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Tweak says, "Twinkle, twinkle little bat,"

Xander Harris (xlharris) wrote in thedoorway,
@ 2014-01-14 06:36:00

Entry tags:

!log, abed nadir, xander harris

WHO: Abed Nadir & Xander Harris
WHERE: Potts Tower Lobby, then Xander’s apartment.
WHEN: Sometime in early December
WHAT: A meeting and Geekery
RATING: Low.
STATUS: log; complete.

His eye looked both ways before stepping out with a few people into the crosswalk. The drivers in New York City were terrible and it always helped to be careful. Especially with only having one eye to watch over both ways. Xander crossed, his toolbox in hand and a toolbelt around his waist. At least today was a ‘no hard-hat’ day for him. He had been doing some renovations and lucked out with that. It was just one more piece of equipment he had to carry. He smiled as Potts Tower came into view and he could slowly feel like he was going to get to relax. A nice home cooked burger and mashed potatoes were in his future, after a good hot shower to get all the dust and grime off.

With a long sigh, he entered the building, offering smiles to those he passed. They were all in the same boat, so to speak, the least he could do is offer a smile. He wasn’t yet to the elevators when he thought he heard someone say his name.

“Xander Harris!” Abed said, unable to keep the grin off his face. He had to admit, after he had gotten into the idea of having a D&D game with Xander on the network, he had watched every single last Buffy episode he could get his hands on. He had watched the entire series. He had liked it very much. He wasn’t so sure he liked the campy movie with Kristy Swanson, but he had enjoyed the television show immensely. Abed was glad to be able to talk to Xander, he had seemed very interesting and funny on the show.

Abed had to admit, he wasn’t sure what Xander was going to think of him live and in person, but most people thought Abed was strange or creepy. Not that Abed could really change that, and he didn’t mind actually. He couldn’t really stop that. He didn’t like to worry about what he couldn’t control. “I’m Abed Nadir.” He said, doing his best to control his glee.

‘Abed Nadir’, Xander thought to himself. It took him a moment to register who he was. One of the players for his upcoming D&D game. He wasn’t familiar with just where Abed came from, but to Xander, it didn’t matter - it only mattered what people did here. Xander put down his toolbox, wiped his right hand on his pants and offered it to Abed.

“Nice to meet you Abed. Everything ok?” Xander asked.

Abed couldn’t help but grin as he shook Xander’s hand. “Yes, I’m fine, I was just waiting to see if I could catch you.” He replied, shrugging noncommittally. Abed was definitely a fanboy, no doubt about it. He never tried to hide it, it was part of his eccentricities. Abed never had cared what others thought, though, if he was honest with himself. Only his friends, but that was true only up to a point. He gave him a smile, unable to help himself.

“I couldn’t help myself, I am just a nerd at heart.”

Xander smiled. He was near the same age as Abed, and yet the two were vastly different. Xander chalked it up to life experiences and living with the threat of apocalypses most of his teen and adult life.

“That’s ok, Abed. I’m just getting back from work, but you’re welcome to come up. I was just going to cook burgers and mashed potatoes, if you haven’t eaten yet?” Xander asked questioningly.

Abed’s eyes lit up. Mashed potatoes and burgers weren’t buttered noodles, but he did like them. “That sounds like a lot of fun.” He said, doing his best not to gush. He knew that that could be annoying to people. Abed was sure that he would love it if there were fans of his show, but he wasn’t as normal as everyone else.

“I appreciate the invitation.”

“Cool” Xander said casually. “Come on up then” he said as he hit the button for the elevator.

The elevator took them up to where Xander stayed in his one bedroom. He opened the door and as he did said “Excuse the mess, it’s where I do most of my work.”

Inside, Xander’s living room had been turned into a mini-warehouse. Lumber and other materials were stacked somewhat neatly along one wall. Three different chairs were in states of construction, along with unfinished or just started projects. Xander set his toolbox and tool belt down next to the door and proceeded to the bathroom. He washed his hands twice and stepped out. “Feel free to have a seat anywhere, though I wouldn’t sit in those” he said, motioning to the chairs under construction.

“How do you like your burgers?” he asked, as he stepped into the kitchen.

