Giles' Happy Halloween
Oct. 29th, 2013 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katleept<3 <3 <3 Dedicated To My Beloved Drew! <3 <3 <3
Giles paused in humming his favorite tune of the season to flash his fangs in the mirror. For a change, he did not laugh at or berate himself for his silliness. His mood was unusually light. He was happier than he had been all year, and he knew he had this time of the year to thank for it.
He continued to smile and hum as he poured the necessary ingredients for his plan into a giant, multi-colored bowl. He was being silly. He knew he was. He should be spending this time to research and prepare for the next attack. Things had been quiet lately -- they usually were during this holiday --, but he knew that never lasted. Why, his group had even managed to be attacked several times on this very night when monsters rarely came out of their lairs.
But not this year or, at least, not yet, and he hoped their luck held out. It would be so nice just to spend one evening relaxing with friends and doing what no Watcher should do. Finally, he chuckled at himself and his silliness. Oh, if the Watcher's Council or his father could see him now, he would surely never hear the end of their taunts, disapprovals, and snickerings, and they'd also probably remove all of his credentials!
Then again, he thought, his smile turning quite fond, they would try, but his Slayer would not let them. Only Buffy (and the First) could find a way to bring the entire Watcher's Council to a stop and twist their stiff arses to do what she wanted. Rupert chuckled again. He was sounding more like Ripper this evening, but he didn't care. He wanted to be free this night, and free he would be.
He took his bowl and settled down on his settee. He had just recently find replaced his old -- and broken by yet another attacking Demon -- settee with a new and larger one made of leather. It was new and thoroughly American, two things he usually detested, but he had made the purchase with this very evening in mind. His companions of the night would surely like it.
He uncurled a few of the colorful wrappers from their possessions and munched on them as he waited. It wouldn't be long. He knew they'd come. They had every year they'd been able since they'd first began this tradition upon finding him alone one All Hallow's Eve. They'd come as soon as they could, and they'd call him if they needed him. He had no doubt of that, but yet, every chime on the clock on his fireplace mantel seemed like a huge dong prevailing gloom and death.
He placed the bowl on the small table before his settee, shook his gray head, removed his spectacles, and set to cleaning them. Buffy was right: One of the main reasons he cleaned his spectacles so much was to distract himself from thoughts of the young teenagers with whom he tended to surround himself. He paused for a moment, reflecting. Was it sad that a man of his age sat alone on this night, eagerly awaiting the arrival of a group of teenagers, only one of whom could ever possibly reach his level of intelligence? Was it sad that he looked forward to allowing a Vampire into his home? Was it truly as pathetic as it sounded that his entire life had come to revolve around children who were not his own?
The doorbell finally rang. Giles immediately placed his glasses back on his nose, grabbed his bowl, and ran to his door. Once there, however, as the second chime rang, he paused to straighten his outfit and furl his cape just a little more around himself. He knew wearing such with his current, apparent persona was a horrible cliche, as Buffy would call it, for few Vampires had ever worn capes, but it went with the outfit he'd seen her admiring in the costume shop. He clucked once more at himself, his cheeks heating a little as he thought of how much he strove to please a woman who, although she was more beautiful, bold, and strong than any other woman he'd ever met, wasn't even half his age. But then, he reminded himself again, as the third chime rang, that age had nothing to do with their mutual admiration and finally opened his door.
"AARRR!" the Pirate on his doorstep exclaimed another terrible cliche while waving his hook in his face. "I've come for yer booty! Give me all yer candy!"
Giles beamed at his young friend and was about to tease Xander when his words caught in his suddenly dry throat. Willow, Kennedy, and Dawn were trailing behind Xander while talking and laughing, but beyond them, just beginning to come up his pathway, was the object of his thoughts from just a few seconds before. He stared at her, forgetting his mouth was open to speak, Xander waiting for the candy he was about to spill as its bowl began tipping over in his arm, Xander himself and the others present as well, and how undignified it was to gawk at a young lady. If called in that moment, Rupert might well have admitted that he no longer recognized his own name for there was only one thought in his mind at that moment. "Buffy."
Xander grinned boldly, snagged his bowl of candy, and dodged pass him. Willow paused in her conversation with Kennedy and Dawn as she glanced furtively between Giles and Buffy. She smiled shyly at Giles as she edged pass him after the other girls. Her movement left no one still standing between the Watcher and his Slayer.
"Buffy," Giles spoke softly, fighting the urge to remove his spectacles and clean them once again. "You look . . . " He fumbled for words. He recognized the outfit she wore. It was one Xander had undoubtedly talked her into renting; he'd been trying to get her to dress up as Xena, Warrior Princess ever since Ethan had cast a spell to give them all the personas of the characters they pretended to be one Halloween.
