This
was written in July 2003 for the LJ Slashfic. The recipient of the fic chose
the pairing and made two requests.
First, the tone of the story had to be fluff, secondly the Boba Fett action
figure had to make an appearance.
This was very hard for me, as fluff is not what I naturally lean towards. My
first attempt came back from the beta with the suggestion that Xander was being
rather mean to poor Andrew, so I ended up rewriting most of it. The hardest
part was to keep Andrew "fluffy" without losing the very dark edge
he has. This is not a pairing I would have considered writing without prompt,
so I'm glad I had the chance to explore it.
Timing
is ambiguous, but set sometime after Spike is rescued from the First, and before
Caleb's appearance.
And to stop you from running off to Babelfish, the title translates as The
Cellar of the Vampire.
Thank
you to the lovely keswindhover for the beta work, full stop retrieval,
quotation mark corralling, and story suggestions.
**************************************
"And that's why
you're like Hilary, in Lara Croft - Tomb Raider. " Andrew was unreservedly
convinced of this fact, and gave Xander his most determined expression as they
lay tangled together on Spike's cot. Boba Fett, worse for wear and no longer
a pristine or particularly valuable action figure, displayed none of his wicked
nature as Andrew marched him happily up Xander's arm.
"Hilary?" muttered Xander, trying to remember if there had been another girl
in the movie.
"Hilary. The butler. Played by the very great Christopher Barrie, who
also plays Rimmer on Red Dwarf. "
"Oh. So you think I'm like a butler. Not like the groundskeeper or...uh...the
handyman." Boba's cruel fate deepened as Xander grabbed him and used the figure
to scratch at his ear.
"No, he was a very cool butler, like Alfred on Batman." Andrew snatched
Boba back from Xander's clutches and moved over to place him reverently on the
table beside the cot. For a moment his expression was disdainful, as only Andrew
could manage, but with Boba safe he lacked the fervor to sustain it. As he slid
back over the mattress his fingers reached out to Xander's arm, tracing the
path Boba had taken. "An UberButler. With perilous weapons at his disposal
with which to defend his gentle and beautiful employer. And, he brought her
her food."
Their hands met, touched, clasped, then wrestled for supremacy as several years
of heavy construction work battled against an idle sojourn in sunny Mexico.
After a few moments of enthusiastic thrashing Andrew conceded defeat and let
Xander haul him up to straddle his hips.
"So, when you get down to it, you think I'm really just an up-market waiter.
And let me guess, you're the... uh... technogeek. " Having won the first
round, Xander let Andrew pin his hands to the mattress by his shoulders.
"Ah..the Techno Wizard. An Evil Genius...a formerly Evil Genius,
now fully redeemed to the side of goodness, who makes the fight for goodness
easier for our heroine by providing her with superior technological objects
of doom. And yet when night falls the Techno Wizard and the UberButler will
always turn to each other for comfort. "
"..Okay, and why is that?"
Andrew brought his head down lower, foreheads almost touching. "Our characters
always end up together; there is no one else for us."
"What? What do you mean no one else? " Xander tried to look annoyed. "Maybe
Lara has a secret crush on us. "
"Sadly, no. Although we will until the end of time love the shiny-haired heroine
and aspire to augment her greatness, we will never win her heart because at
the end of the movie she will always love the archaeologist. Or the vam-pyre
"
Now Xander was annoyed. "Oh great, why does she always have to love them? What's
wrong with us? "
"Ah, but they are English. They have an accent. This, she cannot
resist. "
"For Resistance is ..."
"... Futile."
"Futile, " agreed Xander, as he pulled Andrew's mouth back down to his. They
kissed deeply, tongues entwining as Andrew laced his fingers behind Xander's
neck. They waited like that for a moment, in the semi-darkness, listening to
the world above. The basement ceiling rumbled as another herd of potentials
raced in and out the kitchen door.
"You put the lock on the door, right?" asked Xander. "I think we've only got
the place for a few hours."
"Yes, we are safe. They think you went to 24 Hour Home Improvement World
to buy more wooden window things. The vam-pyre is out patrolling with
The Slayer, and no one else will dare to come down here on this day.
"
Andrew leaned closer, so they were chest to chest and nose to nose. "And so
we huddle here together in the vam-pyre's forbidden underground lair,
seeking our comfort in each other's arms."
Andrew ran his fingers down Xander's face, across his cheek, pausing over his
lips, and then pushed away. Moving over to sit on the edge of the cot, he loosened
his belt and then reached down to untie his sneakers. He placed them neatly
beside each other, like little soldiers, then rolled up his belt and put it
inside one shoe.
"But there is still work to be done. And it is mine to do."
Resignedly, he rose from the cot and walked over to the washing machine. Cautiously,
he lifted the lid and peered in. He gave the small load a critical look, then
poked it inquisitively with his finger.
"Ha! Room for more, I think," he advised Xander. He pulled off his shirt, jeans
and socks, and dropped them in the tub, but ducked behind the machine before
sliding off his plain white cotton briefs. Dropping them in on top, he sidled
back over towards the cot, hands in front of his crotch.