“I like them medium rare.” Abed said, trying to keep in his excitement. He was so glad to be here. Xander was a great character in American television. He was glad to be getting to spend some time with him. Abed was also curious to see what the D&D game would be like. Abed had had fun running the one they had played with Fat Neil, they all had, actually. Except Pierce, but really, he was always whining and griping about something. They had had a vote to decide if they were asking him back to the group next year, but Abed thought that was kind of up in the air since he was here now.

“I have to admit, I am glad you agreed to hang out.”

Xander nodded and went to work on forming the meat into patties, putting seasoning and an egg yolk into the mixture. He threw them into the grill and closed it. “So, where are you from? What do you do, exactly? Not to pry, but you don’t seem to be from anything superhero or sci-fi/fantasy related, like a lot of people are” Xander asked, washing his hands in the kitchen sink.

Abed didn’t mind talking about his “origins”, which he had to admit, he was too eager to think of it that way. He had always wanted to be a superhero. “I must admit, I am not anything sci fi related.” Abed agreed, as he settled in and watched Xander put the meat on the grill. Abed didn’t really know what to say about his background, most of it was pretty straightforward, and he didn’t want to talk about the part of it that wasn’t.

“I am from Colorado.” Abed said, that was simple enough to start. “A small town, and I was going to community college. I was majoring in film, because I want to be a filmmaker. I’ve made a couple of documentaries, and I had a short series that I was making about our study group.” This was all true, and it was all on the surface. He didn’t have to delve any deeper.

“Sounds pretty laid back” Xander said, as he moved around the kitchen getting the instant potato packages and a few bowls. “So how do you like it here, versus Colorado?” he asked, whisking the potato flakes and water together. “What kind of films would you want to do?”

Xander wondered as he was cooking what life would be like in college. His experiences had been through living vicariously through Willow and Buffy. He didn’t fancy himself a college person - his life experiences had been enough and he was good at what he did. Though he still wondered.

“It was, it is.” Abed said. He didn’t know that he had ever thought of what life would be like after college. Abed knew that his father wanted him to have the falafel business as a fallback, but Abed definitely didn’t want to do that. He didn’t know if he was going to make it in the film world, but he was sure that he could. He was good at it. He just needed to get through school.

“I plan on making films, you know, fiction. I am not a fan of documentaries, not really. I’m not completely knocking it, but I think it’s a bit lazy.”

“Who do you like? Or favorite movies?” Xander asked as he finished the potatoes and went back to the grill to check on the burgers. “Me, I’m a Star Wars guy. I’m not a Lucas guy though. What he did was groundbreaking for his time, but he needed to step away. Now Spielberg… there’s a guy I can get behind” Xander said, as he got various condiments out of the fridge.

“So, are there any others from your reality here, or just you?”

“No, just me.” Abed said. He nodded. “I like Star Wars, too, but I don’t like the new ones, they were so stupid. I used to go to theaters wherever The Phantom Menace played and tell people not to watch it.” Abed said. He didn’t like that those movies were so widely accepted. He hated them, they were complete malarky. “I like a lot of different movies and television, I like to watch them a lot, and eat cereal.” This was completely true. Abed made a face. “I don’t know why George Lucas was so intent on writing himself, it was just horrible. He’s better as an idea man, and I definitely agree with you about Steven Spielberg.”

Xander scratched his head. “I liked Darth Maul and the podracing. And Qui-Gon” he said sheepishly. “But I understand in the grand scheme of things that the original trilogy is where it’s at” he said.

He got the burgers off the grill and set them on a spare plate to rest before getting the buns. “Dinner is served, hope you enjoy” he said. As Xander prepared his burger he asked “So, what kind of D&D games do you go for? Dungeon Crawling, Plots and intrigue, hack and slash?”

Abed wasn’t sure that he agreed with him. “Dark Maul wishes he was Darth Vader.” He said, as he picked up a bun to put his burger on. “I don’t think there’s ever been a lamer villain in a movie, ever.” Abed said, this is why he had wanted to hang out with Xander, because he was sure that they would get along. “I very much prefer the original trilogy.”

He shrugged about D&D, he wasn’t really sure, he would try anything. “I liked coming up with the plot for the game that we played, I have a knack for characters.” He said. He grabbed some ketchup. “I like that the game is so specific, too. It’s hard for me to understand human emotions on occasion, and things like D&D are nice for me, because it’s something that I can understand.”

While Abed was talking, Xander finished up his burger and got some mashed potatoes.

