Spike crawled in through his bedroom window, despite having the door key in his pocket. Somehow, sneaking in the 'back way' was much more fun. It also kept the ability sharp, not that he figured he would ever need it again. He was trying to leave most of his old ways behind him for the Niblet. He didn't make a noise as he hauled himself across the back porch's roof, to the screen of his room's window. The window made of a bit of a creaking sound, but a bit of lube would fix that right as rain before tomorrow night.

He carefully peaked through the curtains, spotting the lump on the popped trundle where he should be, sleeping by the look of things. He stepped carefully into the room, the plush carpeting muting any noises he boots would normally have made. Closing the window and curtains, he walked over to the lump. Whelp slept in a loose S-shape, red sheet up to his ears and one hand tucked up under his chin, while his casted arm flopped beside him, fingers twitching in some dream. His hair was unruly, wild around his face and making the young man seem even younger than he really was.

Cute, really. Maybe even adorable.

He exited the room as quietly as he had come in, padding down the hall to the next room. It was his normal night routine, spawned from having lived in some bad parts of London and having been the 'bump in the night' in the lesser appreciated parts of his adolescence.

Buffy and Red were sleeping comfortably, Buffy between the door and her friend in some unspoken rule of protection. Red's head was just barely visible behind the solid wall that the older Summers daughter always seemed to present to the world.

Across the hall was Niblet's room, where Watcher would be sleeping. A light was still on, and Spike guessed that he'd fallen asleep reading. He didn't go in and check though. Wasn't sure what he would say to the man if he were still awake. He could obviously take care of himself, and had an aura around that stodgy, reserved mask that said he would protect what was his at any cost necessary. Got the respect of Spike if it were true.

Last was Joyce's room, where from a quick peek inside, he saw the two shapes that indicated mother and younger daughter fast asleep and safe. The window was cracked just a bit, but seeing as there was no quick access to Joyce's room like his own or Buffy's, he didn't feel the compulsion to close it.

A quick round downstairs to check the windows and locks of the doors, hang his duster in the hall closet, and have a quick shower and he was back in his room before it was even four in the morning. He plopped himself on his bed, taking one last overview of Xander, who had turned in his sleep.

His brow was furrowed in his sleep, right hand clenching and releasing unevenly, as if continuously trying to grasp for something. Suddenly his breathing hitched, and a small, painful moan startled Spike. His head tossed to the other side, an indiscernible, but definitely frightened mutter stumbling over his lips as he curled a little tighter around himself. His legs drew up and his right arm flew to cover his face. Defensive.

Spike watched for a second more, his hope that the nightmare would work itself out keeping him still until a short, quiet shout of grief coaxed his voice out of him.

"Oi! Xander!" he said loudly, but as kind as he could make his voice.

The whelp jerked back to consciousness, his night-darkened eyes wide with torment and fear as he took in his surroundings. He blinked once, twice, looked at Spike blearily before it must have hit him. He rubbed his hand over his face, muttering tiredly, "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Spike shrugged. "Hadn't gone to sleep yet. Nightmare?"

Xander nodded, his hand falling into his lap as he looked over to the window, moon visible through the slightly open curtain. Spike watched him, decided that was all the Whelp was going to say. He kicked his boots off with practiced ease, swinging his legs over his bed. "You gonna be able to sleep again?"

Whelp continued to stare at the moonlight and Spike thought he might need to go get Watcher for the boy. Finally though, the younger man looked around him, patted down the sheets around him, looking for something. He leaned over the side of the bed moving his sheet around. "I had a tape player…" he said with a lost air about him.

Spike, almost without his admission, hopped out of his bed and started searching out for a walkman. It wasn't under the bed, though he noticed the rucksacks that were still filled with clothes; wasn't by the chest of drawers. He patted down by Xander's feet and felt a square lump. Flipping the sheet up, he found the walkman, but no headset. "You listenin' through osmosis or somethin'?"

Xander glared up at him, or maybe it was a normal look, transmuted by confusion and tiredness. "I had the listening thingies," he answered, looking around him again, lost look still in place. "They were on my head." He searched under his pillow but found nothing. He stared at it accusingly, as if the pillow had not only hidden the blasted headset, but also transported it to a demon realm where he would never recover them.

Spike sat on his haunches, staring at the small after work show before shaking his head. "How 'bout this, Whelp? Let's watch a bit of telly. Help you fall asleep."

Xander turned his head towards Spike as if seeing him for the first time. "You don't mind?"

Spike smiled at the whelp. "Nah. We'll find a nice boring infomercial about knives. Have you out in no time, we will."

"You got Star Trek on this hunk o' junk?" he asked.

Spike furrowed his brows. "Star Trek? You're not even joking, are you?"

He looked put out for a second, many afterwards. "Not like your choice of shows is much better, Bleach Boy," he said, completely unrepentant. Apparently, little sleep made him less subservient, more spark-like.

Spike shook his head. "We'll see what we find. How 'bout that, Whelp?"

Xander agreed, looking exhausted, but pulling up his pillows to make himself comfortable against the wall. Spike flopped onto his own bed, pulling out the remote from its hiding space to flip the telly on. Eventually they settled and fell asleep to the old Doctor Who series.