Characterisation: Xander

This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.

****

Early morning was just the right time for words to be spoken that could not be released in the light of day, although there were not all that many that Xander and Donnie felt that they had not exchanged under the cover of encrypted communication already. Young and lithe, Donnie had been exactly what Xander (or Travi591) had expected on meeting him in person, perhaps needing a little more time to fill out, but he was sure, as he always was, that he had subverted expectations. What those expectations were, he would not need to know but he'd seen just how the young man's eyes (alright, well, they were really about the same age but that was by the by) had shot up to the red streak dyed in his otherwise plain brown hair, the bandana around his neck patterned with slashes as if a beast was trying to claw its way out from within and the studded jacket that did kind of make it look like he was heading off for a night on the town rather than a hacking extravaganza.

That had been Donnie's way of putting it, by the way, and not his but he'd allowed it, lips softening into a wry smile even as he rolled his eyes. It was a strange way to think of it but Donnie's digs were comfortable enough to slouch down into an old bean bag that smelt of something that he'd rather not think about, a little private space all of his own after splitting off from his family. Not that the constant moves had ever given him much of a base in life but, well, Xander knew all about having an unstable beginning. That didn't mean that one had to continue on with unsteady legs but everyone had to come to that realisation by themselves: it wasn't something that he could pull Donnie up from. Truly, if he'd let the guy know just how much he was actually there for him, he was sure that Donnie would have scorned him, shut him out, the blinking light next to his username online going out forever, if not in the reality of things.

And, so, he was covert, quiet, flying under the radar. A check-up on him came under the pretence of a hacking marathon, something that Donnie had been rather more excited about than he was. Starting off in coding had caught Donnie's attention enough, slipping away into a world other than experimental drugs, but things had been revealed between the two of them that, at the end of it, they'd never be able to take back. So, maybe, they were as stuck with the other as the other was, cautiously aware that secrets had been revealed, dark desires rising up even as they explored more intimately carnal passions at other times.

But not that night: not yet, at least. Maybe that would come later as traitorous desire tightened in his crotch, churning and almost seeming to vibrate in that way that constantly had him thinking that a message was coming through on his phone. Of course, he had many, many endeavours and escapades to keep an eye on but they were in the background to the main event, something that he'd been aiming at for a while, taking down the biggest and the best of them all.

Xander smirked lightly, although it would have taken a careful eye to see just what he was amused at, sitting on the floor with the computer set up before him. There was no desk as yet but there was a cold glass of vodka (no ice, but that was okay) pressed into his hand, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, slowly more and more sodden with saliva. It was there as a presence and a sensation as he worked, hunching forward and working at what was needed, the gambling industry, as it always had been, something that his eye zeroed in on over and over again. They had no right to be doing what they were doing, destroying so many lives, but there were other life-destroying things that he had to turn a blind eye too in the quest for taking what he deemed only right and fair from one that had very much ruined his early life.

Well, no more of that. See how much they'd like it with him and Donnie on the case, the friend whose place he was crashing in perched on a rickety, wooden chair that didn't really seem fitting for such activities. No, there were seedier things at play and he was working as hard as he could to get himself at least somewhere where he wasn't using his card reader (an early prototype of the seductive nature of the one that would come in future times) to filch a few dollars or the like from some nobody to get himself to the next place, the next level. Getting some food and ensuring that he still had somewhere to live while he got his feet under him was of the utmost importance -- something that John had managed to teach him. Heaven knew that there was no one else near enough that really care to teach him anything, although Donnie was one thing that John and Xander could very well, relate to trying to look after someone who was so self-destructive (unintentionally so) that it was very well like defusing a bomb on the point of explosion at times.

"You ready then?"

He raised his voice only slightly in challenge, leaning back and pushing his shoulder blades into the bean bag, which rustled beneath him. Donnie eyed him, slowly seating himself on the floor nearby with his back to the sofa, although it really wasn't all that necessary that he get down on the hard floorboards either, cracks between them allowing bugs in. But, if all went well, it would soon be the case that he'd be out of the deteriorating apartment and somewhere nicer: what he needed, however, was the push. And that was something that Xander could provide, setting him on a quietly right path that would, at the very least, see him in comfortable lodgings. Although he did rather anticipate that there would be a lot more to it than just that, even if that remained to be seen.

