Title: Morbid Curiosity

Chapter: 'Pon the Seas and 'Pon the Dory

Author: DC – devils_symphony@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: If I had created 'Buffy', I wouldn't be here. Don't own, don't sue. 'Cept the plot. No one can claim that but me. Oh, and the poetry is mine – made for the fic, BTW, so don't run away screaming about how I'm a crap poet. I mean, I AM a crap poet, but you can't tell from this, okay? Don't defy my logic.

Author's Notes: God it's been a while, sorry for the delay. Here's *drum roll* chapter six!!!

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'Pon The Seas and 'Pon the Dory

---

The afternoon hours seemed to just be consumed like dry leaves in a fire. It was six o'clock – the sun was still about, as summer drew nearer and the Scoobies had spent the hours bickering lightheartedly over the DVD's Tara had brought over, whether pizza was going to be the dinner of that night and sleeping arrangements. There had also been a strange argument between Faith and Xander about whether zebras were white with black stripes or just generally black and white striped. Gunn had whacked them both and they came to the mutual agreement that zebras in general should just pick one colour, black or white, and stick with it, without all of this stripe nonsense. It had been an enjoyable – and strange – afternoon. Tara and Gunn were trying to decide whether they should watch 'Mission Impossible' or 'Interview With the Vampire' first, William was placing orders for pizza on the phone, and Tara and Xander chatted quietly, both curled up on the couch at opposite ends. The living room was spacious and was a strange but surprisingly workable cross between Victorian era and modern – the beautiful portraits of ladies in gowns and antique oil lamps on the mantle versus a glass and metal coffee table, a wide screen TV and a pristine white couch.

"So, Xander, two weeks of Sunnydale life," Tara said in her Serious Tone, eyebrows furrowed to match it, with the telltale playful smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She was already dressed in pajamas, despite the sunlit hour, strawberry blonde hair in a loose ponytail. There was a pause, and Xander gave her a look.

"A fortnight, as our friends in the UK call it," Xander said, his own tone a duplicate to her's.

"Yeah, I never got that. 'Fort' and 'night'? It just makes no sense."

"Well you know thoughs crazy Brits, they're all completely spontaneous and insane."

"Calling two weeks a fortnight and all," Tara said. "But really, two weeks of Sunnydale. How's it going for you?" She switched from playful small-talk Tara to concerned sisterly Tara in a matter of seconds. Xander almost did the Loony Toons double-take thing. "Do you miss your friends in LA?"

"Friend, no plural, he goes by 'Jesse'," Xander corrected with a little grin. "Yeah, I guess. I called him yesterday."

"That's good, you should keep in touch," Tara said sincerely. The girl was nice-ness personified.

"Yeah, well," Xander shrugged, "I'm doing okay over here though. I was pretty dead set on the fact that I may as well just fade in to the background for the next two years and move back to L.A once school's out. But I think I'll hang around, bring a little comic relief into the gloomy world of Sunnydale. And donuts."

"Donuts?"

"I bring donuts. In the morning, Jesse, Buff and I met outside school and...I was the bringer of donuts," Xander finished with a wide grin.

"We all need donuts," Tara said with a smile. 'That was either a very profound metaphor or teenage psycho-babble,' Xander thought, not able to decide which. "Especially the ones with the sprinkles," Tara added after serious afterthought. 'Teenage psycho-metaphors.' At that point, William walked back in and flopped down ungracefully between them.

"Two large pizzas, one half Vegetarian, the other Meat Lovers, one half Seafood Special, the other Hawaiian, a roll of garlic bread, two large bottles of Coke and a lunch box of pasta," William sighed, leaning his head back, looking tired. "In forty minutes," he concluded.

"Did the pizza guy hate us?" as Tara.

"Well, he hated me at least."

"We're just finical and selective," Xander said, "and entirely lovable."

"The pizzas are overpriced," William said, still staring at the ceiling. "They should consider that before judging us on our fastidious pizza planning."

"Okay, we give up," said Faith, scooting over closer to them, Gunn following. The three on the couch looked at them, with identical expressions of amusement. "Do you guys want Tom Cruise served up with pale and fangs, or Tom Cruise hanging from the ceiling?"

"Is both an option?" asked Tara, putting on an overly helpful tone and a bright smile.

"Bondage vamp," Faith mused, she and Tara sharing an appreciative smile.

"How about 'Mission Impossible' first and dish up 'Interview' for comic relief?" suggested Xander. Despite helpful suggestions of sorts, they kept arguing insouciantly up until the doorbell rang, signaling pizza. William stood, as if emerging from a little world that was devoted to playful bickering, and he folded his arms authoritatively.

"Don't expect me to carry everything over here," he said. No one moved. "I'll make you all help pay for it." Xander stood after Tara poked him in the shoulder and Gunn prodded him in the shin.

"Okay, okay," he said, glaring at them both. "Because I'm the only nice one," he added with a bright smile. William rolled his eyes but gave a small smile all the same, before stepping passed Tara and towards the exit, Xander at his heels. "Well, fun evening so far," Xander said conversationally as they walked to the front door. "Kind of like a dysfunctional family, where we argue over everything but in the end we all love each other."

