2021-12-30: Xander's Pretty Nice Okay Pleasant Day
- Log: Xander's Pretty Nice Okay Pleasant Day
- Cast: Xander Lovell, Riley Arwell
- Where: Wilds outside Port Rosalia
- Date: January 31, 2022
- Summary: "Xander, your trip into town sounds wonderful, I can see why you hated it." (Takes place shortly after Stop Being Nice!.)
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
What Xander had told Riley was he was going to take a moment to scout town for supplies and see what deals he could strike with his limited funds. The plan was to discreetly get changed and call as little attention as possible to what he'd actually been doing and how he managed to bring in extra funds. Whatever. He'd figure it out after the fact, when he could provide Riley the inn room he promised.
That plan died a tragic death when Xander was kept longer than he meant by running into some familiar faces -- and a new friendly one -- who derailed any sort of rational thought Xander once had.
He storms back into camp, still dressed in dancer's garb, although bundling up the sashes to hurl into his corner of the tent with great force (as great of force as fabric can provide) and a growl. Despite this performative anger, his face is still bright red.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
It was unusual for Xander to volunteer to go to town, and Riley guessed that it was probably meant to be for his own benefit in some way and decided it should be rewarded with a tasty meal to return to -- Xander will find him roasting meat on a spit at their campsite, humming to himself.
That humming somehow becomes a question as Xander stalks past, decked out in dancer's garb and hurling his sashes into the tent like they did him some great wrong. Riley's head tilts curiously, the rest of him following until he's leaning into the tent opening to peer at Xander.
"I feel like there is a story here..." he ventures.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
The smell of meat roasting is almost, almost enough to remind Xander the world has some good in it and that they shouldn't burn down Port Rosalia. Okay fine, he does not want to burn down Port Rosalia.
"So," Xander starts with a pause, turning to look to Riley. "Ran into Dean. Turns out a chunk of the Drifter community thought we died on account of the woman we fought in the ruins being a well known cause of death." He sweeps his arm out in a grand gesture. "Now he knows we're alive. If that was giving us any cover, I doubt it will much longer."
The Fangs never assumed anyone believed they were dead, so even Xander isn't sure how to adjust to this information. But it still feels important to mention before anything else.
...And the way Xander's biting his own tongue, nearly vibrating with rage that's barely contained in the glint of his eye certainly suggests there was indeed something else.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley quirks a frown at the news that they were formerly presumed dead. Not so much at the part about losing the cover they didn't know they had as the part about how obviously terrible his choice of target apparently was to everyone else.
"I wonder if we could get someone to give us a list of all of the harmless looking people who are well-known causes of death in the Drifter community..."
He makes a thoughtful 'tch' sound. "So what did he say that has your head about to blow off?"
Xander is sensitive, sure, but probably not sensitive enough to be boiling over like a teakettle just from the interaction he described. The part of Riley that has closely attuned to Xander's various reactions and overreactions and how to bring them about senses that something... juicier may have happened.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"If only," Xander mutters. With all the people who have unimaginable power around, it would be nice to know who they shouldn't pick a fight with.
He folds his arms, posture tight like a lid over his irritation. But Riley asks his question, and even the smallest release of steam sends the rest spilling out.
"He said he was relieved! He was afraid we died and damn near hugged me when he saw me!" Xander throws his arms up in the air. "Asked after you, of course. Said you were fine."
His expression contorts with more baffled agitation. "Even the gargoyle was asking where my 'loved one' was and if you were okay! The one who shot me!" He spins around to face Riley from his pacing. "Four times! She shot me four times -- and we both know why --" It was Xander's fault, even he knows that, but that's the problem -- "Then watched me dance and enjoyed it?? And wanted to know if you were okay?"
Among other things, like encouraging Xander to share certain sides of himself with Riley but he was not going to talk about that right now. (Xander, that means Ruth was right to be concerned. You are making her more correct.)
But Xander's red faced ranting is not done as he gets up in Riley's personal space suddenly, pointing to himself. "And -- and be honest with me, Riley. Do I look like a prostitute?"
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley has more or less the opposite reaction to learning of Dean's concern for their welfare, putting his hand to his heart. "He was glad we're alive? He asked about me? Aww, that's so great, he cares about us..."
Even the gargoyle was asking where my 'loved one' was and if you were okay!
Riley's eyes go round and shining, as he misses Xander's point again. "Your 'loved one...' he echoes dreamily, charmed by the phrase.
"Xander, your trip into town sounds wonderful, I can see why you hated it," he adds, brightly and with a laugh in his voice.
But Xander has one more question for him -- one he is most certainly not prepared for. And -- and be honest with me, Riley. Do I look like a prostitute?'