No matter. The moment was what mattered and Xander was good and done with either living in the past or the present, turning from the reality of life. If he was going to live another life, let it be in code, working his way through firewalls like an eel that could leap across barriers, sinuously serpentine in cyberspace, a tangible force that, sometimes, he even dreamt about being within. The cigarette poised damply in the corner of his mouth was doing its job as well as he ever could have liked and he grunted around it as Donnie gave a sharp nod in reply, lips pressed together. He'd barely said a word since Xander had gotten there but, really, that was just a rise of determination that he'd need for other things. And he was just a touch shyer too, after all, when he wasn't behind a computer screen. Maybe he'd warm up with time and a little liquor down his throat. But that wasn't always a good thing...

Time would help. Xander shook himself off mentally, sneaking a covert look at Donnie out of the corner of his eye, how his head bowed forward, hair hanging in the way so that a portion of his face was obscured. It was the way he lived most of his life, slinking along the sidelines, although it was coming to the point that it really was due time that he realised just what and where his potential could take him. Really, the only way that Xander could have possibly have set him on a better road was if it had been on the right side of the law. But there was only so much he could do to pull someone up when his own troubles were tucked away -- out of sight but not out of his own mind...

"You know I'm going to get in first, right?"

Ah, that was like the Donnie he knew, that edge of cockiness tainted with a lack of experience. Maybe more would come in time but Xander knew too how a man could change and things would come whether he liked them or not. That was the way of a changing life and a growing city, life and work shifting around him in a concrete tide. Yet he was hardly one who would back down so easily, shaking his head even as his lips quirked up, unable to keep the smile off his face as he was challenged, drawn into competing just as much as he had been the very first time, coy and flaunting along the line between right and wrong.

Where was that line, anyway?

"Sit back, Donnie-boy, and just let me show you how it's done..."

Grinning, he flicked the butt of his cigarette, with no small measure of skill, into the ashtray, and exchanged a look with his friend who was only just beginning to come to understand the true measure of skill that he was being faced with. And, regardless of the implications of anything, his heart raced for something more, rising to the challenge as his fingers itched and, without thinking, found the keyboard before him with determination staring back at him in the eyes rising in the darkness of the monitor. Yet that monitor would not be dark for long as a green light blinked in the corner, powering up for what was going to be a night to remember, if not quite for the reasons that Donnie may have been expecting to begin with.

But that was alright. He was nothing if not flexible and he met Xander's gaze with his own, smirking in open challenge. Where was the fun, after all, if there was not a little competition? And the stakes were high in the stir of desire searing up from his gut as if he had taken a hit of liquor that, perhaps then, was a little too strong for his taste buds. Those, however, could be trained, like so many other things, and they had plenty of time to come to terms with the implications of that.

Coolly yet quietly confident in himself, Donnie cracked out his knuckles, one eyebrow cocked curiously. Reminiscent of his brother, John, he affected a look that could have been construed of pure boredom, although his heart pounded, blood 'up' in a way that would only make sense to him in later years. Yet there was still time for that as Xander shook his head, smiling ever so slightly as if he could not think that, possibly, Donnie could beat him. He would be in for a surprise, however, as nothing was ever quite as it seemed with a friendship that had begun online and, duly, spiralled into something so much more.

"Oh, Travis..."

Catching his attention once more in the flickering glow of the monitor, Donnie smirked.

"This is gonna be a cinch."

Maybe not so but Donnie was already tapping away, the musical beat of his fingers on the keys reminding Xander that he was not supposed to be staring but matching up to the challenge he'd laid out. That in itself was harder than expected, something in the rounding of those shoulders drawing him in, a subtle tug that tightened in his gut, reminding him of something...well...someone...else. Someone else. But that was not the matter of the moment and, despite the twist of his gut, he turned himself to the task at hand, eyes alight and muscles tenser than usual for more than one reason, not less the proximity of someone who may just, very well, be able to give him a run for his money. Only time would tell what could or would happen there but he wasn't going down without a fight as he laughed under his breath, earning a confused glance from Donnie that he'd never have the chance to follow up on.

Yes... It would turn out to be a very interesting interlude indeed.

Xander would make sure of that.