fandomtownies | Magic Box, Wednesday [ 11/28]

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Magic Box, Wednesday [ 11/28]

There had been a moment this morning when Andrew had decided not to come to work. Then he changed his mind. Half way from the dorms, he had turned around, deciding to spend the day in bed after all, but then he got back to the dorms and realized he would have a better chance avoiding people at work.

So here he was, at work, generally miserable, going through large and ancient books researching the big nasty demons he had promised Mr. Giles he would leave alone.

There was no harm in just reading up on them, though. Right?

The Magic Box is open for all your dark and dastardly needs.

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Isabel had heard radio. So after class she grabbed packed her bag with the stack of Christmas cards she needed to get written, stopped at the Perk for hot chocolate and cookies and then headed over to the Magic Box.

"Delivery," she called as she came through the door.

Andrew looked up from his book, grimaced, and looked back down. "Damn radio," he muttered. Then he sighed and shut the book.

"Hey, Isabel." He tried to sound cheerful, but failed totally.

"Hi Andrew," Isabel smiled as she set a hot chocolate down in front of him and pulled out a chair. "I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd stop by."

"Oh, goodie. And you brought treats." Andrew looked at the hot chocolate but didn't reach for it.

"Well, thanks for stopping by. I'm really swamped today," he lied.

"It's okay," she told him as she fixed up her own hot chocolate with some Tabasco and then pulled out the stack of cards she needed to write. "I brought stuff to keep me occupied."

Andrew just stared at the cards for a bit. "I don't think it's socially acceptable for you to be doing that here," he stated. "This is a place of business. Mr. Giles might get really upset with me if he walked in and found that I had a friend just hanging out here."

"Somehow I think Mr. Giles is rather used to people hanging about the place," Isabel replied. "Xander's told me stories. But if you don't want me doing my Christmas cards, I could always help you research. That's what you're doing isn't it?"

"No," he said defensively. "I'm just reading. Reading and taking notes. That's it. I know not of this research you're talking about."

He was so smooth.

"Well you keep reading and taking notes." It still looked like research to Isabel. "I'll just sit here and write holiday greetings. We don't even need to talk."

Andrew didn't reply. He just opened up the book and resumed his research. He attempted to cover up some of the more gruesome pictures just in case Isabel looked over.

Isabel was pretty proud of herself for making it most of the ways through the A's on her list, Aeryn & John, Alanna, Anakin, Angel and Angela before glancing over and wrinkling her nose. "Light reading huh?"

"I thought you said there wasn't going to be any talking!" Andrew exclaimed, tilting his book up so Isabel couldn't see anything else. He didn't care if she saw the cover. It was written in ancient Etruscan.

"This isn't talking. This is casual conversation." Two could play that game. "Talking would mean I was asking you questions what's going on with Neil and how you feel about that," Isabel said quietly as she attempted to copy what was written on the front of the book onto an envelope. She'd ask Mr. Giles or Dawn about it if she didn't like the answers she got from Andrew.

Andrew slammed the book shut and stood up. He stamped his foot and pointed at Isabel. "I knew you were going to bring that up! I don't want to talk about it!" Not just because the whole thing was making him very angry, but also due to the fact that he really just had no idea what to say.

Isabel raised a eyebrow in reaction. "Fine. Don't talk about it if you don't want to." Although his reaction told her plenty. "I'm just going to sit and keep doing my cards."

"Fine!" Andrew sat back down, but he didn't open the book back up. He just brooded for a bit.

"I mean, I've know I've been dealing with it all my life, but you think he would have the decency to wait a freaking week or two before just rejecting me."

Yeah, you'd think, and he'd seemed nice enough at Thanksgiving. Isabel felt guilty that she'd been too involved with Wyatt and catching up with Bel and Angel that she'd never taken Neil aside like she'd said she would.

"What did he say exactly?" she asked, setting the card she'd been working on aside.

"He just got so mad. He won't tell me what's wrong. He said that I don't understand." Andrew was looking pretty agitated himself.

"It's like he realized I was having a rough time and he didn't want to deal with it or something. Like I'm just not worth the effort."

