Sunday in the Park with Giles

by Zef S

This is a series of stories I'm writing in which Buffy & Giles are together (yes, TOGETHER together). It's very character oriented and more about their day to day lives than demons, though there's some of that too. I tried to capture to humor of BTVS and

1. Demon Slaying + Starwatching = Hopes of ...

The Sunday in the Park with Giles Anthology
PART ONE: "Demon Slaying + Starwatching = Hopes of Smoochies"

Author: Nell: Warrior Kibble
E-mail: BruceyLucy1@aol.com
Rating: PG or PG-13, I guess.
Pairing: B/G
Spoilers: Not much. The first 3 seasons of Buff, to be safe. This takes place after the first or second episode of the fourth season.
Summary: Buffy realizes her feelings for Giles blah blah quirky entertaining romantic blah blah. Definately not for those who like the show for the monster fights and the action - this is a character-driven story. BTW, the title is a pun on the Sondheim musical "Sunday in the Park with George", and although when B&G go to the park it's a Friday, it just seemed right.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Buffy TVS and all related characters do not belong to me. Only the story and plot belong to me. The rest belongs to the Joss-god, FOX, UPN etc.
Distribution: You want it? click my name and lemme know.
Feedback: Sure thing, as long as you don't make me feel too awful. I'll accept flames as a source of entertainment.
-------------------

"Crap, I hate it when they do that," said the tiny blonde as she disgustedly shook a vampire's dusty remains off her shirt. "I think I'm impaling them from the wrong angle or something."
"I think it's the wind," said Willow as she sputtered, waving the tiny dust particles away from her face. Buffy nodded and picked up the wooden spike she had dropped.
"Now now, you won't get away from me, Mr. Pointy," said Buffy to the spike.
"Mr. Pointy?" Said Willow questioningly, eyeing the sharp object Buffy was holding.
"Kendra. Good luck charm. Can only attach emotional significance to inanimate objects." Willows face was blank. "She gave it to me."
"I see... I think." Buffy sighed and looked around. She started walking with Willow, dodging the ancient gravestones that were scattered around the cemetery.
"God, can we go home now? I've dusted four vamps already and I wanna get enough sleep for my dance class tomorrow."
"Dance class? Since when do you take dance classes?"
"Since now. I told Giles I was tired of the same old training, so he said dance would be a good way to keep in shape and learn fluidishness and agilimoty and whatever." With this she did a backflip and staked a vamp that was behind her. Willow winced when she nearly kicked her, but she knew Buffy knew what she was doing.
"That sounds really interesting, Buffy. It could be fun. What type of dance?" The eighteen year old girl put Mr. Pointy into her pocket and skipped over to Willow.
"Hip hop. Five's the magic number, let's blow this joint."
"If you can call a big park where lots of corpses are buried a 'joint'".
"Touché." Buffy looked away from Willow confusedly. "Gads, that was way Gilesy. I'm spending too much time with him. Remind me not to do that." Willow grinned sweetly at Buffy's use of the fencing term and walked home with her.

*****

"Now turn, spin, slap the ground go round and round!" yelled the tall black man wearing swishy hip hop pants and a wifebeater. He stood up from his crouching position and clapped.
"Good job everybody. Now everybody with an 'A' in their name, it's your turn!" He said as he sat down in front of the large mirror. Buffy sighed with relief as she sat down with the rest of the 'A'less people, which was a little more than half. She didn't count 'Anne' as in 'Buffy Anne'. She was way too tired to analyze her birthname.
But, even as she was exhausted, she was definitely doing better than most of the class. She was in serious shape from all that training and fighting and did particularly well at learning the hip hop routine, unlike the depressing 40-something guy in shorts and a headband panting and sweating profusely. She stifled a giggle as he coughed into his hands.

