CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE WATCHERS
"Any luck with finding an apartment?" Giles asked casually as he placed a tray of tea on the coffee table, moving aside several ancient tomes to ensure that he didn't spill any liquid on his precious books.
Joanna looked up at the other Watcher and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you so keen to get rid of me Ripper?" she asked with a half-smile on her face.
"N-no…of course not. I simply meant that-"
"Calm down," Joanna said, smirking at the flustered man. She was surprised to see that she could still ruffle her old friends feathers so well. "I was teasing. And it seems that property in Sunnydale isn't as cheap as it used to be. Something to do with the death rates decreasing considerably."
Giles nodded and settled himself on the couch beside the other Watcher. Joanna had been staying in his spare room for the last eight days, and had yet to find a suitable apartment that would be convenient for Faith and herself to live in.
"I'd like to get Faith settled in fairly soon though," Joanna continued. "It wouldn't do for her to get too settled within the Summers household. As much as she might enjoy staying with Buffy, Mrs Summers may be against it as soon as she finds out about the two of them."
"You really believe that Mrs…uh, Joyce will be against them?" Giles asked.
"Well…considering I've never actually met the woman, I couldn't really say, but, a lot of mothers aren't particularly accepting of that sort of thing," Joanna explained.
Giles looked at Joanna curiously, his head cocked to the side, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You don't approve of Buffy and Faith?" he asked.
"No, no, that's not what I meant at all. You only have to look at those two girls to understand how much they care for each other, but…you have to bear it in mind that in small towns, people can be very close-minded," Joanna replied.
"I suppose that's true enough. And Joyce didn't seem to be very comfortable with Buffy dating Angel, and for all outwardly appearances, he was just a normal young man," Giles explained. "Of course, when Joyce found out that Angel was actually a vampire who occasionally was a blood-sucking sociopath, that could make one very wary of their daughters suitors. Then again, considering Faith is neither a sociopath nor a soulless creature, Joyce might be slightly more accepting."
Joanna couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head at Giles' words.
"I still cannot believe that you allowed yoru Slayer to date a vampire Ripper," Joanna said.
"I think the word 'allowed' is not quite one that I would be using in connection to Buffy," Giles said, a fond smile coming to his face. "'Unable to prevent' might perhaps be a better phrasing."
"And you wonder why the Council doesn't like you."
Giles just mock-glared at her. He didn't particularly mind that the Council disliked him. He had very little respect for the Council, so it worked quite well for him.
Joanna sighed and put down the book that she'd been reading through for the better part of the evening. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly, wondering if there was any real point to their research when so far it had been fruitless.
"Nothing?" Giles asked, pointing to the book.
"Well, there's a lot of information on the breeding habits of the Gnarl demon, and the diet of Mohras, but absolutely nothing that will lead us to anything useful about the Mayor's Ascension," she replied. "I seem to recall research being a little more appealing at the Academy than it is now. Of course it could have been the company rather than the research itself."
Giles flushed slightly, a shy smile coming to his face. He too could recall the many late hours spent in the Council library with Joanna, researching demons and the occult into the small hours of the morning.
"And yet neither of us managed to get more than a pass on any of our exams," he teased.
"And who's fault was that?" she asked protestingly. "I recall that it was always you who kept…distracting me."
"And I don't remember you ever protesting," he returned.
She grinned at the memory and reached for another book. She shoved it towards him forcefully, hitting him in the stomach with it. He took it from her, deliberately brushing his fingers across hers in the slightest of touches. She looked up and caught his gaze, startled to find that the same spark that she'd been so attracted to eight years earlier was still there after all this time.
Giles seemed to realise exactly what he'd just done and withdrew his hand quickly. He stood in an attempt to alleviate the tension, excusing himself to retreat to the kitchen. As was in his nature, the answer to awkward situations was fairly simple.
He filled the kettle with water and put it on to boil.
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"Y'know, I thought you were bragging when you told me that your mom made the best hot chocolate in the world," Faith said with a grin as Buffy opened the front door for them to enter.
"Would I ever lie?" Buffy asked.
Faith just turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "D'ya really want me to answer that?"
Buffy thought about it for a moment. "Now that I think about it…no."
Faith laughed and the two Slayers headed into the kitchen, where, predictably, Joyce was waiting for them, dressed in a smart-casual outfit, reminding Buffy that her mother wasn't going to be home for the evening. Joyce visibly relaxed when she saw that both Slayers had returned home from their nightly Slayage alive and in tact. She'd thought that being the mother of a Slayer was stressful, but now with two Slayers living in the one house, her worry seemed to have doubled over the last week.
When she'd first met Faith, she'd been slightly perturbed by the girl's cocky confidence. Of course, being a full-time mother, Joyce had automatically seen through her brusque façade and had seen a gentler side of Faith that most people would have over-looked. She had seen how well Buffy and Faith got along, and that Faith's gentler side seemed to emerge even more whenever Buffy was around. Joyce had noticed a large change in Buffy's attitude as well. Instead of the eternal moping that had happened over Angel, Buffy was smiling far more often, and there was an infinite amount of laughter in the house whenever the two girls were around each other.
Buffy opened the fridge and pulled out two cans of diet soda, casually throwing one to Faith who caught it with one hand and opening it in the same gesture. Both girls perched on the stools next to the kitchen counter.