Riley blinks at him, mouth agape for a moment, before he looks him up and down and considers it. When he becomes distracted by admiring the way Xander looks in his dancer's costume, he decides that may be its own answer.
"I guess I wouldn't be surprised if someone wanted to pay to experience your charms... But why, did you get an offer?"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander groans when Riley looks happy about all of it. Of course he does. Of course. Everyone keeps forgetting what and who they are. Well, it made some sense when it was Riley being all sunshine about it and asking for forgiveness. No one has an excuse when it's just Xander.
But in all Xander's raving, he does not realize what he lets slip and goes to press his fingers over Riley's mouth in protest. "Why is that the only part you heard?! This is a problem, Riley!"
This is actually not a problem. Xander's just mad about it.
Xander, your trip into town sounds wonderful, I can see why you hated it.
Xander growls again. He weathers Riley's look over the best he can before he's forced to break eye contact, cheeks hotter and hotter with each passing moment as he feels especially picked apart under the evaluation.
Then all of him flinches back. "Did I get -- ?!" Xander stares at Riley, the rest of the words catching up. He makes a few sounds, but fails to come up with a response before making a strangled noise and retreating back into the tent to bury himself under a few layers of blankets.
From there comes another muffled groan.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"I don't think charming people who know what we do is a problem! It will make it harder for them to kill us if they don't want us to be dead." Riley pauses, and then adds. "And it's nice." It's good to feel... likeable. Not unfathomably monstrous. There's a cold, lonely feeling whenever they have to expose their secret, whether it's seeing the fear or anger or betrayal in the eyes of a target as they go in for the kill or enduring the righteous judgement and demands for explanation and justification from heroes trying to stop them.
Learning some people are weird enough to like them anyway is a balm for that alienation from the world.
Riley's response to Xander's final question appears to be too much for Xander to endure, and he burrows under blankets in retreat.
Riley sputters with laughter. "Oh no, Xander, I'm sorry, come back!"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
It's not that Riley's wrong, exactly. It's that everything is absurd, nonsensical, and unpredictable, and Xander doesn't know what to do with any of it. It's easy to act like they have friends, but Xander has killed friends. He would again, if he had to. Maybe even if he didn't. He only needs to slip again. This is all going to make it hit harder if -- when? -- he does. Could Riley stomach forgiving him a second time? Did he ever forgive him for the first?
Whatever the depths of Xander's pensiveness, Riley has successfully overwhelmed it with this new emotional turmoil. He's laughing! He's not sorry at all...!
"No," Xander hisses in protest. But he returns, blanket around him like a hooded cloak as he glowers at the ground. "And I didn't get an offer for that," Xander clarifies harshly. He rummages under the blankets and tosses out a jingling bag. "...But I did try to earn us something."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley only continues to smile as Xander returns carrying the bedding with him like an armored shell.
"I will admit it sounds... overwhelming," he allows. It sounds like Xander was bombarded with a great deal of positive attention from people who ought to have been trying to kill him if they had any sense. But Riley is glad they didn't.
"I wouldn't have thought the four-shots woman would have been that conciliatory, did we even ever meet her anywhere we weren't ... doing violence?" It's hard to imagine a witness of the events at Lindow being interested in sympathizing with them as people.
Xander tosses a bag of coins his way, and his eyes widen, both at the solidifying realization that Xander was out performing on his own -- and of his own volition -- and at the amount he made.
"--Oh wow, you did well, your dance act is going to sweep the region..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander glares at Riley's weak validation of the nightmare Xander was forced to experience. But at least the 'hood' of his blanket is allowed to slip off when he grunts an incoherent response.
"No. I didn't recognize her without her being all..." Xander gestures vaguely, not realizing Riley was not yet able to see a Hellion -- or that a Hellion was what he was looking at. "Ugh, she was so... calm and weird about everything. Concerned and --" No, he's not getting into it. Xander growls. "And then when I got agitated, some other girl tried to defend me. Even Dean, who should know better..."
Xander sighs. Riley's right in that the better outcome is people not trying to kill them. But Dean, understanding what he'd done, looking torn up about it. The Fangs are a disease, and they're dragging other people into the vortex of guilt-ridden dilemmas.
"Whatever."
He gestures to the bag, letting the blankets slip off of him bit by bit. "It should be enough for an inn room tonight. If you want."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"My poor sweet Xander, facing a terrible assault of calmness and concern all alone." It isn't not sarcasm, but there's fondness to it instead of bite, and it's accompanied by Riley's arms encircling him as he plants a kiss upon his head.
Then Xander presents the offer of an inn room, and Riley blinks.
"Well, that would be great, but I thought you would want to have some peaceful camping time after facing civilization today, so I was already making dinner..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Shut up," Xander grumbles under the attention. But he pointedly does not squirm away and accepts the to bandage his traumatic experience.