The A-named people did the routine, spinning and wiggling in not exact synchronization, but not too awful. Buffy couldn't help but mostly watch a guy who was off to the left - he was particularly good, and particularly gorgeous according to Buffy's ogling eyes. He wasn't much older than her and looked vaguely familiar - he was probably from college.
The rest of the class clapped with forced (and exhausted) approval when the As completed the routine. The teacher stood up.
"Okay everyone, thanks very much for coming, y'all did a great job and come back next week!" Buffy smiled and walked out of the steaming hot room, grabbing her water bottle and chugging.
"You know you'll get a cramp if you drink too fast after that work out," said a boyish voice. She looked over to the source of the comment and saw the raven-haired guy she had been admiring.
"Oh, yeah, I'm used to this sort of physical exertion," she said with a girly smile. She took a moment to mull over her comment, wondering if it insinuated anything.
"Really? Do you play sports?" She smiled and shook her head.
"Not really, I'm more of a... fencing person. And kicking and punching and the uh..." she made a motion with her hands that illustrated hand to hand combat.
"Martial arts?" he said, helping her search for the word she was lost for.
"Um, yeah, right! Martial arts," she said, happy to have a cover story for the odd activities she took part in.
"Oh, I love martial arts myself. Anyway, you look familiar, do you go to UC Sunnydale?" He asked. She nodded and grinned.
"Yeah, I do. You look familiar. Are you a senior?"
"Nope, just a sophomore. Some people say I look older than I am." He smiled charmingly and she burst with glee that she had finally found a prospective boyfriend after the whole incident with being, y'know, deserted by Angel.
"Well, I have to be somewhere, but I look forward to seeing you on campus. Maybe sometime we can come to class together," he said hopefully.
"That would be terrific!" She winced - terrific was way too enthusiastic. Oh well.
"Great, be seeing you..."
"Buffy."
"Okay, Buffy. I'm Dwight." They shook hands. Dwight... god, who is he, Giles' nephew? She stifled a giggle at the thought.
"What's funny?"
"Oh nothing, your name reminded me of someone else. Okay Dwight, see you on campus. Mind if I call you D-dog?" He grinned and chuckled.
"I suppose you may, Homie B." She nodded and waved bye as she walked out the door.

Score! she thought as she absentmindedly pulled in her elbows and made fists enthusiastically. She noticed there were people around and put her arms by her sides innocently. She peeked in the doorway of a class that was in progress. It was a swing class, one of her favorite genres of dance. There weren't many people in there, and she observed the group and noticed a familiar haircut. Her mouth gaped as she looked into the mirror and saw it was indeed, Rupert. Giles.

She put her hand over her mouth to stifle shocked laughter. Giles? Dancing? did not compute. Unknown equation. She winked at him in the mirror when he noticed her petite self standing in the doorway. He made a 'not now, I'm busy being active' look at her and got back to paying attention to the instructor. He smiled at the instructor as she took his hand and showed him a back-and-forth swooshy move. Buffy couldn't help but feel a pang of betrayal as the teacher grinned seductively at him and he put his arm around her waist.
"Flirt much?" she muttered to herself. She justified the feeling of dread and disappointment in her stomach as being weirded out by the fact that Giles, musty book Giles, was flirting. He wasn't supposed to be involved in things outside of Watcher-related activities, right? It was just bad.

She turned away and walked out of the gym, attempting to force the image of Giles smiling sweetly at some dancer chick out of her mind. She reminded herself that she might go out on a date with a dancer babe herself, that'll show tweed boy who's in charge. Wait, why do I care again? though the girl as she opened the glass door in front of her. To distract herself, she placed the image of Wesley screaming like a little girl in her head and laughed aloud, attracting a few looks from pedestrians.

*****

Xander sighed with disappointment as he flipped channels on the small TV.
"Commercials... infomercials... chick flick... bad comedy shows... why, I ask, aren't there any naked chicks on TV?" he said to himself, not worrying about others hearing, seeing as there was no one else in the house.
The sound of the heavy wooden door opening caused the checker-clad boy to jolt upright and switch to something as innocent looking as possible. He sighed with satisfaction when it landed on some music video.
"Hey Giles." Footsteps got closer.
"Good evening, Xander," said a familiar British voice. "How've you been?" he said as he put down his bag on the kitchen counter and sat down in a chair exhaustedly. Xander glanced over and saw he was glistening with sweat, his shirt soaked.
"Good. You sure got a workout - good to see you've been sweating from doing something other than going at it with Buffy." Giles stuttered a protest and sat upright in his seat, boyishly blushing.
"E-e-excuse me?" Xander shot him a confused look.
"What? I never see you being active except when you're fighting vamps and demons and stuff." Giles sighed and slumped down into his chair without the notice of the 18 year old on the couch.
"Ah, yes of course. Well I actually have done a bit of formal and swing dance and played bit of Cricket in the old days."
"Cricket. That's just too perfect. Giles, you're so lovably predictable."
"Should I be pleased or disturbed?" said Giles as he removed his glasses and rubbed his aching temples.
"Either will do."

