Title: Double date
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Genre: Humour, Romance, light angst
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Nope, I still do not own Buffy TVS and its characters. I make no profit out of this... bummer. ;)
Summary: Set somewhere while Giles owns the Magic Box and Buffy is a College student. No Riley and no Olivia.
A/N: Hi again, everyone! This was originally meant to be a short B/G sex charged story Back in 2010, I wrote up to chapter 7, and now in 2024, I'm working on adding new chapters. Expect a lot of steam (Mature content) starting from chapter 4. There's a bit of humour, light Angst and fluff in the mix. But basically... Steam, smut and more sex... Let's be honest.
A/N2: If you like my writing, please feel free to check out my other stories as well!
"Buffy!" Giles leapt from his seat, his voice carrying an uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "What a delight! How wonderful it is to see you!"
Buffy stopped in her tracks, eyes wide with surprise as she had just stepped into the café. She hadn't expected such an exuberant greeting, especially not from Giles. Caught off guard by both his presence and his sudden outburst, she blinked, trying to make sense of the situation, unsure how to respond.
"How have you been?" he continued, speaking quickly, almost as if he were racing through his words. "Everything going alright?"
"Uh… yeah," Buffy replied, her voice uncertain. She was still trying to understand why he was acting so strangely. This wasn't the Giles she was used to.
"Splendid!" Giles exclaimed, a nervous energy radiating from him as he tugged at his collar. His gaze flicked to the man beside her. "And who's your companion?" he asked, his head tilting slightly as he scratched the back of his neck, clearly eager to keep the conversation alive.
"Ah, uh... this is Aaron," Buffy introduced, still lost in the oddness of the situation. "Aaron, this is Giles."
Giles clasped Aaron's hand with a grip that was far too eager, a overly broad grin plastered across his face.
"Please, sit with us!" Giles said abruptly, motioning toward the table as if he couldn't get the words out fast enough.
Buffy hesitated, her mind racing. 'What was up with Giles? And… who was this woman with him?'
"Oh, t-this is Christina," Giles said, referring to the beautiful blonde woman seated at the table.
"Hi!" Christina greeted with a friendly wave, her smile bright.
"Please, do join us," he murmured, his hand resting on Buffy's shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze as his eyes implored her to understand his unspoken request.
"Yeah... Yeah, sure!" Buffy agreed, though still cautious, as she slid into the seat across from Christina. Aaron followed suit, slipping into the booth beside Buffy.
Giles exhaled a long, quiet sigh of relief. He could hardly believe the situation he found himself in.
Everything had started so innocently. Christina had first visited the Magic Box a couple of months ago. She was always friendly and polite, the kind of customer who brightened the day with a smile. Just last week, they'd bumped into each other at the Espresso Pump, and what began as a casual encounter turned into a shared coffee—tea for him. Giles had certainly noticed her breathtaking beauty, but what intrigued him more was her sharp mind, evident in their brief conversations.
Tonight, they had met again by chance at the Espresso Pump. It was a Saturday evening, around 8 PM. Christina had already secured a table and warmly invited Giles to join her. 'Why not?' he had thought, scanning the crowded café where every table was taken. He took a seat across from her, ordered a tea... and then, finding himself a hostage of the circumstances, ended up ordering dinner. That led to a bottle of wine, and that's when things began spiralling out of control.
Giles had only taken a few polite sips of his wine during dinner, while Christina, on the other hand, seemed determined to drain the entire bottle on her own. As the wine flowed, so did her inhibitions. Feeling 'hot,' as she declared, Christina shrugged off her jacket and unbuttoned her blouse—a few buttons too many. The glimpse of a lacy red bra peaking from her cleavage, while undeniably eye-catching, was the last thing Giles needed to see from one of his most loyal and profitable customers.
Christina was a herbology teacher at the local university, and as such, she purchased all the necessary materials for her classes at the Magic Box, often recommending the shop to her students. At just 29 years old, she was very intelligent and had a promising career ahead of her. However, as Giles was only now discovering, she had a surprising weakness for alcohol.
