Feedback: Yes please but be very gentle. First fanfic and first slash.
Archive: If you want, but please let me know
Pairing: S/X
Rating: PG - NC 17 (maybe, I've never rated anything before)
Disclaimer: Most characters misrepresented in this tale belong to Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy and Neil Gaiman. I'm only taking them out to play, changing their
clothes and then putting them back. There may be some original characters floating
about. They are mine but usually don't admit to it.
Spoilers: Up to Buffy Season 6 sorta but definitely AU
Summary: Spike and Xander get to take a trip and go a bit further than intended.
Crossover eventually with Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.
'' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''
Xander found he enjoyed flying more than he had expected. Mandy had kept
him supplied with DVDs-first class was great- and he'd enjoyed challenging
her notions of what a vampire's lover should and shouldn't do. Even if he
wasn't actually a vampire's lover. He was surprised that he was having a
good time, given he was in an enclosed metal box with demons of assorted
types, most of whom would consider him a good meal.
Spike had been there to tease and be teased by, and they'd watched several
of their favorite movies together. No popcorn, though. Spike had continued
the gentle petting and stroking he'd begun in the terminal but he'd added
wickedly suggestive remarks to his repertoire. At times it seemed it was a
contest to see who he could embarrass the most, Xander or the Childe in the
opposite seat.
The Childe's Sire had glared at Spike once, when a particularly outrageous
suggestion had left her Childe squirming uncomfortably in his seat, but
otherwise seemed disinclined to take offense.
Xander fell asleep somewhere over the Atlantic and woke to find himself
cuddling the vampire. He'd wedged himself in the corner with Spike leaning
against his chest. His chin rested on Spike's head. Both his arms encircled
the vampire, who was holding Xander's arms in place with his own. Someone
had covered them both with a blanket, making a snug little place for them
both. It was nice, if a little uncomfortable, and though his arms had
fallen asleep, Xander was loath to release the other man. Glancing over, he
saw the Childe settled in a similar embrace with his Sire. The Sire, who
had carefully avoided looking at Xander during the trip, sensed his gaze
and looked over at him and smiled in sympathy. "Circulation's a bitch,
isn't it?" she whispered.
VIT must have had some clout somewhere. Customs was carried out in the
terminal by officials who were not at all concerned about the species of
traveler they dealt with. Xander's official was a nice looking brunette who
took his passport with a welcoming grin and an appreciative eye. "Welcome
to England. Anything to declare?"
"I'm human," declared Xander with a grin, opening his backpack for
inspection and giving an equally appreciative look of his own.
The official chuckled, opened his mouth to speak and then caught a glimpse
of Spike over Xander's shoulder. The vampire just stared intently at the
official, no snarl, no snarky comments, and Xander found himself suddenly
processed and let loose upon an unsuspecting country. Spike was processed
equally quickly but the official looked very green by the time Spike was
finished.
If Xander noticed Spike's little show he chose to ignore it in favour of
waving goodbye to Mandy and bouncing off to collect their duffel bags.
Spike sauntered over at a slower rate, pleased; he didn't often do subtle
but that had worked rather nicely. The official wouldn't be looking at
Xander when they returned and Spike hadn't had to worry about chip zaps
because he ripped the blighter's throat out. Now, into their cab-one of the
Blackline companies of course-and then on to their boarding house.
Preferably before the fast-approaching dawn. Now where was the whelp?
Xander was standing in front of a soda machine looking disappointed.
"What's th' matter, pet?"
"They're all the same as home." There was a touch of a tired, childish
whine in Xander's voice. "I was expecting things to be-well, to be different."
"Wait till t'night, pet. I'll find you some proper English chocolate."
Spike slid his arm around Xander's waist, surprised when the boy leaned
into him. "We'll go to Trafalgar Square and then take the tube and see
the
Tower of London by night. Then you'll know things are different. Ok?"
"Ok. Sorry. Tired and I just realized how far from home I am. Furthest
I've
ever been and there's still blasted Coke."
"C'mon, I've ordered a cab. They're a Blackline company like VIT but I
still don't want t' take a chance on th' dawn." Arm still around Xander
he
led him to the taxi rank where their cab waited.