"We practically are a dysfunctional family," William agreed, "minus the drunken uncle and the loud-mouth cousin who beats you up a lot." Xander blinked as some of that sparked recognition. William opened the door, greeting the pizza guy with an absent 'hello' before asking what he owed him. Xander watched as William reached into a pocket of his baggy jeans, taking out multiple twenty dollar notes, peeling a few off the stack and handing it over. "I didn't bring you here for attractive scenery, grab a couple of things," William said when Xander didn't move. He shook his head and stepped up, the pizza guy handing him a large pizza box and the bottle of brown diluted syrup acid that was Coke.

The delivery employee – a predictable post-highschool kid with a driver's license and an acne problem – used crass commercialism for a goodbye. "Thanks for ordering at Pizza Perfection, Sunnydale's leading-" Xander kicked the door open with a bright smile, having shaken off the troubling reference a minute ago to what sounded way too much like his own family.

"Pizza chain," William concluded for the poor Pizza Perfection employee. He gave Xander a smirk before walking back towards the room. He was stopped as Xander managed to get a hand free to holding the sleeve of William's T-shirt. "Hm?" Awkwardly, Xander sidled up to kiss him and succeeded. He felt that low tingle he usually did when William kissed back, the one that felt too good to be real, and all of the other sappy sentiments that went along with it. The Brit pulled away after a few seconds, smiling softly. "You pick your moments poorly," he said, indicating the armful of American grease, "but the content's always worth it."

"We gotta do pizza again sometime," Xander said as they started strolling lazily back towards the living room. William gave him an arch look.

"Really? Have all thoughs orders again and enough food to feed an army or at least an entire Third World country?" he asked incredulously. "And I think I've absorbed enough grease through the box into my arms for at least a year. Next time, Chinese, which is basically also grease and oil in plastic boxes, but at least aforementioned grease and oil won't seep and imbed itself in my arms and deteriorate the skin-"

"I meant just us, Will," Xander interrupted with a smile at William's train of thought. The offer seemed to derail it as William looked at him in surprise, before recovering quickly.

"Right. Pizza and us. Sounds good," he said shortly with a small and shy smile. Xander had to grin at that. It was kind of cool knowing that you could turn someone from babbling and carefree to small smiling and shyness, just because you asked to hang out with them. Waitaminute – not just hang out. Did going for pizza with William come under the 'date' category? Xander had to find a handbook, a handy reference guide or a nice simple index on what was and wasn't dating.

Brushing the irksome question aside, Xander managed to steal one more kiss before they headed back into the room with the rest of the Scoobies. Despite the lack of enthusiasm for getting the foods at the door, all three leapt up to help unload the boys, Tara going off to the kitchen to grab glass to pour the Coke in. "What took you guys so long?" asked Gunn, peering into one of the square boxes in search of the Seafood Special half. Xander and William glanced at each other as William set down the lunch box of pasta and tube of garlic bread.

"The guy was trying to find change," Xander said, opening the second pizza box. He wrinkled his nose and took a one of the Seafood slices. "Mm, invertebrates and scaly friends, taking flight 464 into my mouth," he said happily, biting down.

"You've just inspired me to go with Meat Lovers," William said, drawing his hand away from the Seafood Special with a vague look of disgust and amusement. Gunn grinned and bit into his own slice. Faith snickered, grabbing a Hawaiian, cupping a hand under it to prevent stray pieces of pineapple and ham from falling. Tara came back, setting the glasses on the table with a clatter that made William wince in sympathy for his poor furniture and glassware. "Anyway, have we chosen what we want to watch first?"

"Yeah, everyone wants the vamp flick, but Gunn still wants 'Mission Impossible'," Faith said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, we can only solve this with a mud wrestling round," Xander said, pouring himself a glass and nicking a middle slice from the garlic bread roll.

"Obviously," added William, rolling his eyes heavenwards.

"Let's just watch 'Mission Impossible'," Tara said democratically. "Because deep down we don't actually care, because all we really want is to spend time with each other and a movie is just one of the things we'd bond over, so it doesn't matter what we watch, as long as we're all together and happy."

"I want 'Mission Impossible'," Gunn said stubbornly, but the dawning of a telltale smirk gave him away for just playing along. About ten minutes later after a couple of bathroom runs, the movie finally started up, and the Scoobies settled down to watch. William and Xander had taken over the couch again, and Faith had claimed the end of it. Tara and Gunn lay on their stomachs on the ground in front of the TV, resting their chins in their hands, picking at the remains of the Hawaiian pizza. Xander had seen the movie before at least, oh, four times, which was three times too many, but no one else in the bunch had, so he watch them, smiling as they all smirked when the cool action stunts set in, all eyes widened when the twists and turns were revealed, all grinned at the way the movie ended. By the time it did end, night had well and truly set in, and Tara was now dressed appropriately in her kitten patterned pajamas which was so adorable you could keel over and die.

"Okay, now can we watch the vamp flick?" asked Faith, standing up.

"Like you didn't enjoy it," said Gunn over his shoulder.

"It was cool," the Slayer admitted, stretching her arms above her head. She then grinned. "I liked the part when he was on the train and with the exploding chopper in the train tube. That was wicked cool."