He didn't want to ruin the rapport they'd built. Yet, he was having an increasingly hard time trying to ignore her cleavage, and he felt an overwhelming sense of relief when Buffy walked into the café and agreed to join them. After that, he no longer had to sit facing Christina, and relief washed over him.
Now, let me tell you about Buffy's night...
While Giles was navigating his own unexpected situation, Buffy had her own evening unfolding at the Bronze with Willow and Xander. They arrived around 8 PM, diving into the lively atmosphere. The trio was having a blast, the music loud and the atmosphere electric. At one point, Willow nudged Buffy, drawing her attention to one of the senior college guys across the room. He was good-looking, with a broad smile and brown hair, surrounded by his friends.
It didn't take long for him to notice Buffy, and soon they were engaging in the familiar game they'd been playing around campus; exchanging glances and smiles from a distance.
Fifty-seven minutes later, he finally made his move, approaching Buffy with a confident grin. "HI!" he shouted over the pounding music, "CAN I BUY YOU A DRINK?" He mimicked drinking from an invisible glass, trying to make himself understood above the noise.
"THANKS, BUT NO! I DON'T DRINK MUCH!" Buffy shouted back, her expression apologetic but her smile inviting.
"IT'S OKAY, MY NAME IS AARON!" he continued, his voice raised but still friendly and polite.
"SORRY, WHAT?" Buffy leaned in slightly, straining to catch his words over the blaring music, genuinely interested despite the difficulty.
"AARON!" he repeated, this time extending his hand toward her.
"OH! I'M BUFFY!" she replied, offering her hand with a smile.
They stood there for a moment, exchanging smiles from just a couple of feet apart. The interaction was halting, but there was still a spark of interest between them.
During a brief lull between songs, Aaron seized the opportunity to speak more clearly. "WANT TO GET SOME FRESH AIR?"
Buffy hesitated for a second, thinking, 'Hmm, that's different. Usually, the guys just invite me to dance and try to grope me'.
"YEAH!" she responded as the music surged back to life.
She quickly waved at Willow, then glanced at Aaron, indicating her intentions with her eyes. Willow gave a smile and a quick knowing wink.
Outside the Bronze, Aaron looked at Buffy with a slight flush of embarrassment. "Sorry, what's your name again?" he asked, realizing he hadn't caught it the first time.
"Buffy," she replied with a friendly smile.
"It's very nice to meet you, Buffy. I'm Aaron."
She returned his smile, warming slightly to his earnestness.
"Boy, it was so loud inside," he said, trying to keep the conversation going.
Noticing her discomfort with the cigarette smoke swirling around them, he hesitated before suggesting, "Would you like to go for a walk? Maybe grab a coffee?"
Buffy could sense his insecurity, but this whole situation was different for her. She didn't know him at all, but she was the Slayer. If anyone was going to be a victim tonight, it certainly wouldn't be her.
"Sure, what about the Espresso Pump?" she offered, hoping to ease his nerves.
He smiled, relieved, and they began walking and talking. But as they strolled, things started to go downhill.
'He's a nice guy', Buffy kept telling herself. 'But we're just... different'.
That summed it up. Aaron was nice, and so was Buffy, but they just didn't click. That's why, when she walked into the café and was met with Giles' unexpected outburst, she was more than happy to join him at the table—surprised, yes, but also relieved to have an excuse to redirect her evening.
Now, seated at the table with Giles, Aaron, and Christina, Buffy tried to settle into the new dynamic.
"So..." Giles started, his voice a bit too eager, "would you like some coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?"
He was obviously still unsettled, and Buffy couldn't help but wonder why, until her gaze landed on Christina's revealing neckline. She bit back a laugh, but a pang of uneasiness crept in at seeing Giles so visibly affected by the woman's display of... well, her private assets.
"Coffee, thank you," Aaron had replied while Buffy was drowned in her thoughts.
