Normal guy
by Mihreia

Xander closed the bathroom door behind him, and leaned against it 
with his eyes closed. All the strength had left his legs all of a 
sudden and he was suddenly cold as the adrenaline wore off.

{Jesus, what the hell was I thinking?}

He'd just been so angry, and he had wanted to make sure Spike 
understood that he didn't own Xander. And it had just felt so right 
to bite Spike the same way the vampire had bitten his double. Xander 
needed to do that. He craved doing that. It was the one thing in this 
whole freaky night that he was absolutely sure of. He was not going 
to submit to Spike unless the vampire did the same.

{Oh yeah. Alpha male still in working order, here, despite the 
possible gayness.} He laughed out loud, thinking about the stunned 
expression that Spike had sported after Xander had bitten him. 
Despite the potential danger it had been fun using Spike's own 
tactics against him.

Xander opened his eyes with a smile and his gaze was caught by the 
reflection in the mirror. His hair was tousled, his lips were puffy 
and he had still had an erection, though it was softening. All in all 
he looked ravaged in a good way. Xander licked his lips and the taste 
of blood exploded in his mouth.

{Huh. Never thought it would taste like this.} 

It was coppery. But he already knew that from all the small wounds he 
had sucked on, like that time he had accidentally stapled his finger 
in stead of the paper. 

{You did know it tasted like this, didn't you, from another time and 
place?}

{Not gonna think about that. The whole hyena-bit was embarrassing 
enough as it is.} 

But on occasion he recalled what it had felt like to be that free, 
that wild. To use his senses to their fullest, and to know he was the 
most dangerous thing out there. It was intoxicating. And he still 
used the memory of those feelings on occasion when he felt insecure. 
It really helped. It was almost as if he was the hyena.

That had also been the only time he had consumed more than a drop of 
blood. Until now. And Spike's blood tasted unlike anything he could 
think of. 

Incredibly rich. 

Unspeakably sweet. 

Agonisingly dark. 

{Of course it tasted dark, you moron! It's vampire blood! You know, 
that little thing that turns humans into the evil undead?} 

Granted, but he wasn't anywhere close to death, so he wouldn't turn. 
And he hadn't drunk that much anyway, just enough to get a taste of 
it. 

{To remember.}

Xander smiled a bit sadly at his reflection. He may not want to 
forget what it was like to be the hyena, but he knew that he wasn't. 
He was just Xander, non-college guy with numerous shitty jobs that 
liked to help Buffy fight evil, but didn't usually do such a good job 
of it. 

{Research is really Giles' department. Willow and Tara rock with the 
Wicca. Buffy is, well, Buffy. And even Riley is commando guy, while I 
just have to make do with one night of being a soldier and two days 
of being a hyena.}

Just a normal guy with supernatural friends. 

{Oh wait! There's that little thing where I have two vampires lusting 
after me. Soulless vampires at that. Eat your heart out, Buffy.}

Xander frowned. And what was he going to do with the two vampires out 
there, anyway? Okay, so he liked Spike. And he could even admit the 
blonde was pretty good in the looks department. 

{That lean body, soft skin, those laser blue eyes. And man, is he a 
great kisser...}

The young man took a deep breath and centred his thought. Alright, so 
Spike was yummy. And pretty harmless. But what about Xander's twin? 
It would be so strange having sex with himself. Could be good though. 
They'd probably have some of the same weaknesses. 

{Except for the strange vampy things he has going for him, of 
course.} Xander licked his lips unconsciously. {Well, maybe that 
would be fun too.}

But Twin wasn't harmless. He could and would kill people. And 
although Xander really didn't like that, somehow he couldn't blame 
the guy for it. It was a vampire's nature to kill. Their survival 
depended on it. And yeah, the prey was human, but there's still 
something like culling the herd, right? Anyone living in Sunnydale 
had to know he shouldn't go out at night. It was just asking for 
trouble.

It was just one vampire, and even if he wanted to stop Twin from 
killing he couldn't. There was simply no way Xander could stake his 
double. Besides, Spike had claimed him. And Xander had pretty much 
claimed Spike. That made them practically family, even without the 
whole he's-my-double-from-another-dimension-thing. And there was one 
thing Xander had learnt during his years on the Hellmouth, starting 
with the promise he had made himself the night he had accidentally 
staked Jesse. You had to protect your family.

And that didn't change suddenly just because his family included 
vampires now. 

Xander's eyes turned green for a second, before fading back to brown.

{So, let's not keep the family waiting.}