Chapter 6: No Need to Be Concerned For Me (I'm having lots of fun) -
Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School Biology Classroom 132, 10:45 A.M.
Xander sat down with a grunt. His hip throbbed slightly, but it was mostly just stiffness now. Slamming his book down on the table he cracked his neck with a roll of his head, trying for a surreptitious look around the room as he did so.
Class hadn't started yet, so far so good. The girls had all taken their seats and Oz had a look on his face that just screamed 'carefully expressionless'. Nothing really strange going on at the moment. He noticed that Heidi saw him, and her eyes narrowed for a moment before giving a very tiny respectful nod, her shoulders moving in a very slight shrug. Guess he wasn't the only one to feel a little paranoid at the moment.
Mr. Hideyoshi made his usual entrance from the back of the room just as the last bell was ringing. Xander hardly noticed when Hideyoshi began to drone on the subject of nervous systems. Not like he was going to get an A in this class anyway. But this time, when he was watching for anything bizarre, he noticed the changes begin creeping up...
Some fifteen or so minutes into class, Cordelia leaned forward into her seat and began to slump slightly, almost as if she was wilting in slow motion. Her elbows came slightly away from her body, and when she wasn't looking down at the tabletop, her eyes darted around the room alertly in quick fits and starts. Barely noticeable at first, Xander picked up on it becoming more pronounced the longer he watched. Cordelia was paying attention to the teacher's drone, but mostly she just looked like she was getting more and more tired.
Turning to her with a slight smile, Xander casually dropped a hand to her leg and gave it a slight shake. Cocking her head, Cordelia glanced up at him, startled, then leaned into him with a smile. Raising an eyebrow Xander said, "You ok?"
"Oh, yeah," Cordelia nodded alertly, her eyes dropping. "Just, I dunno. Feeling a bit weird again."
Nodding, Xander let his smile broaden into something that felt reassuring and reached up to brush a strand of hair back from her face. Ok, not of the good: no quick flash of toffee colored eyes and no hiss into his ear to not grope her in class. Porch light's on, but Cordy's not in at the moment. He picked up his pen and went back to idly doodling in his notebook, surreptitiously checking out the rest of the room.
Aura, in contrast, seemed to get more and more excited as the class ran on. It started with her leg bouncing up and down in a rapid motion. But it didn't really stop with that: Xander could swear that she was nearly quivering with anticipation as the class drew out. It seemed like every time Hideyoshi's gaze went over her, she nearly wriggled in place until it swept past. Xander half expected little anxious whines to come from between her slightly parted lips.
Willow seemed to be doing something similar. Unlike Aura's puppy like focus, Willow mostly seemed irritated and itchy. She kept picking at her hair every once in a while and her blouse as well, her attention seeming different from the laser-like Willow-focus that Xander was used to. She hardly seemed to be paying attention to Hideyoshi at all, barely picking up her pen to jot notes with. Periodically she'd turn in her seat next to Cordelia, reaching over to brush invisible lint from Oz or from Cordelia's sweater.
Hideyoshi himself seemed to be exhibiting the standard 'Hellmouth weirdness denial' power that most everyone in Sunnydale seemed to have. He didn't seem to notice Aura and Willow's fidgety behavior, or Cordelia's slumping disinterest. (Not that slumping in a seat, eyes open or shut, was uncommon in this class.) Xander's fidgeting and roving eyes passed under his radar as well, apparently. Hideyoshi just kept a steady expository drone, his rich voice varying in pitch and cadence in a monotonous lecture chant. Judging by his bland expression, Xander could almost figure that Hideyoshi had this lesson so well memorized he could recite it in his sleep - and possibly was doing so, for all of the apparent interest he showed in his topic.
Ah well. Not like Sunnydale High had any shortage of dull teachers marking time while they killed student's brain cells and put classes into comas by voice alone. The only thing that'd stand out in this place would be a teacher that sparkled with energy and interest over a subject...
Leaning back in his seat, Xander shot a quick glance at Oz, then frowned and slid his chair back an inch or so so he could take a longer, better look. The normally composed guitarist had a haunted, ragged edge to his lack of expression that practically screamed 'on edge'. Oz's eyes shifted restlessly, probing into various areas of the biology lab under a slightly creased brow. There was a certain fraying look about him that had nothing to do with his beat up jeans and t-shirt. Pursing his lips slightly, Oz leaned back in his chair with his fingers drumming softly on his notebook. His gaze quartered Xander's side of the rooom, and he quirked an eyebrow at Xander's inquiring look, his frown deepening. Changing position slightly, he shifted in his chair as his eyes went back to probing the room around them.
