Baby's First Patrol (part one)
Sep. 26th, 2017 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Iron Man Crossover (Self-Made Hero)
Summary: Xander designs a few things to be used on patrolling, but he needs to test them.
Word Count: 2739
Rating: Gen
It’s weird to not have a smartphone to record things. He can’t even remember having used an actual recorder, though he knows he probably had, at some point, early on. Still, that’s what he’s stuck with, for now. Hopefully it doesn’t get broken. He could attempt to take paper notes, but no one’s handwriting is readable enough for those to be of much use, and he’s wary about using magic willy-nilly until he gets a better handle on it, at which point he will use it with the responsibility and respect it deserves. As it is, he had to buy a recorder, complete with cassette. Maybe it’s the difference of Marvel tech timelines and this world’s own, since he doesn’t remember much of cassettes either.
He hits ‘start’. “This is the second test of the Exoskeleton Shielding Mark I, catchy name pending. I’m gonna start it out easy by just a quick jog in the park. As already noted, the first test went well. Really well. So there’s that. Strength increased by about 300 percent (exact math calculations were already done, so I’m not doing that over again; moving on to much more interesting shinies). The deflector shield, as far as I can tell, is working too, but there’s only so much I can throw at it without field testing. Hopefully, there’ll be non-Master vamps to test it on. If all else fails I’m going to Falcon Punch a tree. There are a couple parameters I’m looking for feedback on. First, I wanna know how it holds up in combat conditions, since that’s the main point of the thing. I do have on your general Kevlar vest…” And he’s still completely unsure as to why he was able to get his hands on one at the local Sunnyhell pawn shop, not that he argued because he did in fact want the sale to occur. Sometimes there were pluses for living in Sunnydale. “…Just in case. And it’s not like I’m going unprepared. I tried applying some of the holy water on my neck. I’m hoping it serves as a little bit of a deterrent, like mint on mosquitoes. We’ll see. I also have the required stakes. I don’t have enough training to use a sword or I’d take that, but it’d probably put me in more danger than it helps. The Kevlar’s mainly meant as a second line of defense, and it isn’t infallible.” As Tony well knew. He tries to shrug off the dark mood. He needs to be as ready for this as possible. “The stakes are a backup as well, since Miss Calendar helped me develop a Repulsor Spell. Which I’m also testing. Flying went as well as the boot jet testing, but I’m fairly certain that I could use it as a weapon. So I’m getting my Sorceror Supreme on.”
He shakes his head. He’s babbling. Back on track. “I want to know how the extra strength aspect of the exoskeleton works. I want to test the deflector shield. Maybe the healing aspects, too, depending if the deflector fails. I want to test out the repulsor spell. This is also a test of myself, too. So, I gotta quit stalling and get going, because these things aren’t gonna test themselves.”
He thumbs the recorder off and breathes in deeply. This is entirely so much more dangerous than Tony’s ‘run’. Tony at least is famous, so people are more likely to hold him for ransom or to get weapons designs out of him. Of course, that probably means less in the supernatural world, but it’s still a comparison to make. If he utterly fails, he might be dead. “Then again, that’s pretty much every day of my life, so no worries there.”
He smiles as he feels the light mental touch of various Tonys, concerned. You good, kid?
He rolls his eyes at the ‘kid’ thing. First Tony still hasn’t given up on that. Sorry.
Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. I’m just being a wuss.
He rolls his shoulders and begins walking. Casual, in control. A strut that says ‘I’m confident; don’t mess with me.’ He had yet to test it on the supernatural in the town, but a test on the other students reacted like the memories.
He’s halfway to the park before he feels something following him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have all the sensors up and running, so he can’t see what it is that’s following him any other way than the normal glance around. Which he tries.
Nothing. The street still looks deserted. He resumes walking, all Tonys suddenly coming alive with ideas about shaking pursuers. Most of them involve flying, which Very useful, guys, but there are a couple about dodging paparazzi in cars or on foot. Usually requires crowds, too, and there’s none of that this late, and he hadn’t realized until now how much Tony usually relied on other people without even noticing (Whoops, sorry), but at least he has the Exoskeleton and he’s armed so he’s not entirely defenseless, no matter how he feels.
I’m not the useless kid I was when I lost Jesse, he reminds himself, pain steeling his heart, forging himself into something stronger. I’m not just a billionaire in a cave. I’m not the Zeppo they see me as. I’m reforging myself into something that can help protect my friends.
