What I did this morning instead of work:
Xander liked to come out and sit in the bus sometimes. He liked the feel of that big steering wheel beneath his hands, even if he couldn’t actually drive anymore. He’d make “vroom vroom” noises and remember what it was like when the world wasn’t flat. He liked the silence, too. Sometimes, traveling with so many slayers could get to be a little overwhelming, what with the gossiping and the giggling and the occasional catfight. Well, the catfights were actually ok, or better than ok, especially the time when Candy from Oklahoma and El Paso Bridget got into it over who’d be the first in the shower. It wasn’t always all bad, but sometimes a man needed a break. He’d come out to the bus from time to time and sit and watch the sunset. Try to clear his head.
“What are you doing?” He looked up to find Andrew, the last person he wanted to see, pushing his way onto the bus and standing on the bottom step.
“I was trying to meditate.” Andrew’s eyes dropped briefly to Xander’s fly. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
“I won’t take up much of your time. I…I have something for you.” Andrew held out a package wrapped in rainbow colored happy birthday paper.
“It’s not my birthday.” Xander bit back the “idiot.” The whole gift horse in the mouth thing.
“I know. It’s a Christmas present actually. This was the only wrapping paper I could find at the truck stop.”
“Why are you giving me a Christmas present? It’s not some demon summon-y thing or a magic eyeball?”
“You lost your eye fighting an evil misogynistic priest, you finally got back together with your one true love, whom you’d left at the altar, and then she was slaughtered protecting your ex-arch nemesis. You’re boyhood home got sucked into a gaping chasm, probably killing almost all of your friends and family. I thought you deserved a little treat.” Andrew was standing on the second step now, arm outstretched, offering Xander the gift with that silly expression that he sometimes got, half hero-worship, half something Xander would rather not think about. He couldn’t just let him stand there. He reached out, took the gift, and just pretended he didn’t notice Andrew’s little shiver when their fingers touched. “Open it.”
“Oh God, it’s not a magic eyeball, is it?” he whispered. It felt too heavy anyway. He had to admit there was nothing like tearing open a present, even from Andrew. “It’s a book. So not what I was expecting, but. . .” His breath caught a little as he looked at the beautifully bound volume in his hands. Deep rich leather with gold embossed lettering. “How did you do it?” He ran his hands down the spine, cracked open the cover and read the title page, The Amazing Adventures of the Invincible Anya Emmanuela Christina Jenkins.
“Do you like it? I figured she had a story worth telling.”
“I like it. A lot. Thank you, Andrew.” He smiled and actually meant it for the first time in a while. “So, what’s it about?”
“Well, I tried to find out everything about her that I could. You’d be surprised how many vengeance demons are on AIM. Apparently, it’s a good place to find clients. I could read it to you, if you want.”
“Yeah, that would be nice.” Xander handed the book back to Andrew and motioned for him to take the bank of seats just behind the driver’s.
“Where should I start?”
“Start from the beginning.” He stared straight ahead at the moon that was just rising over the top of the Motel 6 sign and listened to the sound of the pages turning.
“Chapter one. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, yet strangely off-putting girl, named Aud.”