The Good Fight

[madimpossibledreamer]

I am actually kind of really fond of this one. Protesting is good, but it shouldn’t just end there. The population of Sunnydale should be much more diverse than we saw and I worked my speculations as to why it’s not into the story. And Xander’s reasoning for choosing Blake came out as I was writing and it actually makes a lot of sense; he’s always been one of the Scoobies with the most knowledge about the real world, for better or worse. The underbelly of things. Blake is aspirational in that he thinks he can make a difference, while Xander didn’t (and still, to some extent, doesn’t). It also...maybe wasn’t an effort to shut Buffy out, sadly, but a ‘I’d really like to be her and know I can’t be, so here’s the next best thing’ deal. And then they just get to be domestic, more, which I really liked from At the End of All Things.  (...also there's some interesting thematic things that happen when you put this opposite to the Initiative....)

Main Points:
Buffy/Blake's 7 (Place in the Universe)
Chapter Summary: Xander definitely makes sure the college experience stays eventful.
Word Count: 830
Rating: Teen

 

 

         Jesse’s already having a bit of a shit day when he finally manages to turn the key and get into the flat and finds poster boards and sharpies strewn over the table. The whistle of the kettle and the sounds of Xander pottering around the kitchen make him smile, against his better judgment, but it’s hardly enough. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me you couldn’t find it in yourself to wait even half a year after being accepted to start with your tired rebel against the system antics.”

         “I shan’t, then, but then, I thought you expected me to be honest with you,” Xander calls out cheerfully, laying the accent on even thicker, probably in an effort to distract Jesse. Unfortunately for him, Avon had passed on the secrets to the ability to multitask being very attracted to and simultaneously incredibly outraged at another individual, so that tactic never works.

         “If you are to do something incredibly unwise, I prefer to know about it beforehand, and better still with some amount of advance warning.” He’d consider the tea he’s offered (made just to his taste) another manipulation tactic if Xander hadn’t done it consistently any time he’d been free beforehand. Though, to some extent, Avon had privately considered love a kind of manipulation in of itself, probably one of the reasons he’d so consistently accused Blake of such. It’s not as if he’d fully engineered the situation, but Avon hadn’t exactly been perfectly rational, either.

         Xander’s responding glance is deceptively mild. “I won’t say it’s completely safe, but I will say, I—that is, Blake—” he corrects himself, as if Jesse’s skeptical look is utterly his own and not copied, “...all of the protests he attended were far more dangerous. And we’re not planning anything violent. I’m not sure how much it will change, but it’s better than staying silent. Complicit.”

         “In this town, most of the violence against African Americans or Hispanics or people like us is from vampires, picking off those the police wouldn’t miss or investigate,” Jesse points out. “And the police are just looking for a chance to charge all of us, at least. Rough us up a bit. They didn’t try to kill Buffy, so I doubt they’d do the same for us, probably largely due to paperwork.”

         “Your parents promised bail funds, if necessary,” Xander admits, and Jesse feels irritation and a little relief simultaneously. At least he’d thought this through a little. Even if he hadn’t involved Jesse until necessary. “They simply—they need to know that they are not alone in this fight. They have allies, and existing rights have to be maintained and fought for.”

         Of course, the instant Xander had declared his major as political science, Jesse had known this was coming, but he’d hoped it’d take at least a year. “Where and when?” he demands.

         At least Xander’s goofy smile hadn’t changed. “Thank you, Jess.”

         “There are terms.” He shouldn’t get the idea that he’s going to get his own way, not fully.

         “Of course. Name them.” Part of him bristles. Another part of him identifies, rather suddenly, that what he had previously incorrectly believed to be ‘taking him for granted’ had actually been demonstrations of Blake’s trust.

         “I am going to be there. This is not negotiable.” Because who else will catch him if he falls? “You are not going to make any speeches.”

         “Actually, Will’s been working on writing one, so no trouble there.” Of course. They’re each as bad as the other, and given a class to talk for too long they’re liable to start getting bright ideas.

         “What about Buffy?” It’s hard to be sure whether she’s an ally or an enemy when it comes to keeping Xander from throwing himself into the muck, but it’s at least good to be aware of her presence.

         “Babysitting our fangless viper in the bathtub. Giles is, apparently, otherwise engaged.” Jesse hates knowing about that for multiple reasons, not least because that means that the librarian is getting more action than he is. Speaking of which, there’s an idea.

         He smiles. “I suspect I have a single more term I’d like for you to do for me.”

         Xander ducks his head, smiling, charmed. “Finish your tea first, dear, it’ll go cold,” he suggests, trying to keep his voice neutral and not at all succeeding. He’s probably off to do his reading to try and stay cool—which is not exactly the goal. Jesse would very much like for him to stay distracted and affected, the way he is, but this version of Xander that nerds out about things like democracy with every bit as much interest as he’d discuss Babylon 5 does actually take some of his academics seriously, now. (And, now that he thinks about it, trying not to waste good tea in his haste, perhaps the interest had always been there, just like his interest in Jesse, and just...brought to the surface. Given the amount of political intrigue and philosophical questions, perhaps it’s no wonder he’d been drawn to Blake and seen a kindred spirit, there.)