Title: Parachutes
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRT
Pairing: None, pre Buffy/Giles
Timeline: S4
Synopsis: An old friend comes to visit Giles.
Author’s
Note: Album fic. Song and lyrics can be found here. Special thanks to wyvernwolf
for agreeing to beta this project.
Hearing the knock,
Giles opened his front door, smiling as he shoved his right hand into his
pocket. “Olivia…”
“Hello.” She replied, returning his smile as she
leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “How are you?”
He ushered her in and
closed the door, gesturing towards the couch in a silent invitation for her to
have a seat. “At the
moment? Surprised. What brings you to Sunnydale?”
“I was in the
area.” She answered, sitting down and
smiling brightly at him.
He chuckled and
raised an eyebrow. “In
the area?”
“Well…
Giles blushed lightly
and took a step backwards towards the kitchen.
“Um…tea?”
“I’m not really
thirsty at the moment.” She purred as
her eyes roamed over him again.
“I, uh…” He jumped as the front door swung open with a
loud bang. “Jesus!”
Buffy raised an
eyebrow at him as she walked in,
Giles took a deep
breath and then glared at her. “Other
than you barging into my home…once again…and…”
He rolled his eyes as she smiled at him.
“What do you need?”
“I scared you.” Buffy stated, almost proudly.
“You did no such
thing. Startled me, perhaps…but you
didn’t scare me.”
Hearing a soft laugh
coming from the couch, Buffy turned and furrowed her brow. “Um…didn’t know you had company…”
“Buffy,
right?” Olivia asked as she stood and smiled. “I’m – ”
“Olivia.” Buffy finished for her. “Yeah, I remember.”
Giles regarded Buffy carefully, sure that he had heard something in her
tone. “Buffy?”
Buffy waved a hand at
him, stiffening momentarily as Riley put his hand on her shoulder. Giles saw the brief moment of tension and
tilted his head slightly in a silent question.
Buffy’s eyes told him that she wouldn’t answer now and then she
carefully shrugged free of Riley’s hand before moving towards one of the three
bookshelves in his living room.
“Green,
scaly demon…purplish eyes…big, fangy teeth.”
“Fangy?” Olivia asked, an
amused tone to her voice.
Buffy shot a glare at
her as she pulled a book down from the shelf.
“Yeah, like a whole mouth full of fangs.
Fangy. Giles knows what I
mean.” She turned her eyes to Giles and
gave him a small smile. “Don’t you?”
Giles gave her a
gentle nod, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Of course I do, Buffy. Claws?”
Buffy thought for a
second and then nodded. “Yeah, two on
it’s left…flipper-like thing. None on
it’s right. That’s another
thing…flippers instead of arms, but it had human-like legs.”
Riley grinned. “Yeah, if you call legs
that are green with big honkin’ scales on them
‘human-like’.”
Riley’s grin faded
slowly as Giles and Buffy just stared at him.
“I thought it was
funny.”
Riley sighed and
jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Buffy gave him a sideways smile and walked over, leaning up to kiss his
cheek.
“It was funny,
Riley…just inappropriately timed.”
Giles rolled his
eyes. A reaction that
was missed by everyone in the room…except Olivia. Olivia merely raised an eyebrow and sat back
down, crossing her legs as she realized there may actually be a show here to
watch.
“Anyway…” Buffy started as she turned back to
Giles. “What do you think?”
“Sounds like a Vidalva.” He glanced
at the book in her hand and shook his head.
“That’s the wrong book. Try the Demonica Compendium, Volume Two…no, Three.”
Buffy smiled widely
and replaced the book in her hand with the one he had mentioned. “That’s why you’re you…what would we do
without you?”
“I’m sure you’d
survive.” Giles answered softly.
Buffy and Riley both
grinned at him, but
Olivia was now even
more intrigued.
“Mind if we borrow
this? I promise not to get coffee or
anything on it.” Buffy asked, oblivious
to what
“No. No, not at all.
Just…”
“Be careful with it,
I know.” Buffy finished with a smile.
Giles removed his
glasses and polished the lens. “I was
actually going to say ‘be careful’ as in ‘don’t get hurt’. But, I’m glad to know that you’ll also look
after the book.”
With another bright
smile, Buffy nudged Riley towards the door.
“Come on, you can buy us a double mocha mint and then we can hit the
books.”
Riley beamed at her,
lifting his hand to run his fingers through her hair. Seeing this, Giles
bristled and then turned, making his way to the kitchen.
“Should you run into
any problems, please call.” He called out as he filled the tea kettle and
placed it on the stove.
“Will
do! I’ll come by tomorrow, okay?”
Before he could
respond, Buffy was gone…taking Riley and
“I gather she doesn’t
know?”
Giles jumped,
seemingly having forgotten about his visitor.
“Um…uh…know what?”
Olivia rolled her
eyes and stood up, walking over to the mantle and inspecting the photographs on
display. “That you’re in love with her.”
Giles fumbled the tin
of loose-leaf tea, groaning as it spilled onto the kitchen floor. “Bloody hell!”
“Why haven’t you told
her?” She asked calmly as she turned to
face him, a picture of the Scoobies in her hands.
Knowing to deny it
would be a lost cause, he sighed heavily and grabbed
the broom. “Because
she’s happy.”
“You could make her
happier…”
Giles huffed as he
swept up the tea leaves. “I highly doubt
that. She’s stated on more than one
occasion that I’m not her type.”
“Mm-hm.” Olivia
smiled when he looked at her. “Methinks
the lady doth protest too much.”
Giles groaned and
pulled down another tin of tea. “Why do
you care, Olivia?”
“Because
I care about you. And it bothered me to see you upset…and it
bothered me even more that she didn’t realize you were upset.”
He exhaled softly,
going about the task of making tea as he spoke.
“She wasn’t supposed to realize that I was upset. What good would that do, Liv?”
“You’re just going to
stand there and watch?”
Giles thought for a
moment and then shrugged a shoulder.
“I’ll wait until the time is right.
And the time isn’t right now.”
“And what if it never
is? What if she just keeps you in line
while she goes through boyfriend after boyfriend?”
He raised his eyes
and looked directly into hers. “Then
I’ll stand in line…and wait.”
Olivia furrowed her
brow. “That’s not the Ripper I know.”
“No, it’s not.” He smiled warmly. “This is Rupert Giles, Watcher…or ex-Watcher,
as it were. It doesn’t matter…I’ll be
here for her until she no longer needs me.”
“And you’ll love her
all that time, won’t you?”
The smile reached his
green eyes and he gestured towards the teapot as the kettle whistled. “Tea?”
She knew that was the
end of the conversation for now. But,
Buffy would be back tomorrow…and maybe, she’d be able to take the young lady
off to the side and have a talk with her.
“Tea would be
wonderful, thank you.”
~ End