Of course, Andrew could totally just be misreading all the signs. "And maybe I'm not," he added, sounding completely pathetic.

First things first. "You are totally worth the effort," Isabel said firmly. "Which is why I'm here. So don't try and tell me otherwise." He reminded her of Michael when he was younger, when Hank's harsh words weighed him down.

As for Neil, "Well if that's what he's thinking, then you're better off. When you care about someone, you're supposed to be with them through the good times AND the bad times. If he's not willing to do that..." She was still surprised by Neil's reaction though, he didn't seem like the kind of guy to dump on someone when he was down. He was too polite for that. But then again, it depended on what older Andrew had said to Neil.

"I just feel helpless, like Ripples in Space Creatures when she's trying so hard to get someone to believe her story about the man-eating aliens, but everyone just kind of smiles at her, pats her on the head, and sends her on her way."

Andrew looked down at his feet. "I thought, maybe, you know... I thought maybe I was in..." He sighed.

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

Edited 2007-11-28 18:42 (UTC)

"I'm sorry Andrew. I wish there was something I could do to help," she said quietly. "I know it hurts."

"I don't even know that I can feel it anymore," he said seriously. "I'm kind of numb, like a numb rubber thing."

Isabel nodded slowly. "A lots happened to you in a short amount of time. Numbness is a way of protecting yourself."

"I embrace my numbness," Andrew intoned.

"You think this is why people start doing drugs? They just loose the ability to feel?"

"Drugs or drinking. Yeah, probably. Or they're looking for the drugs or the drinking to make it hurt less." Isabel remembered a night at Caritas and a single shot. It hadn't helped. "It doesn't work. Trust me."

Andrew put his head down on the counter top. "What if I'm making a mistake, Isable? What if I've gotten it all wrong? It would be so amazingly typical of me to screw this up."

She reached out to pat his shoulder. "The only person making a mistake here is Neil. By not being there for you. A lot happened and you have every right to be upset and angry and hurt for a while. If he cares for you, and he can't deal with that? Then he's not the right person for you."

"But I said stuff! At least, he says I said stuff. Well, older me said stuff."

He was quiet.

"Stuff sucks."

"So? If he didn't like it, didn't like who you were then, he should be man enough to admit it," Isabel replied. "You realize the you that was here is only one possible future right? It's not set in stone you'll turn out like that."

"I don't even know what I was like," he stated. "How am I supposed to know if no one will tell me."

He thought back to when he first came to Fandom and the reactions he had gotten from Dawn and Giles.

He did have a point. "Given his reaction? I'd say you can probably assume you weren't nice. You said so yourself. So work from there." Isabel glanced towards the book he'd been reading. "And don't do anything just because you're hurting."

"I'm going to talk to him," he resolved. "To either work it out or put it to rest."

Then Andrew picked up the book and cradled it protectively. "And just because something is written in a dead language and happens to have some... questionable pictures, doesn't mean it's bad," he lied.

"Closure, one way or another is a good thing," she agreed.

"Maybe, maybe not. I've heard stories from Xander. And I've seen the effects of spells gone wrong on my friends. Forgive me if I'm a little nervous."

"I'm not a witch," he said. "I don't do spells that impact other people." At least not directly.

"Demonology is completely misunderstood. You yourself said that not all demons are bad. I met Bel, he wasn't a bad demon."

"That might not be your intention, but you have to factor in the Fandom influence," Isabel pointed out. "Remember Logan? He's not a witch either. But he did a spell once that was only supposed to effect him. Instead he had most of the student body miserable by the end of the week."

"And some demons might not be bad, but the ones in that book didn't look particularly cheery."

"Demons aren't supposed to look cheery. It kind of ruins their mystique. Besides, the stuff in this book is way over my head." Again, a lie, but what Mr. Giles didn't know about how far along Andrew's abilities had come couldn't hurt him.

"Uh huh," she nodded, willing to take his word for it. For the moment. "Well be careful then that you don't accidentally let something lose. I get cranky if something interferes with Christmas."

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Magic Box, Wednesday [ 11/28]

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