April 2, 2007

Author's Note: I am a Buffy/Giles shipper who is extremely picky about characterization. The smallest things can strike me as out-of-character, and it ruins a story for me because then it's no longer about the characters of BtVS that I love, but some pale imitations of them. And when I said that I'm extremely picky about characterization, I meant EXTREMELY picky. This is a problem for me as a Buffy/Giles shipper for a number of reasons, the most significant ones being that Buffy has stated a few times in canon how not attracted to Giles she is, and also that, while I believe that Giles may very possibly be subconsciously attracted to Buffy in canon, I don't believe it likely that he would acknowledge those feelings consciously, and if he did, there is almost no possibility that he would act on them because he would have severe moral qualms about doing so.

So, I started writing this story more than a year ago as something of an exercise in characterization: to see if I could get Buffy and Giles together while keeping them satisfactorily in-character. That's all this is about. Getting Buffy and Giles in bed together while keeping them in-character. It's like a PWP with character development. 15 chapters of character development.

I finished writing this story about eight months ago, but I wasn't happy with it. I still did not feel like there was enough believable motivation for Buffy and Giles to get together. Also, there were a lot of little stylistic problems that bugged me. So I decided to revise it. Each chapter has been revised, some only in terms of grammar and punctuation, some quite heavily in terms of content. I also added a few whole new chapters and existing chapters have been slightly reorganized.

Oh, also, I retitled it because "What If" is really lame and unoriginal. "After the Ball" refers to a song.

Anyways, for anyone who may have read this already and is looking at it again, here's what's new:
Chapter 4 has significant additions, and chapters 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 are new.

After the Ball (previously titled "What If")
Rating: PG 13
Genre: Fluff, Comedy, Angst, Romance
Ship: Buffy/Giles
Characters: Buffy, Giles, Willow in a supporting role, Angel, Wesley, Joyce, Olivia, Xander and Anya in minor roles.
Summary: "The Prom" was a seminal episode for many Buffy/Giles shippers for the moment when it appeared that Giles was about to ask Buffy to dance. What if Angel hadn't come in just at that moment, ruining everything? ;) This story follows the development of Buffy and Giles' relationship from the end of "The Prom" to about early Season 4.
Disclaimer: Doing this results in no profit, only in the pain of lost time. Everything belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, et al.
Feedback: is muchly appreciated.
The senior prom of 1999 turned out to be as normal an evening as anyone who knew what most evenings were like in Sunnydale could have hoped for.

The scariest thing that happened all night was when the sound system started blasting "My Heart Will Go On." But the DJ assured the groaning and booing students that it was just the result of mislabeling, not some more malicious evil.

In one very important way, however, it wasn't a normal evening at all. Buffy finally got her perfect high school moment. There was a speech and a trophy and a spotlight and classmates cheering and everything.

Yet a few minutes later, Buffy was looking listless and despondent again. Giles knew why, of course, and he knew his company would be a poor substitute for her boyfriend's, but he went over to talk to her anyways. She shouldn't have to stand alone by the punch bowl, watching everyone else have fun.

Giles told her she did good work that night and she turned to him with a bright, mega-watt smile. "And I got a little toy surprise," she said cheerily, twirling the sparkly umbrella over her shoulder. Her cheer wasn't genuine, Giles could tell, but her pride and satisfaction was.

"I had no idea that children en masse could be gracious," Giles replied, smiling. The entire display had made him feel rather sentimental. He could feel his inner cynic succumbing to his inner romantic. That wasn't necessarily a good thing. Children, he had to repeat to himself, like Buffy. She's just a child. Yet Buffy wasn't like her peers. She was apart from them. When Giles had watched her accept her accolade she hadn't seemed like a child at all. She was mature, graceful, and absolutely beautiful.

"Every now and then, people surprise you."

Buffy's melancholy shone through her half-felt smile and gave her a poignant sort of charm. The distant look that shadowed her eyes pulled at Giles' heart; he was happy and sad for her, and proud of her all at once, and also admiring and frightened of her, although those feelings were less distinct, lost in the muddle of emotions he was experiencing.

"Would you care to dance?" he asked, rather suddenly.

Buffy blinked. She was surprised, but not unpleasantly so. "Sure." She laid her umbrella down on a nearby chair and took Giles's arm.

He led her the few steps to the dance floor, and then hesitated. Looking around at the dancing couples he noticed they all seemed to be holding each other very closely. Most were not so much dancing as simply swaying to the music and nuzzling. Beginning to doubt the goodness of this idea, he turned to Buffy, straightened his posture and, rather awkwardly, placed his hand delicately on her hip and held her right hand aloft in a very formal manner.

Buffy looked up at him incredulously and, despite her best efforts not to, broke into a grin.

Realizing how ridiculous he must look, Giles smiled too and dropped his arms to his sides in defeat.

"Here." Buffy took his hands and placed one around her waist.

As she did, Giles explained with a bit of a self-deprecating laugh, "I don't want to raise any eyebrows among the faculty."

Buffy held his left hand very naturally in her right. "No worries. We're strictly obeying the six-inch rule," she assured him.

Giles began to lead her in a slow dance. Buffy followed him awkwardly. She trod on his toes and blushed.

"Sorry. Guess I'm not used to dancing. With actual dance-steps."

"S'alright," Giles smiled, "I've gathered it's not something they teach youth in gym class anymore." He glanced around at the swaying couples again.

"I'm getting used to it though." It seemed as if she was too, until she stumbled slightly into Giles. He held her up.

"'Course, we could just stop, and save me the embarrassment," she said.

"Or perhaps we could just stop trying to waltz," he suggested.

"Oh, we were waltzing?"

"Not really," Giles laughed.

Buffy smiled back up at him. He was still holding her close from her stumble, but neither of them did anything to change that. They gazed at each other, and for the first time that evening Buffy looked content. If it weren't for Giles's greying hair, no one watching them from afar would have been able to distinguish them from any of the other dancing couples.

Then Giles noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and a shadow seemed to pass briefly over his face. His tone betrayed no emotion, however, when he spoke, "'Course, you may want to dance with someone else."

Buffy looked bemused. "Who else would I want to dance with, silly?"

Giles merely nodded towards the back of the gym.

Letting go of Giles, Buffy turned around and saw Angel.