Author's Notes: I really wanted my first Giles/Xander fic to be the first part of a series that is remaining stubbornly stuck to the drawing board with four little pieces of masking tape like we used to use in graphics class but it's February 14th and I got this plot bunny instead of a card so I wrote it and I'll get the series done some other time :)
"Hey Giles." Giles was so lost in the book he was reading that it took him a few seconds to realize someone had spoken.
"Oh, good afternoon Xander." Giles smiled and noted the younger man's lack of company. No Buffy and Willow meant this wasn't a research trip so Xander must have an ulterior motive for stopping by, "Can I help you with something?"
"Not really." Xander grinned and leaned casually on the desk separating him and the librarian, "Just thought I'd drop by an wish you a happy Corporate Greed Day."
"Corporate Greed Day?" Giles repeated the words under his breath but they still lacked any measure of sense, "I'm afraid you've lost me."
"It's February 14th," Xander declared with an exaggerated flourish of his hand, "That special day of the year where our great country's candy, flower and greeting card industries extort ridiculous amounts of money from those who are forced to buy from them in the name of romance and that happy little saint we call Valentine."
There was a moment where Giles gave one drawn out blink and then he realized what the young man was talking about, "Valentine's day. Why I completely forgot."
"Luckily I didn't." Xander grinned and produced a pale pink envelope. After Giles simply held the envelope for a few moments Xander rolled his eyes at the older man, "Are you gonna open it then?"
"Oh yes, I suppose I should." Still feeling slightly bewildered Giles tore along the top of the envelope and slid the card out. The words 'Be my valentine' were scrawled across the top in script only slightly more legible than that found in some of the 14th century journals on exorcism. Underneath the text a cartoon cat was holding out a red rose to another cartoon cat, the image was tooth-decay sweet and would have made Giles sigh in frustration if not for the fact that the picture was defaced. Not disfigured in the manner of the graffiti found in certain parts of the school, but rather carefully and neatly altered in slight manners with a Biro. The result meant one of the cats wore glasses and what was obviously supposed to be a tweed jacket while the other had a messy mop of hair and a wide grin.
Giles glanced up briefly and saw laughter dancing in Xander's eyes, a touch of fear trying to hide behind it but not quite succeeding. Almost apprehensively Giles opened the card and was luckily not forced to endure any mechanical melodies or alarming pop-outs. Instead he let his eyes drift across a short poem: Roses are red. Violets are blue. This holiday sucks! Wanna go make out behind the stacks? Xander XOX. Slightly beneath that the printed message of 'Happy Valentine's Day' had been crossed out in favor of 'Happy Corporate Greed Day'.
When Giles looked up from the card he found Xander leaning forward on the desk again expectantly, "So, wanna make out?"
"No! I mean, well yes, but... No, no..." Giles fought to think straight for a few seconds while Xander watched in amusement, "Isn't this a little blunt?" He threw the card down on the desk as he asked.
"Poetry isn't my strong point." Xander shrugged, "I did try. Willow let me borrow a poetry book from her and I must've spent at least twenty minutes reading it trying to find something that would say what I feel about you but in the end I figured I should just say it simply and clearly. How do you get more simple than 'Wanna make out?'"
"I suppose you may have a point there, after all the quantity of words is less important than what they say."
"Okay then. 'Yes' or 'No', do you wanna make out?"
"You may not have a gift for poetry but you certainly are persistent."
"Is that a yes?"
Giles reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Xander's shirt, he pulled the young man forwards until their lips were together. Xander gave a little moan and Giles could feel the younger man's body vibrate with happiness, teasingly running his tongue along Xander's lower lip the librarian pulled back and released his hold on the young man's clothing, "That was a yes."
"Yeah," Xander mumbled idiotically breathing heavily and Giles returned to reading his book.
"Xander."
"Yes." Xander snapped out of the daze he was in and turned his attention to Giles.
"This book really isn't very useful, could you go and find me another one?" The librarian's gaze stayed fixed to the text on the page before him but he could hear the grin in Xander's words.
"Yeah okay." There was the sound of feet bouncing across the floor and up the steps before vanishing behind the bookshelves leaving Giles alone. Closing the book on the desk before him Giles gave the Corporate Greed Day card a amused glance before placing it in one of the desk drawers and heading to the stacks to help Xander find that book.