As they all waited for the waitress to notice them, Giles turned to Buffy with an almost desperate cheerfulness. "Buffy, did I mention how nice it is to see you?" he repeated.
Buffy glared at him, trying to suppress her amusement. She and Giles had spent the entire morning training at the Magic Box, and they were scheduled for another session bright and early tomorrow.
It wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other in ages, though it probably seemed that way to Aaron and Christina.
"So, how was your day?" Giles inquired, his voice betraying a certain urgency, as he desperately tried to keep things moving. "And, er... perhaps you could tell us more about your companion... Adam," he added, gesturing vaguely toward the younger man.
"Aaron, sir," the young man corrected politely.
"Aaron! Yes, Aaron," Giles repeated, his voice suddenly shooting up an octave as Christina's hand boldly landed on his lap, catching him entirely off guard.
Completely oblivious, Buffy began explaining that Aaron was a colleague from her college and that they'd only just met tonight at the Bronz—
But before she could finish, Giles sprang up from the booth, his face flushed. Christina's hand had ventured somewhere it definitely shouldn't have. "I... I... I'll just go place our order at the counter," he stammered, quickly making his escape.
Everyone at the table stared in shock at Giles's sudden move, except for Christina, who, with a drunken smile, casually ran a finger teasingly down her cleavage.
Giles reached the counter in record time.
"Excuse me," Buffy said before slipping away from the table and walking over to Giles.
She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Good grief, Buffy!" he exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart as if to steady it.
"Sorry," she said, pulling her hand back.
"She's coming on to you pretty strong, huh?" Buffy asked with a sympathetic smile.
"I'm, quite frankly, out of my depth here." His face was flushed with a mix of anxiety and embarrassment.
He hesitated for a moment, then continued with the careful precision of someone navigating an unfamiliar terrain. "Christina is... an important customer. She's been an asset to the Magic Box, recommending it to her students and colleagues. I—I can't afford to jeopardise that relationship over a misunderstanding or... or improper conduct."
His gaze dropped briefly, "However," he said softly, "at the end of the day, I'm still just a man."
The honesty in those words startled Buffy, catching her off guard. She blinked, unsure why her chest tightened at that. The sight of Giles standing there, affected, and so very... human. For a fleeting moment, a ripple of discomfort swept through her.
"Um, you mean... You want her?" Buffy asked, her tone tinged with surprise.
Giles removed his glasses, polishing them in deliberate silence.
"You do?" she pressed, needing to understand.
"That is rather not the point." he replied at last. "It's complicated, Buffy. She is a wonderful woman, but we simply aren't suited to one another." He slid his glasses back on.
"So, it's your fancy way of saying you guys don't click?" she asked, trying to make sense of it.
"Yes," he admitted with a frustrated shrug.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I feel the same about Aaron. We're just so off the rack," she quipped with a grin.
Giles raised a brow at her phrasing but couldn't suppress a small chuckle. They shared a soft, understanding laugh, both feeling momentarily amused by it all.
Buffy's eyes flicked toward the table, where Christina and Aaron seemed engrossed in conversation—or at least Christina was, while Aaron kept darting glances at her cleavage. Inspiration struck. "Why don't we set them up?" she blurted out.
Giles straightened, eyes widening. "I beg your pardon?"
"Yeah! Why don't we pair Christina with Aaron?" Buffy gestured toward the pair, her tone far too casual for Giles's comfort.
Giles regarded her with an incredulous expression, his brow furrowing deeply. "Buffy, that is—" he stopped himself, his lips pressing into a disapproving line.
"What?" she said, her eyes feigning innocence. "There's no harm in trying, is there?"
Giles responded with a steady glare, his eyes narrowing slightly, clearly unimpressed by her reasoning.
Buffy shrugged, grinning impishly. "I've got an idea. Trust me and follow my lead."
A/N: The year is 2024, and I'm in the midst of revising and adding new chapters to this fiction. I hope there are still some Buffy/Giles fans out there. Enjoy!
Rippertish