"You two do remember that I'm not at home for dinner this evening, don't you?" Joyce asked when the two girls had settled into their seats.
Both Buffy and Faith nodded, their movements in eerie synchronisation.
"It's cool mom," Buffy assured her. "We'll just order in or something."
"That sounds fine. And the slaying went well then girls?" Joyce asked with an inquisitive but motherly tone in her voice. She wanted so badly to sound interested, but also hoped that Buffy would do her usual level best to edit the majority of the gore and danger from the tales of her exploits.
"It was awesome. There was like, five, no – six was it Buff? – vamps, all comin' at us from this crypt right. 'Cept we didn't know it was there, and one threw Buffy headfirst into a headstone, and -" Faith's diatribe was cut short by a sharp kick to her ankle that had the force of a blonde slayer behind it.
She didn't ask. Faith gathered that details weren't kosher where Joyce Summers was concerned. Message received.
"It was good Mom. Uber vampy action, but all in all, a good slay. Not too much else to say really…except one of the vamps was wearing what I swear was your white cardigan from last winter. Did you give that to the local homeless shelter? That's where all the vamps shop I guess…but it kinda gave me the wiggins…" Buffy realised she was rambling, Willow style, to cover for the total info dump that Faith had inflicted on her mom.
Joyce laughed but was slightly troubled at hearing that her daughter had been thrown into a gravestone. She shrugged off her worry though. If her daughter had managed to survive a relationship with a two hundred and fifty year old vampire, then she was sure a slight concussion was not going to stop her.
"Anyway, we've done our quota for the night, so you don't have to worry about us going back out," Buffy said comfortingly. She saw her mom sigh with relief.
Faith sipped her soda and glanced down at her white singlet, noticing she had spilt some soda there when her ankle had been assaulted by Buffy.
"Oh, geez, look at me. I need a freaking bib, huh? I somehow managed to stay clean during patrol, but the second I come home…it's a whole 'nother story. If you don't mind Mrs Summers, I'm gonna head upstairs and clean up," Faith said breezily, jumping down off her stool.
"Faith, you don't have to ask to leave the room, you know," Joyce said kindly. "This is your home for as long as you're here."
Faith gave the older woman a genuine smile, and subtly ran her fingers lightly down Buffy's spine, making the blonde girl shiver a little. "Have fun tonight Mrs S." With a wink and a grin, Faith walked from the room, leaving Buffy alone with her mother.
Buffy listened for Faith's footsteps on the stairs and she turned slightly pink as her mind wandered to the thought of Faith taking a hot shower. She reminded herself that she was sitting with her mother, and tried to banish the lusty wrong feelings. There would be plenty of time for that later.
"It's just so nice having Faith in the house, Buffy," Joyce said with her head to the side, and smiling at her daughter.
"Yeah, it really is," Buffy grinned back, taking a swig of her drink to cover her expression. She knew she was grinning for a completely different reason.
"You two seem to get along so well. Even you and Willow have never seemed as close as you are with Faith. It's wonderful, you two could almost be sisters."
Buffy snorted in shock and choked on her soda, spraying the brown liquid all over the counter. She coughed, trying to free the fizzy liquid from her lungs and waving off her mother who worriedly patted her back.
When Buffy had finally recovered from nearly choking to death, she turned to look at her mother.
"I don't know that sisters is quite the right word for us," Buffy said.
"But you two do seem to get along," Joyce commented.
Buffy nodded, knowing there was no refuting that statement. "We're friends mom. Good friends."
Joyce just nodded, knowing there was no real reason to argue with her daughter over the topic.
"I have to get going Buffy," Joyce said, glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Make sure you two behave yourselves."
Buffy smirked and just nodded obediently. "We'll be good."
Joyce just nodded, grabbed her purse and walked out into the hallway getting into her car.
Buffy smiled when she heard the car door slam shut and the car drive away. Just the thought of being alone in the house with Faith was enough to send a chill of anticipation up and down her spine. She heard the water upstairs turn off, and after a few moments of silence, she heard Faith yelling out to her.
"You okay?" Buffy asked as Faith poked her head around the door of the bathroom.
"I'm having a slight 'no towel' problem," Faith admitted.
Buffy just smirked, and Faith glared at the shorter girl. "Would you just get me a fricken towel?"
"I just love it when you take charge," Buffy said sarcastically. "Very butch of you."
"Y'know, I got no problem standing here without no clothes, but I don't know that your mom's gonna like it too much. So…if you don't mind, it's getting' awfully cold in here, so could you please get me a fucking towel?"
"You were doing so well up until the whole fucking part," Buffy commented, turning and walking towards the linen closet.
"Really?" Faith asked, a leer on her face. "I thought that was the best part."
Buffy grabbed a towel from the closet and walked back to Faith. She handed it to the other girl, expecting for the door to close. Instead, Faith hooked the towel around Buffy's neck, grinning all the while, and forcibly drew the girl into the bathroom, closing the door behind them.
"Eep."
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Mega thanks for the feedback!! Here's another sneak preview for what's coming next chapter. :)
Their eyes met and sparked. All thoughts of delay, of savouring the moment, were cast aside, and Faith possessively grabbed Buffy's hips, drawing her body up, and allowing the blonde to wrap both legs around Faith's waist. Their mouths met again, lips parting, tongues tracing intimate paths around each other.
S&K.