What Makes Green Eggs And Ham, Green?

One Wheel Short Of A Wagon.

I wonder what they are laughing about, thought Willow. She was sitting at the table in the library and reading a book about werewolves with Oz. She had looked up and seen Xander moving over to Buffy. By now she wasn't that surprised that Xander was the first to spot when Buffy went into one of her daydreams, at least that is what Willow thought they were. She had come to the conclusion long ago that he loved Buffy and not her. Still she felt a pain in her stomach whenever he had that look in his eye. She felt that pain now.

            I wonder what the joke was, she thought. Maybe it was about her. Maybe they were making fun of her…nah; she put the thought out of her head. They wouldn't do that. They were her friends, her best friends, they wouldn't do that. Xander had probably made a joke about him not doing well in school. He was always making jokes like that. That was part of the reason he probably liked Buffy, she also wasn't that good at school. However Willow had never believed that was because she was stupid or anything, it was just that she never seemed to apply herself. Apply herself? Man, could she sound more like a teacher?

                The quietness of the past couple of weeks had been exactly to Willow's likening. Not having to face a big bad evil and the end of the world suited her nature. Danger definitely wasn't her middle name. However she could tell that the lack of action was affecting Buffy. It seemed like she needed a distraction, from what Willow didn't know. And it may sound strange but she also got the feeling that Xander wanted to do some fighting. She didn't know why. He was always the first to complain when a new evil rolled into town. But there was something about his behaviour that Willow found a little disturbing. She would have dismisses these thoughts if it wasn't for the fact that she was an expert on Xander and his behaviour. You kind of get that way when you fall madly in love with someone, especially if that someone doesn't know that you love them.

            Willow was distracted from these thoughts when her glaze drifted over to a slumped over Giles. He was in his office at his desk and had apparently being reading a large, ancient-looking book. It seems as if he had fallen asleep. It was the logical conclusion to the image before Willow's eyes but she hesitated from coming to that conclusion as Giles never fell asleep during the day. Maybe he was just taking a rest or examining the book very thoroughly. She sat there watching him for a few minutes but he didn't make any kind of movement. Eventually she decided that he had fallen asleep, "Hey Buffy." She whispered. "Buffy." Buffy didn't hear her. "Buffy!" The whisper had turned into a high-pitched hiss.

"What?" Buffy said, turning to face Willow.

"Is Giles asleep?" At this question everyone in the room looked in the direction of Giles's office.

"He looks asleep." Said Xander.

"He couldn't be asleep." Said Buffy. "He is probably just resting. He has been hitting the books putting hard lately."

"Hard enough to fall asleep?" Said Willow.

"This is Giles. He never falls asleep during the day. That is something Xander would do." Said Buffy.

"Hey!" Shouted Xander.

Buffy gave him a look.

"Yeah I know." He said. "But still…"

"What's going on?" Interrupted Cordelia having just come back into the library.

"Giles is asleep." Explained Willow.

"Asleep?" Said Cordy.

"He is not asleep." Said Buffy.

"He has been hitting the books pretty hard." Said Xander continuing the explanation.

"It must have been very hard for Giles to fall asleep. He never falls asleep during the day." Said Cordy.

"Why don't you just go check?" Said Oz. His voice came as quite a shock to the group who had almost forgotten he was there.

"Good idea. Go ahead Buffy." Said Xander.

"Why me?" Asked Buffy.

"You're the Slayer." Answered Xander.

"That's your answer to everything." Said Buffy.

            Buffy slowly stepped into Giles's office as the rest of them gathered round the doorway. She tiptoed in as if she was a burglar on a midnight raid. Gradually she made her way across the office and in reach of Giles's slumped over body. She reached out a hand and moved it towards his shoulder. Her hand was moments away from touching him when the sound of a voice behind her made her jump, "Is he asleep" It was Xander.

"I think so." She whispered back.

"Are you going to wake him up?" Asked Willow.

"No Will I thought we should rearrange his body into an amusing position."

Suddenly Xander became very excited, "Oh! We should put his hand into a bowl of warm water."

"Why?" Asked Willow.

"It will make him pee his pants." Replied Xander.

"Yew!" Said Willow in disgust.

"That doesn't really work, does it?" Asked Cordy.

"Oh yeah." Said Xander. "There was this one time when…"

"Guys!" Buffy interrupted. "We are not putting his hand in any water."

"Aww…" Xander make a disappointed sound.

"I am going to wake him up and see what caused him to fall asleep." Said Buffy in her commanding, order-giving voice.

            With that Buffy continued the movement of her hand onto his shoulder. When it reached its target she slowly started to shake Giles. It didn't seem to have any effect so she increased the rate of the shaking. This time it did wake Giles up. At first he didn't seem to know where he was. His eyes open and quickly scanned the area. And then, with a groan that comes with age, he lifted his face off the table. He turned round to be confronted by ten pairs of eyes all focused squarely at him. "What?" He said.