A Better Distraction
Jun. 2nd, 2025 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Assassin's Creed (Beginning's End)
Summary: Shaun uses the key he'd been given only to find Xander's having a bad day. Shaun doesn't take being helpless any better than Xander, though. Maybe there's something he could do to help.
Word Count: 740
Rating: Teen
“Oh, uh. Hi, Shaun.” It’s not particularly cheerful.
Shaun could tiptoe around the issue, but he’s not particularly good at it, and it’s probably better to just address it here and now before he starts getting unnecessarily shirty. “I’d think you weren’t happy to see me.”
“No, that’s not…” He tries, unsuccessfully, to wipe at his eye surreptitiously, a fact that Shaun processes with no small degree of alarm. He’s not particularly good at making anyone feel better. “I’m just...probably not going to be very good company, that’s all.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Perhaps Xander would prefer a softer touch, a little more sympathy, but Shaun’s, as noted, not particularly good at it, and if he could at least do something to make a difference…
“Not really. I mean, nothing really went wrong, and it’s not like you’re my therapist.” He’s sounding maybe a touch insecure—Shaun isn’t incapable of noting these things. From there, Shaun suspects it’s the worries about being seen as a replacement for Desmond again. Him being present probably doesn’t help; it’d been ages, and he’d been able to live his life without the reminder, but Shaun also happens to be extraordinarily selfish and wants very much not to give this up, particularly as Xander is no more Desmond than Desmond himself had been Altaïr or Ezio or Ratonhnhaké:ton. He’s worried about relying on Shaun for constant reassurance.
Fine, he doesn’t want to confide? Shaun can oblige, and besides, he has a curiosity to indulge. “Can I see your tattoo?”
That breaks through whatever gloomy track of mind Xander had been on as he glances up, eye bewildered. “What?”
“Your tattoo,” Shaun repeats, raising a sarcastic eyebrow. At least a small smile peeks through the gloom.
“You just want to see me with my shirt off,” Xander mock-complains, but gets up anyway, shrugging off the hoodie and then t-shirt, shivering slightly at the cold.
“Well, not just,” Shaun admits modestly, already reaching out to touch, and soon Xander’s shivering for a different reason. “I didn’t expect a cross,” he admits quietly.
“Ex-Catholic. I can’t ever escape,” he responds—which, right, that tallies with something he’d vaguely remembered from his first long stretch in wolf form. “And it’s actually kinda strategic, too.” He guides Shaun into not just a touch, but a grip around his arm for no apparent reason, enjoying the touch and Shaun’s unintentional gulp, and then adds, “...When a vampire grabs me, I still have enough faith to stun them, which is sometimes all the chance I need to get the upper hand.”
Then, further up the arm, on the shoulder, there’s a stylized 5 with a sword. “Something to do with your order?” Shaun guesses.
Xander actually laughs. “Well, yeah, I guess, in a way. That’s a logo from Babylon 5.” Shaun recognizes that sort of enthusiasm from a mirror, though Xander’s far less confident about it. Still, from the way he’s eyeing Shaun thoughtfully, that’s not what’s holding him back this time.
“I’ve heard of it,” Shaun supplies, as is probably expected, and it’s all Xander can do to hold the energy in.
“It occurs to me I don’t know your stance on a lot of fictional media, but it’s kind of...my favorite. I actually think you’d really like it—it’s a great look at religion and politics and history of alien races with a frame story of being a diplomatic post,” he admits in a rush, and, well.
Even if he doesn’t—and the premise sounds intriguing—seeing the man so happy is more than worth it. “Perhaps you could put it on as I inspect your tattoo more thoroughly,” he suggests.
“Aww, man, you’re not even going to be paying any attention,” Xander whines just as playfully, but gets up to go retrieve the DVD from the shelf anyway—they must be at his apartment, or some other more permanent sort of home for the man, for him to find it here.
Truth be told, Shaun is planning on mostly cuddling, perhaps with a little teasing. He does actually want to see the value of the story for himself. But he needn’t announce that, not out loud.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Assassin's Creed (Beginning's End)
Summary: Shaun uses the key he'd been given only to find Xander's having a bad day. Shaun doesn't take being helpless any better than Xander, though. Maybe there's something he could do to help.
