Blood Tears 7 - Agony Giles
"Oh hello Faith, how are your injuries healing?"
The vampiress smiled at the Englishman. They'd conspired to keep her injuries away from Xander but Giles, as Buffy's Watcher, had had to be informed and his concern had been quite touching. "I'm fully healed now, Mr. Giles, thank you. May I come in?"
"Certainly, please come in." The school librarian hesitated before standing aside. "Would you like a tea Faith?"
The brunette resisted the urge to chuckle. How typically English to offer tea to a visitor, even if the visitor was a vampiress. "Thank you, but no," she replied politely.
"The front room's the first door on the right. I'll be with you in a few minutes."
After smiling her thanks to the Englishman, the vampiress moved silently through the house and into the lounge. It was largely as she had envisaged. Two bookcases filled with poetry books, classic literature and hefty volumes on the occult were set behind the sofa, while the room's furniture and furnishings were expensive but tasteful. Seeing a CD rack fastened to the wall beside the television, she walked over to inspect its contents. A surprised expression spread across her face as she found CDs from Led Zepplin, The Cult and The Sex Pistols. Not quite the Mozart, Bach and Beethoven she'd expected.
"Good lord. I see you've found my dirty secret. I was in a heavy metal band in the seventies."
The vampiress laughed. "I'd have paid good money to see that. You don't have to worry, I won't tell the others."
Giles chuckled dryly. "That's the least of my worries. They wouldn't have a clue who you were talking about. Those kids are bloody philistines."
"Oh I know, I was discussing music with Xander the other night and he didn't have a clue who Chuck Berry was." Faith dropped down into the chair opposite the Watcher.
The Englishman sipped at his tea before speaking. "I've managed to acquire a transcript of your curse and handed it over for translation to a friend of mine who's a professor of Native American languages at Berkley."
"Thank you," Faith nodded gratefully. "But that isn't why I'm here. I've got a problem with Xander."
"Oh really?" Giles sipped at his tea. "I thought he was doing better at school."
"It's nothing he's done. I.it's me." The Watcher arched an eyebrow. "You?"
"I," Faith was surprised how hard this was. She supposed this was the sort of conversation she should have had with her father about her first boyfriend, if he'd cared enough about her to give a damn. "Think I'm developing feelings for him."
Giles' mouth dropped open. "Ah, oh, um."
It was Faith's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Your advice is really helpful, I can see all those degrees come in very useful. It gets worse."
"Worse!" Giles looked like he was choking. "I'm afraid to ask."
"I also believe Red, B and Cordelia are also attracted to him."
Giles started to rub furiously at his forehead. "Well, Willow seems to have developed an interest in Daniel Osborne, a guitarist in a local band. But still, a vampiress, a Slayer and a Cordelia. Not even young Mr. Harris deserves that!"
Faith grimaced. This was going worse than she'd thought possible. The Englishman must have read her expression because he smiled comfortingly at her. "I'm sorry dear, I'm sure that wasn't the reaction you were looking for. Why don't you tell me why you feel this way?"
She nodded uncertainly. After a few seconds gathering her thoughts she began. "All my life men have treated me as a tool. First my father who treated me as a punching bag and unpaid servant, then all the men who used me as a whore and finally Angelus. Only you and Xand have ever bothered to take account of what I had to say, to treat me as if I count. Xand's so sweet and gentle, sometimes I'll have nightmares about the things I've done and I'll wake screaming and more often than not I'll wake to find his arms around me, comforting me. Nobody's ever made me feel like he does. I feel such pride when he gets determined to help you all and when he smiles it's almost enough to get my heart beating again. But then I look at him and I think how could it ever work?"
"While Buffy is like a daughter to me I am also quite fond of both you and Cordelia, who has her positives despite all outward appearances, too. What all three of you have to bear in mind is that it is his choice which if any of you he chooses to step out with."
"But after all I've done, do I deserve a chance at happiness?" The vampiress felt blood red tears begin to well.
The Watcher passed her a tissue before speaking. "The Faith I've come to know is a completely different entity to the one I've read about in my books. This Faith is a good person and deserves to be loved and be happy."
Faith smiled, it was rare for her to hear praise, particularly from someone she herself respected. "Thank you Mr. Giles."
Giles nodded. "Quite all right dear. However all that said, a relationship between a human and a vampiress has a number of unique problems. What if, in the throes of passion, you lose control and feed?"
"That's not an issue," Faith replied flatly thinking of all the men who'd used her in the past one hundred years since she'd regained her soul.
"Very well," Giles gazed at her searchingly before nodding. "You've got to consider that you'll never be able to have children together, that might not matter to him but it may. That you'll never be able to walk in the sunlight together. And finally that you'll remain unchanged by the passing of time, that you'll have to watch him age and die. He may hate you in the end for staying young."
Faith's stomach clenched at the thought of Xander dying but her voice remained steady. "Whatever happens I'll always be there for him, watching over him. It doesn't matter who he's with."
"Well, these are the things you need to consider both on your own and with Xander if you start a relationship."
"You're not exactly giving me questions with easy answers."
A sympathetic smile played on the Watcher's lips. "I'm afraid life isn't like an exam paper. There aren't any right or wrong answers."
"Well thanks for your advice." Standing, Faith acted on impulse, leaned across the table and kissed the surprised Watcher on the cheek. "Jenny is a lucky lady."
The Englishman's face turned crimson. "I wasn't aware our relationship was public knowledge."
Faith chuckled. "Pheromones Giles, pheromones."
"Ah, of course. And where is Sunnydale's very own answer to Casanova tonight?"