There was something to the slight movement that struck a chord in Xander's memory and he felt the hair on his own nape rise, his eyes starting to quest through the spaces around the room as well. Freaky - the tiny movement had suggested the restless prowling of the Oz-wolf along the bars of the library cage, never still, and powerfully feral. Oz looked... well, he looked like the morning after a werewolf night. It struck Xander for the first time just how much wolf was suggested in the line of the little teen's jaw and cheek hollows...
As for Xander himself, he felt almost overcome by strange combination of anger and wariness, and a sense of deep irritation prickling along the edges of his nerves. 'Ok, and now my imagination is working overtime,' Xander reflected. 'Oz barely shifts and I'm ready to jump out of my skin. Hope no one touches me on the shoulder and shouts Boo! in my ear... ' He shook his head. 'Feels like something just walked on my grave with hobnailed boots. What the hell is going on around here? Or is that what the Hellmouth?'
Something light glanced off of the back of his head and Xander did damned near jump out of his skin, barely restraining himself from a high pitched scream. Reaching up to rub the hair at the back of his head, he glanced down, spotting a notebook paper folded football on the floor beside and slightly behind his chair. Leaning down and back to pick it up, his gaze went over and past Heidi, returning to her with a jerk.
She gave him a slight nod and a brief but incredibly intense scrutiny, then quirked her lips in something resembling a smile. An almost electric shock of deeply sympathetic understanding passed between them, and Xander nodded back, drawn back to the diner discussion of last night. 'Territorial,' Xander thought. He straightened back up, his head coming around to begin restlessly probing the room with his eyes again. 'Trip trap, who's that trip trapping across my bridge?' The line from the old faerie tale ran through his head, raising the hairs on his arms just as it had when he was six and his mom used to recite it to him in a mock troll-voice. Turning to throw another glance over his shoulder, he saw that Heidi had half turned in her seat and was casually and intently searching the back and side of the room in a mirror of Xander and Oz's unease, her posture almost bonelessly relaxed and her eyes gone flat.
'Predators are territorial,' he thought. 'And we don't like other predators on our hunting range... ' Xander's eyes narrowed in understanding and he nodded, absently. Something was hunting where a part of himself had claimed the ground for its own, and it was deeply pissing that part of himself off. He felt stirrings of things he'd buried since Giles' spell had wrenched the Alpha hyena out of him, and with a small shock, he realized that similar stirrings were what were behind Oz's unease and Heidi's boneless predator's slouch.
Jerking his eyes away from Heidi, he felt his anger grow as his own shock at the remembered sensations struggled to overwhelm him. He felt numb, trying to sort out the almost alien emotions in his own head. The ringing of the bell startled Xander - he'd been so deep in thought concerning the weirdness that he'd lost track of the time. Shaking his head he watched as the other students began to file out of the classroom. Getting up, he fell into step with Oz behind the girls as they trailed out with the other students.
"So," Xander remarked. "Weird enough for you?"
"You have no idea," Oz said with a slight shake of his head. His eyes had a haunted look to them.
"Oh, I dunno," Xander said, his eyes following Heidi down the hall as she pushed past Cordelia and Aura, her stride lengthening. "I'm thinking maybe I do." Oz glanced at him sharply, muscles at the corner of his jaw tightening.
His formless anger and the edgy, itchy feeling faded the farther they moved away from that end of the building and Xander threw an uneasy glance over his shoulder, his brow creased. "I'm thinking maybe I do," Xander repeated. "Let's do lunch, shall we?"
"I'd say let's not, but it'd get us talked about," Oz replied.
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Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, 11:00 A.M.
Some time following Xander and Oz's departure, Giles and Faith fell into researching and brainstorming mode like two halves of a well oiled machine.
That is to say: Giles researched after drawing out details of Faith's conversation with Willy and the descriptions of the vampires and demons that had assaulted the bar owner. For her part, Faith alternated between desultorily paging through demon compendiums, distractedly answering questions for details from Giles, staring fretfully into space, and occasionally drumming her fingers on the tabletop while shifting positions and crossing and recrossing her legs. So... maybe 'well oiled' wasn't quite the right word for it, she reflected. More like an engine firing on badly tuned cylinders.
For her part, Dacascos' hit demons were the least of the things weighing on her mind. Faith kept running the past day through her head, including Cordy and Willow's slight 'offness' and Xander's behaviors, and coming to some conclusions she wasn't real thrilled with.
