I perhaps did not take my small readership into account when planning this venture... *abashed* Please feel free to rub the lamp again! Though of course you are free to pass if/when you get tired of prompting, heh.

I have a lot of respect for Riley and feel like his character development was sacrificed for the greater good of the show - which, you know, show so I can't complain too much. It's really nice to be able to go back in and write some of it because of that.

In my mind, Xander and Riley are still getting used to one another here, so Xander is not so much wise, maybe, as learning what the right and wrong responses are. He's got a bit of maturity, and they're comfortable enough with each other that he doesn't feel the need to cover up the lack of solution with witty comments... he's learning that just being there can be enough sometimes, even if it doesn't actually fix what's wrong. Very glad you liked it - I wasn't sure it really fit the nature of your request :) so good to know it still worked for you.