wyndewalker

Xander stared at the phone in his hand. He and Buck hadn't made plans to talk tonight but Xander had felt like talking to his big brother. And wasn't that just weird? Big brother. Not something he'd ever expected to have. He felt bad too that Buck always seemed to be the one doing the calling. So he was going to call Buck this time. But what if he was busy?

Surging to his feet, he began to pace. Thankfully it was kitten poker night and Spike was out with Clem otherwise his lover would be teasing him mercilessly about being a nancy-boy.

"I am not a nancy-boy," Xander muttered to himself. He quickly punched in Buck's phone number then waited as it rang.

He had just decided to hang up on the third ring when he heard, "Hello?"

It wasn't Buck's voice which meant it was probably his roommate. Buck was probably busy and he'd probably just interrupted whatever his roommate was doing too.

"Anyone there?"

"Uh, hi, this is Xander. I was just calling to talk to Buck, ya know, say hi and all, but he's probably busy and I don't want to interrupt whatever you're doing so I'll just go."

"No! Don't hang up. You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Xander replied picking imaginary lint from his sweatpants.

"And the guys say I babble," the young man chuckled. "I'm JD, by the way. You must be Xander, Buck's younger brother."

"Yeah. He's mentioned you a few times. Said you're his roommate?"

"Yep. When I first moved to Denver to join the team I had rented an apartment. Only it turned out to be nothing like it was advertised. Roaches everywhere, paint peeling, bullet holes in the walls in the hallway; no less than ten locks on the doorway and one working light bulb in the entire apartment. I didn't even bother to unpack the U-Haul truck I'd rented. I just found the nearest self-storage place, locked everything up there and rented a room at the Holiday Inn. The biggest problem was I'd already paid first, last, and one month security on the place so I had no ready money to put down on a place. Luckily it was only two days until I met the rest of the guys. When I told them what happened Chris put me in touch with the Union lawyer who got me my money back and Buck offered me his spare room. I hadn't planned on staying this long but it's worked out well for both us."

"That's cool. Sucks about the first place being such a dive but cool that you got your money back and that Buck helped you out with a place to live. I don't think I would have been able to move out of my parents' house if Will hadn't been looking for a roommate to get out of the place he was living in. So, is Buck home?"

"No, he had a date with...Melissa? Melinda? Wait, Mandy! That's it. Her name was Mandy. Anyway, I'm not sure when he's gonna be back. I was just getting ready to spend some quality time with my Xbox,"

"I totally understand that," Xander chuckled, glancing over at his own Xbox sitting in front of the entertainment center he'd built. "Me and Will tend to do the same thing with our Xbox between apocalypses."

"Apocalypses?"

Crap! Xander mentally groaned. Think. Think. "Besides Will and Giles my five closest friends are girls. Everything is the end of the world with them. So, apocalypses."

"Yeah," JD laughed, "I can see that. What games do you have?"

"Uh, Halo, Half-Life, Doom 3, a few of the Star Wars games, and a couple sword & sorcery types."

"That's cool. I've got a couple of the Star War: Knights of the Old Republic games myself. I tend to lean mostly towards the Tom Clancy Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six games, and a few racing games like Need For Speed. Oh, and one of my all time favorite games, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy."

"I love that one too. I've probably beaten it fifty times. Now playing it is more about either just zoning or beating it with each character and the various cheat codes."

"The cheat codes are great. I like using the ones that change your character's appearance."

"Like the one that permanently turns you into Pojo the Chicken," Xander laughed.

"Isn't that one awesome?" JD paused. "You wouldn't happen to have a hands-free headset for your phone would you?"

"Uh," Xander looked around the apartment a minute before spotting the unopened headset on one of the bookshelves. After he'd accidentally dropped his portable phone into a pot of boiling water while trying to cook and talk to Willow at the same time she'd replaced his phone and given him the headset. "Actually I do. Why?"

"Cool. Want to play?"

"Sure, why not. Just give me a minute to get the headset open."

*****

Three hours later JD registered the door of the apartment opening and closing but paid little attention to it. His eyes were glued to the TV screen as he battled a horde of undead skeletons.

"Ha! Take that you evil bastards! I am so gonna kick your ass this level, Xan! I am Gimli the Bondage Dwarf! All lesser beings must bow... What?! No! Man, you suck."

Hanging his coat by the door, Buck raised an eyebrow when he thought he heard JD say Xander's name. Both eyebrows shot up at the Bondage Dwarf comment.

"Who are you talking to, JD?" He asked, walking into the living room.

"Oh hey, Buck. Buck's home, Xan. Me and Xander were playing Gauntlet. Wanna talk to him?"

Buck opened his mouth to say sure but JD kept talking. "Yeah, it was great playing, man. Maybe we can play a real two player game when you come out to visit. Talk to ya later," JD laughed then disconnected his headset from the phone. "Here ya go, Buck."

Bemused, Buck took the phone from the younger man. He was happy to hear JD and his brother were getting along so well. He'd been worried that JD might resent Xander taking his place as Buck's 'little brother'. As he put the phone to his ear Buck's gaze landed on the TV.

"JD, why is your character wearing an S&M outfit?"

JD grinned while Xander laughed hysterically on the other end of the phone. Buck shook his head deciding he really didn't want to know. He was just happy to hear JD and Xander were bonding.

*******