Anya came out of the bathroom wearing pink cotton pajamas that looked like feminine version of navy pair he had in his hands. He hadn't been living like a monk but it had been a while since he'd had this kind of domestic intimacy with a woman. He hadn't even realized he missed it, but it was possible that he simply craved any kind of intimacy at all with this particular woman.
"You're frowning again Giles, it's not very flattering that were so angry over having to share a room with me. All the rooms reserved for the show have two beds there's no need to go all Claudette Colbert on me. It's not like I'm going to take one look at you in your nightshirt and jump your bones"
It was the fact that Anya was so blasé about sharing a room that had him upset. "Nightshirt! Who do you think I am Scrooge."
"Don't be silly the ghosts killed him long before you were born."
Ignoring another crushed holiday tradition Giles asked, "Did you even try to get another room when you decided I was coming?"
"Now who's calling whom a Scrooge. The desk clerk told you the hotel's been booked full for months."
"I'm sorry, aren't you even a little upset about the false advertising?"
"So there's only one hot tub down by the pool and the fireplace is in the lobby the pleasure part of the trip has been canceled anyway."
"I thought dinner was very pleasant. I didn't bore you. Did I?"
"If you had you know I would've complained. Dinner was nice, I talked as much as you did and you're a good listener. I liked learning stuff about you."
"Things like living with Olivia for a year before I came Sunnydale and owning a beagle named Hush when I was twelve are hardly deep dark secrets."
"I like knowing the light stuff too – I want the whole Rupert Giles…"
"Do you?" Giles said.
"Picture! I want too get to know you. Right now you should get into bed- I mean ready for bed. We need our sleep we'll be doing a lot of walking around tomorrow. Stop trying to fustr…fluster me. I've been around a long time and it won't work, no matter how intense and sexy your gaze gets." Giles went into the bathroom laughing and Anya threw a pillow at his back. After he was done she filled a glass of water for the night and was gratified to see the mirror hadn't steamed up at all.
888
"Here's your ID tag Giles. Whatever you do, do not lose it. It's the only way you can get into and out of the nexus without it that floor of the hotel will just look like a bunch of empty conference rooms being renovated."
"Yes, Anya." They stepped though the door together and felt a shimmer of magic that Xander would have found satisfyingly Star Trek like.
"And you can pick out the books but I do the negotiating on price." Anya continued laying the ground rules without pause, "You get emotional about the moldy old things and the dealers can spot it a mile off."
"Anything else?" Giles asked. The place was huge and crowded with humans and demons of every description. There must have been an acoustics-spell in place because while they could clearly hear everyone talking it didn't seem noisy.
"We're not here to buy weapons for Buffy we're here to buy for the shop."
"Agreed."
"Why are your eyes sparkling like that?"
"Sparkling?" Giles asked a little alarmed and looked around for a mirror.
"Relax, I meant sparkling mischievously not mystically."
"I've lived on the Hellmouth far too long." Giles said look at the tag on Anya's shirt. "What do the numbers next to the names mean?"
"Oh, that's to say which Giles and Anya we are The first three number indicates the dimension see were from 147 and the fourth number is for the show records I have a number three so I'm the third me to enter the nexus."
"There are other versions of us here? That could be disconcerting."
"Not necessarily we could just be the 3rd version of me and the 5th version of you to ever attend or there could be a dozen of us and we were the 3rd and 5th to book. But look around at all of these people the odds are against running into yourself." Anya answered while sniffing a candle.
The person running the candle stall, a woman with a thick, black braid down her back wearing heavily embroidered purple dress, finished a transaction on the other side of the aisle and turn to them. She smiled at Anya and was and to start her sales pitch when she saw Giles and her smile became warmer. "Rupert!"
"Amanda, is that you?"
"Yes, Amanda Tolley 147 vendor. I'm your Manda confusing keeping track here sometimes isn't it?"
"Well, to be honest I haven't had a chance to be confused yet we just got here. How have you been? Are you still living in Bath?" Giles said.
"I'm just fine and I can tell by looking at you you're doing very well. I'm still in Bath, this is part of how the coven raises funds. I've got a peach of a spot for us this year. You practically need to sign away your soul for a place near the entrance."
"That wouldn't be literally would it? My Giles can be picky about that sometimes you know. How much a piece for these and what's your minimum order, on second thought - we'll wait and pick something up on the way out." Anya said in her 'professional' voice.
"Oh yes, I can definitely see that you are doing well, Rupert." Amanda laughed then gave Giles a kiss on the cheek and said. "Blessings to you both."
Giles hand truck filled slowly but surely over the next few hours and Anya's notebook was getting thicker filling up with order forms and brochures. The next dealer to gain their attention did so by force. He had the face of a Shar Pi and the voice of a used car salesman. His fast well-practiced sales pitch touted the benefits of his beginner potion kits. They didn't buy from him but Giles could see Anya's wheels turning she was thinking that they could make up something like this on their own.
They agreed that the next stop would be the last before lunch. It was a real relief that the owner of Babel Spell Books and Prophetic Scrolls let them brose on their own for a while. Giles found a few books he'd been looking for, for years and a scroll that looked like it might have something of interest in it. The book dealer was an older man with very thick, black rimmed glasses and a kind face. His name tag said Harold Smith 148 vendor.
"Excellent choice Rupert I'm glad you and Anya could make it this again this year. You do realize that scroll is only partially relevant to your friends Spike and Buffy. It really pertains to the next dimension over you know 147." Giles tried to correct Mr. Smith's misconception but he wasn't given a chance to speak. "Anya how is that little one of yours? Christina must be walking by now and getting into everything. I remember when mine were that age and I know godparents with superpowers would have come in mighty handy. Don't you worry, Buffy won't let Spike spoil the girl too badly and the two of you can use the time away to work on a baby brother for Christina."
"It's not fair." Anya declared, picking at her salad while the server offered Giles more tea. "You meet an old orgasm friend the minute we arrive. Here I am single for the first time in ever and what do I get -an old man asking after my baby."
