Buffy nodded unhappily as Adam lowered her to the floor. "Last night."
"Who?"
Buffy's voice was low. "Gregory Deitrich."
"Ah." The word held a world of understanding and sorrow. Adam pulled Buffy into his chest and she burrowed her way into the warmth of his cable-knit sweater. He murmured several things to her in a second language, one that neither Giles nor Angel recognized, and Giles was surprised to hear Buffy give muffled responses into Adam's sweater in the same language.
Snyder and Giles both cleared their throats at the same time, then looked at each other with irritation. "Dr. Pierson has agreed to be a temporary assistant in the library while he seeks more permanent employment in this area. I'm sure you'll find his references impeccable." Snyder gave Adam a dirty look, not liking that Buffy was snuggled to his chest, nearly hypnotized by his heartbeat.
"I know Dr. Pierson. He took a few of my lecture courses at the University of Durham." Giles gave a businesslike smile. "He was quite helpful identifying some unusual pieces at the museum also. We should get on well. He's the top young researcher in his field."
Snyder looked at Adam sourly. "I must warn you that Miss Summers is the biggest troublemaker in the school. You would do well to distance yourself from her, especially as she is a student. She is certainly beneath your attention -- a very poor student."
Buffy laughed in Snyder's startled face. "Fat chance." She ran a fingernail down Adam's throat in an disconcertingly intimate gesture.
"Miss Summers, detention this afternoon."
Buffy clapped her hands in a giddy imitation of Drusilla. "Oh, goody! Can I have it with Adam? We'll have tea and cakes! And sausages and buns!"
At Snyder's sour face, Adam coughed back a laugh. "I'm well aware of Buffy's troublemaking tendencies. It's one of her more endearing qualities." He tousled Buffy's hair in an affectionate manner.
"He taught me everything I know." Buffy smiled sweetly at the principal, who was turning redder by the minute.
Adam protested. "Oh, no. Amanda should get some of the credit."
"Oh, I don't know. She's good, but I'm not sure Amanda has anything on you. 'Sides, I taught Amanda, remember?"
"Yes, yes, I remember. What a fool I was to be anywhere near the two of you at the time! Now, remind me why did I do that?" Adam feigned trying to remember and rubbing his chin.
"Because you love me so much, Adam. And you don't mind Amanda either." Buffy snuggled into him some more.
"She's quite the tumble, but now that the damn Boy Scout's around, I'm not getting any out of her." Adam chuckled. "Better him than me."
"I see that the three of you have some catching up to do." Snyder bolted out of the room, attempting to reclaim the threads of his dignity, his hopes of using the new assistant librarian as a spy squashed.
As the library doors swung shut, Angel walked up to Buffy and grabbed her by the arms. "What is your problem?" He shook her a bit, his expression both angry and afraid. "You haven't been yourself since you killed that guy last night!"
Buffy peeled Angel's fingers off her arms. "Demon -- I killed a demon last night, Angel. It was him or me. I chose me."
"Yes, Buffy, why don't you tell your watcher what sort of 'demon' you killed last night. I believe it was the human sort of demon -- the same sort of demon you are. Feeling guilty, love?" Angel turned his back on Buffy, walking out of the library through the stacks, headed for the sewers. As a parting shot he called. "And tell him why you revealed yourself to Adam here -- a stranger, no less. Though I guess he's no stranger to you."
"That soul doesn't agree with him much, does it?" Adam pointed out.
Buffy sighed. "Not really."
Xander snagged another donut out of the box. "I can't tell the difference."