"If he knows what's good for him, studying at home."
"Oh hello Faith, how are your injuries healing?"
The vampiress smiled at the Englishman. They'd conspired to keep her injuries away from Xander but Giles, as Buffy's Watcher, had had to be informed and his concern had been quite touching. "I'm fully healed now, Mr. Giles, thank you. May I come in?"
"Certainly, please come in." The school librarian hesitated before standing aside. "Would you like a tea Faith?"
The brunette resisted the urge to chuckle. How typically English to offer tea to a visitor, even if the visitor was a vampiress. "Thank you, but no," she replied politely.
"The front room's the first door on the right. I'll be with you in a few minutes."
After smiling her thanks to the Englishman, the vampiress moved silently through the house and into the lounge. It was largely as she had envisaged. Two bookcases filled with poetry books, classic literature and hefty volumes on the occult were set behind the sofa, while the room's furniture and furnishings were expensive but tasteful. Seeing a CD rack fastened to the wall beside the television, she walked over to inspect its contents. A surprised expression spread across her face as she found CDs from Led Zepplin, The Cult and The Sex Pistols. Not quite the Mozart, Bach and Beethoven she'd expected.
"Good lord. I see you've found my dirty secret. I was in a heavy metal band in the seventies."
The vampiress laughed. "I'd have paid good money to see that. You don't have to worry, I won't tell the others."
Giles chuckled dryly. "That's the least of my worries. They wouldn't have a clue who you were talking about. Those kids are bloody philistines."
"Oh I know, I was discussing music with Xander the other night and he didn't have a clue who Chuck Berry was." Faith dropped down into the chair opposite the Watcher.
The Englishman sipped at his tea before speaking. "I've managed to acquire a transcript of your curse and handed it over for translation to a friend of mine who's a professor of Native American languages at Berkley."
"Thank you," Faith nodded gratefully. "But that isn't why I'm here. I've got a problem with Xander."
"Oh really?" Giles sipped at his tea. "I thought he was doing better at school."
"It's nothing he's done. I.it's me." The Watcher arched an eyebrow. "You?"
"I," Faith was surprised how hard this was. She supposed this was the sort of conversation she should have had with her father about her first boyfriend, if he'd cared enough about her to give a damn. "Think I'm developing feelings for him."
Giles' mouth dropped open. "Ah, oh, um."
It was Faith's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Your advice is really helpful, I can see all those degrees come in very useful. It gets worse."
"Worse!" Giles looked like he was choking. "I'm afraid to ask."
"I also believe Red, B and Cordelia are also attracted to him."
Giles started to rub furiously at his forehead. "Well, Willow seems to have developed an interest in Daniel Osborne, a guitarist in a local band. But still, a vampiress, a Slayer and a Cordelia. Not even young Mr. Harris deserves that!"
Faith grimaced. This was going worse than she'd thought possible. The Englishman must have read her expression because he smiled comfortingly at her. "I'm sorry dear, I'm sure that wasn't the reaction you were looking for. Why don't you tell me why you feel this way?"
She nodded uncertainly. After a few seconds gathering her thoughts she began. "All my life men have treated me as a tool. First my father who treated me as a punching bag and unpaid servant, then all the men who used me as a whore and finally Angelus. Only you and Xand have ever bothered to take account of what I had to say, to treat me as if I count. Xand's so sweet and gentle, sometimes I'll have nightmares about the things I've done and I'll wake screaming and more often than not I'll wake to find his arms around me, comforting me. Nobody's ever made me feel like he does. I feel such pride when he gets determined to help you all and when he smiles it's almost enough to get my heart beating again. But then I look at him and I think how could it ever work?"
"While Buffy is like a daughter to me I am also quite fond of both you and Cordelia, who has her positives despite all outward appearances, too. What all three of you have to bear in mind is that it is his choice which if any of you he chooses to step out with."
"But after all I've done, do I deserve a chance at happiness?" The vampiress felt blood red tears begin to well.
The Watcher passed her a tissue before speaking. "The Faith I've come to know is a completely different entity to the one I've read about in my books. This Faith is a good person and deserves to be loved and be happy."
Faith smiled, it was rare for her to hear praise, particularly from someone she herself respected. "Thank you Mr. Giles."
Giles nodded. "Quite all right dear. However all that said, a relationship between a human and a vampiress has a number of unique problems. What if, in the throes of passion, you lose control and feed?"
"That's not an issue," Faith replied flatly thinking of all the men who'd used her in the past one hundred years since she'd regained her soul.
"Very well," Giles gazed at her searchingly before nodding. "You've got to consider that you'll never be able to have children together, that might not matter to him but it may. That you'll never be able to walk in the sunlight together. And finally that you'll remain unchanged by the passing of time, that you'll have to watch him age and die. He may hate you in the end for staying young."
Faith's stomach clenched at the thought of Xander dying but her voice remained steady. "Whatever happens I'll always be there for him, watching over him. It doesn't matter who he's with."
"Well, these are the things you need to consider both on your own and with Xander if you start a relationship."
"You're not exactly giving me questions with easy answers."
A sympathetic smile played on the Watcher's lips. "I'm afraid life isn't like an exam paper. There aren't any right or wrong answers."
"Well thanks for your advice." Standing, Faith acted on impulse, leaned across the table and kissed the surprised Watcher on the cheek. "Jenny is a lucky lady."
The Englishman's face turned crimson. "I wasn't aware our relationship was public knowledge."
Faith chuckled. "Pheromones Giles, pheromones."
"Ah, of course. And where is Sunnydale's very own answer to Casanova tonight?"
"If he knows what's good for him, studying at home."