*****

Buffy sighed with exhaustion as she plopped down on the newly-purchased bean bag chair in her dorm. She yawned, then stood and staggered her way down the hall into the shower room.
She got inside a vacant shower, stripped herself of her clothing, hung it on the rack out of the way of the water flow and turned on the taps. She washed the sweat off her aching body, relishing the comforting sensation of warm shower water on her skin. She washed a few minutes, when her 'spidey' sense kicked in and she realized someone was behind her. She wanted to shrug the idea off, but intuition forced her to glance behind. She was staring directly into two purple cat eyes, set into a near-human face covered in scales and horny things she didn't want to dwell on, having been trained to ignore the nastiness of demons so she could fight them.

"Come on, if you guys are going to attack me, at least wait till I'm DRESSED!" she yelled in shock, covering her private areas as well as she could manage. "Don't you have any sense of personal space whatsoever??!!" the demon responded with an unintelligible growl. "You're the talkative one." It attempted to punch her out, but she grabbed the fist and twisted it - she could hear the bones crack. The demons other arm attempted to punch her in the gut, but she twisted her torso so that it only grazed her waist.
"Owies! Not while I'm naked!" she flipped the demon over by the arm, then hurriedly grabbed her clothing, turned off the water and managed to put on a shirt to cover the slightly punctured skin. She was used to pain and could deal with this. The demon got up and hit her on the head. She rubbed it and kicked it in the stomach. There wasn't much room in the tiny shower space, and she definitely didn't expect a visit. She wondered how on earth the demon got into the shower as she smacked its face and knocked it down again. After a bit of fighting, Buffy winning by far, the demon shrank away to a corner of the shower and, shockingly enough, MELTED into a puddle of purplish goo. It slipped over to the drain and went into the plumbing system like liquid.
"Oh my god... talk about yer Alex Mack," said Buffy as she stared at the drain.

*****

Giles and Xander looked up as an angry Slayer stormed into the room.
"Giles!" Her hair was stringy with wetness and seemed very messy and knotted. She wore an expression of disgust and disturbance, her small fists clenched.
"What is it, Buffy?"
"Some demon guy attacked me in the SHOWER!" The two men looked surprised and worried.
"The shower? How on earth did he get into the shower?" said Giles. Buffy spoke her words slowly with great emphasis.
"Through the plumbing system." Giles walked over to her.
"Plumbing system... you mean he..."
"Was made out of liquid? Yes, yes he was. He solidified into full demon form then turned into this purple goo and went down the drain." She took off her coat and slammed it on the couch, sitting next to Xander.
"And how've you been?" she said, looking at him tiredly.
"Better than you, apparently. What happened to your hair, anyway?"
"I didn't have time to shampoo it, too busy kicking demon ass." Giles stopped his thinking and walked closer to the couch.

"I believe the creature you ran into was a Gyzz'ard demon, by your description. It isn't very powerful and was thought to be completely extinct. Apparently, the council was wrong."
"I'd say so. It didn't seem to put up a very good fight, but I must say I was taken aback by being attacked in such a vulnerable state in one of the few places where I thought I was safe for a while."
"Vulnerable..." said Xander quietly, picturing with ease Buffy in the shower... naked... sans clothes.... Giles shared Xander's thoughts (much to his dismay) conjuring up a similar image to what Xander had.
"Hello? Earth to the sex deprived?" she said, waving a hand and looking at them both. Giles had a look of quiet distraction, his lips slightly parted. Xander was smirking, his eyes half closed. They looked at her guiltily.
"Oh, sorry Buf," said Xander. Giles looked away and his entire body blushed at the obviousness of his mental activities.
"Well then, we should exterminate the Gyzz'ard demon as soon as possible. I know that they feed off human intestines. I also know that they need to breath, and that would be challenging to do in the water pipes. Perhaps Willow can get a map of the school plumbing system and we can try and predict where it'll appear next. Hopefully there aren't any more. There can't be more than one or two others since they are so incredibly rare," Giles said quickly. Xander nodded.
"Okies dokies, I'll ring up Willow."
"And I'll go wash my hair... in *your* shower, Giles. I'll fight the demons when the time comes, but for now I want some privacy. I even brought shampoo," she said happily as she held up a bottle she'd been holding behind her back.
"Very good, very good. It's upstairs, first door on the right." Giles bit his lip at the thought of Buffy showering in his bathroom.

