thedemonmagnet | (no subject)

"It's more then okay." Xander said before waving to the other chair next to him so Alcuin could have a seat. "I'm glad you're here. And she's doing good." He couldn't stop the large smile that blossomed on his face. "She and Lex Luthor are currently at the Club, drinking to the sunshine, or so I'm told."

Alcuin sat in the chair and looked over at Xander, smiling warmly at him. He felt better already, just being here.

At the comment about Helen, he laughed. "Well. I hope that it works out better for her than the last time I drank."

"And people wonder why I don't drink." Re-taking his chair, Xander gave Alcuin a concerned look. "Is this about the guy who rejected you?"

"Now? No." Alcuin offered him a sheepish little smile. "No, it's just my general melancholy. The drinking, though..." He managed a self deprecating, soft laugh. "Well, I can blame Jack Harkness for that, he thought it might be a good way to help me forget my troubles."

"I've heard it's good for that." Xander said with a wary smile, clear that he wasn't condemning Alcuin for drinking away his troubles. "I have family history that says otherwise and I'd rather not risk it." He added as his smile turned self deprecating. "Anything I can do?"

"Just the company is enough," Alcuin admitted. He laughed again and added, "It would be nice to have, perhaps, someone warming my bed for a time, though I certainly won't ask that of you. Your friendship is enough."

Xander couldn't help a bashful smile at that. "Perhaps a few months ago maybe. I...wouldn't have said no." He'd never really though about it...but his gut reaction at the moment was that he would said yes. Not now of course, since he loved Helen more then he could express and Alcuin knew that.

Alcuin ducked his head a bit, though a smile pulled at his lips. "I cannot say it does not please me to hear that - " Neither would he have said no. He was fond of Xander, and he did not think that Giles would disapprove, even if it might make him raise a brow. "But I am more than happy for the love you have found."

"Me too. Er, pleased to hear that I mean."

Neither did Xander. In fact, he thought Giles would be glad Xander and Alcuin were there for each other, in bed or not. "And thanks. It's been...amazing." He was speechless when it came to describing Helen...and that in itself said a lot from him.

"I admit I do not know her well," said Alcuin, "but I know that she is both beautiful and kind, and you seem well matched."

Xander couldn't help smiling as he thought of Helen. "I don't know about the well-matched part. I just know I'm the luckiest guy on the island." Then he shook his head. "But I'm sure you'd rather talk about something else, you know, considering everything."

Alcuin shook his head. "I am D'Angeline, Xander. Love brings me joy, even if it is not my own. It is beautiful." He laughed. "And we do like beautiful things. Did you know it was often said of us - disparagingly, I believe, even if I do not find it so - that D'Angelines would buy flowers before food?"

"That's..." Xander didn't know the right word. It wasn't exactly silly...nor did it seem very practical, "..a very fanciful way of looking at things. Not that love is bad just...I rather like food." He added with a laugh of his own.

Alcuin laughed again. "Well, so do I. It's really more hyperbole."

He thought to what he had told Xander about Terre d'Ange. A great deal, while eschewing most of his personal history. Though Xander knew that he had died, he did not know it was murder. And though he knew what a Servant of Naamah was, he did not know that Alcuin had been one. At the time it had been out of respect for Giles, unsure whether he would want Xander knowing that his lover had once been a prostitute. And since then, the issue had simply never come up.

"But you will not offend me by speaking of love. Love as thou wilt, hmm?" He smiled.

They'd brought the alcohol up from Rapture, split between The Catscratch Club and The Winchester - Ianto hadn't wanted any of it for the Hub. And that afternoon, Lex and Saffron had gone to the club and done a quality check on it...or, at least, that's what they said it was. It had ended with both of them spectacularly drunk on some very good booze. It had been a little touch and go as to whether Lex was going to have to carry Saffron home, but in the end, she'd managed to stumble off, cheerfully waving off Lex's offer to walk her there so they could both go home to bed and their respective significant others.

She was fairly unsteady on her feet as she reached the hut, and it might have been a small miracle she made it up the steps of the porch without stumbling. Upon realizing they had company, Saffron broke out into a wide and bright grin. "Alcuin, what a pleasant surprise!" she gushed. "I'm so glad to see you."

Kicking off her shoes, she went over to Xander and sat herself right in his lap. "Hi, baby," she said, soft and adoring, before she kissed him hello.

Edited 2011-08-03 05:42 (UTC)

Alcuin had told some about his life before the island and Giles had told him other parts. None of it was anything Xander was comfortable with but he didn't hold that against his friend. It wasn't his fault after all.

"Then you should come around often. There's lot of talk about love around here," Xander replied with a silly smile on his face.