"Yeah, and when Ethan Hunt was at the aquarium restaurant thingy, and the fish tank exploded," added Gunn. Faith sat cross-legged opposite Gunn and the two started babbling excitedly about the movies stunts and effects like two nerds at a Star Wars convention, using motions to describe what they were talking about, only except swinging arms and going 'tzzzzzing', it was more like splayed fingers and 'kaboom'. Tara sat up, smiling at the chatter and sometimes adding her opinions and a few nods.

"Okay, I'm gonna get changed into appropriate sleep over stuff," Xander announced, and William nodded in comprehension, but the other three were too deep in their own conversation. They glanced at each other, smirking.

"And I need to set fire to the giraffe's torch hitter, they get really red at this time of microscopic activity," William added, picking up random bits of gibberish as he went. No reaction.

"You know those articulately yellow cabbage finders, they're always clicking the Sundays," Xander chimed in. Still no reaction. They grinned at each other and left the room, chuckling smugly. "Well, that made sense, only not," Xander said after they were out in the hallway.

"I think they enjoyed the movie," William said with a smirk as they started towards the stairs. "What are you getting changed into?"

"I've been on the Hellmouth for two weeks and already my first reaction is – changed into? Like an animal?" he said, earning a nod of agreement from William. "Just boxers and a T-shirt, universal sleeping gear."

As they started up the stairs, Xander did something that he had wanted to do all through Friday and through most the movie they had just watched. He took William's hand as casually as possible, not looking at William who looked down at the clasped hands and then up at Xander as they went. Xander wanted it to be natural and not awkward. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, William relax and the gesture went under the category of 'normal behavior'. Xander silently celebrated. They approached William's door, and Xander started to go in and get changed, leaving William out in the hallway, when the hand in his own pulled him back. Xander looked around at William, and as soon as he did so, his mouth was captured in a kiss. He smiled into it, using his other hand to pull William closer to him. The Brit's other arm settled comfortably around Xander's neck, and Xander put his arm around William's waist, their other hands stilled clasped, hanging down at their sides.

They broke off the kiss, both wearing smiles that would be classified as idiotic. "You've any idea how good all of this feels?" asked William quietly, tilting his head slightly.

"Hell yes," Xander said, voice equally hushed, chuckling a little. William started to say more, but before Xander realized that the boy was about to speak, his pressed his lips against William's once more, who kissed back, words he had had lined up obviously not mounting up to the kiss. Acting a little more on instinct now, Xander stepped forward a foot, propelling William backwards and into the wall, softly but almost unstoppably. The Brit gave an irrepressible moan as Xander pressed himself against William, the sound sending tingles and warmth straight to Xander's gut, and also, his groin. Xander had been turned on before, but not with William – it had been too chaste to be sexual, more about emotion than anything else. Blood rushed to Xander's cheeks at this, and also to his nether regions. He broke away, finding himself gasping slightly. William's face was equally flush, eyes hooded behind his glasses. William obviously felt the same way, hence the moan. Xander started to kiss him again, got a different idea, and ducked his head down to kiss the Brit's neck. The arm around William's waist tightened as William moaned again, head inaudibly colliding with the wall behind him gently as he leant back. Xander switched sides on William's neck, mouth landing on where his jugular on the right side would be, and kissing down a bit more before his lips met with the scars.

"Ah," William said vaguely, and Xander looked up. "Not there," he said, with a touch of self-consciousness. Xander nodded in understanding, and William kissed him chastely. "We have a pretty good chance of one of the others wandering up here, so why don't we take a rain check?" Xander grinned brightly, kissed William on the scarring cut on his eyebrow and untangled his hand from William's to pull the bespectacled boy's glasses down his nose.

"'Kay," he said, taking a sudden step back, pretending not to notice the way William pressed his hands against the wall to keep from slipping, support gone. William smirked a little, pushing his glasses up with his middle finger. "William, how rude, what would your parents think?" Xander mocked, reaching out grabbing the finger.

"That you're a bad influence," William said, pulling his hand away to gesture towards his room. "Run along now, get dressed and I'll provide substitute entertainment for the children downstairs."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," said Xander, leaning forward to peck William lightly on the lips before turning and heading into the boy's room, closing the door with a faint click. He had played the cool, nonchalant but caring boyfriend well, right? His erection was very slowly subsiding, but still uncomfortably unsatisfied. William didn't have to know that, though. Stepping over Gunn's bag that had been flung carelessly inside, Xander grabbed his own and pulled out his generic sleep over gear, peeling off his clothes and replacing with the more pliant-than-jeans satin boxers that ended around his knees, and a loose T-shirt that was old and frayed around the hems. Xander sat down on the edge of William's bed, pulling off his socks and replacing them with woolly versions of the same thing. He looked around the messy room, taking in details he had before. A dark wood bedside table held a silver reading lamp that was the twin of the Pixar mascot. Beside it was a dark blue crystal of some description. When Xander put his hand near it, he felt a slight tingling sensation, like a mild dose of static electricity. Weird. Beside the crystal was the book Ethan had lent William, looking ominous with its lack of title and presence of rune carvings. Xander went to pick it up, but as soon as he touched it, his hand jerked away. It was like touching something that was white-hot, only more with the reaction speed and nil with the hot or pain. Xander tried again, but he kept jerking away from it. Xander surveyed his fingers. No red marks to indicate that he had touched something burning hot, no instantaneous blisters. It was like his nerve system registered 'pain!' but his brain or the nerves themselves didn't. Very weird.

