AN: Oops, I forgot my disclaimer on the last chappy. I'll up date this as I write them, so don't expect any sort of regularity. Each chapter is a stand-alone one-shot, and I hope to have them in chronological order. Note: THIS IS SLASH!!!!! It may not be just Ethan/RipperGiles either. I'll put stuff in as I will, since I'm the author and I can. There will be some het (for example, Buffy's straight, and I really can't see her with a woman). Please don't flame me. If you happen to like a particular pairing, tell me. I always like new (and especially unusual) pairings.

Again, THIS IS SLASH!

Disclaimer: Joss owns it all, to my great misfortune. Believe me, if I owned the Buffyverse, Wes and Gunn would be together, as would Giles and Ethan. If that ever happens, I may just die from happiness. This disclaimer holds true for this entire story, in case I forget on another chappy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Damn it Ripper! It's time to go!" Ethan called to his friend one evening.

"Just a minute, Ethan, I just need to finish this paragraph," Rupert Giles replied absently, not looking up from the old, musty tome.

"We're going to be late, and I'm not getting yelled by Deirdre again. She never seems to believe that you're the one at fault," the chaos mage huffs.

"Getting beat up by a girl, Ethan? I knew you were a wuss, but I didn't know you needed protection from bitty thing like Deirdre," Ripper laughs.

"Are we speaking of the same Deirdre, here, because I'm referring to the girl who just kicked your ass in our last summoning competition. She's scary."

"What, Ethan Raine accepting that there is another sorcerer better than him? Never!"

"I didn't say she was better than me, just better than you, which I always knew, actually. Now come on," the dark haired boy tries to grab the book from the bigger lad's hands. Ripper grins and pulls the book back sharply, causing Ethan to fall into his lap.

"I'm sure Deirdre wouldn't mind if we were a little late," he suggests coyly.

"Fine, but you're taking the heat this time," Ethan mock warns. Wrapping his arms around Ripper's neck, he buries his head in the shoulder of the watcher-in-training's black leather jacket. Ripper runs his hand through the mage's hair before pulling him up to kiss him. He fumbles at the dragonfly lamp beside him before turning it off.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laughing and attempting to straighten his silver satin shirt, Ethan rings Deirdre's door bell a full hour after the start of the dinner party. Deirdre opens the door and glares at the two late-comers.

"I see you finally decided to grace us with your presence. What were you doing, anyway?" she crosses her arms. Ethan grins.

"We were delayed, planning on letting us in?" he smirks.

"Not really, now what did you do?" she asks, one eyebrow raised.

"It was all Ripper's fault, really—" Ethan begins.

"Oh shut up, Ethan, we all know it was you. Ripper actually has a sense of time. Get in here," she snaps, moving out of the way to let the boys in. Ripper laughs.