Giles wasn't proud of his feelings for Buffy. He certainly tried not to let on, as he didn't want to burden her with it. He hadn't always felt this way - they had gotten closer and closer and had become friends instead of business partners. Sometime in her senior year of highschool he found that his feelings for her were gradually becoming romantic, and by now he had a desperately big crush on her. It disgusted him to think of himself as a dirty old man ogling a lady who was but a child, but he knew she wasn't really a child and anyway, nothing would come of it. He knew Buffy didn't feel the same, with all those good-looking young men surrounding her. He was happy just being able to protect her, though he couldn't help but yearn for more. At the prom, she looked so stunning and made such a royal entrance... he had dreamed of her in that dress, when she first walked into the room, many times. And he would've asked her to dance if Angel hadn't been there.

He heard the water tap turn on and he watched as Xander talked to Willow on his phone, pausing between sentences.
"Hey, Will? It's Xander. Demon on the loose, he's icky and purple and according to Buffy attacked her in the shower. Yeh, that's right. He travels through the plumbing system - we were wondering if you could get a map of the pipes that go through the college from the net or something. We could find where he might pop up next. Okay, great! Thanks Will." He hung up the phone and looked at the older man.
"She's on her way, she's bringing her laptop. This shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"Probably not. We've faced much worse," said Giles, remembering the epic ascension of the mayor. It was amazing how the gang managed to get the entire student body to defeat the demon - he never ceased to be amazed at Buffy for it. It sounded impossible but they really pulled through.
"That's for sure."

*****

"The demon would have to appear in either the dorm showers, sinks and bathrooms or the gym showers, because that's the only pipe system that Buffy's dorm showers connect up to. Is there any way that the demon could leave that system?" Said Willow, rapping away at the keyboard. Giles and Xander stood over her shoulder, observing the map she had brought up on the screen.
"Well, there would be no reason to. We have no way of knowing, so we're going to have to assume that the demon is in the same pipes. I know this is rather boring and time consuming, but whoever is willing should guard all the areas that the pipes lead to. I have some walkie talkies we can take to let each other know if and when the demon appears. Let's hope there's no more than one." Willow and Xander nodded.
"I'm pretty much plan-less, and someone has to do it," Xander said.
"I can do it before 9:00pm, since I'm going to a party with Oz, but if I absolutely must I can stay later."
"That shouldn't be necessary. I appreciate it, though. Willow, can you get us a hard copy of this map?"
"Sure, I just have to get access to the school printers. We can all go together then set up post."
"Great. Since these demons are weak, the minute you see them you can stab them until they're deceased. They will then turn into their liquid form."

"You guys making plans?" said a familiar voice. Buffy was walking down the stairs, wearing a white towel and rubbing her hair dry with another. Willow spotted out of the corner of her eye Giles' adams apple bobbing up and down in his throat with nervous gulps. "Please tell me it doesn't involve Angel."
"Happily, it does not. We're gonna go print out this map of where the pipe system it should be in leads to, then guard the areas where it might appear," spoke Xander.
"We get to use walkie talkies!" said Willow with a girlish grin.
"Groovy! Do I getta wear army fatigues?" said Buffy as put her hair in a turban, leaning down so that the boys could get a good look at her cleavage.
"If you got some, go ahead. Speaking of which, what will you wear? Your clothes are wet, aren't they?" said Willow.
"Say, Will's right. I am experiencing a serious lack of attire." Three heads simultaneously turned towards the flabbergasted ex-librarian.

*****

Buffy snuggled against the soft white shirt as she walked, grinning with joy.
"My god, Giles, your clothing is soooo much more comfier than mine," she said in a tone of amusement, pulling up the sagging pants that threatened to escape her hips. Giles bit his tongue as he looked at her. This tiny, feminine body encased in a great sack of clothing. Giles was tall, and clothing that large was not meant to be worn by a teenaged girl. The sight was adorable, if a bit pitiful. The leather belt was the only thing standing between a slightly bizarre 'shaggy' look and partial nudity. All of them were grinning, save Giles. He was holding back both a grin and a disapproving glare, ending up with a tolerant, neutral expression.
Buffy leaned in to whisper something to the redhead standing next to her.
"And they smell like Giles... who knew he was so full of fruity goodness?" Willow giggled uncontrollably and Buffy winked at her. Giles didn't hear her words but guessed the nature of the comment. Willow managed to walk around Giles and get a whiff of his outer arm. He pulled back in surprise at her attempt to smell him. She started giggling again.
"He IS fruity. Giles, do you wear cologne?" He looked at her confusedly, as did Xander.
"No."
"Scented shampoo."
"It's not very strongly scented."
"Aftershave?"
"Not especially."
"Really? How interesting..." Willow looked at Buffy, who was shaking her head with confused dissaproval.

