Written for: antennapedia's Rupertus Domesticus ficathon on livejournal
Rating: FRT/PG13
Characters, Ships: Giles/Jenny (natch), Scooby friendship, Giles and Willow friendship.
Disclaimer: I am not Joss.
Author's note 1: The challenge was to write something about Giles being all domestic. I kinda stuck to that... although it gets to be more just stuff happening in kitchens. It's not the bestest thing I've ever written, but it has it's merits.
Author's note 2: If you like notdead!Jenny and Ani, check out Five Things That Never Happened To J., by me, also posted here. The Jenny things fit in the same continuity as these things.
Reviews: always good.

Four Things That Never Happened To Giles In A Kitchen, And One That Might've

1. This Never Happened

Giles arrived home after patrolling with Faith and Buffy to find Jenny leaning against the breakfast bar, a distant expression on her face, lit by the Christmas lights she had insisted on putting up around the flat. Giles had protested about the lights, but she'd insisted, deeming them festive; and once they were up Giles had to agree, though he wouldn't admit it. She hadn't noticed him come in.

"Jenny?" he asked as he approached her.

"Hm?" It seemed like it took her a moment to recognize him. "Oh. Hi."

She barely noticed as he took the mug she was holding out of her hands and took a sip, followed by a grimace.

"Your tea's cold," he informed her. Not only that, but it was chamomile, which he despised.

A disinterested "oh," was her only reply.

This was far from normal. Giles watched her with concern, and was about to ask what was the matter when Jenny spoke.

"Have you ever thought about getting a bigger place?"

"No..." That was the last thing Giles had expected her to say. Jenny had often told him how much she liked his apartment, before she had moved in and it became theirs. "Why?"

"Oh. I, uh, I dunno…" she said vaguely. Then she suddenly added, "There's no room for a washing machine. The loft's..." her eyes drifted upwards "…you could just walk right off there and fall and break your neck."

"Luckily we're both over four feet tall and have fully developed motor control," he regarded her quizzically.

"Yeah, but..." Jenny paused for a moment, blushing, before she went on. "And just the one bedroom…"

Giles didn't know whether to feel hurt or worried, or possibly insulted. He must've looked like something, because when Jenny caught sight of his expression, she was quick to clarify.

"No, I don't mean... I mean, if..." Or at least, she tried to clarify. She didn't actually get to what she meant before she turned away from him, looking instead around the room they stood in. "And the kitchen's really small…"

"You're planning to take up cooking?" Giles was now thoroughly confused.

"Oh, God, no!" Jenny dismissed the idea quickly. "It's just..." she became thoughtful again, "when I was a kid, the kitchen was the heart of the house, you know? It's where family happens," she added wistfully.

Her comments turned Giles' mind back to his own childhood, and the house where he had grown up. It was boarded up and empty now, still in the family but unused; but he remembered when it had encompassed the full extent of his world, and how, indeed, the kitchen had always been filled with good smells and conversation.

A slight smile crossed his face. "I suppose the holidays do tend to bring on a certain nostalgia. "

Jenny had taken his hand in hers, and was softly tracing his fingers. "Actually," she began carefully, "I kinda had the future in mind." Giles turned towards her, a strange mixture of suspicion, excitement, and anxiety rising in his chest. Jenny lifted her eyes to look at him, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Rupert..."