To Spite Authority

[madimpossibledreamer]

Xander’s improving, but he still has issues.

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer Stardust Legacy
Summary: Jotaro continues to be the Scooby Dad, and Faith isn't ready for that yet.
Word Count: 775
Rating: Teen

 

         Xander’s learned when the glare’s not directed at him, so he’s not fazed. The workers aren’t quite as lucky, so they kind of scurry out of line of sight as quickly as they can.
         “That settles it. When I meet the Watcher’s Council, I’m punching them.” It’s extremely straightforward. Buffy’s dad takes a sip of tea and acts like he hadn’t just made a promise of violence.
         Xander leans in, since Buffy’s kind of fuming on the other side of the table and probably not going to explain. “I’m pretty sure that translates to ‘feel free to crash at my house’, but I’m still learning to translate Kujo.”
         Faith’s expression says she’s extremely wary, like she thinks that’s some kind of trap. “Kinky,” is her flippant response, and Xander rolls his eyes, amused.
         “Have you seen the guy?” He gestures in the marine biologist’s direction. The adult kind of ignores them, which is fair, because sometimes Xander doesn’t want to deal with himself, either. He just kind of doesn’t get a choice about the matter. “I don’t think the man is interested in much of anyone, aside from maybe Buffy’s mom and even that’s hard to tell when he’s mad at her. Though sometimes people who love each other can hate stronger than anyone.” He’s basing that on Buffy’s whole relationship with Angel and vice versa, after the curse got undone.
         From the third Slayer’s expression, it seems like she totally knows what that’s like. “It’s more like he’s accidentally making a barracks than anything. Kendra’s already taken the spare room, and, well…” He’s kind of embarrassed, but also, if anyone would understand how pathetic he is, it’s the girl who’s currently hanging out in a motel room when that could get her killed in any time. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say, out of everybody he knows, she’s the most likely to get it because she’s seen more than just a little bullying. True human evil, the kind that sometimes gives him existential crises trying to figure out what’s worse: that coach or teacher preying on kids, or the vampire that eats them. (Most of the time he just wimps out and labels them both as ‘evil’ and tries to go back to sleep. Occasionally, it works.) “I’m sleeping on the couch now and then, but I can totally take a chair or sleeping bag. My holiday plans often include the exciting life-or-death scenario of outdoor sleeping bag.”
         Mostly it’s become easier to say these kinds of things out loud because Dr. Kujo doesn’t tend to react. Of course, sometimes he does and comes up with statements like the blindsiding adoption comment, and sometimes Xander gets anxious about how he’s totally wasting the time of a worldwide-famed scientist with a doctorate, but most of the time he doesn’t mind. “‘Course, his grandpa might just decide to buy you a house instead. Guy has a lot of money and apparently a few years ago they discovered some illegitimate kid, so occasionally he’ll just decide to throw money to alleviate his attacks of a guilty conscience.”
         Faith narrows her eyes. Apparently she’s also mastered the art of keeping her emotions off her face, although he’d guess it didn’t come naturally to her unlike for Dr. Kujo. Whatever he’s seeing, for the most part, he’s pretty sure he’s supposed to see, because she’s actively performing them. “He’s just doing this to tell the Watchers ‘screw you’, isn’t he?” she asks, considerably more interested in adults being contrarian.
         Buffy would act like she’s above it, mostly because she’d like to believe that about herself. Willow would scold him, but she doesn’t realize she has a streak of vengeance about her, too. Faith knows that sometimes it’s deserved, and he enjoys it when he’s not intimidated by it, so he just grins in response. “Have you seen him fight?”
         Apparently, that’s answer enough, which is good, because it totally is, if anyone had seen. Even if they can’t see his Stand like Buffy (apparently it’s a lot more expressive), it’s pretty clear. “There’s a basement, too, and while I’m not sure he’s got any clue how carpentry or anything else works, I happen to have been farmed off as unpaid labor for an uncle who works at a scrapyard a few summers ago. We could maybe work something out.”
         Faith actually snorts, drinking more of her coffee. “Make the rich grandpa pay. Sounds like he’s good for it.”
         Xander had been half looking forward into shaping his entire room himself, but it sounds like he’s actually convinced her to consider it, so he’ll consider that a success anyway.