Buffy groaned when she saw the line at the corner Starbucks. She had volunteered to get breakfast while Xander stayed and watched over the girl, who had yet to wake up. Is she had known it was going to be this packed at seven in the morning, she would have waited until later or sent Xander instead. "Bloody hell!" She cursed under her breath, thinking for a brief moment how much she sounded like Spike, as she joined the end of the long line. "Doesn't anybody in Colorado Springs make their own coffee anymore?" It wasn't a question she expected an answer to but got one anyways.

"Why make coffee at home when you have a Starbucks in town?" Daniel, who had been walking up the sidewalk when she posed her question, answered. He got in line behind her. "Where's your friend?"

"Back at the hotel. He's watching over a sick friend so I offered to go in search of some sort of nourishment." Buffy lied, smoothly. "You always up this early, Doctor Jackson?" If she was surprised to see him there, she didn't show it.

Daniel shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I'm a little grumpy if I don't have at least one cup of coffee in the morning or so I'm told." He said with a small smile. "Actually, I'm suppose to be meeting a colleague here. His plane got in at six and he asked that I meet him here, it's apparently on his way."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Funny meeting spot, isn't it?" She blinked when she caught sight of someone heading towards them. "Impossible." She whispered because the person looked exactly like. "Oz?"

Oz stopped his approach and smiled, showing off two rows of unusually sharp, pointed, teeth. "Buffy!" He smiled. "Fancy meeting you here." It was his greeting to her. "So you two know each other?" He asked once he shook Daniel's hand and the greetings were out of the way.

Blinking, Daniel released the other mans hand, noting his firm grip. "We meet quite recently, actually." He couldn't help but wonder how these two, seemingly, different people knew each other.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Buffy moved forward to the counter. "Two chai teas and three blueberry scones to go, please." She ordered with a smile then motioned for the other two to order as well. "It's on me."

Chuckling, Oz also ordered a chai tea. "You can't visit England as much as I have and not become, at least partially, fond of their drink of choice." He explained to Daniel, who ordered a good old fashion cup of black coffee. "Apparently living there causes your palate to undertake some drastic changes." He directed his jib to Buffy, referring to her order of scones instead of muffins.

Daniel watched the two interact and couldn't help but notice how relaxed they seemed to be around each other. He smiled as he received his cup of coffee and thanked Buffy for paying then motioned for them to join him at a recently vacated table towards the back.

Buffy pulled out her credit card with a flourish and slapped it down on the counter to pay for the drinks and treats. Once the card had been scanned and charged, she carried her booty to the table with Oz following behind her. "I assume you two have business to discuss, if I'm intruding I can go. Xander will be expecting breakfast before noon anyways."

Oz motioned for her to sit in the third empty chair and even stood back up and pulled it out for her. "So, how's Willow doing?" He still cared about his ex and inquired about her well-being every change he got. "Oh, I almost forgot." He tilted his head to the side, removed two disks from an inside jacket pocket and handed one of them to Daniel while holding onto the other. "I translated as much as I could, sorry I couldn't be of more help." He apologized.

"You should call her. Kennedy and her broke up a while ago and I think she could use a friend." Buffy took a sip of her tea and pretended like she hadn't noticed the hand off, she was good at pretending. Almost as good as she was at lying.

"It was a long shot anyways." Daniel tucked the disk into his pocket and took a sip of his steaming beverage. "You two known each other long?" Now his curiosity was winning, he wanted to know.

"Since Sunnyhell High." Oz told the older man. "I dated one of her best friends and then made the biggest mistake of my life by letting her go." He was stating a fact, not seeking pity.

Buffy reached over and patted his hand. "You had your reasons and Willow did come to accept that." She cleared her throat. "How long have you known Doctor J, here?" A part of her pointed out that she had picked up Faith's bad habit of shorting every bodies name to just one letter, she promptly ignored it.

Daniel was the one to answer. "Several months, right? We met at that conference in Munich." It surprised him when Buffy seemed to focus on him suddenly. "What?"

Oz could not only see but sense Buffy's guard going up. She was well aware of what the conference in Munich was about since she had been the one to suggest he attend. "Yes, we met at the conference."

Trying to calm herself, Buffy took another sip of her drink. "So is the supernatural a hobby or something your interested in?" She tried to sound nonchalant but knew she had failed when the older mans eyes took on a guarded look of their own.

"Were you at the conference as well? I don't recall seeing you." Daniel knew something strange was going on here and was bound and determined to find out what it was.

"Buffy's the employer I was telling you about." Oz wasn't worried since he knew Buffy wouldn't do anything, in such a public place, to attract attention. "The one that funded my trip to Germany." He added for good measure.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Would you stop calling me that? As your friend I am more than happy to give you the money you need to continue to fund your research. But that doesn't make me your employer." She stressed.

Daniel noted how uncomfortable she looked now that the younger man had fully revealed their relationship. "So your interested in the supernatural as well?"

"Mm, you could say that I have an invested interest in the subject." Buffy answered, cryptically. "Oz, here, is to be Summerlande's new mythology Professor once he's concluded his research abroad. How is that coming, by the way?" She inquired.

Oz finished his tea and discarded the cup in a nearby waste basket. "Almost finished. I should be finished by next month at the latest. Then I'm all yours." He spread his arms, an easy going smile lighting up his baby face.

"What are you researching?" Daniel couldn't help but ask. There was more to these two than meets the eye and he was betting that the other friend, the one back at the hotel, was the same way.

Buffy finished her own drink and pushed the cup away, planning on throwing it out when she was ready to go. "Werewolves." She answered for him then grinned. "Very fascinating work, if your into that kind of mythos."

"Oh yeah, very fascinating, indeed." Oz agreed with what could only be described as a wolfish smirk. "I expanded my research into Vampires as well, Germany is chalked full of references to creatures of the night."

Daniel blinked and shook his head. He wasn't sure if they were joking, not wanting him to know what the research was really about, or not. "Interesting." Something else was bothering him. "Where does the name Oz come from? Your first name is the same as mine, isn't it?"

"I've got to be going. Xander's probably ready to chew off his own arm." Buffy stood up, a movement Oz copied. She pulled her friend into a hug. "I'll see you later?" She whispered into his ear as he slipped the second disk into her pocket as he pulled away.

Oz pulled out of the hug. "I'll give Willow a call and see how she's holding up." A barely noticeable nod of his head was his reply to her whispered question. He watched as she grabbed the second cup of chai tea, bag of scones, and disappeared out the door and into the shadows of the morning. "My first name is Daniel." He made a face. "But I don't think anybody has called me that since I was like five. Oz comes from my last name, Osbourne. I thought it sounded much cooler especially when I got older joined a band." There was no more talk of the supernatural, werewolves, or even vampires. The rest of the conversation, until Daniel's pager went off and he had to hurry into work, was nothing more than small talk.