The cabby was cheerfully garrulous and to Xander quite incomprehensible.
Which didn't stop Xander from nodding enthusiastically as the cabbie gave
them a running commentary on points of interest during their trip to the
boarding house.
The straight-spined middle aged manageress who met them at the boarding
house door reminded Xander of his spinster aunt. Her hair was pulled back
into an iron-grey bun and she had an authoritative voice and dark quelling
eyes. "Welcome to The Haven. Please follow me to reception."
Spike and Xander hefted their duffels and obediently followed behind.
"Vampire?" asked Xander in an awed whisper. The woman had presence
enough
to quiet a whole roomful of Spikes.
"Nah. Renfield, that's a type of human servant." He studied the woman.
"At
least, I think that's what she is."
Xander gave a shudder. "Reminds me of my aunt. Now she was terrifying."
"Renfield I may be but I still have all my faculties, including hearing,
intact." The woman turned to study Spike. "A very old 'Renfield',"
she
added, "from even before that dreadful writer. Master's Servant or just
Servant is preferred. Courtesy has gone out of fashion over the years."
Xander made a stammering apology and elbowed Spike until he muttered an
apology of his own. A dark brow arched in surprise as the vampire was
corrected by his human. She resumed her walk to the desk and Spike signed
them in and was given the key.
"As a courtesy to this house," and by her tone it was an order, "we
request
that you not hunt within a two mile radius and that you refrain from
brining prey back. If you are in need then fresh human blood may be ordered
from the kitchen, along with human-style food." She paused and let her
lips
curl into a smile at Xander's visible look of relief.
"You will be quite safe here." This was addressed to Xander in a
surprisingly friendly tone. "This house has Free Zone status and no breach
of the peace is tolerated. The Master of the house has gone to her rest but
perhaps you will see her tonight. Up the stairs and to your right is your
room. Good day." She stood behind he desk and watched as they climbed the
stairs.
"How the hell did you find this place? I mean, it's not exactly where
I
expected William the Bloody to stay on a trip. I was expecting an old pub
in the bad end of town, not my aunt."
Spike growled at the boy's teasing. "I asked, a mate, all right?"
At
Xander's pointed look he continued. "Not a Sunnyhell vamp. A mate over
'ere. One, I might add who thinks I'm orchestrating a brilliant plan to
undermine the Slayer." This was said with a touch of pride. Xander stopped
his climb up the stairs. Spike gave an exasperated sigh. "What? Evil, here
remember. He came up with that 'imself anyway. Who am I to correct 'im?
Besides," he added in an embarrassed tone, "I wanted somewhere safe
for you
to be." He focused on the top of the stairs and missed the pleased look
that passed over Xander's face.
Their room was somber, black and red in the best vampire style. Heavy
drapes covered the windows and two overstuffed wing-backed chairs were
drawn up either side of an unlit fireplace. Xander was amused to note that
even in a vampire boarding house there were little complementary chocolates
on the pillows and bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the tiny bathroom.
There was even the obligatory sewing kit and shoe polish.
Xander turned his attention to the bed. The one bed. A big bed, granted,
but, and Xander counted again just to make sure, only one bed.
"I get dibs on the shower," said Spike. "Who'd think sittin'
for so long
I'd leave you feeling so nasty." He slipped off his duster, laying it
carefully across a chair and started to unbutton his shirt.
"Yeah," replied Xander faintly, still thinking of the bed and trying
not to
notice the less-clothes-by-the-minute vampire next to him.
Spike frowned. What was wrong with the boy? He was staring at the bed as if
he'd never seen one before.
The bed. Oh yeah. That.
"Only one bed, so..." Xander looked over at the bare-chested vampire
who
was sauntering towards the bathroom door, undoing the top button of his
jeans as he went. Xander's mouth went dry. It wasn't like he hadn't seen
Spike's chest before, but this was different. He'd never seen the other man
half-naked after being flirted with, petted by and snuggling up to him for
twelve hours or so.
