Master Prank

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Iron Man Crossover (Self-Made Hero)
Summary: So, what kind of shenanigans do eccentric geniuses get into?
Word Count: 420
Rating: Gen
Notes: Probably unlikely with the whole 'Sunnydale is tiny' thing, but hey, it was a neat idea.
Don't know if it counts as fluff fic, but it's definitely light-hearted.

          Xander’s almost dancing at the crosswalk.  Willow raises an eyebrow, which only gets a goofy grin in return accompanied by absolutely no explanation.
          “Do you really enjoy hearing about TAs all that much?”  Buffy’s skeptical, too.
          “Specifically hunky ones?” Willow adds, getting a blush from Buffy.
          “Hunky and chunky and good for you.  Like stew.”  He ducks his head at the absolute inanity of the statement, but his face is back up with a goofy grin fairly quickly.  “I may have only had time for a cup of coffee this morning.”
          “Because you were up all night working?” Willow asks, tapping her foot.  She looks a little annoyed that he’s not paying attention, but if Xander was easily distracted before the change he’s even worse now.
          “Something like that.”  He’s trying not to look smug, but the expression sneaks in there anyway.
          The girls resume their conversation, trying to ignore him, but when the automated voice begins the countdown to when they can cross the street, Xander’s attention focuses to a narrow point, and Buffy blinks.  He’s not paying attention to them, still, but there’s something.  Maybe a cute girl?
          “8…7…”
          “So, Buffy, are you going to…are you not listening now either?  Don’t tell me Xander’s got you doing it too, now!”  She crosses her arms and huffs.
          “2…1…Blastoff!”
          Xander grins from ear to ear and barely refrains from punching the air, and the short span of half a second in which Buffy is confused about the sudden programming change is quickly replaced with certainty.  “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or despair for humanity,” she tells him, and he hums, hands fiddling for a second before he just sticks them in his pockets for lack of anything better to do with them.
          “Despairing for humanity’s faster,” he recommends, buzzing with energy and barely not walking away from them as they start to cross.
          “That’s really cool, Xander, but…uhm.  Isn’t that, you know, illegal?” Willow asks after a moment, and Xander quickly waves that away.
          “Says the woman who used to break into federal databases for fun.  I’ll be fine.”  He can’t contain the grin, so Buffy just rolls her eyes and leans over and musses his hair.
          “You’ll always be our Xander.  You dork.”
          “Ooh!  Ooh!  That’s me!” he exclaims, and earns a laugh from Buffy.  He’s acting exactly like an overexcited puppy and it’s rather adorable.  But it’s nice to see that even with the extra intelligence and focused drive there’s still a Xander-adjacent person in there.