Then he even lets himself lean into it, contemplating Riley's offer with a guilty heart. Riley's not wrong about what Xander wants, but the point of tonight wasn't about Xander's wants.
But after everything, dinner holed up in the safety of camp is powerfully enticing. Xander makes another little frustrated utterance, not sure where his inherent contrary response should direct itself.
"...We could... get one after," he relents, but he's not sure which of the two he's relenting for.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"How about tomorrow?" Riley counters. "Half the fun of going into town is eating, anyway."
And Xander is unmistakably in need of some cool down time, as far as Riley can tell.
"And I would like to make sure my loved one can recover properly," he says, with a remorseless twinkle in his eye.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander exhales out his tension. "Yeah, all right." Maybe if he had said something first, Riley wouldn't be stuck making dinner like this.
Oops and then the tension is back, Xander giving Riley a light shove as his complexion goes from white to red all over again. "You -- That's -- What happened to partners?!"
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
What happened to partners?!
"Gone and forgotten. Loved one is too perfect." Riley practices pretending to introduce Xander to an invisible vistor with great gusto, one arm looping around him while the other sweeps out to present him: "'This is Xander, my loved one.' Beautiful. Triumphant. I will have to thank Miss Four Shots later if her calmness holds."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Forgotten?!" Xander stares back at Riley like he has been shot a fifth time by their mysterious gargoyle friend(?).
Even the world of imagination is too much, and Xander turtles himself back in blankets, even with Riley holding onto him. "Do not."
Don't introduce him like this, or don't thank her? Xander lacks the coherency to specify.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Xander seems crestfallen that Riley has abandoned 'partners' so easily. This gives Riley a bit of pause, wondering if he has carelessly thrown away something important to Xander.
"No one is going to ask if you're my business loved one," Riley says, by way of explanation. "But you can still use it if you like it. It does have a certain power to it. But 'loved one' also has a power..."
Whatever Xander is trying to forbid him from doing, he might have to be more specific, because Riley's otherwise going to let it just slide right over him.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander buries his face in his hands as if this will hide him from Riley.
There is no hiding from Riley. There is also not much he can do to hide the red rims of his ears. How is he supposed to explain that it's that Riley quite decisively has no need or desire for plausible deniability...?!
"Do -- Do whatever you want."
As if Riley ever sought permission, but sometimes Xander likes to pretend he has influence.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley brightens to have permission for... whatever he was given permission for. Continuing to Riley, if nothing else.
But one mystery still remains unsolved.
"So... why were you worrying about whether you looked like a prostitute...?"
Riley cannot help but envision this strange collection of former opponents gathering around Xander to express relief that he survived, concern for his missing loved one(!) and... perhaps... confusion about what he does for coin in between murders?
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander snaps his gaze back to Riley. "Why are you bringing that up?!"
He grumbles and turns away, but still leans his back into Riley because even if he's being fussy, he still wants contact.
"...Dean was trying to ask his friend if she understood our whole..." Xander gestures vaguely, then less vaguely by mining stabbing someone, "...deal. She took one look at me and admonished him for being critical of the world's oldest profession." He looks over his shoulder at Riley. "And I'm not saying she's wrong about it not being shameful work! I'm just -- I'm not --"
Riley is probably the last person Xander would need to convince or be defensive about this with. But he's still Xander.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
She took one look at me and admonished him for being critical of the world's oldest profession.
It is Xander's misfortune to be pressed up against Riley right now because he can feel the laughter, even if Riley tries to keep it quiet.
"Poor Xander," he sputters.
"I hope this doesn't put you off from your costume. I really do love it."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander tenses up against Riley, giving him the most evil glare he can muster in the moment -- which is hardly evil and instead a vaguely angry kind of rattled.
"Riley!"
He folds his arms, half an instinct to cover himself. But that's part of what irks him. He doesn't want to unlike the outfit himself over such a comment.
"Forgive me if I don't find that the most convincing piece of evidence against the assumption."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"I would also love a different costume if you really wanted to change it," Riley offers cautiously, "but perhaps so would everyone else..."
He adopts an expression of thoughtfulness and mock concern. "This incident only further supports my theory that everyone would like to smooch you."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander grumbles to himself, petulant and gnawing at his lip. "It's fine. I'm... fine. The costume's fine."
...It is comfortable.
...
"EVERYONE DOES NOT WANT TO SMOOCH ME!"
Xander spins around and throws the blanket over Riley's head.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
The blanket enfolds Riley without resistance; perhaps he understands he has earned this.
"Whatever you say," Riley answers in a cheerfully unconvinced muffle from beneath it.