"Gah!" Xander shook his head and continued his question. "Who's
sleeping on
the floor?"
Spike paused in the doorway, looked back over his shoulder, scarred eyebrow
raised. "Well, pet, It's not gonna be me." He undid another button,
stepped
into the bathroom and kicked the door shut behind him.
Xander was left with the image of smooth-muscled back and a tightness in
his jeans.
In the bathroom Spike caught the scent of Xander's arousal <want> and
nearly opened the door <take> and hauled the human in with him <mine>.
Spike let out a low grumbling growl and leaned back against the bathroom
door, enjoying the brush of fingers through denim on his erection as he
finished undoing his jeans.
Bending over to pull off his boots, he considered the boy. He fancied
Spike, that much was obvious. Standing, Spike slid his jeans over his slim
hips and stepped out, padding over to the shower. Turning on the water and
stepping in, he made a decision. Xander fancied him and obviously wasn't
too adverse to the vampire touching him. Perhaps enough trust had been
built to get over the sleeping with the undead thing.
Spike nodded, decision made; all he had to do was step up the petting.
Seduce the boy. Yeah. Then Xander would be right where he should be, in
Spike's bed and *his*. He didn't think the rest of his human menage would
react too badly if he claimed the boy for himself.
Claiming. Mmmm. One hand slid down to gently caress his balls and the
other began to lazily draw his foreskin over the head of his cock.
In the room, Xander sat on the end of the bed. The one bed. Arrghh. He
jumped up and began to pace between the bed and the door, considering
Spike. Item one: one severely sexy blond. Item two: ordinary brown-haired
mortal. Item three: pretense that felt less and less pretend. Item four: no
chocolate. Well, that one was easily remedied. Xander delved into his pack
and pulled out a few Hershey bars and sprawled on the bed.
He considered the crushes in his life. Angel was sexy in a
please-don't-open-your-mouth-and-start-with-the-angst-again kind of way.
Angelus had been way sexier, but he'd also been completely and
uncontrollably evil. Cordelia; sexy and dangerous, untrusting. Faith; sexy
and dangerous, untrustworthy. Hmm, starting to see a trend here. Xander
chewed thoughtfully on another bar. Anya; sexy and dangerous, trusting
(sorry Anya). And Spike; sexy and dangerous and trustworthy. At least for
the humans he had decided were his. Glad I got that settled. I like
dangerous things (well duh). Now does this dangerous thing like me. Well
aside from the whole 'my humans, mine' gig he's got going. Wonder if the
others have noticed that.
Spike, towel wrapped around his waist, emerged from the bathroom and
wandered across the room. "Your turn, mate." Xander rolled off the
bed,
grabbed his sweats and bathroom gear and tried very hard not to look at the
pale chest in front of him. Nice pale chest, with lickable droplets of
water running down it. Bathroom now, Xander told himself. Don't stop to
lick the vampire. No, not even a little taste. Xander disappeared into the
steam-filled room.
After he'd finished toweling himself off, enjoying the memory of Xander's
considering look before he'd hightailed it off to the bathroom, Spike
pulled on a pair of blue silk boxers and was ready for bed. Now to wait on
Xander.
Spike was sitting in one of the wing-backed chairs when Xander emerged from
the bathroom, faded grey sweats riding low on his hips. He stepped in the
direction of the other chair, hesitated and then he headed towards the
bed. He gathered up the wrapper remnants of chocolate-think-time and
dumped them on the bedside dresser. "I'm for sleep." He climbed in
and
pulled the covers up to his chin, waiting to see what Spike would do.
The blond man smirked and rose out of the chair. There had almost been a
challenge there. "Me too, except you're on my side." Xander gave him
a
wide-eyed look. Spike strolled gracefully to the bed and stood looking down
at Xander. He traced a finger along Xander's jaw and across the curve of
his ear. Xander closed his eyes and shivered. "But since it's your first
night away an' all, you can have it. We'll just swap ...positions tomorrow
night."
He removed his teasing finger, walked around to the other side and slid in.
"G'night, pet."
"Good night, blondie." Xander replied sleepily.