It wasn't until Giles sighed heavily, removing his glasses to set them aside after carefully marking his place in his book, that Faith realized her inner agitation was err, kind of noticeable. She followed Giles' upraised eyebrow to where her hand was gripping the edge of the hardwood table hard enough to leave dents in the wood and flushed slightly. Shooting him an apologetic glance, she hastily let go of the table and stuck her hand in her lap, leaning back in her chair.
"Err, sorry," Faith muttered.
"Quite all right," Giles remarked. "I was merely about to suggest that it's hardly fair to place that defenseless table into such an unequal contest."
"That Brit for 'I should pick on someone my own size'?" Faith's lips twitched up at the corners against her will.
"Perish the thought," Giles said. "As I'm the only one here even remotely meeting that description, I would much rather you picked on the table." At Faith's laugh, Giles gave her a kindly look. "Rest assured, Faith. I have no fear that we shall determine the identities of these demons and the best means for you and your compatriots to deal with them. And I'm certain that Willy shall recover from the hazards of his business dealings."
"Huh?" Faith gave him a startled look. "Oh. Right. Yeah," she made an unconcerned gesture, then pushed her hair back from her face with her hands before crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ah." Replacing his glasses, Giles studied her over the tops for a few moments. "My mistake, then. Should I surmise that something quite different is troubling you?"
"Ah. It's nothing," Faith mumbled, going back to paging through her book. "Just... " she trailed off, "Nothing." She shook her head.
"Well, ah... " Giles trailed off himself, pausing for several minutes. Finally, he ventured, "It might be possible that if we both put out minds to it, we can dispose of this 'nothing' and set it to one side, resolved as it were."
Glancing up, Faith shook her head slightly, raising an eyebrow. "You'll think it's stupid." She went back to her book, carefully watching him out of the corners of her eyes from under her hair.
"Hrmm." Removing his glasses, Giles began polishing them for several minutes before saying, "While it may turn out to be something trivial and easily solved, if it concerns my Slayer to this degree, I hardly believe that I'll think it's a 'stupid' concern." He paused, adding, "However, I can hardly gauge the seriousness or triviality of it without more information."
"Huh." Pretending to study her book for a bit longer, Faith glanced up finally. "No one bothered to tell me they were afraid something Hellmouthy was going on with Cordy and Willow." Pushing her book away, she leaned back, folding her arms and staring at him defiantly.
"Ah. I see." Replacing his glasses, Giles straightened, looking into the distance and drumming his fingers on the tabletop absently for a few moments.
"Said you'd think it was stupid," Faith muttered.
"Nonsense," Giles gave her a sharp look. "I'm merely attempting to process and place things into context, considering that I hadn't heard anything of detail on these matters myself until this morning. Please do not place words into my mouth, Faith."
"Sorry," Faith glanced away.
Sighing, Giles said, "No need to apologize." Regarding her steadily, he said, "Considering that you'd brought the possibility to my attention, I had surmised that you were more 'in the loop' as it were."
"Well, yeah. I mean, no," Faith scowled at him. "I mean... Xander kinda asked me if I'd noticed anything weird about them, and pointed me at Oz and Tamara and then wandered off on his own to do something. Kinda without saying much. And Oz couldn't say much because Willow was hanging on him, y'know?"
"I see," Giles said, nodding. "And you believe that Xander should have brought you deeper into his confidence on this, rather than hinting at it."
"Well, yeah," Faith said. Her scowl deepened, "He knows Cordy's my friend, and I thought we were, like, buds too." She glanced away, feeling uncomfortable.
Giles replaced his glasses. After a moment, he said, "Your feelings were hurt and you decided you were being excluded."
Glancing sharply at him, Faith snorted, saying, "It does sound kinda stupid when you put it like that, huh?"
"Not really," Giles said. "While I can't begin to pretend to know all of the circumstances, I am aware that the three of you bonded together rather tightly under difficult circumstances. And you've spent a considerable amount of time in close company with each other, until recently. It stands to reason that you'd expect that bond to continue with a similar closeness."
"So I have a right to be pissed off," Faith stated.
"Well," Giles paused, shaking his head. "Keep in mind here that I'm certainly no expert on interpersonal dynamics," he said, holding his hand up warningly. "I would say that you have the right, but you might wish to consider whether it's warranted."
Faith confined her response to a raised eyebrow and an inquisitive look.
