Oz appeared in the library shortly into second period, a sheepish grin on his face and pointed to his book bag lying on the floor beside the cage. He went to retrieve the book, and stopped short as he passed near Adam on the way out. Sniffing, he looked the new man in the eye. "You know Buffy?" At Adam's nod, Oz said, "huh," and left the library.
To his credit, Adam Pierson handled the throngs of fawning teenage girls -- because Larry and Oz were the only boys to visit -- with great aplomb. He was polite to a fault, but somehow brushed off their clumsy attempts to catch his attention without making any of them feel silly. Giles watched him with awe. Giles had cultivated the stuffy, stuttering British watcher persona to force a distance between him and the nubile young students of the school. Keep them out of reach so you won't be tempted, he had figured, and it had worked, maybe too well. Over time, he'd come to know most of the teens that had ventured into the library, and his awareness of their childish immaturity had overcome any fleeting purely physical attraction. Adam, on the other hand, could wade well into the deep waters of lithesome California teenagers, obviously enjoying the attention, but somehow immune to their charms. When lunchtime arrived and the adoring throng scattered and Giles and Adam had the library to themselves.
"You managed to fend off those girls quite well." Giles commented.
Adam shrugged. "They're not all that tempting."
Giles gave him an incredulous look.
"Well, the slayer will be in my bed tonight. Why would I be interested in anyone else?" Adam smiled, and Giles felt a brief flash of anger at Adam's cockiness. "Besides, if she thought I showed interest in another woman, do you think I'd live very long?"
Giles reconsidered. Buffy's temper was legendary, but she didn't kill humans. "I doubt she'd kill you."
"Oh, I'm quite certain she would. Painfully." Adam made a face, as if calling up some unhappy memory.
"Whatever happened to that lovely Italian girl you dated in college?" Giles and Ethan had not been particularly attentive to the fraternization rules during their graduate work. There had been an embarrassingly large number of undergraduates of both sexes lured to their bed during his tenure as teaching assistant to one of the professors at Durham. Including Adam. Along with a lovely well-endowed Italian girl who had with few inhibitions and no limits to her willingness to experiment with the three men, although her relationship had been solely with Adam. "What was her name?"
"Isabella Corsini." Adam answered shortly.
"Yes, Isabella." Giles answered. "Whatever happened to her?"
"She died." At Giles' look of surprise, Adam sighed. "It was seven years ago. We were on an extended vacation after my graduation from the Sorbonne. We had settled in Tuscany for our final stop before returning to Paris. She had an aneurism in her sleep. When I awoke the next morning, she was already cold." Adam's face had closed down into an emotionless mask.
"I am sorry for your loss." Giles felt a sick cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. Isabella had been so very vibrant and alive, it was hard to imagine her dead. And so senselessly. He had become almost accustomed to battle losses -- but to lose a friend to a natural death, it seemed almost mundane, and unfair, that such a brilliant woman should be snuffed out by an accident of nature. "Isabella was an amazing woman."
Isabella had split and taken Adam with her when he and Ethan began their investigations of Eyghon. In retrospect, that had been a wise move on her part. The day that Adam and Isabella had politely refused any more invitations to join them had been the beginning of the rift between Giles and Ethan. The fallout of the Eyghon incident had widened the gap. His father's arrival on his doorstep, along with Travers and several Council enforcers, had been the final straw. He had been moved from his home with Ethan and guarded day and night until he finished his dissertation. And he had been tailed 24-7 well into his years at the British Museum.
"Tea?" At Adam's nod, Giles turned his back on Adam and went to make the tea. "It's clear Buffy told you she is the slayer. Pardon me if I fail to see how my slayer would begin to approach the appeal of…"
"Isabella?" Adam smiled at him, yet it was a sad smile.
Giles cleared his throat as he returned to the table with two steaming mugs of tea. Passing one to Adam, he sat across from him. He could feel a hot flush creeping up his cheeks. "Yes."
"Buffy has her own appeal." Adam gave a slightly sappy smile. That eased Giles' discomfort that Adam, an acquaintance of his youth and casual lover, there had been no real romantic attachment, was now intimate with his slayer. "She doesn't need to be someone else."
"I suppose there's no way to persuade you to abandon your relationship with my slayer?" Rupert asked.
Adam looked up at him in surprise. "I thought you'd prefer me over Angelus."
"She's seventeen. She doesn't need the distraction of a sexual relationship at this age. With anyone. And she certainly doesn't need the pregnancy risk."
"And if I assure you there is no risk of pregnancy with me?"
Rupert shrugged. "She's still very young. And I'm sure you could find other willing partners." Giles gave him a knowing look.
Adam smirked at him. "And you're offering your services. What would Ethan say?"
"Well, if Ethan were around, he'd probably be jumping for joy. But we split up years ago."
Adam leaned back in his seat, an unreadable expression on his face. "Ripper, it wouldn't work."
"Why not?"
"For one, I love Buffy. I won't violate her trust, and I'm not interested in anyone else. Second, college explorations aside, which were instigated by Isabella, I might remind you, I'm not gay. Third, see the first reason." Adam put his tea on the table and pushed back. "You were always interested in Isabella, not me. If Ethan had made the same offer, I'd still refuse it, but it would be a little more convincing." Adam walked over to the coat rack, as if to get his coat. "I know you are her watcher, and I imagine you are protective of Buffy, but I am not the enemy."
"And what of Angelus?"
Adam shrugged. "I'm here because I was told Buffy needed me here. I'm not concerned with Angelus."
"You should be."
"No, he shouldn't." Buffy slid into the library bearing several bags, Willow and Oz close at her heels. "Here, Adam. Bought out Wang's for you. It's the real deal. Grandma Wang cooks authentic Szechwan for you, if you order in Chinese."