"Giles! I can't do this. It's too hard."
"Yes, you can."
"I can't! I don't have enough fingers."
"Dawn," Giles sighed patiently, "It's simply a matter of relaxation and concentration."
"Yeah, I know. You said that twice already. Doesn't mean I can do it any better, though. I mean... how do I relax and concentrate? If I concentrate, I tense up. So relaxing at the same time is a complete impossibility."
"No, it's not. Look, watch as I do it." He wrapped his hand around the neck of the guitar relaxing into a gentle grip as his fingers formed a 'B-minor' chord.
Dawn frowned with a mix of confusion and mild irritation at the easy way the chord suited his hand. "How did you do that? I can't do that. How did you do that?"
"You really do need to relax. If your muscles are tense, your fingers won't have any freedom to move quickly and easily into shape. If you're not confident enough to attempt the chord yet, then just practice loosening up your muscles - although I think you'll find that the chords you've learnt so far will have helped a great deal to that end."
"Hmm." She flexed her hand for a minute, before trying again. A small grunt of exasperation escaped as, yet again, she failed to produce a ringing chord. "Okay, I have to ask: why were bar chords created? I mean, they're impossible to play and that completely takes the fun out of it and even if they have some sort of weird purpose, why should I have to suffer the torment of learning them?" She drew a deep breath, adding, "After all, it's not like Elvis used many of them in his songs. I've been looking for something suitable for this assignment and he mostly uses the base chords. Even the song I finally decided on has only three bar chords in it and I'm pretty sure we could fake those."
"Fake them?" Giles' eyebrows shot skyward in perfect synchronisation with the pitch rising in his voice. "How do you know about faking chords?"
She grinned triumphantly back at him. "I read that stuff you gave me and got so into it all that I ended up looking up as much as possible on the 'net."
"Pardon?"
"Yeah, I was surprised too. I mean, I'm not you, you know? I don't read for fun much these days... but... this is different. It's really interesting and... it's helped a lot. I think I finally get what makes up a chord so I know that I could just play a 'D' chord but instead of playing an 'A' on the G-string, I could play a 'B'." The triumphant grin became smug. "Impressed?"
With a slow smile forming on his lips, he nodded. "I would be... if you were describing a 'B' minor chord with a 'D' in the bass - but the thing is, Dawn, quite often it is the bass note that makes a chord truly ring out - and it just wouldn't work if you cut the 'D' out altogether and only played the top three strings. But, nevertheless," he quickly added as he noticed her deflate slightly, "I am truly impressed by your eagerness to learn."
"Honest?"
The smile settled in place as he watched her perk back up. "Honest."
"Good." She glanced briefly down at where her hand still rested before flicking her gaze back up to him. "Not that I'm only doing it to impress you, of course. Nor anyone else for that matter. I'm not as shallow as Buffy thinks."
"Come on, Dawn, you know she didn't mean it like that."
She nodded in agreement. "You're right... she didn't. I just meant..." Her sentence trailed off as she realised she didn't know what she had meant and abruptly changed the subject. "Oh, I was meaning to thank you for that, by the way."
As if sensing the serious direction in which their conversation was suddenly headed, Giles laid aside his guitar and leaned back against the sofa.
"What exactly are you thanking me for?"
"For talking to Buffy." She paused, regarding his slightly puzzled expression, before enquiring, "You did talk to her, right?"
He nodded slowly. "I did. Why, has something happened?"
Dawn grinned in reply. "I'd say! It's like I have a brand new sister!" She giggled. "Well, maybe it's not that drastic, but she sure seems happier... well, most of the time. Sometimes she still gets miserable - and weirdly enough, it's usually right after she's been really, really happy - it's almost as if she thinks she doesn't deserve the happiness." She carried on, totally unaware of the darkness that had clouded his eyes. "But still, you know, on the whole, things are better. I mean... yesterday... get this... she apologised to me. To me! That's, like, the first time that's ever happened. She said she was sorry if she'd made me think she was mad at me 'cause she wasn't, she was mad at herself or something... I didn't get all of what she said; I was still recovering from the shock." She giggled again. "Anyway, the point is that whatever you did worked. So... thank you!" At these last words, she too set her guitar aside before leaning forward on all fours to plant a gentle kiss of appreciation on his slightly flushed cheek.
"You're... ah... you're more than welcome, Dawn. Although I think she worked more things out on her own than she realises."
"Yeah... but you helped... I know you did, you always do... and I'm guessing that it's something you've said that's gotten her so chirpy, lately. So, c'mon... what'd you say?"
"I..." He hesitated for only a moment as he considered the wisdom of sharing his part in that conversation with the teen, before ploughing on. "I simply told her that I had no intention of leaving and that we would do something special this weekend."
Dawn's eyes widened and she clamped a hand to her mouth, barely stifling a giggle. "That was what all this was about?" Before she could catch it, the giggle escaped. "There I was thinking... well, I'm not sure what it was, but it definitely wasn't this. So, basically, she wanted you all to herself?" This time the giggle grew into a peal of laughter and she stood up, shaking her head with amusement. "Why on earth didn't she just say?"
He laughed in unison with her, as he accepted the proffered hand that pulled him to his feet. "You know Buffy."
"Yuh-huh." Another girly laugh rang through the house and she tugged on the hand she held, leading Giles into the hallway. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get this music to show you, while you can make some drinks."
"Oh, I can, can I?" His eyes silently twinkled with good humour as he obeyed her instructions, heading toward the kitchen while she ascended the stairs. He halted momentarily when he heard his name called and looked back to see her hanging over the banister.
"And Giles? Once that's done, we can settle down all comfy-like and you can tell me what these plans of yours are for the weekend."
He groaned inwardly but kept a neutral expression on his face. "Why? Are you planning on being my assistant in making arrangements?"
A wicked grin formed on Dawn's lips. "I wouldn't say assistant, exactly... think more along the lines of... accomplice."