Xander silently cursed the toady headmaster for drafting him and his friends for babysitting duty during the trick-and-treating of the elementary school and junior high school. Now he had to invest some of the money he had stared putting aside last year for the future. With his father drinking more and more it was only a matter of time until it would be impossible to live there in peace, and then there was that dream of seeing all states of the US, realizing that would be expensive too.
After checking for his parents' absence he pried up a floor board and removed a metal box from the space opened. Inside the box was an assortment of bills. Silently he contemplated how much to remove from his little treasury that had grown by mowing lawns in the area as well as by helping his uncle Rory with carpentry and plumbing work that currently was his buisness. Many long and hard thoughts later Xander finally removed 30 dollars from his stash.
At Ethan's, the last store that still had non-reserved costumes for sale or rent Xander and the girls pushed their way through a throng of small children towards the larger costumes. While Buffy and Willow stopped in front part of the section ohhing and ahhing over several different costumes, Xander proceeded further back in his search for an affordable and at the same time original costume. After several minutes of search he found something that looked promising.
Well it wasn't all in one place, more like strewn over half the aisle after some previous shopper didn't feel like returning it completely to its place. It consisted of a green linen shirt, blue pants made of the same material, soft leather moccasin-style shoes, a sheep leather vest with the wool still on the outside, a multitude of pouches and a pair of pointed ear attatchments that would usually be sold as elf-ears or Spock-ears. To top it literally off there was a wig of brown hair bound in what would be a topknot when it was worn. A bit off from the costume, leaning in a corner, was a staff that was forked at one end and had a metal tip at the other. Further searching produced a small rubber dagger replica that, while nondescript, added a further touch towards the 'real' character the costume portrayed.
*Wow, that's perfect. I'm just surprised that they have it in this size... it should fit without problem. If at all it might be a little bit wide...*
Before Xander could continue this train of thought towards the inevitable question of the prize a voice interrupted his musings. "Can I help you young man? My name is Ethan, I'm the owner of this establishment," the man asked, his voice very British to Xander's ears.
"Oh, I was just admiring this costume. It's great, but I don't think that I have enough money for it, I guess I'll have to fall back to the old, trusty soldier costume," Xander replied mournfully.
"No," Ethan replied quickly, maybe too quickly, but Xander took no note of it, "tell me what you planned to invest for tonight and if it isn't too far off from what I have in mind we will close the deal." When he saw Xander's hesitation to agree he added, "It is in the wrong size anyway, I ordered it in a much smaller size but someone must have mixed something up, so I can get at least some money if not all of it back from the tailor. Now come on, tell me what you planned to spend."
"Well... I have 30 dollar...," Xander trailed off a bit sheepishly when he came up with the probable difference to the costume's price *That must be worth at least a hundred if not more...*
"I see. Let's say 25 dollar and you tell everyone where you got it and what good prices I make. What do you say?" Ethan offered with a smile, a smile that was dangreously close to being a smirk.
"25? Sure, that's great," answered an enthused Xander.
Quickly the two strode over to the cashier and finished their buisness.
His full bag close to overflowing and the staff in his hand, Xander strode over to where Buffy and Willow examined a few other costumes.
"Now, what are my favorite girls buying? And when are you finished?" Xander asked, then he couldn't resist to add, "I got my stuff already."
Buffy replied, "We're not telling. It's going to be a surprise for tonight, so shoo.. Off you go, we have some serious costume shopping to do." While she shooed Xander off, Buffy kept a firm grip on Willow's arm as if she feared that the shy hacker would try to flee the scene with Xander.
With a slight laugh Xander said his 'see-you-later's and then he was gone.
Putting on the costume was much more difficult and time intensive than Xander had thought, especially the pointed ears were a mess. All the time they were falling off or hanging at odd angles from his ears until finally he found the correct way to glue them on. And it was time to do so if he didn't want to run late. He quickly borrowed a kohl pen from his parents' bathroom that he used to paint a few fake wrinkles on his face. Running as short on time as he did he didn't bring the kohl back, but put it into one of the pouches he has hanging from several straps and belts. Then he hurried towards the Summers' home.
Xander rang the doorbell and soon he heard someone storming down the stairs. And true enough, moments later the door was opened by Dawn.
"Hi, Dawnpatrol," Xander greeted the young girl.
"Hello, Xander," she replied, sounding exceptionally perky, "Come on in."
"Thanks, so what have you planned for the night of trick and treating?" Xander asked. "I don't see a costume."
"Oh, mine is simple. I was just about to put it on when you came. I'll show you later." Dawn answered, "But now to the part we can already see, who are you supposed to be? Come on tell me so that I can get ready. You have no idea what a bathroom hog Buffy is, I would have been ready for ages if..." Dawn's rant trailed off when she saw that Xander was making calming gestures and seemed ready to flee the room in a panic to escape another rant about Buffy's tendency to occupy said bath room for extraordinarily long times. "Sorry, you wanted to say?"
With a bit of relief audible in his voice Xaner replied, "I'm going as Tasselhoff Burrfoot. The kender from the Dragonlance novels, you know?"