The short blonde hefted her broadsword easily onto the sheath on her back. She had been swinging the sword carelessly as she'd been walking up the drive, but for once, Rupert had no intention of chastising her for improperly handling her weapon. Indeed, the thought that he should did not even enter his mind as he tried to keep his naughty eyes from trailing down her armor.
Buffy smiled. "Strong? Badass?" she asked teasingly.
Rupert pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose; they had slid to the very tip of his nose because of the sweat he'd broken while watching her. "Beautiful," he admitted.
Buffy's smile grew in both size and warmth. She gazed up into her beloved Watcher's eyes, no thoughts of age or responsibilities deterring her. This was her man. He had been there for her through everything, supporting her as best he knew how and loving her even when she wouldn't look at him in that way, even when she let others break her heart, and while her world had come tumbling down around her far too many times. She couldn't have counted all the times Giles had been there for her better, stronger, and more reassuring than any one else and times when he'd been the only one to be there for her even if she'd tried.
But it didn't matter. It didn't matter how many times she'd dismissed his love as fatherly affection or her own feelings for him as meager friendship. The past didn't matter. What mattered was the last apocalypse they had survived together had finally opened her eyes to the truth of how she felt for him. She'd almost lost him again, and in so doing, she'd come to realize, at long last, that he was her true soul mate. Her cookie dough was finally done baking. She knew he was the one for her, the only one, and she wasn't going to waste another moment letting him think otherwise or allowing his shyness to stand in their way.
For a moment, Buffy wondered what it would have been like to have loved Giles when he was younger. Ripper never would have hesitated to make a move on her. Looking at the man she loved now and thinking of his past, Buffy thought that Ripper might well have been wilder than Spike and Angel in their younger, mortal days, but it wasn't Ripper she loved. It was Giles, the man he was now, the man he'd been since she'd first met him in the school library years ago, Giles with all his foibles and fears and stiffness and shyness, the man with whom she was destined to spend eternity.
She pushed her thoughts away after a realization that she was beginning to sound more and more like him and think too much, too, instead of acting as he also tended to do. She grinned up at him, batted her eyelashes playfully, and admitted, "You look pretty damn hot, too." She grabbed his white, ruffled collar and pulled him in for a kiss.
They could have quite possibly stayed all night there in his open doorway, kissing passionately, if Xander and Willow hadn't called to them. "Hey, G-man, what did ya get us to watch?"
"Hum, Buffy . . . Dawn?"
"Hey, I'm eighteen now! I can watch a pornographic movie if I want to!"
"That's not a pornographic movie, Dawn. It's Buffy and Giles -- "
"About to get it on, and if the right person had a video camera, we could make it a pornographic movie."
"Dawn!" Buffy chastised sharply, breaking away from Giles as Spike slipped in to the room and headed straight for the candy bowl Xander was still holding.
Dawn shrugged and grinned. "Just kidding, sis. Besides, no one would pay to watch Giles."
"You'd be surprised, little sister," Buffy replied. She knew her man was hot, even if sometimes stuffy. She'd seen the way other women, both younger and older than she herself and some her own age as well, looked at him. Even Willow had had a major crush on him once upon a time. All of that was just another reason why she knew she was lucky to be the one he loved.
"Indeed," Giles mumbled, blushing a deep crimson. He shut the door behind him and promptly set to cleaning his spectacles.
"So, how about it, G-man?" Xander asked again. "What did you get us to watch?"
Giles' eyes met the younger man's as he returned his spectacles to his nose. He was grinning at him, and he understood that he was also giving him a way to edge away from the embarrassing conversation. He moved to his telly and started going through the films. Soon, he was sitting between Buffy, her hand in his, and Dawn, who was eagerly helping the others devour the candy. He leaned back, rising his arm, and his Slayer quickly snuggled in beside him.
Giles quietly beamed. Perhaps some would find his lifestyle pathetic. The Council surely would have a number of things to say about how his relationship with his Slayer had twisted and turned over the years. But Giles didn't care. These were the best days of his life, even if they had come well after his midlife. He'd have it no other way. He looked forward to Halloween night now more than any other as they spent it as a family, watching distasteful horror flicks and devouring candy, but every day of his life was brightened by the people around him.
He looked down at Buffy and found her completely ignoring the movie and looking up at him instead. She was surely the star of his life. She shone more brilliantly than anything else in his life ever had. "Happy Halloween, my dear," he whispered, slightly squeezing her arm and leaning down with intentions of planting a kiss on her forehead. She leaned up, meeting his kiss not with her head but with her lips right after murmuring in return, "Happy Halloween."
