"I'm hoping you have a very good reason for the destruction of school property," Principal Snyder said with smug authority, sitting down behind his desk.

It took Giles a moment to realize that Snyder (or, as Buffy and Xander referred to him, the annoying troll masquerading under the guise of a school principal) was referring to the computer, which had completely shorted out last night after binding Moloch to the robot. Ms. Calendar had examined it before dismally deeming it completely unusable. This then led to Giles saying that it was completely unusable in the first place, which led to a round of strangely friendly verbal sparring.

It had been a nice night.

After registering the trouble they were in, Giles looked very pointedly over at Ms. Calendar. Computers were her terrain, and therefore she was better suited to handle this. Perhaps she could come up with a legitimate reason as to why the computer was so damaged.

"Um," said Ms. Calendar. "We—" She bit her lip. "It's a sensitive subject."

"Ms. Calendar, as an employee of this school, you should be aware of the fact that these kinds of things can lead to heavy fines and possibly even arrests," Snyder informed her. He seemed to be enjoying getting to tell someone off, bloody rodent.

"Actually, I don't think people usually get arrested for—" Giles began, but was fixed with a deadly look from Snyder. This wasn't what stopped him from talking, though; Ms. Calendar had elbowed him to shut him up.

"I understand," persevered Ms. Calendar, "but—"

"Therefore," Principal Snyder talked over Ms. Calendar (which annoyed Giles immensely for a reason he couldn't explain), "it's your responsibility to explain exactly how that computer was broken, or I'll be forced to take legal action against the both of you."

"Principal Snyder, honestly, the explanation we have isn't something you'll want to hear," Ms. Calendar explained with surprising patience. She glanced over at Giles. "I have a point, don't I?"

"Entirely," Giles agreed. "We'll both pay for the computer."

Ms. Calendar smiled at him. Her smile was quite lovely without its usual sarcastic edge. "That's nice of you," she said quietly, the remark clearly not directed at Snyder. "Thanks."

"Of course." Giles gave her a brief smile in return. "It's only fair. I did contribute greatly to the computer's demise."

"It is my right as your supervisor to know what happens in this school!" Snyder interjected. "You two are in the wrong here!"

Ms. Calendar's smile vanished, replaced by a determined look that evoked quite a lot of nervousness in Giles. He'd seen that look before, mostly when she was making a more risqué comment in the staff room or saying something with a conscious effort to offend. He only hoped that she wouldn't say something like—

"Fine. You caught us." Ms. Calendar turned to Snyder, staring him down. "We had sex in the library."

Giles choked on air.

"It's okay, Rupert." Ms. Calendar hadn't even giggled a little, which Giles would have found quite impressive if not for the fact that he was too stunned to think. "Principal Snyder said that it's his right to know what happens in this school, so I'm telling him. We had sex up against the bookshelves, and in his office, and we were on the table when we knocked the computer down and it shorted out." She smiled, saccharine-sweet, at Snyder. "I did say it was a…" Her fingers trailed casually up Giles's forearm, and he had to fight back a shiver. "Sensitive subject. But hey, you kept on asking, and as my supervisor, I have to explain things to you."

Principal Snyder stared at them, seemingly frozen.

"In case you were wondering, it was mostly anger sex, but we're thinking of hooking up in the counseling office again," Ms. Calendar added. "All those comfy couches."

Giles, who had barely managed to come back to earth, suddenly recalled that Principal Snyder had signed him up to manage the school talent show, and that shocking the exasperating man so completely was something that he quite wanted to be a part of. "Ms. Calendar, I was rather hoping that you would be more discreet about our illicit activities," he said weakly, his astonishment now serving to only support her story.

He saw surprise flicker across Ms. Calendar's face, but she masked it remarkably well before replying, "Hey, I've got a lot to brag about." She gave him the once-over, gaze lingering on his mouth. Giles drew in a shuddering breath that wasn't faked at all.

"Get out of my office," said Snyder. His voice was shaking, but it wasn't clear as to whether it was from shock or anger.

"Happy to oblige," Giles agreed, and stood up. Ms. Calendar stood up with him, and they walked out arm in arm.

As soon as the doors shut, Giles turned to her, unable to think of anything he could possibly say.

Ms. Calendar grinned at him. "And that," she said, "is how you shut him up."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Giles, and found himself grinning back.