Which only grew as he looked up as Helen approached. He'd half stood to help her but was forced back down into his seat as he suddenly had a lap full of Boss Lady. And he was very glad of the conversation he'd just been having with Alcuin because he didn't feel bad about returning Helen's wonderful kiss right in front of him. "Well, looks like you and Lex had a good time."

Alcuin stood immediately when Helen entered, and offered her a smile that didn't fade when they kissed. He could not bring himself to be jealous, not when Xander seemed so very, very happy.

"The pleasure is mine, Helen," he said warmly. "I hope you do not mind Xander keeping me company."

"A very good time, and you can rest assured, that Rapture booze has been thoroughly taste tested." Saffron's eyes were locked on Xander's, seemingly seeing no one but him, but when Alcuin spoke, she turned her head to look at him with a smile. "Oh, not at all!" she chirped, and while it seemed she was surely drunk enough to be slurring, her speech was mostly fine, if a bit slower than usual. "You're always welcome at our home."

“Well, that’s good to hear. About the alcohol I mean.” Xander almost asked if Luthor was able to make his way home, if Helen’s drunkenness was any indication of how much they’d had, but once she looked at him like that…he couldn’t say he cared about much of anything.

It was very tempting to fall into the intense gaze being set on him but Xander was more polite then that and also looked away when Alcuin spoke. “Please sit. You don’t have to go just yet. Always welcome means always welcome.” While he wanted nothing more than to follow through on the look Helen was giving him, he’d been serious when he’d said he wanted to help Alcuin, even with just simple company, and running him off wasn’t the way to accomplish that.

Alcuin hesitated, as the look that passed between them certainly had not gone unnoticed... but they both asked him to stay, and so he sat down beside Xander.

He looked to Helen with a sheepish little smile on his lips. "Xander has been very kind in offering his company whenever I might feel lonely. I fear my house feels very large and empty sometimes." Not to mention his bed, but that was not Xander's problem.

Saffron listened with sympathy, giving a nod that was slightly exaggerated in her drunken state. "Oh, sugar, I know how that is," she said. "It was just me in this hut for a good long while."

She turned her head back to Xander and gave him a soft smile as she placed a palm to his cheek - having to make the attempt a couple of times to land it where she was aiming. "I think we both know how that is."

Xander did know exactly how that felt, having lost many people from his home and bed on the island. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and he really did feel sorry for Alcuin, which only made him want to help more. At least...as much as he could.

He gave Alcuin an amused smile as he patiently waited for Helen to touch him. "Yeah, we do. Empty huts are not fun for anyone. I just wish there was more we could do."

At that flicker of understanding across Xander's expression, Alcuin suddenly missed Rupert so much that it ached.

"You've both been very kind," Alcuin said, and leaned in to kiss Helen's cheek, and then as an afterthought, Xander's as well. "Thank you. Sometimes I forget that I'm not really alone at all."

Saffron smiled as Alcuin kissed her and Xander's cheeks. It was good to help people, she thought. And then suddenly, a booze-powered lightbulb went off in her head.

Saffron had never had any illusions as to what she was best at. She'd never hesitated to use her abilities for her own gain, never hesitated to use them to help others either. It was a certain special kind of assistance she provided; she'd even helped Xander, years ago and before either of them even suspected where they'd be now. She was especially good at a great many things, but with this, she was at her best. And right then, sitting in her boyfriend's lap and across from what had to be one of the most beautiful guys she'd ever laid eyes on, Saffron was also quite possibly more drunk than she'd ever been.

Being really drunk had always made Saffron more promiscuous. But lately, now that she was in her first monogamous relationship in something like a decade, it seemed to make her tend towards her old ways, when it came to sex, and how she used to quite enjoy a good threesome. She used to be just fine with sharing, for the most part, and apparently being shitfaced made sharing sound like a good idea again.

"Alcuin, honey, would you ess - excr - exqu - sit tight, we'll be right back," she said, finally slurring a little, as she stood and yanked on Xander's hand to get him to stand up with her. "Baby, can I talk to you inside for just a second?"

Xander himself just flushed slightly at the kiss from Alcuin but gave him a kind smile of thanks in return.

And then he was completely surprised when he was suddenly being yanked around by his very drunk girlfriend. He gave her a worried frown before standing and given Alcuin an apologetic look. “Umm…we’ll be right back, I guess.” He managed to say before he was pulled into the hut where he turned to Helen. “Okay, what’s going on?” Was that her scheming look in her eyes? The one that usually scared him on a good day and now when she was drunk? He was a bit terrified of what she was thinking but he patiently listened.