He might still be a little lost in his own thoughts, still a little green, because he’s feeling a hand on his shoulder and without hesitation he’s turning and casting the spell for the Repulsor in a smooth motion like he’s practiced it. It’s a good thing that he hasn’t, though, because the blast doesn’t go through, which would be of the bad considering he didn’t even know who was there.
“What did you do?” Angel wheezes from the nearby wall, and he winces.
“Hail, least disliked of the Darkness Clan!” he says, still grimacing at the pain Angel’s probably feeling. He hesitates for all of a second before he decides that it’d be mean if he didn’t try to help the guy up, even if he doesn’t like the vampire.
“If I’m the least disliked, I don’t want to see what happens to the ones you dislike the most,” Angel grumps, ignoring his hand and standing on his own.
“Uh, yeah, sorry. You freaked me out, and I still haven’t done extensive product testing on these babies.” He wiggles his fingers in a gesture that’s almost jazz hands, as if it’s supposed to actually signify something. “Which brings to mind, tapping someone on the shoulder at night on a Hellmouth? Kinda a no-no.”
Angel blinks, nonplussed, but then, he hasn’t had the full dose of Tony since Halloween, since Xander’s been trying to tone it down since. Of course, he has no intention of cutting down on the less misogynist tendencies he’s gotten, since he’d been trying to kick his father’s influence for a while and Buffy and Willow seem to be appreciating it more (he suspects it’s largely the female Tonys and the monogamous Tonys, there, though the idea that Tony Stark was less of a jerk to women than he was is kind of mortifying, modified slightly by pre-Afghanistan versions and ones that are dying and overall jerkish possibilities to absolutely everyone and the inability to connect to people on a normal social level and the fact that while a few of the Tonys plus the Natasha are explicitly heterosexual the rest are distracted by the pretty and the shiny and couldn’t care less and he’s really getting off track, isn’t he?), but he doesn’t babble about the latest awesome invention idea he had or the issues with trying to get a modern lab when they won’t reach ‘modern’ for at least ten years or smart stuff in general or fighting knowledge or anything.
But while his brain is going on that tangent, a few of the Tonys are free to keep an eye on Angel, and he suddenly comes to the conclusion that Angel still sees him as a threat, which is ridiculous, because while he still isn’t of the ‘Yay Vampires’ camp, he also sees how much Angel cares, even if it’s in a slightly wiggy not-quite-healthy way, but he’s working on it, and the Unrequited Buffy Love Ship has sailed. Quite a long time ago. Didn’t he send the memo? He meant to send the memo. …He probably forgot to hit ‘send’, actually, and this metaphor is getting out of hand and he needs to get back to reality before it passes him by. That’s why all the passive-aggressive, though, which he can disarm. He’s had plenty of experience putting bombs together. He can take them apart, too.
“I’d imagine walking around at night lost in thought isn’t good for your survival on a Hellmouth, either,” Angel responds, and, well, good job, that’s a good, snarky reply.
“Probably not,” he agrees cheerfully, “…But I’m sure you can help with that. But first, sniff my neck?”
Now Angel really is looking at him like he lost his mind, and he’s enjoying this a bit too much, isn’t he? You actually love to provoke that reaction in people, don’t you? he asks the others, amused.
What’s not to love about being unpredictable just ‘cause I can? Leader Tony replies with a smirk, and it’s all he needs to mark the moment Guilty as Charged.
“Seriously, I’m trying something else and it shouldn’t throw you into a wall? Pretty please? I’m developing a new perfume for Buffy.” He waves Angel over with Gimme Fingers, and warily Angel steps closer and sniffs slightly.
Instantly, he’s stumbling back, wrinkling his nose like he’s smelling one of those really awful fruit they sell. Will sell. They probably don’t have it yet, especially not in a small town like Sunnydale. Rhodey bought it as a joke until Pepper lost her not inconsiderable patience and threw it away. “What is that?”
“Holy water,” he states matter-of-factly. “Think it’ll serve as a bite deterrent for the times Buffy doesn’t want to make out with you?”
He sees the moment the respect enters Angel’s eyes, and respect in general feels like a little bit of an intoxicating thing. “I’ve smelled holy water before. It doesn’t smell like that.”
Xander smirks. “I added just a touch of hawthorn. Read about it, figured ‘why not’.”
Angel blinks, staring at his neck again before looking back at Xander’s face. “Good thinking. Other vampires probably won’t be looking to sniff the neck, so it’d be less effective, and you probably just applied it, didn’t you?”