Smiling slightly, Giles elaborated. "I've known these children for quite some time now, often while under difficult and stressful circumstances. And yet in a lot of ways, I'm only now beginning to realize that I don't know them very well at all. However... " he paused, "While I have some regard for young Mister Harris, I have noticed that he often has trouble articulating things when he has concerns over those close to him. Especially if he has things he feels a need to work out on his own."
Faith considered that for awhile. "So... " she said slowly, "You think maybe he was so wrapped up in being worried over what was going on he forgot that other people might get worried."
"Perhaps. And it may be that he merely hadn't slowed down enough to consider nor be able to fill you in completely yet." Giving her a direct look, Giles said, "Occasionally people do get too wrapped up in their own concerns - and fears - to realize how their actions seem from the outside. And, sometimes in order to be a friend, or a partner, it is necessary to put aside one's own feelings while attempting to understand that it's a difficult process for others as well. You might try asking Xander what he was thinking and reminding him that it is a partnership."
"Just like that, huh?" Faith shook her head.
"Well," glancing down at the table edge, Giles suggested, "You might wish to refrain from getting a good grip on him in the process."
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Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School cafeteria, near-Noonish.
School lunch was rarely akin to the other tinfoil-on-open-cavity experiences that made up what passed for Xander's academic life, even back when he regularly used to have to eat with one eye peeled for belligerent jocks and O'Toole clones. But today, he would have preferred an actual teeth pulling to what he was experiencing right now.
It wasn't that he minded public displays of affection. However, Cordelia nestling underneath his arm with her eyes closed and having her completely ignoring her surroundings with shyly downcast eyes was new on a wholly and fundamentally disturbing level. That and she kept nuzzling him. The words 'nuzzle', 'Cordelia Chase', 'shyly downcast', and 'public' being associated had blown him from quietly concerned to quietly mind boggled. A love affair with Cordelia Chase was more a matter of affectionate - and not so affectionate - insults, the odd swat on the chest, and being yanked into broom closets for frantic, steaming, private make out/mutual groping sessions - public displays were either teasingly aloof, or blatantly and challengingly not-shy maulings. This was like sitting next to Cordelia's spooky twin from the nunnery. She was a little more animated than in third period, but not by much - responding only to direct questions with short and chirpy responses, then huddling back into herself again.
And Cordelia was far from the worst of things.
Xander had never seen Aura quite this bouncy before, even on the previous day. Her head was jerking back and forth as she eagerly rambled on a mile a minute. Meanwhile, Willow was literally nowhere to be found and neither was Oz. She'd dragged him away even before eating a single bite.
"So," Tamara said, watching as Aura pinned down a slightly terrified looking Stacey with her avalanche of a monologue. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Michael leaned back in his chair from them, a decidedly disconcerted expression on his face.
"You mean like a mass break from sanity?" Xander asked. His attempts to get even a slight rise out of his girlfriend seemed to have no effect, so far. He sighed as Cordelia nuzzled his throat again. A response of sorts, but not even close to a verbal one, much less Cordelia's normal, spirited sarcasm. Favoring Tamara with a deadpan expression, he gave her his best bland look and said, "Nope."
Tamara stared at him for a long moment, then her eyes widened and she burst out laughing. "Ok, I guess I asked for that one, Dweeb."
"Shortest distance between two reactions is a straight line," Xander agreed. Glancing down at Cordelia, he shook his head. "Me, I'm thinking the pods in everyone's basement ripened and we're hosting dopple-students."
"That's a surprisingly plausible theory, all things considered" Tamara said, her eyes flickering to Cordy. Cordelia shot her a slightly wounded look, her eyes just as quickly flickering away.
Xander's eyebrows went up. "A Cordette that's actually heard of 'Attack of the Body Snatchers'?"
"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain," Tamara said, her gaze flickering from Cordy to the nearly vibrating in place Aura. "Lame-o sci-fi movies aside, have any real theories?"
"Well, you know how the flu has strange effects on people," Xander offered in a less than convincing voice, even to his own ears.
"Yeah," Tamara said, nodding seriously while everything about her body language screamed the opposite.
He had never been so glad for lunch to end. When the bell rang, he attempted to spring up with a smile that even he felt had to look pasted on.
"Where are you going?" Cordelia asked quietly, her hands clutching his leather jacket tightly.
"Um, gotta go see Giles," Xander offered, feeling his already weak smile grow even more strained. "You know, that extra study project Oz and I've been working on?"
"Why do you have to go?" Cordelia chirped, pouting at him. Xander carefully ran a soothing hand through her hair, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek, and reluctantly she let him go. "Fine. Have a good time." She adjusted his jacket and stepped away, her eyes downcast.