Shrugging, Xander opened the top drawer of the bedside table, wondering vaguely if he was infringing on William's privacy (he had only learnt that word yesterday, after going through life thinking that 'infringement' was the act of making tassels. So now Xander was intent on using it for its correct meaning in all possible circumstances, to make up for his past ignorance). Well, William wouldn't mind, and the Brit was free to go through Xander's things, of that Xander was certain. Inside was a black covered notepad glowing with the shiny new-ness most recently bought stationary seems to glow. He flicked it open to see a list of words, all rhyming. "Story, glory, gory, Tory, dory..." Xander read, confused. Who the hell spent time trying to list words that rhyme? 'Someone wanting to write a poem. Or someone really, really, chronically bored,' Xander reflected.

He went to the next page, which had a few lines that were scribbled out. Two weren't.

'Pon the seas and 'pon the dory,

Above and beyond

The sentence was left unfinished. Xander snickered. William wrote poetry? Well, not completely unbelievable, he did have a yen for reading the stuff. Xander closed the notebook. Inside the drawer was also the poetry book William had borrowed from their English teacher, and a book with a hard cover to make it look like it was leather. It was a thick spiral notebook and it had the recognizable wear and tear of something frequently used. Xander took this out, and opened to the first page, prepared to put it back if it turned out to be a journal or something. There were dates, true, but instead of diary entries, there were poems. Xander's eyes widened as he flicked through the pages. Almost completely full of poems long and short, all rhyming, as far as Xander could see. Making a little sound that reflected admiration of William's assiduousness (one bored day, a thesaurus, too much free time) towards writing, Xander opened the notebook to a random page and read on William had written before Xander had met him.

1/2/96

The sun, it shines down towards him,

Like Heaven's opening, like a yellow grin.

Tall, sandy hair, green eyes, sea-deep dye,

Voice to die for, to fall asleep by.

Love cannot be contained in a mere wink,

But it's this that he conveys, missed in a blink.

Hold my hand-

Flushing with shame for prying, Xander snapped the book shut. William had written a love poem about a guy? Hurriedly, as if he expected William to come running in any moment, Xander put the book back and shut the drawer, guiltiness seeping into his system as quickly as the blush stained his cheeks. Okay, so that answers one question – William already knew of his own sexuality. Being British and all (Xander had a few views of the world, despite never traveling anywhere), he had probably committed what would probably a shame for him, to paper and only to paper. That explains why William was so awkward after their kiss in the dark – he wrote about it, but he had never contemplated it happening.

Guilt still as common as blood in his veins, Xander opened the drawer again, taking out the poem notebook and resting it on his knees, closed, fingers drumming on the cover. He'd already read one poem, a few more wouldn't hurt. Besides, the stuff was pretty good. He had a feeling these were final drafts, or something. The unfinished verse on the cheaper notebook on top of the table had been...kind of...bad? Hesitantly, Xander opened to the last page, reading the date. It had been written a week ago. He scanned the poem for his name – there was a lack of it, thank god. He'd really feel bad for prying if there was anything about him. He opened a page at random, more towards the start. He read love poem after love poem, the pattern sometimes ruined when a poem of no particular genre was put in there. It was all rather light and traditional and romantic. Some of the love poems referred to the sandy haired stranger Xander had read about before, some hadn't. After a while, Xander closed the book and put it back in the drawer, heading out of the room and deciding that William would never, ever find out about the little infringement.

---

"Okay, Faith: if you were on a desert island, what four items would you want with you?" Tara asked. The group sat in a circle, playing a game Tara and Xander had jointly made up on the spot, called 'Ask a Random Question For No Reason', or 'Aaquefonir', as Xander had put it, making a word out of all of the initials put together. Tara had said something about how some of the questions were psychological and insightful to someone's personality. They were all dressed in a range of different sorts of sleep wear. There was Xander in his modest boxers and old T-shirt, Tara in her kitten pajamas. Faith wore boxers as well, only these were tighter and made guys eyes stray downwards. She also wore a singlet top that looked too flimsy to be actually classified as clothing. Gunn wore something similar to Xander, dark greys and dark blues, and William wore a long and loose black T-shirt and grey tracksuit pants.

"Does the island have vamps?"

"Faith. It's a desert island. Deserted. Except you."

"Good point," Faith said with a half-smile at her own expense. "Alright. Four things? Laptop with Internet that's completely charged so I can email someone to get me the hell outta the island. A huge icebox with food in it, anything that ain't good for ya but great for the soul, a big box of matches and a big tank of water."

"Good answers," Tara said. "I guess that means you're practical, efficient and resourceful."

"In other words, a Slayer," Gunn said, and Faith grinned.

"Okay, my turn," the Slayer said, looking around at everyone. Her dark eyes rested on Xander, and she smirked. "Hey there."

"Uh oh."