Feedback! The engineer’s dream! “Yeah. Far as I can tell with non-enhanced senses, it loses effectiveness fairly quickly, but it’s still a good emergency response. I bet it tastes yucky, too, but I’m not sure I want to make you lick my neck ‘cause that’s just weird.”
Angel gets the same disgusted look on his face as before and nods rapidly. Then a thought occurs to him. “You really were serious about making her things to protect her, weren’t you?”
Xander squints a little. “Yeeeah, same as you being serious about stalking her to secretly bodyguard. Overprotective much?” He waves it off when Angel looks uncomfortable. “I’m hardly one to judge, but you really should talk to her more and not just secretly follow her around? Ladies tend to like open communication over controlling behavior, for some reason.”
“Do you still have the bottle?” he asks, and actually dips a hand in, wincing, and puts it to his tongue. Let no one ever question Angel’s commitment to science is quickly followed with please don’t make me explain to Buffy why her boyfriend is dust. His reaction is a little more controlled, maybe because he’s expecting his flesh to burn.
“It won’t work on a determined vampire, and it may even piss them off,” Angel explains, voice sounding funny as he hands back the bottle. “It’ll definitely work on the minions because they’re usually more of a slave to their animal instincts. If food’s too difficult, they’ll usually just go scavenge more from somewhere else.”
“Cool.” He realizes, after the fact, that he probably should’ve been recording that, but at least a few of the Tonys have an eidetic memory, so—
I got it. Iron Maiden, sounding amused.
Thanks, m’lady, he replies quietly, trying to keep his mental wandering to a minimum (nerves, keep in check).
“What else do you have?” Angel asks, sounding almost eager, and—okay, he went from almost hostile to giddy kid at Christmas, but I can dig it.
“You’ve already tried out two. The last is The Exoskeleton. Increases impact resistance and strength, plus a deflector shield against enemy attacks, but it hasn’t had any combat testing yet.” He barely finishes the description before the vampire is sporting a playful grin and telegraphs his attention to attack two seconds before he does.
They spar for a while. Xander’s nervous for a bit until he realizes that Angel’s definitely enjoying the sparring thing. Although part of that might be the chance to let loose, just a little, against someone who isn’t Buffy and therefore he cares less if he hurts. Still, he isn’t going all out, which is probably good for survival and bad for product testing. The deflection actually works, but only against intent—Angel taps him once like they’re playing tag and it doesn’t trigger. It’s impossible to fake out, though, at least not without magic, since Angel feints like he’s just going to do that again and actually goes for a punch and the calming blue light shimmers into existence stopping Angel’s fist an inch above Xander’s skin. He’s curious about how it’ll work if intent changes when they’re already within the range of the shield, but he’s not going to ask Angel to test it since that could involve losing a part of a hand if it ends up working.
The hardest part is getting his own muscles to respond instinctively, since he has knowledge and memories of fighting but very few of the Tonys do hand-to-hand without the suit which, sloppy, guys, what happens if you lose the suit or are pulled out or something? You don’t wanna be the lobster or crab outta its shell, and also he hasn’t actually done most of that in this body. A lot of the time he sees an attack coming but isn’t fast enough to block it without the Exoskeleton. Which really needs a snappier name, seriously. Oh, wait, guys, I have to don my Exoskeleton before I venture into battle. By the time you get that out the fight’s already started. Still, he gets in a few hits, and Angel’s enjoying himself.
Eventually, Angel calls a break. “I could use a bit of rest. That Exoskeleton thing is a little soft against the knuckles at first, but after a while it feels like punching a brick wall.”
For once, Xander does the vampire the courtesy of not asking about the fact that Angel actually probably knows what that feels like. He doesn’t necessarily want to know why wall-punching would be occurring, actually. He’s tired and thirsty and breathing hard and this break is probably for him, but he appreciates that Angel’s not saying that. Maybe the vampire’s a decent guy after all.
And then he realizes the whole water situation. Specifically, the lack thereof. He needs to bring a heavy-duty bag or something with necessities like water. He feels a little sheepish.
“There’s actually a demon who runs a convenience store near here,” Angel suggests. “We could get you water and me something to get this taste out of my mouth.”
Xander spends a few seconds acknowledging the idea that this might be some horrible plot to get him out of the way, another second realizing that the idea is ridiculous and a bit too elaborate and probably hard to cover up, and also he’s not unarmed, and then nods with as much of a smile as he can muster, tired and nervous as he is.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Iron Man Crossover (Self-Made Hero)
Summary: Xander designs a few things to be used on patrolling, but he needs to test them.
