msuxhimari: things that start with t ;
“you got us a carriage?” she asks with a frown. she didn’t want to go on a haunted carriage ride with him. especially not when it was so clearly aimed at couples. “i would rather choke on a hotdog than go on this ride with you.”
but even with all of her candor, little natsuki made up her mind. she wanted to go on the carriage ride and she wanted to sit in xanny’s lap.
“oh my god, fine. let’s go.”
there's no lie that xander's mood is still very sour. but when natsuki comes bounding up to him, there's a sudden calm that seems to fall over him. there are many things that people don't know about xander and the fact that he's fond of natsuki is one of them. it seems to be a mystery that even he can't seem to explain but... there's just something about the little ball of energy that xander seems to find endearing.
he can still recall his first time meeting her. there was absolutely no fear, just wonder in her eyes as she stared up at him in curiosity. xander with seen with a child was a rare occurrence to witness. of course it wasn't to say that he specifically hated children. he didn't have much of an opinion on them considering he never really interacted with them and none ever seemed to want to interact with him either. all except natsuki.
as she approaches xander, he takes a good look around to make sure no one is close enough to watch. the area is particularly clear and that's all he needs to bend down to her height, scooping her up into his arms when she calls for him cheerfully exclaiming that she missed 'uncle xanny'.
"i missed you too." xander smiles gently at her, letting her fiddle with the lapels of his suit jacket as steps into the carriage first.
he doesn't do much to hide the slight irritation in his voice though when he directs his attention to stephanie. "i got a carriage but the prat won't let me ride alone."
with natsuki's insistence to ride with xander though, as soon as he hears stephanie groan in agreement he immediately climbs into the carriage. he lets natsuki settle into his lap while he relaxes into the seat keeping one hand on her back for balance. it's not what he had imagined for a haunted carriage ride and least of all with stephanie considering that the two never really did get along. their relationship was an interesting one catering around natsuki's choice in xander as one of her favorite uncles. but that was something the two of them had agreed to keep between themselves.
by keeping his sentiment for the child a secret, stephanie and xander's relationship took an interesting turn. many shifting eyes and rumors rising that the two were sleeping together. was it much to sacrifice for keeping it a secret that stephanie allowed her daughter to spend time with the dark wizard and that he enjoyed it? in all honesty, no. xander couldn't care less what everyone else was thinking or had to say. and seeing as it was something stephanie could deal with as well, she was tolerable enough for xander.
"did you choose to be the big bad wolf for halloween?" xander directs the question to natsuki as he pats her on the head, ruffling the fur of her wolf costume. with the question, he glances at stephanie, silently observing her outfit for the night without a comment.
