Trickster
by Hallucination
Xander yawned, reluctantly getting out of bed. He had
woken up for a second only to realize that his throat
was burning with thirst, so he had no choice but to
abandon the sleep gods and hope they still welcomed
him with open arms later. He turned on a light,
shooting a glance at Spike to see if the brightness
had awoken him, breathing a sigh of relief when he
realized that it hadn't. Spike was a right bitch
whenever he was awoken from a "bloody smashing kip",
as he liked to call it. Could rant and rave about it
for hours, and Xander was in no mood to tolerate his
outbursts right now. But that wasn't the only reason
why he didn't want to wake Spike.
He tiptoed up the basement staircase as quietly as he
could, wincing at every creak the protesting steps
gave out. Don't wake up, don't wake up, don't wake
up...Xander chanted silently. He opened the door to the
living room, closing it softly behind him. Xander
gulped as he was surrounded by nothing but darkness.
Hurriedly, Xander switched on the lamp in the living
room, blinking his eyes at the sudden brightness.
Feeling a little better, he tiredly made his way to
the kitchen, turning on the light in there too though
the luminosity from the living room enabled him to see
quite well enough. Xander needed all the lights on.
He downed the glass of water in three nervous gulps,
leaving it in the sink when he was done, all the while
on the alert. Trying to breathe normally, he turned
off the kitchen light and entered the living room. Did
it seem darker now than it was before...okay panic
setting in again! Ignoring the living room lamp that
was still on Xander fled back down the to the basement
as fast as he could. He reached there slightly out of
breath, cursing himself for being so childish. He
swallowed heavily and reached out to switch off the
basement light, grateful it was all over.
Xander climbed back into bed with a smile of relief on
his face. Thank God Spike didn't see any of that, he
thought briefly before closing his eyes. I don't know
what I'd do if Spike found out I was afraid of the
dar-
"I know a secret..." A smug voice sang through the
darkness.
"AAAAAH!!!!!!" Xander lurched out of bed. Quick as a
flash he switched on the basement light and found
himself staring into a pair of wickedly amused
sapphire eyes. OH MY GOD, Xander thought in
mortification. He goggled at Spike in sheer disbelief.
Spike only smirked back at him from his chair.
Fuck how could this happen to me FUCK Spike knows
Spike knows Spike knows and it's the end of the world
as I know it and he'll never let me live this down and
he'll taunt me night and day and - wait. Wasn't he
sleeping when I got the water?
Xander's mind reeled when he realized what Spike had
been doing. He pointed an unsteady finger at the
snickering vampire. "You were wide awake all the
time!" He spluttered, his body shaking with anger.
Spike bit his lip, visibly restraining himself from
laughter. "I suppose I always have been an
exceptionally good actor." He said modestly.
Xander was absolutely livid, his eyes goggling out of
his head ridiculously. "You...fucking poser!!!!" He
choked out.
"Oh I'm the poser am I?" Spike crowed. "I'm not the
one who goes around pretending to be someone I'm not!
Brag about killing demons, will you? Well I wonder
what your friends would say if they found out their
little Donutboy's shit-scared of the dark!" He laughed
cruelly.
"You...you wouldn't tell them..." Xander said
uncertainly.
"And why is that may I ask? It's not like you've been
very nice to ME, you prat. I SHOULD tell 'em." Spike
sniffed, leaning back in his chair. Xander immediately
dove towards him, gripping Spike's thighs painfully.
"Listen to me Spike. You will not breathe a words of
this to ANY of them you hear me? They already don't
give a fuck about my help with slayage and more often
than not I know they wish I would just disappear
completely. I'm just an ornament to them and the only
reason they haven't told me to get lost yet is because
they haven't got an excuse to. If they find out about
this they'll cut me loose for good. Do you get it,
Spike? My friends don't want me around." Xander sank
back on his heels, his lip trembling.
Oh bloody bollocky hell, he's gonna cry! Spike
thought, alarmed. He hadn't really meant to make the
boy cry. Bleedin' Hell vampires didn't go around
trying to make people sniffle, for God's sake! He was
merely looking for a fight, how was he to know the
whelp would be so sensitive? He felt right awkward
now.
*Sniff*
Alright, Spike was beginning to feel a little bad
about things.
*Sniff*
Spike started to feel a bit worse.
*Sniff*
Bloody hell if he keeps that sniffling up I'll be
forced to apologi-
*Sniff* *Sniff*
"Oh fine!" Spike threw his hands up. "Won't tell 'em
none, you clot!"
There. That was a good apology as any.
Xander stopped sniffling. "Really?" He asked in a
small voice.
Spike was disgusted with himself.
"Yeah." He said grudgingly.
Xander stared at him for a moment before bursting into
laughter.
Spike's mouth dropped open in shock. What the hell?
Tears began to gather in Xander's eyes as he fell
about hysterically, the sounds of his laughter
reverberating off the basement walls. "Sp-Spike," He
wheezed. "You actually believed me?" Xander collapsed
in a heap, giggling helplessly.
"They KNOW I'm afraid of the dark, Spike. And they're
totally okay with it. They love me, after all." Xander
admitted between gasps.
Spike jumped up in horror.
"You played me!" He breathed, letting loose a colorful
stream of curses that only made Xander laugh harder.
Xander stumbled over to him, smiling widely. "You're
right, it was all a joke."
Spike ignored him, muttering something about staking
himself.
He leaned closer to Spike so that their noses were
touching. "But I appreciate that you changed your
mind." Xander whispered before kissing Spike gently on
the lips. A long, sweet kiss, it lasted for mere
seconds yet it meant the world.
Wow, Spike thought as Xander pulled away. I
mean...WOW.
Spike licked his lips in appreciation. "Mmmmm you're
very welcome pet. Do I get anymore?" His eyebrows
wiggled suggestively.
Xander chuckled. "Not for tonight. I'm so tired I
might drop dead right now." He grinned mischievously
at the vampire's disappointed look and climbed back
into bed, pulling the covers to his chin.
Spike collapsed into his chair sulkily. "Nice of you
to leave a man hanging." He chastised Xander.
Xander snorted. "Consider it payback for pretending to
be asleep. And if you EVER tease me about being afraid
of the dark I swear I'll rip your intestines out and
smear them all your life."
Spike snickered a while before admitting, " You know
luv...I wasn't the only good actor tonight."
Xander smiled, his eyes still closed. "Yeah, I guess
we're both pretty good at being sneaky, huh?"
"That we are, mate." Spike agreed, already giving in
to sleep.
"Spike?" Xander yawned.
"Yes, pet?"
"How the hell did you get free from your ropes?"
The End