Word Count: 2739
Rating: Gen
Xander breathes in deeply, inhaling the night air. He hadn’t, at least recently, been outside on his own. Despite Buffy having agreed to the use of toys and the greater patrolling habits of the Wild Xander, she and Giles and Willow still frowned on him acting on his own or even helping too much.
It’s weird to not have a smartphone to record things. He can’t even remember having used an actual recorder, though he knows he probably had, at some point, early on. Still, that’s what he’s stuck with, for now. Hopefully it doesn’t get broken. He could attempt to take paper notes, but no one’s handwriting is readable enough for those to be of much use, and he’s wary about using magic willy-nilly until he gets a better handle on it, at which point he will use it with the responsibility and respect it deserves. As it is, he had to buy a recorder, complete with cassette. Maybe it’s the difference of Marvel tech timelines and this world’s own, since he doesn’t remember much of cassettes either.
He hits ‘start’. “This is the second test of the Exoskeleton Shielding Mark I, catchy name pending. I’m gonna start it out easy by just a quick jog in the park. As already noted, the first test went well. Really well. So there’s that. Strength increased by about 300 percent (exact math calculations were already done, so I’m not doing that over again; moving on to much more interesting shinies). The deflector shield, as far as I can tell, is working too, but there’s only so much I can throw at it without field testing. Hopefully, there’ll be non-Master vamps to test it on. If all else fails I’m going to Falcon Punch a tree. There are a couple parameters I’m looking for feedback on. First, I wanna know how it holds up in combat conditions, since that’s the main point of the thing. I do have on your general Kevlar vest…” And he’s still completely unsure as to why he was able to get his hands on one at the local Sunnyhell pawn shop, not that he argued because he did in fact want the sale to occur. Sometimes there were pluses for living in Sunnydale. “…Just in case. And it’s not like I’m going unprepared. I tried applying some of the holy water on my neck. I’m hoping it serves as a little bit of a deterrent, like mint on mosquitoes. We’ll see. I also have the required stakes. I don’t have enough training to use a sword or I’d take that, but it’d probably put me in more danger than it helps. The Kevlar’s mainly meant as a second line of defense, and it isn’t infallible.” As Tony well knew. He tries to shrug off the dark mood. He needs to be as ready for this as possible. “The stakes are a backup as well, since Miss Calendar helped me develop a Repulsor Spell. Which I’m also testing. Flying went as well as the boot jet testing, but I’m fairly certain that I could use it as a weapon. So I’m getting my Sorceror Supreme on.”
He shakes his head. He’s babbling. Back on track. “I want to know how the extra strength aspect of the exoskeleton works. I want to test the deflector shield. Maybe the healing aspects, too, depending if the deflector fails. I want to test out the repulsor spell. This is also a test of myself, too. So, I gotta quit stalling and get going, because these things aren’t gonna test themselves.”
He thumbs the recorder off and breathes in deeply. This is entirely so much more dangerous than Tony’s ‘run’. Tony at least is famous, so people are more likely to hold him for ransom or to get weapons designs out of him. Of course, that probably means less in the supernatural world, but it’s still a comparison to make. If he utterly fails, he might be dead. “Then again, that’s pretty much every day of my life, so no worries there.”
He smiles as he feels the light mental touch of various Tonys, concerned. You good, kid?
He rolls his eyes at the ‘kid’ thing. First Tony still hasn’t given up on that. Sorry.
Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. I’m just being a wuss.
He rolls his shoulders and begins walking. Casual, in control. A strut that says ‘I’m confident; don’t mess with me.’ He had yet to test it on the supernatural in the town, but a test on the other students reacted like the memories.
He’s halfway to the park before he feels something following him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have all the sensors up and running, so he can’t see what it is that’s following him any other way than the normal glance around. Which he tries.
Nothing. The street still looks deserted. He resumes walking, all Tonys suddenly coming alive with ideas about shaking pursuers. Most of them involve flying, which Very useful, guys, but there are a couple about dodging paparazzi in cars or on foot. Usually requires crowds, too, and there’s none of that this late, and he hadn’t realized until now how much Tony usually relied on other people without even noticing (Whoops, sorry), but at least he has the Exoskeleton and he’s armed so he’s not entirely defenseless, no matter how he feels.
I’m not the useless kid I was when I lost Jesse, he reminds himself, pain steeling his heart, forging himself into something stronger. I’m not just a billionaire in a cave. I’m not the Zeppo they see me as. I’m reforging myself into something that can help protect my friends.