"Harris: if your house was burnin' down, and you could only take one thing, what would it be?"

"Original," Xander said sarcastically.

"I try," Faith said equally sarcastically, shrugging.

"Hm, if my house was burning down, what one thing would I bring?" Xander mused, tapping a finger against his chin. "That's stupid, I'd bring more than one thing. I guess I'd make a grab for my comic book collection." Everyone exchanged a glance of 'innit cute?' except Gunn, who just gave him one a proverbial lift of the eyebrow. Xander grinned. "Or I'd take the fire out of the house."

"What does that mean in psycho-babble?" asked Faith, looking at Tara.

"Well, combining the comic book answer and the fire one? It probably shows someone with an almost realist, or maybe a pessimistic frame of mind," Tara said. Xander frowned.

"How'd you figure that one?"

"Well...you're comic book collection is something that you've worked on over a period of time, but it holds no value to anyone else, so that's an item that will improve your private life, and that may be seen as a-a sort of defiance that says that you can't see a way of improving life in general. A-and the fire? That's pessimistic, because you know it's impossible and you see the impossible as b-being the only alternative, s-so there's, um, no point." A silence descended upon the group, and then Tara gave a lopsided smile. "O-or you're a geek with a quirky sense of humor."

"That's it," grinned Xander and everyone chuckled. "Okay, my turn?" He looked pointedly at Gunn, who looked at him expectantly. "Gunn, light of my life," Gunn rolled his eyes and threw a corn chip at him (Faith brought the corn chips, Gunn brought the two six packs of coke), "here's a question. Once I think of one." He wrinkled his nose, and Gunn lifted his eyebrow again, smirking. "Ooh, I know. If you could be any object, what would you be?"

"Odd, odd question," William said, looking at Xander over the rim of his glasses. Xander stuck his tongue out at William before looking back at Gunn, who was contemplating.

"I think it was good," Tara said helpfully, smiling.

"I'd be a car," Gunn said decidedly. "A cool car. What's that in the world of psychology?"

"You're a grease monkey?" asked Tara, shrugging, with a small grin. "What kind of car?"

"Actually, maybe a pick up truck, a big one with big wheels."

"Hymph, what're you compensating for?" snorted Xander, getting another corn chip thrown at him. It bounced off his ear and he ducked a little too late. William and Faith chuckled at Gunn's expense, who glared at them, the glare bouncing off uselessly.

"That could be a sign of insecurity," Tara said insightfully.

"Man, I don't even wanna know how you came up with that," Gunn said and Tara gave him a wry smile. "Okay, Tar, this is for you."

"Wait, how's she gonna do the psycho-babble for herself?" asked Xander.

"English is our Tara substitute," Faith said a matter-of-factly.

"Gee, thanks, American," William said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, now, guys, don't make any jokes about contending for Ms. United States or any other lame-ass old pun like that, alright?" Gunn asked, pointing his finger.

"You're going to ask how Tara may want to change the world?" asked William. "I never thought you'd stoop so low in this game, Charles."

"No, I'm gonna ask her to describe her perfect date," Gunn said, then looked at Tara. "Describe your-"

"Perfect date," she finished. She wrinkled her nose. "The guy or the date itself?"

"Uh," Gunn blinked the way one would when they hadn't considered all of the options in their question. "Both? Yeah, both."

"Okaaaay," Tara said carefully, scratching her head thoughtfully. "Um...looks wouldn't really matter, I don't think." Everyone rolled his or her eyes simultaneously. "It wouldn't!"

"I'm so insulted," Xander sighed melodramatically. She giggled, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not talking about you."

"So I'm not your perfect date?" he asked. "I'm so insulted," he repeated in exactly the same tone, and got whapped upside the head for his troubles.

"Moving on," Tara said after her light assault, "I'd like my date to be the one to pick up the checks. Y'know, a gentleman. Someone who would make me laugh, who'd never do anything stupid and, um, see me as me." She shrugged bashfully, hiding behind the few locks of hair not swept into a ponytail. "Y'know, someone reliable and open minded. And as for the date, I-I guess I'd like to do the traditional thing, movie and dinner, whether its premier seats and then reservations at the most expensive French restaurant in town, or outside of an electrical store and drive-through at McDonalds."

"I'd want to lean towards the premier seats and reservations," smirked William.

"All or nothing, baby," agreed Faith, nodding.

"But you're the guy, Will. You'd have to pay," Gunn pointed out.

"Maybe not, then. Carry on, Tara."

"That's about it," she said, shrugging. She then smiled, tucking stray locks behind her ears bashfully. "Well, maybe...a-after dinner and movies and stuff...we'd, I dunno, walk around all night, just being together. Like, go to the woods and, um, sit in the car listening to the radio, just being content w-with each other's company?"

"That's sweet," said Faith, nodding. "But you'll be waiting around for a long time, girl. Most guys are all idiots, wannabes and jerks." She looked at the three boys. "No offense."

"None taken?" Xander asked, raising an eyebrow, while the other two managed to look offended.

Tara giggled, than looked at William. "Your turn." William tilted his head, half-smiling, waiting for his question. "I-I could ask something easy, like 'describe your perfect day' or something...that was a not-so-subtle suggestion, by the way."