******

Xander whistled the screeching melody - people in the next room over could recognize it as the Indiana Jones theme. He put his walkie talkie up near his mouth.
"I'm bored. Someone tell me a joke."
::pzzzp::::Sorry Xander. I'd do a little dance if I were there, but I'm not,:: said Willow over the walkie talkie signals.
::pzzap::::A little dance? Is that healthy?:: said Buffy jokingly.
::zippazz::::It is if you do it right,:: said Willow.
::pzzapizz::::Oh Watcher darling, how much did these walkie talkies cost?:: said Buffy curiously.
::zippzap::::I'd imagine that's none of your business,:: spoke the British man.
::pzzap::::Well sorrr-y for asking. I'm the one wearing your nice, white shirt and khaki pants. I could spill coffee on these duds if I wanted to, you know.::
::zzapizz::::The truth is, I don't remember. I bought them ages ago, amazed they still work.::
::zapazz::::This is kinda lame. We've been here for what, hours? When's this thing gonna show up?:: said Xander impatiently.
::zzzzzap::::Actually, we've been here for around half an hour. I have no idea when the demon will appear, but we'd have to assume during mealtime, since they are on a similar schedule to that of regular humans. We can leave in around a couple hours, when dinner is essentially over, assuming we have not fought the demon.::
::pzzip::::And in return for doing this, Giles, you will take me out to dinner and ice cream afterwards.::
::pzapp::::Oh really? Isn't this your job?::
::zzaphooey::::Even so, you should take me to dinner and ice cream just because you're a nice guy and I deserve it.::
::ppzzzap::::I suppose we haven't gone out in a while. Would Willow and Xander like to join us?::
::pzzoosh::::Will has that party with Oz and friends, but I could come. Are you *really* gonna take us out to dinner?::
::pzzap::::Giles, you are incredibly easy to manipulate. I feel almost guilty,:: said Buffy gleefully. She got him to take her out to dinner like *that*! How many girls can do that? Or rather, how many guys would let her do that? The idea of Giles taking her out to dinner was becoming rather appealing, she thought as she cuddled the shirt she was wearing and took in the scent of it.
::przzroop::If I didn't want to take you two to dinner tonight I would've resisted:: said Giles. He was to take her out to dinner. They rarely got together for reasons outside of Slaying duties. An outing for pleasure instead of staking or stabbing of some sort was something virtually foreign to their relationship. And Xander would come, too. He wondered how that chemistry would work out.
::zipazap::::Sweet! Thanks, Watcher-mine!::

It was only 15 minutes later that the very disgusting purple demon that Buffy saw earlier appeared in an unoccupied shower by the gym. Willow didn't see it drip out of the shower head, but certainly saw its fist nearly collide with her face. She quickly ducked and it hit the wall, not even breaking through. It shook its hand in pain as she kneed it in the stomach fiercely and stabbed it the back. She automatically wiped the gooey blood on her black shirt, much to her dismay. It stood straight and she stabbed it in its heart as quickly as she could. The thing twitched, fell on the concrete ground and took its final breath. It then proceeded to melt into a puddle of purple stuff, just like she'd been told it would.
"Er, I got the thing. It's all puddley now," she said into the walkie talkie, surprised at the easiness of the fight.
::pzzap::::All right, Wills! You go girl!::

She walked out of the bathroom, leaving the goo to be cleaned up by the janitor. She didn't want to bother, because she had somewhere to be.
"Hey Willow," said a familiar voice.
"Hi Oz," she said, smiling at her favorite werewolf.
"You're all gooey," he said, noticing her dirtied shirt.
"Indeed I am. I'll go change into my party clothes, then we can leave, sound good?"
"Sounds good."

