BtVS Fiction, 'Compass' (Oz, Xander)
Nov. 2nd, 2004 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciirceeWritten entirely for fun and in about half an hour. It's been a long while since I felt the urge to have anything to do with Buffy.
Disclaimer: Joss Wedon and various television entities own everything you recognize.
Dedication: To Chelle, because she mentioned Oz and I remembered how much I loved him.
Compass
Oz stood at the edge of home. Or, rather, he stood at the edge of the place where home had once been. Sunnydale was nothing more than a memory and a smear of dirt and debris. “Huh,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” a voice agreed.
“Xander,” Oz smiled with his voice.
“Oz,” Xander returned and Oz knew that he was grinning with his whole body. “So, how does it feel?” Peripherally, he saw Xander’s sweeping gesture that encompassed everything Oz had once known by heart.
He thought about it, about how it felt. “Oddly reassuring,” he said after a minute. And it was. Seeing Sunnydale not existing made him feel like himself again; the self he hadn’t been since he’d had to strip in the school library and lock himself into the rare book cage every month. “Uncomplicated.”
“Yeah,” Xander agreed again. Then, “You do know that you sound like you make gallons upon gallons of bong water, right?”
Oz let out a breath that was more laughter than anything else and turned to finally look at the man beside him. “How’s the eye?”
Xander shrugged. “Back where it should be. And since you’re asking after it, might I assume that you sent the guy who put it back?”
“Fellow traveler I met in Tibet. He owed me a favor.” He paused, and then nodded. “I heard about Anya. She was something else.”
“But what else, we’ll never know,” Xander joked, his eyes managing to frown even as his face smiled. “Not to sound accusatory, but we could have used you.”
It hurt, just a bit, to shrug that one off. “I know. I thought about being here, but I didn’t know how Willow…” he trailed off.
“And you probably didn’t want to eat Kennedy.” Xander visibly reviewed what he said and then grinned without saying anything. Oz had to smile.
“That too,” he said, just to play along. “Actually, I’m good,” he said, growing serious again. “I think it’s recent.” He gestured to the remains of the town.
Xander raised both eyebrows.
Oz shoved his hands in his pockets. “Growing up, can’t go home again, not being tied to this place and the things that happened here. Take your pick,” he invited.
He didn’t, instead Xander stuffed his hands into his pockets too and looked back out to where Sunnydale had once sat. “You can come with us if you want, Oz. The Slayer-mobile has room for one more. We’re going south.”
“There’s another Hellmouth north.” Oz said by way of answer. “Very north.” He lifted a hand when Xander opened his mouth to speak. “No. It’s okay. A bunch of us are sitting on it. It’s good. Go south. Stay out of L.A.”
Xander’s eyes shuttered. “You’ve been?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate.
“Bad?”
“Very.”
“Angel?”
“No. He did take out a dragon, though.”
Xander smiled. “Hero.”
Oz smiled too. “Lot of those going around.” He turned and offered out his hand. “Thanks.”
And Xander seemed to get him. “Yeah. You too.”
Disclaimer: Joss Wedon and various television entities own everything you recognize.
Dedication: To Chelle, because she mentioned Oz and I remembered how much I loved him.
Compass
Oz stood at the edge of home. Or, rather, he stood at the edge of the place where home had once been. Sunnydale was nothing more than a memory and a smear of dirt and debris. “Huh,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” a voice agreed.
“Xander,” Oz smiled with his voice.
“Oz,” Xander returned and Oz knew that he was grinning with his whole body. “So, how does it feel?” Peripherally, he saw Xander’s sweeping gesture that encompassed everything Oz had once known by heart.
He thought about it, about how it felt. “Oddly reassuring,” he said after a minute. And it was. Seeing Sunnydale not existing made him feel like himself again; the self he hadn’t been since he’d had to strip in the school library and lock himself into the rare book cage every month. “Uncomplicated.”
“Yeah,” Xander agreed again. Then, “You do know that you sound like you make gallons upon gallons of bong water, right?”
Oz let out a breath that was more laughter than anything else and turned to finally look at the man beside him. “How’s the eye?”
Xander shrugged. “Back where it should be. And since you’re asking after it, might I assume that you sent the guy who put it back?”
“Fellow traveler I met in Tibet. He owed me a favor.” He paused, and then nodded. “I heard about Anya. She was something else.”
“But what else, we’ll never know,” Xander joked, his eyes managing to frown even as his face smiled. “Not to sound accusatory, but we could have used you.”
It hurt, just a bit, to shrug that one off. “I know. I thought about being here, but I didn’t know how Willow…” he trailed off.
“And you probably didn’t want to eat Kennedy.” Xander visibly reviewed what he said and then grinned without saying anything. Oz had to smile.
“That too,” he said, just to play along. “Actually, I’m good,” he said, growing serious again. “I think it’s recent.” He gestured to the remains of the town.
Xander raised both eyebrows.
Oz shoved his hands in his pockets. “Growing up, can’t go home again, not being tied to this place and the things that happened here. Take your pick,” he invited.
He didn’t, instead Xander stuffed his hands into his pockets too and looked back out to where Sunnydale had once sat. “You can come with us if you want, Oz. The Slayer-mobile has room for one more. We’re going south.”
“There’s another Hellmouth north.” Oz said by way of answer. “Very north.” He lifted a hand when Xander opened his mouth to speak. “No. It’s okay. A bunch of us are sitting on it. It’s good. Go south. Stay out of L.A.”
Xander’s eyes shuttered. “You’ve been?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate.
“Bad?”
“Very.”
“Angel?”
“No. He did take out a dragon, though.”
Xander smiled. “Hero.”
Oz smiled too. “Lot of those going around.” He turned and offered out his hand. “Thanks.”
And Xander seemed to get him. “Yeah. You too.”