He might still be a little lost in his own thoughts, still a little green, because he’s feeling a hand on his shoulder and without hesitation he’s turning and casting the spell for the Repulsor in a smooth motion like he’s practiced it. It’s a good thing that he hasn’t, though, because the blast doesn’t go through, which would be of the bad considering he didn’t even know who was there.
“What did you do?” Angel wheezes from the nearby wall, and he winces.
“Hail, least disliked of the Darkness Clan!” he says, still grimacing at the pain Angel’s probably feeling. He hesitates for all of a second before he decides that it’d be mean if he didn’t try to help the guy up, even if he doesn’t like the vampire.
“If I’m the least disliked, I don’t want to see what happens to the ones you dislike the most,” Angel grumps, ignoring his hand and standing on his own.
“Uh, yeah, sorry. You freaked me out, and I still haven’t done extensive product testing on these babies.” He wiggles his fingers in a gesture that’s almost jazz hands, as if it’s supposed to actually signify something. “Which brings to mind, tapping someone on the shoulder at night on a Hellmouth? Kinda a no-no.”
Angel blinks, nonplussed, but then, he hasn’t had the full dose of Tony since Halloween, since Xander’s been trying to tone it down since. Of course, he has no intention of cutting down on the less misogynist tendencies he’s gotten, since he’d been trying to kick his father’s influence for a while and Buffy and Willow seem to be appreciating it more (he suspects it’s largely the female Tonys and the monogamous Tonys, there, though the idea that Tony Stark was less of a jerk to women than he was is kind of mortifying, modified slightly by pre-Afghanistan versions and ones that are dying and overall jerkish possibilities to absolutely everyone and the inability to connect to people on a normal social level and the fact that while a few of the Tonys plus the Natasha are explicitly heterosexual the rest are distracted by the pretty and the shiny and couldn’t care less and he’s really getting off track, isn’t he?), but he doesn’t babble about the latest awesome invention idea he had or the issues with trying to get a modern lab when they won’t reach ‘modern’ for at least ten years or smart stuff in general or fighting knowledge or anything.
But while his brain is going on that tangent, a few of the Tonys are free to keep an eye on Angel, and he suddenly comes to the conclusion that Angel still sees him as a threat, which is ridiculous, because while he still isn’t of the ‘Yay Vampires’ camp, he also sees how much Angel cares, even if it’s in a slightly wiggy not-quite-healthy way, but he’s working on it, and the Unrequited Buffy Love Ship has sailed. Quite a long time ago. Didn’t he send the memo? He meant to send the memo. …He probably forgot to hit ‘send’, actually, and this metaphor is getting out of hand and he needs to get back to reality before it passes him by. That’s why all the passive-aggressive, though, which he can disarm. He’s had plenty of experience putting bombs together. He can take them apart, too.
“I’d imagine walking around at night lost in thought isn’t good for your survival on a Hellmouth, either,” Angel responds, and, well, good job, that’s a good, snarky reply.
“Probably not,” he agrees cheerfully, “…But I’m sure you can help with that. But first, sniff my neck?”
Now Angel really is looking at him like he lost his mind, and he’s enjoying this a bit too much, isn’t he? You actually love to provoke that reaction in people, don’t you? he asks the others, amused.
What’s not to love about being unpredictable just ‘cause I can? Leader Tony replies with a smirk, and it’s all he needs to mark the moment Guilty as Charged.
“Seriously, I’m trying something else and it shouldn’t throw you into a wall? Pretty please? I’m developing a new perfume for Buffy.” He waves Angel over with Gimme Fingers, and warily Angel steps closer and sniffs slightly.
Instantly, he’s stumbling back, wrinkling his nose like he’s smelling one of those really awful fruit they sell. Will sell. They probably don’t have it yet, especially not in a small town like Sunnydale. Rhodey bought it as a joke until Pepper lost her not inconsiderable patience and threw it away. “What is that?”
“Holy water,” he states matter-of-factly. “Think it’ll serve as a bite deterrent for the times Buffy doesn’t want to make out with you?”
He sees the moment the respect enters Angel’s eyes, and respect in general feels like a little bit of an intoxicating thing. “I’ve smelled holy water before. It doesn’t smell like that.”
Xander smirks. “I added just a touch of hawthorn. Read about it, figured ‘why not’.”
Angel blinks, staring at his neck again before looking back at Xander’s face. “Good thinking. Other vampires probably won’t be looking to sniff the neck, so it’d be less effective, and you probably just applied it, didn’t you?”