Meanwhile...
Buffy, Xander and Giles met up on the steps of the main building of UC Sunnydale. It was a cool, pleasant spring night. The sky was now dark, but the evening was young, and the three were in an inexplicably good mood considering they had just spent 45 minutes in bathrooms waiting for some demon to appear. Buffy grinned at the boys as the threesome approached each other from different directions. They saw Buffy had gotten new clothes from her room before she came back - she was wearing a dark red mini-dress with an off-white cardigan, and black high top boots which showed off her slightly tanned legs.
"Well, that wasn't exactly challenging, was it?" said Buffy as she took the arm that Xander offered her. She looked at the older man expectantly - he smirked sweetly and held his arm out as well. She linked arms and they walked to the sidewalk happily.
"Definitely not challenging. Boring, yes. But at least we get to eat now. Eat good. Xander happy when eat."
"Well, Xander happy soon, right Giles?"
"Right. Where shall we go? I've been meaning to visit that new Japanese restaurant."
"Yeah, it's supposed to be very good, *and* very cheap, Mr. Penny Pincher."
"Well, better than expensive."
"Whatever you say, Cheapo."
"I am not cheap. You're lucky I'm even taking you two out."
"You're lucky we're letting you." Giles smiled at Buffy's banter as they walked down the street towards the restaurant they had decided on.

*****

A tiny bell chimed when Giles opened the door and walked in, the two young people behind him following. The restaurant was only half full since it was 9:00pm on a Thursday night, not the hoppingnest time of week. It was a typical Japanese restaurant, with Asian decorations and everything. A waitress seated them at a table, ending up with Giles and Buffy on one side of the table and Xander and his imaginary friend on the other. They picked up their menus and thanked the waitress. They decided on what they were to get, put down their menus and drank the green tea. The warmth of the drink was very comforting.
"So... lovely night for having a meal, huh?" said Xander, attempting to spark conversation.
"Quite," said Giles, observing the stray leaves at the bottom of the tea.
"So, guys, how's college-less life?" asked Buffy, directing the question at both her male friends.
"Well, it's filled with bachelory slack-packed goodness. In other words, uneventful. Oh, except for the time I almost got kicked out of my own room because I couldn't pay the plumbing bills. How about you, G-Man?"
"I'm sorry about that, getting kicked out and all. I myself am unemployed, perhaps we should both find a couple of good jobs. Other than that I've been... well, jogging, reading. I bought a stereo and I'm learning to work it."
"Oooh, electronic gizmos! You're becoming so modern!" Giles gave her a 'don't judge ah buk by its cov-ah' look. "Oh, by the way, what's up with the swing classes?" before Giles could respond she pounced on him. "And what's up with the chick? You aren't supposed to be flirting - it's not very Watcherly of you, I do not approve!" Giles took a swig from his tea, knowing he was gonna need it.
"Excuse me, but I was at the swing classes for leisure. And what makes you think I was flirting? And what's wrong if I was? You're not the only one here who is a human being, you know." Buffy's lip quivered with denial.
"But... b-but..."
"But nothing. Anyway, I didn't think you'd be taking the daytime hip hop class."
"You're trying to avoid me, aren't you?"
"No, I was simply aware that you would react the way that you are reacting." Buffy sat up straight and sighed. Xander watched their interaction wordlessly.
"Okay, fine. Have your fun without me. But if you ever get to be any good at that swing dancing, you are required to teach me." He raised an eyebrow.
"You want to learn swing dancing from me?"
"That's what I said. I've always wanted to swing, baby!"
"Well, if either of us have time."

Their conversation was interrupted by plates being lowered onto the table. The delicious looking food beckoned them and they instantly began eating. Their conversation went to foreign foods, then where they'd love to travel, then where they'd want to live. They decided they should get a nice big house and all live together - the entire scooby gang. It made sense.
During the dinner, there were some awkward moments between Buffy and Giles. Xander was too busy figuring out chopsticks to notice, not that he would've had he been paying attention, but something was definitely starting to develop between them. Buffy could feel shivers up her spine when his elbow brushed hers a couple times. Why was she getting shivers from Giles? Just a few minutes ago she had been complaining about his flirting. Well, those two seemed to fit together, didn't they? She shook her head, getting a weird stare from the man in question, then returned to her vegetable tempura with renewed vigor.
And not that Giles didn't notice the moments, either. But that was just him, he thought. Getting all worked up over a girl who was young enough to be his daughter, and was, in a way. He cursed himself, but wondered if he didn't notice her stare at his arm after it brushed with hers a couple seconds before eating again.

They happily finished their meal after around an hour, including conversation. When the bill came Buffy insisted on contributing, if only a quarter of the cost. Xander said he wanted to, but Buffy and Giles told him absolutely not, and that he is having enough money troubles as it is. The cost of the meal wasn't too pricey anyway, and Giles didn't mind spending some money on the young adults who were, at this point, his closest friends (not including Willow and Oz).