"I'm remembering that one," Xander said, putting up a hand.

"But I'll ask something a little harder," Tara said.

"Why?" asked William, sighing.

"Because we've all had easy questions all night, and I think we should get into some harder stuff," she said, and everyone gave her a look like 'but WHY?' "Just give me a minute to think about a good question." William sighed, then tapped Xander on his forearm with the back of his hand.

"Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?"

"How about I get hot chocolate, pretend its black coffee and impress the girls?" he asked, as they both stood from the circle. Gunn and Faith started talking about Willow, while Tara stayed in thoughtful silence, tugging at a stray piece of string from the hem of her sleeve. William led the way towards the kitchen, a pristine room with cool white and black tiles like a checkerboard, stainless steel reflecting the fluorescence of the kitchen light.

"So, hot chocolate cunningly disguised as black coffee coming right up," William, opening the pantry door.

"Hey, English, get me one too!" called Faith from the living room, her voice small and barely audible despite her bellowing.

"Yes mistress!" he yelled back, rolling his eyes. "I should bring her back some tea and pretend there was a misunderstanding." William emerged from behind the pantry door with a jar filled with tea bags and a tin containing instant hot chocolate.

"Pure evil genius," Xander said sarcastically, sitting up on the breakfast bar.

"Indeed. Did you want little marshmallows in your manly black coffee?"

"I hate you."

William grinned as he turned on the electrical kettle, and then hoisted himself up on the bench and sat next to Xander. "You know, there is a reason for the stools in front of us."

"Yeah, but what they don't know can't hurt them," Xander said, resting his feet on aforementioned stools. Both, with the same idea at the same time, took each other's hand into their own, barely noticing the subconscious movement. "If we don't tell the stools of their stoolishness, then who's to blame?" Xander glanced own at their interlocking fingers, and took their held hands into his lap, playing absently with a plain, silver ring William sported on his middle finger. "Whassat?"

"An attempt at gothic jewelry," William said. He started to pull his hand away but Xander held fast. "A poor attempt but an attempt all the same. What're you doing?"

"Man, you look like you've never done a days work in your life," Xander chuckled, studying William hand, turning it so it palm upwards.

"Oi."

"Which is surprising, considering your extracurricular activities," Xander said in his Observant Tone. "Then again, I guess you use the crossbow more than a stake, which isn't so rough, kind of stand-offish rather than up close and personal. I wonder if Tara would have any psycho-babble for that?"

"Stop it," William said firmly. Xander blinked at him, before kissing the heel of his palm but not releasing his hand, earning a half-smile, a slightly lopsided one at that. "Well, keep going if you're going to be doing things like that." Xander grinned, letting go of William's hand, which placed itself gently on the back of Xander's neck. The kiss that followed lingered for all of ten seconds, chaste, maybe too chaste in Xander's opinion. Before he could attempt to deepen it, he was left wanting on the bench alone, kiss position. He glared at William who was walking over to the recently boiled kettle, grabbing five mugs. "So, hot chocolate for you and Faith and probably Tara, a tea for Gunn, presumably, and a coffee for me, just so I can knock the stereotype," he said cheerfully, grabbing a can of instant coffee from the pantry. He stopped under Xander's glare and blinked innocently. "What?"

Xander didn't say anything, but he hopped off the bench and intensified his glare. William chuckled and turned back to what he was doing, prying off the lid of instant hot chocolate with a teaspoon. Xander walked up behind him, peering over his shoulder and didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around William's waist, resting his head on the slightly shorter boy's shoulder. William contentedly leant into him, even as he picked up the kettle, pouring the boiling water into the five mugs, different shades of brown welling up to the brims. "Be a pet and get me milk from the fridge, would you?" William asked demurely, despite their position.

"Yes dear," Xander said sarcastically, earning a small laugh. He turned and opened the stainless steel fridge, surveying its contents with mild interest. It was well stocked, but well stocked in the sense that you could stare at it for a few minutes before reporting there was nothing to eat. Vegetables, fruits, a tub of yogurt, cheese, butter, a loaf of bread, a ready made salad in a plastic container, low fat mayonnaise, one of the six packs Gunn had brought, a few cartons on milk and a large bottle of orange juice. Xander grabbed one of the cartons of milk and closed it. "Your parents on some sort of health fixation?" Xander asked, setting the carton in front of William and commencing their previous position.

"This being the reason I usually buy my own food," William said dryly, making use of the milk in everyone's except his own coffee. He reached up where a small bench was placed, grabbing a jaw of sugar. "How many spoons of sugar in your 'coffee'?" he asked, managing to do the quotation marks even while holding the jar of sugar and a dripping teaspoon.

"Four."

"Blech," William said in obvious but mild disgust, even as he complied.

"I have a sweet tooth, shaddup."

"Which is why you enjoy snogging me so much?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. See me laugh, you crazy mirth-machine, you."

William snickered. "Right, well, help me carry these things into the living room, where my dreaded and insightful question awaits." Xander released the Brit and managed to get hold of two of the hot chocolates in one hand and one more in the other. They walked back to the living room, where Gunn was trying to describe to Faith and Tara an instance when he, his brother and their friends took out a big nest of vampires. Once they were settled, warm beverages in each hand, Tara grinned at William.

