Crossover: HL/BtVS (before “Prodigal Son” HL!verse, between series 6 and 7 Buffy!verse)

Characters: Xander, RR

For prompt: 021 Friends

Summary: Richie and Xander discuss absent friends.

A/N: The third of a series of BtVS/HL crossovers – not sure how many or what’ll happen yet so let’s see

“Huh, no one’s here…”

“It’s 10 o’clock on a Sunday morning, dude.”

Xander dipped his head into the back room of the Magic Box. “That’s never stopped Anya from trying pry hard-earned money out of customers’ hands. Anya! Are you there!” There was a silent pause, before Xander turned back into the room. “Guess not. Well, make yourself at home.”

Richie looked round at the shelves of strange magical implements and ingredients. “You’ve got a weird idea of what’s home.”

“Well you live on a hellmouth long enough the strangest things seem homey.”

“You know how to use this stuff?” Richie asked, picking up a strangely tied bundle of herbs.

Xander shook his head, taking a seat at the large round table at library end of the room. “Nah, not really. That was Willow and Tara’s thing: the whole wicca, earth power, witch thing.”

Richie put down the bundle, exploring the rest of the shelves. “You mean like magic? You don’t believe in that stuff, right?”

“You kidding? My best friend almost destroyed the world with it.”

“Seriously?”

Xander sighed. “Yeah after Tara, her girlfriend, got shot she went a bit crazy with the uber dark stuff. Tried to fry the planet.”

“Interesting friend.” Richie replied, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah well after a while on the hellmouth you get used to having a few of those too. Witches, slayers, werewolves, demons, vampires; I’ve been friends with them all. I was engaged to Anya and she’s a vengeance demon now…well, again. And I’m still not entirely sure what Dawn was before she was Buffy’s sister…”

“Do I want to ask?”

Xander grinned, shrugging. “What about you? You must’ve met some interesting people in your travels.”

“Some, but they don’t really compare. I knew a priest that was over two thousand years old once.” Richie threw a sarcastic smile over his shoulder and saw Xander roll his eyes in response, assuming it was just a joke. “And there’s this friend of Mac’s that’s a complete klepto. Apart from that it’s all pretty normal.”

“Mac?”

Richie looked thoughtful, turning to prop himself on the edge of the table across from where Xander sat.

“Mac took me in a couple of years back. I would probably be in jail now if it wasn’t for him.”

Xander raised an eyebrow. “Jail? Anything I should know about?”

Richie chuckled, but the ding of the shop bell stopped him before he could respond.