"Are we ready to take on the ice cream?" said Xander happily as the walked down the bustling (well, compared to usual Sunnydale) streets.
"Absolutely! You doubt my abilities?"
"Never, Buff." Giles looked at them, bewildered.
"Ice cream? Already? Are you sure we should get it so soon after that filling meal?" Buffy grinned.
"Of course! I'll bet you'll find the room for it." And he did. They each got ice cream at the local parlor, Giles ordering it for them like a gentleman, or a father (it was really more date-y and curteos than paternal, Buffy had thought). Xander got a fudge swirl, Buffy a chocolate chocolate chip and Giles a mint chip.
"Yummy!" Buffy squealed gleefully as she licked the delicious cold sugar off her cone.
"I rather agree," admitted Giles, half-smiling as he did the same. Xander nodded, too involved in his eating to make any intelligible noise. Giles looked up at the sky, in awe of the beauty that was the universe.
"The stars are quite beautiful tonight," he said in his quiet voice. Buffy looked up at the sky and sighed.
"They are, aren't they?" Giles looked at her.
"Would you two perhaps like to go to the beach, away from the lights? To star-watch?" Buffy smiled contentedly and nodded. She wasn't sure why she held his eyes to hers for those eternal moments, but knew that she enjoyed looking into them, and the expression he gave her in return.
"Sounds nice to me," said Xander obliviously. Buffy tore away their gaze and stared her cone, which was beginning to melt. She licked the ice cream off, then noticed Giles eyes were still on her. A naughty, naughty thought formed in her mind and she licked the ice cream with the tip of her tongue seductively, sucking and scooping with her mouth. Giles' eyes widened and his adam apple bobbed up and down as he gulped. He looked away sharply and she laughed. Xander looked over at them and raised his eyebrows at Buffy, not knowing what happened.
"What happened?" She signaled with her head at the older man, who had managed to create an extra couple feet of space between them.
"What? Did Giles make a funny in his pants or something?" She laughed at Xander's comment.
"Almost..." mumbled Giles inaudibly.

They continued walking for a few blocks and reached the peaceful beach. It was a heavenly sight, and the trio stood and watched for a few minutes before anyone said anything. The brilliant moon was almost full, and shone with such clarity Buffy thought she could see every single crater on its surface. It reflected on the water in tiny ripples so that it seemed the water was made of pure silver or pearl. The coast itself was beautiful, and Buffy could see the buildings in the misty distance like some far off castles in a magical world of night.
"Odd that no one's here on such a pretty night." Giles nodded.
"Quite. A lot of people don't appreciate the fact the beach is most peaceful at night."
"All the more peaceful beach for us," said Xander.
"Yup. Shall we sit?" said Buffy, pointing to the bench just a few feet away.
"Ah, yes." They sat down, with Buffy on the left, Xander in the middle and Giles on the right. Buffy rested her head on Xander's shoulder affectionately. He responded by putting his arm around her warm shoulders.

Giles savored the cool wind on his face, trying to ignore the pair of teenagers embracing next to him. He reflected on how bizarre his life is, wondering what will happen to him when Buffy dies. He knew that she would die before himself, it was just the way things were. He didn't think he'd be much use for anything after that. He lived for Buffy, at this point. Buffy and Sunnydale were all he really had, or cared about. He missed England desperately, but even the grays and browns of London couldn't compare to the gold and green of Sunnydale, at least when Buffy inhabited it. He wondered if Buffy would like London. She'd probably say it was filled with stuffy British librarians. Buffy had known so little of the world - California was all she'd seen. She didn't understand that London wasn't filled with old Giles-like people, but was a center of culture and fashion. Giles sighed. She'd much rather like that side of it than the stuffy old librarian side. He mulled over what exactly Buffy was trying to tell him when she was eating her ice cream, having given him that look of reverence and love, staring into his eyes. He knew she was just fooling around, trying to psyche him out.

