making one last attempt to save himself. "With the cards."
This was getting worse and worse. By this time, Willow couldn't even look at her bed without being overwhelmed by the thought that Xander was sitting on her bed. Why this hadn't been an issue the thousands of other times he'd done this very thing she had no idea, but there it was. She couldn't possibly join him in bed -- on the bed now -- so she stayed right where she was, clutching the cards to her chest as if they would protect her maidenly virtue.
Not that her maidenly virtue needed protecting. Not from Xander.
Still, she stayed right where she was. "I-it's probably best if I stay here. I mean, to-to truly test your biology knowledge." She quickly looked down at the first card. "We can start with mitosis!"
"Right!" Xander echoed, snapping and taking as much interest in the subject as he could possibly force himself to. "Mitosis. Theeee... uh... process of..." It would be much easier to take an interest if he actually knew it, it seemed. "Clearly the process of stubbing your toe. Painful disease that's claimed many, many lives. Oh God how we all hate mitosis."
Willow just stared at him. When he said he'd read the text under the pictures, obviously he hadn't retained much. This was going to be a long night.
Of studying. Not anything else.
"You really didn't read the chapter, did you?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows.
"Now, when you say 'read'," Xander began again, but stopped short. He could still feel Willow's stare on him and it didn't taking looking up to know he was right about that. "No. Not really. So... nothing to do with toe-stubbing? Because I thought it was a pretty good guess. Y'know -- like 'Oh, my toe-sis, it feels broken'?" Aaaaand deeper the hole was dug. He laughed for the points in effort, but it seemed funnier when he first thought it up than it did post-punch line. Still, it was a step up from most of what he'd managed to put to words so far. Which was actually completely sad. "How about we just take a look-see at those cards?"
"Here," said Willow, relenting. She walked over to him and handed him her cards, although she kept a close eye on them as he perused them. Not that she didn't trust Xander with them; it was just that she'd spent a lot of time making them perfectly colour coded and she might not have enough time to go back and redo them, what with having vampires and zombies to kill and all that.
She took a seat next to him, a little further away than she normally would've. "The purple's new vocabulary," she offered, because even though she'd been using the same colour coding for years and years and years, she didn't think Xander would remember what each colour stood for. "And the black's the keywords."
Receiving the cards, Xander immediately started to leaf through them, picking one at random to focus on. "Gotcha. Purple -- new. Black -- keyword," he repeated, feeling he owed her at least as much as trying now -- now that she was aware he didn't exactly do more than a moment's studying on his own. All he had to do was bag a few new tricks to redeem himself and that didn't involve attempting to steal a side glance as he reminded himself, promptly narrowing his eyes down at the paper in his hands and forcing his neck to lock in place. "And I can now tell you that mitosis is cell division. Hey, lookit that. Learn something new everyday! You wouldn't happen to have a time machine so I could maybe go back and tell myself that before I came here?"
"Got a better idea," Willow offered, smiling slightly. It was easier to go back to their usual dynamic, easier to remember how adorable he...wasn't, when his forehead was all furrowed up in concentration like that. She certainly did not want to reach over and smooth it out. She just wanted to sit right where she was, on her bed, away from him as he struggled over her notes. "Keep that in your head so you can tell your future self that on the next test."
Xander screwed up his face fleetingly, turning over the proffered advice. The gears spun until something apparently clicked, making him sit up straight. "Or," he began, framing the open space before him and eyeing is as if deliberating some invisible map, "I could hop in the time machine and tell my future self the answer during the test." Willow had it right: It was bound to be a long night.