"This won't seem very original," she said with a hint of apology, "but I think it's a good one."

"Personal, prying, profane and other adjectives starting with 'p'," Xander said, sipping his 'coffee'. "Maybe we can publish it publicly."

"Shush," Tara scolded lightly, and she turned back to William who was doing his best to look bored. "Okay, here goes it: what is your worst fear?"

"That's the big insightful question it took you a coffee break to work out?" he asked skeptically.

"Just answer it truthfully," said Tara, looking slightly offended but covering it well.

"Well, I don't know," William said, staring down into the murkiness that was his coffee.

"Most things?" Gunn suggested, earning a light half-hearted glare from William.

"You want this in list format?" asked William dryly, turning towards Tara.

"No, only one thing."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I've never sat down and listed all my fears on a scale of scariest to sort of frightening," he said, still sardonic, doing a good impression of someone driving to dodge a question.

"Will, c'mon."

"I fear infommercials and the energizer bunny."

"Fine, don't answer it properly, I got all the answer I need," Tara said aloofly, un-Tara-ish.

"What? Why?" asked William, obviously confused.

"You keep avoiding the question with sarcastic remarks. That would give a psychologist more insight into your personality than it would if you just answered the question with a little bit more dignity," Tara said. Xander blinked. It was probably the most un-nice thing he had ever heard her saying. He glanced at William, who was giving her an expressionless stare, completely unreadable. She faltered under it but continued. "S-some might say that it indicates that one of your fears would be to h-have someone know you completely, without barriers, so you d-dodge personal questions...I could be wrong, I probably am, it's just a theory, I'm no expert," she said quickly when William didn't react. Xander realized that she hadn't been trying to be mean (it was TARA after all) – Tara liked working out peoples personalities and being insightful and she had let her mouth go off just now without too much thought on consequences.

"No, you aren't," William said straightway, standing, placing his mug on the coffee table. "I'm going to have a shower before this party continues and I forget." With that he left the room and Tara groaned.

"I didn't mean to-" she started.

"We know," Xander interrupted.

"He's just English," Gunn said dryly. "Anyway, who's turn should it be now?" Tara remained looking guilty, even as Gunn took the liberty in asking a question. He asked Faith if she'd ever consider going out with any of the three boys here. It had led to a lot of uncharacteristic giggling on her part, admitting that when she had first met William, she had had a crush on him, and how insane was she back then, exactly? Xander stayed silent, not sure whether or not to be worried about William. Was there anything to be worried about? He'd seemed upset, but why? Tara was just making amateurish observations, and wasn't that the whole point of the game? Unless her words had hit a nerve, then Xander would be worried about him. Then again, who wasn't afraid of letting people in? Xander had a lot of secrets uncovered that he didn't want people to know. Slightly confused and unable to decipher how he felt about any of this, Xander drained his hot chocolate, and offered to put everyone's mugs away. William's coffee had gone cold, so, with a little bit of difficulty, Xander carried the four empty cups and the half full one into the kitchen, and then rinsed out the murky depths of black coffee. How William could drink the stuff, Xander would never know.

The cold water felt refreshing over his hands as he held them under the tap after cleaning out the mugs. It was relieving to take pleasure in such a simple thing, while Xander's brain was knotted with thoughts and theories about William and his reaction towards Tara. Xander knew that he wanted to know William, completely and utterly, and he felt like he already knew him a great deal more than a lot of others. Like, say, that he wasn't a geek on a power trip. Or that his poetry may have been slightly bad, but the intentions and feelings behind them made them better than most. That while he had a nice shyness about him around other people, Xander could bring forth something cynical, and at the same time, something confident and un-William-ish. Or maybe it was William-ish and everything else wasn't. Xander had yet to find out, but he wanted to, he wanted to know every inch of William's personality. But since his reaction to Tara's perception of his feelings (the sort of reaction one does when they hear something true), Xander wasn't sure if William wanted him to.

Sighing mentally and physically, Xander withdrew his hands from the stream of cool water, drying them absently on his T-shirt. He'd only known William for a week and longer, but it felt like less. Maybe he should never have kissed him when he did. Maybe this whole relationship was a mistake.

"Is it normal?" Xander jumped an inch and spun around to see William standing at the entrance of the kitchen, hair damp, darker and glasses missing, giving him a rather different look. The spectacles lay on the bench beside him. "I mean, I thought that it wasn't that I didn't want people to know me. It just depends on the people." He shrugged and Xander stayed silent, not really knowing what to say or what to make of William's words. "Writing poetry about delving into the nooks and crannies of other people's personalities, even if they aren't real." He seemed lost in his own statements, so Xander continued just to listen. "Kind of like a repressed fascination to myself." Another shrug. "Like I'm not really there, and all have are words."

"Will, what are-?"

"Because," William continued, ignoring him, walking closer, "I am here. All drawn up and entangled inside, overlapping and fusing together. It's all confused. I'm either the shy bookish one in the corner, or the one that wields a crossbow and steals kisses from boys behind people's backs. I feel like I can't be both, but I am. And if anyone found that out, found out that I'm not just me-ish, then what do I have? No more secrets, and that's all I own." He stopped in front of Xander, now looking at him. "But I can tell you anything, even if I haven't yet. That's why I'm in love with you."

