wesleysgirl

Title: Long Forgotten Words
Author: WesleysGirl

wesleysgirl
Fandom: BtVS
Pairing: Oz/Xander
Rating: PG-ish
Word Count: 903
Summary: When Oz gets back to Sunnydale, it's just a giant hole in the ground.
Disclaimer: Not mine, more's the pity.
Notes: Written as back-up for the Oz round at

maleslashminis. For

mireille719, who asked for Africa, dust and a phone call. Many thanks to

soft_princess for proofreading and encouragement.

It feels like forever while Oz waits for the other end of the line to be picked up. Which is stupid. Since college, since he went off into the world to figure out how to get control of the wolf, he's learned to sit, unmoving, for up to 24 hours at a time, focused on nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat. 24 hours can feel like the blink of an eye, if you're in the right mindset. So he knows a few rings are nothing.

It still feels like forever, though.

The voice that answers, when it finally does, is thick with sleep and hoarse with something darker. "Yeah?"

"Hey," Oz says.

He can hear almost hear Xander thinking. There's a long pause -- really long -- and then Xander says, "Oz?"

"Yeah."

Another pause, even longer than the previous one. "What's up?" Xander asks.

Oz smiles. It feels foreign on his face. "I was pretty much calling to ask you the same thing."

"Where are you?" Xander is waking up; Oz can hear that, too. He remembers what it sounds like.

Some memories stick a lot tighter than others.

"Sunnydale?" Oz suggests.

"Um, yeah. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but Sunnydale's just a big hole in the ground," Xander says. "Which is why I'm not there anymore. Why no one's there anymore."

Oz is sitting on the floor; he leans back against the wall. "On the edge of Sunnydale," he amends. "And you're right -- big hole. Kinda like the Grand Canyon."

"Yeah?" Xander yawns.

"I woke you up," Oz says. "I can call back later, if you -- "

"No," Xander says. "No, I'm awake. Sorry."

"Long night?" Oz asks.

There's the sound of water running. "Long couple of nights," Xander says.

"Things okay?"

"As okay as they can be," Xander says. "And not that I'm complaining, but how did you find me?"

"Giles," Oz says. "Which was an exercise in comedy in itself."

"I can imagine." Xander knows Oz well enough to know there's no point in asking for more details. Oz had forgotten what it feels like to be known that well. "So where are you?"

"Abandoned house," Oz tells him. It's a few hundred yards from the gigantic hole in the ground that used to be Sunnydale, but it's been here all this time so he figures it's safe enough. Although the previous owners obviously felt differently. "It's okay. Kinda dusty." He traces a fingertip through some of the dust, drawing first a circle and then a hexagon. "What's it like there?"

Xander sighs. "Dusty. Hot."

"You don't like it."

"It's not that," Xander says. "It's just... different. I guess."

"Not in the ways that count," Oz says. He's thought about Africa before -- not just since Giles told him that's where Xander was.

"Not in the demon-free ways," Xander agrees, even though that's not what Oz meant. "Apparently there are vampires and demons everywhere, even Malawi. You'd be surprised."

"Really, not." Oz lets his eyes travel across the room. There's a couch and chair; they're covered with dust, too, but that's not why he doesn't want to sit on them. He wonders if the people who lived here before, freaked out at the possibility that their house might be swallowed up by the earth the way Sunnydale had been, had thrown everything they could into their cars and just... driven away.

That kind of leaving -- saying goodbye to a place that's home, leaving people behind -- is something Oz is a little too familiar with.

"Yeah," Xander is saying. "I mean, I guess you've seen a lot more of the world than I have."

Oz swallows -- it's like the dust has gotten inside him, crept under his skin when he wasn't paying attention. "That doesn't matter," he says harshly. He blots out his dust-doodles with one swipe of his hand. "It doesn't make me... better, or whatever."

Xander's quiet. Then, "What's wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing," Oz says, but he knows Xander can tell he's lying. He sighs and rubs his eyes. "I don't know. I thought I was coming back to -- " something, he thinks. Someone.

"But you've gotta move on," Xander says.

"Is that what you did?"

Xander gives a little bark of laughter. "Not so much, no. But it sounds good, doesn't it?"

That makes Oz feel better. "When'd you get so smart?"

"Are you implying that I wasn't smart before?" Xander's grinning now, for real. Oz can hear it in his voice. "I'm hurt."

"You're a liar," Oz tells him, and they both laugh until Oz's sides ache.

When Xander winds down, there's a comfortable silence. "I missed this," he says.

"Yeah," Oz says. "Me, too." He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "So, hey." He keeps his voice casual because that's what he's good at -- that's how he does this. "I was thinking about broadening my horizons. Did you know I've always wanted to see Tanzania?"

"Somehow, I think you failed to mention that," Xander says.

"And if I'm going to be in South Africa anyway..."

"You might stop by?" Xander finishes for him.

"Might as well." Oz has a big, stupid smile on his face. "What do you think?"

"I think it sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time," Xander says. "And speaking of long times, you do realize what kind of flight we're talking about here, don't you?"

Oz doesn't, not really, but all of a sudden how long stuff takes doesn't seem important. Whether it's two days' travel, or three, or six... he knows it's going to be worth it.

End