The End
Giles paused in humming his favorite tune of the season to flash his fangs in the mirror. For a change, he did not laugh at or berate himself for his silliness. His mood was unusually light. He was happier than he had been all year, and he knew he had this time of the year to thank for it.
He continued to smile and hum as he poured the necessary ingredients for his plan into a giant, multi-colored bowl. He was being silly. He knew he was. He should be spending this time to research and prepare for the next attack. Things had been quiet lately -- they usually were during this holiday --, but he knew that never lasted. Why, his group had even managed to be attacked several times on this very night when monsters rarely came out of their lairs.
But not this year or, at least, not yet, and he hoped their luck held out. It would be so nice just to spend one evening relaxing with friends and doing what no Watcher should do. Finally, he chuckled at himself and his silliness. Oh, if the Watcher's Council or his father could see him now, he would surely never hear the end of their taunts, disapprovals, and snickerings, and they'd also probably remove all of his credentials!
Then again, he thought, his smile turning quite fond, they would try, but his Slayer would not let them. Only Buffy (and the First) could find a way to bring the entire Watcher's Council to a stop and twist their stiff arses to do what she wanted. Rupert chuckled again. He was sounding more like Ripper this evening, but he didn't care. He wanted to be free this night, and free he would be.
He took his bowl and settled down on his settee. He had just recently find replaced his old -- and broken by yet another attacking Demon -- settee with a new and larger one made of leather. It was new and thoroughly American, two things he usually detested, but he had made the purchase with this very evening in mind. His companions of the night would surely like it.
He uncurled a few of the colorful wrappers from their possessions and munched on them as he waited. It wouldn't be long. He knew they'd come. They had every year they'd been able since they'd first began this tradition upon finding him alone one All Hallow's Eve. They'd come as soon as they could, and they'd call him if they needed him. He had no doubt of that, but yet, every chime on the clock on his fireplace mantel seemed like a huge dong prevailing gloom and death.
He placed the bowl on the small table before his settee, shook his gray head, removed his spectacles, and set to cleaning them. Buffy was right: One of the main reasons he cleaned his spectacles so much was to distract himself from thoughts of the young teenagers with whom he tended to surround himself. He paused for a moment, reflecting. Was it sad that a man of his age sat alone on this night, eagerly awaiting the arrival of a group of teenagers, only one of whom could ever possibly reach his level of intelligence? Was it sad that he looked forward to allowing a Vampire into his home? Was it truly as pathetic as it sounded that his entire life had come to revolve around children who were not his own?
The doorbell finally rang. Giles immediately placed his glasses back on his nose, grabbed his bowl, and ran to his door. Once there, however, as the second chime rang, he paused to straighten his outfit and furl his cape just a little more around himself. He knew wearing such with his current, apparent persona was a horrible cliche, as Buffy would call it, for few Vampires had ever worn capes, but it went with the outfit he'd seen her admiring in the costume shop. He clucked once more at himself, his cheeks heating a little as he thought of how much he strove to please a woman who, although she was more beautiful, bold, and strong than any other woman he'd ever met, wasn't even half his age. But then, he reminded himself again, as the third chime rang, that age had nothing to do with their mutual admiration and finally opened his door.
"AARRR!" the Pirate on his doorstep exclaimed another terrible cliche while waving his hook in his face. "I've come for yer booty! Give me all yer candy!"
Giles beamed at his young friend and was about to tease Xander when his words caught in his suddenly dry throat. Willow, Kennedy, and Dawn were trailing behind Xander while talking and laughing, but beyond them, just beginning to come up his pathway, was the object of his thoughts from just a few seconds before. He stared at her, forgetting his mouth was open to speak, Xander waiting for the candy he was about to spill as its bowl began tipping over in his arm, Xander himself and the others present as well, and how undignified it was to gawk at a young lady. If called in that moment, Rupert might well have admitted that he no longer recognized his own name for there was only one thought in his mind at that moment. "Buffy."
Xander grinned boldly, snagged his bowl of candy, and dodged pass him. Willow paused in her conversation with Kennedy and Dawn as she glanced furtively between Giles and Buffy. She smiled shyly at Giles as she edged pass him after the other girls. Her movement left no one still standing between the Watcher and his Slayer.
"Buffy," Giles spoke softly, fighting the urge to remove his spectacles and clean them once again. "You look . . . " He fumbled for words. He recognized the outfit she wore. It was one Xander had undoubtedly talked her into renting; he'd been trying to get her to dress up as Xena, Warrior Princess ever since Ethan had cast a spell to give them all the personas of the characters they pretended to be one Halloween.
