Hats are Cool.

[madimpossibledreamer]

(Honestly I have no idea how I feel about the way I wrote Alex in this one, which is part of why it ended up sitting in my drafts and never getting posted, and also why I didn't write much or intend to write much else for this one.)
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Bleach
Summary: Alex is...weird.
Word Count: 575
Rating: Gen

 

         "I think I'll just go with the usu-h-hey, Alex, where'd you go?" Willow glanced around, looking for her best friend, who had just disappeared.  She turned to find Alex staring at a hat on a rack, half drooling.
         "I shouldn't have come with you guys.  Temptation, you could stand to be just a little worse at your job.  My dream as the Five Dollar Costume Queen is over!  Finished!  Done with!"
         Willow blinked at the hat.  It was an odd one, a bucket hat with green and white stripes.  "Th-that one?"
         Alex bent down slightly, patting the hat.  "Don't listen to her.  You're a very good hat."  She then straightened to give her friend a cheeky grin.
         Willow smiled back, feeling her insides liquefy just a little.  "Where's Jonathan?"
         Alex smiled wryly.  "If I had to guess, he's either trying to convince Buff to wear spandex or is geeking out over some of the costumes here.  No bets as to which."
         Willow wrinkled her nose, feeling a spark of righteous feminine fury rise in her.  "That pervert!" she muttered under her breath.
         Alex blinked, then shrugged matter-of-factly.  "Well, yeah.  He's a guy."  The tone held none of the righteous indignation Willow expected.
         Sometimes, Alex was pretty strange.  Willow decided to change the subject.  "What were you planning on going as?"
         Alex grinned again.  "A soldier.  It's easy on my wallet, it's pretty simple to put together, and I don't have to be some Disney brainless princess."  She paused, considered.  "Or wear a dress."
         Her friend could be really pretty if she tried, Willow thought with a little envy, but didn't say that.  Instead, she giggled.  "Don't let Buffy hear you, or she'll really decide you need an education on princesses."
         Alex shuddered.  "Ugh, don't get her started.  She'd want to paint my nails and do my hair, and then probably force me into a skirt or make me learn to sew."
         Willow looked slightly downcast, but wasn't about to point out that's what she and Buffy did often, not the forcing, but the clothes and the talking about clothes and the usual things, and sometimes cooking.  Especially cookies, because who could resist cookies?
         Well...Alex, if 'resisting' meant 'resisting making them' and 'resisting making them' meant 'hanging around, being entirely unhelpful, and eating the dough when she thought her friend wasn't looking'.
         For once, Alex wasn’t being completely oblivious.  “Oh, I’m not saying it’s dumb for anyone to do.  It’s really cool that you can do hand sewing and stuff.  I’m just clumsy enough I’d probably kill myself with a needle or something, and it’s just not really me, y’know?”
         From the tone, Alex was being sincere, so Willow decided to take the words the way her friend had meant them.  “Yeah, I know.”  She smiled back.
         That was just the way Alex was.  She was more properly one of the guys, rather than one of the girls.
         Alex beamed at her.  “I couldn’t wish for a better best friend.”
         Willow smiled, and hoped it wasn’t obviously fakey looking.  It must have worked, because Alex went back to staring at the hat.  If she were the hat, she would have been concerned.  As it was, she definitely wasn’t, so didn’t bother herself about it too much.
         Alex bit her lip.  “Mmm.  I wonder what outfit goes with this.  HEY, IS THE OWNER HERE ANYWHERE?”
         Willow wandered off, looking for Buffy now that she’d practically been forgotten.