Feedback! The engineer’s dream! “Yeah. Far as I can tell with non-enhanced senses, it loses effectiveness fairly quickly, but it’s still a good emergency response. I bet it tastes yucky, too, but I’m not sure I want to make you lick my neck ‘cause that’s just weird.”
Angel gets the same disgusted look on his face as before and nods rapidly. Then a thought occurs to him. “You really were serious about making her things to protect her, weren’t you?”
Xander squints a little. “Yeeeah, same as you being serious about stalking her to secretly bodyguard. Overprotective much?” He waves it off when Angel looks uncomfortable. “I’m hardly one to judge, but you really should talk to her more and not just secretly follow her around? Ladies tend to like open communication over controlling behavior, for some reason.”
“Do you still have the bottle?” he asks, and actually dips a hand in, wincing, and puts it to his tongue. Let no one ever question Angel’s commitment to science is quickly followed with please don’t make me explain to Buffy why her boyfriend is dust. His reaction is a little more controlled, maybe because he’s expecting his flesh to burn.
“It won’t work on a determined vampire, and it may even piss them off,” Angel explains, voice sounding funny as he hands back the bottle. “It’ll definitely work on the minions because they’re usually more of a slave to their animal instincts. If food’s too difficult, they’ll usually just go scavenge more from somewhere else.”
“Cool.” He realizes, after the fact, that he probably should’ve been recording that, but at least a few of the Tonys have an eidetic memory, so—
I got it. Iron Maiden, sounding amused.
Thanks, m’lady, he replies quietly, trying to keep his mental wandering to a minimum (nerves, keep in check).
“What else do you have?” Angel asks, sounding almost eager, and—okay, he went from almost hostile to giddy kid at Christmas, but I can dig it.
“You’ve already tried out two. The last is The Exoskeleton. Increases impact resistance and strength, plus a deflector shield against enemy attacks, but it hasn’t had any combat testing yet.” He barely finishes the description before the vampire is sporting a playful grin and telegraphs his attention to attack two seconds before he does.
They spar for a while. Xander’s nervous for a bit until he realizes that Angel’s definitely enjoying the sparring thing. Although part of that might be the chance to let loose, just a little, against someone who isn’t Buffy and therefore he cares less if he hurts. Still, he isn’t going all out, which is probably good for survival and bad for product testing. The deflection actually works, but only against intent—Angel taps him once like they’re playing tag and it doesn’t trigger. It’s impossible to fake out, though, at least not without magic, since Angel feints like he’s just going to do that again and actually goes for a punch and the calming blue light shimmers into existence stopping Angel’s fist an inch above Xander’s skin. He’s curious about how it’ll work if intent changes when they’re already within the range of the shield, but he’s not going to ask Angel to test it since that could involve losing a part of a hand if it ends up working.
The hardest part is getting his own muscles to respond instinctively, since he has knowledge and memories of fighting but very few of the Tonys do hand-to-hand without the suit which, sloppy, guys, what happens if you lose the suit or are pulled out or something? You don’t wanna be the lobster or crab outta its shell, and also he hasn’t actually done most of that in this body. A lot of the time he sees an attack coming but isn’t fast enough to block it without the Exoskeleton. Which really needs a snappier name, seriously. Oh, wait, guys, I have to don my Exoskeleton before I venture into battle. By the time you get that out the fight’s already started. Still, he gets in a few hits, and Angel’s enjoying himself.
Eventually, Angel calls a break. “I could use a bit of rest. That Exoskeleton thing is a little soft against the knuckles at first, but after a while it feels like punching a brick wall.”
For once, Xander does the vampire the courtesy of not asking about the fact that Angel actually probably knows what that feels like. He doesn’t necessarily want to know why wall-punching would be occurring, actually. He’s tired and thirsty and breathing hard and this break is probably for him, but he appreciates that Angel’s not saying that. Maybe the vampire’s a decent guy after all.
And then he realizes the whole water situation. Specifically, the lack thereof. He needs to bring a heavy-duty bag or something with necessities like water. He feels a little sheepish.
“There’s actually a demon who runs a convenience store near here,” Angel suggests. “We could get you water and me something to get this taste out of my mouth.”
Xander spends a few seconds acknowledging the idea that this might be some horrible plot to get him out of the way, another second realizing that the idea is ridiculous and a bit too elaborate and probably hard to cover up, and also he’s not unarmed, and then nods with as much of a smile as he can muster, tired and nervous as he is.