Word Count: 740
Rating: Teen
“Afternoon,” Shaun repeats himself to Xander, only to have him jump. He’s got those Assassin instincts. Sometimes. Unfortunately it appears he’s also inherited the Assassin tendency to brood, and he hadn’t noticed Shaun call out when he was lost in thought.
“Oh, uh. Hi, Shaun.” It’s not particularly cheerful.
Shaun could tiptoe around the issue, but he’s not particularly good at it, and it’s probably better to just address it here and now before he starts getting unnecessarily shirty. “I’d think you weren’t happy to see me.”
“No, that’s not…” He tries, unsuccessfully, to wipe at his eye surreptitiously, a fact that Shaun processes with no small degree of alarm. He’s not particularly good at making anyone feel better. “I’m just...probably not going to be very good company, that’s all.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Perhaps Xander would prefer a softer touch, a little more sympathy, but Shaun’s, as noted, not particularly good at it, and if he could at least do something to make a difference…
“Not really. I mean, nothing really went wrong, and it’s not like you’re my therapist.” He’s sounding maybe a touch insecure—Shaun isn’t incapable of noting these things. From there, Shaun suspects it’s the worries about being seen as a replacement for Desmond again. Him being present probably doesn’t help; it’d been ages, and he’d been able to live his life without the reminder, but Shaun also happens to be extraordinarily selfish and wants very much not to give this up, particularly as Xander is no more Desmond than Desmond himself had been Altaïr or Ezio or Ratonhnhaké:ton. He’s worried about relying on Shaun for constant reassurance.
Fine, he doesn’t want to confide? Shaun can oblige, and besides, he has a curiosity to indulge. “Can I see your tattoo?”
That breaks through whatever gloomy track of mind Xander had been on as he glances up, eye bewildered. “What?”
“Your tattoo,” Shaun repeats, raising a sarcastic eyebrow. At least a small smile peeks through the gloom.
“You just want to see me with my shirt off,” Xander mock-complains, but gets up anyway, shrugging off the hoodie and then t-shirt, shivering slightly at the cold.
“Well, not just,” Shaun admits modestly, already reaching out to touch, and soon Xander’s shivering for a different reason. “I didn’t expect a cross,” he admits quietly.
“Ex-Catholic. I can’t ever escape,” he responds—which, right, that tallies with something he’d vaguely remembered from his first long stretch in wolf form. “And it’s actually kinda strategic, too.” He guides Shaun into not just a touch, but a grip around his arm for no apparent reason, enjoying the touch and Shaun’s unintentional gulp, and then adds, “...When a vampire grabs me, I still have enough faith to stun them, which is sometimes all the chance I need to get the upper hand.”
Then, further up the arm, on the shoulder, there’s a stylized 5 with a sword. “Something to do with your order?” Shaun guesses.
Xander actually laughs. “Well, yeah, I guess, in a way. That’s a logo from Babylon 5.” Shaun recognizes that sort of enthusiasm from a mirror, though Xander’s far less confident about it. Still, from the way he’s eyeing Shaun thoughtfully, that’s not what’s holding him back this time.
“I’ve heard of it,” Shaun supplies, as is probably expected, and it’s all Xander can do to hold the energy in.
“It occurs to me I don’t know your stance on a lot of fictional media, but it’s kind of...my favorite. I actually think you’d really like it—it’s a great look at religion and politics and history of alien races with a frame story of being a diplomatic post,” he admits in a rush, and, well.
Even if he doesn’t—and the premise sounds intriguing—seeing the man so happy is more than worth it. “Perhaps you could put it on as I inspect your tattoo more thoroughly,” he suggests.
“Aww, man, you’re not even going to be paying any attention,” Xander whines just as playfully, but gets up to go retrieve the DVD from the shelf anyway—they must be at his apartment, or some other more permanent sort of home for the man, for him to find it here.
Truth be told, Shaun is planning on mostly cuddling, perhaps with a little teasing. He does actually want to see the value of the story for himself. But he needn’t announce that, not out loud.
