Carving Out a Future

By: Dreamfall

Summary: Her crew doesn't know that Serenity's new passenger, a carpenter with an 'unusual upbringing', is a relic from the past. Xander says he's not looking for trouble. But, then, neither are they. Not usually, leastways. It just always comes calling anyway. Gen. Canon couples mentioned, but definitely not the focus of the story.

Written for: NaNoWriMo and TTH100: Xander/Firefly

TTH100 prompt: 017-Air

Rating: FR13/PG13/T

Disclaimer: I own neither Firefly nor BtVS.

Spoilers: Takes place post Season 7 for Buffy, and post-Objects in Space (and post the comic books, for that matter), but pre-Serenity for Firefly.

Author's Note: This is the story I started in November for NaNoWriMo. I'm thirty or so chapters into it, but since there's going to be at least one hundred chapters (since it's for tth100), they're mostly pretty short. If you're coming from this from my HP fanfics-- it's very different. Way less dark. It's also an incredibly fun story to write, and I do intend to continue with it to its conclusion. And no, it's not taking any real time away from Cat, now that I'm not working obsessively on it, like I was in November. I'll be posting every couple/few days at least till I'm caught up with my livejournal (username dreamfall(underscore)nnwm). Hope you enjoy!

Review Response: Responses to any reviews will be posted in the same livejournal as my other review responses-- username dreamfall(underscore)ff.

Chapter Nineteen
Dirtside

Xander leaned back against the wall to survey his work and a slow smile crept across his face. He nodded in satisfaction, although there was nobody there to see it, and moved around the room to examine the table from every angle. It would do, he thought. He checked the bolts one more time and then started packing up his tools. The others had already gone dirtside for the day. Mal had been the last to leave, moving the shuttle for him to get the table off and then docking it again on Serenity. The crew was hanging out enjoying the local sights and wandering about. There was supposed to be some kind of celebration, so he was looking forward to a good time. Even River and Simon were out, although they'd been warned to stay close to at least one of the others at all times. Xander had said he was going to get a bit of work done and then catch up later on in the evening.

He ferried his gear back up to the shuttle, took a quick shower, and pulled on some clean clothes before heading out to hunt down the others. The first breath of fresh air he got when he stepped outside was glorious. He hadn't gone further than the few feet away from the ramp that Mal had parked the shuttle before; he'd been afraid he wouldn't be able to convince himself to go back in. Serenity had good air; it was nowhere near as bad as he would have thought a spaceship would have if he'd thought about it back in the old days, but compared to I real /I air, it was definitely lacking. His nose flared, and he started following it towards the small town. The scent of cooking meat was on the light breeze, and that was one definite advantage this air had over the ship's, he decided, mouth watering.

Not hurrying, Xander took in the sights as he wandered down the path towards the town. Not that there was a lot to see. A whole lot of corn in one direction and some kind of tall grass in the other. He didn't know what it was, but there was a lot of it. The town itself was a strange mixture of stucco, logs, concrete, plastic, glass, tin, and anything else a person could think to build out of, along with a few that he was pretty sure would never occur to anyone sane. The styles were as diverse as the materials, and the final impression was of a little bit of everything, a place where everyone could find something almost familiar and nobody could find anything just like home. Except those who lived there, of course, he corrected himself. The smell of meat was definitely the strongest in the air, although he caught the occasional whiff of still-living livestock as well.

"Xander!" a voice called out, and he looked over to see Kaylee had just come around a building and was waving at him. "I was just headin' over see if you were comin'. We were startin' to worry you'd work all day!"

"Nah, I'm here," he said cheerfully, making his way towards her. "I just wanted to finish something up. But how's the town?"

"Oh, Three Firs is great," she said enthusiastically. "There's this tavern in the middle of town serves the best steak you've ever tasted. I love Serenity, wouldn't never wanna live nowhere else, but I do miss real food when we're on long trips."

Xander nodded agreement. "I'm with you there. And on that note, how about hooking me up with one of these steaks?"

"Nope," she said.

He blinked "Why not?" he asked, doing his best puppy-dog-eyes, which usually melted the little mechanic.

"'Cuz by now it's not much of a wait till the party starts," she explained. "And it won't do you no good to fill up on food you pay for just before even better food comes free."

"Fair point," he admitted. "Okay, so what do we do till this alleged free food shows up?"

She laughed, grinning up at him as she took his hand and started drawing him towards the center of town. "Alleged free food? You do talk funny, Xander."

He feigned a hurt look. "Me? You guys are the ones who suddenly spout off in Chinese every time you get upset or excited," he added, turning her so they were once again following his nose towards the smell of cooking meat and wood smoke.

"Yeah, and?" she asked him, laughing. "That's normal, Xander. You're the one don't quite fit in like everyone else."

A wave of intense homesickness overtook him, and he would have given anything in the world to have Willow or Buffy turn the corner to face him just then.

"Xander?" Kaylee asked, voice concerned. "I didn't mean nothin' by it, you know that, right? I love how you talk. I was just teasin'."

Pushing back the emotions, he forced himself to smile down at her. "I know, Kaylee. I was just thinking about something else for the second there. Hey, how come you didn't track down the doctor? Are you still angry about his stupid remark the other day?"

A storm cloud passed over her face, but then she laughed. "Naw, it's okay. Just he don't get to spend much time with River out in the open, and I figured they'd wanna be alone for a bit. Maybe I'll get a chance at him tonight during the dancin'," she added hopefully.

His smile losing its forced quality, Xander grinned. "Dancing? I haven't been dancing in ages."

She clapped her hands delightedly. "It's gonna be so much fun! Just don't accept no flowers or nothin' from girls," she added.

He raised his brows. "Do I want to know why?"

"Some o' these small worlds have some pretty interestin' courtship rituals, and if you don't mind yourself, you could find yourself tyin' the knot without even realizin' it," she explained with a grin.

"You tellin' tales 'bout the captain, Kaylee?" Wash's voice made both of them turn to look at him and Zoë, who was right beside him. His eyes danced gleefully and he wore a broad grin. Even Zoë had a glint of amusement in her eyes, and signs of humor slightly softened her stern expression.

"Telling tales," Xander repeated, then his eyes widened in comprehension. "You mean-- I Mal /I --" he choked on a bubble of laughter, and tried to force it back down.

"It wasn't funny!" Wash objected, obviously meaning the opposite. "What's more, the poor innocent he wound up married to tried to wreck my ship!"

"This I've got to hear," Xander said. "Come on, now, you can't just say that, and then not tell the whole story. Start at the beginning."

Mock-reluctantly, Wash complied, talking with a joyful enthusiasm that had Xander laughing like mad, only occasionally asking for clarification. Kaylee excitedly interjected corrections or elaborations every so often but mostly just listened with clear enjoyment. The first time Zoë chose to speak, he was so surprised at the dryly humorous comment that it took a moment for her actual words to sink in and helpless laughter to explode out of him. They wound up sitting on one of several large logs that had been pulled up in a huge circle around the bonfire that was filling the center of the town square, several spits turning and causing the mouth-watering aroma that had drawn Xander. Eventually the rest of the crew and more than a couple natives had drawn near as well, enjoying the story. And when it ended, one of the villagers started one of his own.