"Oh don't worry," Xander replied, pushing himself to his feet just a tad too quickly. She watched him go with a lazy blink as he scooted out of the cafeteria. He was so worried about figuring out just what the heck had happened with Oz and Willow that he almost jumped out of his jacket when he felt a sharp tug to his sleeve. Pulling up short he turned around to see Tamara looking at him with her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side.
"All right," Tamara said flatly. "Spill."
"Did I?" Xander asked with a nervous laugh. "You know me, always the klutz."
"Right." Xander marveled at how that Caribbean accent could even make sarcasm sound musical. "No more bullshit from you, Harris," Tamara shot back. Her eyes narrowed, "Something's going on here and I can tell from your very pathetic attempt to hide your panic that you might know what it is."
"Look Tamara," Xander said. He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "I have no idea what's going on. For real. God's honest truth."
She gave him a hard look, then studied him carefully as he hunched into his jacket under the scrutiny. "If I find out that you got them into coke or meth or something, I'm going to give you the beating of your life." She tilted her head appraisingly, "Even if I have to hire it done."
Xander stared at her wide eyed, his mind spinning off the tracks. His thoughts, so far away from a mundane problem like cocaine, suddenly seized up and locked, whirling in tiny circles. The only thing he could do was boggle at her and burst into incredulous laughter. He thumped back against one of the lunchroom pillars, holding his stomach and giggling until tears started rolling down his cheeks. The expression on Tamara's face only set him off harder.
Finally, he ground to a halt, straightening up slowly an wiping his eyes. Tamara's glare almost set him off again, but he managed to veer away from the edge. Best to not go there - you might not ever stop this time. A vision of an endlessly cackling Xander being hauled off in a straight jacket sobered him.
"Oh man," he said with a shake of his head. He thought of Faith finding out that he'd drugged up the girls and winced. "I'm sorry, Tam. I just couldn't help that."
"Ok," she said, slowly. "I guess that's an answer to that."
"Trust me, if drugs were involved, I'd probably already have my head beaten in," he felt himself blanch as a mental image of just what Giles would do if he thought Xander and the Scoobies were involved in narcotics. So very much not of the pretty... Xander felt a full body shudder go over him.
Watching him carefully, Tamara relaxed slightly on seeing his reaction, and nodded. Xander spread his hands, giving her an earnest look that wasn't in the least bit faked. "Look, Tamara, I'd love to tell you that I know what's going on. I'd love to tell you that I know what to do about it." Giving her a direct look, he said, "I'd even love to be able to lie to you about it. Truth is? I have zero idea-age what exactly's going on. Hence me hurrying out of here. I've got some things to check on. But believe me when I say I'm just as worried as you."
"All right, Xan," she nodded. "Just remember, you're on notice: I want to know what's up with my friends." Nodding abruptly, Xander gave her a helpless look and turned toward the cafeteria exits, hunching into his jacket. Tamara watched him go, looking somewhat mollified, but her dark eyes were no less suspicious. Xander filed it away in his ever growing 'deal with later' list, sighing inside. It had been nice to almost have a social life for a week or so. Right now he couldn't even afford to worry about it. Pushing through the cafeteria doors, he nearly ran into Oz coming the other way. Oz looked disheveled, his coat slightly askew. Their eyes met, conveying the deep unease now flowing through both of them.
"So," Xander said conversationally. "Really, really big trouble?"
"Yup," Oz said.
"Willow?"
"Spooky." Oz jerked his head towards the cafeteria. "Ducked this way while she went in through the Quad after me."
"So... how big are we talking here?" Xander gave him a worried look. "On the Giles scale of 'Oh my" to 'Dear Lord'?"
Rising up on the balls of his feet, Oz looked in through the windows into the lunchroom, then shook his head while looking thoughtful. "You have no idea," he replied.
"Oh - " Xander started, and Oz cut him off with a sharp gesture and a head shake.
"No. I mean no idea," Oz reiterated.
His eyebrows rising, Xander turned and looked in the door windows himself. His jaw fell slightly open. "Food fight?"
"Seems like," Oz agreed.
"Willow's got a good throwing arm," Xander remarked. "She always was good at softball."
Xander and Oz stepped to the sides quickly as Stacey, Michael, and Tamara came backing out through the doors, arms crossed protectively in front of them. Tamara peeled a limp lettuce leaf off of her blouse with a wry expression. "Might wanna get checking fast, Harris," she remarked.
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