"Now let's get this clear," said Xander, his voice shaking slightly. "You aren't wanted here, Andrew. You aren't our friend. You aren't part of the gang. And you aren't some noble soul on the rocky road to redemption. You're a sad, pathetic little excuse for a man with nothing - nothing - to contribute to the team. You just follow along doing what people tell you. You're not special. You're not brave. You're not heroic. You're just a follower, and that's all you'll ever be. And you can't even get that right. And you don't know anything about Faith. Nothing. You're just a waste of space. You're just here to bake the stupid cookies and tell the stupid stories and get in everyone's way. Your screw-ups get people killed. Why the hell would anyone in their right mind trust you? You're -- you're a Zeppo, that's what you are. Useless. Nothing."

Andrew blinked into angry brown eyes a scant few inches away and picked nervously at the fabric of his sweater. After a long moment Xander -- who really was quite a big guy, Andrew was realising -- backed off and stalked into the kitchen.

Andrew stared blankly at the TV screen. His half-eaten pizza slice had fallen cheese-side down onto the couch. He carefully picked it up again, laid it on the plate and felt around for the scattered olives, and he didn't burst into tears.

I like this a lot, Fay. It's very good. Would it be at all helpful to tell you that they weren't so sure of Buffy's leadership skills by the end of Season 7?

he squeezed washing up liquid into the sink

We'd probably say dishwashing detergent, at least, I do.

"I don't see why we couldn't go along," said Andrew. "It's not like the other girls have special powers.

Instead of other girls, maybe no "other" unless he relates to the girls, which would make it a funny freudian slip that Xander might catch.

I like this. It's a good story. There's more, yes?

Cheers, pet! Thanks for the heads up wrt washing up liquid - I felt fairly sure you'd have a different word, but hadn't the foggiest what it would be.

Instead of other girls, maybe no "other" unless he relates to the girls, which would make it a funny freudian slip that Xander might catch.

Ah - I meant 'other than Buffy and Faith' rather than 'other than us'. Hmm.

Bugger. Will poke it.

I saw most of Season 7, but not all - I missed maybe four or five episodes, for one reason or another, which is a bit of a pisser in terms of confidence in Xander's character arc. Bits I know, but I like to be on really solid ground with canon. Hmph.

My intention is to keep following the development of their relationship and eventually get them together (for I am a sap). Moreover, I thought that a great way to get them together would be to have them go and see Pirates of the Caribbean together. I think Xander would particularly appreciat it, what with the rakish eyepatch he'll be sporting.

Unfortunately, PotC doesn't come out in the UK until the 9th August.

Hmph.

Fay, this is a delicious piece of work. I am a huge fan of bribing people with cookies.

just not posting the link publicly. Or doing something like sequestering the upload posting interface behind a pass-protected directory, similar to what shrift does with that-which-does-not-exist.

Which involves maintaining a list of authorised people -- but if you're willing to be point person on coordinating that, it's all good. As opposed to tying it in to our existing authentication.

Thank you! And, yes, damn straight on the bribery by cookie.

...mmm cookies....

Fay, if I'm very lucky, I'll get to see it for my birthday, but not the first weekend in august because we have a wedding and shakespeare in the park, so probably the same time as you. We can squee about it together, though that doesn't help the current fic effort. Sorry about that.

grins

Cool. Look forward to it, love.

Which involves maintaining a list of authorised people -- but if you're willing to be point person on coordinating that, it's all good. As opposed to tying it in to our existing authentication.

I didn't realize we *could* tie it in--can we?

Depends on the system, really, how much change we can do. I just imagine maintaining the lists of users manually would be a nightmare.