Room 121, Monday afternoon

[soldtoarmenians]

After a certain conversation last night in the Common Room (and no, not the one about dirty chips, though that had turned out to be oddly cool), Xander realized he... really, really needed to clean his room, if there was going to be visiting-by-people-not-Bridge happening. Not that he was a complete and utter slob, especially with his less-slobby-than-thou boyfriend hanging in so much, but things could be straightened and... put away and...changed, yes.

So he did that. There might even have been Bouncy Cleaning Music playing, and a frog rolling his eyes.

__

[For willbedone, but others are welcome to come by earlier or later.]

Comments

[soldtoarmenians]

"Nope, now we're picking Michelle Pfeiffer movies that don't involve her being in prison or turning into a bird, because I lose the parallel at that point, even for comparative purposes."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow then added in what she termed 'the white stuff' - flour, salt, baking soda. "Okay. So. Am I turning into that girl?"

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander...offered her a whisk, and tilted his head.

"Marlo Thomas?"

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"No thanks, too thick," she said, in re: the whisk. She kept mixing with her spoon. "No. That girl. The totally fixated on boys, denying her own woman power girl. Only maybe she's supposed to spell woman with a Y. I dunno."

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander eyed her skeptically. "What's your G.P.A.?"

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"They aren't grading us here!" Willow complained, immediately going into a pout. Though she still added chocolate chips to the mixture.

[soldtoarmenians]

"Yeah, I think we can safely say you're not fixated on boys," Xander pointed out.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"So I'm not a total pathetic loser?" Willow asked, giving him hopeful eyes. And, because she was not afraid of cheating, also a spoonful of cookie dough to taste.

[soldtoarmenians]

"Trust me, Will. I've bseen total pathetic losers, and-- mmphphphph." Cookie dough. "They don't have cookie dough this good."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," Willow said. She started putting blobs of dough on cookie sheets. "If he dies before he can come back I'm so gonna kill him."

[soldtoarmenians]

"See, that's the...slightly morbid... spirit," Xander said, nodding.

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"He better not die," Willow muttered. She thrust a pan into Xander's hands. "Oven. 10 minutes."

[soldtoarmenians]

"I wouldn't, if I had the wrath of Willow waiting for me." Xander opened the oven, stepped back for a second from the heat, then slid the pan inside and closed the door. "Is home really dangerous? I thought he lived in England."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow chewed her lower lip as she pondered how much to tell Xander. "Well. Yes. But it's World War II when he's from, so not exactly snuggly. But he's also a knight. From someplace not-England. That's where he is now. Doing... his job. Which includes knightishness."

[soldtoarmenians]

"I'm guessing this is the kind of knights who fight non-jello dragons, not the kind that get tapped on the head with a sword after a long and fulfilling career in pop music?"

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow nodded. "Knights with swords and shields and duty. Big duty. Huge. Huger than any knight you could imagine."

Because, you know, Peter was also a king. But Willow couldn't tell Xander that.

[soldtoarmenians]

"Sounds like Buffy-level saving the world stuff. I can see how you'd worry."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Right," Willow said. "And, like Buffy, he's got a thing. A destiny. And it's all important and world-savey which, okay, yay for that. I'm a big supporter. But man does this suck on the mundane, just like having somebody to snuggle with perspective."

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander nodded. "I get that. Bridge is only here 'cause his academy sent him here; if they decided to yank him back or send him off on some kind of mission, he'd have to go. When they pulled him out for training before, when we weren't going out yet, I was kind of focused on 'yeah, but whee, training in space.' Now I think I'd worry too."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Willow said. "Plus, you know, I don't have a destiny. I'm not a Slayer, or a - a knight. Sure the witch thing is a little not the norm, but given the way Peter and Susan reacted to finding out, I'm not sure if that's considered a bonus where they're from."

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander thought about that, and didn't answer for a moment. When he finally did, it was slowly, as if he was still working it out in his head. "If everybody was a Slayer or a knight, they wouldn't have a job to do, right? Some of us have to be the people they come home to."

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

"Awh." Willow gave him a snuggly hug. "Sometimes you say just the right thing."