Disclaimer:  I don't own 'em.  All the characters you recognize belong to someone who isn't me and are used without permission purely (!) for a little non-profit personal entertainment.

Codes/warnings/ratings:  Xander/Cordelia, some slash undertones, R-ish.  Barely.  ;-)

Xander and Cordy have a little chat, covering everything from masturbation to their future together.
 
 

Coming To Terms
by Melissa
 
 

Xander clearly had something on his mind.

Cordelia put her pencil down with a brief sigh.  "All right.  Out with it."

"What?"  Xander looked startled.

"Whatever it is you're currently obsessing about instead of paying attention to the chem notes I was reading," she said, narrowing her eyes.  "Come on, spit it out."

"I - "  Xander flushed, unaccountably.  "Never mind.  It's nothing.  So, uh, when you react an acid and a base you get  - "

"Salt and water.  I'm serious, Xander; what were you thinking?"  Cordelia was frowning now.

"Nothing!  Just - nothing, all right?"  Xander opened his chemistry book to a random page.  "What colour's copper sulfate?  Red, blue, brown, or purple?"

"Blue," Cordelia said, "and if you think I'm going to let you get away with that, you've got another think coming, mister."

Xander slammed the book shut.  "What?  Get away with what?  Jesus, Cordy, what the hell is your problem?  Nag, nag, nag - what, have you been taking lessons from my mom or something?  Let it go!"

There was a silence.  Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

Xander muffled a groan.  "Look, Cordy, we've got this stupid chem midterm tomorrow, and we really need to get some studying done  - "

"No."  Cordelia leaned back and folded her arms.  "Tell me what you were thinking.  *Then* we can get back to studying."

Xander ran a hand through his hair wearily.  Once Cordy got hold of something, she never let go.  "I was thinking - well, wondering, actually, whether or not you  -"   He flushed.  "Uh, whether you, you know, um - " he took a large swallow of water from his glass.  "Whether you - " he stopped, averting his eyes.  "You know -"

"No, I *don't* know," Cordelia said impatiently.  "Why don't you tell me?"

"- T-touch yourself, and what you think about when you're, you know, doing it - " Xander was bright red and staring miserably at the desktop.

Cordelia stiffled a smile.  It wasn't nice to laugh at your boyfriend's expense.  Not to say she didn't do it, just that she didn't usually do it when he was around.  "Yes, and it depends."

"I -  what?"  Xander looked dazed.

"You asked if I masturbate.  I said yes.  I mean, what, you think I'm like a saint or something?  And then you asked what I think about, and I said that it depends."

"Depends?" Xander squeaked.

"Mmm hmm."  Cordelia gave him her most innocent smile.  Damned if she wasn't going to make him work for it.

"On - " he swallowed convulsivly, "on what?"

She shrugged noncommitally.  "Day of the week, my mood, how much time I've got on my hands -" she stopped and smiled, "- so to speak.  All sorts."

"So, you, uh - "  Xander stopped, shook his head.  "I mean, um, like what?"

"You want to know what I fantasise about?"  Her voice was low, husky.

Xander carefully crossed his legs.  "Um, well -"  He took a deep breath.  "Yes."

Good boy, she thought with amusement.  Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly.  "Like I said, it depends.  Last night, for example -"  she paused as Xander made a small sound deep in his throat.  "Xander?"

"Fine," he said quickly.  "Fine.  Uh -?"

"I fantasised - "  she leaned closer, pitching her voice deliberatly low.  "About - "

Xander leaned foward, helpless.

"Tomatoes."

He blinked.  "Huh?"

Cordelia repressed her smile.  "Tomatoes.  You know, red vegetably-fruity things?"

"Uh, yeah, I know what they are, I just - "

Keeping her voice low, as though imparting a confidence, she whispered, "I like the thought of crushing them, and rubbing the pulp all over my body."  She gave him her sexiest smile.  "And then Snyder comes along - "

"Snyder?!"  Xander looked outraged.

"Uh huh.  And licks it off.  Slowly."

Xander looked torn between arousal and disgust.  "Nuh?" he managed.

Cordelia resolutly kept a staight face.  "Mmm hmm.  And then, Faith's there, and -"

Xander's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.  "Faith?"

"Yep," Cordelia said seriously, "And she goes down on me.  Then Giles comes along -"

"Faith?"

"Yeah, and then Giles -"

"Faith?!"

Cordelia sighed, doing her best to look exasperated.  "Do you want to hear this or not, fly boy?"

"I, I - " Xander rubbed his neck.  "Yuh."

Cordelia bit the inside of her check to keep from laughing out loud.  "And then Giles comes along, and he's naked - "

Xander made a little sound of disgust.

"- And he's reading one of those books of his.  You know," she put on a much deeper voice and an English accent, "and then flubblebubbletoilandtrouble will emerge from the underground and wreak havoc amongst the masses until he is stopped; a feat that can only be accomplished with bravery, forethought, and Barney the Dinosaur Figurines."

Xander was silent, a glazed look in his eyes.

"And then Buffy and Willow start belly dancing -"

"Belly dancing?"

"And then all these midgits come along - "

"Midgits?"

"- And they paint these Japanese symbols, you know, calligraphy all over my body, just like Ewen MacGregor from The Pillow Book, and - "

"Japanese midgits?"

"- We all dress up like Brian Slade from The Velvet Goldmine and play the Trainspotting CD - " Cordelia felt herself warming to her new theme.  "And then we rent A Life Less Ordinary and watch old episodes of Lipstick On Your Collar - "

Xander was frowning.  "Cordy - "

"And sing Iggy Pop songs - "

"Cordy - "

"And plait each other's hair, and - "

"Cordelia - "

"- Pluck our eyebrows, and - "

"Cordelia *Chase*!"

Cordelia stopped and stared at her boyfriend.  "Something wrong?" she asked innocently, trying hard not to laugh.

"You're having me on," Xander accused.

"On what?"

Xander glared.

Cordelia snickered.  "Okay, yeah, I was having you on.  And I *so* had you going."

Xander opened his mouth - presumably to flatly deny it - and then closed it again.

Cordelia preened.  "Gullible, much?"  She fluffed her hair out.  "Or is it just my superior acting abilities - ?"

Xander snorted.

Cordelia smiled.  Then, suddenly serious, she said, "You want to know - for real?"

Xander met her eyes.  "Yeah.  I want to know."

She leaned forward.  "You, mostly."

Xander's eyes widened.

"I mean, I guess everyone fantasises about some a namless, faceless lover from time to time, and sometimes," she felt herself blush, "Well, the part about Faith was true."

"Faith?"  Xander asked, weakly.

"Yeah," Cordelia said ruefully.  "But I swear, if you ever tell her - "

"I won't," he said softly.

"But mostly, you."  She looked down, suddenly unable to meet his eyes.  "And that time in the back of the Corvette."  She shifted in her seat.  "And what might have happened if my cell phone hadn't rang, right when - "  she looked up, saw Xander smiling at her.  "Well, you know."

"Nope," Xander said, mischief glinting in his eyes.  "I don't know.  Why don't you tell me?"

Cordelia swept their books, pens, and chemistry notes off the table in one smooth movement.  "I've got a better idea, fly boy," she said, "Why don't I show you?"

Xander smiled.
 
 

THE END


 
 
 
 

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