Wordless Apologies
Thursday, August 31, 2000
The sun was high in the sky and strong. Xander could feel it melting his bones as he lay ass-up in
the sand. Eyes closed behind his sunglasses, he relaxed with his arms folded under his head, his chin
propped on his fist. The waves lapping the shore provided gentle background music to his lazy
afternoon.
"Hey."
"Hey," Xander returned the greeting. Lack of fear made any surprise at suddenly hearing a voice
physically unreactionary. Besides which, he'd known Spike would show up sometime. Spike was loyal to a fault. It was one of the few things Xander admired about him. "Cooler's
moored in the water."
"Right." Xander heard Spike's belongings thump in the sand, then the rasp of clothing being
removed.
A few minutes later, Xander felt Spike settle in the sand beside him. "Sunscreen?" Spike
requested.
Blindly, Xander plucked the two sunscreens from beneath the sand by his elbow and passed
them to Spike. "Here."
"Ta," Spike said. He greased himself up, then lay back in the soft sand. The sun was high in the
sky, and strong, and Spike could feel his bones melting as he relaxed beside Xander, listening to the
gentle sound of the waves lapping upon the beach. No apologies had been spoken, but they were
heard loud and clear anyway.
Everything was back to normal.
End