“Yes yes, Darth Vader is epicness. But Maul was bad-ass. Double lightsaber, horns, tattoos. And it was the first time anyone had seen fighting like that.” Xander countered.

“What kind of character do you think you’ll want to run?” he asked inquisitively. Xander had also learned a lot about social interaction when playing D&D, and he thought it’d be good for Abed. “Yeah, I understand that. It helped me when I was younger.”

Abed wasn’t sure. “I don’t know that I agree, just because he was able to work a double lightsaber doesn’t mean that he was any match for Darth Vader. I found him to be whiny.” He said, finishing up his own burger and putting it on his plate. “I wasn’t invested in him or his storyline at all.” Abed said, shaking his head with conviction.

“Probably an elf.” He said, as he thought. “Or a wizard.”
“Not that Maul had much storyline to begin with” Xander countered. “The books and comics expand his character greatly. I still wouldn’t say he’d beat Vader - but I wouldn’t call him whiny” Xander said, taking a bite of his burger.

“You could play an elven wizard” Xander suggested after taking another bite of his burger. “They’re almost made for that purpose” he said.

Abed had to admit, he didn’t agree with him on that. “I have never read the books or comics, I must admit, especially the ones about the prequels, because I never saw the point.” Abed said. He spooned some mashed potatoes on his plate. Abed would never think that Darth Maul was awesome, nor would he like the prequels to the Star Wars movies.

“That would be great.” He said, and meant it. “I would love to be an elven wizard.”

“The prequel stuff is decent. The Mace Windu book is really out there with some concepts they’ve never explored. The Maul stuff was good” Xander said. “But the New Jedi Order series is the best I’ve read, besides the Thrawn trilogy of course”

Xander felt good. It was good talking to someone about things and they actually understood him. And it wasn’t about apocalypses or demons or vampires either.

“Alright. I think I’ve got a book somewhere that I can loan you about elves and the wizard class. It’s always good to get a big picture view of everything.” Xander said. He spoke from experience when he had played his first character. He took a few more bites of his burger.

Abed nodded as he took a bite of his own burger. “I am sure they were very good, although, I am not sure I’d like them if they had anything to do with the prequels. I really did go to theaters to warn people not to see The Phantom Menace.” He nodded in his Abed way, and took a bite of his potatoes.

“That would be completely cool, cool, cool, cool.” He said, unable to help from saying it four times, it was just how he was.

Xander finished his burger and wiped his hands on a napkin. Getting up, he walked to a bookcase that held the roleplaying books that he had purchased. It was slow going, but Andrew had helped - while he had been here. He turned his head sideways, reading the spines of the books before he came across the two books he had been looking for. He pulled them out, the books showing some wear and tear from being older.

“Elves and Wizards” he said, putting the books near Abed. “They’re not hard reads, and they’ll give you plenty of ideas on what you may or may not want to do.” He moved into a different chair, trying to get comfortable. “If you have any questions though, I’d be happy to answer them” he said.

Abed grinned when he took it. He loved fantasy, especially role playing games. He smiled and nodded. “Thanks very much, Xander.” He said, as he finished his own food and went to sit with him in the living room. He was excited to be here, and he was excited about picking a character for D&D.

“This will make for fun reading.”

Xander’s phone started to go off as he sat. He pulled it out and saw who was calling. “Excuse me” he said to Abed before moving into the bedroom to take this call. Nearly ten minutes later, Xander emerged from the bedroom.

“Sorry about that Abed, but there’s this client I have” he said, while looking at his tool belt and tool box. “They’ve gone and borked up some work I just finished for them and need it taken care of now, for a pretty good fee on my end. It’s not something I can really turn down” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he made for the tool belt. “I hate to do this to you, but can we get together another time to go over this stuff?” he said with a hopeful tone. He hated having to cut and run, but the money was fantastically good. The rich in NYC would pay nearly anything to get what they wanted done. And fortunately for Xander, he was right on that money pulse.

“Of course, that is not a problem.” Abed replied, standing and holding the books in his hand. “I have some reading to do anyway.” He could go home and think about how much fun this was, too, that was his thing.

“It was good to meet you” Xander said as he finished getting his tool belt on and grabbing his tool box. “Let me know if you have any questions or anything interests you and we’ll work it out, ok?” he said, as he shuffled himself and Abed out of the apartment. The door locked behind him. He wasn’t looking forward to the night work, but he was looking forward to the money. And he’d see Abed again - he was sure of it.