oops you fell for it.

characters: Xander, Shane

Episode Recap:

Shane has asked Xander to teach him to use telepathy properly.  Xander has agreed and sets forth a simple task for Shane to complete.  Lighting a fire.  I dunno he could have picked something earthquake related since Shane has demonstrated talents in that direction.  Control, *cough* that’s the problem control.  Yep, so Xander reminds us all about how physics works and then ties Shane’s ability to complete the task directly to the strength of his attachment to Kore.  Oh yeah, in all those flashbacks where no one (least of all Kore) was paying attention to Shane’s hopeless puppy dog crush eyes, Xander was watching.  Kore’s been seeing Xander’s antipathy towards Shane as unfounded jealousy, but she’s completely missed that Xander’s exploiting some serious unrequited love on Shane’s part. Enter completely legitimate possibility twelve: Xander’s been matchmaking these two from the beginning.  Maybe?  Nah.  Maybe?  Then Xander goes on a diatribe about how Shane is not in fact actually Xander and not even in disguise, and everybody probably believes him, and Shane can’t manage to light the fire so therefore he doesn’t really love Kore enough, and Xander’s really driving Shane into the ground here.  Xander lights the fire easily of course.  Tells Shane how he’s never going to find the courage to really tell Kore how he feels, which apparently involves smoke inhalation.  Shane can’t handle any of this and collapses against Xander, a wreck of a man.  Then Xander says something strange, considering what he’s been on about: he indicates that Kore’s attachment to Shane is far deeper than Shane realizes. And it’s something Xander personally resents.  Welp.  Shane has had enough of all them fightin’ words and slams a knee into Xander’s neck.