Buffy patted Xander on the head.
"I need to stretch, Xand." He grinned sheepishly and Buffy stood up, yawning and stretching her arms. She looked at the bench, noticing Xander had moved his way to the other side of the bench and was stretching out a bit. She gave him a 'lemme sit down, bench hog' look and he moved back into a regular sitting position. The blonde sat in-between her two friend-boys and continued to look at the stars. But somehow the constellations weren't holding as much interest for her as before, because she could feel soft, warm breaths on her cheek. Without looking she leaned on the body to her right and could feel the breaths on her cheek quicken very slightly. The arm was firm, but not in a yucky over-muscled kind of way. Firm in a sure, confident way. It was soft, though, and the expensive sports coat was pretty soft too. Whenever Buffy had hugged Angel, it had been wonderful but he was a little bit too firm to be cuddly in the purest sense.
She sighed and leaned into him further, so that the top of her golden head was inches away from his face. She pried her arm through the tightly closed gap between Giles' arm and his torso and held it affectionately.

This feels so safe, so right, thought Buffy. Giles had never been very physical with her, only giving her the occasional hug after not having seen each other a while or holding her hand to comfort her. But he was so tender, so gentle and loving. Buffy thought of him only as her Watcher, or a sort of surrogate father, but she couldn't help but notice the lump in her stomach now that he was close.

Am I really falling in love with Giles? thought Buffy. But so many times I've made fun of him for his age, or said I was grossed out that he was ever romantically involved. But I only said that. Maybe I felt something else underneath. Buffy couldn't believe or trust this revelation - Giles was old, well into his forties. She was a college freshman. But they did have a bond that people rarely have - they were chosen for each other, as Watcher and Slayer. Buffy almost actually shook her head - No, no, and double no. The intense feeling of love and comfort I'm feeling right now is an ice cream after effect. I feel safe because he's... Giles. A man I can trust. Not a man man.

Giles, meanwhile, was very much enjoying this rare closeness he had with the woman who was the center of his life. He wondered why she snuggled up to him like he was her friend, or even boyfriend. It was comforting to just have a few minutes of silent contact, nice to feel the safety and sureness that someone was there, someone who loved you, someone who cared about you. Though he got a bit nervous when she inched closer to him and put her arm around his. Very close... Buffy... girl... nearby... his thoughts became less and less intelligent until he had to let go and enjoy the moment.

They looked very peaceful to Xander, very content. Buffy's eyes were sleepy and her body seemed entirely relaxed leaned up against Giles'. The man's expression was soft and lacked the tenseness he usually had around the teenagers. Xander wondered what they were thinking about, as he looked into the sea.
It seemed like years, but was only around a half hour, that they sat there.
"Guys, let's go home, I'm getting kind of tired."
"Mmm, do we gotta? Giles makes a damn snuggly pillow," said Buffy as she shrugged even closer against him, moving her arms around his neck. His body tensed up. Damn snuggly... I could live with that, he thought as he moved his arm and patted her on the back awkwardly.
"As snuggly as our librarian friend is, it's after midnight and I have to get up for the first day of my new job real early."
"You go, I stay," grumbled Buffy.
"You've got classes, don't you?" Buffy sighed disappointedly and slipped away from her Watcher tiredly. She stretched her arms and rolled her head around - as snuggly as he was, being in the same position for that long can be stressful. Giles stood up and stretched.
"All right, let's go then. I'll walk you home, if you like." Buffy giggled.
"Sure!"

He walked them both home, stopping at Xander's house and saying farewell to him. Buffy and Giles continued towards the university - the walk was filled with awkward silence, with Buffy occasionally asking him when he was gonna get a job and whether he liked her dress or not. He proceeded to humor her quietly, much to the girl's disappointment.
"Here we are," he said as they approached the familiar dorm building.
"Yup." They walked up to the door and Buffy turned around to look at him.
"Thanks sooo much for taking Xander and I out, I really appreciate it."
"I had a great time," he said, taking his hands out of his pockets.
"Me too. Very great time. We should do this more often. But we can get other people to pay, don't worry," she added, seeing that Giles was about to interrupt. He nodded and smiled slightly.
"All right then."
"Well, I guess this is goodnight." She looked at him, wondering if he might kiss her, judging by his expression. Instead, he backed away and waved.
"Goodnight Buffy. Sleep well."
"You too, Giles. Sweet dreams," she said, waving back with slight disappointment. Disappointment? When this thought crossed her mind she leaned against the door and took a deep breath in.
Oh my god. I love Giles. She watched him walk down the street headed towards his own apartment, and rolled her eyes from the shock of this revelation. She really did love him. No matter how she excused it. She loved a man almost 30 years her senior, a man who had sex with her mother (under the influence of enchanted chocolate), a man who was practically a father.
"A father's love, my ass," she whispered to herself quietly as she opened the door into the house and walked in.

To be continued...