The short blonde hefted her broadsword easily onto the sheath on her back. She had been swinging the sword carelessly as she'd been walking up the drive, but for once, Rupert had no intention of chastising her for improperly handling her weapon. Indeed, the thought that he should did not even enter his mind as he tried to keep his naughty eyes from trailing down her armor.
Buffy smiled. "Strong? Badass?" she asked teasingly.
Rupert pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose; they had slid to the very tip of his nose because of the sweat he'd broken while watching her. "Beautiful," he admitted.
Buffy's smile grew in both size and warmth. She gazed up into her beloved Watcher's eyes, no thoughts of age or responsibilities deterring her. This was her man. He had been there for her through everything, supporting her as best he knew how and loving her even when she wouldn't look at him in that way, even when she let others break her heart, and while her world had come tumbling down around her far too many times. She couldn't have counted all the times Giles had been there for her better, stronger, and more reassuring than any one else and times when he'd been the only one to be there for her even if she'd tried.
But it didn't matter. It didn't matter how many times she'd dismissed his love as fatherly affection or her own feelings for him as meager friendship. The past didn't matter. What mattered was the last apocalypse they had survived together had finally opened her eyes to the truth of how she felt for him. She'd almost lost him again, and in so doing, she'd come to realize, at long last, that he was her true soul mate. Her cookie dough was finally done baking. She knew he was the one for her, the only one, and she wasn't going to waste another moment letting him think otherwise or allowing his shyness to stand in their way.
For a moment, Buffy wondered what it would have been like to have loved Giles when he was younger. Ripper never would have hesitated to make a move on her. Looking at the man she loved now and thinking of his past, Buffy thought that Ripper might well have been wilder than Spike and Angel in their younger, mortal days, but it wasn't Ripper she loved. It was Giles, the man he was now, the man he'd been since she'd first met him in the school library years ago, Giles with all his foibles and fears and stiffness and shyness, the man with whom she was destined to spend eternity.
She pushed her thoughts away after a realization that she was beginning to sound more and more like him and think too much, too, instead of acting as he also tended to do. She grinned up at him, batted her eyelashes playfully, and admitted, "You look pretty damn hot, too." She grabbed his white, ruffled collar and pulled him in for a kiss.
They could have quite possibly stayed all night there in his open doorway, kissing passionately, if Xander and Willow hadn't called to them. "Hey, G-man, what did ya get us to watch?"
"Hum, Buffy . . . Dawn?"
"Hey, I'm eighteen now! I can watch a pornographic movie if I want to!"
"That's not a pornographic movie, Dawn. It's Buffy and Giles -- "
"About to get it on, and if the right person had a video camera, we could make it a pornographic movie."
"Dawn!" Buffy chastised sharply, breaking away from Giles as Spike slipped in to the room and headed straight for the candy bowl Xander was still holding.
Dawn shrugged and grinned. "Just kidding, sis. Besides, no one would pay to watch Giles."
"You'd be surprised, little sister," Buffy replied. She knew her man was hot, even if sometimes stuffy. She'd seen the way other women, both younger and older than she herself and some her own age as well, looked at him. Even Willow had had a major crush on him once upon a time. All of that was just another reason why she knew she was lucky to be the one he loved.
"Indeed," Giles mumbled, blushing a deep crimson. He shut the door behind him and promptly set to cleaning his spectacles.
"So, how about it, G-man?" Xander asked again. "What did you get us to watch?"
Giles' eyes met the younger man's as he returned his spectacles to his nose. He was grinning at him, and he understood that he was also giving him a way to edge away from the embarrassing conversation. He moved to his telly and started going through the films. Soon, he was sitting between Buffy, her hand in his, and Dawn, who was eagerly helping the others devour the candy. He leaned back, rising his arm, and his Slayer quickly snuggled in beside him.
Giles quietly beamed. Perhaps some would find his lifestyle pathetic. The Council surely would have a number of things to say about how his relationship with his Slayer had twisted and turned over the years. But Giles didn't care. These were the best days of his life, even if they had come well after his midlife. He'd have it no other way. He looked forward to Halloween night now more than any other as they spent it as a family, watching distasteful horror flicks and devouring candy, but every day of his life was brightened by the people around him.
He looked down at Buffy and found her completely ignoring the movie and looking up at him instead. She was surely the star of his life. She shone more brilliantly than anything else in his life ever had. "Happy Halloween, my dear," he whispered, slightly squeezing her arm and leaning down with intentions of planting a kiss on her forehead. She leaned up, meeting his kiss not with her head but with her lips right after murmuring in return, "Happy Halloween."
The End