"Um, you know I've seen your naked bits before, Andrew, but as long as you're
over there.. would you mind? " Xander picked up his untidy pile of clothes from
beside the cot and tossed them over. The pile fell apart in mid air, socks,
underwear, pants and shirt falling in diverse heaps.
"Si, amigo, whatever I may do for you, I will do so gladly." Andrew retrieved
the errant pieces and stuffed them in the washer. He then grabbed the box of
detergent and haphazardly poured some in on top of the unsorted laundry. Slamming
the lid, he reached over and twisted the dial to a random setting.
"What, no fabric softener"
"The vam-pyre does not like to smell like flowers."
"Yeah, well screw the vam-pyre; I like my clothes snuggly soft, thank
you much. And speaking of which, get your ass back over here."
"Mi amor, my ass is here," Andrew cried out as he flung himself back
on the cot. The cot, un-adapted to such ferocity, rocked in protest as Andrew
fought his way under the sheets. He wound their legs together and tucked his
head under Xander's chin, wriggling furiously for a moment, and then becoming
still.
Xander sighed as he looked down at the small form wrapped around him. Andrew
lay silently; hunched up in a defensive ball, face under the sheets like a little
prairie dog hoping to remain unnoticed by coyotes.
Pressing his chin down on the fair head, Xander rearranged the collection of
arms, legs, and involved body parts. He shifted their bodies together, and with
some difficulty, persuaded Andrew to unfold. Finally, Andrew stretched out and
settled beside him, fingers reaching out to drift through his hair. Each on
their side, face to face, Xander reached down and grasped both their cocks in
his hand. Slowly and methodically, he stroked them together, up and down, the
constancy of the rhythm sustained by the way Andrew moved against him. They
kissed lightly at first, sheepishly, but then it deepened, tongues exploring
whatever they could reach. Andrew giggled softly into his mouth as his hands
traced over the recent scars on Xander's stomach, then moved around to cup his
ass.
"Xander."
"Ummm."
"I would never ever stab you to death, even if The First tried to make me."
"What!" Xander pulled away as though Andrew's skin had suddenly become scorching
hot. "Way to kill the moment, Andrew." Swinging his legs off the cot, Xander
rose and walked the few short steps to the bookcase. He stood there, hand on
the wall, pretending to inspect the meager offering. His erection didn't notice
the change in atmosphere, and was not discouraged by exposure to literature.
He heard Andrew move softly, and out of the corner of his eye saw him sit up
on the cot, pulling his knees up under his chin. Closing his eyes, Xander tried
to distract himself with the rattle of the washing machine and the gentle hum
of the clock radio, but eventually he had to look back.
For once, Andrew seemed to be at a loss for words. He watched Xander intently,
eyes probing, as though seeing something for the first time. They regarded each
other for a long moment, then Andrew broke the silence. His voice was quavering,
faint, and lacked the exaggerated inflections he had developed in recent weeks.
"I mean, I don't want to hurt you, or anyone, again. I had a trigger, like Spike.
But I didn't need a song, I was my own trigger. Not anymore. It can't control
me that way now. I won't let it hurt you. It's all different now. "
Xander tried, and failed, to remain focused on anything but Andrew. "What's
different now?"
"You're different," Andrew declared. "I mean, I have you now, and you have me,
that's different. I didn't have anyone before. Just me, and I was a trigger.
"
"You're not a trigger Andrew, you're just you... you're not a trigger." Xander
tried to sound like he believed what he was saying, because he thought just
maybe he really did believe it. But Andrew seemed unconvinced, and Xander saw
him waiting anxiously for a more obvious sign of faith. Lacking the resolve
to keep his distance, he knew it was a comfort he couldn't hold back. "Come
here, you look too lonely over there. "
Tearfully, Andrew slid off the cot and embraced him, pressing the length of
his small frame firmly against Xander's. "It's me and you now, like Seven of
Nine and Chakotay, except Voyager mostly sucked, so it's more like John
and Aeryn on Farscape, or.. I don't know, some other show, where nobody
ever got lost. "
Most of this avowal had been sobbed heavily into his chest, and Xander felt
his back press against the cool firm stone of the wall. He held Andrew in his
arms, not sure in that moment just who or what he was holding, but knew he was
starting to think it seemed a chance worth taking. He held his breath for a
moment, trying to integrate all feelings and thoughts into some coherent form.
Andrew's voice was still muffled against his chest, reciting an apparently unending
litany of starship lovers carelessly mislaid in distant galaxies. Xander gently
took his chin in hand, tipping his head up so their eyes met.
Okay then, it's you and me. Right here. We'll see how that goes. No promises,
but we'll see...how... it..goes."
His world imploded as Andrew slid down his body, stopping to kneel in front
of him. His mouth slipped over Xander's hardened cock, his unsure hands floundering
about before settling on thrusting hips. However inelegant and inexpert the
execution, the enthusiasm appeared authentic, and Xander could feel his grasp
on the rest of the world slipping away.
The basement ceiling rumbled as potentials raced in and out the kitchen door.
Through half closed eyes Xander could see the feeble green glow the clock radio
cast on Andrew's fair head. Boba Fett regarded them impassively from the darkness.
Somewhere, far away in the distance, the washing machine rocked as it hit Spin.
fin