The words sent stabbing feelings into Xander's heart, and he tried to speak by only dry squeaks would emerge, like a rusted gate...that had...just been told by another...rusted gate...that that rusted gate was in love with him? Weird analogy, but it seemed to work. William continued, Xander only barely grasping what the boy meant. "Because I feel like you know that I work on different levels, that I'm not always here? No, not the right words..." William looked away, trying to figure out how to say what was on his mind. Xander reached out, taking William's hand into his own, though the Brit barely noticed. "I write and read so much I can't piece together one soddin' coherent sentence," he murmured, before looking back at Xander. "I know that this is a cliché but...you see me. Tara's right, even if she didn't say it out right. I'm scared of people seeing me. Of knowing me. I don't know why, I just am. But I feel good when you see me – I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize it. Is it the wrong reason to love someone?" The question was only half-rhetorical.

"No," Xander answered as firmly as possible.

"Maybe," William said doubtfully. "Maybe there shouldn't be a reason. Maybe there isn't. I don't know. I'm confusing myself now." He gave Xander a wry smirk, just before both leaned in for a kiss at the same time, hands still clasped tightly. Xander broke it off almost as soon as it started.

"You love me?"

William opened his mouth to speak, and seemed to reconsider, as if he had just realized that that was indeed what he had said. He smiled softly, lips less than an inch away from Xander's. "Depends."

Xander mirrored the smile, leaning in a little closer, feeling not his lips, but just the warmth, they were so close. "On what?"

"Are you really wanting to take me out for pizza?"

Xander snickered. "Or anywhere else you want to go."

"Anywhere with you. Sorry is that sounded, well, lame."

"It did, but thanks," Xander said, and leaning forward to close the rest of the tiny distance.

The kiss went on longer than either of them had expected. The doubt Xander carried around about whether or not he should have pursued a relationship with William this early in the game vanished. It would be back, doubts usually do that, but for now? For now Xander was happy where he was, kissing William, everything feeling so right. The boy loved him. Xander had never said 'I love you' and meant it, but he would have, at that moment. In fact, he would. He broke off the kiss, the words on the tip of his tongue, when William backed away, breaking any contact. "I heard 'em coming," he said by way of explanation at Xander's confused stare.

"Hey, guys, we surfed Will's cable and found a movie to watch," Faith said, looking very good in her skimpy version of pajamas, dark hair loose and in tendrils. "If you guys aren't busy doing the whole male bonding things," William and Xander both fought to suppress a chuckle, "then come on down, but bring the six pack, okay?" She left, and they glanced at each other, chuckling.

"So, did you answer my question?" Xander asked, opening the fridge and handing William the Coke six pack.

"Which one?"

"Do you love me?"

William grinned. "For a date? Yes."

"And without the date?" asked Xander, closing the door.

"Don't you know?" asked William, tilting his head as he walked over to the bench to pick up his glasses and put them on deftly.

"You're the King of Subtle, okay?" Xander said, tugging at William's sleeve. "Do ya love me even without the date?"

William grinned and kissed him, nothing about it chaste or wholesome or even remotely subtle. He broke off, still grinning. "You're entirely lovable, yes, I do." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the kitchen, six pack under one arm. Xander paused for a few seconds, letting this sink in, before following William, catching up. He tugged at the back of the boy's T-shirt so he stopped.

"Love you too," he said in a rush.

"Good to know," William said, suppressing what would be a giddy, boyish and slightly idiotic grin and turning into an askew smirk. Xander leant in to kiss him when Faith suddenly arrived at in the hallway again. Xander stepped back, colliding with the wall. William started laughing.

"Am I interrupting anything?" asked Faith sardonically. She didn't wait for an answer and she crossed her arms. "Well, the movie's starting." She stepped forward to take a Coke from William, who was still chuckling. "Thanks, slave." She turned and headed into the living room.

"That was scary," Xander said, and promptly hit William on the arm. "Stop laughing."

"Sir yes sir," he said. "Oh look, a Xander-shaped dent in the wall." He was kicked in the shin.

~~~

*twitches on the floor, spread-eagled* Finally. It's DONE. I don't know what took me so long. I guess I just had writers' block and my muse get dragging me off in new, scary places, like Ethan/Wesley and Andrew/Angelus. Don't ask, don't bloody ask. But here we are. Hopefully the little invasion of The Brick won't ruin the story. The whole thing just gives a 'rushed' vibe, doesn't it? *long suffering sigh* Sorry 'bout that. This chapter just screams: THE AUTHOR IS ENGAGED. Not engaged in the married sense *runs away screaming* but in the engaged sense, funnily enough. Holidays are over, you see.

Oh, and can anyone tell me what colour eyes Parker has? And what's his last name? Wow, THERE'S a dead give away about who's gonna be my next AU victim. He's coming sooner than you'd think. Anyway, as soon as this is posted, I'm working on the next chapter, so it should be up a little sooner than it took to get this one up. Anyway, I wasn't sure about this ending. There were a number of different ones I was thinking of, but this one acted like the least rushed.