Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 27

[madimpossibledreamer]

Oh, yeah, forgot to include, going back to school so who knows when I'll be updating next.

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Xander and Fitz return to their hotel room only to find a surprise waiting for them.
Word Count: 1,044
Rating: K
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS.  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

            Xander lets out a long breath of air, unsure of what to say in return.  What he was about to say might shatter a few of Fitz's long-held beliefs, but he couldn't just stay silent, either.  It'd feel like hiding things, and so, yeah, okay, they probably weren't likely to talk about absolutely everything, still working on crossing the gap between ally and friend, but he'd feel bad hiding this.  "If you told me my mother was capable of more than trying to keep up with my dad in drinking and yelling, I wouldn't have believed you.  Earlier."  He breathes in again, trying to find the precise wording for this.  "I...like I've told you, I've seen a lot of strange things, and if anything could take someone that strong and break their will and memory, either the Hellmouth or something Stand-slash-Joestar-y could probably do it, right?"  Xanman, you need to stop breaking people's hopes and dreams.

            Fitz was looking particularly let down by this revelation, but his sense of practicality is stronger than his hero worship.  "That would explain why she didn't come and save my mother, because if anyone would, if anyone could, Josephine would've been there."

            Xander feels the urge to flinch, to look away, but in the end, he does neither.  "I wish I could've met her."  At the somewhat blank look, he explains, feeling a little sheepish, "...both of them."

            The smile he gets in return is clouded over by tears, but completely genuine.  For once, he's managed to say the right thing.  "Thank you.  I'm thankful to have met you as well.  However much the circumstances might have been...better."

            Xander can't help but chuckle at that.  Masters of understatement.  "Yeah, well, it could've been worse..."  Fitz could've been a demon trying to kill him, for instance, or have actually killed the Scoobies, or been an evil warlock guy.  As introductions go, this was downright tame.

            The owner appears again to take his plate, which he's finally mostly worked through.  Xander begins to take his wallet out and is about to ask what the meal cost, but is met by an icy glare and a "It's on the house" before the plate is whisked away.

            The American winces, before making a connection to the current conversation.  "It could've gone like that."

            "I did him a favor a while ago," Fitz remarks, again trying not to smile at his fighting companion.  "He wasn't pleased that I wasn't asking for a favor for myself, persay, and your table manners appalled him.  He also doesn't like anyone thinking he needs charity, which, I'm sure, is how he took your offer to pay."

            He's met with a sigh.  "Hey, my table manners are fine.  He should just be glad I wasn't eating Ethiopian food.  I bet he'd be really freaked out by that."  The wide-eyed stare calls for further elaboration.  "It's all just basically finger food using a kind of flatbread."  And that didn't help at all.  Okay.  "I was finding Slayers in Africa until a few months ago.  Partly why I'm so tanned."  He grins at that, pleased.  Getting that dark was a lot less work than sunbathing or just generally hanging outside, and surprisingly enough the ladies seemed to like it.  Weird when they wouldn't touch him before, but maybe he really was finally maturing or whatever.  They just had to wait until Anya died, though, didn't they?  The grin fades, and Fitz looks concerned.  "Eh, I'm okay."  He stands.  "Let's get out of here before I get yelled at again."

            "Yelling is lower class.  Glares are an art form," the Englishman states, joining him.  "The hotel, probably?"

            "I feel like I could sleep for a week."  Xander stretches and is somewhat surprised to note that unless he's imagining things, he might be able to reach just a little higher than before.

 

            "...so I'm pretty sure I can use ripple-fu to make up for the fact that I can't see with my left eye," Xander finishes proudly as they exit the elevator, grinning.

            Fitz raises an eyebrow.  "'Ripple-fu'?"

            He shrugs.  "It's a martial arts style, basically, and it's called the ripple."  They probably disagree on how definitive this answer is, but Xander isn't about to bring out his extensive knowledge of...okay, admittedly probably silly martial arts movies, but getting it to be that goofy is the work of a genius.  He doesn't honestly feel like this needs any more explanation than he's already given, and it's taking all of his newfound strength to keep himself walking normally and his eyes from closing.  He really is exhausted.

            Which is why it takes him until they reach the door for his newfound senses to warn him that they're not alone.

            Instantly he recoils, putting a warning finger of silence on his lips as Fitz begins to react.  It doesn't take long for his ally to realize what that means.  So when he was saying that he hadn't had much practice with Lotus Juice, that didn't mean that he'd had none, either.  He moves almost silently to the other side of the door, which is pretty impressive considering he's wearing those classy dress shoes that make clacking noises all over the place.

            Okay, so Xander's tired and dealing with this fight so soon after the first one probably isn't the best idea.  He seems awake, hyper even, but it's like a sugar crash waiting to happen.  It's artificial.  Not that artificial isn't tasty and he's getting sidetracked again.

            He leans down as low as he can go, trying to be soundless, trying to see whether he can see beneath the door and figure out where the mysterious presence he can sense is hiding.  His ability to sense Fitz, now comforting and familiar, and himself, and whoever's inside the room keeps winking in and out like he's blinking really fast or something.  He only slowly realizes that given the dream-rules, it's probably because his breathing is anything but steady.  He can't concentrate on it well.  This is why they really need to train, but there's no time.

            Which is why he can only throw himself backward seconds before something springs out at him from under the door.  Seriously, there's just something weird about Stands and tentacles.